Santiago rentals needed - Horizons Unlimited

**Bent1** · #1 21 Sep 2005

Looking to rent 2 dual sport bikes for a couple weeks beginning in early November. Don't want to spend the $80- per day that I am finding on the websites. Probably a 250cc bike would be big enough! Any leads on this?

Huge thanks in advance!

**vincent danna** · #2 21 Sep 2005

same thing for me but want to BUY to be able to cross border (renting would make it difficult at the borders) : a cheap 125 cc or even 175-250 cc, ok condition, reliable, to be able to drive to bolivia and peru in a month time : budget 500 usd around. time : beginning 2006.
cheers,

**LukeD** · #3 8 Oct 2005

Howdy,
Another one. Me and a mate are looking for a couple of cheap bikes to ride North from Chile with over 6weeks.
Doesnt need to be big. Just cheap and realiable.
Thanks.
Luke.

**Bent1** · #4 8 Oct 2005

Well in my research on-line, I haven't found a bargain rental in Chile! Even with Santiago folks looking around, the cheapest I have seen for this time of season is $80 USD per day for a bike such as a Yamaha XT600. If you guys find anything cheaper, I would love to know about it! I think it has to do with the high luxury sales tax of buying a vehicle. Even to buy a used bike of any quality is around $3,000 USD. If anyone knows any different than I do, please post it here!

**MichelleS** · #5 12 Oct 2005

I've been checking out the situation also and found this website
http://www.motoaventura.cl/
You can hire a XT600 incl. luggage and paper work to get it in Argentina for $1960/4 weeks ($70/day) or $2100/6 weeks ($50/day). This is in the high season - it's cheaper still in the low season. You can also hire BMWs for a bit more. And they can also hire out camping equipment too. Unfortunately they are based down in Osorno but can get the bike to you in Santiago for $210 extra.

**MichelleS** · #6 12 Oct 2005

I'm looking to head from the UK to Australia via about a 4-6 week ride around the southern tip of South America and was wondering if it is worth hiring or buying a bike considering if I bought a bike I'd have to then import it into Australia at the end of the trip. Anyone got any thoughts on the subject? I'm also on an extremely tight budget which doesn't help.

**petefromberkeley** · #7 13 Oct 2005

Regarding the motoaventura folks mentioned above. They are great people to deal with. I had my own bike when passing by there so I didn't need to rent one, but they helped me out with tires, hospitality etc. Great people. I saw all their equipment and it's top quality. They know all the roads and can make good reccomendations.

**Bent1** · #8 13 Oct 2005

Great to hear that motoaventura is a great company. I am renting two bikes from them, starting out in Punta Arenas and riding the bikes back to their shop in Osorno. So far they have been super cool and nice to deal with. Very helpful so far! I look forward to meeting them in person when I reach Osorno! I am also renting from motorentchile.com out of Santiago to take a one way trip from Santiago to Pucon. So far they have been cool. I am paying peak season rates, but probably worth it to not try to buy and sell one for a 24 day trip! I guess it must be like the States in rental prices. The prices are about what I would expect to pay here! Vietnam was quite a bargain at $5-USD per day for a Russian Minsk!

**Bent1** · #9 13 Oct 2005

Oh also, motoaventura can arrange the papers to go in and out of Argentina with out hassle for about $75- USD. Good news for those of us that want to jump across borders with a rental without hassle.

**petefromberkeley** · #10 13 Oct 2005

Those Chile/ Argentina border crossings are very mellow anyway, but I guess riding a bike that's not in your name could complicate things. Say hi to Sandra from me. She should remember selling me a tire for my R-100GS and feeding three starving bikers plate after plate of empanadas (myself another american and a German).

By the way, the Carretera Austral is just beautiful!

**Grant Johnson** · #11 13 Oct 2005

Re rental prices - it's not the local costs of labour or prices related to the local economy in any way that's the problem - it's the cost of the bikes! Duty in many countries is 25%, 100% up to even 300% of the value of the bike, so in order to pay for it they have to charge a lot more than you would expect! Parts are similarly expensive.

**Atwoke** · #12 24 Oct 2005

I have to agree that the motoadventura people are very helpful when it comes to communication. I am considering hiring from them myself. Only thing to mention is that they do need a large (US$10,000 for the BMW) security if you want to leave the country with their bikes but without them. Understandable, since there is no theft or comprehensive insurance available...

Thinking about shipping, again...

Jens

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