No Jobs, No Responsibilities, No Better Time
Nearly three years ago I had a dream, conjured up in the midst of a summer tryst in South America, backpacking during a year off from school.



I will ride my motorcycle around the world. Alone? Maybe. With friends? Perhaps. With a significant other? Possibly. Either way, it was pivotal. That moment was the beginning of a mental journey draped over the cutting board of the past three years, mixed with a college education, hammered into shape by a strong determination, and cooked into a possibility by the efforts of unexpected employment.

My university graduation took place on June 12th, 2010. It was a nice warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in Bellingham Washington. I now had a degree in International Business, with a Spanish minor equivalent. Congratulations Alex. Round One Complete.



Work started two days later, Monday June 14, 2010. Location: Juneau Alaska.

In the past seven days, I had taken and passed 4 university level final exams, written 12 pages between two papers, received 40hrs of instruction on how to drive a commercial vehicle, taken and passed my Commercial Drivers license examination, moved all of my personal belongings from my college apartment back into old room at my parents house, moved 3 motorcycles home, packed for work, and flew away to Juneau, Alaska.

Unknowingly I was to remain there for 6 months. Working 6 days and often over 50+ hours a week, I made my home in an Extended Stay hotel. All expenses minus personal food and my cell phone were provided. I had less than $300/mo in personal expenses. My income was magnitudes greater. What did I do? I saved every cent earned. Why? I was riding around the world on my motorcycle. When? Yet to be determined.

I worked as an emergency services contractor for the local Home Depot.


You might ask… YOU DID WHAT? I delivered appliances. That's right. I graduated from a 4 yr university, and was employed delivering appliances and material for Home Depot, and I liked it. They paid the best, and I wasn't in it for the long term. Saving money was the goal. Best decision yet. But even better yet. I can bring my own assistant. Meet Kristi!
Kristi. She’s my favorite. She knows all about my goal, and even listens when I tell her all about them, two, three, four times in a row. Better yet, she knows her goals as well. School first. She works with me in the summers and continues her schooling otherwise. Her planned graduation date is the summer of 2012. She wants to come. Maybe we leave then? Awesome, I’d like her to come. She’s capable, adventurous, fun loving, and spirited. Can she ride a bike? Not yet. Would she be willing to learn? Of course she would. Did I like her enough to have her along the whole way? Well, we’ve been together for 3 years. I like her a lot. Meet Kristi!



I liked my job. I worked for a good man who paid me well. I told my friend. He got a job and liked it too. He was paid well. He liked my idea too. Third piece of the pie? It so happens that I’ve known Tom for 16 years. Long enough to know he could handle it. Around the world? So what, big deal. Hence, Tom came to work with me and learned to drive big trucks. We’re fellow Eagle Scouts. Tom studied International Business as well. Tom speaks Spanish too. Ball is rolling now. Are we getting somewhere? Meet Tom!

We worked and we saved, and we worked and we saved, and we studied.

We were making headway. We set goals. We’d start the summer of 2012. We’d ride around the world. We’d spend 25 months doing it. We’d hit 6 continents, see 70+ countries, ride 60k+ Miles, and ride…. What kind of motorcycles? See the link to the decision making process here. Yamaha WR250R vs Honda XR650L vs Suzuki DR650 - ADVrider
Decision made, Dr650’s the steed of choice. Awesome, Let’s buy some. Done. Bikes purchased. Congratulations, Alex, Kristi and Tom. Round Two Complete.
Tom’s Motorcycle

My Motorcycle

Kristi’s Motorcycle

Yay! Motorcycles are bought! Let’s ride the hell out of them in the mean time! And so we did. Even in the snow.

Until…
We got LAID OFF!
What did you say!?!? We got laid off. We worked as independent contractors, for a contractor who supplied emergency services to a company that delivers for 70% of all of the Home Depots in the United States and Canada. Someone quits, can’t be replaced locally, we fill the job temporarily, they find a new guy, and we train the new guy, than we leave. Our employer charges a lot. The company we contract too doesn’t like it. My employer doesn’t like them. So he stops contracting to them. So 15 guys like me lose their jobs. Tom and I now have no jobs….
Well what now you ask?
Plan B. This sucks. Not everyone can be happy. But circumstances exist, opportunities have arisen, decisions must be made. And made they were. Tom and I will leave early, and go until we have to stop! How much earlier? 14 months earlier. How long will we last? We saved about 50% of our goal. Half way sounds good! Congratulations Alex and Tom. Round 3 Complete. (No more job!)
What about Kristi? School is important. She will continue her schooling and visit us during her school breaks. She’s bummed, but understanding. She’s wistful to join, but determined to ace school. Now’s not the right time for her. However, it IS the right time for us.
Time to modify motorcycles!
Tom’s Motorcycle!

My Motorcycle! (sans top pelican case, since added)

Modifications are now complete. Elapsed time is around 9.5 months from date of completion of round one. We leave 27 hours. Saturday morning, April 2nd, 2011. It will be Tom’s birthday. He’ll be 24. I am 24. We’re young, but we’re prepared. We’re Eagle Scouts, remember?
Our new goal is to travel for 9+ months. Destination is “South”. We hope the generic hope, to reach Ushuaia. Will we? Yes we will. When? We don’t know. Why you ask? Because. It doesn’t matter where we go, just as long as we go. And go we will. Like the wind. Stay tuned brothers and sisters, Round 4 is just beyond the horizon!!!

