Valid Motorcycle Licence... Necessary in SA?
 

Hi,

I'm planning on buying a bike in Chile and riding through Argentina, Uruguay, maybe Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.

However, I might not have a valid motorcycle licence. I'm a resident of Quebec (Canada), where we have an apprentice motorcycle license for 11 months, which only allows us to ride accompanied by another bike (dumb law, I know...). That's the licence I have, along with a regular driver's licence (all in French). I'm not getting my "full" motorcycle licence before August, and I might have to leave before then...

So: Would this really be a problem in any of the countries I'm planning on visiting? I speak fluent Spanish and am comfortable with bullshitting. Note that I can actually ride just fine, so the safety aspect is not a concern.

Thanks!

I am not sure if you would get away with it or not but do ask yourself would you be comfortable with a South American riding around Canada without a valid licence and with that no valid insurance either. The other thing to consider is you will possible invalidate your medical insurance as this may require you to be licenced for any vehicle you are driving.

I would be comfortable with the South American riding around Canada if he was competent to ride. The paper is just a paper. The ethical aspect of this doesn't bother me, since I've taken my courses and have two years of urban riding experience, in addition to having lived and driven in Latin America (Mexico) for several years. I'm actually licensed to ride -- just not unaccompanied. And what difference does that make? I don't mean to sound callous; I wouldn't even be suggesting it if I thought I would be a danger to others. It's just that a scheduling issue /might/ cause me to have to miss my final practical exam for the unrestricted licence.

As for the medical insurance, I could always claim that I was accompanied, and thus complying with the conditions of my licence.

I'm just concerned with the practical aspect of police checking my licence. It's my understanding that buying and registering the bike has nothing to do with the licence to operate.

I routinely used my spare non-motorcycle license at traffic stops in South America without a problem. I wouldn't be worried. The traffic police are not going to know the laws and specifics of international licenses, nor are they going to be able to read French.

On the strictly legal side of your question, around here by law you need an International Driving Licence that specifically stablish what kind of vehicle you are allowed to drive or ride, Usually is an international code that all the organizations use the same for this and in case of a bike like the ones we use to travel is A3.

Probably many people will jump on me saying that they have been travelling in the whole Americas and nobody ask them it, or than the police don’t know what they should ask, or…, or… Well Im only telling you what the law (that we have one) says..

Personally talking I can tell you that you probably will be okay but as others told you, I as a local will not be happy to have a transit problem with some stupid gringo riding around without the minimum requires that the law ask, leaving me in a situation where I don’t have to whom reclaim in case of an accident…. A local 3rd party insurance is ridiculous cheap around and the International License too as far I know.

Saludos

Yep, motorcycles require specific license endorsements in many countries so no endorsement means riding unlicensed which means invalid insurance. Yes, quite likely that your insurance company would pay out to an injured third party anyway so that may not concern you ethically, but perhaps your personal well-being might be of more concern. Judicial processes aren't all the same in all countries and you might find a few months in a local prison a fairly sobering experience.

Come on ......... really???
 

It will be much simpler to just wait, get the experience your government thinks you need, ( even if you don't think you need it) get a license, then go as a licensed and minimally experienced motorcyclist just like everybody else. You then have the rest of your life to learn to ride a motorcycle properly. Unless of course you have been impregnated with that knowledge and experience at birth. :innocent:

[QUOTE=ouroboros2015;509118]Yes - also you'd have to lie to the police and this is quite serious. If you crashed and there was witnesses obviously that would feature in the police report thus invalidating your medical insurance. People complain about insurance companies and commit fraud without any concern at all. I think the OP should just push to get their full license.