How to buy a motorcycle in Bolivia?

March 2023

South America is enormous. And one of the best ways to explore these vast landscapes is by land. Preferably in your own vehicle which allows you to make stops wherever you feel like. I knew I needed to get my own wheels in order to make the most of this adventure. After some consideration, I decided to get on 2 wheels and purchase a motorbike. What I originally thought, is going to be an easy process turned out to be an adventure and a story on its own.

This is how I bought a used motorcycle in Bolivia.

Disclaimer.

This is my personal experience of buying a used motorbike from the Facebook marketplace in Santa Cruz, Bolivia as a foreigner. I also had a lot of assistance due to my girlfriend being from Santa Cruz herself. But even that, we needed to hire a lawyer to go through the process.

Which motorbike to buy?
Which motorbike to buy?
Where to buy the motorbike from?
Where to buy the motorbike from?
Condition of my "new" 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Condition of my "new" 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650
Legal registration process
Legal registration process
Summary of expenses
Summary of expenses
The trip and the route
The trip and the route

Which motorcycle to buy for travelling in South America?

The big question. Which motorbike should I get?

For a long time, I had my eye on the Royal Enfield Himalayan 411cc. A great option overall and there is also a Royal Enfield dealership in Santa Cruz. You can get a new one in Bolivia for around 5500 USD which makes it a great value for a brand new adventure motorbike. It lacks a bit of power on the highway though and can get a bit small for riding 2-up. The other options that I was looking at were:

Honda CRF 300L/250 – price for a new 250cc 6800 USD
Yamaha XT250 – price for new 6900 USD
Hero XPulse 200 – price for new 3600 USD
Kawasaki KLR 650 – price for new 13000 USD
Suzuki DR 650 – price for new 7000-8000 USD (not in Bolivia)
Suzuki V-Strom 650 – price for new 9000 USD (not in Bolivia)

These were the prices in Santa Cruz dealerships in spring 2023 (besides DR650 and V-Strom which were not available as new). In average, the prices for motorcycles seemed to be at least 30% higher in Bolivia than you would get in Europe or North America. They mentioned that prices are even higher in Chile than in Bolivia. The selection of a motorbike becomes tricky as the prices for new ones are so high and you never know what will get buying a used one in South America.

The first thing to consider is how are you going to be using the motorcycle. If you are mainly looking for smaller paths and offroad experience, then the Honda or Yamaha would be perfect. I knew that I was probably mainly going stick to the main roads but still searching for smaller and more interesting routes.

The second criterion was that I was planning to ride a part of the trip together with my partner 2-up. If I knew I would be solo all the way, I would have chosen one of the Indian motorcycles – the Himalayan or the Hero XPulse 200 as they were within my budget. The surprisingly good option was the XPulse 200. You can get a really great motorbike directly from the dealership for a good price. Even though it is 200cc and the Himalayan 411cc, then I heard better things about the XPulse 200.

So that left me looking at the bigger cylinder motorbikes. I have been thinking about the KLR650 for some time before. I even went to look at a used one and I found quite many of them being sold. Most of them were old though – from the beginning of the 90s or early 2000s. The Kawasaki KLR650 is also the chosen motorbike for the Bolivian Police. Someone mentioned that it is hard to find one in good condition though.

I didn’t find a good DR650 and even to my own surprise, I selected a used Suzuki V-Strom 650. I took a mechanic to check 2 different options and I bought the one that was in better condition.

Of course, there are many more different options out there. I found a place that sells Benelli motorbikes, Yamaha also had the new Tenere 700 and there should be a few options for Chinese motorbikes (like Loncin) as well. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which motorbike you get. As long as you get one. I heard so many different and also opposing opinions from people which is the “right and correct” choice.

Where to buy a motorcycle in Santa Cruz, Bolivia?

I was using Facebook Marketplace for looking for used motorcycles.

With my budget, I could have got a new Chinese or Indian but not a more classical brand. Still, I spent quite some time going through dealerships and looking at options. Here is a list of dealerships with location markers.

