In addition to the above very useful description, a couple of things to consider:
1) I remember hearing that the North America to South America moto airfreight was significantly cheaper than the other way around, since airlines would fill up cargo space with things like fresh flowers in Colombia. But when the aircraft flies down there for pickup, there's much less stuff that is worth exporting by airfreight, so its cargo hold would often be empty.
2) Consider the Darien Gap and the fact that you will probably need to airfreight your bike across it anyway, now that the Stahlratte boat is no longer operating between Panama and Colombia. Consider the incremental cost between that and airfreighting it directly from your departure destination.
3) On the way back, you might as well choose cheaper container shipping back to a US port, since it's a much lesser problem for you if your bike is late coming *back* from the trip.
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