My gal and I just purchased a rugged KLR from an awesome Aussie couple here in Paraguay--Wahoo! Starting in May 2012, we will have 6 months to float about the South American winds. We are humbly asking for route recommendations that begin in Paraguay. Unfortunately, we will not explore Brazil this time around. However, we are very enthusiastic about traversing Patagonia, Bolivia and Peru. The Guianas and Venezuela would be splendid, but are not high on the priority list. Ideally we would sell the bike in Columbia and fly back to our native northwest US in December 2012. Perhaps we are a bit knuckle-headed, but traveling Patagonia during winter does not seem so far beyond our realm of comfortability...but maybe that's just the Paraguayan heat talking.,, Newts and Salamanders, Jordo
Patagonia and that region are now heading into winter, if you think you would like to motorcycle in northern British Columbia in the winter then head for Ushiaua, if not head north where the weather will be warmer. JMHO. Whatever you do I hope you have a good time doing it. Slowphil
Head north and do a loop up through Bolivia Peru Ecuador and Colombia then back down into Chile the carretera Austral and Patagonia by november as the weather is getting nice down there. Sell the bike in Punta Arenas which is a free port.
That's sweet you found a KLR in Paraguay! A question though; What about the paperwork and bringing the bike to other countries from Paraguay? Is it easy? I'm asking because I'll be doing a 3 month trip through South America this July and am planning to buy a bike down there. You can check out my trip planning thread, where I've also written down my planned route so far (Subject to heavy changes): Here
We are heeding your advice. As for now, our tentative route includes touring a bit more of Paraguay, then travels up along the amazonian side of Bolivia, continuing northbound through Peru and Columbia. As we move southward, we will freeze our respective gentleman and ladywoman bits off around the Altiplano, get wet on the Carretera Austral and be blown away by the Patagonian winds in November. Thoughts?
Have not left the country yet, dude. We are still waiting on the paperwork to be processed by the WA DOL. Stay in touch though, and I will let you know if they deport us back to Paraguay...
Do not think to go below Santiago -Buenos Aires parallel after June. It will be miserable grey and rainy. Much less crossing the Andes or you will freeze to death. End of September is a good start . Peruvian and Bolivian tropical Andes (Sierra) are pretty much wet from October to March with daily rain and mud on dirt roads. Plan based on this scheme
Yeah I know that, but you must have informed yourself about that before, right? Because apparently you can't get a bike out of Argentina as a tourist if you've bought it there.
I'm not certain I understand your concern... We bought the US registered bike, but have not attempted to leave the country yet, as we are still waiting for the new title to arrive (in Paraguay). Once we have the new title in our name, there should be no problems exiting. If it's the Temporary Vehicle Import Permit you are questioning, well that's a different story. PM me if you have questions. My word of advice is don't overthink the whole buying predicament.
How does Villamonte-->Tarija-->Southeast through Cordillera de Sama Biological Reserve-->Then back north to Tupiza, sound? Then northwards to Sucre-->East towards Padilla-->North through Villa Serrano-->Vallegrande-->Samaipata-->Santa Cruz. Thoughts? Has anyone done this route? Is it feasible to attempt this 2-up on a loaded KLR? PS we are thinking about travelling to the Salar de Uyuni after we re-enter Bolivia from Peru. Big thanks in advance for any advice given, and feel free to cyber harass me on my knuckleheadedness.
Oh okay, I didn't know the bike was US registered, that was my concern. I'm from Europe and I'm going to have to buy a locally registered bike, so I'm going to have to figure this stuff out, because I don't want to be stuck in my first destination for months just to be able to ride my bike over the borders. But in your case that's obviously not an issue.