It has now been over a week since I returned to Canada from Germany. I departed Frankfurt Germany along with my motorcycle.
I spent 3 days in Frankfurt Germany getting the motorcycle prepared for its journey back to Canada. I had no time to spend in playing tourist as I was busy getting bike ready for trip back to Canada. I had already made arrangements with Air Canada Cargo over a month ago to have the motorcycle air freighted from Frankfurt Germany to Montreal.
I spent a full two days getting the bike cleaned up. I know that both Agriculture Canada and Customs Canada would be involved in the process of clearing my motorcycle back into the country and did not want to chance that some over zealous inspector would refused to release my motorcycle because they found some clump of dirt or insect fragment struck to the bike I remember once returning from a trip to the Bahamas and having one of my running shoes confiscated because they found some tar like substance stuck to the bottom of the shoe.
View of downtown Frankfurt as viewed from my hotel room I am not sure what is going on with all the buildings being adorned with colored cones??
The process for shipping the motorcycle back from Germany to Canada was similar to that I experienced I had when I first flew the bike from Montreal to Dublin Ireland.
First thing I had to do was to Contact Air Canada Cargo office in Frankfurt Germany . Both my bike and myself would be retuning to Canada on the same day. The motorcycle would be shipped out on an earlier more direct flight from Frankfurt to Montreal. I would fly out a few hours later, taking AC flight from Frankfurt – Toronto – Montreal. The AC Cargo agent told me that if both bike and myself arrived as scheduled, I should be able to get the bike cleared through Canada Customs on the same day.
AC Cargo told me to drop the bike off at their Cargo facility, located at the Frankfurt Intl airport. Frankfurt Airport is a very large airport. The AC offices are found by entering through gate 26 (TOR 26) which is just west of Terminal 1 and 2. Entrance to the airport cargo facilities is restricted, so you need to sign in with the main control office which is to your immediate right as you enter the entrance to gate 26. The Air Canada Cargo building is at 455a, just turn left along the main road once your pass through the security barrier.
Before I could drop off the bike at Air Canada Cargo I had to first get a dangerous goods certificate for the bike. AC Cargo gave me the name of a DG agent ( Deufol – 638 Cargo City Sud) the company is located on the south side of the airport. I contacted Deufol a week before coming to Frankfurt, they had the paper work prepared in advance of my arrival. For that piece of paper they charge me 40 euros ($60.00 Cdn), cheaper than the $100.00 I was charged when I first fly the bike over to Ireland.
I was surprised to learn that the cost of sending my bike back to Canada was the same as what I paid to first ship it over to Ireland. When I first discussed the details of the ” Fly Your Bike” promotion with Air Canada representatives, I was told that the low fares only applied to flights from Canada to Europe and not between Europe and North America, but apparently it must, as I was charged the same rate on the return shipment.
To get the special Air Canada promotion rate, you must book your return flight with Air Canada. If you do not, they will charge you an extra $400.00 to the cost of your bike shipment. I got hosed by Air Canada when trying to arrange a flight back to Montreal. Air Canada as does many of the major airlines, charge a huge premium on single flight bookings on their major international routes. I landed up booking a return ticked from Frankfurt to Montreal as the cost of a single fare between Frankfurt and Montreal was twice that of a return ticket.
The day before I was scheduled to fly out, I dropped the bike off at the Air Canada building, I signed a few more documents, paid them a bunch money, they gave me a Waybill number for the cargo shipment, and that was it! There was a bike in the cargo holding area that was just shipped back from the US t Frankfurt. They just load the bike on the aluminum pallet, and then secure it to the pallet using 4- 5 ratchet straps.
In Air Canada Cargo facility at Frankfurt airport, getting motorcycle prepped for shipment back to Canada
Motorcycles are strapped down to an aluminum pallet for loading onto airplane
I flew out the next day, I arrived in Montreal early in the afternoon. I had no idea where the Air Canada customs facility was. I managed to track down a customs agent at the airport who made a few phone calls and located my motorcycle. Canada customs has a warehouse facility a few kilometers from the main airport, I was directed to go there. It should have only taken 10 minutes to get there by taxi but my driver was a bit clueless in trying to find his way over to the Canada Customs office, he initially try to drop me off in front of a vacant lot, insisting that this was the right address as directed by his company’s GPS unit. I pulled out my own GPS and proceeded to direct him the correct location. No tip for you !!
Once I was at the Canada Custom office, it was just a matter of making a custom declaration on the bike and all the contents that were stored in the side panniers. I was in and out of the office in about 15 minutes with the customs release form. I handed this off to one of the Air Canada cargo reps and 10 minutes later my bike was delivered to the front loading door. The whole process was pretty painless, no high drama.
The Canada Customs office, just down the hallway to the left, only about a 15 minute walk
Once back in Montreal I headed back to my home in Ottawa. I have decided to take a hiatus from my tour and attend to some personal matters, I am relocating from Ottawa to Fredericton, New Brunswick. I sold my house in Ottawa before my trip and have now downsized to a condo in Fredericton. My travels will continue but instead of travelling for extended months at a time I may instead restrict my travels to 3 or 4 weeks at a time instead. The world is a big place, no need to try and see it all at once.
Ride4Adventure 