At long last I've finished editing my ride videos into something that I hope is watchable. In March 2008 I set off from San Francisco (California) on a KLR650, arriving in Santiago (Chile) eight months and 21,000 miles later.

Thank you HUBB for the wealth of information, thank you Mollydog for the advice, and thanks MojoRising and Vagamoto for the companionship.

¡Viva las Americas!

- alex

Mexico


Central America


Panama to Colombia (sailing on the Seeadler)


Colombia


Peru - The way to Santa Teresa


Peru, Ecuador & Chile

Hello Alex,

Enjoyed watching your videos, especially the last one riding through Equador, Peru & Chile. Inspiring! I have a question regarding the sailing between Panama and Colombia. Your bike was not on deck but hanging off the back of the boat, any worries at first? No salt water concerns? Just curious. Thx for sharing your adventure.

Mike.

Hi Mike, cheers for the compliment. Yes, I was pretty nervous myself when I drew the short straw and could only look on enviously whilst my friends had their bikes secured snugly under the mast.

Guido - the skipper - however, was a former biker himself and swore he always stored his on the yacht's transom board. And sure enough, after a little adjusting of the handlebars and removal of the fairing he proved it could be done. We had a perfect crossing so the bike was ultimately untouched by the sea. The most challenging part was siting astride the KLR, pointing backwards, as we motored out to the yacht - man, bike and sea swell were never meant to be together!

I'd aimed on hosing it down as soon as we landed in Cartagena but we were soon caught up in the thrills of Colombia and it was only after a few downpours that I realised it had already had its wash.

Looking back on the trip though I suspect I should have been more concerned about my standard of riding than the bike itself. Having made it through the wilds of Central America unscathed we must of felt somewhat invincible by the time we hit South America. We rode like young idiots and it was only after a period of travelling solo in Ecuador that I started to ride defensively again. Of all the dangers I'd envisioned before setting out, this was probably the least I'd given thought to and the mostly likely to have ended the fun. Ride safe as they say!

Great set of video , I use to love photos but in the past few years the quality of amateur video is really getting pretty good and it does give a 3 D feel for people to see what it is really to be abroad and on the road .

Keep up the good work for the next trip.