Buying a motorcycle in Argentina or Brazil
 

I intend to travel in South America by buying a motorcycle (Honda Transalp or Africa Twin). As far as I know this is the easiest in Argentina or maybe in Brazil. In Argentina are quite many Transalps and a bit fewer Africa Twins on the road.
Who can give me addresses, advices, prices? Thanks for your help.

------------------
Alois

Everyone seems to agree that it is impossible to buy and export a bike from Argentina. But yes, there are loads of Transalps. I would also look at the NX350, a kind of baby dommie, if you find a way around the regulations. Good luck.

For buying, look up my god friend Flavio, the owner of Motorbikes in BA. He rides an Africa and can get his hands on many to sell.
his website:
wwww.motorbikes9dejulio.com.ar
he only speaks spanish, tho

------------------
Back on the road again.

sopgear.com

Hi Alois.
The Africa Twin is a great bike, but have you ever thought about the Yamaha Super Tenere? It is much the same bike, but has an extra 10hp, and would be just your kind of thing I think. This trusty bike has brought me all the way from Chile to Minas Gerais in Brazil with only minor problems. The last 8 months it has been parked with a friend of mine here in Brazil, and is in good condition. the bike is '91 model with 50.000 km on the road. The bike is modified and reinforced for long travels on bad roads and it has also got racks for givi saddle bags, that I am also selling. Tyres, chain and sprockets are all new.

The bike has currently got Australian plates , formerly the owner of Pat and Bin, patandbin@yahoo.com, whom you could give you a lot of info about the history of the bike before I got it about a year ago. I am thinking about doing importation to get Brazilian plates on the bike to sell it more easily.

Let me know if you´re interested.

All the best
Daniel

Thanks to all of you who gave me informations. I will contact you by e-mail in a few days.

------------------
Alois

Hello Tim Stanley
Thanks for your recommendation. I contacted your friend Flavio from ...9dejulio and I am waiting for an answer. Do you know anything about paperwork regestering a motorbike in Argentina for non-residents? The language is no problem, I speak fluently Spanish. Regards Alois



------------------
Alois

Hi Daniel
Thanks for your offer. I'm interested. Where is the bike now, what's the price, already registered in Brazil or still with Australian number plates? Total kms? Papers? Where can I get the bike? If registered in Brazil, it's o.k. for me, I know the country and I speak the language. The rest I think I can sort it out. Waiting for your reply. My e-mail adress is minas at mydiax.ch, since it's not possible to contact you by mail. Regards

------------------
Alois

[This message has been edited by Alois (edited 09 March 2004).]

Alois, you'll hardly find any Transalp in Brazil. There's plenty of XT600, tho.
Good luck!

Hi Alois. Sorry forgot to inlude my email, it is: travellingdaniel@yahoo.no.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Daniel

Hi Alois.

Sorry for not including my email. Here it is: travellingdaniel@yahoo.no

looking forward to hearing from you

Daniel

Yes, I know, but in Argentina there are many, and there is a good dealer network with spare parts too, and paperwork in Argentina is less a mess than in Brazil. Furthermore, the Honda Transalp or the Africa Twin are more reliable than XT600. Sorry to say you that.



------------------
Alois

Might be right. But you won't be allowed to take an Argentinian bike out of the country. If there is a way of doing this, I would really like to know.

cheers
Daniel

Alois, por si te interesa una BMW R100GS PD año 90 con menos de 20.000 kms. la tengo en venta en Paraguay.
Saludos
Patricio

Hi Daniel
Of course it's possible. I met several Argentine travellers with their bike in Chile. In Chile they want you to be owner of the bike for more than one year, but this is Chilean customs, not the Argentinian one. Another good place to buy a bike now is Costa Rica, I met some travellers with bikes registered in Costa Rica. But there is the problem of shipping the bike to South America (the Darian Gap...).


------------------
Alois

Hi Alois

Argentines can of course take their vehicles out of their country, foreigners may not buy Argentine vehicles and take them out. That's the way it was last year, and still is , unless they've changed the laws recently.

good luck
Daniel

Alois,
iam presently in mendoza and i am looking to purchase a bike. I have heard of the problems of not being argentine and so therefore i cannot get out of the country with it. Is this true, is there a way around it. weare intending on coming back to the country to sell it after travlling for some months. I do not know if you may be able to help us.

Rob and Kate

Hello Rob and Kate, I cannot clearly answer your questions. Some people (even Argentinians) say that it not possible to leave Argentina with a motorcycle with Argentinian number plates. But at a customs point on the Chilean/Argentinian border (Esquel - Futaleufu) I met people crossing the border with motorbikes with AR number plates. I guess that there is some regulation about that but not always enforced. So the best is to try it.
Some people say that you cannot leave Argentina without having registered the bike for at least one year. This may be true, as it seems to be a mesure to prevent exporting stolen vehicles.
As a general rule, as a foreigner from Western Europe you may face generally less hassles than local people (that's my experience). If you get any information about the topic, please let us know about it.


------------------
Alois

Just got this back from the tourist board, who have done some digging for me:

Hello,
It´s not easy to buy a motorcycle and register it under your name. You need a paper that says that you are an argentine resident. But that´s the only way to cross the border and pass the customs without any problem.
Another option is to buy it without transfering it under your name. In Argentina, you have until 90 days to transfer the property from the last owner to the new one. During that period you can travel within the country if you want to, but you can´t cross to Chile.
Kind regards

Giselle Levy
Tourist Information Office.

So it does seem to be the case, you cannot buy an Argentine bike as a foriegner and take it out of the country (legally!).

Rob and kate

Alois,

I have a R 80G/S for sale if you want, in Rosario (300km from Buenos Aires), I I made all the mechanic works on the motor, front fork, and bevel box, the papers are in order, and on my name. I can conected with BMW dealers in Argentina, to get spare part (if you want).
If you are interested.


nicolas_bahr@hotmail.com

I'm planing to get a R100 gs, of a frind, by the way Patricio Adorno, if you read this tell about your bike, or how can I contact you.

Buying in Brazil is easy! IF you plan ahead.
1: You will need an adress in Brazil and have mail sent there to prove you have a place of residence in Brasil.

2: Take the mail on arival in Brasil and go to the closest "Secretaria da Recita Federal" with your passport, visa, and Tourist card. You have to apply for a CPF number, which is given on the spot. The CPF is a Tax registration identity similar to Social Security. With this and cash/credit card, in hand you can buy and sell vehicles or property in Brazil. You will need a Portuguese speaker to help you through the process.
Several Canadian, and German friends have used this process with my Brazilian wifes help in Porto Alegre. Most have sold their bike in Brazil very little under what they purchased it for when they left Brazil. A Much cheaper route than shipping and all the paperwork and exhorbitant "fees". This may take 2 days to get the CPF and find a bike.
You can cross any Mercosul border with the Brazilian registration and the appropriate personal Visa.