I plan to ride some of Chile and Argentinia with my father next January and February. It's most likely his last chance to go for a big ride before his back problems become too bad to make such a trip possible. Originally we were planning to do it once he retires in 3 years, but as it stands right now he might not be able to ride at all in 3 years, so we better do it as fast as possible.

I am 26, I have travelled the world for about two years, most recently I drove a 150cc bike 15.000km troughout south east asia (you can have a look at our experience here: South East Asia on Motorbikes ). I speak decent Spanish.

My dad is 61, he has been riding motorbikes his whole life, but never outside Europe. We know roughly where we want to go, and (think that we) have the necessary budget, the big question is how to get the bikes.


It would be GREAT if you HUBB members could help us out here! Anything that takes us across the Andes will do, so 250cc up to 750cc is our range. It should be sturdy and easily repairable.
As it stands, our options to get some motorbikes are:

-Rent them:
But it seems crazy expensive. The best option we found so far is charging about 5000 Dollars for two bikes for 4 weeks. Are there any decent renting options? Does a HUBB member rent out his bikes? we could provide a decent security payment just as long as the daily charge is low.

-Buy them:
There is a great sticky here about buying bikes in Santiago, but even in the best conditions it seems to take at least a week before we could get started, same thing goes for selling them for a decent price. We have only about 8 weeks, being stuck in Santiago for 2 weeks would take away a lot of our time.

-have them bought for us:
a) A good friend of mine lives in Iguazu, Brazil. He could buy two bikes for us and "hand them to us" for the time we ride. afterwards he would sell them. I guess the big question here is how easily we could take his bikes out of Brasil, into Argentinia and Chile. Would they have to be in our name?

b) I met an architect from Chile a couple of days ago here in Europe. He is a fellow biker and invited me to come and ride with him. Such a nice person! I could ask him to find two bikes for us, but it might be a bit much to ask, given that i hardly know him.

This is so important to us, I am more than grateful for any response leading us in the right direction. Go HUBB!

Basic requirement for getting any vehicle across borders on S America is that all details on the vehicle registration and title must match the details on the person taking it across OR if they are not the same, then a PODER drawn up by the legal owner in favour of the driver must be submitted as well.

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Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

Buying a large bike in Chile is expensive, even old ones, flying a bike (return) costs approx £3500. Renting 2 bikes for 4 weeks (1 x 400, 1 x 750) costs approx £3500.

Buying a bike and then selling it makes it much cheaper, however you have to budget time to buy and then sell and do all the paper work.

So, back to renting, try Ride Chile (based in Santiago) Ride-Chile.com | Home , they will do a sell/buy back deal, so worth checking with them.

As has been mentioned paper work is important, I got it wrong in 2012 after buying a bike and was refused access to Peru (after being able to get into Argentina and Bolivia).

As it is your dad's last chance to ride, go for the easy hassle free option and rent them. Then you will get maximum use and piece of mind that there is some form of help in case of issues/breakdowns. In the grand scheme of things after the cost of 2x return flights to SA, it is not that much more to fork out :-)

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http://www.ytc1.co.uk

Bruce and Tony have covered the many options out there. IMO, if your Brazil connection can secure bikes for you ... do it. Just make certain the paperwork is in your names (as Tony states). Perhaps he can register them as "dual ownership" titles with both his name and your name on one title? This is possible in USA, not sure about Brazil. Explore all options.

Also, seems to me your biggest (self imposed) limit is TIME. Without Time, plan to spend a lot more MONEY. If me, I'd extend you TIME, spend less and have more relax time, less frenzied.

Also, contact the HU community in Colombia. From what I read it's possible for foreigners to buy and register bikes there in a more timely manner than Chile. Fewer Hoops to jump through.

Other possibility is to buy in USA (get any bike you want for less than UK or EU). Either sell off at trips end or loop back to USA to sell ... or store abroad for future travels.

Good luck! (in the meantime I'd be looking for alternate therapies for your
Dad's back issues)

There are always travelers selling bikes at the end of north to south trips. Usually they advertise here on the Hubb. A search will find several. I think that's your best bet, and you help fellow travelers as well.

