Boston to Buenos aires
 

I plan to take my 88 r100gs from northern US to hopefullly to most southern part of argentina.

Boston to Buenos aires
 

Still in full preperation to get the bike and paperwork ready. Slowly everything comes together, which is nice because my eagerness to leave seems to grow. Today i will go for a little test ride for normally two days to black tock state park in NY. Attachment 15966


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This is a great travell!!


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

Attachment 16007
Preperatiom are reaching their end. I have done all the thing on my bike i wanted to do. Turned out the oil filter change was not that difficult to do, at least if nothing happens to the bike in the near future. Two days ago i had a nice ride to Rome NY, and got a glance at what riding a bike for 8 hours means; yours ass get soar!


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Best of luck, Bram. I'll be vicariously following you.

bier

Great having you stay with us the first night of your "BIG ADVENTURE!" Bram; good luck and we'll be following along. If you run into any problems along the way, let us know and we will do our best to help you out.:helpsmilie:

"The Ride Is Never Long Enough!":mchappy:

JC/Jeff/SoPaRider & KC/Karen/SoPaGuider

'96 DR350/441SET
'07 DL650AK7 V-Strom (wee-strom)
'09 DR650SE (K9)

Bram

We just found a ride report on ADVRider that you might find interesting?!
Check out Silverfin; 2 up to South America on a Super Tenere. Page 1/post 1 has Carl & Kathleen already in Mexico on 5 November 2014. Go to page 12 and post 226 for useful info on traveling "South Of The Boarder!" We'll past on any other ride reports that we think will be of help to you over the days, weeks and months ahead!:scooter:

JC/Jeff/SoPaRider & KC/Karen/SoPaGuider

South Central PA

First couple days: its great!
I rode off to NY meet mitch without any trouble but my generator light that would not turn off. I figure as long as the engine is running why bother. Had a great goat stew roti at mitch place and was feeling like the trip was really about to get started. Mitch had planned a nice route to PA. Here is mitch and his victory Attachment 16090

That night we stayed at jeff and karen place were we had a great dinner and they showed us there collection of many different things: razors, picture frames you name it they had plenty off it. It was really nice to see how easy it is to get in touch with people who share the passion about riding a bike and doing long distance traveling. Next day we took if me still thinking every was going to be easy and most worries from other people where could be ingored and the ride was going to be nice and smooth. I mean putting 40k km on a car in a year does not give much hustle so why should a bike?
As we where heading to skyline drive i was confronted with the fact of how much of an unexperienced driver i am espacilly on curvy. Long story short i ended up on the pavement for several reasons at about 20mph. The bike took the hit and started up fine. Some air was leaking but mitch lucky had a piece of gum and he plugged the hole which got us back on the road with some delays. Here is mitchs gum


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Attachment 16091 and the safety bars that got a little lighter Attachment 16092. Next was skyline drive or three hours of twisty road with beatifull landscapes. Attachment 16093 and a picture of jeff on the bike Attachment 16094.
At the end of skyline drive my battery was empty/dead. Luckily mitch gave me a little lesson in mecanics and told me you can charge a battery with the help of any car and some jumper cables. This gave me enough power to reach the place he was staying at another couple of bike enthusiastics. I was able to give it a proper charger over night but was unable to reach my cousin tom who was just a couple miles away. It was great to get to a place where other people help you out with a meal a bed and some mechanical advice. At the end of a long day there is no energy left to take care of it yourself. Thanks you Nora and Ray i was very happy to be able torecharge myself and the bike. !Attachment 16096


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Last day of riding before some days of rest. As i had fully charged the batterry i was crossing my fingers that it would hold the almost 400 mile ride. Ray had given me an adress of a shop that would be able to have a good look at the bike which i planned to go to as soon as i got to robinsville NC. It turned out that the battery did not hold and you also need to get gas from time to time. Micth ran out of gas without me noticing and i with my spare gallon of gas was not able to help him since i was ahead of him. As happy that i was to him helping me i was not able to return it when he needed it. Really sorry about that and i will shamefully carry the reputation of jeremy clarkson for the rest of the trip

In the 70's it was a popular mod to use a garden tractor battery for more amps cheap, I think it needed to be a reverse polarity to be oriented right, piece of angle off the foot peg bracket for support.

Boston to Buenos aires
 

After a weekend full of information in robinsville NC at the horizons unlimted meeting. I had to start worrying a about my chargung issue again. After 50 miles riding fine, the generator light was back on again and the next morning the shop i went to earlier was closed. I had just wasted 80 dollars on a fix that did no last very long. I figured i will try to ride to nashville and replace the diode assembly board myself based on some info found onlineAttachment 16170 with a replacement part from thunderchild. As i was blasting over the instate to Nashville at maximum speed (without wanting to stop in order to limit the battery usage at a bare minumum , my headlight off, and refraining to use my blinkers as much as possible) at 80mph a state the trooper flagged me down for the headlights. He did seem kind of disappointed when i handed over my dutch licence. And as I asked if he wanted to see my passport as well he allready handed my paperwork back saying "nah, just make sure you have that healight fixed and drive safely". It's nice to be abroad so you can pretend you do not understand and get away with it.
Now for Nashville there is not much i did besides being a tourist and waiting for the part. Of course from all the national holidays this weekend had one and i had to wait anorther day. Thursday i was ready at 9 am sitting in front of the mailbox. Attachment 16167 the old diode board was out and within two hours i had fixed my bike without needing a mecanic to send me an expensive bill for labor. Nice! it seemed that i was finally going to have a trip without trouble.
Friday october we are back on the road: tenesee, missipi and arkansas are on our way. It is amazing to see how the landscape can change in a dayfrom a twisty mountain road to a flat straight line that continues for an hour with only some curves to cut around the fields. How awesome my 1988 bike runs is nice to think about on a day that evolves as smoothly as it can with no major problems. On the downside of that i have not much to tell about the ride. When we got to get to helena arkensas whoever i start being worried again and hoped that our overnight stay not be to much hustle. As we pull up to the house gregg walks over with a beer in his hands and right there i knew this was a place were would get a nice rest. Gregg quickly talked us in to go see some live music at a local bar, which happen to be open for the first time and had an suprisingly interior which i would not have thought to find in helena arkansas. Attachment 16168Attachment 16169

