Recommendations on Sailing a Motorcycle

seatosummit · #1 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

I'd like to get my motorcycle from Florida to a location in the Bahamas this summer. I'm going with a passenger and we both have sailing experience. What are the possibilities of taking the bike (approximately 500 lbs. and seven-and- a-half feet long) on a boat? Any information or recommendations would be appreciated.

danjarch · #2 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

Sale the bike or put it in storage and buy one in the Bahama's. I don't know what the rules are on using an out of state motorcycle in the bahamas but I'll bet it isn't simply a matter of getting it off the boat and riding around. If your going to move there permanantly then have it shipped over. I hear the import duties are steep, so you might want to think about just how much you like that bike.

If your just cruising, you'd be better off using the taxi's and busses. Most of the stuff you'd want to see is with in walking distance of the marinas. You can rent a car or a bike for the few times you'd really want it.

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

It would help if you said how big a sailboat you are looking at.... You could take the motorcycle on a Gunboat 62 without much trouble. On a Cape Dory 25, you'd have some serious problems trying to fit it.

Other than that...danjarch's info is very good and something to be aware of.

seatosummit · #4 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

As far as boat size, I'm looking for someone who would be traveling in this direction at approximately the same time and had a boat that they thought was large enough to handle the motorcycle.

I've taken my bike into other countries before, so I'm familiar with the hassles of temporary registration/importation, insurance, etc.

Transporting motorcycles this way is very common in other parts of the world, such as using sailboats to bypass the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia for those traveling the Pan-American Highway.

I would also be interested in a commerical, cargo or non-sail option as well.

Boasun · #5 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

Put your bike in storage and when you get to the Bahamas rent either a scooter or a motorcycle if you don't want a car.

Stillraining · #6 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

IMO...You would be asking a lot to put that bike on someone else's boat...

You might find that person but I would not be one of them...

First of all there is nothing on most sail boats to crane that type of load on or off...Second it would have to be stored on deck where it will impart dammage to the boat if caught in heavy weather and came loose..or even tipped over in Begin conditions...Not to mention the shear bulk of it hampering movement about the boat..

Maybe your thinking we all have bigger boats then we do...

I am sure you could find a bike or scooter to buy in the Bahamas..

Or ship it commercially as you suggested yourself..

Unless its some prized vintage sled I dont understand the attachment...A bike is a bike as a car is a car ...transportation....If it is the former you would be crazy for subjecting it to salt water anyway..

...

Good luck..let us know how you work it out..

SEMIJim · #7 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

Guys, guys, guys: Perhaps he really likes his motorcycle and the entire point of the trip is to ride his motorcycle in the Bahamas?

A 7-1/2 foot, 500 lb. motorcycle... maybe could sling it across the back of a larger sailboat, where the dinghy's usually hung, if the boat's big enough and the davits are beefy enough. Otherwise: I can't imagine where on a sailboat you could stash such a beast w/o it being in the way and seriously unbalancing the boat.

Jim