Come to Peru! It has everything (coast, Andes, Amazon) and is MUCH less expensive!

I purchase new Chinese 250cc bikes for HUBBers, go all the way thru them so that they will hold up for the road, and when you come it only takes 3 hours to get it into your name and off you go!!

I even buy them back from you at the end of your trip to pass it on to another budget rider!

HEY! My son said the same thing about me (last trip for my Dad..) in 2007! I'm 56 and riding every week to 16,000 feet... and plan to do so until 70 years old or more!

We are in central Peru (HUANUCO) and paperwork is SOOOO much easier than in Chile or Argentina!!

Toby

Toby is right. Peru is much cheaper than Chile and Argentina. I liked Peru a lot as the mountain roads were stunning. Muchu Pichu was a true wonder. I have seen the prep Toby does on his bikes and it is top notch.
Peru is also small than Argentina and Chile and will seem more foreign to you. You will need to ride carefully as they drive very much like in Mexico where I live.

If I may make a suggestion, work out a balanced trip. You mentioned your father has back problems, so spending two months on motorcycles might not be the most practical plan. If you are determined to see several countries, then how about taking short(er) tours in two countries? Throw in a plane ride as needed to see more of South America, and take the very comfortable buses from point to point. It feels very odd to give this advice on a forum that companions hard core adventure riding, but I didn't cover every section of my Latin American travels by motorcycle. More than once I stored my motorcycle and flew in order to cut out hundreds or thousands of miles. I took a three day truck tour of the Salar de Uyuni and the desert south of Uyuni. Mostly because I didn't have knobby tires for the long desert roads and I wanted to rest...

As mentioned it is possible to acquire bikes in Chile and get the right documentation. I don't have personal experience, but have read posts here on the HUBB of riders that got everything worked out smoothly and those that ran into problems. Spend some time browsing through posts here in the South America forum and decide for yourself. You have time to investigate options, so start now. At a minimum there is going to be some time on the front end getting the documents organized and some time on the back end. It is not clear to me is a PODER will get you into Peru with a motorcycle that is on loan. One thing is clear, you cannot take a (typically) rented bike across borders. There may be exceptions, but I have heard of one.

Commercial tours get you on the road quickly, without the hassle of securing motorcycles, dealing with break downs, finding lodging and a LOT more. If you were planning a longer trip, it might be worth it to buy. For two months, I am not so sure.

Reach out to the Chilean you met and talk it over. There are countless stories of generous hosts in South America. Be a good guest in return and you could be friends for life.

Peru has a great variety of environments: ocean, desert, mountains, jungles and epic archeological sites. I have ridden in every country in South America, except Paraguay, which I'll get next time. I visited more interesting spots in Peru than in in any other country. Lake Titicaca (floating islands and more), Machu Picchu (and the Scared Valley), the Nasca Lines, Pisco vineyards and distilleries, outrageous sand dunes (where you might see a stage of the 2016 Dakar Rally, depending on their route and your schedule), a long list of museums and sites of note in Lima, and plenty of good stuff in between and on the edges.

I rode with Toby (Around the Block Moto Adventures) on a tour in the fall of 2014. He is an operator of great integrity and provider of well maintained equipment. He has lived in Peru for years, is fluent in Spanish and knows the country and culture intimately. He delivers an excellent tour at competitive prices. Reach out to Toby and see what he has planned for those months in the way of a tour or equipment.

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Rental companies (like Ride Chile) will do the documentation to allow the bikes into Argentina and Bolivia.

Inquire about Peru, things are a bit stricter there. They usually require the owner to be with the bike. A notary letter is not enough.

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http://www.ytc1.co.uk

In Peru there is only one rental company that works it out (paperwork wise) to cross border (NOT me), but there are still risks that it may not work. The best bet is having it in your name... thus you need to buy a bike...

Selling the bike at the end of the trip is iffy... unless selling back to me..

