Time for an update...



We left Huanchaco and headed north up the coast for a couple of days, staying at Pimental, on the beach near Lambayque where we checked out a couple of museums. Then on through a desert and up the coast further to the tourist town of Mancora. We stayed a couple of nights just enjoying the beach before continuing up into Ecuador. The border was interesting it seems the old border station was not in use anymore so we drove around being confused until eventually following a taxi down the wrong side of the road and then finding that immigration is a few more km down the road. There was a bit of confusion with the border guards until I managed to convey with my broken spanish that I definitly wasn't going to leave the bike in Ecuador, and then they had the paperwork sorted in no time. The guards just laughed at me for having a Chinese bike.

In Ecuador we were planning on going to straight to Loja but took the wrong road and ended up heading south to Alamor. We ended up camping the first night by a Petrified forest park and did and interesting short tour around it the next day, and struggling with the heat decided it was time to head for the mountains. Heading to Loja was our first experience of cloud forest, it was cold, wet and we couldn't see much but we enjoyed it all the same. (not many photos because of this). We stopped in Catamayo just short of Loja as it was already dark, going up hills is slow going on the loaded 250. Next day we headed through Loja and went to Podocarpus National park to camp for the night. Waking up we decided to do a hike for a couple of days, and after 4 hours of rain and cloud we turned back thinking a couple of days of being wet and not seeing much might not be such a great idea.

So we headed north on the bike towards Banos. It was a slow, cold and wet trip for a couple of days in which we didn't see much. Good roads mostly but a lot of up and down and being in cloud most of the time. It had us wishing for better wet weather gear than PVC and me for boots without big holes in them. From Riobamba we took the road that goes right under the volcano Tungurahua. This was a fun road which gets periodically washed out by mudslides from the active volcano. With the visor up you can feel the ash hitting your face. A road crew wanted a dollar for buying cement but our money was far away in the pack so they let us through anyway.



We were in Banos for christmas and stayed a few days to relax and there are some great little rough roads where you can see the volcano and a lot of waterfalls and that sort of thing. On christmas eve it was clear and we could see the volcano sending up smoke so we jumped on the on the bike and blasted up the road to a good viewpoint and caught glimpses of it shooting lava up which was a great show. After Banos we headed to ride the 'Quilitoa circuit' which was a couple of days of great scenery including the Quilitoa crater and rough gravel roads.

By now we'd had enough being cold and wet in the mountains so it was off to Atacames on the beach for new years. Atacames was a just a huge party with about 30 big bars literally on the beach and thousands of Ecuadorians. We were two of the few Gringos there amongst what seemed like half of Quito that had come to the beach. A lot of fireworks, fires, not much sleep and a great new years.




After a couple of days here we hadn't quite had enough of the beach so went for a 4 hour or so ride south to Canoa. A beautiful beach town and after our first night in a disgusting hostal we move to a nicer one, with our room and balcony right on the beach, for $10 night. One night we notice baby sea turtles on the road getting squashed by cars so we end up being up most of the night and taking about 60 baby turtles to the ocean. After we learnt they head towards the lights of town, mistaking them for brighter horizon of the ocean and it's a major issue with sea turtle reproduction.



We hear good things about Mompiche, another beach town back up the coast, from other travellers so head there for a few days of lazing on the beach and a bit of surfing. We asked to buy fish from the fisherman as they came onto the beach but they just give you as many of the fish that are to small to sell as you want. So it was fresh fish grilled on a fire on the beach washed down with healthy amounts of , one of our best meals yet. The only bad part of Mompiche was the hordes of mosquitos, bringing back memories of the Yukon in Canada.

