Hi everyone

Wonder if anyone can offer some advice. Im a UK citizen. I have a Chilean registered bike that i bought in Santiago that I've ridden up to Canada. Aim is to get to Alaska then im done :-). What are my options for the bike? (Shipping it back and registering in UK does not appeal!)

1. 99% sure i can't sell it to a local unless they plan to leave the country on it. Temporary import is only valid for a year i believe.
2. Can i sell to a tourist/local who wants to do a trip going south? Figured this would involve importing or sales tax or something? May not be officially allowed.
3. If i cant sell can i just give my bike to someone, as long as they leave on t within the year.
4. Last resort, would i need to get it officially destroyed, i dont want visa issues in future if i just abandoned the bike illegally in the US or Canada.

Any help appreciated
Cheers

Seems some of the answer might depend what bike you've got ... what it's worth and what you've got into it and how much you expect to get for it.

You're correct, it can't be registered in USA (probably not Canada either).
I assume you've got all the original Chilean paperwork? If yes, do some really well done Photo Shop work filling in the buyers details, create new title. This, in theory, should work.

In most of Latin America they'll not have ever seen a Chilean title, so a copy should be fine for passing borders if it looks reasonably official. (good paper and such) Mostly they just want the Cash FEE for your TVIP and a valid passport.

Once in Chile the buyer could (in theory) take the original title with a notarized statement and legally transfer ownership to his/her name. Maybe.

If the bike is worth near nothing then maybe not worth the trouble. You could give it away but recipient would still have issues to show it's his and legal and would not be able to get a TVIP without title in his/her name and could never register it in USA or Canada.

USA is lax on such things and the buyer could likely ride around forever using your paperwork and Chilean plate, just saying it's borrowed. As long as it's not reported stolen, this is fine ... and legal. I assume you entered USA via land border from Mexico. So no USA issued TVIP, correct? And no paperwork at all concerning your bike? Correct?

He/she would need minimal liability insurance. Local USA cops don't care much about foreign plates with foreign riders riding them or registration and such. As long as rider and bike are not wanted and law abiding, usually all OK.

If buyer is American and gets pulled in his state of residence (ie: California) then cop will write a ticket saying the bike must be registered in California within 30 days. So now the game is up. But if a foreigner or out of state tourist, no worries, Chilean plate is legal, but insurance is a must have.

I'd suggest handing it over to a junk yard and flying out never to return to either the USA or Chile..

That way you won't be colluding to get the next "owner" into trouble.

__________________
Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

Again depending on what the bike is, a new "owner" could ride it off road forever as is. Or in BC register it as a "U-built".

9 1/2
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You can allways leave vehicles between the boarders of two countrys but if you dont return the bike to chile you might get problems if you want to return there again...

For the new buyer to register in Chile the previous owner needs to be present so unless you could have someone 'impersonate' you I don't know how you'd go about this. Chile is quite organized and your details would be computerized.

As for returning to Chile vehicles are checked out and in by your RUT number not the passport so I'm not sure if you flew into Chile what problems you'd encounter. Likewise if you just said it was stolen or fell into the sea what could they do? A fine? I don't know.