I'm currently on the road from the Chicago area to Samaipata, Bolivia. I'm looking for a place to store the bike in the general area or in an adjoining country in short stomping distance. I expect to leave on Aug. 16. I would return to retrieve the bike and finish the trip to TDF in a year or so.

What logistical problems will I run into keeping the bike in the country this long? Will my customs paperwork run out of time? What kind of penalty is involved, if any? Or would it be better to just ship the bike back to the US?

Hi Jet,
We are now in La Paz, Bolivia.
You will not have any problems with customs storing a bike in Bolivia. There is no registration or importation in Bol. like in all other countrys.... If you fly out and later in, la paz would be a mutch better option to store a bike isnt it.. Samaipata is anyway a very nice place where you can find storage as well....
We are happy to help you.
On the Hubb you cab find a adress of a helpfull Honda dealer to store your bike...
greetings, Peter & Conny on R80GS´s 3 months in SAm

Last week i left Bolívia at the Guaharamirin border (NE) and at the police checkpoint prior the officer there noticed my temporary permit had expired by 3 weeks. I extended my visa but not my bike permit because I was confident they wouldn´t give me hassle, and they didn´t. The police don´t seem to worry about a lot in Bolívia. I would leave a pub in Sucre after many hours to get on my bike, and the police would come over to talk to me about my bike!

Otherwise don´t give back your temporary permit when you leave, as I expect they´re always in a different location to the immigration. Or just hand it quickly then go. I doubt any of them would know if there is an official penalty, so at worse if you were to pay them then that amount would be whatever makes them smile. Not that i´ve heard of anyone bribing Bolivian police and i doubt you would have to. Or probably better again is to say you lost it, and they´ll assume you were issued with one on the same date as the entry stamp in your passport.

It should only take a couple of days in Samaipata to find someone you trust to store your bike, and if not then a motorcycle shop and pay them. If you thought USD10 per week was fair you´d probably return to see your reflection in the spokes!

Hello
I,m looking for a place where I could store a Motorbike in La Paz , Bolivia for up to nine months before returning to do some more of Souh America.
Does someone know of a place or if their there are any hassles in doing so as I intend to fly out shortly afterwards.

Hello
Check out the following LA PAZ (PAGE 313) TYNDA . This was recomeded to me but I have not been there (yet). I will be leaving for South America soon for 6 to 8 weeks then plan on storing till next winter (summer there) and ride the other way. Storing in La Paz is looking like the best option.

Bob

Hello
I,ve recently stored a bike in Las Paz , Bolivia (27th of Coctober 2008).

I went to Honda Nosiglia Sport shop which is well stocked with motocross gear etc , NOSIGLIA SPORT and saw very briefly for first time Walter Nosiglia.
At first I thought it might not be possiable to store a bike through Walter as they may be moving completely out from their Calacoto ,La Paz shop.
But recently they have opened a new shop in the San Pedro area of La Paz which is in walking distance of the tourist streets of La Paz.
Its on Calle Riobamba number 598 , San Pedro ,La Paz and is run there by a guy called Fernando. Its a huge shop currently with lots of room.
Walter is more probaly likely to be found currently at his Calacoto , La Paz shop.
Walter seems very easy going with storing stranger,s motorbikes at his place there.

I,d entred Bolivia by the Desaguadero border where customs just entred my bike details etc into a book and stamped a date etc onto a photocopy of my license which I,m to Keep.
I then left later via the more scenic route ( by Bus )at Yunguyo.
Guess that piece of paper if not lost shall have too be dealt with on much later return date via the normal way to solve such problems.

Hello
Just ending a old story. I stored a Bike for ten months at Nosiglia Honda sport in La Paz at the San Pedro shop.
No problems storing the bike at all , I had some work done on the bike partly as Walther didn,t want too charge me any storge fee. They charged up my battery and I rode off after going to the other shop and thanking Walther Nosiglia.
I had re-entred the country on a bus via the Chilean border from Arica and after a week or so in Bolivia left via the quiet Yunguyo border near to Copananaca ( spelt wrong for sure ).
There where two guys at the Aduana ,one guy wasn,t going too make things easy at all as he waved around a example of a form full of bike details that I,d never needed or got ten months earlier.
The second guy was completely different. He was only interested in me showing proof of ownership and either missed the photo copy of my international lience with a dated stamp showing it was ten months old or didn,t care.
Either way , no money changed hands and it was a petty painless exit.

Just a word of caution from my experience.

I visited Bolivia from Argentina in 2006 for a few days and left the motorcycle in Formosa before returning home. I overstayed in Argentina but managed to solve the problem with a very low fine. I then reentered bolivia in 2007 from Brazil in Pantanal, 2000 km away from my first bolivian crossing. The officer checked his computer and noticed a problem with my last border crossing with the motorcycle, which failed to be registered by the customs officer. I then showed him my pictures of me crossing the border back to Argentina and after a few hours he solved the problem but...they do have a data network and from my experience they do check when the vehicules enters and leaves the country.

My two pesos bolivianos...

Howdy folks, Looking to do the same-store a motorcycle in SA for a few months to possibly almost a year- and while I found this forum and Boliva seems like a good option for storage, I am wondering if anyone has any updates for 2024 or if anything has changed since 2008 when this topic was first posted. Thanks!

I belive Bolivia only gives max 90 days TIP nowadays. However Uruguay gives 12 months TIP and Argentina sometimes gives 8 months TIP (but not always)
Then there are bonded storage - cannot remember where but maybe Colombia or Equador?
Anyhow - Uruguay gives 12 months TIP for sure - so that a good alternative.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

There appear to be a few services listed on this website:
https://directoriodecarga.com/bolivi...s-y-depositos/

If you find a suitable storage service, kindly share your experience.

A bonded warehouse is called "Almacen Fiscal".
The service is typically found near seaports. Given Bolivia is a landlocked country, you can forget about looking for one there. Fun fact, Bolivia has a navy...think Lake Titicaca.
The other place you might find a bonded warehouse is near an airport. If there isn't one near La Paz, then I'm guessing there won't be one in any of the smaller airports...
I haven't heard of a storage service at the Bolivian borders, but I know the service can sometimes be found in the no man's land between countries or very near. The concept is, that you are not storing a bike in any country per se, but between countries. These services do not require a TVIP at all, and the storage hypothetically has no end date. There is such a service near the Caribbean between Colombia and Venezuela. I met a guy who stored a bike there. There were two options, storage under cover and in the open air. The former cost a little more. The "classic" storage charge is $1.00 per day (YMMV) and does not suspend liability insurance.

__________________
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