We recently completed transporting the 2025 Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory motorcycle from Houston, TX to Ballston Spa, NY. This transportation was done over a distance of 1,791 miles in an enclosed trailer for a price of $1,101.00, or $0.61 per mile.
This type of transport of a superbike from Texas to upstate New York is generally a purchase rather than a relocation of the motorcycle, and that is a common scenario we are called upon to help with. This is also the scenario where most things go wrong, since the client is not present when the trailer arrives.
The route
The 1,791-mile run from Houston to Ballston Spa climbs diagonally from the Gulf coast to the foothills of the Adirondacks.
The 77057 area sits west of downtown Houston near the Galleria. Drivers pick up I-45 north to Dallas, then head northeast on I-30 through Texarkana to Little Rock, Arkansas.
From there I-40 runs east through Memphis to Nashville, where the route turns north on I-65 to Louisville, Kentucky. I-71 carries it on through Cincinnati to Columbus, Ohio.
The eastern leg picks up I-70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, then turns north on I-81 through Scranton and east on I-88 toward Albany. Ballston Spa sits in Saratoga County, a few miles from Saratoga Springs.
Buying in another state and shipping it home
Remote deliveries make up a big part of our shipments and the nature of issues involved here is pretty predictable.
Be sure of the source of your shipment. While dealership would have regular working hours, staff experienced in releasing cars and parking space for a truck, a private seller is quite another thing. You can be sure he will have a nine-to-five job, a narrow driveway and little or no experience with carriers. Let us know whether it is a dealer or private individual you are dealing with when booking a truck.
All payments must be made prior to delivery. Carrier cannot play an escrow agent nor mediate any disputes here. You should have a car of your own and seller should have a knowledge of that before the release is arranged by a driver.
Documents will not be shipped along with the vehicle. Transfer of title and bill of sale take place between you and the seller in person. We ship the equipment itself, not the papers. A title put into a tail tidy will most likely never be found again.
Inspection is where the rubber meets the road. In a regular delivery, the owner inspects the truck with the driver. In a distant buy, no one who cares about the truck will be there for its delivery. But the driver will fill out the condition report, and the condition report tells you the state in which the truck was received and not whether the truck matches its description.
Ask for photographs from the seller first. Recent, showing all panels, before the truck is booked. If the truck you receive is not consistent with the photographs, that’s a discussion with the seller, and photographs make it a short one.
And you need to have an independent pre-buy inspection performed. Carriers don’t inspect for mechanical condition, nor do we. If you’re buying blind, the independent inspection prior to delivery is worth far more than any inspection that the shipping process can provide.
What $0.61 per mile reflects
There were two factors responsible for arriving at this figure.
First of course was motorcycle deck share ratio. This was explained in detail during our previous calculation where it became clear that a bike takes up only a percentage of space that a car takes up, and the number is based on this deck share percentage and not full space occupancy like a car’s.
Other factor was the distance covered. In case of 1,791 miles, there will be enough distance to cover the fixed costs involved in transportation from pickup to loading, to delivery of shipment.
These routes have been well established and are busy routes. Routes include Houston to Dallas route, I-40 corridor route and Ohio to Northeast route.
Enclosed transport on a new superbike
All motorcycles we transport are shipped enclosed, and it is the most straightforward case when it comes to a current-year superbike.
There’s no bodywork that could hide anything since in a bike case, the fairing serves as bodywork. The RSV4 Factory has carbon aerodynamic winglets that are a part of the bike’s fairing, as well as semi-active suspension and forged wheels. Those are very expensive components that are completely unprotected.
A new machine is also helpful for the condition report. There is no history involved so far that could be distinguished from transit damage, so everything documented upon delivery is clear. It works both ways: it makes claims clean if any arise and makes unnecessary ones evident.
The security procedure is carried out following the supersport approach. A bike with clip-on bars has nothing to secure by straps since there is no crossbar, only fork tubes or triple-clamp system is used, along with locking the front wheel in the chock.
Transport summary
- Origin: Houston, TX 77057
- Destination: Ballston Spa, NY 12020
- Distance: 1,791 miles
- Service cost: $1,101.00
- Cost per mile: $0.61
- Vehicle: 2025 Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory
- Condition: Operable
- Trailer type: Enclosed
- Route: Houston, TX → I-45 north to Dallas → I-30 northeast through Texarkana to Little Rock, AR → I-40 east through Memphis to Nashville, TN → I-65 north to Louisville, KY → I-71 to Cincinnati and Columbus, OH → I-70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike → I-81 north through Scranton → I-88 east to Albany, NY → Ballston Spa, NY
