Motorcycle rent circle roundtrip Arica -> Uyuni -> Antofagasta
 

Me and 2 friends want to make a ~10-day motorbike trip. We want to enter Chile via Arica (from Peru), and rent motorbikes around there. The idea is to drive a circle, going like this: Arica -> Oruro (Bolivia), Uyuni (Bolivia), San Pedros, Antofagasta (~2500km). http://goo.gl/maps/YCbds

At the moment I exhausted my Google searching capabilities for finding an affordable renting place in Arica or Antofagasta, where we can rent some bikes for the trip. Does anybody have tips or ideas or know a rental shop which I can contact?

The first thing I'd check is whether you can take a rented moto out of Chile. I suspect someone here on the HUBB can answer that. Getting a Chilean registered moto that you have bought out of Chile and into Peru/Bol is problematic, so I suspect taking a rented moto out may not be an option.

If you're in S Peru, you can rent good adventure bikes in Cusco, and there's is plenty of epic riding down there. And if the Peruvians let you leave the country, then even more so - south to Titicaca, into Bolivia and down to Uyuni, west into Chile and Putre, back up into Peru through Tacna..... a great ride for 10 days or so.

The OP lost me at that word "affordable." What does that mean, exactly? If under a hundred dollars per day, best re-think your plans. And yes: figure out whether you can cross the border with a rented bike before getting too carried away regardless of price.

Somewhat cheaper in Peru, as a rule. Cuzco has lots of options.

Good luck.

Mark

It seems that it's possible to take a rented motorbike from Chile -> Peru. The guys from Motorcycle Rental help you with it for 100 us dollars per bike, which is very nice.

Ah, sorry for being vague with the term affordable. The guys from the above link also have a pick-up and drop-off service, but that'll cost 3200 dollars if we're going to have the bikes dropped off and picked up at Arica again. In that case the total of the rent would be 1066 + 10 x 90 = 2000 dollars (for just having a bike for 10 days, excl. helmets and such) per person. That's a bit out of our budgets to be honest.

Point is that we would really like to see some of Chile and Bolivia and that the route is epic so far as I've heard. Basically, if the rental guys would be in Arica or Antofagasta for instance, and there were no pick-up and drop-off costs, the trip would be set in stone already. That's why I'm inquiring for rental places around that area. Otherwise we will probably go to Cuzco indeed!

Careful with Peruvian bikes. Not sure about rentals, but crossing the Peru-Bolivia border on a bike with a Peruvian licence plate is a nightmare. Again as I said this may not apply to rented bikes, but I bought one in Peru, and the crossing is just way too complicated and costly (comparing to, say, crossing from Bolivia to Argentina)

Thanks for the warning. The rental agencies in Peru also are very allergic to the Peruvian - Bolivian border crossing, so that's a no-go indeed. If we are renting in Peru, then only Peru and Chile will be the possibilities.

Not too sure about the paperwork details etc, but for that kind of money,, why not just buy in Iquique (tax free area) then just sell or give away at the end of the trip. Would still work out a hell of a lot cheaper than those 3200 dollars you mention. Buying in Chile is certainly possible as a foreigner, check if there are outlets in the zofri, dealers can probably help with paperwork, and maybe even offer some kind of rental agreement disguised as a buy back scheme.
Good luck .

But buying a moto in Chile takes time for a gringo - you have to obtain a temporary Chilean ID (RUT) which isn't a quick process.

Another option would be a quick pop to Argentina. Then you´d do a Chile - Argentina-Bolivia-Peru-Chile trip and as far as I know, Peru´s got no problems when you´re entering the country. They just have this law or somthing about bikes with Peruvian plates leaving Peru to Bolivia.
On the other hand, if you´re renting bikes, it should be the rental agency´s responsibility to ensure all your paperwork´s fine. But then again, it´s South America...:)

P.S. Buying a bike might really be a better and cheaper option. The cheapest one being in Bolivia; another good thing, if you buy a new bike, they sort your license plate and ownership docs the same day. I bought my bike in Nazca, Peru, and it took them 2,5 months to sort out my license plate and papers :nono: