Overnight/day bike security Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina
 

Hi,
Apart from the obvious precautions for your bike overnight ie. off street parking with accommodation/arranging secure parking nearby (?how secure have people found 'secure' parking)-

Would appreciate any suggestions/ experiences about bike security when using campgrounds/hostels including types of locking devices recommended/used for bikes.

Also-Are there usually secure parking areas in day tourist sites eg. major national parks/tourist sites if riding by and wanting to spend a few hours there en route?


Thanks!

One thing I would recommend for your overnight "secure" parking is to buy a cheap cover for your bike. It takes all of the lookie loo factor out of having it sitting there and very few notice there is a bike there to look at. We've used this method on our entire trip with great success and are able to sometimes leave dry bags attached that are not crucial to haul to a motel room. During the day while sightseeing we usually plan that as an overnight stay or find a hotel that will let you park and have it secure. Again the cover comes in handy for that too. No one taking inventory of your things.

-Terry

Or do what we did, use two Aprilias, people spend too long laughing to even begin to start stealing. :-)

Most hotels will let you park in a safe area, especially if it is a dodgy one.

In all out travels, so far, we have not had any issues.

I took a cover and used it all the time. Also took a fairly heavy cable and round (hockey puck) shaped lock. It was good for locking two bike together or around a telephone pole. And I had an alarm installed by the factory (with a blinking light.) Frankly, I don't think anyone ever took anything or tried to steal the bike in 9 months of Latin American travel.

Parking your bike in the main square in the center of small villages should be fine, but leaving any bike unattended in large urban settings is a recipe for disaster. During the day pay a few pesos for attended parking. Three or four people can lift any bike, toss it in to a pick-up truck and it’s gone in seconds. Keep your bike parked in a place where you can keep your eye on it. At night, the bike comes in off the street and into a secure area or is kept under the care of a night watchman. If you are riding a common bike, one that blends, there is a high chance or thieft. Big and exotic bike are hard for a theif to sell or use.

More important, keep your passport on your person, not stored somewhere on your bike. I use one of the goofy passport pouches that is strung around my neck.

In a year and a half I never had any issues. I drove a XR250 which is made in Brazil and quite common around the continent. I never used a lock and the cover I had was one I made from transparent plastic to keep the rain off the seat and dials.

I observed the following;

I never left it out at night - never! In hotels/hostels I often wheeled it in my room or left it in the hallway, agreeing to remove it early the next morning. If the hostel didn't allow me I looked elsewhere. By the end I came quite good at navigating it around sofas, through doorways and up stairs :)

Latin Americans are easy going and understand you don't want leaving it out at night. This would be difficult with a big bike like a GS1200 though. A cover is a great idea and a big lock maybe, but for me they are just extra-weight and more things to carry.

off the street!
 

Yeah, a heavy cable and meaty lock is a bit much, but when I ride South America next time it will be with a 250cc Chinese bike. Those bikes are too light and I will definitely carry a cable and lock to secure it whenever I am not within visual line of sight or in secure parking.

When you find a hotel, they might not have a garage, but they know someone that does. I parked my motorcycle in a very upscale hotel lobby in Mexico City, to the chagrin of at least one customer. During the day the bike was parked on the sidewalk, under the watchful eye of the door man. At night they slid glass panels out of the way to make room while I pushed the bike into the lobby for the night...

In a small town in Colombia, while sleeping in the hotel on the second floor, my bike was rolled in to the person's living area on the ground floor. In the morning there was some suggestion that the bike storage was extra. A topic I ignored as I packed, because it was make quite clear the storage was free when I parked the night before.

This is an item worth mentioning. Do make it very clear what you are paying for and what is included when you check into hotel or hostel for the night. In northern Peru, the clerk said parking was included, but a different person on check said it wasn't. I agreed to pay half and the deal was done. In Cuba the family across from my B&B unexpectedly wanted more than the B&B owner had paid the last time. Market forces stepped in and the family one door down agreed to the expected rate. In Nicaragua the hotel parking was several blocks away, but was what the doctor ordered. In Puno, Peru, I got vague directions to a local parking lot, which did not have a big PARKING sign. I knocked on a big metal gate, it opened to reveal cars parked here and there. Would they store my bike? Yes. How much? Blah, blah. Ok.

Parking in Latin America is always cheap and always worth it. On principle don't get over charged, but be flexible enough to pay the tourist tax every now and then.

Words to live by. If you are facing ‘extra’ charges in the morning as you leave (i.e charges never mentioned during check in or it was clear the items were free)…don’t argue, just keep packing and roll away. If they don’t come screaming after you, it was just a bluff to get more money out of you. Be reasonable and play what you owe. More than once I just ignored inflated bills…and nothing happened. Other times I pushed back and the clerks folded. Once I put off addressing an inflated the bill (suddenly breakfast was extra, in Cuba, ha!), then negotiate a reasonable bill a couple hours later…