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

Me like. Nice post, safe journey.
Waving hankey.
Peter, in Oslo

You lucky sod!!!
Godd luck and watch out for the tin boxes.

Awesome. Best of luck on the journey and post plenty so we can follow along.

Ahoy! Day one is underway, and we have reached Eugene Oregon! We are staying at Tom’s Dad’s friend Tom’s house. That’s right, there are two Tom’s today. We left this morning from my parent’s house at 7:10. Tom was nice enough to wait on me. I was running late. Why? Because I stayed up until 3am packing, and taking care of business. Did we cover all the bases? Most likely. We’ll see how it goes! If you can fix it, don’t worry. If you can’t fix it. Don’t worry.
Taking off! We’re on our way! Tom is in Orange. I am Dark Green.

Onward! Time to get fuel. Haha. We were already low on fuel, and Tom had to pull over on the side of the highway in the first 10 miles. Why? His bike sputtered out and he couldn’t switch to reserve fast enough. Luckily, we’re both have a Sena SMH10 Bluetooth communication devices. They are good for nearly 1000 yards, and work great. They are also the most weatherproof that we could find. We got a complete dual pack for a great deal from Rocket Moto in the vendor section. Check them out! Tom simply let me know he was on the side of the highway. I pulled over, and he caught up, and we rolled along. Awesome.
First fuel stop,

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn it. The first 180 miles was nothing but rain. The headsets held up well, and are still in great shape. We’re wearing Rev’it Cayenne Pro Jacket’s and pants. They zip together, and are WATERPROOF. AWESOME. Tom’s wearing a pair of leather, waterproof work boots, and I have a pair of Alpinestar Web Goretex Boots. We’re getting along pretty well.
First pit stop, damn rain was so dense it was like driving through fog at times. Pretty gnarly.

Being able to talk to each other is great. We can make plans on the fly, stop for fuel at good any time. We’ll around 11:30 we were getting hungry, and we needed fuel. Vancouver, Washington was a good spot. We made it 180 miles before Tom ran to his reserve while on the fly, and we averaged 42mpg at 65-70mph the whole way, fully loaded. Not bad in our opinions.
Time for food,

Well, after food, we made plans to stop in Eugene for the day. 300 miles in total. It’s been good so far. We’ll Tom’s Dad’s friend Tom brew for a hobby. So we had some !
Time for Beer,

Meet Tom and Tom,

Tom’s gnarly ‘Stasche

Time for Food!

It’s been a good day one for us. We’re enjoying our time on the road despite the crappy weather; we’re having a great time! Chalk 1 up for day one! Awesome!
Tomorrow we’d like to ride about 5 hours. That would put us in Redding California. Can you hear that C THRU U? We’d love to take you up on that offer for a place to crash.
Onward!
--Alex

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

Terrific couple of opening posts!

Maybe you should find someone back home to act as agent, get you hooked up with a publisher, there must be possibilities there.

Btw, unless I missed it, you never introduced us to the little lad teaching you on the computer.......

Have a great journey.

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

Hola Amigos y Parientes,

We are currently on Ometepe Island, in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, the 19th largest lake in the world, here in the middle of Nicaragua. It’s been a quick paced 7 or 8 days, and all sorts of energetic things have been going on.
As we left off, I was still on Roatan Island in Honduras where I earned my PADI open water diving certificate with the Kiwi girls, Kim and Anna, and the next day I was headed back to the mainland to find Tom in La Ceiba to continue south and leave Honduras for Nicaragua.

As I left Roatan, I snagged a final glimpse of one of the establishments that provided me with at least 25% of my caloric intake. The ice cream stand…



Shortly thereafter, I had ridden 20 minutes, arrived at the ferry terminal, loaded my bike, and was on my way to the mainland, in search of Tom. We met within 45 minutes of my arrival at our planned 10am meeting spot, in which I spent the downtime surfing the web from a Wendy’s wifi link while eating a chocolate Frosty.

Tom and I hopped on our bikes and took off, with our destination of Tegucigalpa on the horizon, somewhere southwest. On the way we passed a massive lake, took a break, and ate some fish at a road/lakeside restaurant. Tom looks pensive, (“What did we just order man? I don’t know, I didn’t understand shit of what she just said. Yea, me neither…”)


Oh, is that what we ordered? Right on, at least we thought there was some fish coming.



Here’s a closer look at our lunch. Thanks Mr. Fish, that was tasty.



Back on the road, we took tore off, headed south. We ended up just south of Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. We road into and out of the city non-stop, and landed on its southern edge in yet another infamous Auto Hotel. This one was just like all the rest in that it had a garage, a big bed, cable tv, a big bathroom, and room service, which served us our large dominoes pizza and a two liter of pepsi. Awesome.



It didn’t take long before we passed out, woke up, and were on our way South again. This time we hit the internet café, made copious copies of all of our paperwork (10 copies of each for less than 45cents in total) and headed towards the Nicaraguan border. We were there in no time at all, paid our dues, bought insurance, dealt with pushy money changers, and obtained all necessary paperwork and stamps, and took took off.

