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.