I do feel compelled to counter Molly Dogs argument for a dual sport bike. He is a dirt bike rider who has traveled and recommends bikes by how they will perform on roads you will only occasionally encounter. You want more than one cylinder because you may be riding for hours at 120kph
I am a street bike rider who travels. Right now I'm in Chile, having ridden a totally inappropriate 1500cc cruiser here and deliberately and accidentally taking some roads that dual sports would have a tough time on all with a 16" front tire
Still, the best bikes for this trip are the compromise bikes, street bikes with some more ground clearance and suspension travel, V-Strom, Versys, F series BMW. These bikes though, lack an important component, they are not cheap.
What is cheap are road bikes of between 500 and 950cc. They can do any road, including the worst ones in Peru with a more aggressive front tire, such tires are available throughout Latin America.
Standards like Ninja 650, Bandit SV650 etc and cruisers like Honda Shadow and Kawasaki Vulcan are dirt cheap and bulletproof. Nothing like having a bike that you can afford to lose.
Shipping a bike from CA to SA costs about $325 and might be worth it to you.
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