Transporting Your Motorcycle(s) - Universal Thread.

[danny king]

I still remember the pain I had to go through when I transported my FZ, that too, thrice. From Hyd to Thrissur (my home town) by train as luggage and Thrissur to Hyd by truck. And finally from Hyd to Thiruvanathapuram. Here's my experience in detail:

Hyd to Thrissur by train (Apr 2009):
First, I inquired at Hyderabad Deccan railway station about the procedures of transporting by train. The officials said it would be better if I transported the bike as luggage because priority is for passengers luggage. For that I had to present a valid journey ticket in original and a copy of the RC along with a duly filled in booking application form. To and from address should have the owner's name. Charges would depend on the CC of the bike and distance. Packing, loading etc is our own responsibility. Fuel tank must be emptied. Packing guys were just outside the parcel office. Packing charges INR 200. No bargaining. If you do, be prepared to bear the consequences ie. no proper packing, no guarantee that the bike will be loaded on to the train.
The only train available was Sabari Express.
I delivered my bike a day in advance from the journey date. Packing was done with used cardboard, jute sacks, and used cloth for stuffing. They removed the rear-view mirrors, emptied the fuel tank. There were four 1 litre bottles of petrol, they took 2 and I got back 2. After packing, only the tyres were exposed, everything else was packed. Good job.
Next, booking the 'luggage'. I was the sixth in line. It took me an irritating, 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach the official's desk.
I got a pink coloured receipt called the Luggage Ticket aka LT. Charges: INR 1500. INR 30 for the guy who marks the LT booking number and journey details on the packed material.
Next day, I arrived an hour in advance. Found the packing guy after a long search. He pushed my bike to the luggage van at the rear of the train. INR 30 for that. And Sabari was unusually long. 25 coaches!! Another 100 for the loading guys. The bike was loaded and I was at peace.
Next day, at Shoranur, I moved to the compartment that was close to the luggage van. Finally, at Thrissur railway station, I jumped out and ran to the luggage van, to make the unloading guys unload my bike. It was then that I saw the most shocking sight. My bike was near the door. It was leaning on to the side shelf. On my bike, a Honda Unicorn. And 6 huge thermo crates of fish were stacked on top of both the bikes. The luggage van packed tight. The guys were frantically pushing and shoving the crates on to the platform. One of them broke and the contents spilled out. I told them to unload my bike. They said they will try. The 5 minutes stop was over and the train chugged on to its destination with my bike on board. All I could do was helplessly look on.
I finally got my bike after another 10 days, my dad had to call his friend in the railways.
Unloading and unpacking: INR 150.
The bike was covered in scratches and impressions from the packing materials and also had a broken number plate.
Total Cost: INR 2200 including miscellaneous expenses and hell lot of pain.

I am not going to talk about the other two experiences.....they were almost the same.

My bike still carries the AP registration number. The police in TVM seems ok with having vehicles from other states. I guess its because of Technopark. They primarily look out for guys without helmets and drunk drivers.
AP registered vehicles are extremely rare here. Common ones (apart from KL) I've seen are TN, KA, MH, DL.

Recently, I read in the newspaper that a registration number portability scheme would be introduced for vehicles.

[kinshuk.arya]

^^^^ had an exactly opposite experience of what you had....

the bike loaded on the train and unloaded at the correct time without any scratches or damage... total cost: 300 packing and loading, 1200 transport charges, no bribes nothing, the only thing i did was to take the bike to the station and wait there till the train arrived....

[Revverend]

I have tried to answer your queries with a limited knowledge I have.
I hope it gives you some clear idea than to confuse you.





There are multiple options you have as following.

[# 1] Zholer way of survival
Any outside registered vehicle is given 3 months time in MH to either re-register or pay road tax in MH state. To survive for 3 months, you need to produce proof (petrol bill, toll tax receipt etc) proving your bike came to MH state not before 3 months. So, if you can manage to get a new such (forged of course) proof every 3 months, you can getaway easily by producing such a proof (with all other valid documents) & a little sweet talk. This is recommended for shorter stays, though people can take risk as long as they want.

[# 2] Pay road tax only
It is suggested to those who wish to use bike in different state for quite some time, but hope to move out of it with bike at later point of time. It is less costly & safe option. Only problem is, you may be stopped suspecting a potential prey quite a lot. You need to bear all original documents such as RC, PUC, Insurance & purchase invoice. Total road tax to be paid depends on age + cc of your bike. Also, no octroi needs to paid but NOC is needed from registered state.

