Hello everyone!

I've just joined this amazing website and have already found zillions of answers. Good job! However, I still need to clarify several things, so perhaps someone could give me advice.

So, to cut the story short, I'm a 30-year-old from Russia, got a little fed up with my life and decided to quit the despondent environment in order to explore the sights and deal with the challenges of the Central and South America. I don't have any serious limitations timewise and have an amount of money sufficient to "ride the earth" up to 2 years

My present-day plan is to buy a bike in the USA and then move out to Argentina through Mexico and Latin America (incl shipping the bike in Panama to Columbia). The other 2 options to consider are to 1. buy it in Chile (the price is ~30% higher) or 2. ship the bike from Russia (too long, risky and expensive).

The major problem that I face if I follow the original scenario is that US license plates are valid only for 12 months (or 6 months for foreigners according to other sources), and one has to come back in order to extend the registration period. Needless to say I don't feel excited to break my trip and return to the US every (half a) year.

Can anyone clarify if things really work this way in the USA or perhaps the routine differs from state to state? Are there any means to evade the problem, e.g. register the vehicle to US citizen and receive a power of attorney, or just go without license plates, or send the documents to US by DHL in future? I'm pretty sure that I'm not unique in this matter and lots of people have already solved the same problem.

Please share your views on the issue.

Many thanks!

SM