Looking for a used bike to buy in Panama, Dec 2015

[deonandjane]

Hi All
We are from Australia and will be looking for a bike to buy in Panama around the 21st December and plan to ride to Belize.
Also any up-to-date info on licencing requirements for foreigners, registration, transfer of ownership in Panama would be very much appreciated..This will be the first motorcycle journey for us

Cheers

[panavalk]

as foreigners you have no problem buying a bike in Panama, problem is you cannot take the bike out of Panama unless you have residency.
You could buy one in Costa Rica & you will have no problems apart from the price & the cost of transfer which has to be done by a lawyer!!
I have been in Panama & CR for 14 years, Brit by origin, if you need any help pm me

[deonandjane]

Thanks for the info panavalk,
In that case the plan would be to buy a bike in Limon, I see that there is a Honda dealer in Limon, hopefully they sell used bikes, we are after a reliable 125 of some description, what sort of money would we be looking at for a late model bike say up to 5yrs old?
also do you know of any of these law firms in Limon that does this sort of thing?

[panavalk]

Limon will not have a brilliant selection, beware of used 125's that have been messenger bikes & have high miles, check sites like OLX or encuentra24 for used prices.
Any lawyer will do the transfer, they charge a %age laid down by the government.
If you speak spanish it will help considerably. San Jose will probably be the best place to buy just because of the quantity of bikes there

[obrenes]

Hi, I agree with Panavalk, I live in CR, its better to search something in San Jose, check out thi page Clasificados CRMotos.com.

I know the price here are not the better, but you could find some in good shape and good price, you know some "bargaining"

The transfer: usualy the goverment charge a 4% of the value, ejm a $3000 bike, the taxes are $120, plus the lawyer fee $80 more o less.

In 4 to 7 week days the bike is at your name and ask the permission to get the bike aborad (takes 30 min at "registro de la propiedad") and thats it.

If you need any help here, just say it.

Oscar.

[MrTynKyn]

So , in CA the option for a foreigner to drive whole CA would be buy/sell in Costa Rica.

The idea is to buy a 125, no more than 1000 usd. Drive 3 o 4 months, go back and sell cheaper

Im Argentinian,
What are the goverment agencies to find out the requeriments ?
what are used sites a bike ? (mercadolibre already checked)

Thanks in advance !