Assistance with moving bikes

[superhypered]

Hey all, I hope this is the right spot for this post, but due to the current circumstances, I've been let go from my new job I got in March after being furloughed this whole time. My girlfriend has been itching to move back home to her family in the Seattle area, so I'm going to be packing up and heading out there.

The biggest problem I'm facing now is getting all of our cars and bikes there. I know I got plenty of time to kill to drive them all there myself, but between me and her we have four cars and four bikes, not including a fifth car I sold yesterday, so that is already a lot of time driving and a lot of gas for some of them, plus I will borrow my mom's truck to haul a trailer full of our possessions when the time comes.

Currently I am looking into a car transporter that will take two of my cars and three bikes which will greatly help me out, but depending on the price, I may look at other options available.

So in summary, if someone has a trailer larger than the largest U-Haul trailer (6x12) that could fit two streetbikes and dirtbike in it reliably that I could rent, or if anyone has any transportation services to provide, please let me know!

The timeframe is within the next couple of months. Just waiting on my girlfriend to begin a transfer request for her job and I will drive her and her car there first to set her up. We will be flying out there in the next week to have a meeting with her family about everything that is happening and I hope that will also determine a better timeline for my junk.

If this is in the wrong section, please guide me to the right place, thanks! ort

 

[auntiebling]

Its an appropriate place but I'm going to move it to general, lots more eyes on it.

I'm in santa clara and have outdoor room to store bikes if you need it.

 

[KooLaid]

You should be able to fit more than 2 street bikes and 1 dirt bike on to a 6x12. Rent the Uhaul truck and trailer then you can do all the bikes and 1 car.

 

[tgrrdr]

Rent the Uhaul truck and trailer then you can do all the bikes and 1 car.

I didn't check the price of a truck but just the trailer one way to Seattle was $700, I think renting a uhail truck too would be super expensive.

 

[auntiebling]

one way out of the bay area is expensive because so many are leaving, it was this way before covid i imagine covid has made it worse.

it might be cheaper to drive 1 vehicle up to seattle then rent a truck and do a round trip from there. hell, hop on Uship and pick up some cargo for your south bound trip to offset costs? i have no idea how feasible that is

 

[superhypered]

Thanks for moving it auntiebling, I actually didn't choose general so it wouldn't get buried lol.

Just to give an update, I recieved and email back from the two private shippers I found on craigslist, one cannot travel outside CA for insurance purposes, and the other one has a 2 car carrier in his pics, and doesn't think it would all fit, but it'd be around $3200 per trip!

And I mentioned larger than the 6x12 trailer as I planned to use that amount of space for cargo. To be more precise, I was hoping to find someone with a larger trailer that could hold bikes plus storage, as that will be my last thing, borrow my mom's truck and haul a trailer up while another relative drives the truck and trailer back to the bay.

My girlfriend can't drive by herself, so thats one trip I have to take up with her, and then if I have to drive everything up myself, I could maybe haul a little trailer with my Jeep, but it would suck for the passes, and I was planning on pulling my moto trailer with one of the dirtbikes as I do when I go dirtbiking here.

It's just looking like I'll have to drive everything up unless someone wants to be a driver �� would actually be cheaper than a transporter.. even including gas, food, and airfare back. If anyone would be interested in that, just drop me a note, everything is manual

 

[Blankpage]

4 cars? There is another option.

 

[KazMan]

I would suggest contacting Tim at motoshippers.com. They go all over the country and he often does runs up to the NW. He could potentially do several cars and all your bikes in one trip.

 

[fubar929]

Four cars, four bikes, lots of time and not a lot of money? The solution here is pretty obvious: sell everything you can't drive up in one trip before you leave. Once you get to WA, buy whatever vehicles you need to replace what you've sold. It may take time to find the vehicles & deals you want, but it sounds like you have that. I have a friend who actually made money doing this: he sold his bike to a well-heeled Bay Area buyer, then moved to North Caroline where he bought an equivalent bike for less than the one he sold...

 

[flipstyledsm22]

How many trips are you planning on making?

You could do it all in one, if you get someone to help you.

Rent a nice 24' U-haul, pack it with all your belongings and all the bikes. Then get a car trailer to tow (1) of the vehicles with the U-haul truck.

Use the best vehicle out of your fleet to tow another vehicle... This combo could be driven by whoever helps you.

And I know you said your GF doesn't want to drive by herself, but she could drive the last vehicle.

If you convoy, you can buy some 2-way radios and communicate with each other as you progress.

Probably the most economical way to do it.

 

[squidworth]

What about asking friends / family to drive up the other vehicles and fly them one way home? Would be cheaper than a shipping company.

 

[ucmgrad]

I'm going to agree with squidworth here. If I had a friend ask to help move one-way, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You'll be making memories both of you will cherish and should make for an interesting drive with walkie-talkies. :cool

 

[superhypered]

I understand what you guys mean about selling my stuff, totally. However I've personally poured in a lot of time, money, and energy into all of these things that I could not get anything of realistic value from, only to find a junker in it's spot. And renting the U-Haul truck is not feasible as that is already a couple thousand right there.

