Send a PM to Jabez Clegg:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...action=getinfo

for recent info on shipping Oz to Santiago. They did it recently and I don´t think they paid nearly so much.

With a foreign bike in S Am, you will only need your Ozzie rego and sometimes your Ozzie drivers license to enter most countries. That said, I would bring my title and get an international DL as well. Insurance is seldom asked for and generally when they are fishing for a bribe. Of course if you injure a person and have no insurance, you are in heaps of trouble.

In the end, the more papers you have, the better off you are. If you run into an uncooperative aduanas at the border keep handing over more papers, one at a time and they will likely grow tiered of you and send you on your way.

Thanks mate. That sounds great! Prob looking at buying her for sure now due to extra costs in buying OS and importing to Aus. plus time loss and having to modify OS. Are you planning a RTW trip soon mate?

Actually, I am writing from Medellin, Columbia, having spent the last three months coming upfrom Iquique, CH. I bought my current moto (Honda nx 400 Falcon) 2.5 years ago in Santiago, using the process described by Lachy. I had just spent 7 months crossing from Moscow to Nepal and didn´t have time to get a bike shipped from the states. I went down to Ushuia and then up as far as Peru before storing my bike there for 9 months. Last year, I mostly putzed about and around Peru & Bolivia for 3 months and again stored my bike in Iquique.

I am unfortunately near the end of my time and am planning to store my bike here until next May when I will ride CO and perhaps a bit of VE before beelining back to Chile and selling it in Arica, CH or perhaps to a hubber.

I am currently riding with Peter & Brucella (Jabez Clegg). I asked and actually found out that they shipped by plane from AUstralia to Santiago for $3000 per bike. If you have time, boat is cheaper.

Cheers,
N

Wow good on ya! Moscow to Nepal ay. also unreal. Nepal was my first country and, as with first loves, you never forget her. So definitely looking to incorporate a length on moto over there. That's where I originally got the love for travelling by moto. One day was there and just decided to hire and drive to Lumbini and back from Sauraha on a cruiser. AMAZING!

What do you pay for storing your bike?

I did get an email from Pete actually. I buzzed him the other day and he said he paid air because they didn't have time. I have time though and probably will ship.

Once again your words of wisdom are priceless.
Cheers and best of luck!

collect the Padron from any Registro de Civil?
 

Hi ive brought my wheels here in santiago, now after a delay with the registro de civil being on strike for a week im due to get my papers. I dont have my padron yet but seriously i have to leave santiago - ive been here a month and its killing me to be stuck here.

Please can someone tell me that its possbile for me to collect my padron somewhere south, like temuco - orsono - puerto montt? I can even get my hostal here to post the padron to a hostal in puerto montt!!

Any info would be fantastic.
gracias,
Eddie

You should be able to get a padron in any reasonble sized town (30,000 or more pop). I got mine in Arica, even tho I originally requested it sent to a hostal in Santiago. Also, if you have a power of attourney, you can travel on that.

So it looks like I found a bike of Chlieautos.cl, a DR650. It is pricey but I want to get up North to see the Dakar. My questions is, everyone I have talked to during my search has told me that it will take a month or more to get my Pardon before I can leave the country. However, I have been told that I can be given a "contracto" singed by the owner and the Notaria to be able to leave the country. Is this what they say by a "power of attorney"? Does it really take 30 days to get the pardon transferred into my name?

Cheers, and Happy New Year

It takes 2 to 4 weeks to get the padron. I assume that this contracto is the same as the powwer of attorney (poa). I traveled to AR, BO, EC, & CO on my poa. Some have not been so lucky with their POA's. Make sure the POA gives explicit permission for all the S American countries you might wish to travel in.

South America and beyond
 

Thanks for all the information, I'm hoping to do the same next year or at the end of this year.

Question:

If i buy a new honda bike in Chile and travel south america with it first, can I go to central america, north america or even the rest of the world on that same bike after that?