From there we came back inland to Otovalo for the Saturday market. It took us a day and a half with a night in La Independencia on the way. On the way to Otovalo the engine starts losing most of it's power. The 4 different mechanics in the past 2 weeks all said the engine just had a harmless timing chain noise and it was no trouble, but it doesn't seem to have been the case. After struggling into Otovalo a couple of hours after sunset, which involved the 'direct' route as the locals called it from Minas. This was a rough dirt track that the bike struggled in first gear on the uphill with its lack of compression. The only way to start it was by roll starting which was frustrating when the chain fell off a couple of times. It was too late/cold/dark and the tools were packed deep for me to tighten it there so it ended up coming off 2 or 3 times. This was followed by turning the bike around to roll start it and finding somewhere to turn around again on the narrow track. A long day but we made it. Saturday and the market appeared outside the hostal with no way to get the bike out so we had to wait until Monday. Monday comes and I drive around asking for a Mechanic and everyone sends me somewhere else until I get to a mechanic who says he's busy until Friday. I don't feel like waiting a week so I coax the bike into Ibarra, about 20km away and twice the size of Otovalo. The mechanic pulls the top end apart and the piston's burnt and pockmarked and the cylinder is a bit damaged from the piston. So we buy the next oversize piston (the bike uses a honda XL 200 piston) and take the cylinder to be bored out. This can't be done until the next day so it's a bus ride home. I head back on a bus the next day and he as noticed the wristpin hole on the connecting rod is worn so he splits the crankcase and we have to take the rod to get the pin pressed out. The first shop we go to only has a 12 ton press and this isn't enough so we go to the place the a massive old press and at about 4500 psi and everyone hiding encase the bolt spacer comes shooting out the pin finally starts moving. I head with the mechanic to about 8 parts shops and none have the right connecting rod. With mechanics you go with them and buy the parts when they're needed. So they're getting a rod shipped from Guayaquil and the bike will probably be ready Thursday afternoon now. Frustrating but at least Otovalo is a nice town to stay a week in. Total cost so far is $25 Piston kit, $25 Connecting Rod kit, $10 getting the old rod pressed out, $ 20 cylinder bore, $15 new valves and hopefully labour will be under $100.

Sounds like one heck of an adventure! Keep the updates coming!

I love underdog stories, this is a great read! I especially like the details about the problems with the bike. I know that sounds mean, but this is the stuff of legends!

So haven´t had much chance to update this but I´ll see how my memory is.. We ended up in Otovalo for 8 days. A long time to be in Otovalo but got the bike fixed just in time on Friday night. Turns out nowhere had the right connecting rod so I had to buy the complete connecting rod assembeley with bearings and counterwieghts for about $75. Labour for a cople of days work was $50 so I took the nice mechanic who was about my age for grilled meat for dinner.

After this we headed out of Otovalo driving through the market that had sprung up once again as it was Saturday and north towards Colombia. Getting stamped out of Ecuador took a few hours but going into Colombia was quick and easy. We picked up SOAT insurance in Ipiales, the first big city for about $50 for 3 months, and headed north to Pasto.



Post crash, Popyan - San Augustine road.


Next Day was up to Popyan - great scenic ride. Then on the gravel road out to San Augustin. A couple of hours in we had our first proper crash after 6000 KM of riding. It was low speed which was nice, nothing worse than a couple of cut up knees, bent up gear leaver and a bit of damage to the rack. While we were recovering 2 couples on 2 bikes from Medellin in Colombia stopped and gave us some disinfectant and invited us to ride on with them. So a few hours later we made it to San Augustine, keeping up with the V-strom and 650 Firewind I think it was easily on the gravel, but struggling once we hit the pavement. We checked out the statues the next day, Before saying goodbye to our new friends and heading to the Tatacoa Desert, just north of Neiva. Had an incredible camp, if not a bit warm, right in the desert.



Tatacoa Desert, Colombia.



Muddy Tunnel, Colombia.


We figured we should get our visas for Brasil, as it would save us having to go to Caracas to get them so it was off to Bogota. Leaving the Desert, we headed up on a back road for a while, with some fun one lane muddy tunnels near where it joined back up to the main road. When we got to Bogota, it was rebuild the rack time, with about $2 worth of new wood and a $3 stainless steel heat shield (dinner plate) , I cannabilised the old rack and made version 2.0. It turns out we had to wait a couple of weeks for the visas without our passports and we didn´t want to stay in Bogota so it was off to Villa de Levya and then San Gil.

Going to San Gil we took the scenic route (you´d have thought we would have learn´t by now), and end up taking 4 hours to go 100km on a dirt road, passing through a random hippy commune and crashing at night on slippery clay in a thunderstorm. Fun times and we make it to San gil at about 9.30.
In San Gil we relaxed for a couple of days, got a new rear tyre $40, new rear wheel bearings $5 and about 8 new spokes and the rear wheel straightened in a shoe repair shop for about $20. Then it was off to camp a night on the football field of a nearby small town (just down the road from Barricharra), then went to check out the Chicamocha Canyon, it´s a big canyon.



