Hello everyone,

My fiance and I are headed to Columbia November 10th and are planning on travelling south america for approximately 6 months.

2 years ago I rode from Canada to El salvador and back over a period of 5 months. My initial goal was to ride down to Ushuaia but I ended up spending most of my time in Mexico (it's huge!). My fiance rides a motorcycle as well and fortunately for me I was able to convince her to ride as far south as we can (hopefully reach chili/argentina!) Her only exception is that she wants to backpack Colombia first.

I am more than happy to cooperate but I have some big concerns with logistics and efficiency and I'm hoping someone can help me!

We will backpack Colombia first and then go back to bogota to buy two motorcycles as I believe this would be the best place to buy a motorcycle with the proper paperwork. Any other recommendations are welcome!

Now my big concern is if we should bring all our gear from home, pay the (highly likely) extra baggage fee and try to find a place to store our gear in bogota, or should we just pack our clothes and buy all new gear in Colombia? Are the prices of quality gear the same in Colombia as in north america? Are they readily available? Do they have better/cheaper alternatives? I had mosko moto bags for my trip which i loved and could potentially bring on the plane but that would also be a big hassle and I would have to find a place to keep it in bogota..

Long story short.. When I did my trip 2 years ago I left from my own house with a DRZ-400 that I spent about a month trying to make as bulletproof as possible and I bought all the gear to last me the whole trip. I had great peace of mind knowing that I was leaving prepared, now not so much.. I'm also hoping this trip will go really smooth so that my fiance enjoys it so much that she wants to do it again !

Therefore i'm trying to find some insight if Gear/accessories are similar priced in Colombia or if I should look to buy everything here and go through the hassle of expensive baggage fees and trying to find a place to store all our stuff! Let alone hope that 2 mosko moto 80L bags will fit our gear!

Any info is highly appreciated, Safe travels!

Bring stuff with you. Full stop. Pay for an extra bag on the plane when you book, not at the desk as you board. It's not that expensive for an extra bag, $30/40. And leave all your stuff in Bogotá while you backpack.

There's an argument that you pre-pack your preferred luggage with all your bike travel gear at home, then you know it fits! Take out what you need for backpacking when you get there.
I THINK you'll find that top quality gear will be more than at home, IF available. There will certainly be less choice.
NOW you have lots of time to figure it all out at leisure, rather than running from shop to shop in a strange country where your language skills won't be the best.
Then all you have to do when you get there is sort the bikes.


Be sure to contact the HU Colombia Communities https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/connect/contact too, they could be a huge help, and a place to store your gear while backpacking.
Have a GREAT trip, and remember to SHARE the load (of EVERYTHING - you're equal partners in this).

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

You sound fussy about proper gear. That means at minimum you'd spend a bunch of time searching Bogota for stuff that measured up to your standards, and you'd probably settle for some that seems woefully inadequate. Besides, you'd be almost certain to buy one thing or another which turned out not to fit, work well, or even function at all. Who needs that--especially when you're trying to provide a good experience for your partner? Ever ride with a not-quite-fitting helmet which seemed ok when you started out, but turned agonizing after 3 hours? Or boots which fit fine in the shop but caused blisters and cramps starting the second day?

Bring everything essential from home after test riding and making all adjustments. On a 6 month trip, having everything work the way you want it to will make a big difference long after the initial inconvenience is forgotten. Hell, I bring my own gear on little 3-week rental trips. Schlepping it through the airport is painful, but riding is a pleasure.

If you absolutely insist on cutting back on baggage, at least bring your own helmets, boots (broken in), and weird little items you're accustomed to--I've been bringing crampbuster, face shield squeegees, earplugs, Airhawk seat, a couple of long straps, a waterproof handlebar case for a phone.... By the time that's all loaded you'll see that you're already most of the way there, so might as well add the armored jacket, gloves, skullcap or buff, and at least knee armor if not riding pants.

Wherever you stay in Bogota will hold excess luggage for you while you wander around, as long as you promise to stay with them again. It's not a big deal.

Taking buses and collectivos around Colombia when you could be riding is almost a sin, so hopefully she'll notice that, too.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Edit to add: Grant and Susan covered a lot of ground together, and they're still married. That's the voice of authority!

Welcome here on the Hubb.

Yes, bring your gear from home. This way you know you got it all, the quality you want and it fits. Sure you would be able to find gear (also very good gear) in Bogota, but it will take a long time to run around to find the right shop, price etc.

You should be able to store you gear at the hotel until you come back to Bogota. Or, as Grant suggested, ask the HU communities to help you finding storage.

Enjoy your ride.
Saludos desde Samaipata Bolivia
mika

thanks everyone for your quick replies! I will try to see how much i can stuff in my mosko moto reckless 80 bags to see what we can bring! It's great to see how fast everyone is ready to provide some great advice!

Hahaha um yeah, I agree with cholo... Why backpack the best country to ride in?? It's completely nonsensical. You'll be taking night buses instead of riding??

I am in the camp that says buy in advance. Items like boots, helmets, glove and riding gear should be purchased in your home country. You should have these items selected before starting your adventure. You may pay more in Latin America due to import fees that the suppliers are charged, which are passed on to the consumer. You may find a jacket in Colombia that "fits" then learn that there is something about it that it too tight, too loose or a portion rubs just a little bit...after you are miles down the road. You will be very unhappy and distracted by the annoyance.

There are a few items that are cheaper in South America, like Pirelli tires that are manufactured in Brazil. If you ride a popular brand like Honda, Yamaha, you'll be able to find aftermarket items if they work with your motorcycle; brake pads for example. I rode an F800GS and found oil filter out of stock at the BMW dealer in Venezuela! The filters were double or triple the price at the BMW dealer in Belem, Brazil. If you are planning an extended ride, consider taking front and rear sprockets; these were expensive to replace in Sau Paulo, Brazil. In the end, I chalked up the higher costs to the price of adventure. And it was worth it.

__________________
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

PS: to save room in checked luggage, you can wear your riding jacket (with padding removed for comfort) and boots on the plane. When I fly to Peru to ride for a week or so, I carry my helmet onboard with me. It's too big to pack in my luggage and I don't want to take a chance that I lose my helmet or jacket if my luggage goes missing. Wearing a motorcycle jacket in my seat is a great conversation starter.

__________________
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

thanks you for all your information guys! We now have everything we need to start our trip when we arrive in colombia! Now we just need a couple of bikes and we're off! We're both very excited of course!

One more important thing to mention in addition to the very good advice from everyone else...

Pack light. You almost certainly need a lot less stuff than you think.