buying a (secondhand)bike in latin/south america
 

hi there,

i will be in latin america in a couple of months and because i dont want to ship and all the stuff that goes along with it. i am thinking of buying one there.
can somebody give me some info on wich bikes are available there. or good places to buy secondhand ones.
if you consider of selling yours..let me know.

greetz
niels
on yamaha ttr through iran

Niels,do you want to start the trip on the south or north?
This could help you to find a closing trip from another traveller and buy his bike.
Did you check the buy-sell postings?
Bye
KH

Niels,

I will be selling my 2004 KLR in Guatemala soon, so look out for the ad. on "bikes for sale". If you want to be more specific about countries, I, (and others), can better advise about type and make of bikes available, transferring title and the law. I think, by and large, you are better buying from a Traveller.

------------------
"There's no justice, just us".
2004 650 KLR, Central America

we are currently a year into our latin america trip. we are both on klr 650´s.

every once in a while we look at selling the bikes b-c we can, by all accounts and experience, get more for them here. like double what you would pay in the states. it almost doesnt make sense for us to ship the bikes back home.

on the flipside, you really dont wanna buy anything they sell here for touring. the jap and euro bikes are the only ones you want...the rest seem to be less than adequet (met a guy who purchased bike in montevideo and rode dirt to bolivia, basically destroyed it....and frankly i think he paid way too much)

if i were you i would start from los angeles or san diego. purchase a bike there (where its half the price)...do the mods then ride it down thru mex.

if not ive met many europeans who ship their bikes for only about $400-600 by boat. one group of germans purchased a container to ship 8 bikes. sorry i cant provide websites but it seems to me to be far less expensive than buying here.

anyhow...some things to think about.

thanks a lot. maybe its better what you suggest. start up a little higher and drive down...
greetz
niels

hi there niels,

i've been traveling from san francisco all the way down to ushuaia, argentina during the past year on a 2002 klr650.

now, i'm in brazil, getting close to rio and hoping i can sell my bike before i need to fly to the next adventure, in asia. no bike will be needed for that one.

let me know if you're still looking and if you're interested at all. the bike is in good shape, with 21k miles on it. all on the road. i bought it with 500 miles on it. it has all the mods you need; progressive shocks, subframe upgrade, highway pegs with pvc tube for tools attached to it, steel braided cables, extra thick inner tubes and much more. i have spares (cables, tubes, levers) attached to the bike and i will sell it with the tank bag and soft saddlebags. basically, it is ready to roll and take its new owner anywhere he or she craves to go. it's definitely been field tested.

ah, btw, i think i might have met the german guy who purchased the container. check out patagoniabiker.com. rainer wurtle might just be the man behind such plan. he's a phenomenal guy, and great to know. one of the very few people i've heard has ridden across china. as well as almost every where else.

cheers and good luck,
vlad.