As the border took a while, we eventually stopped in Esteli, Nicaragua, a short hop skip and a jump to Granada, our planned “hang out” spot for the following few days. On the way there however, as is customary, we were passing multitudes of semi drivers, school busses packed with travelers and locals, slow pickup trucks, mini motorcycles, and whatever else was going slower than us. Please also keep in mind that this is a normal, completely acceptable, and widely practiced method of driving in this country. Sooo,

On the way up a 2km hill I passed a sluggish, overloaded semi truck tht was probably rolling along at the goodly clip of 25 miles an hour. I was going 60+. Tom, being that he was maintaining a safe and adequate distance from me didn’t have the time or space to pass the semi in the provided passing zone on the hill…

So instead, Tom did what EVERY other normal person driving here in Nicaragua does. Tom passed the semi on the inside of the upcoming curve all while maintaining a completely free line of sight that extended for well over half a mile. Having passed the semi on the hill, inside the passing zone, I was within the law of the local land. Tom however passed “illegally” and it just so happened that the local traffic police were waiting on the other side.


I was politely asked to stop, they asked me where I was going, and bid me a farewell. Tom however, as a result of his being caught passing the semi truck on the inside of a turn in a no passing zone all while being white and foreign, paid a 400 Cordoba fee, straight to the hand of one of the police officers, and for the polite sum of $17.85 we were on our way again while Tom suffered the first speeding ticket of the last 8,300+ miles.

It would please you to know that we watched a local Nicaraguan get stopped for the exact same offense within 5 minutes of us. He however, would pay his fine at the bank, and not to the officers. (We didn’t want to go to the bank). It just so happens as well, that the fine for driving inebriated is a minimal $1400 Cordobas, or a measly $62.5 USD.

Esteli, as our stopping point of the day had a nice $7.60 double room with a bitchin’ overpowered ceiling fan waiting for us upon arrival. We had our own beds, and shared a magnificently shrouded bathroom.



We wasted no time, and took off. Granada was our destination. On the way there, we took one break, and then kept going.



Soon thereafter we were in Granada, on the lake side of Lake Nicaragua, the 19th largest lake in the world. We found the town center, sat down in one of the corners of the square, had some food, and took off in search of the Bearded Monkey Hostel, which had been recommended to us prior.



In lieu of a good time, instead, we ran into...



Damn, we can’t get away from them.

Anna and Kim are on the tourist circuit, as are we. Our times and dates collide consistently. However, our pace of life is distinctly different. I think we’ve done as much shit in the last 4 days then we have in any other week of this trip. And it goes like this.

Number 1, check out all the cool stuff in and around Granada, and start with Lagunas de Apoyo.



Check out the water, and grab a group photo. The girls love Tom.



Number 2, Party it up on the dance floor in the town that night, wake up tired, and head out for the “Tree House” hostel after a quick lunch.



A view of the streets of Granada.



Number 3, arrive at the Tree House, a hostel in the Jungle halfway up a forested hillside, employed by 100% hippied out guys and girls, and spend the night there.
Check out the makings of a mad man with an idea.



And our dorm room home in the jungle.



Everything is made from the local wood, and therefore everything is made of jungle hardwood that would otherwise be quite expensive at home.



Grab a hammock and hang out with the howler monkey. Ignore their wild calls and let them lull you to sleep.



Meet some local hippies, dreads and all. Don’t mind the normal appearance of Mark the Irish guy; he’s unfamiliar with the lifestyle associated with Dreads. (Far left) Also notice your first introduction to the house dog.



Have a swing in the Hammock. Kim loves Hammocks.



Head upstairs for some dinner. Mexican taco salad, minus the ground beef because the House pet dog climbed up on the table and ate all of it. I wonder why… her owner is a vegetarian hippy that likely doesn’t feed her meat.



Shortly after eating the meat, the dog went into a short lived food coma.



But soon after laying down, it hopped back up again. Is it hungry? Again?!



Nah, it’s just looking around.



And in short order she’s playing around!



Without missing a beat, the dog switches sides, and starts molesting Rae!



But that proved to be too much excitement for the dog, and in seconds it had lied down, and without much effort, relieved herself of half of her previously consumed ground beef.



But….. damn, being the persistent dog that she is. She couldn’t leave it there. So she ate it twice.



She played some more and got excited again…. And went for round 2.



But wouldn’t rest, and ate her meal a third time.




This happened a third time, but without documentation. And so instead, I proceeded to find myself a hammock which didn’t suit me so well.



While the others we’re being a bit more active.



Meet Mark and Donal, from Ireland, on a 6 weeks summer vacation from University.




Stay tuned for round 2 in T minus 3 minutes....

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

The last time you “SAW” us, we were still on an island, and we thought we’d leave the next day or so. Well, we didn’t. Why? Because we saw some friends of ours walking down the street while we were eating dinner the night before we thought we were going to leave. No plans are the best plans.



Their names are Mara and Chilanka (She-Lane-Ka), they are from Holland, and we had promised them a motorcycle ride in Granada, Nicaragua. Well, we left earlier than planned and didn’t see them before we left. They held us to our promise, and so we stayed the night and actually did something the next day, and rode around the island with some passengers. Neither had ever ridden a motorcycle.



Don’t worry babe, (Kristi) the one with the boyfriend got on my bike.


The first stop on the ride. Back to Agua de Ojos.



Tom and the girls spent a few minutes checking out the menu while I swam. Then, they sun bathed in the Nicaraguan Sol. Meet Chilanka on the left, Mara on the right.



We were all having a good time, and soon the party grew by 5 more Dutchies that the girls had met before and before we knew it, we’d been there 2 hours.



