Good points Peter, but you (and I) have the luxury of being able to RIDE to Latin America from home ... aboard our "Goldie Locks" bikes. OP is coming from the UK.

Question: If you were doing a Mongolia ride or a ride through SE Asia, would you still ship your own bike to the starting point for a couple grand, knowing you can rent a 125 or 250 in Thailand for $100 a month? Or that you could buy a used, well set-up 660 Tenere' or XT600 in UK for £2000?

Shipping a bike from UK to S.America is pricey. You may get an initial low quote ... but it always seems to go up by $hundreds$ by the time you get it out of port. And could anything be more convoluted and stressful than dealing with Aduana in Argentina? Certainly no better/worse than buying a bike there or elsewhere in Latin America.

Re-selling your bike can take time, not good if on a schedule. Best to consign the bike to a friend or dealer to handle the sale ... and cross your fingers.

I love your "Goldie Locks" analogy ... but sometimes Goldie locks has to Man Up the ride what's available and have fun.


PLUS ONE on National Geo maps.

Curious what you paid to ship you and your bike from Colombia to Cuba, then onto Mexico (or was it reverse order?) Seems like a good alternative for crossing the Darien! (if not too pricey)

Cheers

I maintain that sea shipping can be done for a good price. A have read posts of riders that paid more than $1k to ship from South America to Europe, but they got white gloves treatment. Someone crated the bike and managed all of the details on both ends.

Sure I would buy if the right opportunity presented itself. That is all about timing. Delays can be expensive, unless you can hang out in a city like Santiago for a few weeks. Sounds great to me...but no I can't. More likely I would rent or (yikes) take a tour. But it would have to be a pretty cool outfit to get me signed up.

Here is a sample of a tour that got my attention, until I started to break it down. The tour that is organized out of Colombia, 45 days from Medellin, thru Valenzuela, dip into Brazil, then north thru Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana...back into Brazil, across the Amazon, then a tear a long stretch of the TransAmazonia, to the TranOceania, into Peru, Ecuador and back to Medellin. Sorry for the run on sentence, but that is how it should be described. ~14000 miles, average of 311 miles per day, in Latin America! If you bring you own bike and pay for your own gas, and that price is $266 per day. The operator provides a guide, breakfast, lodging and any water crossing costs. There is a chase truck I think, but that is likely a joke unless you rent one of their bikes. Screw that. Screw tours in general. Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that kind of schedule, pay those prices and not enter the Dakar?

I took the Stalhratte from Cartagena, Colombia, to Jamaica for 7 days, 27 days in Cuba, finally getting dropped off near Cancun, MX. The cost was based on the number of days on the boat, included food for me and transport for the motorcycle, ~$1550.00 in the spring of 2013.

I took the Stalhratte early in the trip from Panama to Cartagena, for ~$950 (me and moto.) I imagine cheaper arrangements can be made out of Colon, but I was on a bit of a schedule that time. Next trip I will definitely consider shipping by sea from the US to the starting point of the adventure in South America. Or I might ride Central America again, then ask around the docks of Colon for a budget open cargo boat going directly to a major port in South America (not one of the local cargo boats that stops at every village along the coast!)

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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

I've not heard of many ... if any .. that cheap. Usually closer the $1500 to $2000 when all said and done. Seems to get higher every year.

True, delays in an expensive city can cost you. But there are a few ways round at least some. In Asia, renting makes sense.(done it on 3 different trips)

In Chile .. not ideal. Too expensive overall. I think Ecuador may be the better deal? A foreigner can buy a bike there too and cheaper if you have to wait around.

Buying a travelers bike may be the best way ... if one can get the paperwork straight. Many have managed this!

100% agree. Takes all kinds. Some feel more secure on a tour. Not for me.. but Kudos anyway, at least they made the trip!

That is really not bad considering you got Jamaica and Cuba in the deal! You also saved the money it would cost to traverse
all of Cent. America ... maybe another $400 to $800? ... plus several nightmare border crossings. A bargain I'd say!

I've heard some "interesting" stories about various random boats taking motos. Not all good. Most have heard the same. The Stalhratte seems to have the market tied up, offering good, reliable service and a fun time. Probably worth the extra couple hundred the Stalhratte costs?

Peter,
If you hear of any good shipping (or air freight) deals out of Miami (or where ever) to Colombia or Venezuela, let me know. I've not yet found anything great. It's such a short hop ... yet still very pricey. Any ideas or recommendations?

Hi Mollydog,

I missed your post 6 days ago, only noticing it this morning... Sorry, I don't know of any deals from Miami to Colombia or Venezuela. I have a long term plan to return to South America to ride the sections I missed last time. Next time the budget maybe better managed in an overall sense, so container shipping on one or both legs will be carefully considered.

From looking at the samples in the shipping database, I noticed a few reports that mentioned paying for "white gloves service." The traveler dropped off the bike and the shipper crated it. Getting a bike crated in Miami is going to cost something. Why not design and build it in you garage or backyard, put the pieces in a pick-up truck, then assemble the crate at the warehouse. I see others mention RoRo (roll on, roll off) transportation. I suspect this would be more expensive compared to shipping as loose cargo. There are shippers that consolidate cargo from multiple customers to fill a container. If you go with a group, look into a 20' container. Much easier to fill that a 40'.

When are you planning trip? It never hurts to start research early. I would begin by estimating the size and weight of the crate. I wouldn't be surprised if I had 50 pounds of gear. Add that to the weight of your motorcycle and you have enough to make a few phone calls to get quotes. Vehicles fall into the category of "hazardous cargo" which no doubt adds to the cost of shipping.

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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

Nunkun,

I'm currently expanding my blog to include info I've gleamed after 20 months riding S Am which may help others planning. Happy to answer questions direct too.

HORCA MOTO

Best advice I was given was don't over-plan. Just buy a decent bike and get on the road. Worked for me..

Paul

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Blogging @ www.horcamoto.com