Moving to Vancouver - help!!! | GTAMotorcycle.com

Moving to Vancouver - help!!!

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wowren

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I will be moving to Vancouver at the end of this week to start a new job. It's been a pretty hectic past few days because I only got the job offer last week and I need to start very soon so I've been frantically searching for apartments to stay at, packing etc. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with my bike.

I have a 2011 ninja 250 which I'm considering to bring with me but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. http://www.motorcycleshippers.com/ has a quote for $951 to ship it over but that's already around 20% of the total bike cost when I purchased it, so I'm not sure if that would be a smart decision. It's way too expensive for me considering my bike is an arguably cheap one. Is that how much it normally costs? Anyone know cheaper alternatives?

If there are no other options then do you think dealers would still be willing to purchase my bike seeing as how it's winter? I called kahuna today but they're closed so I couldn't get an answer. Also how much do you think I'd get for it?

The bike is just under 3000km and is in very good condition. I also did all my services at kahuna.

This is a rather urgent matter so any help from the community is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Try uship maybe?
 
Yeah I've put my ad on uship, but it'll take at least 5 days before the bids come in, and I'll already be gone by then ><
 
You could leave it with a friend or family while you try and figure out the shipping.

Other options that come to mind:

Rent a uhaul of some sort and drive it out with the rest of your belongings
Put an ad on Craigslist or Kijiji and see if someone can take it there for you.

Good luck btw, planning on moving there myself.
 
If you are stuck for a place to store it, my garage has room in it. I also have a battery tender that can be used. This won't be a permanent solution but give you time to sort out what to do with it (ride it out, ship it... sell it etc.).
 
1) Store it somewhere in the meantime. Preferably free at a buddy's or family member's?
2) Buy a 1-way ticket to Toronto when you're coming back
3) Take a cross-Canada trip on your Ninja from YYZ to YVR!

wowren said:
I will be moving to Vancouver at the end of this week to start a new job. It's been a pretty hectic past few days because I only got the job offer last week and I need to start very soon so I've been frantically searching for apartments to stay at, packing etc. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with my bike.

I have a 2011 ninja 250 which I'm considering to bring with me but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. http://www.motorcycleshippers.com/ has a quote for $951 to ship it over but that's already around 20% of the total bike cost when I purchased it, so I'm not sure if that would be a smart decision. It's way too expensive for me considering my bike is an arguably cheap one. Is that how much it normally costs? Anyone know cheaper alternatives?

If there are no other options then do you think dealers would still be willing to purchase my bike seeing as how it's winter? I called kahuna today but they're closed so I couldn't get an answer. Also how much do you think I'd get for it?

The bike is just under 3000km and is in very good condition. I also did all my services at kahuna.

This is a rather urgent matter so any help from the community is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
revrandy said:
If you are stuck for a place to store it, my garage has room in it. I also have a battery tender that can be used. This won't be a permanent solution but give you time to sort out what to do with it (ride it out, ship it... sell it etc.).
Click to expand...

Thank you for the offer, however storage isnt a problem. It's currently stored in my parent's garage while the battery sits in their basement hooked on to a tender. The problem is that I'm quite sure that I won't be back to Toronto for at least a year so I really want to either bring it with me to Vancouver or sell it right now instead of letting it it sit in the garage for that long.

I tried calling several dealers and they all seem to be closed for christmas :( so anyone know approximately how much dealers might offer for this bike?

@regder I thought of that but I already bought a flight ticket, so I will not be driving there
 
Keep it until the spring and sell it. Or sell it now and take the immediate cash.

If you plan on staying for about a year, I would try and sell the bike now and pickup something similar when you arrive. You may end up paying the difference on a new bike as you would to have it shipped, based on the estimates you provided, however you'd be up a new (used) bike. Something different to whip around on for the year you're there.

The challenging part may be selling your bike while you're not around. May not be the best option if you don't have someone knowledgeable you can trust to do so.

Also helps that it's a commodity bike, so it would be easy to sell. Depends on what sort of time and money you've put into it, and what it's worth to you. Bit of a pickle; good luck!
 
I bought my first bike off a guy in Sweden. I'd recommend signing all the paperwork - Uvip, ownership and leaving with your parents. Put up ads on kijiji, have the buyers talk to you over email/ phone. Let them negotiate with you over the phone, when they come see the bike. Good luck :)
 
karentsang said:
1) Store it somewhere in the meantime. Preferably free at a buddy's or family member's?
2) Buy a 1-way ticket to Toronto when you're coming back
3) Take a cross-Canada trip on your Ninja from YYZ to YVR!
Click to expand...

This. You can easily do 600 kms a day. It will get you there in a week, and you get to ride through the mountains. I would even take a few days extra to do more roads in alberta and BC. Ontario to Alberta is 'blast'able.
 
wowren wtf? you are moving????

wow...any ways....

no one has said that you can actually store the bike in ur mom's place for a year yet....

make sure u empty the tank and the float bowl. oil the sparkplugs and coat the inside of the tank with oil.

if u make it back after a year do the one way ticket thing and ride it back

good luck in your new job man!
 
@Sid thanks

Im considering just shipping it over, i got an offer from uship for $800. But ive never used uship before so im not sure how the bids work yet. You can choose to have 6 month insurance in vancouver instead of whole year like toronto. And premiums are generally cheaper there so i kinda really wanna ship it over. Just looking for the cheapest method now
 
regder said:
You could leave it with a friend or family while you try and figure out the shipping.

Other options that come to mind:

Rent a uhaul of some sort and drive it out with the rest of your belongings
Put an ad on Craigslist or Kijiji and see if someone can take it there for you.

Good luck btw, planning on moving there myself.
Click to expand...

Hey! I just move to Vancouver. I had to sell my Ducati and it was the hardest thing ever. I ended up getting a steal of a deal in a new Honda. Bike are much cheaper out here. The road are better and insurance is comparable.


I was gonna ship my Ducati but it really isn't worth it.

welcome to vancity!! If you don't know many people,neither so we so hit me up. I have a new bike and the roads are killer!!!

Pm for more details (living, costs, ect)
m

Dustin
 
I kinda like the uhaul idea, if you get one of those unicell vans, you can wheel the bike up the ramp, strap it down then put the rest of your stuff in it !! .

Not a bad idea at all !
 
If you want you can drop the bike at my place and store it with my 2 for now.
My good good friend is working in alberta but owns his house here and drives out every couple of months. Im sure he can run the bike to edmonton for you and just drive the rest of the way your self.

he has 3 or 4 trucks and normaly drives a big dodge so it would fit.
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