Lima - Buenos Aires: Newbie Questions!
 

Hey everyone! First post on the HUBB...

We need some advice!
So, I'm 22, from the UK, just finishing uni, and a friend and I are planning to do a bike trip round a bit of South America. We've never done any off road riding, and have only been riding 125's for the last couple of years.
We're thinking: starting in Lima, heading south through the Andes, seeing Cusco, Macchu Picchu, Nazca, Arequipa etc, before heading into Boliva and down through Argentina and flying home from Buenos Aires. A good 4000 miles or so.

So, my questions:
1. Too ambitious for a first trip?

2. What bike?!

-We're thinking the Honda CRF250L. Is this going to be gutless at altitude in the Andes(EFI, so should be better than carbs right?)? Do we want something bigger? Just cautious of big heavy bikes in dirt, as its our first time.

3. We have two options: (a) Buy a bike in the UK, fit it out, get used to it, and then ship it over. or (b) buy a bike out there, Toby from Around the Block tours runs a service where he organises a bike & reg etc and preps it. But then we won't have had any experience with it, won't know where to even begin mechanically. What would be the ideal?

4. How much Kit do we need? It's hardly a round the world trip, but we think camping & cooking at least every other night to save £££'s, so would need that gear.

5. How many miles per day is reasonable for us in these countries? I've been trawling the forums, but seems to vary quite a lot!

6. Finally, any suggestions for things to see/do along the way?

Cheers!

Toby

Lots of inexpensive bikes in Peru, Many Chinese and Indian makes are cheaper than Japanese. There are dirt roads, but they are roads and any bike can do them. You will get used to a new, larger bike in a few miles and should not be an issue. if you buy a bike for riding in high altitude, buy it there so it is set up for it. Don't forget, Argentina and Chile are not at altitude for the most part.

i would go for at least a Pulsar 220 which does punch above it's weight. There are a few Chinese 250s that have gotten good reviews. You will not be able to get rid of them in Argentine, but Chile has several free trade zones where you can.

Toby,

Sounds like an exciting plan just a few thoughts in response to your questions

1) 4000 miles seems a sensible distance. all the countries you're going through are populous so even if you end up forgetting something or breaking down 'in the middle of nowhere' then some firendly local will be able to help you in one way or another. You didn't say how long you're planning to tour for. As long as you keep distance, time available and amount of 'things' you want to do in balance then you'll have no problem.

3) For the length of trip you have planned I'd buy in SA, but I'm no expert on this

5) For how many miles a day I work it out this way - but it's just my opinion
Remember that you will probably have (and want to have) several 'rest days' not on the bike whether it is for rest, to explore a city, to get repairs done etc. Obviously assume 0 miles for these days.
Then there will be days where you just want to get somewhere and have relatively little interest in what is between point A and B. Ideally there aren't too many of these days, but I assume I can ride for 8 hours and I'd suggest an average of 30-40 mph is reasonable for these countries
Then the majority of days you'll be looking for the interesting routes, stopping, taking pictures, walking around places etc. I assume 3-4 hours of riding with average of 30mph would reasonable.
As I said this is just my way and I've not travelled this area (yet)

6) I'll hopefully be travellign around here on my version of RTW. This is the list of places and things to do that I have listed for myself;
PERU
colco or cotahuasi canyons (twice as deep as grand canyon - no tourists)
Lake Titicaca - uros islands (floating huts)
canon del pato road from chimbote to huarez
choquequirao (machu alternative)
Cerro blanco sandboarding
pico alto - watches the big waves and surfing

BOLIVIA
palacio de sal, salar de uyuuni, isla del pescado
lake colarado with flamingos and offroad fun route (with lots of tour so can't get lost in desert)
laguna verde and hot springs
mountain bike the most dangerous road in la paz
cordillera real mountain range

ARGENTINA
watch amateur tango at a milongo look at hoymilonga.com in Buenos Aires
iguazca falls

Hope that's some help

Cheers Guys!
We're thinking almost definitely buy out there, a cheap chinese thing, keep costs down.
That mileage seems sensible, we're thinking take at least two months over it, so that gives us plenty of slack. That said, we're not planning to book flights back until we're in Argentina, so can take as long/short as we want!
There looks like an awful lot of Argentina is flat, straight, and tarmac... Any suggestions for interesting routes? Or just batter through it as quickly as poss?
Thanks for your suggestions, we were thinking of going to many of the same places.
Toby

yami xtz250
EFI
screw and nut valve adjustment
cheaper? than honda

Contact Around the block moto tours in Huánuco, Peru. I bought a Honda XR250 from him, and it is perfect in all ways. Straight up guy, and he also has very good results with his Sumo 250's. I just returned from 6 weeks in Peru, and will return next year. I think a 125 will be slow, but lots of SA folks ride them every day. Economics and where you want to go play in to your own decisions. I wanted a dirt road oriented travel moto.

I did not take camping gear, because rooms and food were inexpensive. I also wanted to be light, so I would not hesitate to ride some of the more sketchy roads. My daily expenses were $40 US/day for the trip: room, gas, food, and personal and moto daily expenses. Rooms run from 20 to 40 Peru soles generally - worth the expense for my travel preferences. Airline and moto purchase were added costs to this budget. I was on a lot of rural mountain roads, so I usually was 125 to 200km/day. I did make a couple 300/400km days on blacktop, with the goal of getting somewhere. Ride report, if interested: Leaving the Arrowhead country to ride Peru and north | Adventure Rider

Hi LD, I've had a look at his website, dropped him an email, and we've decided we'll use him when we get nearer the time, seems a good way of doing it.

Great ride report! Its always useful to see how other people have done it.
Currently trying to figure out what to do with the bikes at the end of the trip, once we get to Buenos Aires. Apparently its nigh on impossible to sell them, so we might have to change our plans! Wonder if insurance would pay out if they spontaneously catch fire...

Cheers for your help!