Near Barricharra, Colombia.



Between San Gil and Guican, Colombia.



El Cocuy, Colombia.

Still having time to kill, we met some random girls at our hostel who wanted to do the 6 day El Cocuy circuit hike. So we sorted out food in San Gil and we drove a day east to Guican while the girls bussed there to go for a walk. We decided against a guide as we really don´t like guided walks so we got dropped off at the road end with a map printed off the internet and set off. After a few cold nights in the tent camping above 4000m we survived. We all had a great time and saw some incredible views, you don´t usually go to Colombia to see glaciers.




Then back to Bogota to get our passports, the striking truck drivers kindly letting us through their roadblocks. After a night in Tunja we get to Bogota in the morning and get told we can only get our passports between 2-4pm, so off to a parts shop for a new rear disc brake. It had been a bit off and on and gave up in Bogota traffic, made for some fun riding. It was about $70. Then back to pick up our passports which now have visas and out ofthe city. We hit friday afternoon rush hour traffic, and after a lot of lane splitting and footpath riding we made it out of the city. Finding a hotel in La Vega just after dark with the steering starting to sieze is nice. Heading off the next day, the bike reminds me it needs the steering sorted so we stop at the next town and get a complete new bearing and race set put in for $25 and on to Manizales to get in in the rain an hour after dark where we are now.

I tried adding photos via picasa, but it didn´t work, will try again tomorrow.

Heres an album if anyones interested with some photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/1149519...eat=directlink

I still can´t seem to figure out how to add a couple here.

Bloody hell, what a ride!!

Chad, Loving this ride report, keep it going!!!

__________________
'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

what a trip. Your girlfriend/pinion must really really really love you. You both are made of the right stuff. Your adventure is more than a once in a lifetime IMHO, it's one in a million lifetimes.

But riding a motorcycle made in China that has parts available on every continent, in every country, city, town and village AND it can be repaired by cheap untrained local village mechanics, your missing all the high drama, stress, anxiety and expense of breaking down on a big brand name touring bike .
I'm hooked on your ride, keep it coming.

Following you all the way. Been to that part of the world riding. Keep in mind, if something feels wrong it is probably wrong, bike-wise or people-wise. Sounds like a great adventure.

Hmmm, so life has been pretty hectic the last few months and I got lazy, but I thought I’d write an update before I forget everything that happened.



Cathedral, Manizales.


So, after Manizales we headed north, up to Medellin. Found Medellin to be a really nice city, stayed for a few days to relax and recharge before keeping on heading north, through Monteria to go for a swim in a mud volcano near Arboletes. This was one of the nicer mud volcanoes on the Colombian coast we decided as we had the whole thing to ourselves for most of the time, not needing to crawl over other gringos to get anywhere like the one near Cartegena.



Mud volcano, Arboletes.


From Arboletes it was time to head north again towards Cartegena, staying for a night in a dodgy love hotel somewhere along the way as it was getting scary riding with a very average headlight.
We found Cartegena nice, apart from the city smelling like urine. (I think it was all the horse and carriages and the lack of wind because of the walls around the city). I decided it was time to get a new rear shock here as I was sick of the back tyre eating through the rear mudguard/airbox whenever we hit a bump. This ended up being a bit of a nightmare but I eventually found one that fit, or so i thought. It ended up being too long so when I put it on, it looked like I had some sort of freak drag racing motorbike. I couldn’t touch the ground and it felt I was going over the bars the while sitting on it. After having a good laugh with the guys at the bike shop, I realised that there was no way I was getting any money back. The guys at the shop decided cutting and welding it would work. With not much in the way of money or options I went along with it. So we walk a km or so to the welding guy, interrupting him from watching ‘the mask of zorro’ (i’m sure for the third time that day). So he puts it in a vice, cuts it, the thing explodes and almost takes a few of us out with flying springs and bits of metal. Turns outs he had cut it below the thread that was holding it together. Not to worry, we find the pieces, put it in a press to dodgily hold it together as he welds it. The welding cables were all exposed wires and the earth cable wasn't long enough, so he just clipped it to a 3m piece of rebar that he could lie so one end was on a metal table. I’m there cringing, looking the other way while he does his welding. Looks ok in the end (still in one piece after 10,000+ km now). So we head back to the bike, put the shock on and its still a bit high, so we all laugh again and the mechanic gives me a bit of 4x2 to put under the kickstand so the bike won't fall over with the now too short kick stand. Fixed. Slightly annoyed by then but it's getting late so I just go. Off I ride, a bit scared with a super high back end, not really knowing what to do and a $100 or so poorer. Getting back to the hostel, Kyla comes in and looks at me and the bike strangely, I shrug my shoulders and laugh with not much else to do. We end up spending a couple of hours loosening off the preload with a wrench as a screwdriver and a flathead screwdriver. A fellow motorcycle traveller advises us that this change of geometry may affect handling, but we decide to wing it anyway.






