You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Buying My Bikes & Accessories / Brompton Accessories #9 - Bagging The Brompton For Air Travel AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures BROMPTON ACCESSORIES #9 - BAGGING THE BROMPTON FOR AIR TRAVEL(This blog is not a review, it's more on my foray in purchasing accessories for my 3rd Foldie - a Raw Lacquer Brompton P6R)I have earlier written on bagging the Brompton for travelling (... see Bagging The Brompton), this touched lightly on travelling by air. I have put my bagged Brompton into the holds of buses, onto trains, etc. but so far I have not traveled by air with my bike.
I met and ask around the few friends who have taken their Bromptons onto a plane. People like Uncle Bil, Pang Wey, Chor Guan and Yong Sin gave me very good advice. All of them had opted to use just the simple IKEA Dimpa bag. With protection using cardboard from old boxes, it would be adequate. In fact, some are of the opinion that airport handlers will take more care with soft bags then a hard bags.
So now it's time for me to walk the talk. I will be going to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a business trip and will be bringing my bike along to cycle during my free time.Now I am facing the reality of it - how to practically bag my precious Brompton securely to prevent any damage to it by any rough handling of airport baggage handlers.I got a couple of unfolded cardboard boxes form the nearby min-market, these were made of 1/4" thick cardboard
I cut the box into two L-shaped pieces, cutting the bottoms off too. But I maintained the top flaps for reasons which I will explain later.
For more clarity, I will present the bagging in a step by step procedure.STEP 1The first few steps involves preparing the bike even before bagging it.Unscrew & remove the two holding cleat brackets that locks the handle tube & main horizontal tube of the Brompton when it is unfolded. This is done as any accidental knocking of these brackets may bend the screws and thus make it impossible to lock tubes of the unfolded bike.
Wrap this up in some old newspaper and store them some where safe. Some carry this separately in their clothes luggage, I just stored them in my saddle bag which has a pvc tube to protect them. (... see Modifying The Saddle Bag).
STEP 2Insert bubble wrap in between the handle and the rear wheel to protect the rear derailer. This is to avoid any damage to the derailer should any rough handling happen.
STEP 3Line the bottom of the Dimpa bag with the cut off bottom flaps of the box. It was in two pieces; it would have been better in a single piece or I should have at least taped the two pieces to form one piece.
This is to protect the Eazy Wheels of the rack. At some airport check-in counters, especially for the over-sized baggage, they have pipe rollers as part of the conveyor system. Moving along this rollers, the bag will go bumpity-bump - definitely hurting the Eazy Wheels.
STEP 4Insert the first L-cardboard at the back, slowly slotting it in until it reaches the bottom of the bag. As an added protection, I inserted some thin Styrofoam (this from fruit packaging boxes) in between fold-able pedal and the main horizontal post. This pedal sometimes can over-fold and scratch the post.
STEP 5Insert the second L-cardboard on the outer side.
STEP 6Pull the top of the Dimpa bag over the bicycle and insert the top cardboard (it's one of those cut off bottom flaps of the box). Bend down the cardboard over the rear of the seat to offer it some protection. I also added some bubble wrap above the seat for extra cushioning.
Bubble wrap was also wrapped around the top of the handle shaft and bag block.
To make use of the empty space at the top, I put my helmet there. Pang Wey saw this photo and advised that rough handling could crush the helmet. So out comes the helmet from this bag and in it goes to the normal baggage bag.I also got a spare Dimpa bag and slot it in.
In place of the helmet, I put in some of my clothing, thus saving weight on my normal luggage and at the same time providing additional cushioning.
STEP 7Zip up the bag and stick on "FRAGILE" & "THIS SIDE UP" stickers and we are ready to check in the Brompton at the airport.... well, almost ready ...
... don't forget to put in a combination lock to lock up the zip! Don't want trespassing hands to tamper with our precious bikes do we?
Oh yes... why use a box with top flaps instead of just a solid cardboard.
This is in case customs wants to see what's inside. Just unzip partly and flip the flap down - "See. It's a bicycle".Then there is no need to take out the whole front cardboard.
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| In front of my hotel - Diamond Hotel, Monivong Blvd, Phnom Penh |
Here I am, all smiles as my bike is safely back in my hands.I am ready and eager to start my exploration of new places on my trusty Brompton.You may also like :
We put that ugly overweight situation behind us and happily boarded the plane, philosophically rationalising to look forward to an enjoyable trip.
Our flight, Air Asia X flight D7 522 landed at Haneda Airport, Tokyo at 11:15 pm local time - half an hour early. With our biometric passports, we did not have to apply for Japanese visas and cleared immigration smoothly.
Siew Yung had gone ahead of us, when we reached the baggage carousels we saw her happily smiling with our bikes and luggage. Thumbs up! All was accounted for and nothing went missing in transit, unlike my previous experience where my bike was lost in transit for a day (... see Cambodia : Pedaling Phnom Penh - The Riverside).
We cleared Customs easily too, no odd questions being asked about our bicycles. Siew Yung had booked a van and a limousine for the seven of us and the drivers were eagerly waiting for us at the exit. We managed to comfortably squeeze in all our bikes and luggage in and was soon heading for our hostel...
... after an hour's drive we arrived at K's House Tokyo Backpackers Hostel - this will be our home during our stay in Tokyo. The staff had finished work as 10:00 pm but had left the keys to our rooms in a combination safe box at the entrance.
K's House policy is based on trust and discipline of its patrons - we had not even paid for our rooms yet and they have allowed us in. Payment is to be made tomorrow.
Our rooms will be at the upper floors, at the ground floor is the common area shared by all patrons. This is the living area with cozy sofas and a couple of PCs for rent at 100Y per thirty minutes.
The kitchen and dining area. The kitchen is equipped with a couple of fridges, a microwave, rice-cooker and coffee pot. Each morning, the staff will prepare hot coffee in the pot for patrons.
To another corner is the TV lounge area with tatami mats sitting.
To the rear is a small lift, which was very convenient for us to bring our bikes up and down.
For those interested in staying at K's House, the above is their calling card with their address, Email, other contact details and even their rates. Please note that rate shown is per pax per night.
After moving our things in to our room, we adjourned to a 7-11 store, conveniently just opposite K's House. Unlike their stores in Malaysia, the ones in Japan sell more edible food stuff, here we were able to purchase some food for supper and the following day's breakfast!
I got this pre-cooked pre-packed ramen and microwaved it at K's House. After this supper, we started unpacking our bikes.
