How to Prepare a Motorcycle for Shipping: The Ultimate Guide

If you’re in the process of moving and have a motorcycle that needs to be transported, you’re likely wondering how to prepare it for shipping. It’s not as difficult as it may seem – with a little bit of time and effort, your bike will be ready to go! In this guide, we’ll walk you through the entire process step-by-step. So whether you’re new to shipping motorcycles or have done it before, this guide will provide everything you need to know. Let’s get started!

prepare-motorcycle-for-shipping

What to do before shipping your motorcycle

It’s important to take some time before shipping your motorcycle to prepare it for the journey. This will help ensure that it arrives safely and in the same condition it is left in. Here are some things to do before shipping your motorcycle:

  • Clean your motorcycle: A clean bike is a happy bike! Be sure to wash and wax your motorcycle before shipping it. This will help protect it from the elements and keep it looking good.
  • Check your fluids: Before you ship your motorcycle, ensure all fluids are at the proper levels. This includes engine oil, coolant, and brake fluid.
  • Inflate your tires: Be sure to check your motorcycle’s tire pressure and inflate them to the recommended levels. This will help prevent flats during transit.
  • Disable the alarm: If your motorcycle has an alarm, be sure to disable it before shipping. Otherwise, it may go off during transit and cause a disturbance.
  • Pack your personal items: If you have any personal belongings that you want to keep with your motorcycle, be sure to pack them up before shipping. This includes things like helmets, jackets, and tools.

How to prepare a motorcycle for shipping

Now that you’ve taken care of the things you need to do before shipping, it’s time to prepare your motorcycle for shipping. This includes getting it ready for loading and securing it on the transport carrier.

  • Remove loose items: Be sure to remove any loose items from your motorcycle before shipping it. This includes things like mirrors, saddlebags, and windscreens.
  • Disable the battery: One of the most important things to do when preparing a motorcycle for shipping is to disable the battery. This will prevent it from being damaged during transit.
  • Drain the fuel tank: You’ll want to drain your motorcycle’s fuel tank before shipping it. This will help prevent leaks and spills during transit.
  • Secure your motorcycle: Once your motorcycle is ready for shipping, you’ll need to secure it on the transport carrier. This can be done with straps or tie-downs.
  • Cover your motorcycle: Be sure to cover your motorcycle with a tarp or blanket before shipping it. This will help protect it from the elements and keep it clean.

Shipping your Motorcycle

Now that your motorcycle is prepared for shipping, it’s time to get it on the road! Whether you’re using a professional shipping company or doing it yourself, there are a few things to keep in mind during the shipping process.

  • Monitor the weather: Be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast before shipping your motorcycle. If there is bad weather expected, it’s best to delay the shipping process.
  • Check for damage: Once your motorcycle arrives at its destination, be sure to inspect it for any damage that may have occurred during transit. If you notice any damage, be sure to document it and file a claim with the shipping company.
  • Get it insured: Shipping your motorcycle can be a risky business, so it’s important to get it insured. This will protect you in the event that something happens to your bike during transit.
  • Follow the laws: Be sure to familiarize yourself with the laws and regulations regarding shipping motorcycles in your state or country. This will help ensure that everything goes smoothly and avoid any potential problems.

Tips for a smooth shipping experience

Shipping a motorcycle doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. By following these tips, you can help ensure that everything goes smoothly.

  • Plan ahead: Be sure to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to get your motorcycle ready for shipping. This will help avoid any last-minute scrambling and stress.
  • Get quotes: Be sure to get multiple quotes from different shipping companies before deciding. This will help you find the best deal and avoid overpaying. You can check out best motorcycle shipping companies’ list at MovingAstute.com
  • Read reviews: Be sure to read reviews of potential shipping companies before choosing one. This will help you avoid shady businesses and find a company you can trust.
  • Be prepared: Be sure to have everything ready before the shipping company arrives. This includes things like your motorcycle’s title, registration, and insurance information.
  • Ask questions: Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you’re unsure about something. This will help ensure that you have a smooth and stress-free experience.

