Shipping restrictions on bike parts

What is restricted

• Lithium batteries and starter packs — restricted on most economy air routes, surcharged where permitted, often refused by consolidators outright.
• Lead-acid batteries — wet cells are effectively unshippable by air; sealed types are restricted.
• Oil-filled shock absorbers and forks — frequently refused; drained units are sometimes accepted.
• Carburettors, fuel taps, tanks and lines that have held petrol — treated as contaminated and needing declaration.
• Complete engines — heavy, oily, and requiring draining and declaring.
• Aerosols, brake fluid, chain lube, adhesives — dangerous goods with their own paperwork.
• Airbag-equipped and pyrotechnic components — pyrotechnics, heavily restricted.

What it costs when it applies

A dangerous-goods booking adds a surcharge, a declaration and usually a slower route. On a small order the surcharge can exceed the goods value, which is why separating the restricted items into their own consignment — or simply not ordering them from China — is often the right call.

Sea freight accepts much of this where air will not, at the cost of five to seven weeks.

Planning an order around it

• Flag anything that contains oil, fuel residue, a battery, a gas or a magnet at the point of ordering.
• Ask whether shocks can be supplied drained, and whether that affects the warranty.
• Buy batteries locally. Almost always cheaper once the surcharge and delay are counted.
• Split restricted and unrestricted goods into separate consignments rather than letting one item slow the whole order.