Boston to Buenos aires
 

Beside a large collection of old cameras Attachment 16171 Attachment 16172 Gregg is a fellow bmw r100gs rider and he had a newer 1989 model. As it turned out he knew that the lability of the airhead is not very big when it comes to the diode board and he had the part i had been waiting for during five days in his garage. What are the odds waiting in nashville for a part and our next host happens to have the part in stock and know a lot about the problem.

Next day we leave helena behind and another couples of enormous farms cross our path. Everything is so big and flat that you lose reference of time and space. You might see a truck approaching which is 10 miles away from you and you come across fields that stretch for more than ten miles. It gives a strange idea and suddenly i realize that is because the trip has finally brought me to an environment which is complety unkown to me. Driving for half an hour before crossing a town i start to think. How unconventient would it be to be stuck here with no gas having to walk to the next house to ask for help. You can probably spend three hours before your back on the road if you know how to fix any issue you encounter. Could i imagine getting a flat around here?? Yes i can because as it seems on this trip i am not able to travel for more than one day without a problem concerning the bike. Today it was a flat tire. And this time i though i knew what to do because i had prepared myself for this. It turns our that fixing a flat is not always straight forward and is not the moment to be cheap and cut the filler in two to safe material the plug will not hold for long and you will strand along the road again. And the CO2 kits? They are crap the vent could not hold the pressure and did not inflate the tire at all. Again there was mitch to the rescue who had brought a mini generator. Which i could directly branche on my newly installed modified cigarette lighter adapter. That i pulled out of an old car.

Boston to Buenos aires
 

Attachment 16173 all together we had to stop 5 times to reinflate /check /replug the tires. Attachment 16174. Turned out that a short smooth day turned into another adventure and we barely made it at mikes place before sun down. He took us to a local restaurant where I had some crocodile and local cajun food. Attachment 16175. But without the obstacles the trip would not be so much of an adventure and it is good to learn/see no matter how much preparation the environment will determine how the day will go.

Last state in the US (Texas)
 

Low milage ride today. Before leaving shreveport and mike behind we have a nice breakfast at waffle house. Turns out fast food for breakfast is not that bad. Before we hit the road we have to find a tire shop to inflate my tire as is seems impossible to get the correct pressure with the compressors at the gas stations. BMW has made it such that there is very little space to put the compressor nozzle on the valve. Without a nozzle that makes an angle of 90 degrees it very difficult to get 40 psi in the tires. Another lesson i learned from the flat tire is buy a compressor from the beging. I wasted 50 bucks on a hand pump and Co2 cartridges that are good for trash now. Most people get a nice 10 dollar air compressor from wall mart and it worked as expectedt so far. The ride got us into Texas where we stop in the middle of an isolated road to capture that milestone. Nice thing about our long distance trip is the people you meet on the road and at gas stations. This guy we met in mineola was so enthousistic about our journey i though he would jump on his bike and join us right away. Nice! Arriving in dallas at my friend jacob and his wife lacey we had an nice meal and a place to rest for a day. The mexican border is coming closer and we use this time to figured out the best way to cross the border the smoothest way. Most likely will will stay in brownsville to cross first thing in the morning this Thursday. On our way there we make a stop near austin to get a rear tire for a good deal.
Sorry no picutres for now i will try to upload the later if i can find a way around the upload quota

Here are the pics. Attachment 16196Attachment 16197Attachment 16198Attachment 16199Attachment 16200

Well that was another eventfull week. From dallas to austin there was nothimg much to say about the road but a very big gas station (More than hunderd pumps)and a little detour at a tire shop for a rear tire of mine. Attachment 16211 Attachment 16212 As i was trying to fix my blinkers, mitch went in the shop and came back outside telling me that i need to hurry up because there was a probably mispriced tire that would fit my rim and i could get for a good deal (40 bucks). Back on our way with the tire we arrived in austin where we were received with a couple of beers by caleb and jackieAttachment 16214Attachment 16213. As we had cooled down from our day ride in the texan sun we decided to go to a creek. In the dark we decided to walk in what we perceived as something that had more the appearance of a sewer system. So there you find yourself in the middle of the night crawling to a water stream that felt more like going thru other peoples backyard. How did i and up here? How can you imagine that visting austin will be something like that.

After a good shower the next morning we departed for the last day in the US to cross the border in aville. Again there is not much to say about texas roads but straight lines without anything for 60 miles as you cross the kings ranch. After a quick belt replacement on mitch bike on a parking lot Jules and his wife gave us a warm welcome and a last taste of being in the US.

