Hi! I have been reading all of the valuable information on this site and this is my first question (I am sure 1 of many to come).

I am looking at doing a trip leaving Australia, buying a bike in USA and travelling through Central America and South America. Is there ANY COUNTRY in South America that I can sell my motorcycle (apart from selling to a fellow traveller)?

I will be travelling with an Australian passport as well as a Uruguayan passport as I have dual citizenship (does this help?).

If I can’t sell a bike for more than spare parts it will make a big difference to what I buy in the USA at the start. I had wanted to buy a new or near new bike to improve my chances of not having breakdowns as I am not experienced on the mechanical side.

I don’t currently own a bike in Australia so taking one from here is not an option.

Many thanks
Maurice

Hi Maurice,

From what I've read it looks like Chile is the place to sell your bike.

Good luck on your voyage,

Giampaulo

BTW, I also have a Uruguayan passport, along with a US and EC passport.

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John C.

I have read that Paraguay is the easiest to sell a foreign bike in, but i have no personal experience.

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Andy Tiegs
https://new.horizonsunlimited.com/ts...lsouth-america

Thanks for feedback

John 3 passports!!! Talk about having all bases covered.

Cheers
Maurice

Hi Maurice
I have an XT 600 E, year 2000 for sale in Colombia. It is Victoria registered and need to sell it before october 21. It has 80.000 km on it but its in good condition. You could take it home with you after the trip.
If you're interested let me know and ill give you more info and pictures.
Cheers
Juan

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Life is good!

Here in Chile is ilegal to import used bikes and cars, then is not possible to sell it here.

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Ya verás como quieren en Chile al amigo cuando es forastero (traditional song)

Jose Pedro Espinosa
Santiago, Chile

Hola Juan

Thank you for the suggestion but I am looking at starting my trip in the US and then going through Mexico and Central America first so not really an option for me. I am also looking for a much newer bike with lower kms. If it already has 80,000kms it may not be worth taking back to Australia at the end of my trip.

Cheers
Maurice

I sold my KLR650 illegally for a pretty good price in Cusco, Peru. I've heard similar stories in different countries... you just have to be willing to sell at a price that's attractive to a local (low enough for him to accept the risk of having an illegal bike and trying to get fake papers for it).

You can pick up a brand new KLR650 for $5000 in the US and it will get you through Central and South America no problem. With 20,000 miles on the clock you could pawn it off to a local for $2500... he'd be stoked as it's worth $8000 legally in his country. I also had a couple of bikers in Bolivia offer to buy my bike (the KLR is known there), but I wasn't ready to sell at that point. In Cusco I sold it the first day I offered it; there are several moto rental shops there and one of them hooked me up with a local who was looking for a bigger bike, as they are hard to come by and very expensive in those countries.

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Steven
www.twowheeledtraveller.com
Americas, '05-'06
RTW, poco a poco

Thanks for the info Steven. I is great to hear from someone that has actually sold a bike in South America.

Did you buy yours in the US? If you did are you an American? Reason I am asking is that I have been informed on the HUBB that to purchase a bike in US you need to have a Social Security number therefore making it difficult for foreigners to purchase in the US.

Cheers
Maurice

Just got a report in that Paraguay is brilliant - new regs have made it easy to sell big bikes at a great price, no red tape hassles.

From Jon Holmes, USA:

"BIKE SOLD in Paraguay!
My Suzuki dr650, 2001 sold in Asuncion, Paraguay (PY)for $3,000.
PY economy and safety is improving. In last 3 years, locals must register and license their vehicles, which has almost elminated all thefts. Sold my moto in one week legally, as it is very difficult and expensive for locals to import big bikes. They have to pay 30% import tax. The buyer took care of paperwork at a nortary public and payed cash directly from an international bank. All went smoothly. Asuncion is small city, but is some demand for bigger bikes...probably could have sold bike for more if I knew Spanish better and stayed longer, as others were interested. Jon"

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

Thanks for the good news.

Cheers
Maurice

I have lived and moto-travelled most of my life in South America. The trouble with selling a bike in SA is that some borders may want to put a note in your passport so that you cannot leave the country without the moto (no matter what has happened to it!).

As you enter each country you will fill out a "temporary import" document which you will carry with you while in that country and give to the point of exit. Each new country does not care about paperwork from the previous country. I have exited countries without checking out and at the border of the next country no one cares. All they ask for is your original country title in your name. They just begin new paperwork for their country...

If you plan to sell and leave a country in SA, this is what I would HIGHLY recommend: DON'T try it in Brazil or any country that does the paperwork via computer network, it will catch up with you. Enter a less organized country you plan to sell it in (Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay) thru a backroad border crossing where the customs is just a shack of disorganized papers, then exit as a normal tourist.

Your biggest problem is going to be having to leave a $$ guarantee in the USA that you get back when you show that you have brought the moto back into the country....

On my last trip I did not do the $$ guarantee as required in Peru. I "rented" motos from friends in Peru and left and entered Peru via
back roads with gifts of t-shirts and very good Spanish. I don't recommend it to anyone else... Hate to see you in some out-of-the-way SA prison!

Toby

PS last trip website: Around the Block 2007 |

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http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

hola maurice
i'm currently trying to sell my bike and i know for sure that you can sell it in iquique,chile,cause it's a zona franca,will try in april if nothing else turns up.
paraguay is the next place,where you can sell a bike,didn't fit in my itinery,but be careful in paraguay,they do have their own sense of making business.
all the best geri

how'd it go?

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http://www.2fortheroad.co.uk/

I know this is an old thread but it is certainly a commonly asked question so I will post a response I gave to another traveller who asked me the same question.