Your BEST bet is to rent and stay in one country for anything shorter than 2 months...

Toby

Visit this HU page for a list of Central and South American tours:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/links/tour-operators/south-%2526-central-america/all?title_sort=unsorted&created_sort=DESC

Round the Block Moto Adventures website can be found here:

www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/

Thanks BruceP and Toby for setting me straight. With the right paperwork it is possible to take a rented motorcycle across some borders. Here is what Ride-Chile.com has to say on the topic.

http://www.ride-chile.com/faqs

CAN I CROSS BORDERS ON A RENTAL BIKE?
Taking a rental bike from Chile into Argentina or other countries is no problems. We only need your personal information in advance to have the papers and insurance ( $105 US Dollars per month) ready for you when you arrive. We allow out bikes to enter all countries of South America.
Furthermore we will pre-charge your credit card at a fixed rate (% of the value of the rented bike) for our security to cover any loss of the bike. Upon return we will cancel the pre-charge from from your credit card.

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Wow, thanks to everyone for all the replies!

Some Conclusions:

-Shipping / Flying a bike from europe ist not feasible.

-No one seems to know a lot about The Brasil option. Any Brazilian here that I could get in contact with?

-Renting in Chile is too expensive

-Buying in Chile might be a good option, especially if I go trough my chilean friend. I had a look at chileautos.cl, there's not many decent bikes for offer though - or am I just doing it wrong?

-Most importantly: I have to admit i never really looked into Peru, but it seems like a pretty interesting (and cheaper) option! Although my dad really wants to see patagonia

@charapashanperu/ Toby: gracias para la oferta, i might get back to you

@Peter Bodtke: Thanks for the lengthy advice, appreciate your opinion

@bruceP: I contacted rideChile. Their rental prices are out of the world. But as you said, they do buyback agreements. Unfortunately, their cheapest offer was used Honda Falcons NX400 for 4.000.000 CLP, which is more than they cost factory new.

Thanks again for all the Opinions and Information, I am looking forward to more input.

Max,

Patagonia is beautiful. I didn't have time to ride all the way to Ushuaia from Buenos Aires. My wife flew from the US to meet me during my trip and her schedule was fixed. A few days extra in Brazil meant I didn't have enough time to cover the ~3110 km from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego...so, we met in B.A., stored the bike and flew to El Calafate, AR to visit Torres del Paine and the Perito Moreno Glacier, then north by car to El Chaltén to see Mount Fitz Roy. A bus took us from there to Punta Arenas, CH for a cruise around Tierro del Fuego, ending Ushuaia. A return flight took us back Buenos Aires were my wife continued back to the US and I got back on my motorcycle.

All of this is to share two concepts. You don't have to ride every mile of South America to see what you want. And the length of Patagonia needs to be taken into consideration. Don't let the thinness of southern Argentina and Chile on a map fool you into believe anything less. It took a friend of mine 5-6 days of focused riding to get from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires (where his wife was arriving for a visit...) The roads to southern Patagonia are mind numbing boring, and occasionally broken up with spectacular views. This opinion is not my own, but from other riders. Do I wish I had ridden all the way to Ushuaia? Yes, of course. I am hoping to do it on another trip, one where I can spend three of four months in Chile and Argentina... I hope this helps your planning.

If you do end up going to Argentina, take lots of cash and exchange it on the blue market. You will get a LOT more pesos for your Euros, then in a bank. If you can bring USD in large denominations, it will be easier to exchange privately.

http://www.buenostours.com/getting-the-best-exchange-rate-for-your-dollars-in-buenos-aires

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Plus the wind oh my oh my! I actually got that boat back from Puerto Natales and paid to stow the bike. Beyond the Carretera Austral I found (riding) Patagonia to be wet, cold, windy, boring and more of an endurance test than anything. To be honest, after riding extensively around the Altiplano, parts of lowland Bolivia, northern Argetina and the Atacama, the far south felt like rather large drag to me. If you have to make a choice, pick the north over the south anyday!

RTW