Hello everybody,

I'm looking to take a bike course and acquire proper permit in Ecuador or Peru as a foreigner on a tourist visa. Is this at all possible?
I do have my Belgian international driver's license with me which allows me to ride bikes up to 125cc, but I'd like to get a heavier bike to cross the Andes...

Thanks for your time

Shadi

Hi,

Usuarly people by there bikes in Chile because its the moast easy country to get a cheap bike:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...santiago-45637

If just been to Ecuador and they did not care when i wanted to leave the country so you could even do without registering it but bikes there are more expensive.

Have fun, Tobi
Motorcycle trip through Peru - Machu Picchu - part 3

hi tobi,

thanks for your reply... do you know if i can legally get a driver's license in any of the sa countries as a tourist?

Drivers license, Passport and registration are all that I needed. I don't have a motorcycle endorsement on my license since I forgot to tell them to add it when I moved and nobody cared from Mexico to Panama. In fact I had a laminated color copy come to think of it so it wasn't even my real license. I don't think most Ecuadoran or Peruvian border officials know Dutch, French or German which is what most people are speaking in Belgium. They look for your drivers license number so they can enter it on their forms along with your passport number and the bike vehicle identification number. You will often have to point to show them since they can't read your documents. And it sounds like you have a motorcycle endorsement already. Not too hard to change 125 to 425 or 1250 in a pinch. Not that I would bother.

It is important to remember that most border officials are mainly concerned with filling in the blanks on their forms. The most common question I was asked crossing all those borders was: ¿Que color es moto? The color of your bike is a blank on most forms and they didn't ever know what color-green on my bike title meant in Spanish, so it is important to know verde if you ride a Kawasaki. Nobody asked if I had a motorcycle endorsement since that isn't a blank on their forms so they don't care.

As TA-rider says, it would be cheaper and easier to buy a bike as a foreign tourist in Chile.

Have fun!


Best,
John Downs

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South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831076