Somethings not right.



While we were in Cartegena we also very briefly met Graham Murray, a Canadian/American who was travelling around on a Yamaha 125, having the time of his life. I recently heard the incredibly sad news that he was murdered camping in Ecuador. My condolences to his family and friends.



After Cartegena we headed up the coast to Taganga, a gringo village on the beach right beside Santa Marta. We had a great relaxing week or so here, got a bit of scuba diving in, and checked out Carnival in Barranquilla.



Room in Taganga.


Then it was on eastwards to Riohacha, enjoying the cheap gasoline sold on the side of the road which is smuggled in from Venezuela. In Riohacha we ran into a Vallenato music festival, nice if you like really, really loud accordion music. There’s only so much of that you can take. Running away from this, we headed off towards Venezuela, not really knowing what to expect.

Entering Venezuela through the Maicao border, we had forgotten it was a Saturday. Days loose meaning on the road. We got our entry stamps just fine, with the border guy helpfully informing us that the drugs and hookers in Venezuela were the best in South America and stamping Kyla with an out instead of an in stamp. Judging by his eyes and the way he was acting he had been sampling some of these drugs. Next stop, at customs to get papers for the bike, I was informed that the office wouldn’t be open until Monday. Crap. Plan B comes into action: knock on the door for half an hour until someone comes out, looking pissed off. Eventually with 100 bolivars help (about $12) I convince him to start up the computers and sort out the paperwork.

Finally getting away from the border we head towards Maracaibo. The roads are good and after an hour or so we get stopped at a checkpoint. They have a x-ray scanner, just like at airports, but mounted on a truck. We have to unload our bags and send them through. Really wasn’t excepting that but we had no trouble except for having to unpack and repack the bike. We get to Maracaibo running out of petrol as the petrol stations on the way were all out of petrol. They let us cut the queue as we were on a moto, then we have no small change to pay so the attendant just gives us the tank. Petrol for about 1 cent a litre is a new experience for us. We head off looking for a cheap hotel, eventually finding one a couple of hours after dark and after getting knocked off the bike by a car. I think we were both at fault but we didn’t end up too badly, just a snapped brake lever, flooded engine and us a bit shaken up with a few scratches. Good thing we bought those knee pads.

The next day is a Sunday, so it ends up being a bit of a mission to find somewhere to change money. The best way to work the money system in Venezuela is taking as much $us in cash as you will need and changing it on the black market. This means you get 8 to 8.5 Bolivars to the Dollar instead of about 4 if you go to a bank. So after riding around for an hour or so looking for somewhere thats open that will change money on a Sunday, asking at pawn shops, cash loan shops and clothing stores I eventually get pointed to a betting sports bar. Initially they won’t let me in because of the dress code because I am wearing jandals (flip flops for non-New Zealanders) and shorts. Eventually they do because I tell them I have us$500 to change and I am escorted to the managers office for the transaction. It goes smoothly, I get 8.5 to 1 which is quite good, gringo hostals do about 7.5 to 1. Then its back to the hotel to pick up Kyla and our gear, me feeling like I’ve just been in some big drug deal.



Maracaibo.


We finally head off over the 9km long bridge to the other side of the lake and down the eastern side of the lake. It feels strangely like a slightly older USA, with a lot of American vehicles and a McDonalds in every small town. There are also a hell of a lot of oil wells as this is one of the most oil rich parts of Venezuela. We ride around the lake, it’s the largest in South America I think, only getting lost in an oil field once before heading into the mountains towards Merida . It starts getting dark so we spend the night on the outskirts of Valera, having been through about 12 police checkpoints, seeing 50 odd promotional billboards for Chavez and quite a few statues of Simon Bolivar that day.

