Looking for advice

[Ride Hard Ride Far]

Good Morning

I’m new to Horizons and to the forum, chats, etc., so bear with me if I mess this up a little. I have a question for those well travelled in Central and South America. I will be departing British Columbia for points south in September. My plan is make it as far as Costa Rica, maybe Ecuador before I have to fly back to Canada for work (I work in the ski industry) and then return after a period of time and continue my journey south. My question is this, how long can I leave my motorbike in Costa Rica or Ecuador? I have a safe and secure residences where I can leave it in either country. Does anyone out there know if I would need a special permit??? Is it possible to apply for a permit(?) allowing my bike to remain in either country for an extended period of time without me?

Any help / advice on this would be greatly appreciated! It is a key issue for me at the moment and would like to resolve it and put it behind me.


Thanks for your help,
Hank

[obrenes]

Hi Hank, my name is Oscar and I live in CR.

The maximun time that your bike can stay here is 3 months, pass that time you need to pay the taxes and a $500 fine, just the taxes could be $3000 more or less, depens of what kind of bike you have, all this could be a mess, so get out of CR before the temporary permit expires.

You cannot ask for more time, its just 3 months and thats it.

The advantage of leave the bike in here is that you could get out the country without the bike, and get in whenever you what.

If you need any help or advise, just write me, sorry bout my english!!

Oscar.

[juanvaldez650]

I would think Panama or Colombia would be better choices since that is where you jump off/arrive going to South America. Maybe check with the hostel folks in Panama.

[teevee]

be careful whom you listen to. plenty of people have lost their bikes listening to the supposed experts and even some otherwise reputable moto shops.

bottom line is unless you leave it in a country like brazil that has done away with the whole tvip nonsense, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BIKE ANYWHERE if you value keeping it. no matter what people say, you will be at the mercy of often corrupt, lying sacks of shit in some country where you have ZERO rights, probably don't speak the language, and have no support network.

[juanvaldez650]

Which is why you need local expertise like someone who runs a hostel that caters to motorcycle types or say someone that operates a ship that hauls motorcycles from Panama to Colombia and back.

[Tony LEE]

unless you leave it in a country like brazil that has done away with the whole tvip nonsense,

I've asked on several forums and have yet to get absolute confirmation that this is indeed correct for Brazil. One definite case with dates and times would be good, 10 successful cases would be much better.

[teevee]

well, you could ask twomotokiwis that recently entered brazil, how long their import permit is for. or, i'll save you the trouble: there is no time limit since no tvip is issued.

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[Tony LEE]

Originally Posted by teevee

well, you could ask twomotokiwis that recently entered brazil, how long their import permit is for. or, i'll save you the trouble: there is no time limit since no tvip is issued.

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Yes, they posted the beginning of that story on here. Doesn't help much without dates anyway. They entered Brazil on their bikes and they left on their bikes presumably within 3 months (or maybe 6 if they got an extension).
How does that prove you can enter with your bike, leave by plane, return by plane after say 9 months and leave on your bike.
Answer is It doesn't. We still don't know what the real situation is. No TIP - or rather no obvious paper TIP - doesn't mean open slather as far as vehicles goes.

As I said, I would love to be able to leave my vehicle in Brazil and fly out for a few months and I have several offers of free secure parking, but I need facts and they aren't readily available. Until then, I will have to leave it in Argentina where I get 8 months 95% certain, or Uruguay where 12 months is just about guaranteed with no problems.

Logic would dictate that Brazil would not be the only (?) country in the world that lets you bring any vehicle in with you and just leave it behind without any sanctions .

[Ride Hard Ride Far]

Hey Oscar
Thanks for your reply. What about the "bonded warehouse" option you had mentioned to another with the same question? How do you deal with the paper work to ensure you're not charged taxes and fines when flying out of the country or when you return and ride out of CR.

Thanks so much for your help!!!!
Hank

[Dr. Benny]

How long will you be on the road from BC to wherever you suspend your trip? And how long before you plan to return and resume your ride?

[Ride Hard Ride Far]

Originally Posted by Dr. Benny

How long will you be on the road from BC to wherever you suspend your trip? And how long before you plan to return and resume your ride?

Hello Dr. Benny
I am planning on taking about 2 or 3 months to get down to Ecuador, I would arrive in Costa Rica after about 6 to 8 weeks. Those are the two locations where I have friends that I can leave my bike and it works well with timing for getting back to Canada for work. I would like to leave my bike in either / or country until about Sept of 2015. Any suggestions, thoughts, ideas?????
Thanks
Hank

[Peter Bodtke]

I have read posts where riders stored their motorcycles in a bonded warehouse and the temporary importation permit clock is "suspended." The insurance clock does not stop, so be prepared to buy insurance on the back end. And don't waiting until the very last day on you import period to store the bike. You are going to need a day or two minimum to get the bike out of the country after retrieving it from storage, assuming you use a warehouse near the capital. These services are typically found near an international airport and in some cases at the frontier.

Other countries may use different lingo. Go to Google and search for "Almacen Fiscal Costa Rica". In English, "fiscal warehouse." In Costa Rica the warehouse can generate the paperwork which suspends the importation. I read a story of a clerk processing the paperwork accidentally "cancelled" the temporary importation permit...causing the owner considerable aggravation to sort it out.

I used Google to searched "Almacen Fiscal Costa Rica" and found lots of services near San Jose airport. Leave time to find one that will store a motorcycle at a reasonable price.

Please post about your experience afterwards.

[MikeMike]

To add to Peter's good info, sometimes you will find it referred to as being in the "recinto fiscal" in any customs area. Most of the really good brokers have someone who speaks at least English as a second language, sometimes German, French, Italian, too.