Then, we took off. Our goal? Ride around Madera Volcano. Apparently this is not an easy adventure, and though it is only about 30 miles of road, it’s a 3 hour adventure. I’ll be damned if we weren’t out riding for nearly that long at least. Not only did we see the most intense off road that we’ve seen yet, we also had passengers that had never been on bikes before. They held their own though, and didn’t freak out when the going got tough. We didn’t think twice in telling them to get off when we hit the gnarly stuff, and they obliged kindly.

Best shot of the day? An epic shot of Tom doing what we do best.



My bike? It got dirty, and Chilanka, got her “facebook” shot.



Soon after that, we came out near the end of the road, 2.5 hours later, and found ourselves at a little shop where we bought some snacks. While we munched our food, these little guys did the same.



It got physical, but they each held their own.



It wasn’t long after that Tom and I landed back on our feet in our hotel room, exhausted, and ready to do nothing again. The girls had different ideas, and headed off to find the Dutch guys to party that night. We left them to their business, and haven’t seen them since. They’ll be ok.

The next morning we hopped on a boat and headed back to mainland Nicaragua. On the boat we met a Czech guy that lives in Chile and was riding a Honda CG125 from Chile to the US. He’d already covered 18k miles, and was about to 5-6 more. He’d only ever changed the oil, replaced the rear tire once, and was still on the original front tire. Managing to get 80mpg more or less, he never skipped a beat. His name was Andres, he was cool guy.


When we hit the mainland, we stopped for some food, bought some gas, and hit the road headed for the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border. We found it in short order and with the help of a local border crossing Sherpa, we paid about $20 each, made it out of Nicarauga and into Costa Rica, all exit/entry/insurance fees paid. Success. Greatfully, I kept seeing a local Costa Rican woman behind me at every step of the procedure when I had to get a stamp or pay a fee, confirming I wasn’t getting screwed.


Now, in Costa rica, we’re back with the boys! We found Charlie and along with him, his friend Andy. Charlie and Andy have been in the country for about a month, waiting for Andy’s bike to arrive via sea freight. Well, it was 30 days late, but it arrived yesterday!


Andy and I spent a 9 hours chasing it down, along with local freight agents, but we found his bike! It was always in the same place, but I’ll be liar if 9-10 pages weren’t stamped at nine-ten different locations, which Andy had to be at personally, and his Passport/License came out about every time. It was a hassle, and it was a pain in the ass. But in the end, Andy had his bike, and the two of us rode two up back to the hotel that we’ve been staying at.



The pictures have been lacking lately, but now we are 4. A complete package of: 2 Americans, 2 Australians, 2 Dr650’s, 2 Tenere 660’s, and more than a few more miles to cover.


More stories to come, but suffice it to say, we’re having a grand old time, and kicking ass and taking names!

--Alex

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

Hey Alex
If you guys are in or near San Jose, just about ten minutes from the airport is a hotel called the Orchideas. The owners are from Ohio and are great people and the hotel is cool with a great bar

Steve

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2017 KTM 1290 SD GT, 2019 KTM 300 XC, 2019 KTM 500 EXC, 2019 KTM 350 SXF, 2003 Yamaha TZ 250, 2008 MV Agusta 1000 312R, 2010 KTM RC8

One, Mr. Andrew Dalton, did not receive an efficient enough description when first introduced. Therefore let me please start from the beginning.

As we crossed into Costa Rica, we had no idea where to find Charlie, or his friend who we’d had yet to have met; a so called Andy Dalton.

Well, we sat down for some milkshakes at Denny’s near the San Jose International Airport, whipped out our wireless devices, and in no time at all, Tom was chatting with our previously facebook befriended friend, Andy Dalton.
The conversation went kind of like this,

Tom, “Hey man, where are you?”……. Andy, “Hey, we’re in the center of Alujuela, Hotel Los Vocanos” ….. Tom, “Ok.” …… Andy, “Lets meet at the McDonalds near the town center at 1pm.” ….. Tom, “Ok.”

So Tom and I left our air conditioned Denny’s dinning booths with plenty of time to spare, and headed to the McDonalds previous mentioned. Well, we were an hour early so we again pulled out our wifi toys, and surfed the wifi offered by McD’s.

Charlie and Andy never showed up and were 20 minutes late. Or as they would have you know, we never made it to the appropriate McDonalds and thus left them waiting for 20 minutes.

So, we wifi’ed them again, found there location, and we took off to meet them. And meet them we did, with one bike between them, which had a disassembled rear end, staying at a nice hotel with their shit spread everywhere. Turns out it was a lot of Charlie’s shit, though Andy did bring a Baby Taylor guitar.

And now for the good stuff. Charlie and Andy were headed to the Hamilton Inn & Suites near the airport where we just were. Andy was footing the bill do to some bankrolled credits at different companies. Andy offered to book us a room at the Hotel, an easy 900% over our budget, offer. We couldn’t refuse, as he didn’t let us, and that afternoon we were booked into the nicest room/bed I had slept on since I spent the night with Kristi at the Tulalip Inn for my friends’ wedding.

Mr. Andy Dalton was just getting started. Over s and popcorn Andy informed us that we would all be going to Jr. Ribs, a Texan bar and grill style restaurant located somewhere close in San Jose, and that his previously mentioned credits pile up was paying for it. And no matter what we saw on the menu, we were to order it if we wanted it. Whaaaaa???

And so the four of us went, and the four of us ate, and ate, and ate. And we ate 3 full racks of ribs, which each came complete with three side dishes, along with a 2 huge steaks, which also had 3 side dishes each, a platter of cheesy fries, and $50 dollars worth of scotch, lemonade and coke.

