flying with a bike

(I.e. trying to take a bike with you on an airplane trip, not the other kind of flying)

I fly with some frequency. I am well aware that checked bags are subject to inspection and are not
to be locked. I haven't put that together with packing a bike though, since I rarely fly with one.
But the situation is that the bike you carefully pack might be not-so-carefully unpacked and
repacked by an inspector. (Not all bags are opened, but any might be.)

That could be a very freightening proposition with say, a bike friday tandem!

Apparently Bike Friday is telling people to tie all the bits together, thinking perhaps that even
if the inspectors don't manage to get the case closed, you will still have all the pieces at the
other end.

The ironic thing is that the bikes that get small enough to fly for free are the ones that are the
most disassembled the the most likely to suffer from inspection.

As always, for more on these issues:

http://www.bikeaccess.net/

johnriley1 (at) rogers.com