[# 3] Re-registration
This is suggested to those people who are moving to different state & might sell bike there. It needs NOC from original state, all original documents & octroi receipt. You have to pay road tax for that state (see above). You get a different registration number for you vehicle & your vehicle is unregistered from previous state. Since it involves - New registration number + Road tax + octroi; it becomes a costly affair. So it is recommended only to those who are sure that they will reside in new state permanently or might end up in selling their vehicle. A good thing about it is, you get currently registered state's road tax back after some deductions. It is confirmed!

[#4] Temporary registration
By this you can register your bike for no more than 30 days. This could be renewed till 1 year. But you will have to renew it every month which I feel not so good. After a year, you have to opt for #2 or #3. I read it in Bengaluru RTO site & I am not sure if such option is available anywhere else.

You can as well opt for #2 as long as you keep vehicle with you and opt for #3 subsequently when you wish to sell your vehicle. It is absolutely fine to do so.

Please confirm all this information from respective RTO websites.
I may be wrong as well.

Of course, anything that deals with govt authority is clumsy & time consuming.
Moreover, I have seen a guy fighting system for 6 months to get his DL issued without bribing them.

So as long as you have time to follow things up & energy to run behind those officers, you can do it on your own. Otherwise simply head to an agent who would charge you commission.

A word of caution -
1. Prefer an agent who is known to you friends / acquaintances / colleagues at new place to have peace of mind.
2. Take as much time as you can & try to understand system which is actually clumsy & tedious. Don't rely on agents too much. Meanwhile, avoid taking bike on road. Of course first 3 months, you can enjoy your ride.
3. Better you come alone first, gather all information, decide which option suits more to you & then get your bike.

I have collected all this information from Bangalore/Bengaluru RTO site as even I might be moving to MH soon.

Bold & italic text was recently updated

Hey there.I totally forgot about my post here.Thanks for taking the pains to gather all this information and various options available out there.Well here is what i had go through while transporting my bike from chennai to pune. I ve got the formalities done in pune through an agent who does all the RTO work and works in our company.

If you planning to bring your bike down from chennai to pune.Here's what you have to do.

1. Get an NOC from your registering RTO in chennai.This process includes a trip to the commissioner's office in egmore and a lil running around the RTO.The whole process would take 5-7 days and if done the right way without greasing any hands,it should cost you around a hundred bucks.Your bike might be required for verifying chassis prints.

2. Two copies of NOC ( Form 28) will be given to you by your registering RTO along with a stamp on your RC saying NOC issued for RTO/Pune- Maharashtra Region.

3.Transport your bike to pune now and you ll have to pay the following taxes here.

a. Road Tax - Lifetime ( 7% of your bike value)
b. State entry tax (1% of your bike value) - If your bike is less than 3 yrs old.
c. Octroi (1 % of your bike value)

4. If your bike will be here for less than a year,then you need not change the registration , but if you intend to keep the bike for more than a year registration has to be changed from TN to MH (you cannot escape this).

5.After applying for a MH registration no., the number will be allocated to you within 45 days along with a smart card.

This will be the whole process in brief. For the procedures to be done in pune,I'd recommend you get it done with an agent as there are lot of forms to be filled up and you ll have to go to three different places to pay the taxes mentioned above. There are a lot of hassles in getting this whole process done and it costed me around 7.5 k excluding the transport of the vehicle form chennai to pune which costed around 3k.

And if you avoid all this and bring the bike to pune and ride around,well the cops here will give you a tough time if they catch you.you Would require the following documents for the whole process.

Passport photos (Always have a bunch of them)
Original RC
Two issued NOC's ( Both in Original)
Original PUC
Valid Insurance
Address Proof
Identity Proof

My personal recommendation would be to sell off the bike in chennai itself,unless you have a strong attachment or a reason not to do so.

I hope this information will be useful for others.

Adios
Godspeed

[Pinaki]

I have a question about transfer of ownership for a bike I am buying from a close friend , didn't want to start up a new thread . It was originally purchased under a loan-scheme , which is now fully paid up . He has got the completed form 35 from the finance-company but not registered that yet with RTO (kolkata) . All other papers are present and up to date .
Now I want to take the bike from him and register it in my name at the same RTO in kolkata . What are the things I need to do and what would be the approximate cost for all this . He says I don't even need to register and can continue riding it with just a written permission from him , to that effect . Is that correct ? Please help quickly .. anyone familiar with the process at Kolkata RTO specifically ?

[blisteringintelligence]

Hi Guys,

I want to transport my Yamaha Rx135 from Delhi to Guwahati.
I contacted GATI and they said they do not transport motorcycles.
I contacted Agarwal p&m and they quoted me 8000 + taxes, which i think is BS

yesterday, another P&M company "Speed packers and Movers" located in Noida contacted me and quoted around 4000. Is this company credible. should i go for the deal?

