I find myself in Cochabamba, Bolivia for the next three weeks or so ready to work a bit and set up a bike that I hope will take me up the Pacific coast of Latin America. It sounded easy enough before I learned that the paperwork for travelers can be very hard to get here. My budget dictates that I would like to buy one of the new, cheap Chinese or Korean knockoffs. I have had a few options advised to me. Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas of your own.

One option would be to negotiate a deal with the dealer to pay a certian amount up front, maybe the fee of the paperwork plus 20 percent of the bike, and then pay the rest once I have the papers in my hand. This could be a good option if they have access to legal "friends" that could help them out with such a pickle. I would obviously want to take special care that I dont lose my up front money and come out of it without a bike. Any ideas for security would be appreciated.

Another option would be to put the bike under the name of a Bolivian friend. The two biggest negatives here would be running into unwanted hassles at board crossing etc because it is not in my name and putting a friend at risk if anything were to happen.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

It is possible for foreigners to buy a motorcycle in Bolivia and tour Bolivia. It is highly unlikely tho that you will be authorized to legally leave Bolivia with that vehicule, and even less likely that you ll be welcomed in the bordering country.

For legally buying chinese improving quality bikes and tour the world...head to Asuncion, Paraguay.

PS : in winter time, Paraguay s flat lands are way more enjoyable than Bolivia s hands freezing mountains.

Is that speaking with experience from travelling on a bike with Bolivian plates? Because I'm in Bolivia right now trying to buy 2 bikes to do just that. & I would be incredibly upset if I was to get stuck with 2 Bolivian bikes unable to get out of the country.

I'm just to buy a chinese bike in La Paz. I know from severel people who crossed borders with bolivian bikes. It's importand that you have a good insuarnce! for example with Zurich la Paz for one year and includes Argentina, chile Peru Bolivia Paraguay and on and costs for one year about 100USD. then I heard its easier to cross bolivia to Chile and from there to Argentina instead of heading directly to Argentina.
I'll try to go to Paraguay and than to argentina. Will keep on posting if its working!

Good Luck!

This is from investigating in March for forum members while i was staying in Tarija. After running all around the town to gather informations, the "happy travellers" never showed up, but those informations might be of use for others...i guess.