Royal Enfield
Eurobike – Triumph & Husqvarna
Kawasaki
Yamaha
Honda
Hero
Moxos Import – Benelli
KTM

If you are arriving in South America without your motorcycle gear, like me, then you need to get some in here. If you can, then bring your things from home. Unfortunately, as for the bikes themselves, also the gear costs a lot more in South America. The following is a list of places where to buy gear from. Also, most of the beforementioned dealerships have gear being sold in their shops.

Cumavi – this is one of the biggest 2nd hand markets in Santa Cruz. There are a few stands that also sell old and used motorbike clothing.
Moto Storm – clothes, helmets, bags etc. Has everything. The items are not original but seemed to be of good quality though. Reasonable price range compared to brand shops.
Becar – 2 locations, one on 3rd Anillo and the other one on 1st Anillo. Good quality original gear.
Riders Bolivia – helmets, clothes etc. Also sells Royal Enfield motorbikes.

I bought my gear from Becar (helmets and rain covers) and Moto Storm (side bags, jacket and pants, headsets, gloves). The best option for boots was in Becar.

My "new" used 2006 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom

My previous experience with buying used motorcycles is getting a 2001 year Suzuki in Estonia which has worked just perfectly. So you could say that my expectations for getting a used machine had just been positive.

This time by a suggestion I took a mechanic to take a look at 2 different V-Stroms. The first one was leaking oil and the engine was not in good condition. The 2nd one was not perfect but better though and I bought it from the guy for 3900 USD. I knew that I need to get new tires and a new battery. But I was not expecting to leave the motorcycle at the mechanics for the next 2,5 weeks.

I took the V-Strom to Eurobike where we knew the owner. They also have a workshop there so they agreed to take a look at the motorbike. After some inspection and repairs the works that got done were:

Repairing the monoshock (back suspension)
Throttle body cleaning
Changing wiring for lights
New front brake pads
New chain guide (swingarm chain touch defense)

Including the tire change, the V-Strom was at the mechanics for 2,5 weeks. The biggest concern was the chain guide which needed to be manufactured at the spot. So as you can see I was not that lucky with the purchase this time. Besides these works, some things also happened during the 2-month trip itself:

Sulfated ignition relay
The gear change lever not changing up to 2nd
Broken front suspension seals (after a harder gravel section)
Thirsty engine. It turned out that the engine was consuming a lot of oil. I needed to add almost half a litre every single day. Still needs to be checked for a solution.
Front brakes not working smoothly (still needs to be fixed).

Legal registration process

And now we get to the sweetest part of it all – the registration of the motorcycle in Bolivia as a foreigner.

Can I buy and register a motorcycle in Bolivia as a foreigner on a tourist visa?
Turns out that yes. The only thing that you need is a local address. And there was a new requirement to also give proof of you actually living at that address. Personally, I could use my partner’s address.

NB! If you want the motorbike to ride only in Bolivia then you can probably be okay just by getting a “poder” (authority) from the seller. But if you want to cross the borders then you need to have ownership over the vehicle.

Is the process easy and takes only a few days?
I thought that yes but the answer to that question is no. It took me almost one whole month to get the papers done. I agreed with the seller on the 2nd of March and I got my papers on the 29th of March. We used the help of a lawyer to make things easier but even with that and paying “extra fees” for speeding things up it took all this time. It took a lot of back and forward with the lawyer and the seller to get all the necessary information. We were getting quite stressed about the whole process because also my visa for Bolivia was ending. I ended up overstaying for 5 days because of the paperwork and mechanics.

