Advice on which make to buy
 

Hi all, new to this site and so far found it very helpful.

Myself and the Girlfriend are heading to South America at the end of the year so we have just started planning. We are looking to travel around for 6 to 12 months and need some advice on which make of bike to buy and maybe the easiest country to purchase them.
Which bikes are the most reliable and which bikes are the easiest to get spare parts for?

Any Help would be appreciated

Thanks Chris

If I understand correctly, you're planning to buy the motorcycles after you arrive in South America? The consensus here seems to be that Chile is the easiest country in SA to get the bikes properly registered as a foreigner. Do a search; there are several threads on this that offer plenty of details.

As for what make and model, a lot of that comes down to personal preferences. I personally would want whatever is very popular with locals, as that will likely be the easiest to get service and parts for. Honda and Yamaha seem to be the most popular, but you'll also see other brands in lesser numbers.

What size of bike? What type: street, dual, etc.?

If your timing is flexible, consider waiting a bit. If you look, at this time of year there are many good options for used travel bikes now in Bs Aires. For owners faced with spending $2000 to ship their bikes back, it is often a better option to sell it to another traveler. Plus they come with luggage, skid plates, and sometimes tools and more.
Any bike is good, but my opinion is that its nice to have at least 500cc's to keep up with traffic on highways. You won't find that on most local bikes--unless you're willing to spend about 2x what you'd spend back home.
-Dave
When the Pavement Ends

If you go on buying foreign registered bikes KLR 650 is the answer.Also DR 650 the newer model.
Now if you buy local registered and budget is a concern XR 250 Tornado is ok.But there will be limitations on riding those bikes out of the country.
Best advice,bring your own bike with!
Karl

There is obviously no concensus, each poster will share his own experience. From what i witnessed after 5 years travelling this continent, the easiest and cheapest option was to buy a new chinese 200 cc bike in Paraguay. No borders problems, enough power to climb the Andes, easy maintainance, bureaucratic hassles free. For less than the price to ship a bike from Europe to South America, you get two brand new shining kangoroo skipping trail bikes.

For example : Kenton Dakar - YouTube

http://clasipar.paraguay.com/buscar?...kar&category=0

http://clasipar.paraguay.com/motos_t...o_1743189.html

Now if you want to impress locals and show you are a "gringo platudo", you can ride a foreigner japanese bike with all the bling bling equipment. Inconveniences will be : the price of spare parts, the difficulty to find them, interesting theft target (much value in low volume and weight). The advantages? You might catch attention of some local motorclub members, because showing off is part of the latin culture. The choice is a question of money and personality : indepth or superficial, observing or being watched.

Phillipe
Maybe you didn´t noticed allmost all travellers here are then superficial and rich "platudos" showing off riders?????
Ahhhh yes that is why you showed off in BA with a nice XT 600:clap:
Any way I choose to ride my old trusty bike and not a cheap chinese ride.
Ces´t la vie mon amie.
Karl

This is precisely because i did the experience that i know what i m talking about, gauchito. Being asked at every traffic light what s the cylender of the motorcycle is kind of bothersome, even tho for european standards, some would clasify a 93 XT as a rotten moped. And actually, that bike is rotting somewhere in Santa Elena de Uairen right now (far far away from the porteno center of the world :innocent:).

I met both kind of riders and must confess the human experience with those who chose to ride by south american standards was usually much more interesting. Much less miles burners, much more into mixing with local population.

Anyways, this is kind of offtopic, the question is : which make is the most suited for travelling in South America and easiest paper and costwise. My answer without any doubt is a new chinese bike bought in Paraguay.

Its good to know my continent and our people has changed you......
A humble french men now.....:clap:
Are you bikeless now?

Once again, off topic. The best means of communication for personal informations is private message.

Thanks guys for the help so far.

It seems that if we have the time and money to get Japanese bikes they will be a more reliable option.
Vorteks have you actually bought and travelled on these 200cc Chinese bikes? I am a bit wary of these due to a friend buying one in Australia and it completely falling apart on the first ride.
Also can the be fitted easily with luggage racks?

If anyone else has experience on the Chinese bikes i would love to hear it.

Thanks again
Pricey

Bajaj Pulsar
 

Hi Chris,

Take a look at the Bajaj Pulsar. I've had some encouraging opinions on it over on the "Which bike..?" forum. The 220 model should be capable of carrying two people, albeit not very quickly, and it appears to be widely available.

Good luck with the search..!

Old KLR
 

An old KLR is going to be your best bet if you care about your girlfriend. The smaller the bike, the more you (and even more so your passenger) get beat up by the road. Forget the Chinese bike (and that is said by someone who owns one) for over the road travel. Can you do it? Sure. But you can say goodbye to love...

