Hello regional forum members: I will be traveling from Machu Picchu to New Orleans on my BMW 1200 GS Adventure in December. I´ve been reading some comments on this site and I´ve been talking to some people about the best way to ship the bike from Colombia to Panama. There are mixed answers. Most suggest to to ship it by air, since it is the safest way to go.

Personally I would like to ship it by sea and enjoy the journey at the same time, however, I want a ship/ferry that can offer certain safety conditions for me and for the bike. In some posts I´ve read that even getting the bikes into some yachts is quite an adventure, salt water splashing on the bike is another issue, and paperwork is another.

Can anybody provide me with suggestions, recommendations on this matter.
Also if anybody has a contact name of a ship/ferry that can handle this safely (if there is one at all)

Thank you all very much,

Entreprerider

Personally, I would definitely choose the sea route. I've done it twice, both ways. From what I've heard the choice trip on the "Stahratte" is getting expensive, about $700, but even so, worth the plata - big old German 100 year-old boat, comfortable berths, great food, 20-odd other travellers, a couple of nights in the San Blas. Somewhat cheaper, very much smaller, but as professional as things can be, "The Melody", Mark/Marcus and his wife Paola. Failing that take your chances in Club Nautico, Cartagena. Your lump of a bike will make things more difficult for you however , and you will have to be prepared for the prospect of some damage. Good luck, and if I can be of help, let me know, here or PM.

Do a search here - tons of information. Suerte.

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
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Dear Stretcher Monkey, your advice was very helpful and encouraging. So I've focused my energies on crossing by sea. I did a search on the www.stahlratte.org: Logbuch and it looks like they will be doing a tour from Oct thru Jan all over the Caribbean and I was thinking about being there in Dec. So, then I did a search on The Melody and I couldn't find it, a big italian ship came up, but I came across a site of Horn-Linie Hamburg Reederei Frachtschiffreisen Frachterreise Karibik Cameroon Freighter Cruises ship cargo cruises travel - Hornbay, Horncap, Horncliff, Alicante Carrier, Algeciras Carrier and it looks like they transport cargo from Colombia to Panama and they accept passengers. It's not quite as picturesque as the Sthalratte but and option. I sent and e-mail just now and I'll let you know what they say. Do you have any other idea?

Thank you so very much for taking the time to help.

Mark's e-mail address is:

freshaircharters[at]yahoo.com

I think the cost was $250 for bike and $250 per person. The last I heard, he had a shrimp boat moored in the San Blas to allow some quality R&R. I am sure someone here can chip in with the latest.

A large German agent called Manfred is useful and he will most likely have information on other boats:

manfred.al[@]gmx.net

He knows all about Horniline aswell. From what I know, you can travel with them, but as you say, it's unlikey to be a great experience and I think, costly. Do let us know.

You can't miss Cartagena anyway but it's unlikely that you will want to spend more than a few days there, so my advice would be to stay in the Getsemani area, which is a few minutes walk from the Old City and very close to Club Nautico. You can drop in a for a , browse the notice boards, enquire at the bar and generally hang-out. Once you've made some contacts, you may have time to shoot along the coast to Santa Marta and it's environs, which in my opinion is unmissable too. If you are unlucky, then it's a 2/3-day ride back down to Bogota where you can ship by air without too many problems. I've got some contacts for that if you need them.

Oh - saltwater is preventable with care and if you bring plastic and WD40, jet wash the bike on landing, but it's still a risk. Paperwork - you can bus it into the Zona Franca area of Colon and have this taken care of quite easily.

Suerte

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

Dear Stretcher Monkey, you are very resourceful. I got a reply today from the Horn Linie's agent in Colombia and they don't offer that sevice for motorcycles or passengers in that direction, even though online it sounded like they do. Ohh well. I am writing The Melody and Manfred right now. Let's see what they got for those dates. Thank you so very much and I will keep you posted.

