Motorcycle Parking (3months) in Central America
 

Hi,
I am looking for a safe place to store a bike for about 3 months in central america (i.e. Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua).
In the meantime I would like to fly home and earn some money to continue my trip. I heard conflicting reports on the possibilty to leave these countries without the bike since something like ´Entrada con Vehiculo´ will be stamped into the passport.
Who has firsthand experience with customs/immigraton in southern central america? Where could I get more info to solve my problem?
Thanx

Werner

Werner:

Not sure if you can get out of Costa Rica without your bike for three months. I was to Panama and back in '97 but never stored bike anywhere. I just looked in my passport to see how many days were got on our visa's but can't determine it from passport. I know they stamped it for vehicle.

I looked into storing bike in Costa Rica awhile ago and researched things enough to apoint where I found a goverment bonded warehouse that is legitimate and sound. The cost was pretty cheap, something like 50 cents per day and some other fixed costs.
If you are still working on storage, let me know and I'll see if I can dig up the contact there. It was a world wide shipping agency. I had a contact that spoke(wrote) English and was most helpful.

Arlen Aas in Minnesota USA

PS. We "spoke" a few times awhile ago, I was looking for storage in South America. I ended up buying a KLR via email and am going Santiago to Peru to Bolivia to Santiago Oct 25-Nov 25 2001, then taking second trip to Terra del fuego Jan 10-Feb 10 2002. Got anything going on?????? Bike was easy to buy.

I hope this response is not too late. I suggest you contact Wilhelm von Bremann,in San Jose, Costa Rica at 506-225-6000. Wilhelm owns Costa Tica Motorcycle Tours and his two brothers own a motorcycle dealership. We plan on having Wilhelm or his brothers store bikes for us when we travel through their country. Good luck.

What have you found out about leaving your bike behind for 3 months? We are doing the same thing, in Guatemala and again in Costa Rica.

Best regards,
John Brown (Kansas City, MO)