Motorcycles For Sale
Buy and sell motorcycles in Guatemala.
A Suzuki GN125 with a steel rack on the back is still what most people here picture when they think of a work bike, but it shares the road with Honda Navi automatics, Bajaj and Hero commuters and long-legged dual-sport bikes built for unpaved roads. New bikes from dealers and pre-owned ones from their owners sit side by side, from a first 100 cc commuter to a 650 cc adventure machine. A used bike is only as good as its papers, so the questions that matter come before the test ride: whose name is on the registration card, and whether the bike is fully paid off.
From the 100 cc work bike to the trail bike:
most Guatemalan bikes come in one of three shapes, separated by the gearbox and the wheels. The work bike is a 100 to 150 cc single with a manual box, a rack and a seat built for a passenger or a sack of something; the Suzuki GN125 and AX4, the Bajaj Boxer and the Hero Eco are the familiar ones. The scooter, such as the Honda Navi or the Suzuki Avenis, trades the gears for a CVT automatic and small wheels, easy in Mixco or Villa Nueva traffic and unhappy on loose stone. Dual-sport bikes like the Honda XR150L or the Suzuki DR150 add spoked wheels, long suspension and the clearance to keep a rutted dirt road rideable after rain. Naked bikes like the Pulsar and the Gixxer sit above them, with the big adventure bikes at the top. Whichever you buy, set money aside for a chain kit or tyres from motorcycle parts, and look through motorcycles if the bike needs kitting out too.
Engine size and the climbs of the western highlands:
cubic centimetres count for more here than on flat ground. A 100 or 110 cc bike is cheap to run around town, but with a passenger or a load on the long grades towards Quetzaltenango, Sololá or Huehuetenango it labours, and the step up to 150 cc is the one worth paying for. If you leave the asphalt every day, look at clearance and tyres before power: a dual-sport on knobbly tyres gets through mud that stops a street bike of the same size.
Japanese, Indian and Chinese motorcycles, priced side by side:
the badge moves the price more than the engine does. A new 100 to 150 cc work bike from Hero, Bajaj or one of the Chinese brands starts around Q9,000 to Q11,000, while a Japanese 125 from Suzuki or Honda sits nearer Q16,000 to Q19,000. Japanese bikes hold their value better, because their parts are in every town: a small Honda or Suzuki automatic two or three years old with low kilometres still changes hands around Q8,500 to Q11,500. A cheaper brand loses value faster, and faster still once its parts get hard to find.
Papers, chassis numbers and a cold start on a used motorcycle:
check the bike’s identity before its engine: the registration card and certificate of ownership should be in the seller’s own name and match the chassis and engine numbers on the frame and the crankcase; a number that looks filed, re-stamped or painted over is a reason to walk away. Police roadside checks stop motorcycles all the time and recover stolen ones that way. Ask too whether the bike was bought on credit, and for the paperwork showing it has been paid off. Then read the wear. Hooked teeth on the rear sprocket mean a chain kit is due. A dull note when you tap a spoke means it is loose, and play when you push the swingarm sideways means tired bearings. Ask the seller not to warm it up before you arrive, try the kickstart as well as the button, and ride it up a slope to feel for a slipping clutch. A bike that has done delivery work shows it in a scuffed rack, a sagging seat and kilometres that climb fast for its age.
Writing up a motorcycle with its papers in order:
buyers in Guatemala scan for the same few facts, so state them plainly: papers in order and in your name, circulation tax paid, single owner, dealer services, and whether you want cash only or would take a swap. Add year, engine size and kilometres, and photograph both sides, the odometer, the sprocket and every scrape. Name the town, whether Cobán, Chimaltenango or Jalapa, because few people cross departments to look at a work bike, and expect the first message to ask whether the transfer of ownership can be done the same day.