Ship the bike to South America! Proving to be tricky?...
 

Hello HU friends.
I'm working on this dream to ship my KLR to Chile or a surrounding port city for an epic adventure north. I will be studying Spanish, teaching english, blogging and generally getting a life changing, alternative education…
I've dug deep into the world wide web and sadly failed to reach out to this community til' now. I did check with Gaston at samericaxplor and it was all a bit vague. RoRo and a bit of luck seem my only option at this point.
Before I flip the plan around and ride down, who out there has a real world, worthy lead?
Much more to this tale if your interested, I will tell.
Happy holidays to you all, and thank you from my heart.

Lawrence,

O, Lorenzo sur de la frontera!

Lawrence<
Where are you starting and shipping from?
My friend and I rode from Vancouver Island, Canada to Ushuaia then back up to Santiago de Chile back in 2010/2011. We shipped our bikes by air from Panama City to Bogota and also from Santiago back to Vancouver, BC by air. We also shipped by car/passenger ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt (which was awesome!).
We have a blog linked to this website with a fair bit of detail.

Mark and Neil Trekin' South

Mark

Moto through the Americas
 

Thanks Mark,
I plan to leave from Los Angeles. Shipping the bike to Chile was my goal as starting south and moving north is appealing. I've contacted several companies and have learned much. Apparently there is a moratorium on "used" vehicles being "imported" to Chile. I've looked into a tourism or temporary permit like they offer in Mexico.
A few companies yet to work through including Chilean customs and a lead in Argentina… Provided I don't find what I need or within my budget, I flip the trip and ride her south.
I will look at your blog, I wish to built one as well. I will be studying spanish, teaching english and really working to be a culturally enriched human through the experience.

Thanks again!

Keep looking. Here's one (of many) places to start: Chile not allowing import of used bikes. Where to ship in SA? - ADVrider

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

hey lawrence,

temporary imports (typically 90 days, for tourist) should not be a problem. i'm having mine shipped already and will try to get it out of the harbour within the next weeks (i'm leaving for chile next sunday).

and as long as you're not planning to actually live there 90 days should be fine (you can always do that 3 days in argentina and ride back to renew it).

just like mark pointed out: follow the link, it will bring you to e.g. the villa kunterbunt, ask there they can help you out (i'm also in contact with them for my import).

martin

shipping US to Chile
 

Lawrence,
I am going through the same process. I'm planning to ship a bike down in October and am doing research on the best way to get it there. Please share any information you find out and I will let you know what I learn too. So far I have been told that it is easier to get through customs in Buenos Aires, Argentina than it is through customs in Chile. I have friends in Santiago having been there many times so that is my preferred port. I've talked to Steve Haratani at Schumacher Cargo Logistics, Inc. He is takes care of shipping by air.
Corporate Address: 550 W 135th St, Gardena, CA 90248 - USA
Tel: 562 408-6633 - Direct Secure Fax: 310-400-8237
E-Mail: steveh@sclusa.com Web Site: Classic Vehicle Transport | Schumacher Secure
He estimated a cost of about $3500 from LA to Santiago for a KLR 650.
I'm still waiting for a reply from Rachel Ulale - rachel@sclusa.com who handles shipping by sea to find out what that will cost.
If it proves to be easier to ship to Argentina rather than Chile I may just adjust my plans accordingly.

Shipping LA to Chile
 

I've been told everything shipped by sea from west coast has to be in a 20' container. I got a price quote of about $2500. If you can share a container with as many other bikes or cars you can get in the container you can get the price down to something reasonable. When do you want to go?

Why not just buy a bike there and ride home ?