Cory
Is the insurance needed to get across the border? If so can it be bought at the border crossings?

Thanks
Delb

Sorry Delb i only just saw your post! I assume you are referring to the SOAT insurance and i'm afraid i don't know the answer 100% for sure. I do know that at the beginning of the year when you are supposed to buy SOAT there are little sales posts on every corner. As the year goes on they disappear and you have to go to the actual insurance companies themselves. I would assume from that therefore that you cannot buy SOAT at the border.

Cheers
Cory

Hi Delb,
Doesn't the "Neighbouring countries" green card with Argentinian insurance cover Bolivia?

Duncan.

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http://specialneedsdonkey.blogspot.com

Thanks Cory and Pocket for your detailed documented and informed reports about buying and legalizing vehicules in Bolivia.

I m surprised tho by one comment about the Bolivia not allowing foreigners to buy bolivian registered vehicules in Bolivia. I stopped by at a chinese motorcycle shop at the Mercado Campezino in Bolivia and the guy commented it was possible to buy a new vehicule with just a passport but would be complicated to leave Bolivia with it.

Anyways Bolivia is big and varied enough to fulfill any bikers dreams at any period of the year and at that price the financial risk is minimal. You can buy a new chinese trail bike in Asuncion as well for 1000 USD and travel legally in all South America...The bolivian border is just 800 km away from Asuncion.

Regarding the insurance, yes, it is compulsary and yes you can get one for Bolivia in Buenos Aires (different from the one for Chile). When i passed the border, the custom officer chose to trust me and gave me a address in Bermejo. I got stopped twice by the police and never was asked insurance. One questioned the french driving licence but accepted it after a short discussion.

Hi all

Thanks for all of the detailed info in this thread!

My friend and I are currently in Uruguay and will be entering Bolivia in the next couple of weeks. We were really hoping to buy or rent bikes and complete a 2-4 week tour of the country (although I hear the weather in the north is currently pretty bad). We would not be crossing any borders.

We are both English and hold full UK drivers licences, however, neither of us have passed our CBTs so the licences are only for driving cars (stated only on the reverse of the licence). Could this be a problem?

Also, my friend lost his licence in Australia and has no photocopies.

We recently completed a 600km motorbike tour in Vietnam from Da Lat, up into the central highlands and back down into Saigon. It was a great experience and we were hoping to get a similar experience out of Bolivia.

I'm assuming the worst that could happen if we bought in Bolivia with just our passports, and got the insurance, would be the bike(s) getting confiscated?

In that case we might look to rent.

I also did some research into bikes and shortlisted three cheap and reliable models:

Suzuki GN 125
Honda CGL 125
Yamaha AG 100

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Ben

New 125cc Japanese bikes in Bolivia will cost around 3000 USD. The 200/250 cc chinese trail bikes will serve the purpose well (as long as you stay in Bolivia) and cost around 10,000 Bolivianos (1500 USD). I m pretty sure you could make a buy back agreement with a vendor. If you want I can ask local bikers in Tarija if they are willing to assist you with your purchase and help you negociate. They are helping me customizing my bike and local craftmen do wonders for fairly cheap! (racks paniers sit lights...)

Depending on your weight and luggage, 100/125 engines could be a bit limited to climb some steep trails in the Andes.

Hi Vorteks

Thanks for the reply.

Will the licences be an issue? We only have full car licences, not bike, and my friend has lost his.

The thing we're most worried about bike wise is reliability, as we're fairly new to bikes and would have no idea where to start with a breakdown! That's why i'm not so sure about the Chinese models. What about used Japanese models?

We only weigh about 70-80 kilos each and have only 20 kilos tops for luggage. I'm assuming 125 should be OK?

Would be great if you could look into that for us, the buy back would be invaluable, although i'm starting to think rental might be the way forward. Do you know how much a 3 week rental would cost, and what the requirements are for rental?

Many thanks!

Ben

Licence : like any other country, you need a licence to drive a motorcycle. The difference with european countries is the application of the law, especially in Bolivia and Paraguay. You will most likely get no problem showing your british car license, since police officers are not accustomed to those licenses and you are allowed to drive one month with a foreign license in Bolivia. The licence is not needed to buy a motorcycle.

Chinese bikes : the chinese bikes are made out of cheaper raw material than japanese ones, but if you buy them new, the chance you get a problem over a 3 month period is fairly low. The advantage of chinese bikes is that you can find spare parts anywhere and they will sell easier since they are cheaper. Trying one as a pillon, i have been impressed by their confort and power (250cc), and they look nice (Kenton).

I have no idea how much time you will need to register the bikes. In Paraguay, delays last from one week to one month depending on your contacts.

One of the members who answered rents japanese bikes. This might be the easiest and quickest option, but not the most cost efficient (80 USD per day?). And a motorcycle license might be demanded.

I have a belgian friend here who bought a chinese 200 cc motorcycle in Paraguay.He waited 4 weeks for the papers to be done. He weights 100 kg and is doing just fine. He aims to go to Mexico with it. He never rode a motorcycle before.