We will be flying to Bogatá from Panamá in a few days. Would like to know what to expect from Colombia, road conditions and traffic norms, not planning on much off-road. Plan to head to Manizales, Medellin, at first. Thanks for any information, Val &Diana

Hi Val & Diana,

I've just ridden through Colombia from Ecuador. In general the surfaces on the main roads are good quality - often new. Bogota will obviously be busy, but once out on the main road to Medellin, the ride is good, snaking up through the hills. The road from Medellin to Cali through the coffee towns (Manizales etc) is beautiful, lots of trees and charming roadside restaurants which cry out for you to stop and have a coffee. When I rode this stretch their was little traffic. It felt great, as though I was on a top quality secondary road. The towns of Manizales, Pereira and Armenia themselves are not especially charming. I stayed in Salento.

The main challenge is all the trucks when riding up through the hills, because they literally crawl along, causing drivers and riders to take risky overtakings between hairpin bends. But it's fine. Drivers are used to making space for you when you cut it too fine and you soon get into the rhythm of it.

I had no problems. I took it easy and besides, once you've ridden in countries such as India, South America seems quite tame.

Colombians are famous for their warm welcome. You'll have a great time.

Cheers,

Bob

P.S. In the coffee region, Salento is beautiful and well visited for good reason, but I preferred Jardin de Antioquia, in between Medellin and Manizales a little off the main road to the west - more authentic.

The roads in Colombia are as already stated mostly in good conditions but there is a lot of construction going on, expect road closures of up to one hour and more. In one occasion I had to wait until a couple of hours.
There's also a lot of police stops along the way, I had to stop in average 3 or 4 times a day with only one bad experience on Ca. 40 coming from Bogotá to Armenia.
Be careful going over a green light, specially at night, not everyone takes red lights seriously AND if you're too fast when it turns red it's always safer to drive over, if you try to break too abrupt you'll probably get hit from behind.

I live in Colombia and do around 15-20K a year touring here on my 1190R.

Generally the roads are in good condition. As has been posted, lots of road works dotted around the country. I try and avoid the truck routes, but inevitable you will come across a few regardless of the route

If you are on some of the smaller roads between towns, ask a local they normally have a pretty good handle on road conditions, it can save you a lot of time.

The cops are normally never an issue, show your papers, smile, BS and all will be fine. I don't get stopped that often, when I have, yet to have an issue.

Yesterday did Yarumal to Jardin bypassing Medellin, fantastic ride, all paved.
Today just completed Jardin to Riosucio via La Pintada and Caramanta, paved roads and goat tracks, with spectacular views over the mountains.

Tomorrow up to Medellin, then back home via Santa Fe de Antioquia, Apartado, Turbo, Necocli etc. Another fantastic ride!

I'm in Colombia now. The good roads are great, on par with anything in the USA. But when you get off the beaten path they are gravel and dirt and mud and all that---I'm thinking of the road to Cabo de la Vela as well as roads I took as a short cut to Barichara from the main highway (rather than routing through San Gil) as two examples.

So if you stick to main roads you're in great shape (except for the slow trucks, as noted by other members). If you're a little more adventurous, then you'll want some capable tires.

All good information here. Just finishing a 2r day trip round Colombia. Roads down south are spectacular. Enjoy. On another note I now want to get the bike either over to to Panama and continue or up to the US and come back down as I bought the bike here on Colombian plates. Any help on that subject would be appreciated.
Regards
Adrian