John,

I had body work sent to me from Japan once by a private party.

1. Do a wire transfer to your friends bank. Much easier then PayPal internationally into Japan (for some reason).

2. Us UPS. It's expensive, but go with the cheapest shippinig they have. They will still put it on a plan no matter what to get it to the US then it will go onto a truck and make its way to you. From Japan to California (or where ever it comes in) will only take a day or two at max. The rest of standard UPS time.

3. Have her declare it as what it is. Motorcycle used parts. FRP Body work. UPS will deal with the import duties into the states, and charge you if there are any (as well as deal with customs stuff).

4. have her get the package as small as possible while protecting the body work as much as possible. They will charge extra for an "oversized" package. They go by girth of the package to determine what is oversized.
_________________
Charles Gallant