The only issue was that the rego needed renewing before the title transfer could go ahead, I paid the rego for another 12 months, then I left it up to him to do the title transfer as I was now back home in Oz and out of the equation. I had NO inclination to buy any bike insurance as it would have cost me a small fortune.

Whatever he did, he was lazy, so not much, I do know that the bike is now back in SA and is being worked on by Javier at Dakarmotos


If you do not have the ORIGINAL title, DON'T do the transfer, that was the only issue with my transfer, getting a replacement copy of the Title.

Cheers
TS

In washington state you do not need a motorcycle present to title, at least at the main dmv in Seattle (maybe another might ask for it, but why would the head office in the largest city not care but another would)? I know this from personal experience, i did it myself in 2008, and am about to do it a second time. I called and spoke to a woman at the dmv, explained that the bike and the other owner would NOT be present, and she said that was fine. I quote "we're really laid back up here in Washington".

I will report back again after i do it again in about 2 weeks to confirm.

Right. As other posts earlier in the thread point out, the bike does not need to be present (in Washington State) as long as it has already been titled here. If it comes from another state, AFAIK it will need to be presented to the state police for a physical inspection. I can't remember whether the inspection happens before or after granting the title, but I think it's afterwards.

Mark

To clarify, in Washington state, the bike does not have to be present, nor does it need to have ever been titled in Washington state. Two days ago I walked into the DMV in downtown Seattle with an Alaskan title for a bike (never titled here), and a bill of sale, nothing else. With these two documents, my California ID, and a Seattle address (that they never verified in any way), I paid an extra $50 for a quick title and left in 20 minutes with a new title in my name, registration, and license plates. No hassle, they didn't ask anything or care that the bike wasn't present, etc. This is the second time I've done this, same both times. This is the main DMV office in downtown Seattle as well, not even a podunk office in the middle of nowhere. The official stated position is that if you do it in person, those are the only two docs you need. It is a bit trickier if you do it by mail, as you will need to provide proof of residency, but not in person.

Hope this helps someone!

Ah, good. So this adds information. Are you sure you're not required to have a physical inspection by State Patrol within a month or so? That's the way it worked last time I brought a vehicle from out of state.

Not that I care whether you get the inspection. And I'm far more interested in what happens at the Uruguay border.

Thanks,

Mark

Yep the trick is getting out of Argentina without having the bike seized.
I recently asked (last month) while re-entering AR what would the penalty be for overstay of tourist import permit. The reply was they seize the bike and say goodbye to the bike.

Civilized countries like say Thailand just hit you with a fine ($70) and you're good to go.

But Argentina being as backwards as backwards can be you can be very creative with the paperwork just as long as the dates match up.

As far as leaving Argentina into Uruguay they are extremely sloppy.
You could easily present you're altered paperwork to clear the Immigration side and simply not give customs(who reside in a different building) the temp import permit.

Then enter Uruguay with the bike "titled" in your name.

The only glitch is if you ever wish to re-enter Argentina with the same bike and the same registration plates, the way Argentina tracks your motorcycle is with the plate number.
Ideally you would want to get another "clean" (unused in South America) plate to travel freely. Peru for instance tracks the plate numbers closely on their computers.
Argentina on the other hand is pretty much in the dark ages as far as computer records go. You can fudge the paperwork but it's only good for one exit or entry.