Buying bike and insurance, starting in Bolivia
 

hey everyone,

I'm new here and might just need some links to good threads I haven't found by now.

I'm flying to La Paz, Bolivia in the second week of october.

I want to buy a bike there and will be traveling through Bolivia, a quick trip to Atacama Desert in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Panama and Costa Rica.

How do you buy and register the bike in Bolivia and insure it in the different countries for just a few weeks?

Huge thanks in advanced,

El Rubio


PS: Bonus question: does it make sence to take camping gear for those countries or are hostels the way to go? I read a sleeping bag might be useful..

Already buy your ticket? If you come to Peru, I can help you with all that. PM me.

yes, aready have the ticket, will be starting in la Paz.

Tumomo.com | Todo en un sólo sitio are classifieds where you can find bikes for sale by owner. Be careful ... stolen bikes, once totaled bikes, Frankenstein bikes, bikes with bad papers, ... you get the picture.

You probably stand a better chance of getting a clean deal from a big brand dealer ... new or used. They could help you with registration and paperwork as well.

http://www.lbc.bo/CIACRUZ/default.aspx is an option for insurance in Bolivia and you can get coverage for all major South American countries from them.

I'm in Santa Cruz ... not real sure if this would all apply to La Paz.

EDIT: by the way, I suppose you know you cannot ride from Columbia to Panama (no roads). Plane or boat only.
On camping vs hostels ... definitely do the hostels. they are cheap and reduce risk compared to camping (crime, diseases like Chagas, ...)

I will go for a bigger dealer and probably a new bike (Chinese fabricate).
I am aware that I will have to travel to Panama by boot.

Can you tell me more about the insurance? I thought you get insurance with the the license plate and registration. Also I was told you pay for an insurance every time you cross the boarder to a new country. Is that both incorrect?

Cheers, many thanks in advance

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I send you a pm with a contact. You can ask all you want. She did exactly what you want to do (she bought a new chinese bike in Bolivia, register it there and ride all around South America).

Safe travels (maybe we meet somewhere.. we are in Peru ;-)

Colombia you shop for a SOAT at the borders or at a gas station.
For Ecuador is not mandatory.
For Peru, check La Positiva or MAPFRE agencies at any big city or if you cross a big borderPOST, you can just buy right there.

In most cases, you buy your SOAT right at the borders unless its a very small crossing (eg La Balsa ECUADOR/PERU) so you can shop at the first big city.

In most cases, there are cheap hostels almost everywhere but a sleeping bag is not a bad idea. In any case, download iOverlander App in your smartphone/tablet. Serious game changer for the modern Overlander ;-)

You have also a pm ;-)

Amazing app! Just checked it out. Thanks for the pm:)

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I've written a detailed description about this

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...956#post564829