It had finally arrived:
The first border crossing with the bike. I heard so many storries and was quite worried. Once on the other side i did not want to stop for a least 100 miles. The paperwork was a piece of cake although i did tell the officer that i was planning to stay in mexico for a month probably and after some pressure from mitch he agreed to give me a longer 180 day visa. Attachment 16215
I got a nice shiny sticker to put on the bike and within two hours we where back on the road. After riding for a while we figured we needed gas and before that we needed money. Close to the border there are not many gas stations and even less atms. Next city over was san fernando that seemed to be big enough to have an atm. After riding thru having crossed a few armored trucks and finding a place to exchange money we decided to quickly get out.
Getting out of the city as fast as we could we did not stop for gas or food and figured that a the next town would be nicer. Only to figure out that going north west from San farnando is a very isolated area. Mitch had to get some gas in somebodies backyard otherwise we would not have made to china were we found a gas station. As the gps mitch had was not giving much information i though it would be usefull to buy paper maps at the first opportunity as getting lost here was not an experience i was looking forward to. Trying to get to Lineras that day we ended up in Montemorelos. At that point mitch discovered his suspension had a funny noise. Luckily we came across a member of a motorcycle club that brought us to his shop and helped mitch welding the parts togehter. It was funny to see how fast one can change his opinion about a region within a day. Attachment 16216
We ended up drinking some beers with local bikers and mitch went to a drag race later that night. The next day i was eager to leave again as i was surprised from the prices and was looking forward to stay in a hostel were i could meet fellow travellers that i can understand.

As we passed Linares the temperature finally dropped a bit and we rode along a nice road in the mountains. Attachment 16217Attachment 16218
We found the road between monterrey and san luis de potosi were we ended up staying that night. Attachment 16219Thinking we were doing a fair amount of distance we met some bikers on the road that were travelling to Leon which was another good five hours extra riding in the rain/dark.
Feeling relieved that i made it to the hostel as my bike was starting to making funny noises. Iuliana opened the door for us and i, still afraid of my bike getting stolen, was happy to find my bike parked in the court.

The next day i figured that fixing the valves would solve the noise problem and i needed to buy a feeler gauge to measure the spacing at the valves. Attachment 16220. Adjusting the valves was another lesson in mechanics and as the engine seemed to be working smoothly we figured to make the rear wheel turn to see if rattling noise at high rpm could be reproduced. By engaging the first gear i realized that i did not need to turn the rpms Further up and that the u-joints of the drive shaft were broke which meant i had to stay some time getting parts.
After taking apart the bike to isolate the drive shaft i figured to let it rest for a day and go see the waterfalls in Tamul.

David and Chrissie, i met in the hostel, had prepared food for lunch and we took off early that morning with the rental car. Five hours later we arrived at the waterfalls. Attachment 16221Attachment 16222Attachment 16223
On our way back in the dark we ended up riding for a longer time than expected but luckily david had a great amount of french music we could listen too and enough to talk about. Unfortunatly david and chrissie had to take a bus that night and continue their journey.

I was back at my broken bike and with the newly acquired tools i was able to get the shaft completely off the bike. Attachment 16224Attachment 16225With the part in hand and some help from alejandro i headed down to the best biker garage in town and was driven and helped around town to get the part fixed instead of ordering it. As i was thinking of probably having to stay for a week, they told me that they will have it fixed by the next day. I am very much looking forward to what the result will be tomorow. With all the problems i have had i start to think that going on a bike ride the best thing is probably to break down. I pushes you to ask for help from people you would otherwise not interact with and makes you discover how nice people are.

Glad some amigos are out there helping you out. Nice waterfall, what is it called?... Anyway, thanks for sharing an awesome trip with us couch adventurers, ride on my friend!

D.L.C.L - @motopoet

The waterfalls are called cascade de tamul. There is three of them should have taken more time to visit them. I plan to stay in san luis de potosi for another month and work at the garage shop for a while to learn some mechanical skills and Spanish. I really recommend this guy gallo if you have a big bike stuck in san luis

Hi Bram!
 

Bram, so glad I checked in on the blog to catch up on your adventures! I think it is amazing that you are doing this, and with all the obstacles so far... it is so true what you have said about adverse circumstances: they force you to interact with people you may not have otherwise, and it shows you how nice they are. Despite all your troubles it looks like the journey is already teaching you some valuable lessons (and mechanical skills!)

Kudos to you, man. Spend more time at the waterfalls and smelling the roses along the way. Will look forward to reading more.
big hug
Brynna

Fixing a bike mexican style requirements: coffee, a postive mindset, and patience is all. Attachment 16337 Attachment 16336
Did i say patience? Yes as i am doing this trip and becoming a whole new person ^^. I happen to have plenty of patience as one of my new strong points now. Right before i was going to give up fixing the bike myself; the part was not fixed the way i liked and got the feeling i was going to be stuck in SLP for a couple more weeks the mecanices managed to grease the u-joints as i hoped and i had been able to puzzle the bike together with a liter of coffee and some grease. I got some assistance from evan and gregg whom gave me some feedback on the concerns i had over the internet. Next thing was a test ride to the garage shop where i arrived with a couple of heineken beers in the paniers. A lot of people here know where holland is and as you try to get the conversation around football and international championships thereof; weed and heineken beer are usefully a common topic of conversation. Occasionally you come across people who have been to Amsterdam and you end talking about the red light district. So this explains the reason i bought red star bottled canal water in Mexico. Weed was not something i could come across easily and a hooker would hardly fit in the panier. When you illegaly drink a beer together on the street on the middle of the day with police man watching: Attachment 16342
YOU FEEL INVINCIBLE (to consume with moderation, i know) Attachment 16338.