After the motorcycle arrives at its destination

Once your motorcycle arrives at its destination, there are a few things you’ll need to do.

  • Register your motorcycle: Be sure to register your motorcycle in the state or country where it will be driven. This can usually be done at your local DMV office.
  • Inspect for damage: Be sure to inspect your motorcycle for any damage that may have occurred during transit. If you notice any damage, be sure to document it and file a claim with the shipping company.
  • Get it insured: Shipping your motorcycle can be a risky business, so it’s important to get it insured. This will protect you in the event that something happens to your bike during transit.
  • Follow the laws: Be sure to familiarize yourself with the laws and regulations regarding shipping motorcycles in your state or country. This will help ensure that everything goes smoothly and avoid any potential problems.

Common problems that occur during motorcycle shipping and how to solve them

Despite your best efforts, there are always going to be some things that are out of your control. Here are some common problems that can occur during motorcycle shipping and how to solve them.

  • Bikes get damaged during transit: Unfortunately, this is one of the most common problems that can occur during motorcycle shipping. If your bike gets damaged during transit, be sure to document the damage and file a claim with the shipping company.
  • Motorcycles are stolen: Unfortunately, this is also a common problem that can occur during motorcycle shipping. Be sure to insure your motorcycle and take extra precautions if you’re shipping it to an unfamiliar area.
  • Bikes don’t arrive on time: This can be a major problem if you’re shipping your motorcycle to a race or event. Be sure to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to get your motorcycle ready for shipping.
  • Shipping companies go out of business: This is always a risk when working with any type of company. Be sure to do your research and choose a reputable shipping company.

Following these tips can help ensure that shipping your motorcycle is a smooth and stress-free experience. If you have any questions or concerns, ask a professional for help.

Also See: Tips You Should Know When Renting A Motorbike

Tips You Should Know When Renting A Motorbike

If you want to rent out a motorbike, this advice is here to help you out. When you follow along with the tips laid out here, you can get a motorbike rented that you’re going to love riding. So, to learn more, be sure you read on!

Bike-parked-in-garage

Know What It Cost To Rent A Motorbike

Figure out who has the best pricing on their motorbikes before you rent one. It would be best if you did some shopping around to see who has what and what it will cost you. It’s always smart to figure out what a handful of companies are charging so you can be happy with the result of how much you’re going to have to pay for the rental. Don’t just go with the first company you come across because you’re not going to be sure if it’s a fair price in that kind of case. You can even look for bike on rental at BikeRentalia.com where you can compare various bike rental agency’s price, ratings and many more factors that will assist you to choose the best motorbike for your ride.

Know What You Are Riding

You’re going to want to rent something that is going to be easy for you to ride. Figure out which kind of a motorbike you’re comfortable riding, so you don’t hire a bike you aren’t comfortable riding. You might be able to test drive one before you rent it to get a feel for what it’s going to be like to ride it if you were to take it off their hands. If you feel like you can’t get a lot out of renting a certain make or model, go with something else you like more.

Insurance Is Necessary

It’s important to get insurance on a motorbike when you rent one so you know that you’re covered if anything happens to you. Even if you’re a good driver, that doesn’t mean that the people around you will be extra careful when driving. You may end up getting into an accident that is not your fault, and if you didn’t have any coverage, then you may have to pay for the repairs in that kind of situation. Since you never know when disaster will strike, it’s smart to rent a bike that has insurance cover no matter how long you’re renting it for.

Be Sure Of Your Riding Skills

Practice riding a motorbike somewhere where you can safely work with it if you’re new to riding one. If you can ride a bicycle, you can generally get the hang of a motorbike in no time. However, if you’re just not able to get the right style of riding motorbike, you may want to rent something else that will be safer for you to drive. You may find, for instance, that you don’t like certain models that don’t have features you’re comfortable with. Shop around a little and find what you enjoy riding.

