Questions on buying a bike in northern south america(Columbia,Venezuela,Ecuador)
 

How you doing

Does anyone know about buying a bike in northern south America(Columbia,Venezuela,Ecuador).
I am finishing up a year volunteering in El Salvador and am planing on touring through south America by motorcycle before heading home to the states.
I am thinking that I could cut out some of the hassle of shipping a bike from Central America if I buy a bike in one of the northern South American countries and then head south from there. Would this work? and if so what country (Columbia,Venezuela,Ecuador) would be the easiest to do it in?

I have read the info about the proses in Argentina and it does not sound very simple. I would of coarse want to leave the country with my bike.

Or would it be more logical to have my brother bring a bike down from the states and do it that way. thanks for your time, I would love any advice Guanaco

You can buy a bike easily enough in Colombia, but be warned they are really expensive. You are probably looking at returning to Colombia in order to sell it again.

Probably the best bet is to buy a European or North American traveller's bike, for example:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...colombia-38065

You will be saving the seller significant shipping costs and will therefore get a good deal and some equipment if not clothing into the bargain. You will then need to sort out between yourselves the registration of the bike in it's country of origin. In the meantime you could travel with the existing doumentation and a notarised transfer contract.

When you get to your destination, sell to another traveller or, if possible, the open/black market

Thanks for the advice. I read that air shipment is around 700$US by air from Panama to Bogota would you have an idea what it would run for a bike and my self by boat.

Also how is the ride from Bogota to Ecuador? safety?

I will not be in Colombia before Jan. 2009 so hopefully other travelers will be selling bikes closer to the time

Guanaco,

I may have misled you about buying a bike on a tourist visa. I have another type of visa and therefore Colombian ID. I will check though, there isn't much black and white about anything in Colombia!

It seems people have been finding passage to Colombia from Colon for as little as $150, but you get what you pay for, and you will pay $700 for passage on the "Stahlratte", but as many people here will testify, it is well worth the extra for the experience, and sure beats flying. I have also had a reasonable experience on the "Melody". Search here or PM me if you can't find anything.

Bogota to Ipiales is very secure at the moment, as are the major routes throughout Colombia. There is much more risk from the combination of large, badly maintained trucks and these beautiful twisty roads.

FYI
buying a new moto in colombia (Poorbuthappy in Colombia!)
Price on a 150cc pizza bike seems around $2200.00 USD

Hey Possum or is it JimD?

That Alma del Norte guy seems to talk a lot of sense! ;)

thanks for the continued input.

Ron sent me an offer of a bike available in Ecuador but a cant reply directly because I'm new on the HUBB.
To Ron: yes I might be interested. what are the spics on the bike your price and so on. And what country is the bike reg. in I am a US citizen.

I checked out prices in Bogota and am now reconsidering. Maybe I'll have my brother ride me down something from the states. in the end it looks like I could get a far better bike to SA for around the same price of buying one there. But I would still have the import hassle there. how bad is it in Colombia? thanks for your time guanaco

Is Mr. Ron still trying to flog that thing? - tranquilo es un chiste, Mr. Ron! ;-)

Temporary importation is straightforward, same time as you get on your tourist visa, normally 60 days.

I´m still trying to flog my BMW R850GS with Jesse panniers in Quito aswell.
British registered. See the for sale section, if i´m not being too cheeky.

i thought i was having trouble, but Ron, your beemer has been here longer than i have.
Very nicely set up though i have to say. did you make the boxes your self? or are they off teh shelf?

as you may have guessed i know Riccardo.

cheers
mike

Guanaco, don't know if I'm a little late into this discussion, but anyway, I bought a bike in Colombia in May, and yes, they are ridiculously expensive, not to mention the amount of paperwork. I was lucky to have a Colombian friend mad into bikes to help me out with all the paperwork, otherwise it may not have been possible for me (bad gringo spanish)!
I know a few bikers that took their bikes by yacht from Colombia to Panama and vice versa on a standard tourist boat, $500 US for themselves, an extra $200 for the bike, with a tour of the San Blas Islands thrown in, seems like a fine way to get around the Darian Gap.
Hope it helps if your still stuck!
To Mother77, is that the infamous Ricardo Rocco, has helped me out enormously on my trip so far, he's a good man.