I've attached a picture of my lot of cars, the first one, a 1985 Honda Accord I just sold 2 days ago as I wasn't as attached to it as my other cars. The Integra is standalone, I think it would be fine on the trip. The Golf has a hitch that I use to haul my small moto trailer and one dirtbike, that's the plan for that one. As for the jeep, it is a 2.5l 4 banger, and with the AX5 manual transmission it came with a 4.11 gearing from the factory, so on the 35in tires it just sucks on the highway a little bit, but I could maybe borrow my mom's box trailer with the 3 other bikes and figure out a way to get that back. The 4th car is my girlfriend's Subaru, and she isn't ever parting with that before I part with mine.

Also trying to find people to help me out in general has been a pain and a half in the past, but now with covid it is even worse. And my girlfriend cannot physically drive the whole trip, so that is the issue there, it isn't a communication problem.

I'll look into motoshippers for now though, if the bikes were figured out at least, that would definitely give me some peace of mind.

 

[ucmgrad]

From the sounds of it, looks like you hold more sentimental value towards your golf out of the three? dc2 integras can be had for cheap, unless it's got a k-swap or been converted to awd you can always find another one later. That's coming from loving my imports (have an rsx right now). Why not ask a friend/family to park at their residence and then drive them up yourself when you have the time if you absolutely must take all of them? Keeping the Jeep makes sense because of rain/snow?

 

[auntiebling]

uhaul isn't the only game in town for these moves, but they tend to be the most expensive.

Ryder comes to mind, penske (same thing i dunno) i know a barfer that moved from CA to colorado in one shot, used ryder GIANT truck to haul the 60something ford monster 4x4 on a trailer, wife drove the SUV and the kid stuffed to the gills.

 

[flipstyledsm22]

Regardless of the rentals, multiple trips to-and-from Seattle will add up quickly in fuel alone.

Take advice from someone who has moved around a lot... You want to minimize your trip to one solid mobilization. The logistics, fuel costs, food, etc. is going to hit the hardest. Make it all happen at once, because the stresses are going to be the constant in every move.

I prefer the stress of one solid move.

 

[superhypered]

From the sounds of it, looks like you hold more sentimental value towards your golf out of the three? dc2 integras can be had for cheap, unless it's got a k-swap or been converted to awd you can always find another one later. That's coming from loving my imports (have an rsx right now). Why not ask a friend/family to park at their residence and then drive them up yourself when you have the time if you absolutely must take all of them? Keeping the Jeep makes sense because of rain/snow?

An interesting analysis, I actually have the most sentimental value in the Integra as I have been through so much in it, and have done a lot of work on it, specifically in the suspension area. Inside the car is a 6-point strut brace, a Sparco harness bar, two strut bars in the trunk area, 3-point engine bay strut bar, ASR subframe brace, Beaks bar, ITR 22mm rear sway bar, traction bar, Greddy Evo2 catback exhaust, Fortune Auto 500 coilovers.. Even though the motor is stock with bolt ons, I have the car tuned just right so there is no sway at all and it rides on rails. If I ever sold it, I would not be able to get anything close to what I have done to it, nor am I removing everything to put onto another one. I also blew up the original block and got a replacement motor into it. Like I said, I have put too much time, money, and effort into that car to sell it. It would be my personal "I wish I never sold it" moment.

The Golf was my brother's car who is in Tennessee, shipped it here to our other brother, which was like $1500 at the time, and now I have it.. Repurposed it to be a fuel efficient dirtbike hauler :thumbup but the interior is probably the best in that one. Jeep is also my fun everyday car to mess around in.

And also just to clarify, I'm moving out of my mom's house, so taking one car at a time by myself would technically be fine as they don't need to go all in one trip. I've had great success with rideshares in the past, and even during covid and everything I have seen a lot of posts looking for rides right now, which would help me out with gas costs and airfare since they usually are one way kind of people.

I will look into the other rental companies and see if I can find something good, but as someone else mentioned, a lot of people are leaving here which will make it harder or more expensive for myself.

 

[liveforlight]

When are you looking to have it transported?
Is someone in Seattle ready to take the car/keys?

 

[superhypered]

It's still in the air and TBD, but will be the next couple of months. Me and my gf are going to be flying up there next week and have a meeting with her family on everything. We'll also check out some of the locations for the company she works at and then she'll begin the transfer process.

At this point I would be happy if someone was able to transport my two street bikes reliably and I'd just drive the rest of my cars. I forgot I have a hitch carrier I could use on my Jeep with one dirtbike, and take another on on my trailer with my Golf which would cover all of my bikes, then I can take a random moving trailer with my mom's truck and bring it back here as one way costs on moving trailers is crazy expensive!

 

[liveforlight]

AH, I was going to be able on the 28th on one of the cars
But, I might be interested later on also.
Let me know