Question regarding to license in south america.
 

Hello!
My name is Or and i am going to travel in south america on the forth of december (4/12/2013). I have a question regarding motorcycle ownership in south america countries and ill be happy if you can help me.
I have an Israeli license for motorcycle in A1 level, the license is limited to bikes up to 500 cc (33 horse power) according to the Israeli ministry of transportation.
I want to know if in south america countries, and by their rules, this license applies to all kinds of motorcycles without distinction by cc and horse power, or is it the same as in Israel? (If there is a difference can you specify by country).
It will be very helpful if you can answer my question and in case that you cant, please address me to someone who can.

Best regards

Or

Here in the USA, we don't have teired licensing. However, I can almost guarantee you that no authority is going to have any idea about Israeli licensing laws, even if they did have the ability to enforce them. I personally gave my "extra" non-motorcycle driver license to plenty of traffic cops and not once did anyone mention it.

Show them an official looking card and you will be fine. Ride what you want.

Shalom Or

Officially talking you need an International Driving Permit whit the stamps on the categories of vehicles that you plan to drive or ride, normally A refers to a bike and the add of number means not always the same, for example in Argentina A1 is for motorbikes up to 150cc, then A2 till 300cc and A3 over 300cc. Like you says could happen that in others countries categories are not the same like in Israel and some or most of the International Licence only stand the letter and involve all sizes..

Apart of all of this is the reality, you can be lucky and only be stopped by police who don’t know what you need to show but also could be the opposite. To bring-in a bike to Argentina (by shipping) or for renting, you must present your International Permit.

Regarding motorcycle buying in South America bear in mind that mostly all countries here have restrictions for foreigners for ownership and border crossing exits, this subject has been posted zillions times on the HUBB, take your time and the search function to do your homework.

Saludos