To be continud when i got uploading the pics sorted out again

Finally i can upload pics and continue my blog.

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The last couple pictures were from shopping with the people of the hostel for materials needed to decorate the hostel for dia de muertos. I am really greatfull they have involved me in this traditional celebration. This is a wonderfull aspect of travelling ;meeting the people warm and proud of their city/country that they seem to enjoy helping you discover it too the full extend. In san luis potosi at the hostal corazon de xoconostle they certainly give you the possibility to fully dicover the region. I have been thinking about studying spanish in san miguel but before we left i decided that i rather come back to san luis potosi. I had calculated that staying in san miguel de allende would be all together more expensive. I also asked at the bike shop if i could help out in the afternoon to which the owner agreed so this would mean i will be able to keep myself busy for the full day.

First a nice week in san miguel de allende where i was driving too with chriss. Curious about riding my bike again we arrived san miguel without trouble to find an historical old town with plenty of steep streets with nasty stones to ride on. Joe has generously offered me to stay in his house which after some rounds thru a busy city was found on top of probably the steepest hill in town. I gladly parked my bike for a couple days and was amazed by the view and comfort available in the house.

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Chriss and i met with mitch and we had a nice self made dinner while talking about the travel plans we all had.

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The stay in the house was reminding me that this trip really is a huge vacation as well. Besides the house i would lie if i said i had a great experience in san miguel de allende. The town is really interesting and i would recommend people to make a stop there but i felt like i had ended up in the united states once again. There is a Starbucks and the food is priced just for you as a tourist. The people in the streets are mostly tourist and at any moment i had the impression that people where trying to make more money out of us than necessary. Once you have this idea in your mind it is hard to change this and things do no seem to get better. On top of this chris got his phone stolen which did not help to improve this perception. By Friday i wanted to get back and we headed back to san luis potosi. I could find my way around better in san luis potosi and we spend some days to get chriss his gps ready for central america. As we had discovered it is hard to find your road with just an ipod without internet. For me this meant buying a paper map that could not run out of signal or battery and also is a great starting document to discuss your travels plan with local people.

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As i was wandering around in San luis on Saturday night for entertainment i came across a group of street artists of some clowns that made people laugh and seemed a great entertainment for the children. I had of course not a clue what they where talking about but though, what a great way of spending your saturday night instead of watching some Saturday night live show on Television.
As i took a this picture to remind myself of this example of good quality of live i had the unfortunate luck off become part of the entertainment.

Attachment 16415

-Hey you Guaro whats your name?
-Bram
- Que ??

Before i was aware i was no longer part of the audience but trying to make my name understandable using my hand and feet next to a clown in the middle of the plaza. It's really fun making a spectacle when you have no idea what people are talking about and are laughing at but i figured that i could not care less. The clown found me a girlfriend in the audience with whom he wanted me too sensually dance with and showed me how to make a dog with balloons. I have no idea why but i turned out to have a balloon that seemed impossible to inflate which made it only more embarrassing for me and more enjoyable for the audience. Once i told him where i came from we smoked half a churros to represent smoking a joint. Unfortunately being able to legally smoke weed is the thing we should be most proud of about as dutch.

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After this experience my trip had taken a positive turn again. That monday chriss left as he fixed his GPS and i started my spanish classes at the university a couple blocs from the hostal.
In the afternoon i helped out in the bike shop cleaning the bikes and doing some maintenace work on bikes while praticing my spanglish.

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I learned that before ordering new parts for a bike from the manufacturer there is always a Mexican way to get the job done faster with a hammer some silicone and glue. I sadly discovered that with some gasoline you could perfectly clean your air filter instead of carrying your expensive air filter all the way from Boston.

In the weekend i got to swim in tamasopo at beautiful waterfalls in a environment that reminded me of a tropical swimming pool back home but instead het the slides and dives where carved by nature. The most amazing thing about this place is the story of a girl that was explaining that a long time ago Tamasopo was the home of mountain elephants. She made a really detailled description of how they lived there in the middle of the jungle. Who could imagine elephants lived in the middle of a mountainous jungle.

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So many good experiences have to be balanced with some things that put you back to reality and last night i was finally pulled over as i was driving in the wrong direction thru a one way street. The cop wanted to see my papers and as i had not taken them with me for the first time (really), i imagined myself going to the police station and having my bike towed to a obscure car lot. The cop was able to use one word of english: CASH. Luckily i only carried 120 pesos on me. After almost kissing me in order to check my breath on the trace of any alcohol he sadly accepted my contribution to his Christmas savings that he could give to his chief to hope for promotion next year. I must say that after some instructions how to drive in Mexico i had a smile on my face that was worth a least paying double that much money. With all the scenarios i had imagined if this would happen this was the best one, of course i was lucky but i later understood he was bluffing when he was telling me he was going to town my bike away as that would have been illegal. Besides riding a in the wrong way not having your papers on you is not a crime in itself. Making a statement would only have resulted in a bigger fine for driving in the wrong direction. It might be unjust from my perspective but hey! this how the system works here and i did not come here to change the system.

