Urgent: Broken down in San Pedro D.A (Chile)
 

Hi,

i was hoping someone could help me. One of the spokes on our rear wheel broke in the atacama desert which resulted in our back wheel collapsing.

I am trying to source a new rear wheel in Chile for a 2014 Sumo Torque 250cc but are not having much luck. I have found one dealer in santiago Chile but we are having big problems trying to order a new wheel from them due to language barriers. We have tried using native spanish speakers but are still running into issues. I have also emailed them in spanish with the help of google translate but they say they have not received my emails.

If any one could help us out it would be greatly appreciated. Its been 4 days since we had the incident and arent any further forward.

Cheers

A.

Send then a photo (small) of the wheel .. photo = 1,000 words?

Bummer!
Sourcing parts long distance is tough. Might be best to:
1. reach out to the Santiago Moto community via Horizon's. Try to find someone bi-lingual to help out, someone who knows the motorcycle community and local shops who may be of help.

2. Take the wheel, leave the bike somewhere safe, get on a bus and go to Santiago. Show up at dealers door. Maybe they'll let you have a wheel from a new bike sitting on the showroom? Any sort of warranty on this bike at all?
Even if you have BUY the frickin' wheel ... it will be worth it.

BEST IDEA
3. See if you can find a "skilled" Llantero who can rebuild your wheel. This would be the quickest and cheapest solution. Even if it's only a half assed job, it might be good enough so you can carry on. Lots of good mechanics everywhere but you have to dig them out. A collapsed wheel repair is not rocket science. It can be done.

Any decent wheel can run OK with a missing spoke or three ... as long as ALL the remaining spokes are TIGHT. I've done it.

I don't know your bike, I wish I could help and offer more. All the best, hang in there. Your luck will change. bier

thanks for the responses.

In the end i tried Calama, san pedro and contacted people in Antofaghasta and it all came to nothing. I even took the wheel in the honda deeler and it took them 1 hour to work out what i wanted haha.

Eventually we managed to order a new wheel and get it delivered from Santiago.

I did consider the bus trip down to santiago but it was a 3500km round trip.

Thanks for the help and advice.

Next time ... just talk louder (in English of course!) .. they'll understand you better! :rofl:

Seriously ... sounds to me like your biggest issues was communication ... and apparently not having even basic Spanish language skills.

In that situation ... just hand them your wallet and pray.

Save travels ... y que le via muy bien!

Back wheel collapsing - sounds horrendous!! I see a lot of those sumos around - have you had many other issues? Glad you're in a position to continue your trip any way. If you need any info about Bolivia pm me - spent the past 3 months here on motorcycle.

Haha yes thats what they allways do :D

For my bike i would try to repair the wheel the asian way:

http://adventure-travel-experience.d...klinik_054.jpg

With wheel like this people even transport cows so it should be fine for a single person

Good luck (and please send us a photo) Tobi
http://motorradtouren-suedamerika.de...en_suedamerika