Pls. shed some insight...


Cheers!!!

[Pinaki]

Hi Guys,
I want to transport my Yamaha Rx135 from Delhi to Guwahati.
I contacted GATI and they said they do not transport motorcycles.
I contacted Agarwal p&m and they quoted me 8000 + taxes, which i think is BS
yesterday, another P&M company "Speed packers and Movers" located in Noida contacted me and quoted around 4000. Is this company credible. should i go for the deal?
Pls. shed some insight...
Cheers!!!

You could transport it by Indian Railways parcel-van of any scheduled train , cheaply and safely . It is easy to do so if the bike is already registered in your ownership and ownership papers are clear . Enquire with your nearest railway station manager . I have seen this done several times . Infact , this is what most of these P&M guys do , afterwards of taking your money .

[hellraiSEr]

Hello friends.. It has been quite sometime that I purchased a bike (A white RTR 180) from Chennai. And now, I have even shifted to Noida. So, here is the procedure/hassle/tension that one has to undergo to ensure a safe transit of the bike :

Transferring a bike from Chennai to Delhi

NOC
For driving a bike registered in one state in another, one has to procure a NOC from the RTO where the bike was registered. For me, this was the Thiruvanmiyur RTO. The RTO people are very friendly and helpful. You dont have to go to any broker for getting the NOC. Upon entering the premises, I came across the website from which I downloaded the Form 28 which is required for transfer. The site is very slow, and downloading was a bit of a bother. Hence, for the sake of convenience I am going to attach the form here itself.

For getting the NOC, the following documents are required :

1. 3 copies of Form 28 with the Chassis number of the vehicle traced on each of the forms (In the RTR, the Chassis number is located on the right hand side of the handle bar just near the fuel tank. And it is a damn difficult place to get it traced).
2. Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate in the original (Takes Rs. 30 to get it done. Can be done at any petrol bunk or at the Service Center).
3. RC Book or Smart card in the original
4. Insurance papers photocopy
5. Driving Licence photocopy
6. Proof of residence (Passport / Bonafide letter from HR / Voters ID Card / PAN Card)
7. Police verification of the vehicle (More on this later)

With all the above documents one can apply for the NOC. It is not neccessary to bring the bike, as physical verification of the same is not done. In the Thiruvanmiyur RTO, the documents are accepted from 10am to 1pm Mon-Fri. A nominal charge of Rs. 50 is collected at the time of submitting the forms, and it takes 1 week to get the NOC.

Police Verification
In Chennai, Police verification of the bike is done at the Commissioner's office at Egmore.

They accept the forms from 10am to 1pm and the Police verification form is given on the same day from 5pm till 6pm. The following documents are required for applying for Police verification :

1. Requisition letter addressed to AC, CRB (Crime Records Bureau), Chennai.
2. Enquiry from (available from the CRB building in Commissioner's office).
3. Copy of RC book / Smart card.
4. Copy of Insurance (valid period)
5. Copy of the Driving Licence of the RC owner
6. Copy of Residential proof (Ration card / PAN Card / DL / Passport first page / Bonafide letter from HR / Bank Pass book).

Residential proof of Chennai is required. If PAN card / Ration card / Bank pass book is used, it should be from Chennai itself. Else, it would be rejected. The original police verification form is required at the time of applying for NOC.
Contact number at CRB office - 044-42148585 / 044-28517688.


Booking it in Train
Among the 10 trains for Delhi, Duronto and Rajdhani take less than 30 hours. Rest all are 30+. Hence, I had the option of Rajdhani and Duronto. But on enquiry, I found out that Rajdhani had a Luggage van, but Duronto hadn't. So, Rajdhani it was. Bike can be transferred in two ways. Either as personal luggage (on the same train) or normally, in which case they would send it on the next possible train to Delhi, not neccessarily in the train in which you are travelling. As per suggestions, it is always safe to take the bike in the same train, and watch it being loaded and unloaded. Atleast, it would be safer that way. It took me Rs. 1800 for the luggage charge (after declaring the bike cost to be Rs. 40,000), and Rs. 750 towards packing and loading charges. The petrol tank would be emptied before packing, and whatever petrol is recovered would be taken by the potters under some pretext or the other. So, better empty it yourself, or ensure that the least amount of petrol remains in the tank. Make sure you have the train ticket at the time of issuing the luggage ticket, as it is verified at that time. A pink piece of paper with some details would be given, which is required to claim the luggage at the end station.

