Hey mate,

How are you getting on with your planning? I am doig a very similar trip with 2 other mates starting in Feb 09. We have already bought tickets into B.Am Argentina (from Australia) - so now we are trying desperately to figure out how we are going to get bikes legal and get moving....

Ideas?

I'd like to think we could find 3 US registered bikes - but it may not be possible ad we won't have a month to hang around waiting for ownership papers etc.

Sorry I just read the other thread before this one. To get to Chile you have to changeover at B.A first anyway, might as well just buy a forward ticket from there then you can just buy a Chilean bike (such as an XR250). Only thing is you will need to travel light but who cares if you wear the same t-shirt a few times eh

Ha, I´m at the tail end of my trip down to BA and I´m wondering how I´m going to get out of the habit of wearing everything a few times! Not to mention how long the licence is going to last in Oz with all the new bad riding habits I´ve acquired!!

Anyway, I met a fellow Aussie a few weeks back who bought a new GS1200 in Argentina and basically was stuck there as he wasn´t allowed to leave the country with the bike despite it being in his name (Arg law quirk)!! After a few months of mucking around he transferred the bike over to an Arg mate who wrote him a permission to take it across international borders and now he´s off like a rat up a drain pipe! Northern Brasil at last contact. But he had to work hard to get there so I suggest buying local might not be the best option if this is any indication. I can put you onto him if you want but I think he´s still getting therapy so you may not get a lot outta him!!

I bought a bike in the US and rode it down without any problems whatsoever. The only trick being having a US address to use which is easy. Essentially by transferring the US title over to yourself (ie in your name) keeps you above board and free to roam wherever, hassle free! Dodging up titles will probably catch up with you, me thinks. Right? My transfer was just $200 so why would you bother? Otherwise the only other problem being mistaken for a US cit which often seems to be interpreted as you have wads of cash to give away randomly. Odd but worth a try I guess. Anyway a small Oz flag (badly) taped on the number plate has tricked them without fail, showing you at what level you are playing at!

As for shipping yer bike over, yeah there´s the shipping over and back ($ & time) but then you have to deal with carnets which can be expensive also, from memory. So have a dig into this for yerself.

Finally, my brother and I are selling 2 KTM 640 Adventures (2005 & 2007) if you are interested. But I would imagine there would be other bikes around also such as KLRs; it´s just a matter of finding them! Not exactly sure about that one, except for the obvious internet search and this site´s classifieds. Although try DAKAR MOTOS-HOME OF ´OVER-LAND BIKE´ TRAVEL IN SOUTH AMERICA and Klein Motos - Official Website .

I hope this helps!
Pablo.