Hello everyone,
not sure if this is the correct forum or not. apologies if its not. Im in la paz bolivia right now and was forced of the road by a big truck. my bike is far from being ridable, and i am also unable to ride anyway. Im out of the hospital here and moving about, so thats good. my question is, i was planning on shipping my bike with viallkunterbunt in santiago back to nj/ny and flying home from there( i have a ticket already) does anyone know how to get my bike from la paz to there affordably ?or how to ship it home from la paz? then i can bus to chile for my flight. any help and a quick response would be much appreciated.
thanks Steve

Hope your physical recovery works out well. Regarding shipping to Chile I can't comment other than to say it'll be expensive and a huge pita considering the bike will have to cross international borders.

Is the bike easily repairable? What's needed to make it rideable?

What about parking bike and returning later with parts from the US when your body has recovered?

The people in the La Paz HU Community were very helpful to me in the recent past. Hubb member Mika in Samaipata is also a top man. Contact them?

I also found the HU fb group to be much more help than posting on here when I needed assistance in South America.

Good luck!

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TBS.com

mike
I rode the bike here from NY, does that make a difference? my recovery will come in sometime not to far hopefully, thanks. do you have contacts for the guys you mentioned? and would I have to pay fees to take bike across the border since I'm not riding it now. most borders I didn't pay anything.the bike is also pretty far from ridable. light and speedos with whatever computer is up there is torn of front and back. good bit of wires hanging every where most of the p[lastics are off. chassis and motor seemed to look good. its still at police storage 20s per day till i know what to do. also i don't think the bike can stay in bolivia more then 90 days. this trip has left me pretty broke especially after this. had to pay hospital bill to be able to leave. sorry if I'm rambling or asking stupid questions, my head is still foggy
thanks Steve

Hi Steve,

Sorry for your accident.

I don't have a solution for you but when I did ship stuff back home (Canada) from La Paz it was very cheap. Maybe it could be a good idea to try to get a quote from air shipping companies and compare the cost with shipping the bike to Chile and than to NY. Maybe it is not much more and it would be simpler.

Patrick

thank you, all support is very welcomed, and appreciated

Patrick
do you by any chance know who you shipped with?

Hi Steve,

sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you are ok.

I send you a message to your email with my contact details. Maybe I can help you, but I am based in Samaipata (about 700kms away from La Paz).

Lets talk (you have my phone number) after the siesta at 4pm.

As others said, relax it will all fall into place.

Saludos
mika

Hi Steve
I presume you were replying to me. My name is Chris. I see Mika is already in touch. To contact a HU community, visit Contact a Community | Horizons Unlimited

Indeed, officially the temp import time for vehicles into Bolivia is 90 days. Some vehicles do overstay and solutions can be reached. Your health and to a certain extent you budget take priority in your considerations.

I hope in this situation certain HU members don't start another line of chat about South American laws/rules etc. Plenty has been written by them already and is easily searchable.

Usually, in order to cross a border, the person in whose name the bike is (you, I presume) needs to cross with the bike. By expense, I didn't mean fees at the border but the actual cost itself of the freight company. It's about 2500km from La Paz to Val Paraiso.

Are the forks/ wheels damaged? You say the chassis is ok. What bike is it? If it's an older style Japanese single like a KLR or DR it should be straightforward to get it running. A more modern FI/canbus/lots of electrics type bike like a GS might not be so easy for a local mechanic to fix. I pretty much guarantee no dealer in South America will carry any electronic parts in stock. Delivery is as long as it needs to come from German/Austria/Japan/USA.

Suerte!

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I'm sorry Steve I don't have the info anymore. Maybe someone locally can point you where to find air freight companies.

Another option: I don't know the state of your bike. If you think it can be repaired but miss a few parts, have a look at parcel consolidation shipping companies (example MyUS.com) they use DHL, FEDEX, ... and your package get to you very quickly. It is a lot cheaper then having a friend ship stuff to you.