After the Rs. 750 for packing and loading, they would charge another Rs. 100 to book it (bribe). But even after that, it is better to reach the station when the potters are loading the bike so that you can make sure the bike is loaded properly and no heavy luggage is placed on the tank. Have Rs. 50 notes handy, and give it to the potter after making sure they have kept it properly. Move only after you are sure that there is no more luggage to be loaded, and the bike is loaded properly. Its better to remove the rear view mirrors and indicators if possible. Chances are that, they might be damaged. Also, the first aid kit and the tool kit should be removed, and carried separately. Else, they might 'get lost'.

On reaching the station, make sure to reach the luggage van as the train stops, and make sure that the bike is unloaded properly. And, as before, keep Rs. 50 notes handy. The pink slip needs to be shown at the Luggage counter at the destination. They make an entry in a register, and a white paper with some details would be given. This paper needs to be verified by the RPF, and the bike is then safe to be taken off the platform.

Rest assured, that if you follow these steps properly, you would have a safe transit. As I don't even have a working knowledge of Tamil, it would have been a nightmare doing everything. But thanks to fellow xbhpian, Suriya who came all the way to the station and helped me with everything. I wonder how I could have managed everything without his help. Thanks again to Suriya.

Hope this information helps someone in need.

[truelypulsarian]

Iam shifting to vizag from hyderabad for my PG so whats the best way of transporting my 220 without any damages & scratches reply asap is it safe by train? or any other modes of transportation.

[TheDazzler]

Hi Guys,

I want to transport my Yamaha Rx135 from Delhi to Guwahati.
I contacted GATI and they said they do not transport motorcycles.
I contacted Agarwal p&m and they quoted me 8000 + taxes, which i think is BS

yesterday, another P&M company "Speed packers and Movers" located in Noida contacted me and quoted around 4000. Is this company credible. should i go for the deal?

Pls. shed some insight...


Cheers!!!

hey blisteringintelligence agarwal p&m are the best in class. why i am saying this is because i got my bike delivered through them from Mumbai to Bangalore. Obviously the charge was different,However the service was way to excellent they have sent a 407 tempo at my place and then they packed the bike in front of my dad. my dad had taken some pics while they were packing, and i got the bike delivered as it was packed and was unpacked infront of me.
Bike was intact after delivery..
amount of fuel left in bike was intact..
Plus had my helmet and bike cover packed along with it..
no damages not even a single scratch anywhere...
was delivery before the promised max number of days which in case was only 5 day to transport from my home to Bangalore.
Only additional cost i paid was 100 tip for the delivery

similarly my friend from jaipur who also joined the same company had got his bike couriered through some other P&M. spent same amount of money...it took them 10day to get the vehicle in Bangalore..plus he had to get it picked up himself from the P&M's office adding another 300 rupess of local rickshaw transport... Plus had a broken headlight and was not given any compensation for that.. Plus petrol tank was dry where as the person who witnessed the bike getting packed said that there was almost 3 liters of petrol in that which he had kept in case if my friend needs it at unpacking point..

end of story i rate agarwal P&M 10 on10 for the service..

[shivank]

Bike lost!

Had a very painful,annoying,irritating and saddening railways journey of my life yesterday!

Two months back I rode my bike all the way to Dehradun from Noida(~250km).It took me 5-odd hours to reach there.Dehradun is my home-town and as I was there for the summer internship and vacation my parents didn't scold me much!

Come yesterday,I have to take my bike back to Noida from Dehradun.I could definitely ride back but my dad won't agree because a).It's raining constantly and b).The 'Kaavad' Menace is all over the places! Delhi-Haridwar route is almost closed.If I were to ride the bike back I had to take the long route from Dehradun-Paonta Sahib-Karnal-Panipat-Delhi.It was just a 70-80km more than the usual route but I had no idea of this road as I would have been riding the first time there.

Usually,I don't listen to my parents' biking advices! But this time they made a lot more sense than usual.I decided to board a train and take the bike along as a luggage.As past experiences of motorcycle transfer from railways have been pretty good,I reserved a ticket in 'tatkal' (urgent) class and went for it.That was definitely one of the biggest mistakes of my life as yet for sure!

After packing the bike and doing the needful I successfully managed to load the bike into the train.Chamber was closed in front of my eyes and now I wait for the Nizamuddin Railway Station,New Delhi where I unload my bike.I was warned by the station master to be there at the time of unloading otherwise the bike will go along with the train( It was loaded in Dehradun-Mumbai Express,train halts in Nizamuddin for 1 hour and I had to unload my bike during this time only).As soon as I reached Nizamuddin I rushed towards the Luggage boggy.It was still all sealed and no 'babu' was to be found nearby.After almost 15-20 minutes an official arrives to take the luggage out.He had a labor along.The labor tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.I had called two of friends for help earlier so they were there as well.All four of us tried but it didn't move even by a centimeter.To this the labor concludes that the door is locked from inside.That means,the door from the track-side is opened! Can you believe this? So many retards working in our country! The door from Platform side is closed whereas from the track side it's open.Suicidal!

