Hey Brennan
 

Hey Brennan!

It's Melissa from the Cayman Islands. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing on this site but I came accross it while looking at info on travelling through South America and I didn't know how to send my best wishes other then through this............so I'm probably going to be kicked off but c'est la vie!
You should get in contact with Michelle Wight through Matthew as she just returned from a short stint in Argentina and she might have some useful info...........probably more on the bars and shopping then mechanics and motorcycle parts but its worth a try!
Are you still going to set up your own website for Parkinson's donations? Please let me know as I would love to donate :-)
Anyway take care and make sure to visit us again soon! Keep in touch and have a happy and safe journey!

Best wishes, Melissa :-) Jenkinsonmelissa@hotmail.com or mimijenks@gmail.com

Whoa! Small world!
 

Hey Melissa,

Funny bumping into you here! This is the site if you need any kind of info regarding travel through... well, anywhere. Very cool site with lots of friendly people.

I saw my website for the first time today. My Aunt is putting it together with some of her students (high school) in Hershey, Pa. It looks great, I'm proud of the kids that put it together (aka. The Web Lackey's). We are going to polish it up and then send it around and see what happens. I have some great contacts that I want to approach for a dollar for dollar sort of thing. For instance, whatever money I raise through friends and family, they will match. I'll let people know of these bigger sort of things as time goes on.

I would love some advice from Michelle. I'll get her info from Mathew.

Good luck with your travel plans. I will definetly be back in Cayman at some point. Take care, tell everyone I said hello.

custom charges in BsAs
 

3 weeks ago i got my girlfriend to bring some beloved TKC80´s out for my GS.
they where boxed up and didn´t look particular tyre like, but in Buenos Aires airport they xray everything as you go through customs. They charged 50% duty on the value but didn´t issue a receipt. I didn´t ask my girlfriend to make up a fake receipt´/invoice for the tyres as i was already in her bad books for making her carry them through the underground in london on the way to the airport!

fortunately for me they took the value on the reciept as a dollar price not pound sterling so that saved me a lot! that proved they are not the hottest and would probably not even question an ¨altered¨ invoice at all.

but based on the answers above it seems other airports are less strict, but just take as many precautions as time and your friends allow.

cheers
Mike

For what it's worth, plain old tires (not mounted on rims, and not inflated) are not even mentioned in the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR). This means that from a shipping point of view, you can ship as many of them as you want, without restriction.

Some air carriers have their own prohibitions against shipping automobile parts because the parts themselves can contain flammable liquids, corrosive chemicals, things like that. But, it should not be too difficult to convince someone that a motorcycle tire is not an 'automobile part'.

However - if the tire is mounted on a rim (a wheel) such that it could possibly contain air under pressure, then that is another matter altogether. The IATA DGR permits tires that are mounted and inflated 'to not over their maximum rated pressure', but forbids mounted tires that have any kind of damage (plain old tread wear could be considered damage) and forbids mounted (built-up) tires and rims when it is not possible to establish both the pressure of the tire and the allowable maximum pressure of the tire.

So - to avoid problems, don't ship the tire mounted on a rim, ship it by itself. Maybe wrap some evergreen boughs around it, and declare it as a Christmas wreath. :)