I just received the message below from a reader in the UK - Thanks for writing! - with a couple of questions about motorcycle touring in Mexico and South America. I thought I could share my answers and comments here with other readers.

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Actually, a friend and I would really like to ride bikes in a different part of the world. We live in the UK, and would like to go to Mexico, and buy a bike there and ride it round South America.

But I wonder whether you have any good sources of information which might answer some of these questions:

1) What sort of license would we need to ride in South America?

2) Can you buy a bike there? And can you register it in your name, even if you don’t have proof of address etc, being foreign nationals?

3) What about other matters like insurance etc.

Or would it be easier to buy bikes in the States, and then just cross the border?

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My answer and comments…

1.- Your UK license will do in Mexico. I suppose it’s the same in Central and South America.

2.- Yes, you can buy bikes in Mexico. Anyway, I would recommend buying the motorcycles in Southern US and ride it down the border. You will find a larger choice at better prices. Besides, doing business in English should be easier than in Spanish.

Regarding registration and insurance, I am not quite sure how it works for a foreigner either in the US or Mexico, but I am sure there is a way to have the bikes insured.

The above also answers question number three.

Extra comment…

Plan your ride carefully. Riding across Mexico and down the American continent can be a great experience, but it also presents some challenges. The roads to the good spots are not always in good condition and some are even dangerous.

I don’t know what kind of ride you like nor your budget, but choosing a big solid and reliable bike that also allows you some back road riding (the likes of BMW R1200GS) will let you visit some great places you wouldn’t be able to if you ride a Harley Davidson or a Honda Gold Wing.

I would also recommend to check some motorcycle forums. They are a great source of information, tips and advice for this kind of endeavors.

Hope this helps and enjoy the ride!

P.S. By the way, don’t forget to let us know how your trip went.

IMPORTANT: If anyone else has more info that can help our fellow riders in their next adventure, please share it in the comments of this post.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle rides, motorcycles, motorbikes

A couple of days ago I made a post about a couple of bike rides in the US and recommended a couple of sites for finding good routes.

Today, I found a pretty cool site to plan motorcycle rides that I want to share with you.

The site uses a combination of new “Web 2.0″ technology to help motorcyclists find great roads and routes to ride throughout the world.

Using a combination of Google Maps, GPS and other technologies, motorcyclists can draw their favorite routes directly on a map or upload their GPS files and have their routes drawn on the map in real time for them!

Those routes are then shared with the rest of the users who can view them on the map, and check any pictures, route features, places of interest, etc., that are included.

All of the routes can also be downloaded to a GPS device or into Google Earth. The map can also be printed and the biker can go with it! No more reading descriptions of a cool route and then trying to decipher where it is on a map!

The site is named Open Road Journey and you can visit it at: http://www.openroadjourney.com/

Enjoy the ride!

Rider
WorldWideMotorcycles.com

Related posts:

• Motorcycle Rides in the US
• Motorcycle Ride in Mexico

Technorati Tags: motorcycle rides, motorcycle routes, motorcycles

In my last post I talked about a great motorcycle ride in Mexico. I know that a good number of my readers live in the US and that going to Mexico for a bike ride is not that easy for them. So, here are a couple of motorcycle rides in the Northwest US you might want to try. And if you live in the area and you have never ridden through these routes, it’s surely worth adding them to your “to do” or “to ride” list.

Motorcycle Rides: Lolo Pass - Idaho, US

Idaho, as well as Montana and Colorado, are some of the states with the most beautiful motorcycle routes you can find in the US. The Rockies offer some great views, people are used to see people travel by bike so they are motorcycle friendly or at least “motorcycle aware”, and most of the places you travel through offer some kind of amenities.

One of the best motorcycle routes in Idaho is Lolo Pass…

It’s a low traffic road in pretty good conditions that takes you through the Lolo National Forest. During your ride you can find a number of hot springs - how about taking a relaxing bath after your ride - as well as some beautiful natural spots as the rapids on the Locsha and Selway.

A word of caution: there is a high population of deer and other animals in the area. Be careful as you can find them in the middle of the road during your trip. Take your time and watch for them as you ride.

Also be aware that you won’t find many gas stations in the area, so filling the tank up a Kooskia is always a good idea.

Motorcycle Rides: Highway 49 - California

California offers a good number of great motorcycle routes, unfortunately there are only a few that gather a combination of the three most wanted characteristics a rider looks for: great scenery, good road conditions AND not too much traffic. One of these, is small section of Highway 49.

Highway 49 runs over 300 miles through California Gold Rush area. Most of it is pretty crowded with RVs that travel to and from the small towns in northern California. But there’s a small but great section close to Coulterville, an old mining town, that’s full of twisties along a smooth road with low traffic. To get there, you need to ride to the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 32 and then head south.

Besides a great riding experience, you will also find to some beautiful spots for an occasional stretch or just to get off the beaten track.

A spot you shouldn’t miss is Virginia Point. You will find it after riding uphill to the ridgeline. Once there, you’ll be able to spot all the abandoned gold mines people worked on during the Gold Rush.

After stretching out at Virginia Point, you can then get on your motorcycle again and head toward the Merced River. All the scenery is spectacular.

The best time of the year to plan a motorcycle ride in the area is late spring.

You won’t find many places to stay for the night but there a few of them. There are also some restaurants for tourists traveling the area.

What about other motorcycle rides?

Not only the Northwest offers great motorcycle routes. Other states within the US as Texas and New England have pretty nice ones, too. And what about motorcycle rides in Europe? The UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and many other countries provide excellent routes.

Do you know a motorcycle route you want to share with the readers / riders of this blog? Leave it in the comments of this post. We will all appreciate that.

In the meantime, you can check the following sites for more ideas for your next ride:

•  http://www.motorcycleroads.us/ (US)
•  http://www.bestbikingroads.com/ (US and Europe)

Ride safely and enjoy the route!

Rider
WorldWideMotorcycles.com

Technorati Tags: motorcycle rides, motorcycle routes, motorcycles

For this first post, I will share a beautiful and exciting motorcycle ride along a mountain range called the “Sierra Gorda” located in Queretaro state, Mexico.

It’s pretty far from Paris, where I now live, but some of the best motorcycle memories I have, come from my rides in that area…

More than 400 turns – my wife once counted them - across the mountains in a four hour ride. The area has been declared as biosphere’s natural reserve by the UNESCO and it’s full of natural and historical places. You can also find a surrealist garden created by an artist of the 20th century; a pretty special place, I must say.

During the ride, you travel through a desert, then you climb and you get to a pine forest, and once you get to the highest point of the journey, you begin the descent to end up - after a couple of hundred turns - in a tropical weather area.

You can read more about this ride in Mexico in the article I wrote for my first motorcycle site at: http://www.japanese-motorcycles-only.com/rides-in-mexico.html

Enjoy the Ride!

Rider
WorldWideMotorcycles.com

Technorati Tags: rides in Mexico, motorcycle rides