And the bill totaled $217, and Andy paid it! (His piled up credits did)

And then we went to bed and passed out in rapid succession, only to awake to; Complimentary breakfast!!! With sausage and eggs, and bagels, and fruit, and fresh juice, and waffles, and rice with beans, and coffee, and tea, and cereal, and yogurt, and more! Tom and I gorged in the morning, and again before it closed at 10am.

Mr. Andrew Dalton is a stand up son-of-a-bitch (a polite affectionate term in Aussie speak) and we're glad to have him around!

That morning Andy and I took off to locate, and acquire his motorcycle from the Freight Agent comspany that he was dealing with. I went along for the adventure, as well, being as being able to speak Spanish I thought I’d get out for the day. Well, instead we met with Jose (speaks GREAT English) and Jaime (who speaks little) and we had nothing to do but wait as they took care of business. Jose hung out with us as we shot the shit about motorcycles, travel, women, and everything else (is there much else?) while Jaime (Hi-May) aced the import process and drove us between buildings, offices, warehouses etc until after 7-8 hours of moving around, breakfast and lunch paid for by Jose/Jaime, we had a bike! Success!!!

First step, re-attach the handlebars, windscreen, front fender, hand guards, and attach the panniers and bags.
Second step, throw four hundred pounds of man on the bike and head for the gas station. Fill it to the top and spend nearly $30 at $6/gallon. Fix the tire pressure to 32psi in the front and rear, up from 18 and 20. :/
Third step, ride 2 up back to the Hotel and smoke a celebratory cigar with Andy. SUCCESS.

Well that was the beginning of Charlie’s demise however, as he got some sort of stomach bug that rendered him useless for about 36 hours. All night, and the next day he was out of commission, a trip to the pharmacy, antibiotics purchased, and back to the hotel room where Charlie’s room smells like sickness. Give him the antibiotics, and go to Andy’s room where the air is still clean.

We spent 3 nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites, and every morning we stuffed face with the free continental breakfasts. Damn they were good.

Tom and I also cleaned our entire motorcycles in that time. Our bikes haven’t had a good wash since we left Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico when we took a cruise on the beach. It was time.

We cleaned the chains in Kerosene and Commercial grade degreaser. Then we lubed them with chain lubrication and chain wax. The chains were slacking a bit (regrettably more then I should have allowed, as they weren’t given much thought) and we rightfully adjusted them to a better position. We lubed our rear axles, cleaned the sprockets, (I replaced my brake pads) and I replaced my rear main bearing seal as the little tiny spring in it had fallen out and been munched for some reason.

After 3 days of lazing around, picking up Andy’s bike, and doing the minor maintenances on our bikes, we were ready to hit the road (after the continental breakfast face stuffing) and so we did, and it nearly instantly turned from a humid stuffy day into a pissing downpour, and so we put in our waterproof liners and hit the road. And soon we were in the mountains, and for the first time this trip Tom and I crossed above 10,000ft elevation, the temperature dropped to 53* F, and we were all soaked and pretty cold.

A quick stop for a coffee/hot chocolate and we tossed our thermal liners in our coats, pulled out our “waterproof insulated” gloves, and hit the road again, up and over the mountains, and down to the coast. The road was the most treacherous that we’ve seen yet. The clouds, extremely dense fog, extremely wet conditions necessitated 25mph riding, and extreme concentration.

Chalk it up to Andy’s first day on his bike in over 80 days, his first real adventure riding, and his gusto, and he did well! We all stayed together, and found ourselves in Playa Dominical that night. It was quite the ride!
Playa Dominical had its moments but the next day we were on the road again. Headed for the Panamanian border, it took no more than 15 minutes before Andy and I were riding together, and Tom and Charlie were a bit ahead. Then, we lost them. It should be noted that I misheard Charlie when he said he was stopping at the first gas station that he saw. I heard, “I’m stopping at a gas station ahead,” ergo, Andy and I blew right by Tom and Charlie where they had stopped at the first gas station.

It happened that Andy’s sunglasses fell off his bike while on the road and I stopped to pick them up for him. That gave Tom and Charlie just enough time to get out of site, and for us to blow right by them as they watched. Well then.
Andy and I stuck to the plan, and hit the same border crossing that Charlie and Tom were meant to go to. We though, having not seen them along the way that they were ahead of us. Obviously we were mistaken. Charlie had the Map, and he also had the GPS. We just knew we were headed South, wanted to cross a certain border crossing into

Panama, and we new “San Vito” was somewhere in the mix of it all.

These are normal conditions for Tom and I, no worries on my part.

Well, Andy is only 2 days in and now found himself, map-less, GPS-less, and with basically no Spanish, and understandably a bit antsy. I reaffirm that this is absolutely no problem, and we can stop and ask for directions. Tom and Charlie will be on the same path, or doing something else. No need to worry about them, and they are most definitely not worrying about us.

Well, an hour and a bit or so later we found Tom and Charlie at the same border crossing we arrived at. So problem solved, and we’re all still soaking wet. Our exit of Costa Rica and entry into Panama costs us a whopping $16. $15 for a month of insurance, and $1 for quarantining our bikes, (they sprayed our wheels with a tank of fluid….)

