Idiots Guide to SA Needed
 

I'm sick of work and I have 8 months until I start a new job in London.

I therefore need to travel in the meantime.

At the moment, I like the idea of flying to somewhere like Ecuador or Chile, buying a bike there and using it for a few months before selling the bike and flying home.

So, how on earth do I deal with vehicle registration, insurance, tax etc.?!

I'm an idiot when it comes to the formalities of this stuff so a quick guide would be perfect!

Plus recomendations for which country to fly into which would make the process simple would be good.

Thanks!

Buying in chile
 

This thread pretty much sums up everything you need to buy legally in Chile.
Ecuador seems harder to buy for foreigners. Chile the most popular and straightforward from what I have read.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...santiago-45637

All the best.

James

That's pretty awesome - thanks!

I'm beginning to think that, with my lack of Spanish, shipping a bike will be easier...!

Remember it will likely cost you in the region of £1500-2000 to ship to SA and back to UK. You then still have to deal with getting the bike out of seaports/airports etc. Why not try and buy a UK registered bike from another UK traveller? Many people here want to sell there rather than ship back. If you like the bike, you can always ship home, if not sell to another traveller.

I like the idea of buying a UK registered bike, but it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time! I'll put the word out and see what I can find.

I'm not overly concerned about where I fly in to in SA, so if there's the right bike (i.e. UK registered) and/or the right fixer, I'm happy. Just want to keep costs down ideally!

I'm travelling on a bike I bought new in Peru a couple of months ago. I had no spanish but the dealer had some english and sorted paperwork with no trouble, I just needed to get the 'permiso especial para firmar contratos' stamp from the migration office for $50 before bying the bike. Insurance was easy, taking about 15 mins and $200. Paperwork is fine I had no trouble crossing to Ecuador. Insurance isn't valid out of Peru but the border guys in Ecuador told me I didn't need any here and police checking my papers haven't said anything.

That's encouraging, Chad!

Although I'm tempted to visit family in California and sort bike stuff there and travel through Central America as well as South America! I figure it might be reasonably simple as I'll have a local address to use there.

You could get better bike for your money there. Just if you're planning on taking it back to the states you're not a citizen you might be a lot of trouble. It happened to me with a different vehicle once and didn't end well.