Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - South America: Starting out

Hi,

i am at the early stages of planning a trip to South America - for late this year or early next year start date [duration approx 4-6 months] - and i am keen to find out some of the inns and outs of doing the trip on motorbike.

[Apologies for the elementary-level of these questions, however i failed to locate such info on searches done so far]::

Firstly, what are the odds of buying a decent bike [most likely secondhand, or else a medium-level import] over there? if so, where, and whats involved?

If i bought a bike there, is it difficult to do all the procedures re crossing borders, and so on, or does the country you are entering require you to somehow prove you are not going to sell the bike there [as is the case in SE asia].

How does it work with insurance - ie property/bodily damage - is it possible to have a policy that covers you for all countries, or you have to go country by country [i will of course have travel insurance, however i believe this only covers myself, not damage to others?? - perhaps i am wrong on this]

what about registration, etc? do you have to change rego when you change countries [that would be rediculous]?

is it likely to be possible to buy a bike in one country, and then sell it in another 6 months later? if so, what are the recommendations for good countries to buy/sell bikes??

thanks heaps for any info

kind regards

Jesse