Here is the list of the required documents that are needed to present to “Alcadia” (the city):

I am not 100% sure about all the steps because the lawyer was doing them but I will try to make a list of all the things that needed to be done (by me or the lawyer):

Sign a sell-purchase contract with the seller. Getting all the required documentation from the seller took some time already. The lawyer making the contract.
- Signing the contract at lawyers office.
- Going to Notary to validate to contract (after this I made the payment to the seller and got the motorcycle in my hand)
I took the papers to the lawyer.
The lawyer takes the paperwork to Alcadia who creates the Public Deed.
Taking the Public Deed to the Notary. I need to go and sign it.
I need to go to a photographer to take passport photos, then to copy centre to create copies of my passport and then to a bank to pay the fees for the transfer (I went to the bank to pay fees 2 different times).
I need to go and take the motorbike from the mechanics to the Police (DIPROVE) who will check that the bike is not stolen.
Paying for SOAT – Vehicle insurance in Bolivia.
Confirming the address. They said that you need to get a police officer to come to your place to check if you are actually living there. We managed to skip this step with little “extra fees”.

As the lawyer was in charge of the process and booking the appointments then I am not sure about all the steps. I think the lawyer visited Alcadia many times (I never needed to go there).

I will summarise the expenses in the next chapter.

Summary of expenses

I was hoping to buy a motorcycle in South America for around 3000-4000 USD (max 5000 USD). Well, all costs combined it turned out to be a little more. Let’s look at all the expenses that went into buying a motorcycle, doing the repairs, making the transfer and buying the gear.

I am 100% sure that it is possible to do all of it a lot cheaper. You can buy a new and cheap Chinese 250cc motorbike (doing the papers will also be easier for a new bike) and bring your gear from home. I am sure that the total cost would be half as mine was.

TOTAL EXPENSES
	Price in Bs	Price in USD	Price in EUR
Motorbike
Suzuki 2006 DL650 V-Strom	26,880.75	3,900.00	3,467.88
New tires Michelin Anakee	2,411.65	350.17	311.37
New battery 14V	600.00	87.12	77.47
Mechanics	4,196.11	609.28	541.77
Transfer
Payment for information	150.00	21.78	19.37
Payment for transfer	20.00	2.90	2.58
“Valorados”	20.00	2.90	2.58
DIPROVE report	500.00	72.60	64.56
SOAT 2 years	200.00	29.04	25.82
RUAT-registrations of ownership, town hall(includes “extra fees”)	600.00	87.12	77.47
Processing fees (lawyer)	400.00	58.08	51.64
Notary for confirming the contract	90.00	13.07	11.62
Notary for “Protocolo”	275.00	39.93	35.51
Gear
Helmets 2pcs	1,502.66	218.19	194.01
Rain covers 2pcs	1,211.40	175.90	156.41
Side bags 2pcs	795.00	115.43	102.64
Summer gloves 2pcs	200.00	29.04	25.82
Back protection for top case	150.00	21.78	19.37
Jacket + pants	2,245.00	325.97	289.86
Intercom 2pcs	1,040.00	151.01	134.28
Leg protections 1pcs	245.00	35.57	31.63
Insurance
International insurance for South America. Speiser Seguros for 6 months.	317.06	46.00	40.90
TOTAL	44,049.63 bs	6,392.88 USD	5,684.55 EUR

The trip itself

After getting the motorcycle ready and the papers in my hand, I left towards the border of Bolivia immediately. For the following weeks, I was riding through the mountains and valleys in Argentina and along the Pacific Ocean and the highest deserts in Chile. Enjoying every single day on the road. In total, this trip came out to be 8000 km in 50 days. As I was working remotely as well at the same time, I consider this a great journey.

Am I happy with my choice of motorbike?

Yes and no. It was definitely good to have a bigger bike for these roads. There were many 1 or 2-lane highways in Chile which would not be that nice with a 250cc. V-Strom is more of a road bike than an offroad bike – 80/20. It is a bit sturdy and rigid on more complicated gravel roads. Also, unfortunately, I have needed to put quite some more money into it because of the poor condition upon purchase. In the future, I would look for something even more off-road capable but for this route, the V-Strom turned out to be a great choice. In fact, I decided not to sell it right away and I will return to South America for another adventure with the V-Strom.