poorbuthappy,

Thank you for your honesty, but things are a bit different than they might seem.

First, we make no profit on the sale and resale of the motorcycles. It is a service we provide for budget riders and it brings in the labor for the shop ($6 USD/hr).

Also, the price of the motorcycle to the new purchaser INCLUDES:

- the cost to transfer to Peru the funds ($80 to $138 USD per moto) for the purchase of the new moto or the parts and labor going into the 'used' moto.

- 30 to 80 emails between us and the purchasing rider to make sure the moto and they are prepared as much as possible and that everything is as he/she would like it on the moto.

- the prep (of a new moto) or the full rebuild (of a 'used' moto: new piston and rings, camchain, camchain adjuster, clutch plates, gaskets and seals in the engine, new brake pads/shoes, brake fluid, wheel bearings, steering bearings, fork seals, fork fluid, inner tubes and tires (of customers choice), O-Ring chain and sprockets. All this even if the prior owner may have only had it for 6 weeks!

-the processing and costs of the motorcycle owners card, license plate, and Peru SOAT insurance for 1 year.

- the cost and processing of the transfer of name to the purchaser when he/she arrives requiring only 1/2 hour of their time and they are ready to go with all the paperwork they need. This even includes standing hours in line at the Banco de la Nacion to pay for the PERMISO ESPECIAL DE FIRMAR CONTRATOS COMO TURISTA, (the permission for the foreigner to sign binding contracts in Peru) then processing it with Peru Immigration.

- the cost of the name transfer if they choose bring the moto back to us for the Buy Back.

- custom built (our standard) steel rear and side racks for luggage reinforced with triangulation to the rear footpegs to save the rear subframe from breaking.

- Bark-buster handguards for falls or dangerous situations in traffic.

- Professional seating in of the new engine, then change of oil and filter (if used) and post seat-in adjustments, so that when the new owner arrives they can load it and ride off on their Epic Trip.

- so that the new moto owner does not have to wait, WE do the follow up with the Peruvian Vehicle Registry, getting the registry document that now has the new owner's name on it (the owners card only has that information in a bar code) and forwarding it to them where ever they happen to be in Peru.

YES, all that does add costs to the new or 'used/made new' moto. What we are doing is saving you time (even weeks!) because your time may be VERY valuable and LIMITED. That is the service we provide. But YOU can save that extra cost (if you have the time and the Spanish knowledge) by doing this yourself.

We DO NOT process your border crossings for you. We provide you with the documentation proving that the motorcycle is in YOUR name (via name transfer or PODER) which IS a requirement to take the moto OUT of Peru.
Our website has always said: " We process the paperwork on the motorcycle into your name, a requirement to cross borders". Up until the experience of this customer it was the ONLY requirement as over 100 had done so prior to this.

SOME border Aduana personnel at SOME border crossings, SOME of the time have decided that a detail in a law passed 17 months earlier would now be enforced requiring a PODER and the help of a Peruvian citizen. In the time since then only 30% have had to do this. Some just went back to the same border crossing at a different time and this was not required. Some others just went to a different border crossing and nothing was required.

The fact that governments change their minds (new laws, some enforced, some not), and that border officials can decide what they want to do whether your paperwork is all in order or not, and that they may even want an 'incentive' to process what should be without cost or delay was not appreciated by this customer. Chile for example has changed their minds multiple times in JUST THIS LAST YEAR about whether a foreigner can take a Chilean moto OUT of Chile!

Also, for this customer, Aduana looked into their computer system and found that the paperwork on this particular motorcycle (now at the Peru/Bolivia border) when it re-entered Peru (at the Peru/Ecuador border) a year prior with a previous owner, ADUANA (customs) ITSELF had failed to enter that information into THEIR OWN SYSTEM. They decided to hold this over this customer.

We put this customer in touch with the prior owner and got him the passport proof of the Ecuador-Peru crossing to argue with the Aduana that it was THEIR ERROR. This caused the delay and extra costs for this customer. He demanded that WE reimburse him this lost time and $$.

Who should pay for this Aduana error or inefficiency (or corruption)?

- ATBMA who make no profit on the service of re-selling your used moto for you so that you don't lose time trying to sell it yourself?

- The shop (who gets the labor from the rebuilding of the bike for the next rider) that makes $6 USD/hr?

- The shop mechanics that make $4/labor hr to support their families?

We not only provide the documents showing that the new rider is the new owner, but the document we provide from the Peru Vehicle Registry shows that the vehicle is FREE from all liens, judgements, and fines. An error by Customs at an international border doesn't show up. This is the only time we have had this situation with over 100 motos going out and crossing all SA borders.

We DO go beyond what we promise on our website and help riders. There are many hundreds of posts on this forum and others where we provide advice, maps, links, and recommendations to riders that have no connection to ATBMA income.

We have even spoken to Police (via phone) in other countries of SA asking them to be lenient of the foreign rider that struggles with Spanish! We have recommended distressed riders in far away places to our friends. We have ridden out 5 hours from our base (at no cost) to take gasoline to a rider who forgot to fill up before they left town! We have made service maintenance arrangements in other countries for riders who did not speak Spanish well.

YES, we do mark up the bus tickets $1-$3 USD we purchase in the name of the customer arriving for our time and saving that customer the $8 it would cost them (and the loss of 2 hours time) to go to downtown Lima to purchase it themselves. The good bus seats on the safe bus can only be purchased IN PERSON 2-3 days in advance, so we help them with this. Then they only have to show up at the station and pick up their ticket when it is time to leave. We have never had another customer think that we were 'taking advantage' of them with this service!!

We NOW (due to the experience of this customer) provide new riders with the new information of what some have recently faced and provide them with a copy of the type of PODER they MAY be requested to provide at SOME borders exiting Peru. We inform them of this new possible situation BEFORE they purchase a Peruvian motorcycle through us...

What more can we do? South America is each riders own adventure!

__________________
http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'