Wearing A Helmet Will Only Keep You Safe

Wear a helmet at all times when you’re riding your motorbike. Even if you don’t have far to go, a fall can do some serious damage to your head and brain if you’re not wearing a helmet. A lot of the time, it’s not even legal to ride without one, so you may end up getting a ticket if you don’t wear the right equipment on your motorbike. Be cautious because you never know when problems will occur. Many accidents happen right near people’s homes, so keep that in mind when you’re even going out for a quick ride.

Find Reviews

Get to know what companies offer this kind of rental to the general public. To learn more about a company, you need to look for reviews to determine what people have said about what they have to offer. You don’t want to just rent something from a random company without knowing what you’re getting into, or you may have a bad time with their customer service. It’s best to only work with a well-reviewed company, even if they cost a little more to rent from due to their professionalism.

Do Preliminary Checks Before Renting a Bike

Go over the bike carefully before you rent it to see if there are any damages. Ensure you have the person renting them jot down anything going wrong with the motorbike, so you don’t get blamed for the issues when you turn it in after riding it. Also, if you do happen to damage it, don’t try to hide that from them, or it’s going to make you look even more guilty. If you have insurance coverage, you can generally not care about the motorbike issues, but that doesn’t mean the dealership won’t want to hear about any issues you may have.

Conclusion

When riding the motorbike, if something sounds off with it, you may want to rent something else. You don’t want to keep riding it over and over when issues are going on with it, or you could end up getting hurt. As soon as something feels off, get it off the road and contact the rental company to see if you can bring it back and get something else. Never keep riding a bike with any issues, like an engine that seems not to be working at full power for whatever reason. Now you have a better understanding of what some tips are for renting a motorbike. This is something that you should take your time with so you get a good result. Also, be sure you look into things like insurance just in case something goes wrong while you’re renting the motorbike.

Iron On Patches – The Most Popular Type of Embroidered Patches

patches

Many companies are identified by their company logos or patches.  If you live in major American countries that gets snow every year, then you would have seen branded jackets with a prominent logo at many times. For instance Canada Goose jackets have a reputation for being the warmest jackets; based on the red, white and blue patches, anyone can make out that the person is wearing this brand. 

Gone were those days when people used to buy jackets with a logo instilled on them or buy on a road or online store and take time to sew it. However, with the existence of iron on patches on jackets, your work will get done more faster and more precisely.

Why Iron on Patches are getting popular; some noteworthy information about them

Iron on alphabets and numerals are great way to show your personality. In the recent ages, there are number of iron on supplies from number of brands and products. Iron on patches are embroidered patches also known as a cloth badge, is a piece of embroidery which is created.  Embroidered patches are one of the most popular patches preferred by most people. They are generally a cloth badge in which it is created using a fabric backing and thread.  These badges are fixed with a pin, sew on or fitted with modern method such as iron on provided with a heat adhesive and Velcro backing.

To make the patch stick on to the surface either a heat adhesive or dryer adhesive is applied to the patch or it is ironed on the surface to make it stick to the surface you want to.

See Also: How to Prepare a Motorcycle for Shipping

Types of Patches and Ways to Apply these Embroidered Patches

For hundreds of years people have embroidered their dress and apparels with different bits of laces and trims. Kids when play have the tendency of making holes in their dress quite often. Holes appear out of nowhere especially if the garments are thin and silky, holes are inevitable. They can happen anywhere mostly on the sleeves of the blouse/shirt and most likely the knee portion of the trousers/shorts. To cover up these holes, people had the habit of making patches on the torn area of the garment. In actual reality, mending the hole was much better option than disregarding the outfit.

There are many different types of patches and techniques to apply these patches. Let us see some of the popular types of patching and ways to apply

Sew on Patches– This is one of the common applied technique typically used to sew patches and is in existence for ages. It is regarded as the most durable approach and it remains permanent.

