Ship or buy in South America
 

I'm hoping someone can offer some quick advice on getting a bike in or to Columbia. I’m planning a trip to South America in January 2011, starting in Bogota, Columbia for two months, then heading on a road trip through Peru, Brazil and Argentina for four months. Would it be better to buy the bike here in Toronto, Canada, and ship to Bogota, or to buy the bike in Columbia. I’ve had shipping quotes of around $1000 one way and I’ve heard it can be difficult to cross the border out of some South American countries where the bike was purchased. I’ve also heard that bikes aren’t cheap in South America and so I’m likely not going to save money by purchasing down there. I'm planning to buy either the BMW F800 or Suzuki V-Strom650. Any quick advice would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks,


Steve

Or buy in Torunto, Canuda and ride down. :mchappy:

Unless you plan to return to Colombia to resell it then I would definitely recommend shipping your bike!

Hey SteveO
 

I'm in Hamilton and looking to do something similar to what you're planning. I also have an F800GS. I was planning on just riding it all the way there but couldn't get across the US border. Now I'm looking into shipping but have heard some horror stories about getting there and the bike just not being there. I also have heard that buying down there can be expensive but I/you can sell it upon leaving to recoup most of that money. I'm thinking of flying down to Panama (very cheap to fly there) to look into things there, I have heard that they don't have a huge import tax like most of Central and South America so the cost of a bike there might be cheaper. I have also thought about buying a cheaper bike to ship down there so I'm not as big of a theft target.