Will the POA or the padron be sufficient to get me there or RTW?

With a correctly written POA (have them specifically list all the countries you might travel to) you should be alright entering most any Latin Am country as POA's are a normal way of doing ownership transfer. In N Am or other continents, you might need an actual title or Padron.

Do keep in mind that you will not be able to sell the bike in most countries w/o paying exorbinate import taxes that will essentially render the bike worthless for anything but parts. Furthermore, if you do not bring the bike back to Chile w/in your 6 mo export permission, you can be fined when you return. This can routinely be extended to 1 year, after that I am not sure. Also, if you never return the bike to Chile, you may be facing fines & export taxes when/if you return & try to use your RUT to conduct further business.

Other countries
 

What are the best countries in South America to buy a new bike either to: not return at all, don't work with an export permission or don't fine you for not retuning within the periode which is stated in the export permission?

I would like to travel South America and have the freedom to extend my trip (to perhaps RTW or for a longer period that is stated in the export permission) without any troubles/the least troubles.

Chile is most most restriction free place to buy a bike. Well, in the end you have 2 choices. Return with the bike or not. The outcome will be of small difference regardless of where the bike was bought. If you want to keep the bike, I would buy a bike in your homeland & ship it.

Otherwise, I would buy in Chile & never return to use my RUT, they will never chase you down.

Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru
 

So if i understand correctly, countries like: Paraguay, Bolivia or Peru are more trouble than Chili to buy a bike and not returning or overstaying the export permission?

With the last quote you mean: never return to Chili again or return to Chile in the distant future but never use your RUT in Chile again?

Unfortunately, I can only tell you what I know & most of that is about Chile. When I was reasearching to buy a bike (2008). In Peru, it was very difficult to get a bike & leave the country on a Peruvian plated moto. I have seen a post by someone here that recently has done just that. The laws are changing fast down there.

I also, know nothing of the reported problems of a foreigner leaving at Chile Arica on a Chilean bike. I did it last June w/o incident.

As far as I know, that at the time (2008) there was little info on Bolivia as far as buying & selling. Bolivia is much more disorganized & outdated as far as their ability to track vehicles at the borders. People on the hubb have stored their bikes in LaPaz & had no trouble on exit. I could not find my import paper when leaving & they said don't worry about it.

When I stored my bike in Peru, then returned to Chile after my export permission was over 10 months expired, I was facing a $400 fine. I had papers from the Peruvian police showing that I had returned to the states due to an emergency & got the fine reduced to $40.

What will happen if you leave Chile on a Chilean bike & don't return it. Who knows? Computer systems are modern there & improving all the time. My hunch is that you would never be extradited over such a matter. Also, I find it doubtful that you would be stopped when entering/exiting the country over this. If you used your RUT to buy a new vehicle, you might well have problems. Borders with a different vehicle?

If I were to do what you are proposing, I'd simply resign myself to not trying to buy in Chile again. Perhaps, you could contend that the bike was totaled in another country?

If you buy a bike from another traveler & get a POA, you can likely go where ever you'd like. OTH, you could likely have trouble entering the country where the bike was from. Of course the problems may be the responsibility of the seller.

It seems to me that your main concern should be to get a bike you can easily cross borders with and the rest is merely pother.

Glasswave, thank you for the extensive answer, really appreciate it!

My goals is to start my South America tour on a new honda xr125 in december 2011 or januari 2012. If there is some money left in my wallet (time is on my side), I would like to extend my SA tour to CA-->North America, Asia and back to europe and have the freedom/feeling to do that without worrying about fines and export permissions.

To do so, I think that buying in a less organised country like Bolivia or Paraguay and a lesser intend Peru and Chile, I would reduce the change of getting into trouble when realizing the tour mentioned above and perhaps not returning. You are right, in the end it is pother (I googled it, didn't know what it meant) so I will see what will happen in the next months. Chile is still on top of my list of countries to start from.