Buying a bike in Colombia
 

Hi everyone
I'm starting to plan my South American tour out and am wondering where the best place to start looking for a bike is. I plan on flying into Colombia and making my way down to Brazil for the World Cup. I'm hoping to buy a KLR 650, what sites should I be looking at? What are the legalities about being a Canadian buying a bike in Colombia? Should I buy my gear in the USA beforehand?
Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Not sure about Colombia but generally I would suggest you get certain items in the USA like camping equipment, etc, as you will have more choice and it will probably be cheaper. Maybe others can add more to this...

I live in Colombia and own a bike here- be warned that bikes here are very expensive, check out tumoto.com.co for more details. Also there isn't such a huge market for big bikes here so selling again can take a while if you're planning to sell it from here.

Maybe buying a foreign plated bike is the way to go.

Looks like that's the route I'll have to go. Do you know of any other places I can look other than this forum?
Thanks

horizonsunlimited.com

wrong window
 

of course I meant advrider.com-fleemarket : )

I didn't have much luck with that site, they seem to all be from the America. I looked into having a bike shipped from Florida and the quotes I received were over a thousand bucks. Seems a bit expensive when a flight from there is only 150.
Is that a accurate quote? I found a few year old thread where someone had shipped one from Florida and was half that price.

If you already have a bike, then just fly it. That rate sounds about right.
It cost $900/bike from Panama to Colombia in 2011.
It cost $1400/bike from Vancouver to South Korea last year.

As has already been pointe4d out, bikes in Colombia are expensive. It may be cheaper to just bite the bullet and fly one in. At least that way you woukd know the bike and have it packed before starting.

Sea freight would be cheaper (probably) but it takes longer. Or, if you have time, why not ride it all the way down ? :-)

Or, go the other way, buy one in Chile.

Did I mention I have a Funduro for sale in Chile ? :-)

Thanks Bruce.
It looks like I may just have to buy one in Florida and ship it down. I'm hoping to get a few more quotes before I ship it.
Any idea where to look for shippers? Is one city in Florida cheaper than any of the others?

Have a loo around the HUBB, there is a section there for shipping. Also ask on the North American forum.

I've not had to research shipping from there so can't help, sorry.

Miami is going to be the cheapest.

Try Centerion cargo in Miami at impor@centurioncargo.com or I used LAN Cargo and done everything myself as far as inspections and customs go.

Thanks, that email address doesn't work but I went onto their website and found a contact. I'm expecting it to cost about $1200 I don't think I'll find anywhere much cheaper than that.
As a Canadian buying an American bike will I have any trouble?
I'm still trying to find a bike somewhere in Florida. What other sites should i be looking at other than Cragislist.

thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

Try Cycle Trader.com ... many dealers use Cycle Trader. If you buy from a dealer you will PAY more for your bike but they make the process easier in terms of getting paperwork sorted quickly.

If you are buying in Florida and shipping direct to Colombia (or where ever)
then don't get suckered into buying USA insurance. You won't need it and your Canadian insurance covers you in any case while riding in USA. Once in S. America you'll need to buy insurance on country by country basis ... or not.
Good luck, Please post back here with the shipping details ... I want to do the same thing!! bier

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