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Trip Paperwork Covers all documentation, carnets, customs and country requirements, how to deal with insurance etc.
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

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Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
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  #1  
Old 28 Mar 2017
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Alaska to Argentina paperwork
Hey guys,

If anyone could take a minute to read this and let me know if there is anything obvious I have forgotten regarding paperwork for my trip from Alaska, through Canada and down through USA, Central and South America.

So far I have:

International Driving Permit
International Certificate For Motor Vehicles
V5 Registration Document
Motorcycle Insurance
Travel Insurance

Please do not hesitate to tell me I am idiot for missing something obvious, this seems to be all I can find from reading up on here and online in general. I really appreciate any help off of anyone.

Thanks,

George
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  #2  
Old 28 Mar 2017
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George

As you mention the V5 I presume your bike is from the UK.

You only will need:

Your Passport
International Driving Permit (IDP or IDL)
V5 Registration Document

You don’t need all any International Certificate for Motor Vehicles Motorcycle

Bike Insurance, your European one will not be valid in the whole Americas even when you policy can says that, you will have to obtain it locally in each country, some have agreements that make it valid for 2 or more countries like Mercosur for the southwest cone of your trip. Many countries at entry maybe will not even ask for it.

Personal Travel Insurance will be only relative to you as a tourist and I don’t know if any country will demand it to let you come through.

On same regards you have to check if any country ask you for a visa about your nationality.

Have a good journey and see you on this side.
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  #3  
Old 28 Mar 2017
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Quote:
Originally Posted by javkap View Post
George

As you mention the V5 I presume your bike is from the UK.

You only will need:

Your Passport
International Driving Permit (IDP or IDL)
V5 Registration Document

You don’t need all any International Certificate for Motor Vehicles Motorcycle

Bike Insurance, your European one will not be valid in the whole Americas even when you policy can says that, you will have to obtain it locally in each country, some have agreements that make it valid for 2 or more countries like Mercosur for the southwest cone of your trip. Many countries at entry maybe will not even ask for it.

Personal Travel Insurance will be only relative to you as a tourist and I don’t know if any country will demand it to let you come through.

On same regards you have to check if any country ask you for a visa about your nationality.

Have a good journey and see you on this side.

Thank you very much for your reply! Yes, sorry, me and the bike are both from the UK.

You have confirmed what most of my research has brought up, it just seemed very little paperwork is needed (which is great). I just thought I would check whilst I still have plenty of time.

As for motorcycle insurance I am planning on using motorcycle express for Canada and North America and then as you say purchase at borders when needed.

I leave in June and cannot wait!

Again thanks for the info
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Old 30 Mar 2017
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I'm starting a similar trip next year.. It all looks pretty simple (sorry to hijack) I've been trying to read up on temporarily importing a bike to the USA - is it only valid for 90 days? I want to fly into Alaska, spend a couple weeks freezing my bollocks off then ride across Canada, back into USA then further down.

I'm finding it tough to find out if that's possible and how long for!

Cheers
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  #5  
Old 30 Mar 2017
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Paul, it will be your personal visa that may be the limiting factor in the USA because they may count total time in Alaska, Canada and mainland USA and Mexico (unless you keep going south) as needing to be within the 90 days (or 180 days if on a B1B2 visa
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  #6  
Old 30 Mar 2017
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Gmouns, the only other bit of paperwork you might need is a yellow fever vaccination certificate.
Not usually required to be shown, but possible, and far cheaper to get it in central or south america anyway. It has a fairly high mortality rate so depending where you are going, is smart to get anyway.

You didn't list it, but an IDP has no validity without a regular license. Just make sure it doesn't expire while you are away.
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  #7  
Old 30 Mar 2017
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Really, Mexico included? 180 days would be fine though I'll do some research on that visa, is it easy to obtain from UK? plan to go all the way to Argentina so definitely wI'll be going south!

Cheers for the reply!
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  #8  
Old 28 Apr 2017
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What's more, keep always small change before the border crossings as you will need too many copies of all your documents plus copies of your already stamped passport (in some cases).

Plus local insurance that you shop on the spot for Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and almost all South America except Ecuador ;-)

enjoy ;-)
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