After returning from Asia in 2000, my tranny on my Kawasaki froze so I went and bought a new bike, A BMW 1150 GS. I was not able to travel on moto for a few years due to work, buying a house and non moto travel with my wife to other countries. But the moto travel "itch" was there. In 2005, I finally hopped on my bike and started riding south from San Francisco. I wanted to see how far I could make it with Ushuaia, Chile , The southern most town in the world being the target. I traveled all the way down the pacific coast of Mexico then cut inland toward Palenque. Then I put the bike on a little wood boat and crossed a river into Guatemala. I continued thru Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa rica, where I was run off the road by a semi. I was alright but my bike needed repairs. Luckily, I was near San Jose, Costa Rica where they had a BMW dealer. It took about a week but then I continued thru panama. At that point I decided I wanted to keep going but that was the end of the Pan American Highway due to to the Darien Gap, an impenetrable jungle between Panama and Colombia. So I put the moto and myself on a plane and flew to Ecuador, skipping Colombia. Ecuador and the Andes is spectacular riding. I continued on to Peru thru some of the most awesome sand dunes I've seen and into Lima. After some rest in Lima, I started riding south again. About a days ride south of Lima, I was almost run off the road again. At that point, I decided that I was exhausted and time to come home knowing I would return someday soon to finish my ride in South America. I shipped my moto and myself back to San Francisco from Lima, Peru.
Shipping the bike overseas can be a big task by itself, especially if you are shipping back home from a foreign land where the language barrier can be hugh obstacle. Its important to shop around because the shipping costs could vary by as much as 100 percent. Nippon Express quoted $1200 excluding crating costs. They also required I use fire proof wood for the crate. Ridiculous! Another company said I would need a Carnet de Passage certificate in order to clear customs. While it is true that many countries do indeed require a "Carnet", I know from experience and research that Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos do not recognize these documents. I finally settled on Great Way Shipping in South San Francisco. They charged me $500, San Francisco to Bangkok, with me crating and delivering the package. I will attempt to clear the bike myself thu Thai Customs. 
Crating the bike was simple since I'm a contractor and have all the tools including the trailer in which to deliver the package in. The plywood and 2x4s cost about $100. I started with the base and emphasized strength since this was the most important component of the box. I then put the base on the trailer and rode my bike onto the base with the help of my wife Wendy. The wind screen, mirrors and rear luggage box were removed to make the package smaller and thus cut costs. Straps were tied to the handle bar and secured to eyes hooks that were screwed to the floor. The front shocks were compressed partially during this process. I than proceeded to build the box around the base and bike. 2x4s were used to totally secure the bike within the box including one across the rear luggage rack, one thru the engine area adjacent to exhaust manifold and one over the cross bar of the handle bar. I then put my riding gear, helmet, extra parts and tires and sealed the top and delivered the package to the warehouse. Totally weight was 1009 pounds. Bon Voyage!