About 5 minutes later, we were stopped, facing a road of nothing but mud and the terrible feeling that if we continued much further we were all going to crash, or as the Aussies call it “Stack It”

Well none of us stacked the bikes, but we turned around, asked for directions again, and took off down a different road. 45 minutes later we arrived in Volcan where we are now. Hanging out, looking for a Lavanderia to wash and dry our completely soaked riding gear, and just relaxing from the crappy cold riding weather that has beaten us down for the past 2 days.

Panama at first glance is a hand and fist above Costa Rica in regards to scenery, price tags, standard of living, and the overall “feeling in the air”.

The roads are nicer, the food is better, the hostels cheaper, and the nicer. We’re happy to be out of Costa Rica and in Panama. It’s been a good day doing nothing, though, of course we’re always on the move regardless of where we are.

The next step is to head to Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean, and in no time at all we’ll be on the Stahlratte crossing over to Colombia through the San Blas Islands.

Onward!

--Alex

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

Today, through the constant rain, we bought front and rear wheel bearings for our bikes. We replaced Tom's rear bearings and my front bearings. We replaced Tom's front sprocket, and re-lubed his chain as it was squeaking a bit. It's due for replacement soon. I'll change mine soon as well.

We weren't able to find new seals for our bearings, but the old ones will be serviceable until we can locate replacements for them. Until then, we're doing well with them.

My front tire has been giving me quite the wobble/shimmy type of bullshit in slow speed corners, at/or under 30mph. Any speed above 30mph and no problems exist.

I have experienced this problem off and on since about the 4000th mile of the trip, and having ridden nearly 5k more miles since, it never really presented a problem. Now, entering more mountainous terrain, with wet conditions, slow speed corners, and a progressively worse tire condition, it has begun to bother me. The handle bar visibly shakes in both left and right hand corners at speeds under 30mph. If I release one hand, the problem exasperates itself and is uncomfortably annoying.

Since having replaced my front wheel bearings, I have yet to test ride the bike as it has grown dark and the incessant rain has yet to let up. Tomorrow will be the first test.

Furthermore I have noticed an uneven wear pattern on my front tire, inconsistent with any other front tire on the 4-5 motorcycles that I have been traveling with. Charlie, Tom, Patrick, Andy, and the motorcycle mechanic that facilitated the removal and insertion of my wheel bearings have noticed the same uneven pattern that exists.

It was the motorcycle mechanics agreement with my suspicion that leads me to believe that my wobble exists due to the weird wear pattern.

I will know tomorrow if the wheel bearings were the issue or not.

Provided the problem isn't solved by the new wheel bearings, I am soon to have a new tire put on within the next few hundred miles. If that is the solution, the question still remains why the uneven tire wear has happened.

I am running a Mefo Explorer front tire as of right now, and am thinking about changing to a MT90 front, or keep the same Mefo as the lifespan is incredible, and it has lasted at least 9,000 miles plus an addition 2-4k miles that it had on it before I left.

OR. My tire is out of alignment. Keep in mind that the wheels and spokes are not the originals as on Tom's bike, and are second hand wheels and spokes that were put on in Baja, Mexico following my crash. Should the spokes be out of tune, or the wheel unbalanced, that could be the cause of my issue as well.

It remains to be seen.

Any suggestions otherwise?

--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

What can I say guys, what a fantastic journey your having and I have enjoyed every minute of reading this thread. Feels like I have done the journey with you. I am planning on doing my trip in 2014 with a friend of mine. Coming from England. Canada to Buenos Aires. I hope it is as good as yours is going.

Keep the updates coming. look forward to reading the next update.

I'm not a mechanic but sounds like something isn't alligned properly.

Or the person that owned that wheel and tyre before you just liked going round roundabouts

Could you ask Charlie and Andy how they have got on with there bikes as we're doing it on xt660z tenere's too.

Safe riding all,

Pete

Panama City. La fin de la continenta de Norte Americana. (The End of the Continent of North America)

We have made it! We have ridden our motorcycles from the Northwest corner of the mainland United States to the bottom of North America. And now, we’re sailing across the San Blas Islands to Cartegena, Colombia. We’re onboard the Stahlratte, and it is AWESOME. There are 20 people on this boat, and only 1 of them is over the age of 32, and she’s just as cool as the rest of us, and we’re all pretty damn cool.



Before we got on the boat though, we (Tom, Charlie, Andy, Patrick, Ty, Jill, Anna and I) spent the last three days in Panama City, in a cheap hotel, ramming around town looking for motorcycle parts while trying to make sure we saw enough stuff to satisfy ourselves. Most of what we saw consisted of the Panama Canal, the back of taxi drivers’ heads, and the bottom of cans. But nevertheless we were enjoying ourselves spectacularly.

Our first day in Panama City landed us at the “Panama Passage Hostel” which is meant to be specifically for overland travels in cars or on motorcycles. When we arrived as a group of 6 motorcycles with 7 people, we were the most motorcycles that had been there at one time.



For some reason or another, all of us besides Patrick decided to leave the next morning and head into the city to find a hotel where we could easily leave from to find motorcycle parts. Patrick opted to stay as he planned to store his motorcycle there for a month while he visits family in Europe. For Patrick, his motorcycle trip is over, for the rest of us, it has just begun.

In the middle of all of this, my foot has been giving me a bit of a problem and had been giving me a bit of pain. I cut myself in the water in Bocas del Toro and for some reason or another it ended up getting an infection. It looked like this.



Now, three days later, it looks just fine.

