Feh. People will be telling you you're crazy all the way to Tierra del Fuego and all the way back. They'll have all sorts of reasons. Try not to take them too seriously, particularly if they've never done the trip themselves. "Concerned" friends are the worst, followed closely by locals who tell you that the residents of the next town/state/country will harvest your organs for profit and drink your blood for fun.

I did skip Sao Paulo, having heard lots of stories of bike-jackings. But I rode thousands of km all over Brazil as a whole, despite the intense swarm of rumors about piano wire beheadings. I made a point of riding through Tegucigalpa during daylight, not at night, but I had no real reason to stop there anyway. I skipped Caracas for the same reason.

I carried (and frequently used) a cover, a high-security lock and chain, and some cables to secure helmets and riding gear when I left the bike for hours on end...which I did a lot of. Once I left it in an unguarded lot for a week while I walked through Torres del Paine, and it was undisturbed when I returned. I wouldn't do that in London or New York, that's for sure--or in my own driveway.

+1 for all the feedbacks from Markharf.

Many locals told me too it was too dangerous to go to the next town while traveling toward Ushuaia.

The probability to have your bike stolen is very low if you use common sense.
Is it zero? No. I did not hear about bike theft until I was in Brasil. I met locals that had their bike stolen. This was in Sao Paulo. They had expensives bikes not small ones.

If you want to know the typical way they were stealing bike at the time, let me know.

If you speak portuguese, you may be lucky and meet a local biker club. A member did put a sticker on my bike and told me that I did not need to worry anymore about bike theft. Thieves would bring them the bike if stolen and apologies.


Regarding the "piano wire beheadings", the beheading part is too much but having your face or neck cut is true.

The subject was/is discussed on the local news. You will see local bikers with some antennas mounted to their handlebar to cut the wire should they run into one. If you are worried just buy one of those antenna. I did not.

At the time, they were talking about people putting fish wire in glue and glass. Then they would attach the wire to a kite and fly it over the road. When they would see a motorcycle coming, they would bring the kite down hoping to dismount the rider. I never saw any of this and did not worry about that at all.


You will have a fantastic time. Don't worry about anything. Just go ride and have fun. I miss that time.

Patrick

Personally I wouldn't take a super expensive bike on a big trip anyway. That's subjective of course depending on your means, but to some extent can't be avoided if you want to ride something quite new for the sake of reliability. The advice not to ride something you can't afford to walk away from is good, and includes the risk of theft (however low it may be).

As mentioned by others earlier on in this thread - «dont bring something with you that you cant afford to lose» Thats the problem with an expensive bike. In case of a breakdown in the middle of nowhere or an accident where you fracture legs and arms and need to go to hospital and stay there for weeks and cant ride for months or years and need parts that might be both expensive and difficult to get a hold of in the altiplanos of Bolivia or the snowcovered Tierra del Fuego….maybe its a better idea to take a bike that one can afford «to lose»

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

My view:
danger number one: Traffic (Snakeboy's reference to accidents ++)
danger number two: Dogs.


Along Pan American I saw" a lot of" expensive bikes. On the road or in secure parking. Never heard of any problem.


Inland, I saw very few or no expensive bikes. Locals use mainly 160-200 cc bikes. Already a Honda XR 300 or RE Himalayan are considered "big and expensive"
But every hotel and.... understands that you want to have a secure parking. If they don't have one themselves, there is probably one around the corner.

I Chile and Argentina, I was camping. Sleeping next to the bike.

Secure parking comes in many shapes.
See pictures.

=
I do not think that a big and exclusive bike is attractive. What should they do with that ?
I think that wallets,computers, cameras.... are more attractive
Locals many times told me to keep control of my bag.
Have valuable things in a bag. That yo never leave on the bike, when you are away.


Use common sense and enjoy the trip

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