This fall i wanna start a long travel through south america.

Thinking of buying a bike in bogota colombia and then heading clock wise through to venezuela, brazil and heading donw to patagonia.

Anybody have advice or tips for the road. done something similar?

I am a bit worried about motorcycle safety. but all i can do is install a lock and try to leave the bike in a safe parking inside of the accomodations. all else will be fate.

Also thinking of which gear to bring. My own helmet and gloves maybee a summer riding jacket with rain gear.

Anyway if any of you have advice its very welcome

Northern hemisphere fall presumably (i.e., September/October)?

Depending on your rate of travel you need to plan around seasons. If you start in September/October and you travel at a rate similar to ours you'll be arriving in the south in winter. On our longest trip in South America we left Colombia in June and arrived in Tierra del Fuego in November (early summer). Even then it snowed heavily one day in Ushuaia. Arriving in winter will expose you to strong winds, closed Andes passes, icy roads and snow. A summer riding jacket will not be adequate.

Now, if you travel much faster (or much more slowly) then your arrival in the south will obviously be different - how many km do you usually travel per day?

Its difficult to say because i also plan on staying longer time in certain areas to volunteer for a example and get a feeling for local life instead of just driving through every day.

It makes planning a bit tricky but still i think it would make sense to just go with the flow and have adequate riding gear for all kinds of seasons.

What model of motorcycle are you planning to get in Bogota? I would be careful about buying "used" from Colombians. I think your plan of buying the bike in South America is smart. It would make a lot of sense to buy another foreigner's bike down here as long as you can get it for $1500-2000.

I wouldn't limit yourself to starting out in Bogota. If there is a good deal on a used motorcycle in Buenos Aires, start in Buenos Aires instead.

Not sure how much sense it makes to go to Venezuela and then Brazil by way of Manaus.

I have wanted to go to Venezuela for almost 20 years now, but it has always been just a little too dangerous on my risk meter.

Did you know that it is more expensive in Venezuela than Colombia?

If you do go to Venezuela, do not go close to Caracas and travel through the 100 km of border zone is quick as possible.

The joke, is that all the criminals in Venezuela have emigrated to other countries now, so Venezuela is safe now. When there is widespread poverty desperate people will do desperate things to feed their families.

What kind of boots are you planning on using? I recommend Altberg Hogg's.

For a riding jacket I would go with a Klim Mojave. Get a nice professional looking rain jacket that fits over your breathable motorcycle jacket.

Helmet, bring an extra visor with you, because the visor will get scratched up after a few months.

Make sure that any motel you rent has gated parking, or ask them if you can take the bike into the lobby or into the room with you. Do not, I repeat Do Not leave the bike parked outside or it will quickly get stolen here. One of the things that sucks about doing a motorcycle trip like this is, how glued to the motorcycle you have to be the entire time. If you want a break from motorcycling, pay the hostel some money and leave your bike stored there for a month.

Keep the bike as light as you possibly can, buy the expensive aluminum tire irons, aluminum tools, etc, etc.

If you start in Argentina, take a tent and cooking gear with you. If you start in Colombia, don't bring a tent or cooking gear because rooms and food are cheap and there are snakes and spiders.

I think Ioverlander works good for finding camping spots or motel rooms. I have personally never used it, but I read a lot of ride reports where people use it with good success.

Do not ride at night in South America. One of my bad crashes was riding at night in Bolivia. I was at the top of a mountain pass and the road suddenly changed to 2-3 inches of snow for the last 200 meters of the mountain.

I also remember another experience riding at night where I hit a cinder block in the middle of the lane because I couldn't see it. Luckily, I didn't crash.

Be careful with blind corners in the mountains. There are a lot of Llamas. There are also a lot of bad car, truck, bus drivers in the mountains who are going to fast or trying to pass and when you round a blind corner in the mountains there is an oncoming bus in your lane.

My advice for Patagonia is just ride the bus down there, or fly down there.

The Southern half of Argentina sucks. The last 300 kms South is Patagonia, which is very beautiful.

Ushaia, the Perito Moreno Glacier, and El Calafate are what you want to see in Patagonia.

If you do ride all the way to Patagonia, just know that there is an 80% chance that your weather riding down there is going to really suck. There is a reason why sailors complained about having to cross the Cape down there.

The gas in Southern Argentina is expensive, the motel/ hotels are expensive, the food is expensive, if you need any motorcycle parts in Southern Argentina there are none in stock and you will have to wait 2-3 weeks before you get them after expensive shipping.

Basically everyone just rides the Southern half of Argentina because they want to tell their friends that they rode the whole Panamerican Highway.

__________________
http://www.journeyrider.net Latin America blog (07-8)

Some good advice, however a few additional thoughts:

re I would be careful about buying "used" from Colombians. I think your plan of buying the bike in South America is smart. It would make a lot of sense to buy another foreigner's bike down here as long as you can get it for $1500-2000.

- I’d be careful about buying a bike from foreigners as well..

re I wouldn't limit yourself to starting out in Bogota. If there is a good deal on a used motorcycle in Buenos Aires, start in Buenos Aires instead.

- Makes sense.

re Not sure how much sense it makes to go to Venezuela and then Brazil by way of Manaus. I have wanted to go to Venezuela for almost 20 years now, but it has always been just a little too dangerous on my risk meter. Did you know that it is more expensive in Venezuela than Colombia?

- It has improved, however it’s interesting that whereas a few years ago fuel was being smuggled from Venezuele to Colombia now the smuggling is in the other direction! The journey via Santa Elena de Uairén, Bõa Vista, and Manaus is well worth it in my view.

re If you start in Argentina, take a tent and cooking gear with you. If you start in Colombia, don't bring a tent or cooking gear because rooms and food are cheap and there are snakes and spiders.

- Take into account costs everywhere, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Paraguay are inexpensive, Chile and Brazil are expensive. Argentina is a financial mess however you can find economical rooms in Argentina. Snakes and spiders are not particularly common in Colombia and equally can be found in Argentina.

re Do not ride at night in South America.

- Agreed – or at least, if you do then do a quick risk assessment – sometimes it makes more send to continue half an hour carefully than camp at the side of a main highway.

re Be careful with blind corners in the mountains.

- Agreed - basic safety, always ride so that you can stop within the distance you can see to be clear.

re My advice for Patagonia is just ride the bus down there, or fly down there. The Southern half of Argentina sucks. The last 300 kms South is Patagonia, which is very beautiful. Basically everyone just rides the Southern half of Argentina because they want to tell their friends that they rode the whole Panamerican Highway.

- Hmm – we all enjoy different things, however in the Southern half of Argentina (prior to the southernmost 300 km) are: Peninsula Valdes, Bariloche, Lago Viedma, two different petrified forests, access to Torres del Paine, and half of Ruta 40. Lots to enjoy, in my opinion, other than Perito Moreno/El Calafate. Ushuaia itself is not particularly interesting – a duty-free shopping centre and one good restaurant.

Xfiltrate has informed a lot about this.
But has problems to get people to accept the facts.


https://www.xfiltrate.com/buy.php


As foreigner you can't legally take an Argentina registered bike out of Argentina.

And you can't buy a foreign bike, Since it is entering the county with a TVIP, that require that you exit the country with it. Not sell it.


Can you do illegal things ? yes.
I am sure that there will several proposals of hot to do things.

My advice is to thrust Xfiltrate.
And to buy your bike in Colombia. That has no similar law.

But it is your trip, so you do as you found best