Classic bike fans:
I'm always saddened to hear about a classic bike that got damaged in shipping. Always use a hard case ! ! ! ! Many shops rent them for a nominal fees.
I haven't been following this thread, so it's unclear if the shipper was FedEx or FedEx Ground. The latter is a subcontractor that the parent company has no control over. Worse yet, it seems that the ground service employs the bottom of the barrel with poor wages. So there's no incentive to do a job with pride. I had a bad experience with the ground division division here in NYC. They ran me around, never kept their word or followed up with the claim.
Michael Allison
New York, NY