Congratulation senior Paz, you have a motorcycle

I have decided to buy a motorcycle. So i bought a motorcycle. Payed 1100 US$ and it was mine, not really that fast, had to go through some Latin bureaucracy, but after 3 weeks i could finally ride it.

It has been my dream for a long time and finally i had the courage to fulfill it. It is a nice little Chinese bike, 150 c”c, looks like a chopper, but it is not even close to the ultimate bike you can get for this task. Actually, this bike is far from being suitable for this kind of trip, but it was the only one which fitted my budget, so i guess i will have to win this trip with what i have.
I came to the this decision after my last trip in west Africa. Me and Ori rented a small 90 c”c scooter bike for 3 days and we cruised around the dusty unpaved roads, arriving to small villages with no tourist attractions or importance. These were the genuine moments of our trip. We were able to meet people and visit places which were far off the tourist trail.
Now, in this trip, i have had the same urge to escape from the Gringo Trail, and be able, for just a little while, to enjoy these genuine moments. It will also provide me the ultimate freedom to go when ever i like to where ever i like. As i write these words, i get excited !! :)))
fellow travelers i have met on the road were excited too about this traveling option. actually, they were really surprised how cheap these bikes could be and how affordable could be a trip like this.

The local people i met on the road, all looked at me like a crazy person (or stupid) when i told them about my plan, telling me it will be impossible to cross South America with this poor bike. I listened to them carefully but kept on, and here i am with this lovely noisy machine. Now i have another challenge, to prove them wrong!

In this blog i will try to document my day to day life with the bike. Starting here. The buying day. i will also try to give as much information about the buying process and a list of the people and shops which helped me around. i hope this could guide and help travelers to make this trip as well.

First i looked around the internet for a used cheap bike from a private owner. my budget was around 1500 US$, and I found a few and managed to see one of them. It looked like a brand new one but the owners did not want bargaing and asked a little bit more than 2100 US$. I was also advised by my family here not to deal with private owners, to prevent any possibility of fraud.

I made a day tour around the different motorcycle agencies and on the third one i found him.
He was surrounded by bigger and more serious Japanese bike, which are a lot more expensive in here. I took it for a test drive and all the vital signs were O.K. , at least at my point of view.
I decided that this is my bike and bargained with the dealer with a broken Spanish that proved again to serve me right. I could understand the important stuff, but wear a dumb face were needed. We closed the deal for 1100 US$ and i payed in cash. I could not take it home yet and here starts the FUN part... getting the right papers for the purchase, and then transferring the bike's ownership. I won't feed you with the shitty bureaucracy details, but i can tell you that the Israeli system is concidered much faster and eficient than the one in here. It took me 10 long and frustrating days to get the first paper which allowed me to buy the bike and make the transfer, every day i went out from the house hoping to come back riding the it, but the Argentinians have their own pace and needs. Each day i returned home, my uncle Leibe looked at me with eager eyes, “La Moto ????” he asked. Each time i gave him a slight different answer. Blah blah blah.... papers papers and more papers... after 2 ½ weeks i almost finished all the arangements.
One day i returned home and Leibe welcomed me on the entrance with great excitment shouting “BrrrrrBrrrrrBrrrr..”, i looked at him and told him again that i am still missing one paper, he smiled and asked my attention to the living room. AAHHHH, a shiny bike was parking in the middle of it. It fitted so nice with the brown couches and Margarita's finest china. What a nice surprise. Once again i felt like a small child given a present by his grandparents. The bike stood in the living room for another few days until i found a good insurance company which will make the insurance for most of south America countries. I managed to find one, after a huge market survey, that will cover me in Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay Peru & Brazil.

In the last few days i am preparing the bike for the long ride. Need to make a few little adjustments, buy some cases, a helmet, necessary working tools, spare parts, make a leather cover for the bags to protect them from the rain and thats it, riding day is getting close. My first destination will be Uruguay. I will make a test drive for the bike in this friendly country were the roads are all paved and in good condition. In case i don't have any serious problems, i will continue to north of Argentina and then to Bolivia.

See you there
E