India to South America
 

Hi,
A friend and I are planning a bike tour for a month may be two, spaning South America as early as end of May2014, we do own two Royal Enfields 500CC and 350CC bikes weighing approximately 200 kgs, the intent is to transport these two bikes from India to any place in South America(where landing costs are low)and start the ride thereon, finish up tour and return bikes to India
1. Is this advisable, if 'yes' what are the procedures and costs involved in transportation by Sea/Air
2.If answer to 1. is 'no', where in South America do we get to buy used bikes cheap and later sell them back at the same point of purchase after completion of the tour.

Help is needed here, so please ...
Thanks

India to South America
 

You mean you want to ship then from India and then back again, or ride them all the way back? Either way, unless you have a lot of cash and a diehard love of Enfields there is pretty much no point in your plan. Buy a Japanese bike locally in Santiago de Chile and sell it afterward. Buying takes around 1-4 weeks and if done correctly you will have few issues selling it or crossing boarders. The other option is to buy a bike from another overlander and sell it on afterwards.

South America is pretty big to only ride for a month or two...just saying.

If you have very limited time, then I doubt you want to spent it getting through the process of selecting, finding, buying a bike, then getting documentation squared away, outfitting it...only to sell it a few weeks later, meaning locating a buyer and completing the sale. There are so many potential delays, but you know best.

I usually don't think to suggest this, but you might be better off taking an organized motorcycle tour. There are several companies catering to with a wide range of itineraries.

Scratching my head wondering how you could possibly organize transportation as early as late May 2014, if you haven't seriously started looking into yet.

Thanks Peter and Ridetheworld,
Yeah my companion in this ride had in the past done a tour overseas on his enfield(Air-India being sponsors of logistic support), however since you have pointed out that flying bikes back and forth is expensive(no sponosors as yet now)that seems hard.
The second choice is to purchase them in South America - the time frame is too short in both cases(thanks for your info on that)
The only option now is to probly look for other solo riders and kinda tag along.
Organised biking tours is something we dont quite concur on
Thanks once again

This is another option, rent bikes. No cost or hassles of shipping or buy/sell. I have read posted here that it is usually impossible to take a rented motorcycle out of the country, without being on a tour.

The cost of shipping two bikes for a maximum of two months, will add up. If riding your own is your preference, then talk to a shipping agent and get a quote. You would need to act fast to cut a deal, get the bikes to a port, documented and crated up. Sea cargo adds an element of uncertainty to the delivery date. I recommend talking to agents that arrange shipment with the larger shipping lines. Ask about detention and demurrage charges on the back end.

I have read of all kinds of bikes taken on adventures, including Doug Wothke trips through eastern Russia on a Harley-Davidsons. That said, Royal Enfieldswould not be my first choice for riding South America. The roads are about hte same or worst to India and everyone drives much faster. And then there is off road riding if that is your cup of tea. Big suspension will be your best friend, but the choice is yours. I rode Central America on 2008-09 on a BMW K75. It was fine for the tarmac, but was suboptimal off the tarmac.

India to South America
 

Enfields take a lot of abuse and are great fun when they work but after buzzing round on a proper Enduro here in Chile, I wouldn't take anything less for this part of the world. Great fun on the Tarmac with just enough guts to keep ahead of the trucks on the highways and very solid off road. My Honda XR cost 5.000 USD, easily available for 4,000 semi-new in Santiago, probably not much than shipping an Enfield back and forth from India! Personally I wouldn't compare the roads to north India as nothing really compares to Indian traffic but here in south America you tend to have very long and often remote roads where reliability is key. Maybe if you could stretch your trip to six months and buy locally, you'd have more fun! If not, the Himalayan season is nearly upon us and theres some great riding to be had in places like Nepal, Sikkim, Uttrakhand, MP, Ladakh and Kashmir!

Thnks once agains for your inputs gentlemen, well i did post with regard to swaping and renting, yet to receive replies...running out of time though, but the only option is to get our bikes over, cus my friend and fellow rider is of the opinion that, swaping or renting might be a glitch cus we might not come back to the same place or purchase/hiring bikes, so sellingor returning rented bikes that we used for the tour is cumbersome. lets see how things go.
Else wed have'd have to put off the tour for a later period.
Thanks once again
Cheers!

Yes, enfields take a lot of abuse and are great fun and reliable too, the Unit Construction Engine is trustworthy as compared to a Cast Iron, yes we need to stretch the trip to six months as for the Himalayan season it is near (june to sept)ive yet to do Nepal, Sikkim, Uttrakhand, i've done the Ladakh and Kashmir, so if anyones game for nepal, sikkim, bhutan, lets ride here...cheers

If you finish in a place like Cusco, Peru - or Sucre in Bolovia, you would probably find other travellers who could ride the bikes back down and sell them on in the country in which they were bought, and quickly too.

Wow thats nice thanks ridetheworld, but what could be the price for a used bike say a 2010 model of a KLR, i suppose buying one in chile will be an advantage, cus exit permits are friendly.

India to South America
 

You see them going for around 2-4k USD, depending on mileage.

About Chile..... The two most important websites you should be looking at are these:

Motos - MercadoLibre Chile

Motos en Chile | yapo.cl

Bear in mind that all vehicles are way more expensive than in Europe, probably also India.
How is your spanish ? I'm Chilean, and I really can't think of more than a handful of people who know any English, or any other language at all for that matter.

You'll find detailed instructions on buying and registering in your name if you use the search function on this forum, there is no such thing as an "exit permit".

Where exactly are you planning on going by the way ? I saw you looking for bike rentals in Central America, do you expect to include that in your journey? Have you researched the procedure for shipping between Colombia and Panama if this is the case?

Let us know if you have any specific questions. You have a lot of research ahead of you.

All the best.

Antonio

India to South America
 

Antonio, I've read a few times that any vehicle with Chilean plates taken out of Chile must be returned within six months, for foreigners at least?

I bought in Chile with limited Spanish -it's possible if you do enough research but if something goes wrong ie Carnet not showing up, things can get rather frustrating.

Thanks antonio for your input, my spanish is zero, and as for central america to south, its just that it depends on the entry into the americas, elase im even ok with landing in south and finishing south with no entry into central or north, yeah i did scout for rentals in central, but thats the last option. yeah ive a lot of research left, and thanks for the links

Will keep in touch ridetheworld, peter, antonio, thanks