Bram, haven't heard from you in a while. How are things? Any updates for us couch surfers?

Hope all is well my friend!

D.L.C.L. - @motopoet
www.themotopoet.wordpress.com
~Ride on, Blink Slow~

Last I heard, Bram was still in San Luis Potosi learning Spanish, motorcycle mechanics and dating local chicas. Not sure which order

Boston to Buenos aires
 

Yes i am still busy doing that. Got a drive shaft problem which i fixed temporarily. I ordered a part online and i will waiting for that one more week. Will give a more detailed update as i leave

Ahorita: the space of time defined between now and never. Most things will be done in mexico ahorita. That does not mean you have to wait indefinitely but when the people feel like doing it.

So i have learned a live lesson. When do you continue your trip? or when do you update your blog? The answer is ahorita; when i feel doing it.

My drive shaft still gave me some worries. So i took it apart again and greased it again and to be sure ordered an extra drive shaft online. But when does it get delivered? Of course ahorita, nobody would be able to tell you. And then when i decided to leave without waiting for the part to, it was there last friday. Maybe i will be carrying a spare drive shaft all the way to Argentina without using it but at least i will not have to wait for the part too be shipped if the drive shaft breaks again.

Attachment 16597

The past couple of days has been quit similar; drinking beer, going camping and wandering in the city.

On one of the trips i was finally able to help an other motorcyclist out with his bike. Alejandro's bike had the bolt of his clutch lever that got loose. As i turns out by now i am a riding mechanic shop and if you need a bolt that you do not carry with you there is always a bolt that you can unscrew and miss for a couple hunderd kilometers.

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We visited the caves north of san luis potosi where Alenjandro went climbing frequently. The ride there was amazing and two weeks later we decided to go back and camp there in the middle of the desert. A great and cold experience in december.

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Back in the city some students and professors of the school took me on a night visit thru the old buildings that are thought to be haunted.

At the garage i kept learning spanish and about motorcyles. At some point we went to a guy that refurbished radiators that also breaded roosters for fights. It is funny to see how a calm and petting animal will turn aggressive when he sees another rooster.

Attachment 16601

Thru the HUBB i got in contact with two other beamer riders Matt and Brian. Tomorrow i will head to brians place in toluca and continue from there on with them towards costa rica.

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Ow and i came across gustavo who is drive from ecuador to florida to see his daughter.

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I needed to meet him before leaving further south as he had amazing stories about honduras and guatamala. Camping in the middle of the capital of honduras and meeting people that take 4 hours of their day to be sure that you are helped out. I start to think that once i am in honduras people will start warning me about Colombia or another country i will be crossing: fear of the unknown that is all it is. It is crazy to see how much people have that fear which is most of the time not well argumented. Of course you have to be careful and be aware of the risk. But if you stay humble and do not approach everybody like if he is going to screw you over most people are very open and helpful.

Okay now it is time to get the rest of my stuff ready and sadly leave san luis and the people behind.

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It has been a long time since my last update. Maybe its because i have hardly found time to sit down and focus on one thing for more then an hour. Every day has been an unexpected adventure and at this point traveling has really become living in the moment. Leaving San Luis Potosi i was heading down to Toluca to meet with Brian and Matt that i have met previously and who were planning to head down south to Guatemala and Panama as well. It was the first day since United states i had to travel on my own again. Maybe Mexico is not the ideal place to travel by yourself but by now i had gained enough confidence about the safety issues in latin America that i did not see many problems in doing the trip alone. One advantage when on your own you have a complete freedom to choose where to go, when to leave and when to stop for a break. My guia roja (Mexican michelin road map) was great to find my way down to Toluca where i got to without problem. In the city i had to ask my way around to find Brians place where i found his wife opening the door. The great thing with staying with people who like long distance traveling on a motorcycle is that you have a lot of topics to talk about. Traveling, motorcycle gear, and of course the bike and all the problems you can encounter. Most importantly the several solutions one could find for each problem. Brian made me understand what owning a BMW motorcycle really means. I all comes down to; BMW: turning motorcycle owners into motorcycle mechanics since 1950. The most common answer you will get for one of your doubts about that rattling noise or strange vibration on any BMW is: They all do that. And thus after staying another day at his place collecting equipment for Brains trip later that week i left Toluca with the assurance that my bike would keep giving me worries all the way to South America and i will have to start learning to live with it.

Attachment 16806

I was heading to Oaxaca that day and kept in mind that i would probably have to stay in Puebla for a night as Mexico city would be challenging to cross without turning around and getting lost a couple times. Again every day is an adventure and you never know where you end up for the night. Brian had given me a turn by turn direction and we crossed Mexico City with google street maps indicating exactly where to make turn and in which lanes to stay to be ready for the next exit. At this point i am still surprised by the accuracy of his description and how i perfectly could follow his explanation. I crossed the city in a record time and was in Puabla around 1pm so i decided to make it all the way to Oaxaca which was very doable on the nice Cuota roads.

