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

__________________
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

__________________
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

__________________
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

Your thread is now the second most viewed ride tale on the hubb!
I cant wait for the next chapter

Thanks for the post dirtypot, I look forward to posting my next chapter as well, it's going to be a very intense one. Stay tuned!

--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

Hey guys, I've just spent the last few hours reading this entire thread! Keep up the good work, look forward to reading future reports. And most important of all, keep it shiny side up!

Hello everyone. Here follows an account of my motorcycle accident that occurred yesterday, August 3rd, 2011. Please read, and if available, offer suggestions or advice. Thanks in advance.

Yesterday Tom and I left Cartegena, Colombia, at around 12pm. We made it about 80 miles north to a city called Barranquilla

Right about that the entrance to the city there was a lot of traffic.

We needed food, and we needed gas as well, and I saw an opening in the left oncoming traffic lane, (A big opening)

SO, I looked behind me, looked ahead of me again, and then took the left turn.

Tom was behind me, and behind him, out of NOWHERE came a BIGASS box van/cargo vehicle. (Think 20 tons)

Apparently he was moving too fast to slow down for Tom and me, and instead, he saw an opening in the left lane (oncoming traffic) to pass us (on a double yellow line). Well instead of passing us, he just straight up clobbered me while I was crossing the left lane heading to the gas station. I only saw him at the last second and had the time enough to punch the throttle wide open. He hit my motorcycle behind my where me body sits, and impacted squarely on my left pannier case, destroying the pannier rack (the pelican case is alive, and fully protected the motorcycle).

My rear end slid out to my right, then the rest of my motorcycle caught up to me, and I went down on my left side and started sliding. While sliding I hit a 17 year old pedestrian who later ended up with 3 stitches in his wrist but nothing more. He walked away from the accident.

I too walked away, straight into an ambulance to the hospital.

Vehicle insurance is compulsory here in Colombia, and Tom and I bought our insurance on Tuesday the 2nd. The insurance took effect at 12:00am on Wednesday. The accident occurred around 3pm. The motorcycle insurance covers my health. I am hoping that the truck drivers insurance will cover my motorcycle. (I know he has insurance as he presented it to the police at the same time)

I was completely fine, EXCEPT

My motorcycle landed very hard on my left leg and pinched/compressed it between the pavement, and fractured my left fibula just above my ankle.

I was taken to the hospital where x-rays were taken, and I was shown the diagnosis describing my fracture.

I had two options.

Option Number 1: Either a cast for 6 weeks, resulting in immobilization of my ankle and foot, resulting in the necessity of physical therapy after my ankle bones and muscles atrophied for a month and a half.

OR

Option Number 2: Receive a small’ish incision under which would be placed a plate with screws to correct the break in my leg and help me heal in 3 weeks. I would maintain mobilization, and it would further reduce the need for physical therapy.

That was yesterday.

This morning (August 4th, 2011) I received a healthy leg swabbing, and an injection into my back between my vertebrae (Similar to an Epidural I believe) which numbed me from just above the waist, all the way to my toes. When I could feel no pain nor move my legs, I had a 5inch or so incision cut into the left side of my left leg just above my ankle.

Soon thereafter, a plate was inserted, and connected via 8 (EIGHT, f’ing) screws to my fibula, securely supporting the break.

I was then stitched back together with 11 stitches, x-rayed again to confirm success, and then dismissed with Tom to go to the hotel room that he secured.


Like I said, Tom and I bought obligatory motorcycle insurance on Tuesday August 3rd , yesterday. The accident happened 32 hours later. Today, I left the hospital not having paid a dime. Also, before my treatment, the police officer told me straight to my face, regardless of my insurance, that Colombia has a common health insurance policy and that no matter what, that I shouldn’t pay a cent. It didn’t come to that however, and gratefully my insurance wasn’t a problem.

The last thing to see is how much I can get from the truck drivers insurance to help me replace side case racks, side cases, and top case.

