***EDITED****EDITED AGAIN lol**
I am a 19 year old male from Virginia, about to study abroad in Vina del Mar, Chile from July 30 - November 28th.
I plan on buying a motorcycle in Chile during that time period, and come the end of my study in Chile, take off to Cabo san Lucas where I have a timeshare the second week of March.
Also noted I don't speak Spanish.. **Which is quickly changing as I've now been in Chile a month**

I know the process for buying a motorcycle in Chile, but not 100% on traveling north.

Here is what I need to know:

Can I do it in 13 weeks (**arriving in Cabo** March 5th) and still enjoy myself?

What are the best stops along the way?

Can I bring my motorcycle through the countries?

What is the best motorcycle? **Bought a Honda Falcon 400**

Should I sell it before the Darian Gap and take a boat across / around, then take buses the rest of the way? **Already booked the Stahlratte with my bike from Colombia -> Jamaica -> Cuba -> Mexico**

How much should I budget for the trip (after I finish school there)? **Too late for that haha I'm already here**

What questions am I not asking?

Thank you! This is my first post and I've been a member for like an hour, so I apologize if I didn't do enough research in advance.

I suppose it is possible (anything is), but would you enjoy yourself ? How large a motorbike will you be riding ?

That depends on many things, like what you like and what you want to see, part of the journey is stopping at places that take your fancy but would not interest others.

It is a long route, you will get many ideas of people.

The one you can afford, and it is Chile so that may limit you on the cost factor.

Try and get a 400-650cc single (IMO), an old BMW or KLR would probably do the job, and treat it as a throw away item.

Up to you, crossing the gap with a bike costs money (and time), it depends on your budget, your time seems short. So maybe use the majority of it getting to Colombia and then try alternatives for the last leg home.
That is the $64,000 question :-)
First research the bike prices, and then start from there.
Are you camping or hosteling ?

Chile is cheap to wild camp, but not for any other sort of accom (IMO)

Peru is cheap for small town hostels.

FWI, my wife and I mixing and matching accommodation can still manage Chile/Arg/Bol on less than $100/day for two people and two bikes. So start with a $50/day budget.

Gas prices vary, and that along with food is where you will find a lot of cost.

You have started the research that is a good start. Now go and have a good read of the South America section :-) Just about all the questions you have asked, and the ones you haven't , will be listed there.

Have fun

Oh, and while in Chile, give Lorraine Chittock a shout, she is 2 hours north of Vina Del Mar and is always glad to see travellers and help out.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/members/lorraine

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You are probably better off getting a US registered bike from someone here who rode down to Chile. The reason for this is that as an American, you can not bring a foreign registered bike into the US. There's lots of info about how to go about this on here and some other forums. Good luck.

So I can save up roughly $7,000 (not including motorcycle) for the trip. I am open to taking off my Spring semester of college as I'm already a year ahead anyways.

What kind of motorcycle can / should I get for around $2,500?

Attached is my planned route to Colombia with 49 stops. I'm totally open to bypassing any of the stops if you guys can recommend a better route. Keep in mind I still need to make it from Panama to Cabo san Lucas, my new destination.

I plan on taking a yacht from Cartagena, Colombia to Panama for roughly $1,040 USD with my motorcycle.

Will I have trouble getting across the borders with a U.S. registered bike? I would assume the title won't be in my name. Also I'm not going to the U.S. with it anymore, does that help?
**Title is in my name - I hope to go all the way to D.C. now, but I can also leave my bike in Cabo**

Should I bring a tent to sleep in for a good portion of the trip?

I will definitely try and get in touch!

Not sure if my attachment worked, so here is the route on google maps:

https://goo.gl/maps/s5XLu

https://goo.gl/maps/vc4zf

https://goo.gl/maps/54CmH

https://goo.gl/maps/lijVh

https://goo.gl/maps/FS585

No fuel from Pozo Almonte (Iquique) to Arica, approx 250kms. You may want a gas can.

You don't really mean a detour to Calama do you ? San Pedro maybe, or are you going to the geysers ?

Ruta 5 is long, has a lot of tolls, as far as just north of Copiapo (in 2013).

Antofagasta is a very industrial town, and can get expensive (but I know a mechanic there :-) ). Take the coast road to Iquique and wild camp on the beach, more enjoyable road north.
Your route leaps to Copacabana, after Arica the road goes up up up to 4500metres, make sure you have a bike capable of altitude or have the carb adjustments available.

On a fuel injected 660, we had no problems. On an F650 it wasn't happy. We have met a KLR650 rider or two who have struggled.

For the rest, I'll just point you at my blog, starting from Jan 2011 (we were going north->south on that one), should cover info for most stuff

HU Traveller Two Pegs to Patagonia's Ride Tale

And anothe trip we did, covering Bolivia, HU Traveller Two Pegs to Patagonia's Ride Tale

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Have you checked the sales sites ?
Motociclistas.cl - �ndice (forum, look for sales section)
Motos - MercadoLibre Chile
Chileautos: miles de autos y veh�culos nuevos y usados

This will give you an idea. For myself a 1999 F650 (in 2012) was around $4500.

I guess you will be getting a small 150cc new for $2500.

Yes, you are on a tight budget. It will save costs in Chile.
We never used the tent to the north of Chile, rooms were cheap.
But you may still want to camp.

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