Bike storage in Bogota
 

I need to go home quick and i bought a flight today out of Bogota on the 4th of december!
Does anybody know a save place in Bogota where i could store my bike for 5 moth till may!
My plans where different (private problems), but now changed everything!

Thank's a lot Albert!

Have you tried contacting someone in the comunity? Thats your best bet. Otherwise, if your really short on time, you may have to look if there is any kind of storage space available and pre-pay, but i'm sure you thought of that already. Medellin may be another option, talk to the guy's at Ruta 40, they may be able to help you out.

What kind of bike do you have, I have an appartament in Bogotá with a garage my younger brother lives there and doesnt have a car, if you dont want to sell your bike probably we can arrange something up.

I am curious to know how this worked out. I am also considering leaving my bike in Colombia for a while, but I am less concerned about where to store and more interested in what paper work needs to be done. I don't want to try to leave the country and have them give me any hassle.

Having done this (I left my bike in Medellin for 7 months) This is what you can expect. first, your permit will be expired, so if you get stopped by the cops and checked, you could have a problem. Fortunately, the cops were more busy dealing with some issues in the Cali area and we were largely ignored :) Pack lots of cash, they all have their price ;) When i went to cancel the permit, i was told that they can't cancel it, it now belongs to the Colombian Gov't. I gave them a story about how i crashed and had to go home, and now wanted to leave to Ecuador. The guy gave me back my permit and told me i can't enter Colombia with that bike ever again. Funny thing was, he said i could enter with ANY bike except that one?? Strange but true.
Dirty managed to get an extension, but he literally had to give blood to get it...really! Do a search, the story's here somewhere.

Common one this one. I did something similar - I left the bike at a friend's place for 3 months and then had the paperwork problem. The system just does not have any flexibility in it for such a case and there is no legal workaround as far as I could find.

What I did was to make a photocopy of the original document which seemed a bit rough anyway (it looked like a copied form without any number) and then changed the dates. A bit naughty but the bike went in and came out again.

I did get asked for it a couple of times but normally they weren't too bothered. I normally have a wad of photocopies in my pocket and hand those over when I get stopped. If they want the originals there is normally a digging in the side pannier show that everyone gets fed up with before the originals make an appearance.

When I left the country (to Ecuador) the customs were so slack I was disappointed that I had gone to such trouble.

Good luck. Not much to worry about.

Still on the road then Appie! I saw your bike in BA back in 2005!

Matt