Buying bike in South America
 

I am a little confused on the concept of buying a bike in S. America and the registration/title requirements along with the ability to cross borders. Any light shed on this question would help in my planning.

Don't bother buying a locally registered bike in Argentina because it won't normally be allowed out of the country.

Laws are always subject to change in South America (even with a foreign plated bike)and you need to be relaxed in your plans. Even laws that are made are not necessarily enforced or are more 'flexible' at one border crossing than another or even at different times (or days) at the same crossing..

Your best tools are:

1) YOUR friendliness (demanding your rights never gets you anything in SA). Respect the authority even if you feel it is taking advantage of you.

2) Spanish !! You have a much better 'read' on the situation when you have at least some command of the language.

There are a dozen countries in South America (one is not an independent country, but it might as well be for this purpose), and each has its own set of rules, variously subject to change and better or worse enforcement. If you're trying to figure out how to buy a local bike in South America, you'll need to start looking at individual countries--not the continent as a whole. Once you've settled on a couple of likely countries it becomes a lot easier to wade through the morass of applicable regulations and current practices. There's plenty of information on this forum--some of it up to date, some hopelessly outdated. Start reading.

The other approach is to buy a used (non-local) bike from another rider. Again, there is an almost infinite amount of information on this forum, although most is not as detailed because most such transactions have some not-quite-fully-legal aspects. Buying a non-local bike isn't as country-specific, and bikes may be more suited to North American and European tastes. On the other hand, there aren't as many of them available at any given time, and there are some definite legal pitfalls. You'll have to read more carefully, and some of the information you need is hinted between the lines. Nonetheless, it's all here.

Basically, you're facing a large, intricate decision tree; make the big decisions first--What kind of bike? What time of year? How much time to arrange a purchase? How's my risk tolerance?--then gradually focus on smaller decisions one at a time. Eventually, your path forward will (probably) become clear.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

:oops2: .. but we westerners are not supposed to have to deal with uncertainties! jeigerjeiger

See this recent post, I found it fairly accurate. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...colombia-95891

This week in Colombia I bought a used Kawasaki from a dealer and a used Suzuki from a private seller. In both cases the process was fairly straightforward. There are some local peculiarities, so it helps to speak some Spanish or have a local friend to assist.

Colombia is the most motorcycle-friendly place in the Americas for buying, selling, and riding. With a Colombia registered moto you can travel to any country. Several other South America countries have restrictions that seem to be enforced/interpreted at the officers’ whims.

If you have specific questions, you can email me.

Steve

Yeah, well.....

With limitless funds, I can eliminate most uncertainties--although not all of them. With finite funds I'll need to make a few choices.

Thanks
 

Decided to forgo the purchase and just ride my F650 from home and enjoy Central America too. Being familiar with the bike and the comfort of personal modifications seemed important over that distance. Thanks for the input.