During our three days and nights in Panama City we went on the search for motorcycle parts. Specifically, we were looking for a new rear sprocket, front sprocket, chain, front and rear tires. Both of our chains (Tom’s and mine) are shot, and we need new ones. In the long run all that we purchased was a new front tire for me (solved my wobbling issues), some chain lube, and a couple of cheap spare helmets for future passengers.



We’ll be spending a few days in Cartegena when we arrive in Colombia, and it is there that we plan to make certain and find ourselves new chains and rear tires along with sprockets.

Besides that, we did a whole lot of nothing, EXCEPT the last night we all went out. Some of us came back early in preparation for leaving the next morning to meet the boat in Carti (myself included). Some others (Ty, Jill, and Charlie) decided to stay out a bit later and they inevitably had a fantastic time.



Ok. I should mention that I am interpreting all of this, but you can see for yourselves.


I first heard them come back to the hotel at 1:35 in the morning. They were very happy, and all of them were soaking wet. There happened to be a pool at the last bar that we were at, and they all hopped in with their clothes on. No problem. Charlie specifically thought it would be cool to hop in the pool and throw all of his money in the water around him so he could be surrounded by money in a roof top swimming pool. That is exactly what he did. I found him while he was drying the money out…. He was happy with himself.



There was quite a bit of money.



And that is how some of us spent their last night in Panama City. It was quite an effort by Ty, Jill and Charlie, but the best was yet to come. Here, my friends, is the Money Shot. Pun intended.



The next morning started off a bit slower then intended, which was slightly intended in the first place, as we never intend to get on the road as early as initially intended. So maybe it was intended.

Tom bought a spare helmet for his bike for the next 6 months. Anna would be slated for the first use of the helmet.



Anna is getting on the boat and going to Cartegena with all of us bikers at the same time. So, we moved some shit around, tossed her on the back of Tom’s bike and took off. Along with Anna we also encountered the same Dutch girls that we first met in Nicaragua, and then again in Bocas del Toro.



They ended up with helmets and all 10 of us hopped on 6 motorcycles and took off for the Panama Canal. For after all, you can’t NOT go to the Panama Canal when you are in Panama City; that would be a joke!

And so we went to the Panama Canal. These photos are for you Dad!

We first arrived at the Panama Canal and parked the bikes. Here is a shot of the visitor center.



Once inside the visitors center there is a museum to check out, a documentary video to check out, and an observation tower to see the locks from. We were all in a rush, as we left the hotel later than initially planned, and needed to meet our boat at around 1pm.


In our rush, we didn’t have time for the video or the museum, but we made sure to make our way to the observation deck to get a good view of the locks. No boats were passing through while we were there, but you got a good idea of how the system worked.

In the morning, the boats come in from the Pacific and exit out into the Atlantic.



In the afternoon, the reverse happens and boats enter the Canal from the Atlantic and exit into the Pacific. It’s quite the enterprise when viewed in person.



Look Dad, I even took a shower, wore a clean shirt, clean pants, and combed my hair! (I have more than just this one)



Next up was a group shot of all the guys that have ridden their motorcycles all the way here. Only Andy did not ride from the United States.



We snagged a photo of Tom and Anna as well.



Tom and I got the necessary shot of the two of us. Tom didn’t comb his hair…



The Dutch girls got in on the photo shoot as well. Though there is more of that to come.



Another self portrait



Kim and Roberto showed up at the Canal just a short while after the rest of us, and I was able to snag this parting shot. Kim isn’t coming along on the boat ride, and instead opted to stick close to Roberto until his scheduled flight home on Aug 5th.



When we got back out to the parking lot, we met another guy on a motorcycle from Argentina. He rode a Honda Transalp.



A group shot of the Ten of us that rode to the Panama Canal. This also served as our time to say our goodbyes to anyone not heading south from Panama to Colombia, namely Patrick. Damn it. Patrick is a cool dude. I know you’re reading this Patrick. You’re cool.



Then came the obligatory bike and bikini shot. The Dutchie’s (as they have been known) bought helmets at the mall in preparation for a motorcycle ride. I agreed to buy one of them, $30, (I’ve been meaning to buy one for a while now) if they would hop on my motorcycle in their bikinis. For all of you guys at home, not currently on motorcycles traveling, these photos are for you.



The lighting wasn’t that great, and the photo shoot location a bit rushed, but these will have to suffice.



Someone suggested a pose, this was as good as it got.



And there you have it, girls on bikes! You’re welcome guys. (Send me a private message & you’ll receive the other photos…..)
…
…
…
It wasn’t too long before we left the Canal and headed out on the wrong road headed for Carti, the location where we would find the Stahlratte waiting in the harbor to winch our bikes onto the boat. Well we eventually found our way onto the right road and in less time than expected we found our way to the boat dock, and spied this about 100 meters away.



It wasn’t long before a dinghy was dispatched and started taking people out to the boat.



Ludwig the Captain arrived and there began the start of our crazy boat hysterics. We were in for a good time.



In no time at all, we were all on the boat, and headed out to anchor. We don’t even know what to expect.



And there began our Trans Caribbean sailboat ride. What happened DURING is yet to come. Stay tuned. If you’re lucky it’ll be up in a couple days.

--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

So we left Panama, and got on board a 100+ foot steel sailboat, headed for the open seas to cross with our motorcycles to Colombia. Awesome.

Look at me everyone! I’m on a boat!



What’s up Tom? You’re on a boat too? Awesome.



