Firstly, hi folks, I'm new here, but have been following the site for years.

I was hoping to do a 3 month trip to Siberia, Mongolia and the Stans next year, on a Royal Enfield Himalayan, leaving in July. However, after months of negotiating with the company, I can't get the time off. My job, which I really like and don't want to lose, is seasonal, with summer being very busy, and winters very quiet. I can, however, get 3 months off next winter on half pay! I've been thinking of doing a long trip for ages, and am now looking at alternatives. I can get the three months anytime from November to March inclusive. Obviously this rules out my original idea.

A bit of background- I'm 57 years old, reasonably fit, and ride all year round here in the UK. I generally do two 7 to 10 day bike trips a year; some with a group of friends/bike club from Qatar, where I worked for 6 years (and got back into biking after a 20 year sabbatical), some on my own. All these trips have been on my own or rented Harleys. So far, I've done Scotland 5 times (camping on 3 of those trips), Italy and Jordan. My most recent trip (in March this year) was from Manchester to Lands End on A and B roads, following the coast, then back via East Anglia and the Peak District, camping for 8 nights. Now I want to do a much longer trip, venturing off paved roads for much of it. I did a lot of off-road riding in my teens and twenties, but none for the last 25 years! In Botswana I had an XR500 I bought off a guy who had ridden it from Holland, and my intention was always to ride it back to the UK. I've always regretted that I didn't. As mentioned, at the moment I ride a Harley, but I'm planning on getting a Himalayan for longer trips and a bit of green-laning here in the UK.

Anyway, I digress. Basically, I'm looking for suggestions for a 3 month trip between November and March next year. One thing I definitely want from a trip is to visit countries I've not been to before. This sort of rules out South Africa and anywhere up to Tanzania; I grew up in Botswana and worked throughout southern Africa. I also did a number of bike trips while living there.

At the moment I'm thinking of South America (excluding Brazil), though I'm open to any other ideas. I do like the idea of riding all the way down through Chile, then to Patagonia. I'm looking for advice on either shipping a bike, or buying one in South America. Shipping would be the preferable option, as I'm tentatively thinking of shipping the bike to somewhere in Central or South America, and shipping it back to the UK from Buenos Aires. Or, would it be possible to ride from somewhere in the States, all the way to Patagonia via Chile, and up to Buenos Aires, in 3 months?

Any advice/ideas would be very much appreciated.

NC 500 by Jon, on Flickr

South America is definitely a legit option - it's relatively straightforward for a non-resident foreigner to register a bike in their name in Peru and Colombia, and take it across borders.

Another option would be South-East Asia. Check the monsoon seasons, but basically, you can go around Thailand/Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam, renting local bikes (and taking buses/cheap flights between the countries if it makes life easier) and have a great time.

I don't know what your budget is like, but if you do rented-Harley tours, you might be able to stretch to New Zealand. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is summer there, and it's the kind of country where you could very easily spend three months and not stop enjoying yourself. (I was there for two weeks, including an eight-day trip around the South Island on a rented CB500X, and it just made me want to go back for longer.)

Thanks for the reply.

I have considered New Zealand, a close friend of mine (also a Harley rider) has just moved back there. Renting Harleys is very expensive anywhere, though I rented one for 10 days in Italy in May this year for my clubs annual tour, as I didn't have the time to ride my own bike there or back. South East Asia I have been to many times, though not Cambodia yet. I've rented scooters in Thailand and Vietnam and ridden around a bit (did an off-road trip on a 125cc scooter in Thailand, the only bit of off-roading I've done for many years).

South America appeals, as apart from Sao Paolo in Brazil I've not seen any of the continent. I might look at buying a bike there. I'll have a good look through the forums. I've seen stuff about buying and selling bikes in Colombia, I'm wondering if it's possible to sell a bike bought in Colombia in Argentina?

If you are selling it to another traveler, essentially just signing off the papers to him so he can take it out past the border and eventually back into Colombia, then kind of, yes.

Selling locally is tantamount to importing it, and at best you have to pay customs duties, and it'll be way more paperwork. There might be specialized dealerships who are set up to do that, but don't bet on it.