Which country is best to start a motorcycling trip from in south america?
 

A friend and I are planning a trip through the South Americans and we are in doubt about which country is best start in?

We plan on visiting the following countrys: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile.

This is mostly regarding buying the two motorcycles, getting all the right paperwork, crossing borders with them and eventually selling them in a different country than the starting one.

I hope someone can help with this :)

Chile or Colombia are probably the best choices, they also both have a great motorcycle culture.

Chile you require a RUT which needs a countersign by a Chileno, Colombia there is a recent thread just about this and it looks to be easier.

If you are selling in a country other than where you bought it you will be looking at selling for quite a loss though.

The easiest way to sell would be to another traveler, I bought a new CRF250L in Chile and sold it in California to a local for around half of what i paid, still great value for all those miles and smiles. :scooter:

I think my plan is to buy the motorcycle in Colombia and then sell it in Chile. Is it best til sell it in one of the trade zone (tax free)? or dosen't that matter?

Depends on the season:

June in Colombia would be my ideal.

Slowly travel down and arrive in Tierra del Fuego anywhere from mid December to early March.




Other option: Start in Buenos Aires or Santiago in mid - Late November, slowly ride down to Tierra del Fuego then ride back up to arrive at the tail end of the rain season(mid April) in Peru. Wet(ish) Salar de Uyuni to be expected when you roll thru Bolivia.

Riding South America
 

I’m currently riding through South America but with my own imported bike. We started in Santiago, Chile and met quite a few others who had bought bikes there or across the border in Mendoza.
Amazing riding to the south.

I just got back from Bolivia this month. You should really see Bolivia while you are there. Amazing place!

gbags, where did you import your bike from? Trying to ship mine from US (colorado) to Santiago and was told it would cost $6500. However, I am a fairly inexperienced rider (but an ambitious traveler!) and would realllly like to travel on the bike I am used to riding.

Is is worth shipping a bike to Chile
 

I shipped my bike from New Zealand. I would not do it again. Not worth the time trouble and cost. There are plenty of good bikes available in Santiago and the process is not that complicated.

I don’t want to belabor the obvious, but have you checked the shipping database on this site? And have you done a search for existing posts on the subject?

Normally I’d do a couple of quick searches myself before posting to make sure the information is on here. However, I’m on the road and the internet is slow.

Hope that’s helpful.

Mark