Hi,

i am just home from a Australia to Iran journey on many different locally made bikes from along the way (125cc to 500cc). I plan a Chile / southern americas trip along the same idea. Although this time spending more on the bike and keeping it the whole way.

Q: what brands of bikes (pref enduro, but cruiser / naked are ok) are popular and cheap in Chile?

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http://www.andrewmclagan.com

Hey,
i'm looking as well for a cheap and common bikes in sa. it looks like the kawasaki klr 650 and 250s are pretty common esp in chile, because they are used by the military and the police as well. i'm probably going for the 250 because you can get it for under 1000€...

small popular and cheap 2000USD is the Euromot 200GXT...a Suzuki Dr200 clone and shares all motor parts with it.

I have one I bought in Santiago, and now am near Tucuman Argentina with no problems except one loose spoke and needed to replace a screw on the intake manifold...4000 km of some rough riding.

I'm puzzled, because I don't remember ever seeing any military or police on KLR's in Chile. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I did spend quite a bit of time in different parts of Chile over the course of a few months. In Bolivia, yes: a lot of police on KLR's, for which their short stature doesn't really suit them.

I'm currently re-thinking the KLR issue yet again, mainly because I'm stuck waiting for a rear tire to be bussed in from far away. Whoda thunk there'd be not a single tire in of any sort in anything vaguely related to my size (130/80-17) in this city of 1-200,000 people? I did find a used Metzler off a 660 (it was the prevalence of Yamahas, and the fact that this particular model takes the same size rear, that convinced me to wait until the last minute to start shopping), but it turned out to be just about as slick as the one I'm riding right now....which is to say, far too slick to chance leaving here for the next city.

Or it might just be a function of my (absent) Portuguese language skills.

At any rate, if I were thinking in terms of Brazil, I'd surely bring a Honda or Yamaha, possibly a Suzuki. Not a Kawasaki, not a BMW or KTM. KLR's seem to be well-catered mainly along the main gringo trail, where a steady stream of them comes through every season.

Hope that helps someone's decision-making, sooner or later. In another week, I'll have forgotten all about this little interlude.

Mark

(from Barreiras, which is to say from noplace much)

the euromot btw is made by Qingqi and sold as sundowner in BRAZIL

any suzuki parts fit it

yeah it is a little small but I've had it fully laden to Parque Vicuna in Argentina 4400m and steady 60kph winds....gusts to 80 and yes they were measured by Argentine tour guide who happened to be there at Laguna brava and wondered what the heck i was doing there on a moto

Ah, that one. I see Sundowners everywhere here. The local bike mags (which I have been perusing while waiting for word on my tire) seem to give Sundowners equal billing with the major Japanese and European brands. I didn't know what it was...only that it seemed to be having an impact. Thanks for the information.

Mark

Thanks guys. that information is great. the DR200 looks ok. Might go something bigger. but it seems ok.

if you wanna check out some pics from my past trip Australia to Iran check out my website here Andrew McLagan Travel Photography - Iran, Chile, India, Asia, Bulgaria, Romania, Malaysia, Nepal

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