Central America in July

[Vixonella]

Hello all

I hope some of you can give me some advice. I'm planning to meet a friend who is travelling Canada-Ushuaia by bike, beginning next month. I want to meet my friend in Central America in mid- to late-July. My arrival + departure points and timing is totally flexible, so I can join him whenever and wherever in Central Am is best/ easiest.

I live in Delhi, and have never riden a bike before. I'm currently learning, 8 lessons in. It's a bit frightening on these streets. I'm learning on a Honda 125cc.

My first question is: 1. am I crazy? Is it possible in 6-8 weeks to get to a stage of being confident enough to ride a bike through Central America? My friend, who is doing the ride for work (researching a book), says realistically I should plan for riding 500kms a day on long days, and up to speeds of 90km/hr, on a 400cc bike, or at the very least a 250cc. He'll of course try to take it easy on the days I am travelling with him, but at the same time I can't be a complete tortoise.

The rest of the questions I have are below. Apologies if they are very novice:

2. Can foreign tourists (I'm UK citizen) rent bikes easily in Central America?

3. If I fly in to, say, Mexico City, or Belize City, can I rent a bike there and take it across the border to the next country on the itinerary?

3. If you can take bikes rented across borders, or for long stretches within a country, do rental companies allow for shipping bikes back (ie. we won't be travelling in a circle so how do I get the bike back?)

4. If no to the above, then is the only option buying a bike? I'm on a bit of a budget, so is it possible to buy a second-hand bike? (Paperwork, how would I find one, etc) And then I would have to make sure I get the TVIP (I think I read that is what it's called) at every border crossing, right?

5. Would another option be renting bikes for part of the journey - eg. in places where renting a bike is easier and the route offers a way of returning it to the original point - and riding pillion with my friend for the parts where it's more difficult. My pal has a 650cc but it will be a bit heavily loaded so he thinks a couple of days pillion here and there would be ok, but not really more than that.

6. His route is Mexico - Yucatan Pen - Belize - eastern Guatemala - Honduras - western Nicaragua - Costa Rica - Panama - and then on. If anyone knows bikes are easier to rent in certain of these countries, please let me know.

I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks very much.

Victoria