buying a bike in chile, argentina, or bolivia?
 

My girlfriend and i are planning on flying into south america (argentina, chile, or bolivia) and would like to buy a bike and ride to Vancouver. If anyone has bought a bike in any of those countries it would be great to get a little info. not sure what country is the best to buy in, I would like to do everything legally to avoid hastles. we are canadian citizens. I have read lots of the forums but cant find any current information. If you have done a trip like this and have some information or a blog we would love to see it.
thanks
dan

buy canadian
 

If you could check what the local bc registry needs to make a title transfer that would help. If you got real lucky and bought a travelers bike from BC ,YOU MAY BE ABLE TO TRANSFR TITLE WITHOUT BIKE BEING PHYSICALLY IN bc. If you do not have the title matching name on passport good luck. If bike has a separate entry permit I am not sure what happens when you check out,varies.

between Chile and Argentina...Chile!
 

Hi, good luck in your trip.

I'm not sure about bolivia, but in Argentina the bikes are much more expensive than in Chile!

To get and idea, I Have a Transalp 700, in Chile brand new cost about 14.000 us$. with ABS

In argentina for 17.000 us$ you get a trasalp 2009! and without ABS.
MercadoLibre: Honda XL 700 Transalp 2009 1830 Km Dorada Entrega Ya Rosario - U$S 17200.00

A brand new Transalp 700 in Argentina cost about 19.000 US$!!!!
XL 700 V Transalp

In Chile a brand new BMW F800GS cost 20.000 US$!!!

You can see some pics from Chile in my blog:

Voy y Vuelvo en Moto (in spanish)


There and Back by Motorbike (in english, under construction)



regards from Chile.

PD: if you pass by Santiago write me, I am planning to ride from here to Alaska (with my girlfriend too) in 2 or 3 years, and talk with some Canadian travellers it would be great!

And I can help you to buy the bike, in order to avoid a “tourist price” :D

Probably cheaper and less hassles if you buy in Canada and ship to SA.

Cheaper still to buy in the USA and ship to South America.

Hey mate, I recently purchased a second-hand Honda NX 400 Falcon in Bolivia for $2500 and I've had very few problems with it (only minor stuff). In my experience the paperwork was much easier to complete here than Chile and it only took a few days to get everything. What sized bike are you looking for?