Looking for info about paperwork when shipping a bike to Panama
 

Still hoping to get some firsthand information from someone who has shipped a bike to Panama. A friend and I will be sending our bikes to Balboa by sea in crates next spring (late February / early March 2019). We plan to ride into Costa Rica a few days after flying down ourselves and getting the bikes out of customs, so this will involve temporary importation. Both bikes are registered in California.



My primary questions are: Do we need to hire an agent to get them through/out of customs, or is this reasonable to do ourselves with limited Spanish? How much time should we expect it to take? And can anyone use a couple of motorcycle crates next spring in Panama City?



Thanks in advance for any help!