Trucking in cycles a 'time thing'

Fly-ride bikers save time, hassle by shipping cycles.

By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff | Saturday, August 02, 2008

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"Rhode Island Dog" has been riding Harley-Davidsons for 50 years, but he can't spare two weeks to ride 4,000 miles round trip to the Sturgis rally.

That's why Dog travels to the rally by airplane while his cycle makes the trip west in a semitrailer driven by his friend "Big Mike" Nault.

"I don't have the time where I can get in the truck with him," said Dog, a former truck driver who now works for the Woonsocket, R.I., school district. "I got work duties that I have to stay and take care of, and it's a lot easier for me."

Dog isn't the only one flying to the rally. And Big Mike isn't the only one hauling bikes. Rapid City Regional Airport Director Mason Short has seen more and more motorcycle transport companies bringing cycles to the airport over the past few years.

"Usually, there's six or seven (trucks) sitting out here at any one time," he said. "It's a good service. People get off the planes and walk out and their bike is sitting on the curb."

Short said the airport doesn't charge transporters to park because they're providing an incentive for people to fly. The airport handles about 3,000 passengers per day during the rally, most of them headed for Sturgis.

"It's just something that we're glad we can help them out with," Short said. "We appreciate all the people flying."

Some of those passengers will pick up cycles hauled by California-based JC Motors Motorcycle Transport. It's one of the biggest transporters in the country, moving about 6,000 motorcycles in the U.S. and internationally each year.

JC Motors also has a parts division and frequently buys and sells motorcycles.

"We came across the problem of getting them safely, quickly and affordably from point A to point B," said JC Motors President Clint Lawrence. "There weren't any options, and I just thought that was kind of crazy."

As a result, JC Motors launched its transport business in 1994. Unlike trucking companies that move motorcycles with other freight, JC Motors transports only motorcycles and "power sports" machines, such as ATVs and dirt bikes.

Lawrence developed a system in which cycles are strapped to a large wooden skid, then loaded into the truck using a pallet lift. The skids keep bikes from sliding into each other.

They also take up room, meaning each truck holds only eight or nine bikes. But with a fleet of 1,100 trucks, JC Motors still moves a lot of cycles.

JC Motors charges between $600 and $800 to transport a cycle to Sturgis, which involves two to three weeks in transit. Some companies have added fuel surcharges this year because of high fuel prices, but Lawrence said those costs are built into his prices.

Lawrence sees his business as a way to make a customer's trip more fun.

"It cuts time and it cuts travel expenses, because a lot of times, people can't ride the whole way without stopping," he said. "The feeling we're getting is people are having a little less time to relax with the economy like it is. They still want a vacation but maybe don't have that extra three or four days to use."

Chris Harkins, who operates CK5 Transport Services of Sanbornton, N.H., agrees that time is a factor for his customers.

"You get more time at the actual event rather than spending it driving two or three days to get out here," he said Wednesday, talking on his cell phone as he drove across Minnesota. He and his girlfriend, Kim Foley, were hauling two dozen bikes to Sturgis in a two-deck trailer.

Smaller transporters like CK5 charge considerably less than larger companies. Harkins hauls bikes from New Hampshire to Sturgis and back for $800.

Larger companies have trucks coming and going during the rally. With small haulers like Harkins and Big Mike, the same person generally picks up a customer's bike, loads it, hauls it and returns it.

Some of Harkins' customers have tried towing their own bikes to Sturgis.

"They don't mind the ride out here because they're all excited and they've got the adrenaline flowing," he said. "It's the ride home everybody dreads."

After much research, Harkins -- a longtime truck driver and motorcyclist -- began transporting bikes in 2003.

"I just saw a need," he said. "New Hampshire has the highest (number of) registered motorcycles per capita in all the United States. ... It was an excellent place to have a business such as this."

For "Big Mike" Nault, the business of hauling motorcycles began as a joke. As a truck driver and cycle enthusiast, he was always in charge of pulling his friends' cycles to the Daytona motorcycle rally.

"One year, my buddy said, 'Hey, you should do this with your big truck,'" Nault said. "We were just kind of joking."

But Nault did just that. He bought a special trailer and started moving bikes in 1996, made his first Sturgis run in 2001, and now transports motorcycles every year to rallies in Sturgis, Daytona and Myrtle Beach. In Sturgis, he offers a package deal that includes cycle transport and camping at Katmandu Campground.

"It's definitely a time thing," he said. "And especially now, with the price of fuel, if you were going to haul your own bike out here, it's probably cheaper and time-saving to just ship it and jump on a plane."

Nault is happy to do the driving. It gets him to the rally, expenses paid.

Dog is certainly a satisfied customer.

"Mike is the best at what he does," he said. "And this is the granddaddy run of them all."

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com