Thread: Leaving Panama with my Panama-bought motorcycle

Hello,

I'm planning to ride my motorcycle back to the States in a year or so. I bought the motorcycle here brand new, I have all the papers in my name, and it's fully paid for.

Does anyone know if I'll have trouble leaving the country with the bike? Or, what kind of paperwork I need to have on me in order for me to leave without problems.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

check and make sure you can import it into the states before you leave

Expect 3-4 weeks of hell to get the permit to leave. Then you have 5-8 days to get the hell out.

Originally Posted by Contrail

Expect 3-4 weeks of hell to get the permit to leave. Then you have 5-8 days to get the hell out.

interesting ,,,, i have seen cars here with plates from CR that are holidays , is it that hard to take a car into CR and then just keep heading north until he gets to the us border , i know when i drove my motorhome down it was not that bad ?

It will be even worse for this case since he probably needs to de-register the car with transito and the municipio after he has left the country. Another week of pure and unadulterated hell - or fines will be building up year after year. Going down is not a big deal. Greatest part, it's probably close to impossible to find a Panamanian who knows how to do this correctly.

Originally Posted by nakedguydb

interesting ,,,, i have seen cars here with plates from CR that are holidays , is it that hard to take a car into CR and then just keep heading north until he gets to the us border , i know when i drove my motorhome down it was not that bad ?

Originally Posted by mikebikeboy

Hello,

I'm planning to ride my motorcycle back to the States in a year or so. I bought the motorcycle here brand new, I have all the papers in my name, and it's fully paid for.

Does anyone know if I'll have trouble leaving the country with the bike? Or, what kind of paperwork I need to have on me in order for me to leave without problems.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Mike

You are a brave young man. I would never allow my two sons to make that journey

And I'm assuming there's no DMV website I can look up the information? all these mentions of Hell must mean physically going to the offices and waiting around for hours and days right?

Yes, they would lose their sanity in Panama over 3-4 weeks, then have a nice 9 day drive up north. It's really not a big deal if it wasn't for the Panamanians. Probably they would have a deep hatred for Panama after so good call regardless.

Originally Posted by Viewpoint

You are a brave young man. I would never allow my two sons to make that journey

Sounds like a major pain in the ass...

Probably better to just sell the bike and forget about the trip...i'm already fed up with the system here, why put myself through more pain and frustration. what I really want to see is Mexico, maybe I'll just dip down into Mexico from the States.

I am in Mexico now, nice place, easy and cheap flights from the US.

I don't think it will be easy to drive your motorcycle out of Panama. You'll need the help of an attorney for the permit, but I still don't think the border personnel will let you cross. The hubs and I purchased a truck in Panama and wanted to take a roadtrip out of the country. We were told by other expats that you can't take your purchased vehicle without some permit, but almost all had horror stories about not being able to cross even when they had all the necessary paperwork. Others couldn't get out until waiting 12-16 hours at the border. From what I understand, the problem started because Americans were taking advantage of the jubilado tax break for importing vehicles. In Panama, "Jubilado" status Americans could import a new vehicle every 2 years from the states without paying the 30% tax. Americans would then take their vehicles to Costa Rica, where the vehicles are worth more, and sell them. This upset Panama, so the tax exemption is gone and I think they're working on taking away the ability for us to leave with our own vehicles too. It's a Panama problem, not a Costa Rica problem. If you really really really want to ride your bike, you can try shipping it to Mexico, then ride from there.

MM
xpatescape

Used bikes in the US are cheap, especially with cool weather approaching. If you can sell your bike there for a decent price, I would strongly consider coming here with cash, buying a great used bike and riding south. BTW, what do you own and ride in Panama?

I've always heard that traveling through Mexico was extremely dangerous. Even some very tough American Bikers won't
venture through Mexico. They claim that they can handle the Bandidos, until the Bandidos get the police to help them. Then if the police can't rescue the Bandidos, the police call in the Mexican Army to help them.

Used bikes here in the US are cheap these days. What bike do you own in Panama? If you can sell your bike there for a decent price, you can buy a used one here and get it fully equiped to ride down into Mexico from the US. Wish I could join you and ride my Vstrom down to Tulum for a month.