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Is it possible to travel on motorcycle from Mexico to Colombia

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Old Jan 16, 2022, 2:51 pm
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Is it possible to travel on motorcycle from Mexico to Colombia

Does anyone has an idea or have to travel on the motorcycle from Mexico to Colombia. I love motorcycles I have been traveling in Asia on a motorcycle. Traveled all over the Philippines on 2 wheels. It was fun. I started to think of if it was possible to travel to South America on a motorcycle. I am more concerned about visas for each country also if it is possible to just rent motorcycles for one country and travel to all the other countries.

Does anyone have an Idea about visa and custom clearness? Regarding renting a motorcycle I found many shops on the internet. I saw Book2wheel where I can rent motorcycles for local people. But the question should I rent a motorcycle in One country or rent it in each country. Also if it is a good idea to buy one instead of renting.
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Old Jan 16, 2022, 2:56 pm
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FT is not the site for these questions. Look a travel sites or motor cycle sites
The Darien Gap is the issue--->https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap
https://www.traveldudes.com/crossing-the-darien-gap/
Highway that makes up the Darien Gap is hell!
It is lawless and rife with dangerous jungles, rugged mountains, swamps, gangsters, guerrillas captors, kidnappers, drug traffickers and corrupt cops. Guerrilla attacks, kidnapping and drug trafficking are daily occurrences in that region.

Robert Pelton, a contributing editor of National Geographic Adventure who was kidnapped in Darien Gap for ten days in 2003 stated:

“The Darien Gap is one of the last—not only unexplored—but one of the last places people really hesitate to venture to… It’s also one of the most rugged places. The basic problem of the Darien Gap is that it’s one of the toughest hikes there is. It’s an absolute pristine jungle but it’s got some nasty sections with thorns, wasps, snakes, thieves, criminals, you name it. Everything that’s bad for you is in there.
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Old Jan 16, 2022, 6:42 pm
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Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
.....
Darien Gap is the issue--->
Beat me to it.
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Old Jan 16, 2022, 6:44 pm
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Yeah, the Darien Gap will get in your way.
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Old Jan 16, 2022, 8:07 pm
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Originally Posted by Furqan Rathore
Does anyone has an idea or have to travel on the motorcycle from Mexico to Colombia..
Furqan, without being disrespectful, when I saw the title of this thread I thought it was the funniest thing I had seen in ages
It would be far easier to cross Afghanistan on a skateboard, wearing a "God Bless America" t-shirt.

In serious reply to your post though:

Between Panama and Colombia there are no roads - you would have to cross mountain ranges and thick jungles and rivers with no bridges. You could conceivably get around this section, literally, by boat, but....

Most travel in this zone by unusual methods (ie anything other than flying over it at 30,000 feet on a commercial aeroplane) is drug-trafficking related, which is a competitive field. You do not want to be anywhere near that competition. Absolutely suicidal.

I you really feel the need to travel somewhere amazing and beautiful on a motorcycle, you could do that wholly within Colombia, and am happy to give you specific advice about that - I know a lot of the country.

Cheers,
Juddles.
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Old Jan 16, 2022, 8:36 pm
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Originally Posted by Furqan Rathore
Does anyone has an idea or have to travel on the motorcycle from Mexico to Colombia
.....
BTW, "Striking Viking" did it about 20 years ago and posted about it while riding south ..... until he got kidnapped by guerrillas in Colombia
Originally Posted by https://www.cbsnews.com
Former Hells Angel Glen Heggstad was on the adventure of a lifetime: a year-long motorcycle trip from his home in California, through Mexico, Central America, all the way to the tip of South America and back. His plan was to ride 20,000 miles along the toughest terrain in the world. But a kidnapping derailed those plans. Troy Roberts reports.

"It's one of those dream rides you never want to end," says Heggstad, who owns a security firm and by his own admission has led an adventurous life. "I've been hit with baseball bats, two-by-fours, tire irons, machetes, it's a package deal when you take that path."

Last year, with his 50th birthday approaching, he began carefully planning his trip. He spent six months researching it, getting everything together, and planning his route.

He even created a Web site, using his nickname, "Striking Viking." He posted a journal there regularly, and kept in touch via a laptop.

Heggstad left Palm Springs on Oct. 1. A month later, after traveling 5,000 miles through Mexico and Central America, he rode into Bogota, Colombia, and into the cross-fire of a 30-year guerilla war, a conflict financed by drug trafficking and hostage-taking.

.......

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/

He also wrote a book IIRC. Google is your friend.

And while not totally safe, it is much safer in Colombia today, as can be noted by a friend of mine who lives there rides thousands of miles on his motorcycle.
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Old Jan 16, 2022, 9:06 pm
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Originally Posted by EmailKid
BTW, "Striking Viking" did it about 20 years ago and posted about it while riding south ..... until he got kidnapped by guerrillas in Colombia .......

And while not totally safe, it is much safer in Colombia today, as can be noted by a friend of mine who lives there rides thousands of miles on his motorcycle.
"Striking Viking" flew from Panama to Bogota to skip the Darien, air-freighting his bike with him.

And I agree with EmailKid - Colombia is ok now to get around if you stick to main roads, don't travel at night, the usual...
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Old Jan 17, 2022, 5:33 am
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Due to the shock of the OP posting a question that was so dearly outrageous, have done some new research, specifically about this "Striking Viking" who allegedly did exactly what the OP is desiring...

But as per previous post, Viking had to skip the Darien overland leg as impossible. This is a show he later did about his exploits:
I have a couple of comments on this video...
First, it was twenty years ago. Colombia was worse then, but Mexico and general Central America were much better. It is true that Colombia is now safer. Not "safe", safer. But Mexico and the rest of central america is far worse than it was when Viking did his thing. But having lived and worked in remote Colombia for many years, I really enjoyed the reality that Viking described when he decided to head out of Bogota and head north. Initially it all seemed peachy, but as he got further from a city, traffic decreased until he was spookily solo in the middle of nowhere. I get that. That part of the video rings true. I have experienced that and it is indeed "spooky".
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Old Jan 17, 2022, 5:36 am
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I will forgive the title of that show: "Columbia". How anyone gets the budget to do a thing without having to learn the spelling of a countries' name is beyond me...
wrp96, Brandinho1 and Etheereal like this.

Last edited by juddles; Jan 17, 2022 at 5:38 am Reason: speeling
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Old Jan 17, 2022, 5:58 am
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But in any case, I do believe many parts of Vikings story. That he was taken, and later released. It is just the delivery, the reenactments, that I find so false. No doubt things that sell stories and thus used in whatever novels he wrote about the experience.

In this video he is terrorised by ugly bad men that are almost cartoonish in their appearance. They actually seem to be C grade Mexican actors rather than anything remotely similar to Colombians. Brutish thugs. I guess you have to pander to an audience and use things that simpleton audiences will understand.

I forgive Striking Viking. He just used his small experience to gain some fame and no doubt some dollars. This is what people do. And I admire that he eventually managed to get another motorcycle and head own through the far easier stretches of Peru and Chile

Last edited by juddles; Jan 17, 2022 at 5:44 pm Reason: Too much political stuff :)
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Old Jan 25, 2022, 11:09 am
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Try the Expedition Portal
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Old Jan 26, 2022, 4:20 am
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Originally Posted by luangwablondes
luang.., excellent suggestion. But I think the OP in this thread was a one-night wonder and has moved on. But even though the thread was not mine, I did find interest in your post. Thank you
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