How to do it: To hand sew a patch you will need a needle and thread. In the first place, keep the patch on the jacket where you want it to make the design and attach with pins to the patch to cling on the patch stable. The patch is placed under the hole usually in the wrong side of the fabric, then it is sewn from underside. When you are making patches on frock or dress, you will not have the difficulty doing it, however whenever you are doing it on a jacket which is a thicker surface, you may need to pull the needle all the way through the back of the jacket and pull it back through the front in a fluid motion to get a perfect finish.

Iron on Patches– Iron on motifs and appliques are is the most popular type of embroidered patch preferred by people worldwide due to its convenience and ease of use. Although they are semi-permanent applications yet they are very easy to apply. You just need to have a basic care with these garments during laundering.  Iron on patches for jackets are also referred as heat-seal backing, in which you can attach by applying heat on. These patches have a stick back also called as heat adhesive that melts and creates a bond to the fabrics when heat is applied to the patches after placing on the garment. They are not durable and permanent unlike sew on patches. On repeated laundering, over the time the patches tend to lift away from the fibers of the material. Hence they are stated as semi-permanent applications. However, often people wonder whether these ripped patches again be glued to the garment. Although it may not be successful at all times, yet there are number of varieties to try with so it will work fine if you use the right adhesive.

Apparently, medical studies suggests that for infant clothes and garments, iron on patches are not the safest method to use because toddlers have the practice of chewing the clothes. The chemicals present in the heat adhesives can cause choking hazards, so sew on method is most recommended for children’s clothes. However, when you want to do iron on patches for jackets, their ease of use is surpassed.

How to attach them to your garment?

  • Before beginning with the process, check and make sure whether the patch you have is an iron on patch because there are number of custom patches which resembles much like these patches but comes in the absence of adhesives. So when you apply heat on these patches, it wont stick. Hence this consideration is crucial.
  • Iron on patches have a shiny backing that is not adhesive or neither will it stick until heat is applied. They have the adhesive all the way to the edges so when the heat is pressed, it get stuck to the garment evenly.
  • Denim and cotton are great fabrics for patches when compared to delicate clothes like silk or linen. When you applying heat to the delicate fabrics ensure then you don’t apply too much of heat since there are chances that it may impact the garment either by burning or causing discoloration.

Closing Thoughts

Be very careful when applying the iron because you don’t want to risk damaging your awesome leather jacket. Give the patch time to cool before moving your garment and make sure it’s properly adhered.

Motorcycle Club Patches Meanings

motorcycle photo

The patches worn by members of motorcycle clubs and gangs are loaded with significance and importance. Although many outlaw clubs are considered as criminal gangs and felonious by legal authorities and counsels, yet motorcycle clubs doesn’t fall under this category and they are quite diverse from them. The motorcycle club generally comprises of families, veterans, police officers, fire fighters and many more.

When kids seek the permission of their parents to join the motorcycle gang, most parents often think that it is not a great idea and most probably disapprove them regarding them as gangsters. Although many bike gangs are involved in law breaking activities, yet you cannot classify everyone the same way. These people are someone like other professions. These members wear motorcycle club patches which typically represent the type of club they belong to.

All you need to know about motorcycle gangs

When you think about the motorcycle gangs, you often get images of people wearing leather jackets, vests, long hair and beards. Leather has been preferred for a long time because of its scratch resistance and its ability to slide on asphalt. This is one of the reasons, why riders wear it but it has provides a cool look as well.  But what are motorcycle clubs?

Motorcycle clubs includes small groups of community that have a symbol or logo in their jackets.The patches basically talks about the top rockers or stating the name of the club or claiming the territory. Becoming a motorcycle club member is not as easy as sewing a patch on your back. There are various rules for wearing biker patches. Be aware about the rules and regulations that indicates about the disciplines and policies of the club. Reading the instructions properly obviously shows your respect about the club.

