The day finally arrived when I had to put my motorbike in a crate and leave it in a warehouse whilst Brazilian customs decide its fate. The sales manager (Victor) of my Brazilian shipping agents came with me to make sure I found the location and everything ran smoothly. This meant an early start because I had to ride to his office in the centre of Sao Paulo (10 miles) by 8.ooam so I could follow him in his car to the crating company in Santos (50 miles away) by 9.30am. Fortunately Sao Paulo’s motorcyclists ride like manics* so cars generally try to give them a wide berth. Sometimes enough for me to squeeze my bike with hard luggage through. This meant I only had to leave at 6.30am to cover the 10 miles to the office in 1.5 hours! Sao Paulo traffic is bad. We made it though and I’m pleased to say that no one lost a wing mirror or had their car scratched.
I removed the battery, windscreen and wing mirrors and then left them to it. Well, left them to it if you call “leaving them to it” hovering around, taking photos and intervening if I thought they were doing something that might harm the bike… Generally being a nuisance. Having said that. If I hadn’t intervened a couple of times they would have put my bike on its centre-stand. They also would have strapped the bike down (not using the centre-stand) to the full depression of the suspension. Again a potentially bad thing for a motorbike in transit. For those that are interested Horizons Unlimited give good crating instructions.
Photos below.
Measuring up.
Strapped down and ready for the rest of the crate. 
Many men with hammers.
Taking it out to the lorry for transportation to the warehouse.
On the lorry for the 5 mile journey to the warehouse. The most expensive 5 miles this motorbike has ever travelled (see costs below).
Now for the costs…
- Authenticating paperwork for Brazilian customs = R$150 / GBP56 / USD85 (This has increased form my previous post because customs have since asked for more documents. Looks like the fun and games have already begun.)
- Crating the bike (see above) = R$1200 / GBP450 / USD680
- Moving the crated motorbike by lorry from the crating company to the warehouse = R$430 / GBP160 / USD245 (yes, that’s GBP33 per mile!)
- Brazilian Customs clearance and moving it from the warehouse onto the ship = R$1190 / GBP450 / USD675
- Sailing it from Santos to Tilbury = R$219 / GBP82 / USD124
- UK Customs clearance and getting it off the ship and onto the road at Tilbury = R$930 / GBP350 / USD527 (although not confirmed yet)
Giving a nice and juicy total of around R$4120 / GBP1550 / USD2335
Of course, if you wanted to crate and deliver the motorbike to the warehouse yourself (as many people do) you could reduce this by about 40%.
I can supply a more detailed breakdown of the costs for anyone that needs them and I’ll also update the horizons unlimited shipping database when I actually finish the process. (ie. I have ridden my motorbike out of Tilbury docks.)
I can’t tell you how effective they have been in exporting my motorbike from Brazil yet, because I won’t know until 25th March, but I can tell you that my shipping agents in Brazil have provided great customer service. When needed, they have come in person to translate and ensure the various processes are completed correctly (e.g. paperwork authentication and motorbike crating). They have also explained as much as they can about the intricacies of the export process and why it’s such a nightmare to import/export to/from this country. Their contact details are below (along with the crating company I used).
Nothing to do but wait now. So the plan is this; horse racing in Sao Paulo this weekend, then off to the Amazon for 10 days – including a 5 day trek into the jungle, back for a wedding in Minas the following weekend, then proper site seeing in Sao Paulo before heading back to Blighty at the beginning of April. Starting to get a little anxious about that last bit…
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* On average there are 25 motorcycle accidents and 1 motorcyclist death a day in Sao Paulo. The highest in Brazil.
Shipping Agent in Sao Paulo – Santos – Brazil.
Contact: Victor Hugo, Overseas Brasil (Transporte e Logistica Ltda.).
victor.mello<AT>overseasbrasil.com.br
+55 11 27293460
www.overseasbrasil.com.br
Shipping motorbike from Brazil. Shipping motorbike to Brazil. Brazil shipping agent. Freight forwarder Brazil. Shipping motorbike from Brasil. Shipping motorbike to Brasil. Brasil shipping agent. Freight forwarder Brasil.
Crating company in Santos – Brazil
Contact: Cesar Pacheco, Export Paletizacao.
export<AT>cmg.com.br
+55 13 32321231
www.export-paletizacao.com.br
Crating motorbike in Santos. Motorbike crate. Santos. Brazil. Brasil.
Tags: brazil, brazilian customs, customs, motorbike, motorbike shipping, motorcycle, santos, sao paulo, shipping, shipping agent, warehouse
Hey, Thanks for that blog, it helped me in my quest to find a freight agent . . I’m attempting the same sort of thing, though a car this time . . I’ve already contacted Victor . . Hope all worked out for you, thanks again for the help . . Gareth
Great info on your pages, I have contacted Victor as i want to ship a VRod back from the Uk to Brasil, I have lived in Brasil for seven years and have heard many horror stories about 100% import taxes when arriving. I wanted to try and see if its worth while shipping or forgetting it ever existed.
Just want to add my bit and maybe you have some usefull info on getting a bike to Brasil.
All the Best
James
Hi James, Form what I’ve heard about people trying to get anything into Brasil (as a few of my friends have moved out there) is don’t bother. Sell what you can in the UK and buy what you need in Brasil. Unfortunately, if It isn’t readily available in Brasil then perhaps look for something similar. It took me 2-3 months to get a bike out. It could easily take 12 months – never to get anything in. Good luck. Thanks, Ollie
Ollie,
thanks for the feedback, a bit of a delay in getting back to this site, I am now trying to get a 1950s BSA back to Brasil, there are some lawr pertaining to antique bikes. Once I know all the details I will leave them on your blog (nice blog by the way).
Hope all is going well for you and thanks for taking the time.
Abracos
James
http://trade.gov/wcm/groups/internet/@trade/@mas/@man/@aai/documents/web_content/auto_reports_tradebarriers.pdf
Worth reading if thinking if thinking of importing to any South American Country.
James