Hi all,

let me introduce myself, my name is Adam, I'm from Melbourne Australia and I've been into dirt bikes for quite some time now and I am absolutely in love with my Suzuki RM250. I also have a Honda CT110 which I use for commuting to and from work.

I am 24 years old now and interested in traveling. Most of the stuff I would like to see is in South & Middle America, to name a few would be the Andes, Igacu Falls and Maccu Pichu. I also plan to teach English in any rural area in the region, probably Chile, Ecuador or Costa Rica (currently I'm undertaking my TESOL certificate online). Considering my hobby is to ride motorcycles and I want to travel I figure I might as well kill 2 birds with one stone and go on a motorcycle adventure. I plan to fly out on August 2nd this year (2008).

There are a couple of very basic questions which I have regarding my trip.

Firstly I am unsure whether I should ship a bike over or purchase one upon arrival. I am considering shipping over my CT110 postie bike because it is so reliable, fuel efficient and can carry a large load however it is very slow and the cost of shipping would probably be half the bikes value. I have been told you cannot sell your bike in a country other than you have bought it from so I am also considering buying one in the USA and having it shipped to Chile or Argentina then riding it back to the USA from there and selling it before I go home. Would this be a good idea?

Secondly, due to the fact that I will be crossing the borders at many different countries how does vehicle registration work? In Australia I do not recall ever seeing a vehicle that has come from overseas but we are surrounded only by water. Would I need to obtain some sort of temporary number plate in each country or is there an international type of registration? I've looked into the international license and figure it may be similar but not sure about it. Does the bike need a current registration before I ship it over or does it just need to pass some sort of an inspection?

Thanks in advance and I look forward to participating on this forum, quite a wealth of knowledge you have built up here.

Regards,
PocketHead

Well the answer is "yes" for my two cents worth; get a bike in the States and travel from there - they are cheap as chips at the present exchange rates.

As you indicate, selling in another country from the one that the bike is registered is fraught, quite simply to protect the import/customs rules of the country you are in.

Take a read into the threads in here, especially those about South America - it is all to easy to cross the borders there, compared with, for instance, in the Middle East or in Africa.

Also, have a dig into the information on the left of your page, especially the one labelled "planning".

in the meantime.

__________________
Dave