Packed out and ready to go home

December 20, 2010

I got up early this morning and packed all my gear on the motorcycle and prepared to go to the airport. When Javier of Dakar Motos opened shop, he told me to unpack all my personal gear because the regulations would not allow the shipment of personal effects with the motorcycle. This was not totally bad news as there had been some doubt whether the airline could actually ship the motorcycle to the USA.

I unpacked everything that did not pertain directly to riding or fixing the bike. Mostly this was camping gear and personal clothing. That done, I rode the 20 odd miles to the airport cargo area.

I noted my mileage and I was 135 miles short of 15,000 miles on this trip.

I removed the windshield and mirrors to present a smaller package since I will have to pay for the cube of the bike.

I then helped guy prepare his bike for shipment tom Australia and waited my turn. Once we rolled my bike onto the shipping pallet, I removed the front wheel and let the air out of the tires. The tie down and shrink wrapping of the bike went fast.

I then caught a taxi back to Dakar Motos where I sorted and repacked the items I removed from the bike. My wish was to ship everything except a small backpack and a small bag with the bike. I really did not want to check any luggage on my fight. But not to be.

Now I had to evaluate what I was going to do since checking more than one bag incurs extra charges from the airline. I have at least two bags worth of stuff to pack. I decided I would donate my sleeping bag, bed sheet, mosquito net, slippers and anti-monkey butt powder to Dakar Motos. The sum value of these items are not worth the price I would have to pay for extra baggage. Now I am down to one bag I will have to check plus the original two I intend to carry on board.

Tomorrow morning I have to catch the train to downtown and pay the $1387.00 for shipping and then pick up my airway bill. After that I am free to catch another taxi to the airport and wait for my 9:30 p.m. flight to Huntsville via Atlanta - not cheap.