Hi….
I’ve been riding street bikes since 1992 and have toured overseas several times, but always short-term rentals of one or two weeks. I've been thinking of riding in South America for some time, but most rentals in South America tend to be pricey, costing $130-$200 US per day. That gets pretty expensive after a couple of weeks.

I’ve been reading a lot in the last few years about buying a 125cc out of Santiago, Bogota, etc. To me this makes sense if you want to take an extended ride: a CG125 would start saving you money over the cost of a big rental after about 10-12 days. I’m the kind of rider who likes to mosey along at the posted limit and I’ve owned a couple of 125s in the past, so I think I’d be okay with a 125 for several weeks of riding in South America.

Here on HUBB, you read lots about people either doing a rental for a few days, or taking a very long ride of 6+ months. I don’t see too much info on intermediate-length rides of several weeks… However, I’m limited by how much time I can take off from work. I am about 6 or 7 years from retirement, so I’m not in a position to quit my job. I do, however, get 6 weeks paid vacation a year. I could bump that up with some banked time to about 8 weeks of leave.

These are some questions I have…

1) How many days do you think it’d take after arriving in Chile, Colombia, etc. with a pocketful of cash to get a CG125 ready and on the road? I’ve read anywhere from 3 to 10 days. What was your experience?

2) Assuming it takes a week or so to get said bike, and I have maybe 6 or 7 weeks of riding time left, would it be worth the effort? I’m thinking 6 weeks is a long road trip, but then again I’d be moseying along on a little 125 with a tent and sleeping bag, so I’d be making slower progress. It’s hard for me to judge how much territory I’d see in under two months.

3) Say I’ve been riding my 125cc for several weeks, and I’m running out of time. I get to an airport and fly home. I’m not sure what happens with the bike. Do any moto dealers in South America do buy-backs? If I ride up to airport in Santiago and hand the keys to a stranger, is it a problem to just walk away from the bike and fly home? Or will there be exit paperwork problems? What if instead of Santiago, I try to fly back from another airport in South America, such as Buenos Aires, Quito, Lima, etc.?

Sorry I have so many questions. I hope others who have done this can offer me some answers.

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

There is a hubber in peru that will do the legwork for you, just do a search, never met the man but he sounds like the solution to your worries

This is a copy paste


Toby, based in Peru and has a buy back offer. Roughly speaking, you buy the bike (new or used from his tour equipment) he arranges the paperwork. Pretty close to sign and go. If you want to travel outside of Peru its something like 10-14 days while the paperwork is processed in your name. Everything will be sent to you by courier within Peru. On the back end, the buy back is based on very reasonable daily rental. He has other offers. Follow this link for and information and contact him for particulars. I am seriously considering getting a bike from Toby for a trip planed for 2016...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...get-ride-76478

Its mostly 250 cc Chinese bikes that are a lot of fun off the tarmac. I recall he has a couple of 450 cc bikes, but I'm not sure if those are offered for sale.

You can ride from Argentina to Colombia through Brazil and back for the Pacific shore in 8 week over a 125 cc moto, it´s a hard trip, I did it in 2012 over a Honda 250 cc. Ask me any question

There is no best, only what works for you. I enjoyed Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and a short time in Chile (with wife, without motorcycle.) In my motorcycle travels I found Peru to have an amazing variety of destinations...within it's relatively compact borders. Call it the espresso of South America. OK, the beaches don't compare to Brazil, where no combination of surf, sand, Caipirinhas and thong bikinis can be matched, but I digress. Back to Peru. Lima has world class restaurants, fine art, museums, music, its a scene. Down the coast, pisco sours (pisco distilleries actually), super sand dunes, the Nazca lines. Up the coast, the home of King Kong cake and rockin' tomb museums. To the east ride snowy Andes to Amazon mountain jungle, then ride the back road (almost) to Machu Picchu, before or after taking in the Sacred Valley sites...

Talk to Toby. Buy or rent. He's a overnight bus ride from Lima and will set you up. Friends are planning to return to South America (~November 2016) buying/rent bikes from Toby. For me its buy as I have a longer term plans, future trips two and three. Trip one, rip around the Andes to test ride the bike. Trip two, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and back to Peru. Trip three, Peru, Chile, Argentina...dunno cause that is a bit too far into the future to begin detailed planning. All I know is that trip three means riding to TdF and dancing around Chile and Argentina before returning to Peru. Who knows, the bike may have 25-30,000 miles on it, so returning to base camp Peru become a economic exercise.

PS: Think about a 250 cc, you might want the power to climb mountains or keep up with highway traffic when needed. Others can tell you better. A 250 cc rental from Toby in 2014 worked well for me.

__________________
Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Thanks for the replies, guys. I believe I did see previous posts about Toby's offers to help folks out, and I'll go look again.

Two months maximum is a constraint I have to live with for now - when I retire in 2022 or so, I'll have all the time I want to tour.

I mentioned buying a 125 because, frankly, I'd rather be riding than spending the last week or so of an 8-week trip trying to sell the bike. If it's a cheap little CGL125 I bought for $1300, that's a lot easier to walk away from than a 250cc that I paid a lot more money for. I think for me the biggest question is #3 above. If I get to my final destination and can't sell the bike, what sort of troubles might I have if I simply hand the keys over to a stranger, go to the airport, and fly home?

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

Lots of info about buying a bike in Chile.
Try http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...santiago-45637

The main things are :-
a) Get a RUT.
b) Get all the paper work sorted.
c) Don't forget insurance, as they will not let you cross from Chile to Argentina without it.

It can be done in a week, easier if you buy new (IME) than used.

__________________
--

http://www.ytc1.co.uk