desperatley need tires and sprocket/chain in patagonia
 

hey guys,
my klr´s tires are dying.. and worst are the sprockets and chain.
i´m in el chalten/calafate now and there is no where to buy moto parts here.
does anyone know of a place they have?
puerto natales is the closest and my next destination but i don´t know if they have there.
i guess rio gallegos has but that´s far and not on my way..
advices?
and is it possible that my chain had worn off after a lousy 4000 kms?!
it´s a DID non o-ring.. my bikes heavy and i ride a lot of unpaved roads but still! i need to adjust it every 200-300 km´s!! that´s more then once a day..

is it possible that my cheap sprocket (which also has only 5K on it) worn the chain with it. should i replace the entire set?

thanks,.
asaf

Rio Gallegos is going to be your best bet. there are a couple of bike shops on Route 3 as you head south. I think one is Kawasaki dealer and he had tyres when I was there, if not he can get them shipped in. Shop around.

There are some bike shops (check yellow pages) in Punta Arenas (there is a ferry that run from Pouvinir) but I doubt they will have the tyres or sprockets, but they can get them shipped in from Santiargo.

Non O ring chains dont last long, you may find better value from an O ring chain, it is best to change the sprockets at the same time as the chain.

Don´t expect things to be cheap in that part of the world.

If you are heading to TDF just reverse your route to puerto natales.

Let us know how you get on.

Steve

contact javier at dakar motos, buy a chain, fr and r sproket from him, ask him politely to put it on the bus to you, relax and eat meat for a few days until it arrives.

Gonzalo is your man.

Regards, Mick

my planned route is el chalten (where i am now) - el calafate - puerto natales - punta arenas - usuhaia - rio gallegos and north..
my back sprocket is really done, so the chain might be fine if i find a place with a disc to cut it.. and the tires, well, i could always keep a bit more but they are also in the need of eternal rest.
so rio gallegos is my sure bet but not on my route, if i would be sure to have a shop in natales than i would go there but i´m not sure.. and it is too much to arenas.

i might try to talk to javier, havn´t thought of that!

thanks guys,
i will update when i´ll find a sullotion.

asaf

Hi asaf,
As far as know there is nothing in puerto natales, we were there for a couple of days and did not see any bike shops at all.
Rene´s idea to contact DM and have them ship it down would be a good if you can fit the parts. Check out the car tyre shops as you may find a used tyre, it´s a long shot.
I found a good used front tyre in Punta Arenas.

There is a a good Kawasaki and honda Shop in Comodoro Rivadario, I think they will have what you need but it is a long way north of you now. it is also a oil and gas boom town so everything is expensive.

How is the weather down there at the moment.

Steve

[QUOTE=fazer_1000
is it possible that my cheap sprocket (which also has only 5K on it) worn the chain with it. should i replace the entire set?
thanks,.
asaf
Good luck, hope you can find good parts!

just another thought, If you plan on having parts sent from BA it may be best to be in Argentina rather than Chile, to recieve them.

Steve

Parts in Patagonia
 

Hi Fazer,

I was in Puerto Natales 10 days ago and as Steve says, there are no bike shops. I was in Punta Arenas last week and there were no 17" tyres. I had a Pirelli MT60 flown in from Conception. 63k for the tyre, 10k shipping. Took two days. The shop I used was off of Avenida Indepencia two blocks down the hill from Hostel Indepencia (Great place - pitch your tent in the garden for 2k, then use kitchen, bathroom, internet) and on the opposite side of the road. I´m pretty sure he had DID chains there. It´s got a huge mural painted on the wall and quads outside - hard to miss. If you get anyting shipped be sure to have it delivered to the same country in which it is ordered.
If I remember rightly, once you pick up the tarmac south of El Chalten, it´s tarmac all the way to PA.

Adam
Short Way Round

thanks for your help guys!
i´m trying to contact javier for his advice.
if not, then perhaps i´ll take the bus to rio gallegos or try to get myself to punta arenas somehow.
hope to leave el chalten tomorow since the weather here was crappy for the past week. strong winds, matched to nons-stop rains.. yesterday was good and i was sorry to not leave since today became bad again..

do you have an advice about how to shorten the chain without a breaking tool? it has a clip master link so it´s easy to open but i´ve got no specail tools to cut it shorter onn link.

it´s on the end of it´s adjustment already and it looks like a worn out loundry rope.. very loose, on the verge of falling out.
more than the tires, that´s my main problem.
the back sprocket itself is also dead, looking like toothpicks, and all are bent forward, but i have no choice but to keep on untill i get a new one.

asaf

Hey Fazer,

If you can't get access to a hand grinder to quickly nick off the end of the pins, you can easily do it with a basic metal file. Doesn't take a lot of time, you are just filing off the "flattened" part of the pin so it is flush. It the file is fairly fine, your strokes will run fairly smooth and after a few minutes, it'll be ground off.

Hi Asaf

Just a thought: contact the El Calafate community, you'll be going through there and he/she/they may well be able to help.

Regards, Mick

all done!!!
 

hey guys, here´s the latest update..
i left two days ago to el calafate after i changed my chain to an old spare one i carry with me.
when i got to the junction off ¨right-el calafate, left-rio gallegos¨ i looked at the sprocket and decided to go to gallegos.. even got stuck on the way without fuel (but with the help of lovely local family from calafate) and yesterday i went to change my stuff at SM motos who gave me the best price (still expansive, 1400 pesos for two enduro 3 tires, did o-ring chain and two sprockets) and did a good job (we had to drill holes in the back sprocket to match it up since there was no one that fit in town and i did not want to wait 3 more days..).

now i´m good,
leaving back to calafate to continue my trip.

tahnks again for all your help!!
asaf