Motorcycles are Extremely Useful in Costa Rica
During my years growing up in the United States, I had always wanted a motorcycle. So, once I moved to Costa Rica and had seen how useful and common they are here, I instantly knew I was going to buy one for myself. But just like in the states, you can’t just go give some guy money and poof you got a perfectly street-legal bike.
In Costa Rica, there is a surprising amount of legal work that goes into having a street-legal bike. There is also a bit of work that goes into finding a motorcycle. So when I was buying my motorcycle, I learned the top ways that may be useful to others when shopping for a motorcycle.
Make Your Motorcycle Legal in Costa Rica
Let’s start with all the legal needs for a motorcycle. There are three big ones, Marchamo, RTV (RITEVE), and the title. Each of those is needed or you will risk getting your bike impounded by the police at a security stop for riding dirty.
The easiest way to explain RTV is that it’s like getting emissions in the states, you or someone you pay takes your car to the inspection and if it passes then you have RTV if not then you must fix what is wrong. Marchamo is just like registering your car for license plates in the states. For a better understanding of these two requirements, you can find more information in the Transportation chapter of the book “Cut the Crap and move to Costa Rica”.
Online Options
The most common online options down here are Craigslist and OLX. Most people know of Craigslist so I won’t explain it. Although, I will note that there are not as many products posted in Costa Rica compared to the U.S. For more options to choose from you can download this app called OLX, the classifieds version. This gave me many more bikes to choose from and made it easy to connect with the seller. I highly recommend this for motorcycle or car shopping.
It’s a Process
I personally didn’t want to go through the process to get all of the paperwork and everything when I could just buy a motorcycle with it. Now, this did limit the motorcycles to choose from by about 90% due to the lack of motorcycles that are for sale with the current RTV. I also did not have a time limit with buying my bike so I could wait as long as I needed for a great deal.
Although nothing is stopping you from getting RTV and Marchamo on a bike after you buy it, getting RTV is just an extra step that I luckily did not have to take. But before you worry about that, you need to find a motorcycle. There are three ways to buy a bike that I think are worth trying; online, through a shop, dealership, or a friend.
Motorcycle Shop in Costa Rica
The next way to find a motorcycle or car is to buy it from a dealership or shop. This is personally my least favorite way to shop. I only say that because most shops are way out of my price range (I like cheap stuff).
However, buying from a shop or dealership is probably the safest way to go because the bike will possibly have a warranty and should be in a much more promising condition. With those pros being said, I do wanna say that motorcycle shops are not too common outside of San Jose. The closest one in the Tamarindo area is actually in Villarreal this is just a small Honda shop.
It’s All About Who You Know
I personally bought my motorcycle with the last option, by knowing someone who was selling a bike. Sometimes the best way to find information or a connection is to just constantly be asking around.
You want to make it known you are looking for a motorcycle. It took me about a month and a half to find out that my friend was looking for someone to buy his bike. It then took another month of paperwork due to some issues with the title and who had ownership from the original purchase, but I just said “Pura Vida” and eventually, it all worked out.
Buying My First Motorcycle in Costa Rica
With that being said, this is a bit risky if you don’t know the history of the bike. Personally took that risk and it worked out for me this time. However, I know from personal experience and have seen times when the vehicle has broken down shortly after the purchase, so just make sure to keep that in mind while shopping.
There is a lot to remember and think about when buying a bike, but I can say it is a very common vehicle down here for a few reasons. They are fun, easy to park, and make traffic a breeze. So, with all the work that goes into getting them at times, motorcycles are a big advantage in this country that I would highly recommend!
