Hello. I am an experienced motorycle rider that lives in Canada. I ride about 15,000 kilometers per year. Each year I travel to another country and rent a motorcycle for anywehere from one week to a month. I've visited countries that have some rough riding conditions (India, Mexico, Costa Rica, Australia).

I have been doing some research and it sounds like Chile and Argentina are very beautiful countries to tour by motorcycle. I would want to fly to Santiago, rent a medium size motorcycle, and travel for roughly four to six weeks.

I've looked into a lot of different options: shipping, renting, buy-back, etc. I can't really find too much info. One shipping company quoted me $1650 US each way to fly a motorcycle from Vancouver to Santiago. The only place I've found that rents motorcycles wants $1400 US a month to rent a Honda XR250, and $1600 US to rent a BMW F650. These prices seem kind of high to me.

If the motorcycle has two wheels and a motor I will be happy! The trade name or the style does not matter - I am not a complainer.

I think that an enduro 250 - 600 is best, but will be happy with any motorcycle.

Bruce Clarke
brclarke@islandnet.com http://www.islandnet.com/~brclarke

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Bruce Clarke
brclarke@islandnet.com
http://www.islandnet.com/~brclarke

__________________
Bruce Clarke --- 2011 Honda CBR125R (black)

Hi Bruce,
I did the same enquiries on motorcycle rental/transport for Chile and Argentina. The only place I found to rent a motorcycle was KTM Chile. The price was about 100 US$ a day. Flying the motorcycle from Germany is very expensive as well.

Luckily I found a group of motorcyclists who will rent a container and ship their motorcycles to Buenos Aires. It will cost about 500 US$ oneway per bike plus fees.

Sorry that I can´t really help you, but it seems that there is no great choice.

See you at the New Years Eve motorcycle party
in Ushuaia.

good luck
Werner

Forgot to mention the website of el Mercurio, a newspaper in Santiago de Chile with a selction of motorcycles for sale online. http://osiris.mercurio.cl

Werner

Check out
http://www.panchovilla.com/

For info and rentals in South America

Scott

sgriffit@ucla.edu

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Scott Griffith
http://www.doe-mbi.ucla.edu/people/griffith/moto.html

Checked out the KTM place.
Not only do they want $100 US a day (!) but they also want a damage deposit of 6-bloody-thousand US dollars!
Yeah, they accept credit cards, but that seems absolutely outrageous to me.
Other than them, I can't find anyone else who arranges rentals or buy-backs in South America.
It looks like the only way to ride in SA is to ship a bike or ride there overland from North America.

__________________
Bruce Clarke --- 2011 Honda CBR125R (black)

Re Rentals in Brasil...or any other country in South America... Forget about it! I have checked this out & what rentals I could find were ridiculous ripoffs by less than reputable characters. I found a very reputable dealer & many local riding companions in Porto Alegre the southermost state of Rio Grand do Sul Brasil. I purchased a low milage (3,000km) 1998 Honda Strada Street Sport, made in Brasil. I rode this lovely little beast 10,000km in 4 months and could sell it readily for close to what I paid for it 4,000 Brasil Real or$3,450.Canadian dollars. A great little bike, comfortable for highway & fantastic on the street around the cities. Great for off road but limited by the street tires. Only 200cc but it is a machine prefered by the military & police and very reliable.
I am going back to Brasil in November & haul this sweetheart out of storage & hit the road, while my riding budies here in Canada are tuning up the snowblowers. I am a Gold Wing rider in Canada however I found this little Brasilian gem was far better suited to the roads in South America.
Touring in Southern Brasil is well off the tourisim path. Thus prices are far less than tourist areas. I highly recomend it, especially if you can hook up with local riders. DuoAction Suzuki in Porto Alegre has a "Moto Cafe" where members from all the Moto Clubs meet every Wednesday for an evening of "show & tell" plus dinner, planning road trips, and a few Cerveja, if so inclined. A couple of Brit english teachers hang out there, and quite a few locals who are english speaking, businessman types. They were delighted to have the only Canuck ever to visit in their area. They loved to practise their english on me. I was invited to moto meets & BBQs almost every weekend. If anyone cares to visit I have a spare room available from December to April & can help you find a bike, interesting places to visit, maps etc. on a limited budget. Bring a compass or GPS with you as road signs are scarce and often unintelligble.
It is a different culture than Canda for sure, so be prepared to be flexible, open minded, and have fun learning as you go.
BTW Brasilian women are very beautiful & girlwatching is the best!

Dear Br.,

Unknown to many, a good place to rent bikes is La Paz, Bolivia.

Speak to:
Walter Nosiglia at Nosiglia Sport,
Av. Costanera No. 29, (Calacoto),
Tel. (591-2) 794 904 ,
Fax (591-2) 771 395,

mobile phone: 01565404 - 794904
e-mail: nossport@ceibo.entelnet.bo

Walter is ex-motocross champion from Sucre, Bolivia. He´s the official
Honda dealer in La Paz. Great guy. He rents out XR 600s, XR400s, and
Africa Twins as well as ATVs. Good quality. He just started another
company called New Millenium Adventure Sports which is dedicated solely
to this purpose. They have a site at: www.nmadventures.com which features monthly prices for the above vehicles (usd 1500 aprox.) but Walter is a guy you can talk to.

I was with walter in April of this year and I really liked the guy.
Friendly, helpful and professional. Get in contact with him and see
what kind of a deal he can cook up for you. You can also buy a bike
through him, he will have it registered with all Bolivian papers and
plates and ready to go. As he said: "In Bolivia, everything is
possible." However, prices for bikes in Bolivia are more expensive than
i.e. USA or Germany. (i.e. Africa Twin costs 11.600 USD with
registration)

Good luck,

Gonzalo Figueroa
Argentine living among the Vikings in Oslo, Norway.-

[This message has been edited by Gonzalo (edited 26 September 2000).]