I am hoping to buy two motorcycles this coming week in bogota (royal enfield Himalayan!) and this write-up is helping me a lot! We are planning on driving south to chile/Argentina and selling it there. My question however is... If we buy the bikes here in colombia with a soat and technico mechanico valid until, let's say June 2020. Will the person buying our bikes and riding to colombia not be able to cross the border because the soat and technico mechanico have expired?

I'm asking this because if I understand correctly you cannot ride in colombia unless the soat and TM are valid but you also need to buy new soat and TM in the place where it was originally purchased from (in this case bogota). Is this correct?

Thanks in advance!

No to all of that. They can enter without soat and técnico and they can buy both anywhere in Colombia.

Appreciate the detailed information.

1. Can you provide a little more info for the money transfer to the seller? Exactly when did you give the seller money and what did you get in return?

2. Where did you find a mechanic to check the bike? Cost? (I heard they do a complete check at near the Macro (over the river past the Poblado Metro Station) but the cost sounded a little high.

Thank you.

Mak, Very informative. Thanks for being so thorough. Am heading for Colombia in Sept/Oct 2019 for a multi-month SA tour. Plan on buying a bike there and your info is very helpful.

Absolutely my pleasure Paul.

I have just sold my bike to another traveller and I did all the paperwork for the sale myself.

Will work on compiling all that information into another post soon.

Thanks for this detailed guide, it is very helpful. I am planning a trip to South America later this year and I would like to explore Colombia, Ecuador and Peru and I wasn't sure whether I should start in Peru or Colombia, but after reading this guide and several other topics here on the Hubb, I think Colombia will be much easier to buy a motorcycle.

I've got couple of questions and I'm hoping some more knowledgeable people here would have the answers I'm looking for and help me out a bit . I have two buddies who would like to tag along on this trip, so I don't think we can find 3 motorcycles in a reasonable timespan from the second hand market. We were thinking about buying a brand new ATK TTR 200 in Bogota, it seems there are plenty of dealerships in Bogota - I hope it's not a problem to buy a 3 motorbikes like that, but maybe I should write them an email first and ask about it? Which reminds me that I don't speak a word of spanish, so that's also gonna be interesting. What kind of paperwork do I need with a brand new motorcycle? SOAT, RUNT, registration papers,... what about license plates? Will the dealer help me with any of those? How long does the process take? Couple of days? We would like to get on road asap.

Now, if we manage all that and get the bikes ready, we would like to go south and eventually arrive to Peru (Lima) and well... I don't think we will have time to go back to Colombia to sell the bikes before we leave SA. Is there any legal way to sell the motorcycles in Peru? My friend has a niece living in Lima, maybe she can help us sell the motorcycles (we are not really looking to gain profit or anything, just get rid of the motorcycles legally before we have to leave the continent) - does anyone know what are the import taxes in Peru? Would anybody even be interested in these motorcycles with a good price tag? Or is there any other way, perhaps unfortunately less legal?

Thanks in advance guys!

Hi, I am travelling with my own bike through South America. I will cross the border from Ecuador to Colombia at Tulcan. Please can anyone tell me how and where to buy SOAT for my bike? Is it possible to do it online before I cross the border? Or do I have to go to an agent, and if so, can any provide a reputable agent with name and address at or close to the border? This seems a simple ask, but nowhere have I found a simple answer. Much appreciated, Isabelle

Hi Isabelle,

You should be able to get a Colombian SOAT in ipiales.
iOverlander has 3 places listed.

N 0°49.845', W 77°38.164' is the one near the Exito.

All the best!

Hey guys, I'm currently in Bogota and looking to buy a motorbike.

It seems to tiring to find a used one that I think I'll just get a new XRE 300. I'm afraid it's not going to be powerful enough for Patagonia long highways but well, more powerful models are so expensive.

Ad rider in Colombia is a small world. There is a motorcycle shop in Buga that ad riders from all over Colombia like to hang around to have their motorcycle serviced.

He sometimes has motorcycles in consignation for sale. I sold one to him 3 years ago. I have seem BMW 1200 GS, and a Ducati 1200. The owner is Begium, the manager is a real pro.

I'm currently in Mexico, but I will fly to Montreal thursday, the 26th I will be home in Vancouver. I will contact him then, to see what he has anything interesting avaiable and let you know.

@poorbuthappy, do you have an (internet)address and contact details of the shop you mention?

Me and my mate are planning for a 4 month trip from Colombia to south of argentina in October, and are now pondering the possibility to buy locally instead of airfreight from the Netherlands...
Maybe the Belgian owner even speaks a little word in dutch , since our spanish is.... Uhmmm... not really existing

Cheers! Christaan

I'm interested in the contact info of this MotoShop in Buga. I'm planning to arrive in Cali in a couple of months and I'm actively looking for a bike tu buy.
Thanks!

I'd just like to chuck another piece of advice on this topic. If you buy in Colombia, take with you an extra copy of the transfer forms and a forma contraco compraventa. This way, if you want to sell it to another foreigner let's say in Chile, the paperwork will be much easier for the new owner when they arrive in Colombia.

Also, wherever a bike is from is where you must transfer the paperwork (if it's a Medellín bike, gotta do the transfer in Medellín, same goes for paying the taxes).

So if you sell it in Chile, give the new owner a "poder" to ride the bike, fill out the transfer forms, sign and fingerprint them but don't date them. New owner gets to Colombia, into the simit office, transfer is done.