The boat is basically three levels. The bottom deck which serves as the main sleeping quarters, the main deck which serves as a hang out spot, swimming platform, and napping area, and the top deck which held the main table where our meals were served.



The crow’s nest served as the highest point on the boat. I dutifully climbed it to take a look. Capitan Ludwig says it is 20 meters. That sounds about right. So. I jumped. Andy has the video as proof. That comes later.



Our first night on the boat served as a good welcoming to the yachting lifestyle and we all slept well on board the boat.



The second day served as a day to pick up the rest of the passengers that would be sharing the voyage to Colombia. There were quite a few of them. We were 25 in total including 4 crew members, from 10 different countries. Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, USA, France, Spain, and Colombia.


After we collected all of the passengers, it was on to the next spot where we hung out for the day, snorkeled, swam, drank , rum, rum+coke, rum+tang, and rumpunch. Lots of rum. Oh, and we smoked some of Andy’s cigars. Thanks Andy!

You guys remember Jill right? You’ll see Ty again later.



I found the Hat and Sunglasses on the boat. I was able to negotiate keeping the hat, but not the sunglasses.



Anna and Tom were relaxing as well.



Anna smokes a mean cigar.



All the while, the pelicans are scoping out the scene, looking for more fish to snag.



It wasn’t long before most of the men were shirtless, and most of the women were in bathing suit tops. It was hot on the top deck. Ty followed suit of Capitan Ludwig and whipped out his man speedo



The Capitan was already ahead of him. Meet his daily attire. No matter where he was, he wore the same bottoms.



We had a barbeque dinner on a small island beach that night, and everyone went to bed mostly drunk, it was a good thing that we didn’t have to move very far the next day. Lots of people were hung over.



It was a hot day the next day as well. Ludwig was in good form.



The rest of that day consisted of a whole lot of hanging around. A party was brewing, and the storm (drunken passengers) was on the horizon. What would happen? Well, s would be drunk, but nothing happened until after our excellent dinner of Lobster!



It started off mildly, and Anna wasn’t full of enough liquid courage to dance yet, though she did get on the table.



Everyone was only slightly off kilter at this point, and Anna was a bit early.



THEN! All of a sudden, we had two men on the table, and the Aussie, and the American led the show!



When Charlie stepped down, Ty took over the reins.



Well Charlie hadn’t had enough yet damn it and he was determined for more. So he stripper danced the table while Ty got caught in the pole.



Have you had a look at Tom in that photo above? He’s LOVING IT!

What next!? Charlie! Charlie! You fiend!



You might ask yourself what is going on. Needless to say, it is confusing. However, I will explain. Charlie is simply the precursor, and is getting the party started. Why aren’t the ladies on the table? Well. Charlie made that happen.

But not until he showed them PERSONALLY what he wanted to see.



That’s right Charissa, work that pole.



HARDER!!!



Can we please, PLEASE have a round of Applause for Charlie, the amazing Australian who effectively pulled not one, nor two, but SEVEN women onto the table? Well done Charlie!



Keep in mind, he’s still showing them what he wants to see.

But he, nor anyone else for that matter, was so lucky.



As time progressed, things became a bit more toned down, and Andy entered the scenes with a new cigar.



But Floyd (shirtless in center) picked up the pace again and a conga line ensued.



The most relaxed of us all took it easy that night. (Good thing too as the next day and a half called for 30 hours of nonstop sailing…) Meet Martin and Line (Lee-Neh)



........ story to be continued.

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

Every night onboard the boat we witnessed lightning storms in the distance. It only took about 20 minutes, but I finally snagged this shot.



Oh shit! 20 minutes of spazzing out and snagging lightning photos took my eye of the game! What is going on over there?



Charlie!? Did you make that happen? I think you did. I am sure you did. Well done Charlie. Hat’s off.



Well…. Damn… That was a way to end the night. Time for bed. What time is it anyway? 3 am? Shit. We’re sailing tomorrow? Shit. Fast forward 10 hours, and at 1pm you witness Charlie sleeping off his famous night.



The sails were up, and the boat was moving along at about 8 knots. We were sailing ahead of schedule.



We had bright blue skies and fantastic weather.



Donato, the Spanish, non-English speaking crew member liked to hang out wherever he felt comfortable. It was his turn for watch duty, and he dutifully kept watch.



It was soon thereafter that we sighted land. Colombia loomed in the distance. Colombia…. Here. We. Come.



Georgie Boy was still tired from the night before. He had a wild night as well. George is a British guy ridding a 2008 BMW R1200GS. He bought his bike in Mexico and has spent the last 8 months in Central America. Charlie met him on his way down, and henceforth he’s part of the group if he wants to be.



A new culture, country, and continent awaits us.



The skyline is quite a bit different then what we are used to by now.



As a reminder for us, I snagged this photo. Every line marks a purchase, and every rum notation marks a bottle of Rum. I drank Charlie’s Rum, and bought the coke. Thanks Charlie!



Our last breakfast together!



And the first in Colombian territory!!!



Why are you so happy Ludwig? Is it because 21 passengers just paid for themselves along with 6 motorcycles and that bag you have has over $11,000 dollars in it?



OR is it because you are about to see how many ladies you can purchase?



That’s Ludwig saying, “Ya Man,”.

And this is Janina (Ya-Nina) saying she might have a price!!!



Holy Crap. We’ve just had the best 5 days of our journey thus far. Can you believe that we have 6 more months of this Debauchery!!!

--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN