Transporting a bike from Delhi to Hyderabad: Send via train or truck?

I would have just ridden the bike to Hyderabad. The distance is around 1500 km. That would be a lot of fun and a memorable journey.

BHPian 2wheelsvaga recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi all. Can you share your experiences of transporting a heavy motorcycle (more than 150 kg) by train or road?

I need to send a Bullet 350 (J-series) bike from Delhi to Hyderabad at the end of next week, so this is a bit urgent.

Is it best to send it through the regular Indian rail parcel booking services?

Or, would you recommend sending it by truck through a private transporter? I'd appreciate it if you could recommend a company I can use.

If I want to ensure that the bike reaches with no damages, should I go by train or truck transport?

Thanks!

Here's what BHPian ashkamath had to say on the matter:

As already mentioned below, the best option is to transport the bike by train as luggage. That necessitates you to travel in the same train.

For this, you need a confirmed ticket and with that confirmed reservation ticket as proof, you can book your bike as luggage in the same train.

The advantage is, you ride to the railway station a few hours before the scheduled departure time. Take the bike to the luggage room. There will be some experienced bike packers always loitering around this luggage room (of every railway station). They will remove the petrol from the bike, pack it up in front of you and load it on your train.

Once you arrive at Hyderabad, you deboard the train, walk to the nearby luggage room, wait for your bike to be unloaded, produce your paper/ document/ bill and get your bike. You unpack it, get a litre of petrol from a nearby petrol pump, fill up the bike, fire it up and ride away.

Pay some extra money to the loaders at Delhi and request them not to place any other heavy load on top of the bike in the train luggage compartment. Remember to remove the mirrors, and any other protruding parts.

Taking a bike as luggage is the quickest way to transport your bike.

If you are not travelling with the bike, then you can book it as a parcel. The issue with the parcel is that you don't know when the bike will be loaded onto which train as it depends on the free space available in the luggage compartment of on any of the trains going from Delhi to Hyderabad. So, it could reach early or later with no time guarantee.

Transportation by truck is comparatively expensive and not advisable. I have noticed that sometimes they change the trucks (due to permit and other issues) and so, the bike has to be unloaded and reloaded (transhipment as we call it) during such process, there's a possibility of mishandling in the warehouse leading to damage to the bike. And again, unlike a train, the truck might not arrive at the destination in a given time. There could be delays en-route.. so, I would rather not transport the bike through a truck.

Transporting the bike as Luggage on a train is the most affordable, quickest and safest option.

As a long-distance motorcycle rider, I would have just ridden the bike to Hyderabad. The distance is around 1500 kms. That would be a lot of fun and a memorable journey. But that's me.

Here's what BHPian aargee had to say on the matter:

All options have their pros & cons

1. The best option is to ride
2. If #1 cannot be done, the next best option is to take the bike in goods luggage service {travelling with your motorcycle}. At the time of booking your train ticket, mention that you will be carrying your motorcycle as luggage
3. If you're taking flight & sending RE 350 via train, then send via IRCTC parcel service {separately}
4. The most expensive option is to send via private parcel service via truck - no comments

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