Toby :mchappy::mchappy::mchappy:

:offtopic:???:Beach:relax.....:mchappy:on a jap bike:D

Cheers but just so you dont have the wrong idea my girlfriend will be buying her own bike. she is only about 5 foot 5 hense mt interest in the smaller bike if not for both of us least for her.

The which bike question has been asked a thousand times with a million answers. In general keep in mind where you want to go and how long you will need to wait for part if something breaks. I rode a XB12X Buell through South America, it did all I had planned but once I got there I wished I had something a little more adaptable to dirt. Most important buy what you like.

As to where to buy, I would suggest you buy in USA and start from there. Cheapest place in the world to buy a motorcycle of any kind you might want, used or new.

Have a great trip
Bob:scooter:

Nop, matey, still riding a xt 600 as i did to tour your magnificent continental isle, fits perfectly my size and weight. She got a bit unfaithful tho this year, and got more problems than my belgian buddy travelling on a chinese bike bought in Paraguay.

I wouldnt recommend as well using those bikes for a couple, but as specified in the previous post, you can buy TWO of them for less than the price of the transport of one bike from Perth to Chile. This gives you much more security, since if one bike is in a bad mood, you still have another one to call for rescue. Twice as much room for the sheyla garde robe as well. They also consume very little gas, half what my 90 s cute japanese horsey is suckin', gas budget is not a negligectable feature any more, paid more than 2 dollars a liter in the north of Argentina this year, a day like so many when gas stations couldnt deliver any more. Oh, did I mention the pure pleasure of riding a 270 kg bike sinking in the mud after a big rain, the lighter bikes will at least allow you to actually get out of those unconfy situations,

I surprisingly saw chinese bikes passing me on dirt tracks in the mountains. It certainly has to do with the driver knowing perfectly the environment, but still an evidence of good maneuvrability off roads.


Chinese bikes have bad rep, are maid out of cheaper metal, but japs after ww2 had bad reputation as well. The quality and reliability is improving every year, this is why I recommend to buy new bikes.

Just watch the bike of that brazilian guy who crossed the amazon while almost all shiny bikes foreign travellers take the boat. Shiny all aluminium paniers heavy bike?

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...apangrande.jpghttp://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1001969

Nice brasilian pictures!But that is not a chinese bike......its a classic 1977 Honda CG 125 made in japan.......
Honda MotorBikeSpecs.net Motorcycle Specification Database
We hope that chinese bikes will be of better manufacture.Some products that are imported to south america from china are really poor.Some better.But the low price segment is crap.Maybe making it an extra adventure.The main problem is the parts.As they are made by a few manufacturers in china and comercialized under fantasy names for the importer you never know who the manufacturer was......then the chase beguins......

Hola Amigo,
I am on a KLR 650 model 2009 bought from Cali, Colombia and riding around South America now. Great bike, ugly and no nonsense. Just fuel and fire up. It gets you to places in all conditions that I have come across, rippio road, mud, volcanic ashes, desert, windy and with a possibility of towing power ( I had travelled with a scooter Yamaha 125 from Ushuaia who had power loss problem and close to tow him to the nearest town).
You just cant go wrong with this bike.

Heading the same way
 

Chris,

My name is Justin, me and my girlfriend (who is also 5'5) are planning a year long trip through South America starting in mid November. Are plans are to fly into Santiago. We are still looking at different options but are leaning towards a honda 125. The CGL pro seems like a good option and if the XR is short enough I would prefer a dual sport. We are thinking new versus used but haven't ruled used out yet. This will be my first bike trip and my girlfriends 2nd. It would be great to hear how you guys are preparing.

Thanks!

So long as you can get parts for your bike, you'll be fine.
I'm on a 21 year old XT. Most parts are compatible with the newer models but when my starter clutch gave up, I was waiting for six weeks for one of the parts to be sent from Japan and I had to get the other machined locally because it wasn't available anywhere.
Getting parts machined in South America is much easier than you think it's going to be but if you can source parts locally then so much the better.

A recent CG125 is probably a very good option.

If your girlfriend is getting her own bike why don't you both buy the same, like Yam XT250's? Nimble and good on juice (with bigger tank), mechanically simple and parts availability is very good and not expensive.

I elected to ride a new Suzuki DR650 from Texas to Tierra del Fuego and it has been a great bike on both the highway and dirt. However, it may be bigger and heavier than you'd like. Prior to my trip I owned a Yamaha xt250 and now believe that it would have been a great bike for the trip. The Honda xr250 or xr125 would work as well. I'd also consider a Yamaha YBR125. It's a little more of a street/city bike but I believe it could handle the trip and is probably the most ubiquitous bike in S. America next to the Honda Wave 125.

The trip can be accomplished on any bike. Maintenance, breakdowns, finding parts is all part of the experience that puts you in a situation to interact with the locals and experience the culture. Hopefully it's the reason why you want to travel. Start getting excited and enjoy it. You'll have an amazing adventure.