What you want to do is theoretically legal. Punta Arenas is a Chilean free trade zone and as such is one of the places where a North American can sell a bike. To be sure one of you should visit a Chilean Counsel before you go through with it.

I need some enlightenment here. After a review of regulations governing free trades zones (Chile), I was unable to find documentation authorizing/ the sale of a foreign registered vehicle/motorcycle that was entered into Chile on a Temporary Vehicle Import Permit in a free trade zone.

Info in English here:

ZonAustral: FAQ

And, what does the nationality of the buyer or seller have to do with the transfer of title? I don't get it??? It seems to me where the bike is registered in more important than the nationality of the owner.

If anyone does contact aduana or Counsel of Chile - please post clarification here, meanwhile I would not bet on the transfer of title for a TVIP imported foreign registered motorcycle being legal in a "free trade zone." But, I welcome any documentation to the contrary.

thanks

xfiltrate

A friend of mine did the following to sell his UK registered bike to a Dutchman in Chile:

- Sell the bike and complete the re-registration in UK, so the new owner has the correct paperwork for the bike with his name on it.

- Meet in Chile, and ride the bike together to the border.

- Cross the border with the original owner as the rider, handing in the TIP and thus legally leaving Chile. (Aduana don't usually want to see the Vehicle Doc when leaving).

- Switch drivers, drive into Arg and then return to Chile - with the new owner receiving the TIP.

BUT.... As s445203 correctly stated, Chile won't let you leave without your bike - you must sign the bike over to someone else remaining in Chile before you leave.

So.....

Perhaps your friend can sign the bike over to a friendly bike dealer, who then signs it back to you as the new owner. Just a guess - you (or your friend) need to check with Aduana. (I lost my TIP in Chile and visited the Aduana in Osorno, who were super helpful.)

Or, perhaps your mate can sell the bike (Gringos can sell their bikes in the Zona Francas of Chile) and then you buy it back.

Might be worth emailing Alejandro Lago, who has a garage in Punta A and supports Motoadventura on their South America tours. He is a good bloke, has his own garage and speaks good English:

Alejandro Lago
Street Ona 0471
Punta Arenas
mobile +56-96401233
phone +56-61212737
email: alelago@123.cl

My last bright idea is to email Sandra at Dakar Motos in Buenos Aires and ask her if she knows a solution from within Arg, leaving your bike in Ushuaia. I am 99% sure that your mate can depart Arg without his bike, so there may be an option there. In fact, it may be as simple as doing that and then you simply arrive with the new docs and ride out of Arg and into Chile. Like I said, more often than not, the out-going Aduana just take you TIP when you leave the country without looking at it or your passport.

Good luck!!

If we could have accurate answers to couple of questions, this thread may be even more helpful.

Question #6 I have my doubts that "Gringos can sell their bikes in the Zona Francas of Chile" I have found no confirmation/anything to support this. Could you please post documentation. Remember we are taking about a foreign registered bike that entered Chile on a TIP - and then entered the Zona Franca. Documentation would be very helpful here. I found none.

Xfiltrate eat, drink and be careful

Well, I'll pitch in on the bits that I know and keep shtum about the bits that I don't.

No. To transfer bike ownership in the UK all you do is post a form to the UK registration body saying the ownership has changed. They mail the new ownership form to the address you specify in the UK. Nothing happens to the bike plates.

Must the bike be insured in the U K before registration?
No. In fact you cannot insure a bike in the UK unless it is registered in your name. So UK insurance (which I can't see how is relevant to this) must happen after registration.

Is there any inspection or verification of vin # etc? Plate #'s are checked at borders...

Nope.

No, it does not. The only time you need to be a little careful is at border crossings where both Chile and Argentina aduana are in the same office other (e.g. the one on the road from Punta Arenas to Rio Gallegos). But even there I think the "switch owners between borders" trick is legal, just needs a bit of balls.

I'd suggest the old owner makes a colour photocopy of the ownership paperwork before sending it in. This allows him to ride semi-legally while the paperwork is running through. The new owner purchases legal insurance just like anywhere with his new ownership form.

He means transfer the Chilean TIP to someone else while you're out of Chile. To do this you find a friendly Chilean, who is friendly enough to go with you to Aduana and have his passport stamped with your vehicle details and gets a TIP issued in his name and logged in the Aduana computer. I personally struggle to see this part as the friendly Chilean will be personally liable if the bike overstays the TIP, so he needs to be real friendly. And I also don't think this gets you out of having to personally be there when you do the whole deal with the new owner.

So I know that you can transfer a Chilean TIP to someone local - that's how Aduana told me to get around problem of leaving bike in Chile. However, I'm pretty sure you'll struggle to get the bike released to the new owner this way, although I have not asked.

But I have heard of several people using the "switch owners between borders" trick and it seems to work provided both the owners are there in person.

Yeah - there are countless fairy tale stories about the Chilean Free Trade Zones on HUBB. I spent a bit of time trying (and failing) to dispose of my ride in the North Chilean FTZ. My understanding of the law is as follows. First, what is Chilean legal position in normal part of Chile. My understanding is that Chilean CUSTOMS law:
1. Prohibits the importation of second hand vehicles, which means the only way for a second hand bike to be legally in Chile is on a temporary import permit (i.e. not imported).
2. Prohibits the sale of a vehicle which is not legal in Chile between two individuals

What changes inside the Free Trade Zone? Well, basically, I think customs law largely does not apply INSIDE the free trade zone, however, it still applies when you try to enter Chile. i.e. as far as customs law is concerned, there is no difference between the Free Trade Zone and the no-man's land between the borders of two countries.

So yes, theoretically, a foreigner can sell his bike to another foreigner inside the FTZ legally, but I honestly can't see why you'd bother to dig out a Chilean lawyer to help you with this when you can do it easier via other channels.

And people get confused by this bit - I think it's legal for a foreigner to sell his bike to a Chilean inside the FTZ given the above. HOWEVER, it is not then legal for the Chilean to bring the bike into Chile proper unless he's doing so with a TIP, which is not that much use to a local.

The only bit which makes me doubt this is the huge number of imported second hand cars I saw inside the Iquique FTZ - perhaps there is a grey way for them to be imported into Chile, or else they're there for parts which seems a bit strange.


Hope this helps....

__________________
http://sginsa.wordpress.com

And on the last bit of El Forko:

You can definitely leave bike in Argentina, exit without it and then re-enter without any probs - I've done it in early 2013. I am 99% sure that you cannot transfer ownership this way - the Argentina customs computer has the bike logged against your passport. When you present the bike at the border with a different passport (when the new owner tries to exit AR), you will have problems for sure. I honestly can't see much other way of doing it apart from switch between borders with both owners present.

__________________
http://sginsa.wordpress.com

Thanks for the clarification from Sandra. I agree.

And, I found an interesting conversation going on in the North America region

Thread named: Storing and using a UK registered bike in America for 2+ years


http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...red-bike-67906

Here one might find a few very interesting regulations regarding not only North America, but the Americas in general - including South America, and UK registered bikes and riding permits for U K riders....

xfiltrate