This is old news to some   yeah go and get one.  Some time ago I was approached as a suitable travelling companion for an overseas motorcycling adventure.
Long story long, what started as a 12 month, whole of the world, do-it-yourself Ducati Multistrada mounted ride has now condensed into a   pre-planned, pre-organised, bring your own bike if you want to or pay lots to hire our BMW's, 4 month all in trip around all of (yep ALL OF) South America.   [moto] [moto] [moto] Tonight I booked said adventure   [moto]
So yeah now I have to quit bumming around and get a job to pay for this  

The investigation begins:

My plan is to purchase a Hypermotard 796 (cos I'm short) and put the cycleworks 26L tank on it (researched by Betty - thanks mate  ). Ducati may bring out something different between now and when the trip starts (Feb 2013) - not holding my breath on that tho (and I do plan on checking out BMWs in the meantime but I think I may need leg extensions!!  )

I will be asking for heaps of advice between then and now.  But for starters I want to do a cost analysis on bike shipping.  So I'm looking for info on shipping a bike from Oz to Chile.  Anybody out there have any knowledge to share??

Muchas gracias, Amigos. Buenas noches y llevar en el cuy asado! yum yum  

And if you can't find a meaningful translation for cuy asado, just ask, I haz photos 

wow..
that sounds awsome,something I've always wanted to do myself!
I'm very jealous!   

Best info for motorcycle travel
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/index.shtml

Latest Australian Road Rider has an "Adventure Bike Comparo" in which they rate the Multi, R1200GS, Yamaha Super Tenere & BMW F800GS. Probably worth a read.

Big thing is if you hire a bike you don't need to ship it nor do you need to fix it if it breaks!

Do a ride day with one of the bigger outlets (doing a BMW ride day today) to check out the bikes before you commit.

Good Luck 

 
  Sorry, I have no helpfull info, but .  .  .
  Well done. What a great trip to look forward to, am totally jealous.

   

QuoteBuenas noches y llevar en el cuy asado! yum yum 

  So you're gonna carry guinea pigs with you ?
  Or you're gonna eat them ? ( Oh Heather, how could you ! )

I'd have to agree with MD on just hiring one of the BMW's on offer.
I am sure one way or another they can help you with ride height and fitting you on the bike.
Best of all they will have to take care of you and the bike for the duration of the trip.
If you were doing your original year long self guided tour then it would be worth you shipping your own bike or buying a bike over there.
For a 4 month trip and the extra premium it might cost of using there kit the peace of mind for you to just enjoy the trip and scenery instead of hoping that nothing goes wrong.

I was looking at the BMW's last week and might go and ride the F800GS shortly.
I know we all love our Ducati's here and like to keep as much in the family as possible but sometimes it might be better to look at more appropriate machinery for what could be a pretty bumpy and fun  adventure.

That sounds awsome heather, as well as horizonsunlimited check out advrider for ride reports from south america.

Agree with the others, for all the hassle involved in shipping a bike form oz,  it is probably easier to go with the hire bike option. Also if something goes wrong, availabilty of parts or a mechanic experienced with ducs could be hard to come by.

Awesome adventure Heather. Very envious.....

Hey are you going to be able to blog the trip with periodic updates including pics for us all to droll over? 

Shipping of my own bike is included in the cost and part of the  " pre-planned, pre-organised" bit.  I was just curious how much of the fee accounts for the shipping.

Riders are required to take the usual spares for their bike.

There is a sherpa (Landcrusier troopy) to take all spares (and luggage too) and a trailer for broken bikes (if needed).

There will be at least one bike mechanically minded person on the trip (not a mechanic though) And I plan to find someone to teach me a little about bush mechanics before then.

There are Ducati dealers in several places we visit.

Cost to hire BMW 800GS for the four months just about covers the Hyper purchase price. (Not sure what the leg extensions will cost me )

If I do go with the Hyper option, I will be running it in here in Oz hopefully long before the trip starts and hopefully ironing out any bugs. And changing the rear wheel bearings 

It's not a Dakar trip.  Some rough tarmac roads, some gravel yes - but NO SAND (apparently) and no off road riding required.

Blogging the trip?  Hope so.  New technology and camera gear are on the wish list. Will have to work on my computer skills.  May need to bug you for help there Trev.

Thanks for the websites 748s and Ollie.  I have been doing lots of reading for a few years now. (And lots of dreaming to go with it.)

Carrying guinea pigs on a motorbike would be cruel.  Eating them?  Well have done it before and not saying I won’t again. 

I’m not ruling out riding a bike of a different brand.  But it would be nice to do the trip on something a bit different to the norm.  And it
would be nice to be able to reach the ground.

¡Cuy es delicioso con una cerveza o dos!

Heather,
it may be worth checking if you can get an F800GS. It may be a little tall, but I know that they do shorten them. My Sherpa is the F650GS(same motor as the 800, just de-tuned), but it's also a little shorter. They're also twins, which helps IMHO. I would have preferred to get the 800GS for the extra suspension travel, spoked rims, etc. but I have a read of people doing Sth America on the F650GS(twin, not the singles). If you're ever up this way, you could try mine out - no worries, with a helmet on, no-one will recognise you!! 

Another good site is advrider.com - lots of bike plus trip plus travel type info.

Quote from: brimo on March 26, 2011, 08:46:21 PM
¡Cuy es delicioso con una cerveza o dos!

Hmn I don't remember it being delicious - but then I wasn't drinking beer at the time.   

and

it looks like I'd better organise a test ride on a BMW as well as the Hyper.  Oh well, life's tough.  [moto]

QuoteShipping of my own bike is included in the cost and part of the  " pre-planned, pre-organised" bit.  I was just curious how much of the fee accounts for the shipping.

Riders are required to take the usual spares for their bike.

There is a sherpa (Landcrusier troopy) to take all spares (and luggage too) and a trailer for broken bikes (if needed).

There will be at least one bike mechanically minded person on the trip (not a mechanic though) And I plan to find someone to teach me a little about bush mechanics before then.

There are Ducati dealers in several places we visit.

Cost to hire BMW 800GS for the four months just about covers the Hyper purchase price. (Not sure what the leg extensions will cost me )

If I do go with the Hyper option, I will be running it in here in Oz hopefully long before the trip starts and hopefully ironing out any bugs. And changing the rear wheel bearings   

    Well, knowing that, I would go the hyper. 

i dunno about chile but try www.getrouted.com.au

dave will give you the good info including insurance