Hey guys, 2.5 years ago I was riding from Canada to Brazil. After 4 months on the road, while in Medellin, I left the bike for a 2-3 week return visit to the states to see my family. When I got home, I found out my Dad's cancer had returned and decided to stay and be with him, leaving the bike with a friend of a friend I was paying to store it in Colombia.

Now, 2.5 years later, with the permit on the bike long expired, and no maintenance and prep done since I left (full gas tank), I plan to return to Medellin to deal with the mess I left there. I have a few questions and hopefully some of you can help.

1. What kind of mechanical problems can I expect at this point, and what amount of work will it take to fix them? Will it be something like just needing to drain the tank and clear or replace the fuel lines and a few other parts? Or have I done irreparable damage?

2. Any estimate of what my legal/civil risks are for this? As I understand it I am going to owe a load in fines, which is okay, I worked for the past 2.5 years and lived with my parents rent-free while helping out. Have I done anything criminal? Any idea what I will owe in fines?

3. I know this is probably a really common question I can find elsewhere, and I promise I'll look into details and not bug you guys for them, but if anyone knows off the top of their head roughly what it would cost to ship the bike from Medellin to the US (Kentucky) and if the process is simple, I'd appreciate it.

4. How much time would you guys expect clearing this up to take?

Thanks so much for your help. Any and all advice is appreciated. I know I'm a bit of an idiot for not dealing with this sooner, but between making the most of the time with my dad, and not knowing it would be a 2 year process, I let things get away from me.

Cheers,
Rob

I am sure lot will disagree but I would fly in, ride out to Ecuador without checking out of Colombia(easy to do on panam) , get a fresh temp import permit in Ecuador and forget that Colombia exists.

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There is a place added on iOverlander recently - Customs and immigration - in Bogota which detailed the fines imposed on a car that was left a few weeks too long see iOverlander | Aduana Bogota - Extension For TVIP which might give you some ideas.

As for riding down to Ecuador - one thing to consider is that along the panam there seemed to be a lot of police patrols who weren't interested in cars but were pulling over bikers and checking papers. Whether they would bother with foreigners I don't know.

As for the border into Ecuador - yes, pretty slack. You could just ride past the first building where colombia aduana sit in their office and pull around into the carpark and go into immigration and then go down to the ecuador post. We did a border run from Quito, went through Quito post and just Colombian immigrations, parked in the carpark overnight and then went through Colombian immigration and then back through ecuador customs and immigration.

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Tony
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Sorry for your dad's sickness. Sorry for my bad English, There is no easy answer.

First of all, you are not the first pearson caught with a parent sickness, you did the ri ght thing, and please keep on and do the right thing until the end being: Be honest and truthful.

second, we hear How DIAN can be stiffed, but remind yourself that these people are also human being like me and you and would have done the same thing. Yes they have to apply the law, but sometimes with the right aproach, you can end up with a good deal.

third, contact the closest Colombian Embassy or Consulate, tell them the truth, they will probaly tell you that you will need medical document of your father's sickness.

four, I would definately hire a lawyer who has a very good knowledge how dealing with the DIAN in these kind of issues.

or five, just exit the country, but if you get caught or have an accident on your way, they will confiscate the motorcycle, the jail is awaiting you and it will be very costly.

Thank you guys for the replies. My plan is to contact the embassy and start from there. Hopefully they will have leniency given the circumstances, and also one of my Dad's doctors was Colombian so he may be able to assist a bit as well. Cheers.

hi Tony - ive just posted a question about crossing into Colombia from Quito -
i entered Ecuador on October 2nd and only got 90 days on my bike permit,
i rode for 2 weeks there storing the bike in Quito and then returned home by air for work with the intention of getting back to Quito within the tight time allowed ie 30th December) but i crashed a bike here last week and fractured my foot so I cannot return to Quito until approx 20 to 30 days after the permit runs out !!
does anyone have any experience of overstaying a permit or how i might get out of ecuador and into Colombia ??
do you think it possible to cross into Colombia and not declare the bike as i head that the fine is 375USD per day !!!
Jonno
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Yes Jonno, I replied to your email and I see that someone else gave you very similar advice on your other post.

As always, advice here may be invaluable or may be worth even less than you paid for it.

In Ecuador I don't remember a single roadside police stop but there were many in Colombia targeting the bikes.

One other thing to consider is that liability insurance in Ecuador comes automatically with your TVIP so I guess if the TVIP has expired, your insurance is invalid. In Colombia, you have to get your own insurance from private sellers

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Tony
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Take care of the legals.

The bike;
Wash the bike to start with, you might see things you would otherwise miss.
Some WD40 down the spark plug hole (do this as the second sequence - gives lots of time for the WD40 to penetrate)
new battery
Carby clean.
change all the fluids - engine, fork oils, and brake fluid. Oh and filters.

How long? Say 3 days.

Is the bike worth the legal fees? You need to figure out what a replacement will cost compared to any legal fees + storage fees + transport + parts + uncertainly of storage/repair. Good luck.

Hi there, if you haven't sorted out the problems, I've got some information for you:
I almost bought a bike from colombia when the seller was on the way to Ecuador, and the police pulled him over. His TIP also expired, so the police took his bike away.

It feels like street side controls in Ecuador are getting harder, especially near to the borders.

But as someone else said, I'd risk it to leave colombia without saying anything about the bike to the aduana. But when entering you'll need to show a photo of the "salida" TIP from colombia, otherwise they don't let you go in. But as it is just a photo, you could photoshop the entrance TIP that you got few years ago, to look like the exit. All this is risky and I don't guarantee that it will work, just giving you some ideas. In my opinion the legal way would take a lot of patience, time and probably also money, if even possible.
If nothing of these ideas look fine for you, there's still the way to get rid of the licence plate, chassis numbers, etc and sell it on the black market.

If you found a legal way, let me know. Good luck!

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Hello Rob, how did you deal with this situation?
we are having the same problem, motorbike left near Medellin for last 4.5 years...
Also does anyone can exactly describe procedure of getting out of colombia-entering Ecuador, specifically : is there any exit paper for bike ?

We've recently crossed from Colombia into Ecuador and Visa versa. We were not asked for a "salida" TIP as you call it in either direction. All that happens is that you clear your TIP, they take the paperwork and clear it on the computer. That's it.

Our current experience in Colombia is that police only stop small local bikes. Over the last few weeks we've ridden with locals on larger bikes and they don't get stopped either. It's just been the smaller bikes.

In Ecuador we were stopped by Aduana who had partially blocked the Pan-American highway just north of Ibarra. We were specifically picked out of the traffic. They wanted to see TVIP, nothing else. All was in order so no problems for us. No other checks in Ecuador.

Hope this helps
Saludos
Steve & Janette
Tiger 800 RTW - Two Brits and a Triumph Tiger 800 Round The World

In south America it is rare to get any sort of confirmation that a TVIP has been handed in. Bolivia did give me a receipt on exit just once out of three exits.

What is more usual is for the country you are entering to double check that you have been stamped out of the previous country. No stamp out can mean entry refused.
What does need to be checked is that you are stamped IN to a country because they sometimes forget and then when you leave the officer will check for an entry stamp and if none, will assume you entered illegally. Happened to us twice but luckily common sense prevailed, especially since each time, one of us was stamped in correctly

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