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Oaxaca is an amazing city with a nice colonial background. I arrived in the middle of the celebration of a Saints birthday of whom i did not catch the name. In the Hostal i met two guys from San Luis potosi and one of them envied me as he had left his motorcycle back home and took the plane to Oaxaca. He did know the garage shop i worked at and had also heard of the Hostal i stayed in. Again it is a small world and you keep on running in to people with the same interest and mindset. After Oaxaca i was looking at a way to get to the border of Guatemala and ended up driving by La Ventosa. As the name might suggest it is very windy there and in the middle of the windmills my me and my 250 kg bike where blown of the road, nothing very serious it just made the journey very tiresome and long. Luckily a car driver saw my struggle and he let me drive parallel to his minivan for a couple of kilometer so i would stay more out of the wind. That day i made it to Puerto Arista where i decided to stay in a nice Hotel to get a proper rest from this exhausting trip.

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I don’t know exactly how it happened but i think the driving sideways on my bike had put a final hit on my rear tires that where already damaged with dry rot and i was now slowly losing air pressure. I found a mechanic who changed the tire in a split second. And i was on the road again around ten, due to carrying the spare tires from Texas and Mitch his knowledge of tires i finally started to solve my mechanical problems without to much stress. I started to be prepared for the things as much as you can be. The plan was to head to the closest town to the border and cross the next day. But as i was driving thru the city of Tapachula i did not feel like staying there the night and made the mistake to head for the border at 3 pm. It was crazy busy and i took the first helper that i run into. So many mistakes at the same time and it was crazy hot so with the heat i was freaking out before i knew it. Exiting Mexico took some time but was pretty clear. It was 4 pm as i was crossing the no mans land and could not understand where to go and what to do. For that part i was lucky to have a helper. But he started by asking more money. As the bank was closing he would need 20 dollars extra to pay the clerk to stay open for an extra 15 min. Then he added another 20 dollars on the already 140 dollars he was asking. Had i taken the time i would have know that the normal price for the motor cycle permit was 140 Quetzal and not dollars. He just knew i just wanted to get out into Guatemala as soon as possible as it was getting dark and he scared me that if i did not pay i would have had to stay in a sketchy hotel for the night and end up getting the bike stolen.

Looking back i feel stupid and naive but at the end if just lost money and i was was across without another problem. With all bad experiences come supringly good experiences as i run into Rafael and his wife Silvia which i asked for help to find an hotel for the night. We drove in the dark on roads full with potholes slaloming between traffic to a resort with parking for the bike i front of the cabin. With my basic spanish and the use of some english words we again had great talk about motorcycles around dinner and later a few beers. The next day they told me they would drive me to Antigua where we had lunch and drinks the rest of the day. Their friend Mauricio had a friend who owned a Hostal where i was able to park the bike inside and fix the leaking fuel tubes. I felt with my noise in the butter as a dutch saying goes. The stress of the border was totally faded by the welcome and the warmth of the people i met.

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I spend a couple days in Antigua and met with 5 other overlanders Steve, Werner, Erik, Evan, and Eugene. We had time to discuss our plans and share our experiences over a couple of beers. I decided to head out after christmas and meet Evan and Eugene in Puerto barrios to cross the border to honduras together. First i wanted to say goodbye to Rafael and Silvia in Guatemala city and as we where leaving Antigua my clutch cable gave up after two blocks. Luckily Mauricio was riding with me and without clutch i was able to drive to the next mechanic where the problem was solved within an hour. With a spare clutch cable in my luggage we departed for the capital of guatemala where we ended up on this high security compound. Before i knew it i was invited for dinner staying there the night and spending christmas eve with the family. Some many things turn out for the best and especially when you do not plan it things happen without to much effort.

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On christmas day rafael explained me the road to Puerto Barrios and wanted to ride half the way with me to make sure i would not get lost in Guatemala City. Around halfway we decided to have a stop for Breakfast and as they were leaving i ran into Steve, Werner and Erik who were on their way to Semuc Champey. As i had one spare day to spend before meeting Evan and Eugene i figured why not and followed them to the unknown destination. I happened to be my first off road experience and i managed to ride the two hours up and down steep hills in the Guatemalan jungle without dropping the bike. Arriving at the idealistic hostal Utopia i was glad to park my bike for the night. Evan told me that they where in the same area and were planning to spend another day before going to Puerto Barrios. At the end i was very glad that i went there with the other guys as it was a nice place to take an extra day of rest and visit the waterfalls. The second night we had to spend in a hangmat in a dormitory where several tarantulas where spotted i ended up not sleeping much and worried more about the two hour ride back to the paved road and the spiders. The morning of the 27th i met with the KLR riders in the village and they told me there was another road shorter to puerto barrios. What i did not know and soon realized was that this was a 6 hour dirt road where i spend most of the time keeping my bike in control. This was one off these days where i did not sign up for if i knew in advance what lied ahead, but i ended up with a very enriching experience of viewing landscape and knowing rural guatemalan country life. Puerto barrios was not much of an interesting city besides an harbor view restaurant and hanging for cigarettes prices at different tiendas.

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The next morning we crossed the border with a little trouble as we had to drive back and forth between the different offices that where separated 10 kilometers from each other. As we drove into the notorious Honduras knowing we just got ripped of at the border for our bike permit we decided to stop at the first big city to get some cash from the ATM. I tried 6 different ATMs and in the burning heat walking in my motorcycle gear i could not get any cash. I was so happy having Evan and Eugene around that could help me out with there cards. I let my plan of going to Tegucigalpa that day sail and we found a nice hotel to spend the night in El Progresso. I was happy to get some cash with my card at the hotel as i was worried my card might have been blocked for some reason.

