hey everyone,
I'm completely new to this site and I need help with paperwork for a bike I want to buy from another biker. I'll copy and paste what info I've been given about the whole transaction from the current owner. is this how things are done around Central America?

First email:
so to make a transaction we have to meet on a border, since the motorcycle has a permanent tourist import permission in every single country that is bounded to the guy that brings in the bike. so if you bring in a bike into a country you have to bring it out again, otherwise you get trouble. so i can not sell the bike in a country and you leave the country to travel. the papers are on my name, so we have to change the title of the bike to your name after i brought the bike out of f.ex. guatemala. you can enter to mexico with the new papers and the bike will be imported as a tourist vehicle on your name.

Second email:
when I asked how you change names on the papers I got this reply:

the paperwork is not a big deal. we write a contract of selling between you and me. further on we have to invent and print a new title of the motorbike, which would be the plastic card that you give to the police in case of check. that is no big deal. the motorbike has original peruvian papers, all on my name, so dont worry. all the transactions of motorbikes are done like that here in latin america. there is no other way than in a way to false some papers, since we are far from peru, where we could do*the transaction of the vehicle completely legal. so, we meet at the border of guatemala and mexico, i get the vehicle out of guatemala and you get it into mexiko, after that you can*travel whereever you want.

I know it's a lot to read but need to make sure I don't get busted or something because the paperwork is false.

Muchas gracias

yep i have herd of this being done a lot in argentina crossing to uruguay. so i cant see it beeing a problem there. you could do as the seller says then post the real papers of to peru to get them changed over .

Your goal as buyer is to put as much responsibility on the seller as possible. The seller's goal is the reverse. Lucky for you, you're holding the money, and the seller really, really wants it. The transaction needs to be built on trust, but nonetheless.....

Hold back on some of the money until the deal goes through: that means at minimum exporting the bike from Guatemala and importing under your name into Mexico or Guatemala, whichever you're contemplating. If it doesn't work, the seller will be motivated to make it happen. People run into trouble when they hand over the cash and the seller disappears back to Europe, America or wherever before unanticipated problems arise.

Know that you're taking a chance, e.g., what happens if the next country down the road doesn't like your (forged) paperwork. The price should reflect that chance.

Think ahead. Where are you heading with the bike? Will your photoshopped paperwork hold up? Do you plan to sell the bike somewhere yourself? How will that work?

Et cetera.

Good luck.

Mark