Hola, espero hables español. Soy de Queretaro Mexico y el 15 de Agosto de este año salimos 2 amigos a Ushuaia. el viaje durara 100 dias y estamos viendo como cruzar las motos de Panama. Puedes darme algun numero telefonico de la alternativa mas economica, me agrada la del barco aleman.. gracias

from panama
just got price its also 700 bucks

I sent my bike from Medellin Colombia to Miami by air about a month ago. Cost $1270. Paper work took a entire day but they were very nice. My bike is a BMW 2007 GS adventure with the bags and top.

__________________
Larry Davis

After 8 month of riding from Chile all the way up to Oregon and across to Miami, I'm now back in Cali, Colombia with my bike and Colombian girlfriend Diana and we're expecting a baby in December.

Today 1st of August 2008 we start a super nice hostel in the nice part of Cali.

If you head this way its cheap, quiet and safe and we'll help you in any way we can.

We have airport pick-up and since I have flown my bike in and out of Cali, i can help with all the legal matters of arriving or leaving Cali.

Casa Blanca Hostel, Avenida 6 bis, Calle 26n, #57, Santa Monica Redencial, Cali, Colombia. Tel. (+57) (092) 668 99 86 or
mail me at mikkel@schhh.biz.

Check my video diary from my journey at YouTube - kaiserkyhl's Channel

__________________
Keep On Ridin' In The Free World

- Mike

llama el aleman Manfred en Panama. Conoce los voleros que viajan en el caribe.

Lo encontre en Cartegena, hizo los documentos de aduana por la moto.

Manfred habla espaNol tambien,

Tiene 3 numeros:
57 311 400 6394
57 666 3230
57 301 222 1255

o tal vez, escribe el capitain leonardo del Zoa Zoa:
zaoezao@yahoo.com


Suerte,

Jeff

Thank you for an inadvertent lead Entreprerider, I have had great difficulty finding a major line that makes a port call in Costa Rica. I had even given up but now I believe the Horn Line runs from Antwerp to Puerto Limon and their prices look fair. I have sent them an email and I await their reply.

Thanks you for the lead and best wishes on your trip

MeCasa

3 weeks ago i appeared at panama city cargo airport,left my bike(1150 bmw)there,disconnected the battery ,bargained for half an hour,(from1550 to 750 us dollars down),made 1 hour paperwork+flew with copa to bogota(better book for pax in advance).in columbia i had to wait for one day,and than it took 2 hours paperwork to leave the airport on bike.fast+easy,but not just very cheap.good luck.joerg

Hi
I just arrived Cartajena 3 days ago after GREAT sailing from puerto lindo, Panama.
It was a 47 feet boat, called ZAO.
To avoid the rust i bought gear oil and a brush and just "painted" the bike with it- no rust at all! the problem with wd40 that it gone after 2 days or so.
The uploading and downloading of the bikes was easy the excpected , you can see the pics and movie in my web site- it is in hebrew but the movie is on the right side..
The paper work took me about 2 days (not intense, just go here and there, i did it on the bike..) and a guy is helping you all the way- include in the 700$ price.
I really enjoyed the trip and beside- it is much better to start Colombia from Cartajena and go south rather the Bogota.
Omer.

I have been looking for this exact information! I hope to be in Panama by the end of January and hope to sail myself and my HD HOG to Columbia from there, en route to Machu Pichu.
Thanks again!

Just had some more biker guest arrive here in Cali from Panama by Copa Airlines. Its real easy. Just go to the airport cargo terminal in Panama City. There's an Copa office, no shipping agent needed. They strap it down to a airline pallet. No need to empty fuel or oil. They fly to Bogota, Medellin, Baranquilla and Cali. If you arrive in Cali we can help you with the paperworks, which needs to be cleared in town before getting to bikes out in the airport.
Price now is about 600 us dollars per bike.

__________________
Keep On Ridin' In The Free World

- Mike