Next day we head up over the pass to Merida, not quite realising that there is a pass at over 4000m and almost getting frost bitten once again as the weather decides to sleet/snow on us higher up and rain on us lower down. We limp into Merida in the early stages of hypothermia and end up staying in Posada Guamanchi. The guys here were incredibly hospitable and helpful, especially Chino, one of the staff members. After recovering here for a day or two I replace the very worn chain and sprockets on the bike and fix the holes in the airbox with super glue and foam from our only, already too small, bedroll.



Waterfall near La Azulita.


Next day we leave most of our gear at the posada and head of towards Lake Maracaibo. We take the scenic route there via La Azulitia, and see a whole lot of cloud and more cold rain. Down in the warmer lower altitudes heading towards El Vigia, traffic on the road is not moving, and after passing 10km of stopped vehicles with some creative riding we reach the obstruction. There was a landslide that had just finished being cleared so we sailed on through after about 5 mins wait instead of 5 hours. I love motorcycles.

More coming shortly...

Awesome story. IMHO the cheap Chinese bike doesn't seem like it's all THAT unreliable when you look at the heavy load you're asking it to carry!

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

After a night in El Vigia and getting the bent rear wheel straightened the next morning, we headed out to Puerto Concha, where we could get a boat out to the fishing village of Congo on Lake Maracaibo. Out here you can see the Catatumbo lighting phenomenon. Congo was an interesting village, built on stilts on the edge of the lake. About two out of three nights a year you can see the lighting, which is over the same place near the lake every time. There are a few theories about this but no one is really sure why it happens. We got luckly and saw the lightning, not it’s most impressive display apparently, but still lightning. On the way there and back we also saw monkeys, tucans, freshwater dolphins and a whole lot of other wildlife. Back in Puerto Concha, we headed to Merida for a another couple of days rest.



Congo.



Congo.


In Merida we did a lot of sleeping and tried out the ice cream shop with the most flavours in the world. I got gristle in my steak ice cream and tried Viagra flavour, while Kyla didn’t really like the rice grains in her arroz con pollo (rice and chicken). Chino from Posada Guamanchi told us where some back roads were in Los Llanos that would be fun to ride with lots of caiman and capybara to see, so we thought we’d head that way.


Next day we loaded up and head headed back up to about 4000m before dropping down into Barinas. We had a very close call that day with a car pulling out to pass a truck, not seeing us and coming within a few metres of a head on collision. Sometimes things remind you that even at 21 you’re not bulletproof. We spent that night in a small town in Los Llanos called San Silvestre, having given a cop $2 to stop harassing us on the way. Los Llanos is a huge, flat, mostly dry area through the centre of Venezuela that is mostly used for cattle ranching. In the dry season huge amounts of birds, caiman and capybara are concentrated around the few remaining water holes.



Upgrade?



Rio Orinoco Ferry.



On the Ferry.


From San Silvestre we headed south on a slowly degrading road that ended up being a one lane sandy track by the time we got to the Rio Apure. The Apure is quite a large river but there is a family that lives on the bank operating the ferry. It was quite an interesting ferry, with a one medium vehicle sized platform on a couple of pontoons and a dugout canoe with an outboard motor tied to it for power and steering. Over the other side, after helping a local fix a flat, we headed off for a 2 hour ride in the wrong direction on a crappy road in the very hot sun. Nice scenery but it turns out our map wasn’t the most accurate one in the world and gps for me is looking at the sun and mumbling to myself. It’s easy to lose your sense of direction when it’s so flat, a new experience for me. So a 2 hour ride back to where we were after realising the road we wanted didn’t exist. Then we tried the other way. Not long after heading down this road there were big water holes running parallel to the road filled with literally thousands of caiman and hundreds of capybara. There were so many Caiman around there were a lot of road kill caiman just flattened in the middle of the road. As it was getting late we noticed a tour group pulling into to a compound for the night. We asked and they gave us a cheapish room for the night with a bunch of other gringos who had paid for a 3 day wildlife tour from Merida. The next day they let us ride around the ranch behind the jeep on a wildlife spotting tour. This was quite amusing for us and for the bunch of Russians paying for the tour.



On the road.



Caiman.



Caiman + Pig



Capybara.



Sunset, those aren't stick in the water.