Currently the police are hashing it out, confirming damage inquiries with the insurance adjuster of the at fault party. The police officers (there are 3 (?) of them, 2 in their late 20’s/early 30’s, and one who’s 40’ish) took Tom’s account of the story, and my account, and stood nodding as I recounted my story, confirming after that what I said must be the truth, and that the truck driver was being less than honest. (The truck driver claimed to be next to Tom when I turned left. Tom HEARTILY denied that)



An account of the accident, please keep in mind the rules of the road are not necessarily the same here in Colombia as they might be where you live. I am not an expert either.

We believe that the truck driver never slowed down when he came up behind Tom and I. (I lead in front of Tom). As there was ample space on our left side (against oncoming traffic, though a double yellow line) we believe that the truck driver saw that as opportunity to maintain velocity and also pass us as well. Unfortunately for me, he never left his lane (the one we three we traveling in) until the precise moment that I made a left hand turn into the available gas station lot. As there was ample free space and no oncoming traffic, I used the opportunity to slow down in the opposing lane of traffic before entering the slightly dipped entrance to the gas station.

Before taking my left turn, I looked ahead against traffic, behind me, and again ahead against traffic. Then I made my move. I first saw the upcoming, fast moving truck when I was nearly perpendicular to the road at a 90* angle. Upon seeing the truck, I accelerated quickly and was able to move my position forward slightly. The truck then impacted me and the rest is history as written above.

I would like to think that there was something that could have happened differently. Of course, I could have waited to turn left, but I saw amply room. I could have not slowed down, but I didn’t want to enter a closed gas station lot at 25mph. I could have looked one last time, but the truck wasn’t coming until I turned.



I asked Tom, who was directly behind me less than 20 ft in the opposite lane position what happened from his point of view. I was leading in dense traffic in the left hand lane position. Tom was behind me in the right hand lane position.

He told me. “I saw you make a turn for the gas station, and just as I went to follow you a truck appeared to my left, moving rapidly. The truck obscured my view, and I only heard the sound of the crash. But, that truck must have been moving very rapidly in comparison to the rest of traffic or it would never have been able to accelerate into you as fast as it did, nor would it have appeared in my field of vision as quickly.”
It was Tom’s observation that the truck must have been moving rapidly in consideration of an attempt to pass us. It was then that I turned and was clobbered.

Having written all of this, please know that I am fine. Yes I have a plate and screws in my leg, but I am alive and well, and have no plans on stopping my journey. My pannier racks are toast, and top case a write off, but my motorcycle is just as it was and is in ride-able condition as proved by the police officer that loved every minute of his ride to the police station on a bike with 450cc’s more than his standard issue DR200. Yes my girlfriend arrives in Bogota in 17 days. I hope to be there then, and continue traveling south with her to Peru. If anything I’ll be able to have her bring me down some new equipment to replace my battered stuff.

So, in hindsight, can anyone offer me legitimate advice when dealing with Colombian insurance agents, police men or other officials? My health has been taken care of, and that is not the issue now.



I would like to see if I can get any sort of settlement to at least help cover some of the cost of replacing my motorcycle luggage as every cent helps, and I believe firmly that the accident was not my fault.


Also, if anyone has some decent suggestions on how to go about it, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Also, I’m thinking about replacement panniers for Kristi to bring

down. What’s on the menu?


Forever onward!








--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

nice blog, good photos... noticed a lot of hot girls in there for good measure.. i like.
Seán
Honda Vs The World | Alaska to Argentina

Lucky bugger!
Lucky in the sense it could have been a lot, lot worse - any news of if the other driver's insurance is going to cover your damage costs?

3 weeks out of action? Does this mean we'll be getting less photos of all these lovely ladies you meet on your travels??

Hope you heal quick - keep us updated!!

Damn! Bad luck followed instantly by good. Close call and I'm glad you're both fine.

No advice for you I'm afraid - never had a crash while abroad. Good luck though, and I suspect things will be fine if the Police are backing your version of events.