Patrick

chris,
couldn't get into the bike today ill return tomorrow \my thoughts are that forks are good also but gonna get a better look in the am. hoping is mostly bolt on stuff
its a 2011 f800gs

Did you even get the full 90 day personal entry and TIP because a lot of us only get 30 or sometimes 60 days and have to visit immigration and customs separately to get extensions.

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Tony
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A few options:
Option #1:
Ship bike back to USA from La Paz. Have it Crated Up as small as possible, both wheels off, handlebars off. I had great luck using Lufthansa Air Cargo years ago. I dealt directly with them, no agents or intermediaries. Perfect.

You have an expensive bike ... so unless it's fully insured .. I'd try to save it.
You'll be lucky if you can get it back from the police. They'll try to keep it.
Get a GOOD lawyer or pay A LOT to get your bike back.

Option #2:
Sell it as is. (if you can get it back from Policia) Not strictly legal but is done all the time. Would be a great deal for moto mechanic looking to make a few bucks. Let them worry about the paper work.

Unless there is a notation of the bike in your passport, you have nothing holding you back. Yes, returning to Bolivia with a bike in future may present problems .... but even that is "negotiable" $$$$.

If you are still recovering, I'd FLY to Santiago for your flight. I've done that bus ride ... it's long and hard if your hurt. Treat yourself, get the Hell out of there ASAP.

Good morning Steve.

I went to Santa Cruz yesterday, so spend four hours on the bike without phone ... and had a few unknown missed calls ... if you tried to reach me, pls try again. You have my cell phone number.

Hope I can help you, or I already did with my email. Anyway.

Dont agree with Mollydog this time around. Sure La Paz is also not my favorite place, and sure its worse if you are injured and cant move much. But relax, there is still time until you have your ticket from Santiago to the Us. And you could be in a place worse than La Paz.

And yes, treat yourself and fly to Santiago (the bus journey is not nice, I have also done it) ... I saw offers with LAN for about 250 US ... Santa Cruz - Santiago. La Paz - Santa Cruz is about 50-60 US. Just go to a travel agency.

Depending on what you want to do with your bike, I am sure Martina from Villa Kunterbunt would organise the transport in Chile and somehow I could try to get it over the border with you (if its rideable).

Talk to you later on.
mika

How possible is it to see pictures of the bike in its curent condition to asses what is possible to make it a runner, if not a looker. I had two friends who put back salvaged F800GS this winter. Bikes didn't have much damages, but it ended up being very pricey. Perhaps from the detailed pictures and with some description, we can help make the bike rideable. You can then return home that way. I understand that Air Canada may have $1300.00 deals these days to ship a bike by air cargo, with you in the same plane.

Hey Mika! I didn't mean to bad mouth La Paz ... I loved it on my several visits there. I was quite ill when I was there also ... and really, it was fine. Just that when you're not well ... Home might be the best answer!

That bus ride would cripple him.

I must be missing something, why can't OP ship his bike via Air Cargo from La
Paz? Why move the bike to Chile? I've not been to Bolivia in decades ... so can you fill us in about what air freight is available out of La Paz? Must be something? Yes?

And Mika, what about OP getting his bike out of Police Impound? I've heard some "stories" but no current knowledge. Problem or no?

Send the bike, then fly yourself to Chile (assume OP has pre-booked ticket?) But sometimes you can PAY A FEE and change the ticket so he could fly out of La Paz. Still, probably a stop over in Lima or somewhere to connect to USA.

There are some great mechanics in Bolivia ... if you can find the right guy.
But problem with a F800GS BMW is parts. Mucho Tiempo! y .. mucho
dinero ... and then you've got Aduana to deal with.

Best crate it up and ship it however you can. If you're in pain or need drugs,
go see a reputable Doc and have him write you prescriptions for whatever
you may need.

I had Hepatitis when I was in La Paz, luckily I recovered fast. That trip I was
3 months in Bolivia. Flew in/out and bused in/out few time, 7 years in the area. Hard going on the Bus. Long days. Like Goat Eyeball soup!