7/10/14 10:05 AM

We will be relocating from Birmingham all the way to Tacoma in about a month, and I am faced with trying to figure out how to safely move the 10 bikes plus our tandem plus the extra wheelsets. Should I start hoarding bike boxes from the shop to pack in? Do I dare trust the movers to safely transport them?

Sparky, you made a similar move not too long ago. How did you pack everything?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

7/10/14 10:55 AM

If you have a car that can tow a modest size enclosed trailer or can rent a small box truck, I'd drive them there yourself. You can easily pack a bunch of bikes in a small trailer, padded with blankets between them, and also be able to move things the movers won't take (like liquor) or other things you don't trust them with.

7/10/14 11:02 AM

Dave- thanks, but we may be pulling our pop up camper already. I will keep it in mind though if we decide not to tow it.

7/10/14 11:03 AM

Another TTFer moving to the PNW? I sense a trend here.

7/10/14 11:09 AM

I put all the bike up in the front of the u-haul in the spot over the cab. Besides the u-haul moving blankies, I used every blanket, paint tarp, dog bed and blanket and a bunch of foam sections off a couch we were tossing in layers to protect them all laid flat. I had all the guitars layered similarly. But on top of other stuff in the u-haul. Get as many pads/moving blankets as you can. U-Haul did not charge us extra for triple moving blanket, I guess the 7 day 2800 mile charges gave them some wiggle room. ;) The Yamaha went in the trailer pulled behind with a bunch of other things stuffed in there...

NJ to TN move in 2002 I had the bike on wheels between stuff and managed damage, including to the VW Beetle in the then trailer I had bought.

the 2011 TN to PDX method netted zero damage.

Hope that helps

7/10/14 11:50 AM

When we moved from Wisconsin to Connecticut, the bikes went up in "Grandma's Attic" as the U-Haul folks refer to it. Carefully packed with blankets & c. The upright piano went in next and sort of sealed off that area. The guitars (there were only two at the time) rode in front with me, since we were spread out across multiple vehicles, and went with me every time we stopped.

7/10/14 12:09 PM

Yes, a strapped barrier of our wall unit locked it all up there. Grand ma attic, I could not recall what that was referred as. ;) Top of the wall unit was 6" from the roof, and I filled all the spaced paced with blanket/tarps.. yada..


In 2002 to TN, we bought a 8x22 trailer, I had a Ram full ton pickup. All the bikes laid flat on top of the boxes which where packet tight tight tight and about 3' off the floor max. All manor of blankets etc first.

If I had a bad enough stop though they would have flew. The U-haul would have survive a sudden stop better I'd say, the cargo that is...

When are you landing? I feel a PNW TTF ride coming on....

Walter, when are you out this way next?

7/10/14 12:17 PM

Towing the pop up with what? A 26' u-haul truck ?

We did a 17' V-10 E-450 cab truck and a 6x12 trailer. It was packed tight as balls. My experience is that tight is better when it comes to shifting cargo. Stability and damage better overall. Just watch you Gross weights of course.


I would have done a 26' truck, but getting the MC up in the taller truck without poor use of space VS sticking it in the trailer made no sense to us cost or otherwise. We wound up not getting charged for the trailer in the end anyway.


Thought: we traveled on Memorial Day weekend 2011. And the flat we got, and subsequent 7 hour delay made is have to pass up on a few stops. Like Devils tower and Yellowstone. We had both kids with us, and that does not happen much anymore. Now 24 and 28.

7/10/14 12:22 PM

We will be out there in mid August and hopefully will be able to come up for air by early September.

7/10/14 12:35 PM

We always called it the "Dog Box" when we took a truckload of pianos somewhere. Never heard it called Grandmas' attic.

7/10/14 12:55 PM

Birmingham to Tacoma, that's more of a diagonal...

7/12/14 3:13 PM

I don't have quite so many bikes as you do, Brian. So when I moved "cross country" (in Dan's definition, SF to NY, straight across), I packed up the cheaper bikes and let the mover handle them. But kept the most expensive bikes with me (I also use them during the move, need a bit of fun to break up the long drive)

Turned out the mover screwed up and lost a box! Not the one with bike stuff but something else. Moral of the story? Make sure you get insurance and receipts! I was made whole despite being somewhat under-insured.

That experience taught me something else I never thought of: don't throw bits and pieces randomly into different boxes. My single lost box contained a few pieces essential to several piece of furniture, rendering them all useless without the missing pieces! Took quite a lot of convincing to get paid for all the loses! (I managed to jury-rigged the missing pieces to put the furnitures back together so I came out ahead). Sorry for the side track. Just thought that might be something worthy of sharing.

7/13/14 5:29 AM

Pick just one and ride it. Ship the rest in the top of the U-haul.

7/14/14 12:26 PM

In addition to blankets, etc. get yourself some foam pipe insulation to wrap your tubes. Larger size for top/seat/down. Smaller size for seat/chain stays, forks. This pads the tubes and protects the paint. You might also unbolt the rear derailer and zip tie it to the frame to avoid any hanger damage.

When we did RAGBRAI a few years ago the tour company (pkbelly.com) we used built a frame inside the semi trailer with hooks at the top and bottom. Then bikes would be hooked by their wheel from the top and bungee corded to a hook at the bottom. Think of 2x4 framing for a stick built house customized to the size of trailer. Alternate back wheel/front wheel so handlebars clear each other. The foam padding protects the tubes. Remove pedals and computers. The only damage to the ten bikes our group shipped was the paint was scratched on one of my rims where the rubber coating had probably worn off the hook. Also watch your wheel labels. You should be able to pack things on the floor underneath the hanging bikes. This would take some planning, communication, negotiating and measuring with the movers but everything can be done for a price.

For Ride the Rockies we had to box our bikes and they filled semi trailers with boxed bikes.