Buy motorbike in chicago (not US citizen)
 

Hello, My name is Ramiro and I live in Barcelona, in september i wanna go to USA to croos the 66 and then keep riding till Argentina.
I know in california is preaty easy to buy a bike as a foreigner but i would like to know if in Chicago is so easy too.
What I need? an adress, inssurance.... please if somebody live in chicago , can you help me?
Thank you very much!

You can buy a bike anywhere in the US and register it anywhere else in the US. So if you're starting out in Chicago and if for some reason you can't register there, get a temporary tag from DMV and when you get to a state that you can register in, do it there.

VicMitch is not entirely correct. As a foreigner, you can purchase and register a bike only in certain states--temporary or permanent. I took a quick look but didn't find an authoritative answer as to whether Illinois is one of those states. I didn't bother looking at neighboring Indiana or Wisconsin.

Best bet: wade through the Illinois DMV website for yourself, or at the very least call a dealer in the state and ask them. You'll need to deal with title, registration and insurance issues. You'll definitely need a local mailing address of some sort.

Hope that's helpful. Good luck.

<ark

You can purchase any bike anywhere. You need not register it where you buy it. A foreigner can then go to where it can be registered and bring the plates back or, most states issue a temp tag for non residents to transport their bike elsewhere, even if it's to another country. You can also come with a plate from home, get insurance and ride with that until you get to where you can register it. Sure, it's not all on the up and up, but the rules were not made for folks who do what we do. I was in the car business for 20 years with dealerships in NY and TN. 80% of cars I sold were to other states, Canada and overseas via Internet.

I'm not here to argue. Of course you're right in many cases, but you're as often wrong. It's too easy for me to sit back and pick out all the cases where your generalizations are incorrect (e.g., not all states will issue temp tags to a foreigner; not all locales will register a bike without first inspecting it; not all insurance companies will issue policies to non-residents; etc. ad infinitum). Best bet for the OP is to do his own research, since he's going to live by the results.

Of course we all break rules every now and then….

I'm sure there was a thread on here a few years ago about which states are easiest for a foreigner to buy and register a bike. If I find it I'll stick a link.

Not sure about rules in Illinois ... as suggested, check out state DMV web site. If you buy from a bike dealer ... you are good. They will handle registration for you and mail your title (when it arrives) to you, where ever you are on the road. Buying from private party you will have to go to DMV and register the bike ... or register it in another state if you cannot in Illinois.

Ask for advice among locals there ... millions of Latinos live in and around Chicago (mostly Mexicanos) In fact, Chicago ranks as 3rd most populous "Mexican" city! :D D.F. being first, Los Angeles 2nd ... Chicago 3rd. (that is, highest population of Mexicans). Guadalajara is 4th. :smartass:

I'm sure locals can guide you through this no problemo ... y que le via bien.