Getting a bike in San Pedro

[Powdermonkey]

Hi all

I am really wanting to get a bike in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile in the next couple of weeks in order to be able to ride the Jama Pass into Argentina then take the bike down to Mendoza then, depending on if it is rented or bought either up to Buenos Aires with me or back into Chile to Santiago.

Does anybody here know of any hire companies in San Pedro or where i might buy a cheap(ish) bike (400-650cc) in San Pedro?

The only other issue is that I don't currently hold a full motorbike licence, however i do hold a full British driving licence which i am currently using to hire a bike in Peru and am an experienced rider, could this be an issue in Chile?

I hope someone is able to help as I am dreaming of the Jama Pass ever since being told of it!

Thanks, Nick

[Powdermonkey]

BUMP, surely someone on here must know at least something!!??

[AndyT]

Can't offer any advice on where to get a bike, but I can say that you will need to prove ownership (title and/or registration) of the bike to cross the international boundary. It is unlikely you will be able to cross into Argentina with a rental bike for this reason. Hope you can prove me wrong.

[Tony LEE]

San Pedro de Atacama struck me as a pretty primitive town - that is polite speak for "dump". One fuel station, couple of banks, no working ATMs when we were there, no decent supermarket and a bit of basic tourism.

If you can get a bike to hire, I don't see why it would be different to any hire motorhome or car where the company either has permanent arrangements with the aduana of both countries, or the hirer is supplied with documentation similar to a poder that allows that driver to take the vehicle across the border and back as and when stipulated.

Others have reported buying Chilean vehicles and taking them into other countries but the same doesn't apply if you buy a vehicle in Argentina

The Jama pass is the main drag in those parts so if you crave splendid isolation - and can carry enough fuel - you might also consider Paso Sico where you can camp next to this lake and watch the wildlife while you relax in a warm water spring

[ridetheworld]

Sorry if this is a bit late Nick,

Originally Posted by Powdermonkey

I am really wanting to get a bike in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile in the next couple of weeks in order to be able to ride the Jama Pass into Argentina then take the bike down to Mendoza then, depending on if it is rented or bought either up to Buenos Aires with me or back into Chile to Santiago.

I am pretty sure you will not be able to find a bike to rent in San Pedro. Perhaps if you searched around long enough, someone might sort you out with their bike, but it would probably be a 125 and you would have to visit a notaria to get some sort of legal permission to cross the boarder. Not sure how that would work exactly.

Originally Posted by Powdermonkey

The only other issue is that I don't currently hold a full motorbike licence, however i do hold a full British driving licence which i am currently using to hire a bike in Peru and am an experienced rider, could this be an issue in Chile?

It will be if you have an accident or arouse the interest of the authorities as you would be riding illegally, as you are in Peru. Your "full" British driving license means nothing because it is for cars, not bikes. It is good that you are experienced but the authorities won`t care about that if you wreck, or get involved in an accident. You would also not be covered by your insurance. Crossing the boarder you can expect documents to be scrutanized, but I would say they will be more interested in your insurance than the letters on your driving license. If you keep to the atacama desert, no one would really ask to see your license etc unless they had reason to.

Hope this helps,

Good luck!
Rtw

[ridetheworld]

Originally Posted by Tony LEE

splendid isolation

Tony, a great way to sum up that part of the world. Did you do Paso Sanfrancisco aka Ojos Del Salado by any chance?

I want to do the Jama pass soon, any chance you know where the nearest gas station is for either of those passes on the Argentinian side?

Many thanks,
Rtw

[Tony LEE]

Our method of "seeing" a country is to skip every second point of interest because that gives us a reason to go back - so we also missed a lot of the border crossings down the length of Chile. The main ones used by all the trucks and tour buses aren't of much interest anyway so we will get around to the other isolated border crossings in due course.

No idea about fuel on the de jama road. Certainly available in San Pedro if you can find the service station but we didn't desperately need it and lack of working ATMs meant we couldn't buy much anyway as I didn't want to waste USD changing into Chilean Pesos, so after getting the usual wrong directions from the locals we pushed on to the nearby provincial capital and stocked up.