Buy here or buy there!
 

Hi

I am planning on leaving for the US and heading south by bike toward the end of this summer.

Has anybody got any advice on travelling on a US registered bike south or a European (UK or Ireland) registered bike as I may transport one from here by air...

I am unsure of costs etc heading through Central and into South America with temporary import/passing through charges and insurance and whether or not I would be able to register a US bike in my name as I do not live there...

I have access to an address in Florida but may be better to ship my bike from here and hit the road.

Any definitive advice appreciated!

E

Plenty of foreigners have purchased and registered bikes in the US. If you use google to search this site you will see a few discussions of which states this is easy to do it in. In summary, you will have a bike titled and registered in your name so no issues in crossing borders.

The reasons that many choose this route is that the US is an inexpensive place to buy and outfit bikes and it will save you the costs of shipping a bike across, which depending on whether you ship sea or air can range anywhere between ~$1,250 and ~$2,000 USD. That will buy you a lot of beer in South America!

Once you get closer to picking dates, let me know and I'd be happy to point out any outiftted bikes that are fairly regularly posted on the usual bike selling sites. If possible, it is nice to sort out a bike ahead of time or at least narrow it down to a couple as hanging out in a city and travelling around to look at bikes can significantly eat into the cost savings from not shipping.

Happy planning.