Batches are of generally one, two and three respectively. One piece patch signifies riding club, family club or social motor club. They are common patches used even by ordinary people and doesn’t require any membership. However, this is not the case with two piece or three piece patches. They have different meanings. As a matter of fact, when you want to be safe enough, try not to infringe the patches.

When it comes to three piece motorcycle club patches, the top rocker usually bears the club name, the bottom rocker shows the full name of the territory the club belongs to and the center piece is the major one bearing the club name you belong to.

Rules for wearing motorcycle club patches

Are there any policies and regulations for wearing motorcycle cub patches? Will you get punished or offended for wearing a Solo wolf patch on my leather coat? These are some of the few questions often been asked in the past while selling patches on the road or online. It all depends on what kind of logo are you wearing?  If you are trying to pretend as part of a club and wear the logo without being the club member, obviously you are going to get kicked at your back. Similarly when you have plans to start a new club, be careful with the other existing clubs because you are using the same kind of symbol, it means that you are disrespecting the club signs with your patches. Although you don’t need permission to wear club patches, certain disciplines shows that you have respect for the club.

Let us see some of the common rules of wearing motorcycle club patches

If it is a patch that you are designing and making, then probably you can fix your own rules. However, if the patch is a part of a club, they have the authority to decide the rules.

  • When you are representing a club, obviously you will be taught about the meaning and display of the biker patches you are going to wear in your jacket. When you are a member of MC association you can wear center patches in addition to top and bottom rockers. However, when you are not a member of the MC club, avoid wearing center patches in your rockers. Most importantly, never wear a MC cube because it is not recommended for the non-members of the motorcycle club to wear MC cube. Apparently when you wear against their policy, it indicates that you are disrespecting the symbol and declaring a war against them.
  • Basically the bottom rocker indicates the name of the territory according to Motorcycle club. So when a non-member of the MC wears, it represents that you are claiming the control of the territory. Therefore when you are not a member of the club, don’t wear the bottom rockers showing the full name of the state
  • One of the most important rule you need to know is not to touch any part of any vest with a 3 piece which is the top and bottom rockers with a center patch. However, accidently when you happened to touch them, immediately convey your apologies. This is because, when the person is part of the MC and since he is allowed to wear the 3 piece, when some intruder tries to remove from them, they turn into a real hell and burst out badly. So, it is important to avoid such commotions and chaos situations.
  • If the club patches, for instance Hells Angels are stolen they will indeed fight for it, or the person who had stolen the logo will be thrown out of the club. When you have the patch, it indicates that you belong to the club. It is often considered that you don’t deserve to be there, when you do not fight for your rights.

To Sum it up

Motorcycle gangs are typically famous for roadside chaos and unruliness. If ever, you are caught in such situation either by mistake or intentionally, instead of panicking follow certain rules such as, be on the bartender’s good side, learn to read the patches, recognize who is in charge and few others to emerge alive.

See Also: How to Prepare a Motorcycle for Shipping

Importance of Motorcycle Patches for Biker Jackets

Hello everyone, myself Sophia Gilbert and I’m the author and owner of OCCMotorcycles.com Biker Patches blog.

image of biker with jacket on motorcycle

Being a motorcycle rider for more than 15 years now, I know the importance of embroidered iron on patches on motorcycle jackets. It defines the biker’s beliefs and stuff that they stand for.

These patches are extensively used by various Motorcycle Clubs (MC) to differentiate themselves from other groups. Each club will have members with different ranks. Most of the times you will notice the “rank” patch along with the club name patch on the jackets and denims.

Then there are patriotic and veteran patches as well. These patches are for the brave men and women who put their life on the line to safeguard the country. There are patches for Army, Navy, Marines, Police and Fire Fighters as well.

The patches are indeed very important for the biker jackets and they 100% believe in the message they have on their iron on patches.

In my future posts, I’ll discuss more about different types of patches and their origin. Hope you like the stuff I share and I look forward to your feedback.