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All my doom scenarios where cleared out by the next day on which i headed for the next border on my own as the other guys where going to spend new year on the Honduran islands. Maybe Honduras is notorious for the number one, two ,and three most criminal and dangerous cities in the world i would not know anything about it as i cruised thru the country within a day. Hard headed as i am i decided to cross the border around 2 despite the promise to myself that i would never try again to cross a border in the afternoon. This time i was more lucky and i only had to make it to Esteli doing 1 hour of night riding.

I was in Nicaragua! and had crossed the fearsome Honduras without any problem. How much ones perspective based on stories and internet information can be different from the reality of the actual situation. I am not trying to say that there is nothing to fear but at no point i felt so much in danger that i though people would steal something from me. The fear i had while crossing honduras with Evan and Eugene or alone had only stained my experience. But in one of the conversation with the KLR guys we said that the fear of something less only enhances the experience of living. And thus is taking a risk such as going around the world on a motorcycle such a life enriching experience.


In Nicaragua i headed down to San Juan Del Sur to meet my friend Burcu and spend new years eve on the beach after a day of surfing with one of her friends. Not bad for a last day of the year; drinking cold beers and trying to catch some waves.

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The first of january i woke up on a concrete floor as i moved out of the hangmat they provided me as the hostal was fully booked. It is certainly not funny to cross a border with 2 or 3 hours of sleep but i was raised to bite your teeth in such a situation. This might be a bad translation from dutch but i think the idea is obvious. In the last office i had to go to the lady told me i was not able to get into the country as my title indicated that the bike was reconstructed which made it impossible to import the bike in the country. With a little bit of patience i got her to give me a permit based on my registration and i was cruising the roads of costa rica just after noon. I decided to have a lunch break at the first AC cooled restaurant and ended up looking for hotel in a McDonalds. It can be comforting sometimes to go dispose of all the luxury of wifi AC and fast food. I found a nice hotel in Tilaran as i was to tired to make it to San Jose and was happy to take a four hour siesta. The prices in Costa Rica are definitely matching the ones in Europe but in exchange it seems a lot more comfortable here. One nice thing here is when you go to the ATM you feel a millionaire as the amount of cash you get is usually a six digit number.

The road from Tirana to my friend Sebastian's house was not to long all though a little windy and busy. I arrived just in time for lunch with him and his parents. Sebastian and i both studied together in the Netherlands and he is dutch growing up in Costa Rica being welcomed in a dutch home was very comfortable. We spend that evening in a bar drinking local draft beers and eating great burgers while watching toro and midget fight. Yesterday we met up with another friend Pablo from university. And the cup of coffee turned into a doctor appointment for me as my wound on my foot was getting infected and also a site visit to the windmills on the top of the mountain. Sebastian just had a new car but unfortunately we had to make a stop in the middle of a 30% steep hill. We were not able to drive the car further up and decided to park the car on the side of the road. If the ride and walk to the top where quite the adventure the ride down gave even a bigger boost of adrenaline. Using the engine brake Sebas still needed to use the regular brakes that where starting to smell by the time we where at the toe of the mountain.

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Sebas and his family have invited me on some trips so i figured i might stay here for a while to visit different places before continuing my way further south. Now its time to give the bike a wash and leave it rest for a couple of days.

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After two weeks of riding day in day out it is nice to hang out and chill and do nothing. Or almost nothing. Tuesday we had a fishing trip planned and for some reason fishing always means waking up early. I think you have to catch fish before noon as they go for a siesta afterwards. With a barge filled with shrimp we set off at seven and Seb soon came up with the idea to make a competition out of it. A local fisherman had come with us and within five minutes we realized that there was nothing to win as he had already caught
two fish. Sebastian though fast enough to adjust the competition rules and team up. It turned out to be a great strategy.

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We caught around 70 fish that day 2 of witch were mine but it was a great experience floating around in the costa rican landscape.

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After the fishing it was time time for two days at the beach with sebas and his friend kevin who was chilling in Domincal spending his time surfing. On our way there we picked up Maria and spotted some dolphins in Puntearenas. We decided that going swimming with the dolphins was too gringo to do and thus i just looked at them from the beach.

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One more thing about the beach here in Costa Rica is that it is so warm that actually going for a swim does not cool you down

I left for a week of city tourism to Mexico City to enjoy the beauty of Mexico and see my cousin Danielle. The paragliding trip did go as planned as there wasn't enough wind but we went to visit a mexica's temple instead.

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The rest of the weeks isn't much substance for a ride report but more a touristic museum type one. Back in san jose i spend some more time chilling drinking beers and BBQing. I decided to change my plans of staying for a couple months in CR and got my bike ready again for the road. In exchange for some beets i found a place to clean my bike and change engine and transmission oil. The good thing about cleaning a bike is that you discover pending failure of loosened bolt and broken exhaust pipe. At least i finally know where that loud noise comes from. It took me half a day to find a place to got the exhaust fixed but for 15 dollars i could not complain to much especially looking at the result and my clean bike.

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Tonight i gonna try to make some dutch kroketten and tomorrow we are heading to Pavlones from where is will cross to Panama and try to enjoy the Costa rican
Beaches for one last time.

So whats to say for the last two weeks?
Beaches are nice and its quite hot around here. I have entertained my self quit a lot by swimming and riding a little bit.
Sebastian and his family invited me to join on there long weekend to the beach. I had a great time going for a swim after the ride there and in the night we made some fireplaces on the beach.

