Ship a bike or buy one at destination ??
 

Hey folks. Im planning a South American trip from the Uk and after working out costs of shipping, im not sure wether i should sell my bike and just buy one there or spend a fortune flying one over. I like the idea of having a pre-prepped bike that i know is reliable and perfect order but the costs of shipping seem to couter balance that advantage.

What are your views ??? Cheers in advance, ed

The problem with buying a bike there - is geting rid of it after the trip is over. Easy if you finish in the same country as you bought it. Otherwise you face legal hoops to jump through. Customs duties, rego compliance...

Hi, I just got back from 2 and a helf months in Chile and Argentina. I flew out to Chile and bought a Honda Africa Twin. Right, sounds easy...1st you,ve got to get a lcoal ID number from the local gov offices to do any transaction. then you've got to find a bike ( only 2 big bikes for sale in Santiago when I was looking!) Once you've found one you need to make sure that all the papers are there...it's not uncommon for bikes to be sold without any dox! once you've managed that you've just got to wait a week for the temporary papers then a further month for the permanent reg dox. Assuming you speak very good Spanish all of this can be done reasonably easily. oh and one other thing...The Africa Twin I bought was a grand more expencive there than here in the UK (don't believe the prices you see online-most of those bikes are being sold without papers!) That's Chile. How about Argentina? well the same thing as Chile with regards to the dox/reg (many bikes without number plates!) oh, and also as a foriegner you can't take the bike outside Argentina for the first year of ownership. One other thing, police trying to get a few quid off you can always (and do) say that there is something you've mis-understood about the papers because the bike is local and you aren't. If you're on a uk bike with uk papers there's nothing they can say and in fact they are less likely to stop you in the first place. So it all sounds doom and gloom...not so. It's all do-able as long as
a) you can speak Spanish
and
b) you're not in any hurry.
P.S. we ended up spending alot more than shipping our bike from the uk as we couldn't sell the A/T in Argentina (and we now love it like a son) and so are shipping it home to the uk!!
Cheers...Zade

hello,
this choice can depend on :
- the time you want to spend riding abroad;
- your route : it may be a different story if you stay on the same continent or if you have to do some shipping during your trip;
- the time you ll spend for the bike search and the paerwork abroad and the difficulties you will face;
- the price difference between shipping your own and buying abroad
- the pleasure of riding your own home bike or buy and ride a local bike, which is maybe not as nice as your home bike.

ps : in february, i ll have one month to spend in chile bolivia peru : i decided to buy a small local bike rather than shipping my g/s.
- i looked for a bike, took some contacts in advance but will search and buy it on arrival;
- paperwork : according to some experiences i read/heard, i know it s illegal but what do you think about this : if i bring a french numberplate + french ownership naked papers. when i buy the bike, i put the french numberplate on ; on internet, i do myself the ownership papers.
it would be easier than the official standard local way, no ? what are the risks (inside the country with the police and at the borders with the customs ?). cpd (carnet de passages en douane) is not needed apparently in chile, bolivia and peru (?).
then i try to sell it in lima.