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Hello, Y'all.
I just thought I'd share my experience in trying to ship my 2002 RC-51 from Houston to Riyadh, when I relocated to Saudi Arabia for work, in March of 2009.
So, I go online, & through A to Z autos in CA, get Schumacher Cargo Logistics in L.A. to book my bike to KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). I rode down to the shipping warehouse in East Houston & dropped off my bike in person. Little did the shippers or I knew, that Saudi Customs had started to prohibit vehicles older than 5 yrs. from being imported into the country, as of March that year. In June (of '09), I was told by the shipper that they would not be able to ship my bike. Katherine Munoz @ Schumacher was very kind & helpful & waited until I could get more info at my end to see if there was anything I could do. Being from Texas (it's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know !!), I asked a few people if they could help me (in KSA). They could, they said, but I would only be able to use the bike 'offroad'. Imagine riding a Sportbike in the desert ! No, thanks, but I passed. The one or two local shipping companies in Riyadh, KSA, weren't very helpful. I was going on vacation back to Houston in March of 2010 (after a year), & Katherine was kind enough to keep the bike at their warehouse for that entire time. So finally, they released it to me, to be delivered at Honda of Houston @ US 290 & West Road in Houston, TX. The wonderful staff there took delivery & one of their managers, Jeff Viviano almost came to fisticuffs with the tow truck driver who delivered my bike, because he'd tied it down incorrectly, compressing the front forks fully & his strap even tore off part of the decal on one side of the fairing. However, Jeff immediately took care of that & had it fixed in no time, knowing how I am about the bike. I did not file a claim with the shipper because it was going to be too much of a hassle, requiring 'photos of the damage etc. & here I was on vacation & I just wanted to ride as much as possible, before going back to Riyadh. So, we called it even, with the money I'd already paid for the bike to be shipped & Katherine did not charge me for the storage costs. The bike was kept in storage so well that Jeff told me that all the dealership did was to dust off the bike & charge up the battery & it was ready to go.
As my younger brother also lives in Houston, I had him keep the bike for me after I'd left, 'till I could decide what to do. Sneaky me had him take interest in riding the bike on occasion & I convinced him to brush up on his skills at the local Harley dealership in Sugar Land, TX., where they have riding classes. He told me he enjoyed that, after about 27 yrs. of not riding a bike. In fact, he took to liking it quite a bit & after he told me that he gets an urge to 'open her up', I knew he was hooked again. However, with him, it's an image thing as he works as a Consultant for a 'Big Oil' firm & says riding a bike is a good marketing tool.
Anyway. So poor me went back to Riyadh, scratching my head about what to do next with the RC-51. I was adamant about bringing it over to Riyadh & especially when my wife told me in Oct. of 2009 that she had a dream that I had my bike in Riyadh, I had my hopes up & was positive. Now, you guys (& gals), may think that's odd, but she's had quite a few dreams that have come true, so that it re-energized my flagging spirits. She kept telling me to buy a new bike, but like a bad relationship, I could not force myself to let go of the RC-51.
One day last March, I happened to ask a colleague of mine (Dr. Dwight Burdick from *** about any shipping companies he'd know & he gave me the number to a local outfit called Four Winds & I gave them a call. By that time, I'd found out that the exception to the currently enforced Saudi Customs rule (to prohibit people from importing used, old cars & selling them in the Kingdom), exempted motorcycles, cranes, heavy trucks etc. When I spoke to Mr. Nadeer at Four Winds, he said he did not know that, but he'd find out & call me in a week. (Yes, a week because it's a more relaxed pace of life over here). He gave me the good news about being able to bring my bike over & gave me a quote. I immediately jumped on it & gave him the entire amount of approx. $ 3376 with Marine Insurance included & asked him whether he could arrange to pick up the bike at a dealership in Houston in March of this year, when I'd physically be there. Since this price for shipping was a door to door delivery price, he said that would be no problem.
While on vacation in Houston this year, I had the bike sent over to Stubbs SouthWest at US 59 at Bissonet in Houston, TX., since that dealership was only a few miles from where the bike sat in my brother's garage. Joe Williams is in charge of Service at the dealership & was kind & nice enough to not only lovingly service the bike, but also keep it there until the shipping crew came over to crate it at the end of April this year. He even allowed me to take out the bike for a ride whenever I'd wanted & e - mailed me a 'photo of the bike being crated at their dealership.
I took this opportunity to change or replace any scrtached or defective parts on the bike. There was a very slight 1 inch long dent on top of the fuel tank where my elbow had hit it once & since I got a good price for a new tank at their dealership, I went ahead & asked their saleslady, Maxine, to get it over to Joe. When I told Joe I was replacing the tank, I was looking for the dent to show him & was finding it hard to see, since it was so slight, when he immediately pointed it out to me & deadpanned 'it's right here, Dr. Rahi' (!). Probably wondering whether I was taking medication for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Well, let me just say that when you finally reach a point in your life when you're not worried about anything happening to your pride & joy, simply because you can afford to replace it, people (incl. my wife), start looking at you funny if you want to have something replaced because it may have a slight imperfection in it. Oh well, call me crazy & slap me silly !
The crew that came over to crate the bike was Suddack Relocaters in Houston, sent over by my USA shipper which was Sentry International. Let me tell you that these guys were more obsessive than myself in going over the bike & noting any imperfection to document for their records. They were so good in pointing out minor flaws, that I'd started getting depressed & thinking that I'd not replaced enough parts on my baby ! Anyway, they crated the bike in a huge crate about 7 feet tall & 4 feet wide. I guess they knew how I felt about my bike & acted accordingly, even using a big roll of bubble wrap around the motorcycle & then placing 2 huge rolls of the wrap around the bike. Rosalia at Sentry International was a joy to communicate with & was extremely kind & helpful with her time & expertise.
Needless to say, the bike arrived in one piece & I just got delivery of it 6 weeks ago. There was only very minor damage to the lower & upper cowl etc. & a minor scratch on a decal stripe on the fairing where the bike was strapped down, even 'though the crating crew had used soft felt cloth at that point, on the tie down strap.
Well, I'm now trying to get it registered here in Riyadh, after it passed it's inspection several weeks ago. I've taken it out on the road, which are slippery compared to the US, as I can slide the rear tire under acceleration at lean angles that would have been drama free even under harder acceleration on any road in the US.
Now I'm going to post a 'photo of me on my bike & upload it to this site, so that y'all can see how happy (ecstatic !!), I really am. I'll keep everyone posted about new developments, if you guys (& gals), are interested.
I also want everybody at Sport Rider magazine to know that their hard work on the magazine & on their website does not go unnoticed. I have a lot of respect for Andrew Trevitt & Kent Kunitsugu for their remarkable energy & dedicated professionalism. Honestly guys, I just don't know how you do it day in & day out.
Take Care, everybody.
Ride Safe ..... & Friendly.
Regards,
Dr. Muhammad Rahi
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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