Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Mexico City to Central America Comprehensive Questions (and hopefully answers)

Hi Everyone,

Updated post trip on Feb 2nd 2023.

I am new here but I've been reading through all of the posts related to the questions I'm about to ask back to 2016 and a few older ones more specifically related to my questions. So I went ahead and tried to summarize that info as best I could under my questions. Hopefully this post can help others in the same situation answer the same questions with up to date info. As I receive info Ill try to update this to reflect that.

For context, I am currently living in Mexico City, but am just on a tourist visa.

The Questions:

1. What is the best local motorcycle or motorcycles for traveling Mexico and central America?

We are looking at a small displacement bike that's very common here to keep a low profile and make them easy to repair if something happens to them. I used this strategy in Vietnam with a Honda Win and it was great (even though it broke down all the time it was dirt cheap to repair and never held us up more than like an hour or two). Preferably we would get 150s compared with 125s so we have an easier time on highways. So far on my list are the Yamaha YBR125, Honda GL150 Cargo, Honda GL150 DS, Honda CGL 125, Honda CB 160 F, Suzuki GS 150, Suzuki DR200.

Let me know if I'm missing any from the list and if you've had any experience with any of these. Leaning towards the GL150 DS and just putting a rack and tank bags on it in case I want to have a passenger. The Cargo is appealing since it already has a rack, but I don't love that I cant have a passenger.

UPDATE
We bought Honda XR190s and were very happy with them. Both of us had issues with the valves (or something in the engine) making a ticking noise, but apparently this is common with the 190 engine based on what some mechanics told us and it didnt end up being an issue. Other than that, the bikes were the perfect size and we were able to reach the speeds we needed to as well as offroad very capably. Parts are also all over the place which made it really easy to find spare tire tubes cluch levers etc even in the middle of nowhere (which we had to do). I cant say the number of times we told eachother that these were the perfect bikes for out trip and we felt 100% happy with them. There were a couple stretches where it would have been nice to have a few more horsepower, but it wasnt a big deal. Also I have had multiple super bikes in my time so I do know the benefits of a massive amount of horsepower and love them, I just didnt think we needed it for this trip.

2. Where is the best place to buy a motorcycle in Mexico City?

People suggested Mercadolibre, Facebook (using the groups or marketplace function), and going to a dealership. Personally, I am leaning dealership just because it seems to be the path of least resistance and they can help me a bit logistically, even if it costs a bit more. So any suggestions for dealerships who carry these types of bikes in used condition would be appreciated.

UPDATE
I went with the dealership option, although we were not able to get the plates in our name, I was able to get a guy who worked at the dealership to help us out with this and put them in his name. The Tarjeta de Circulacion was in his name, but the Facturas were in our names. The only problem it caused us was when we crossed the guatemalan border, they wanted a notarized "carta de poder" which we had to spend a couple of days obtaining from a notary near the border in Mexico. Once we had that, it was smooth sailing through guatemala and we didnt even have to show the Carta de Poder to enter or exit Belize. Also has no problem getting back into Mexico and having the facturas in our name made it so that we could sell the bikes fairly easily. One weird thing is that the used motorcycle selection at dealers is really limited and doesnt seem to include small displacement bikes. Brand name stores dont even carry used inventory, so be aware of that.

3. What is the best way to register a motorcycle in Mexico so that I can cross borders with it? What does that process look like step by step and what exactly will I need? Will it be a problem if both motorcycles are registered in my name even if I am with my friend when we cross borders?

As I understand it, basically I have 3 options for this.

UPDATE
We ended up doing everything through the dealership and they were able to put the Facturas in our names even though we didnt haver residence visas. As mentioned, we had to go thorugh a mexican to get the plates though the guy at the dealership helped us and did all the DMV stuff so it was pretty straightforward for us. The only thing I would do differently is get a notarized power of attorney "carta de poder" that says the person who is listed on the tarjeta de circulacion and/or the factura gives you the right to cross borders with the vehicle and sell it. Talk to the notary about this, they should be able to write it all up with legal language. Ours cost about 2500 MEX each, but if you do it in advance, it should be around 1500 MEX each.

A. Buy the motorcycle then go to the Mexican equivalent of the DMV (can someone tell me what that's called?) with some kind of proof of residence (light bill with my name and address on it, residence visa) to register it in my name. People seemed to have the least amount of problems crossing borders with this method.

B. Buy the motorcycle using a local Mexican then have them write up documents saying they are selling it to me and have that notarized and stamped by a lawyer. From what I read, this can work for crossing borders, but can sometimes lengthen the process. Also just seems like more of a pain in the ass then just providing proof of residence.

C. Buy the motorcycle and then hire a company which will register it in my name for me in a state which does not require proof of residency to register (apparently Guerrero does not require proof). If anyone knows a company who does this please send me the info or post it here. I only saw one guy who suggested this was possible so please comment if you have done this or know someone who has. Seems like this would be the easiest, but also most costly.

4. What is the selling process for countries in CA? Best place to sell/dump the bike or pay the import fees?

UPDATE

We went with the option of just selling them in Mexico and rerouted our trip to go through guatemala, belize, then end in Cancun instead of ending somewhere in CA. It was just too difficult to find clear information and instructions on how to import the bikes to different countries and we were afraid of leaving them as the countries do seem to enter into their system that you have the bike in country. I saw the lady cancel our bike visas in her online system when we left Guatemala. Belize didnt seem to give a crap at all though. Its not something I would count on though.

In terms of selling, we posted on Facebook and that seemed to work best, but we actually had a few people come up to us asking us if we wanted to sell them throughout the trip. We posted a couple weeks out once we knew we would be in Cancun and that seemed to work pretty well.

If we did it again, we would probably just buy them in the US and ship them back when we were done though to avoid the hassle of trying to get rid of them at the end of a trip if we werent going to be in the country we bough them in.

This post has instructions for how to import to Guatemala if you so desire. It does seem possible, just that it would take alot of time and money.
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...america-103603

Costa Rica - It seems Costa Rica doesn't stamp your passport, based on other posts, with a vehicle so if we wanted to dump or sell, this could be a good place.

Panama - They stamp your passport with your vehicle when you enter so if you leave it seems there could be potential legal troubles but no one actually seemed to confirm this from firsthand experience. Also, there is the potential to not be able to return to the country as they would know you illegally imported a vehicle there. Again, no one seemed to confirm this from personal experience for Panama.

Thanks in advance!