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The road to Pavlones was a little challenging but after an hour of off road we arrived at the house that they rented. On Saturday we left in direction of Panama where we said goodbye at the border. Getting to David by noon i decided to try to make it to Santiago. The road was not much interesting except that i crossed a Dutch plate, Bart, who was also overlanding. We both did not really know where we would be going but decided to ride along together.
In Santaigo we stayed at a basic hostel and the next morning we made some copies from our paperwork. Except a dead cat being eaten by vultures and people drinking at 9am there is not much to remember.

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We arrived in Panama city around 4 pm which gave us the opportunity to enjoy the views during daylight and later during night time with some dutch beers.

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Bart had reserved a container together with Werner whom i had met earlier. I could fit in as well and the next two days we spend making copies getting stamps and going from one office to another. I think all together it will cost me less than 650 dollars with plane tickets. But as i write i dont have the bike back so i might have to spend some money here or there. Mainly what you have to do is to be very patient and prepared to wait for no reason.

Then I flew to Colombia before i had a chance to visit the panama canal.

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Its thru what they say about Colombian women and the climate: Hot!
From Bogota i could not get another cheap flight to Santa Martha with Vivacolombia so i decided to fly to Cartagena directly. I knew Werner was going there as well so i waited him up there with a couple of cold beers. If you go to Cartagena get a place with AC and plenty of cold beers. At night you can walk around and see the nice city.

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Or eat a pizza while they try to sell you more food, cocaine or hookers.

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Now i found a bar with 1 dollar beers with ocean view one block from our airbnb where i can spend the rest of the week while i wait for the bike.

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Most important thing you bring on a motorcycle trip is patience espacially when you bring an old bike. After three weeks waiting in antofagasta chile my rear suspension finally arrived from germany two weeks later than expected.

In colombia werner and i decided to ride together her further south. First we wanted to get out of the heat as fast as possible. From carthagena medellin is a little more than a days ride. When found a very basic truckers hotel along the rode and made it to Medellin where my cardan u-joints broke again in he city. After stopping at a few auto-hotels we found one that would let us stay for the night. An auto hotel is not really set up for sleeping but the rooms are usually quite luxurious. The people at the hotel let me replace the cardan with the one i brought and within two hours i was ready for the road again. My panier rack had broke somewhere along the road so i figured i might try to weld it together again. For around 4 dollars a local guy did a quick job which would keep the panier on the bike for a while.

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Once ready we decided to head further south and try to make the border with ecuador. We spend the night in popayan where i made the foolish mistake to get cigarettes on my own at 21:30. Two persons approached me for a cigarette and after i gave them one they asked for money as i refused they insisted with showing a knife I got away with giving them around 10 dollars. With the time i feel sorry for those people as they robbed me but took enough with 10 dollars while i was carrying more and did have my ipod on me but they did not insist on taking everything from me. For being robbed did not have not have major consequences but for them it was a desperate solution to get money to survive. I feel criminally lucky to have grown up in an environment where i had possibilities to develeop myself. One thing was sure i freaked out and have been more cautious going out late at night. Werner and I drove to the border the next day where we met with Alenjandro whom we had met earlier in colombia. In ecuador we got some tyre problems and had a hard time getting cash outof the ATM. But after four days we had finally crossed the country and had seen some wonderfull roads driving thru the fog.

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At the border with peru i decided to continue alone from that point as i wanted to sleep a longer in the morning and make Usuhuia within a couple weeks. Peru was mostly straigh roads in the north where the only adveture was finding a new front tire in Chimbote Peru. The mecanic helped me out and hosted me that night. In latin america a lot of motorcycle owners are part of a club. Usually such a club hosts you and can be of great help if you have mecanical problems.

South of lima i stayed in the city of Ica after the road and climate change from straight hot roads to fresh curvy coast roads. It was a delight to drive in a fresh climate and it definitely made me enjoy peru a little bit more.

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Right before crossing the border into chile i decided to cross thru a rice field to get back on the main road which led to being stuck in an irrigation ditch for an hour. Luckly i could convice some local guys to help me for exchange of a couple bucks and i was bak on the road and rode into chile later that afternoon. My panier hopder broke again but i figured that would not be a major problem for now.

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Chile was a relief to enter there where roadsigns again and in the hostel that night i had a clean room with hot water and breakfast. I felt more comfortable walking on the streets at night again and i was going to get to my final destination within a month. The next day i headed for Antofagasta and road 700 km on straight roads in the dessert. I don't mind driving straight roads as i can cover good distance and speed up a little bit. 100 km north of Antofagasta i did not realize In time that the road was broken up and at quite a high speed i flew thru the air. Luckly i landed on both wheels but i discovered later that my rear suspension had taken a serious hit. It turns out that Antofagasta has plenty motor cycle shops but a suspension is hard to fix espacially in the holiday season. I decided to order a used one from germany with express mail. A long story short DHL consideres a three week delivery time normal for express mail, i don't but they don't give a shit about that. The good thing is that i dicovered that one of the bearings was also broke and i was able to replace it before any further damage. The BMW dealer there was not able to help me because the bike was too old. They however send me too Luis who let me fix the bike and change the oils and though me the BMW perspective of mechanic. Thanks for that!!

Tomorrow after three weeks the adventure continues and we will see where it brings me next.

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