After the door was forced open,I get a sight of the upcoming disaster! The boggy was loaded to the gills with mangoes,vegetables and lots and lots and LOTS of rubbish! My bike was not at all visible .After a few minutes of inspection I find one of the tires.I mean,I get a sight of it between tonnes of rubbish! I don't know how much of it is left now!

The official refused to take the bike out as they would have to unload the whole chamber.We fought hard with the officials and then the other two Railways chiefs on this.They were like f***ing helpless morons! As if they don't know anything about railways.They were zero-percent co-operative throughout.Everyone of them blamed me for loading the bike on that train. Amidst all this fight,the train starts chuk-chuk and moves.The compartment is still open! It disappears in a few seconds and nobody does anything.

Now,the railway official was about to be thrashed by us guys.He was lucky that a police-waala was there otherwise I am sure he'd have been slapped hard! He was not only of no help but above all his inefficiency he had the audacity to abuse us guys.Three young college-goers against a fat man! I am sure things would have turned nasty if we were given chance or some free space.

After a lot of headache we now move to the Parcel department where one kind though again,inefficient man tried to convince us all.He said,the train would stop in Kota where all of the luggage would be unloaded.They will unload my bike too.It will come back in just one day.It was hard to believe in his words so I took a written apology mentioning his inefficiency and responsibility for my bike.He threw many tantrums but after another 15-20 minutes of duel he had to!

Today when I called him he asked me to call tomorrow! If it's not tomorrow then I am filing a complaint against all of them.If anybody knows where and how to rip their asses please let me know.Inefficient buggers like these just want to get off from any responsibility as quickly as possible..

Now,the lessons learnt from this trip:

-Don't be afraid of riding your bike to places.If you are destined to die or loose some bones someday it will happen no matter what! Forward this to all the people who are concerned about you as well.

-If you are sending your bike as a luggage.Pray hard to god because anything can happen anytime.Nobody,specially these railway retards, cares about your bike or your belongings.They would just load endlessly regardless of what's in there!

-Instead of the above two points if you still decide to transfer your bike in the railways,make sure that the station where the bike is to be unloaded is the last station for that particular train.Otherwise,you'd be left hanging in the middle.(exactly,like me!)

So,that's it! I don't know where my bike is as of now and,because it's all my mistake I think I have to suffer a lot.Imagine the moment if someday I find it back..Everything would be into pieces and scratches,I guess..

[vinchel]

Transporting FZ 16 by multi-axle volvo

hello all,
I wish to transfer my KL registered Fz 16 to Chennai by multi axle-volvo.... Is it safe? Please suggest some tips to keep the bike safe within the transport. The agent has told that the bike just needs to be put on center-stand inside the luggage compartment and all I have to to do is to remove the mirrors and empty the tank....

Any other things required?

[Noor]

Thread approved and merged

[vfire]

Entry tax Karnataka

My Ninja 650r was booked in Chennai, I have moved to Bangalore on a transfer. I hear mixed news about entry tax in karnataka. Will I have to pay entry tax if I take delivery in Chennai and ride to Blore and register in karnataka. Most google searches point to a 2009 high court judgement, appreciate any help, thanks in advance.

[R.S.G]

road tax in B'lore

Hi All,

I have taken my bike from Pune to B'lore. I have the NOC from my previous state RTO. What should I do next in Blore.
1. Should I only go for paying Road Tax(LTT), will that be enough?? I do not need to change my number then and any other registartion for Karnataka.
2.Go for a complete registration, number change, LTT etc in for Karnataka..

I would prefer the easiest way(I mean the less time and money consuming way).

Please help me with the process of this...

Thanks a lot

[Abhijeet Bhattacharjee]

Hi All,

I have taken my bike from Pune to B'lore. I have the NOC from my previous state RTO. What should I do next in Blore.
1. Should I only go for paying Road Tax(LTT), will that be enough?? I do not need to change my number then and any other registartion for Karnataka.
2.Go for a complete registration, number change, LTT etc in for Karnataka..

I would prefer the easiest way(I mean the less time and money consuming way).

Please help me with the process of this...

Thanks a lot

1. you'll have to pay lifetime tax (if already paid, ignore)
2. change address (form 33)
3. register your bike (form 20)

2+3 will cost you 7% of the price of your bike + Rs. 320 + bribe (if any), tax depends on how old ur bike is...