We headed east out to the main road and on towards San Fernando de Apure. Just finding a petrol station in time before we ended up pushing. Then an expensive but air conditioned restaurant as we were about to pass out from heat exhaustion/dehydration in the 30+ degree weather. After some amount of recovering we hit the road again towards San Fernando, only getting stopped and our papers checked at about 4 military checkpoints. The soldiers were generally very nice and gave us iced water at a couple of the stops while mostly not pointing their big guns at us. Eventually we find a hotel just after dark that there has been an attempt at some point to make look like a castle. And its rotisserie chicken takes away for dinner again (about $3 for a whole chicken).
With the cheap fuel in mind and enjoying the open road we decide to head the long way to Ciudad Bolivar, via Puerto Ayacucho. So it’s south towards the jungle, on a road we soon christen ‘the road of death’. This was due to the intense heat, dryness and sheer amount of dead animals, birds and plants everywhere. It seemed quite mad-max post apocalyptical for awhile there. We somehow survived and made it to Puerto Paez, where there is a ferry across the Orinoco River. It was a nice ride over with river dolphins swimming alongside us. Over the other side we got hassled for half an hour at another military checkpoint, but at least they gave us more iced water. Then it’s on down to Puerto Ayacucho through another few checkpoints, to find another crappy hotel for the night.



Road of dead things.


We wake up cold in the air-conditioned hotel, even the cheap crappy hotels in Venezuela mostly have air-con. Then head off for a morning ride down to check out some big petroglyphs on an even bigger rock. Sweet. On the way back we stop by a river and I jump in fully clothed. Jeans, boots and everything. It’ll be nice to be cool for awhile. Coming back into town we look for a new odometer cable as ours had given up a couple of thousand km ago. No one has one with the right fitting and we figure it unnecessary so we move on back up the road. It’s getting on in the day, but we decide to hit the road anyway. Get caught for a long time at a couple of the military checkpoints on the way out of town, but end up getting through fine without paying anyone. Eventually we make it into a town that I can’t remember the name of that was between Puerto Ayacucho and Caicara del Orinoco a couple of hours after dark, suitably exhausted after playing dodge potholes at night with a shitty headlight. After another rotisserie chicken dinner it’s straight to sleep in a $6 a night love hotel.



Petroglyphs.



Swim Time.


Trying for an early start ended up being a bit meaningless, as we have to wait a couple of hours at the only petrol station to get more petrol. But not to worry, we are on the road before midday and headed north. A couple of hours riding later I’m coming over bridge at top speed (90Km/h) and don’t quite see a big pothole. On the plus side we didn’t crash and didn’t blow the tyre, just put a nice big flat spot in the front wheel and a big dent/crack in the rear rim. Also blew my nice new shock (still haven't got around to replacing it 10,000 km later, nice and bouncy.) Makes for a lovely bumpity-bump limp into Caicara for a couple of hours. Getting into town its Siesta time so no bike shops are open. That means lunch before dark for once for us. Then eventually we find a group of a bout 10 people working on bikes in a vacant lot. This is where the bike mechanics work in this town I’m told. So we hang out under a tree, one of the guys sells me a slightly narrower rim for about $15 that he’d taken off his bike when he bought it to put cool purple ones on. And another puts it on and hammers the front rim back into shape. Sorted. It’s getting on in the afternoon but we want to get out of town so hit the road anyway. It starts getting dark half an hour later, maybe not the best decision but oh well. Eventually we make it to Maripa, too long after dark and quite tired. Finding a crappy over priced hotel, Kyla goes to sleep while I find food from the only open shop in town. Tomorrow it’s off to Ciudad Bolivar for a couple days rest then a trip to Angel Falls.



Bang.



You see some different things riding at night.

loving the ride report, how did the rest of it go??

One of the best reports i have read for a long time, keep it up and ride safe.. ( would make a great book ).
Looking forward to the next installment, Barry

Would love to hear more, especially about the chinese bike!
Despite reading about your engine problems, for some reason I've just bought and started preparing a chinese bike for a 3 month trip from Paraguay, via Peru and ending in Chile. I must be a sucker for punishment.

Did you have any more bike problems? (can you tell I'm nervous about it?) I expect to leave in 3 more days.

Your report inspired me to start one of my own, Making it up on a motorbike. | China's 2 wheeled revenge on Latin America..

I hope to hear back from you!
Chur cuz, keep it real.

P.S, your bike looks frighteningly like mine...!

__________________
For more silly comments like the one above, visit
www.makingituponamotorbike.wordpress.com