March 16, 2011

Relaxing day, Dad and Lynda are treating us like royalty, by making us Bacon and Eggs for breaky.  Lynda washes all of our cloths, including riding gear, while we attend to the back wheel bearings and broken latch. Done, batteries charged, Blog update time. Only one thing to worry about now….Tires. 2000 kilometers to arrive at our friends, Bill and Susan's in Phoenix where our new set of tires awaits, but the fronts are getting thin, very thin.. Mine especially, because of my fat ass, I guess?

Tire wear due to the camber of the roads and the winds in Patagonia

You say Topes, I say Tappas!

March 15, 2011

On the road at 7:15am as we are on a mission to get Dad and Lynda's today.  These stupid speed bumps really do a great job of stopping the traffic and every day, my bike bottoms out many times. There are big, high sharp bumps, low rolling ones, multiple bumps, worn out bumps, painted bumps, unpainted bumps, hidden in the shade bumps and unexpected bumps. About an hour into our ride, we are flying along and all of a sudden I see a bump thats totally unexpected and I brake real hard! With no brake lights on my bike, because I can't afford the electrical drain, and Michael paying attention to a girl on the side of the road, he doesn't see me in time braking hard, hits his brakes, swerves and his side bag hits mine. Mine is blown right off my bike and slides down the highway beside me as I slow to stop . His side bag breaks apart, opens up and shit gets strewn down the road while he drives off the road and stops while keeping is bike upright. I'm okay, he's oaky, my pannier has a broken latch, we pickup the remnants of his saddlebag, put it all back in, even with its cracked lid, strap my pannier back onto my bike with a tiedown strap and without saying 10 words to one another, we are off back down the road. At gas, we ask each other a few questions and carry on. We are both aware how close we came to having a terrible outcome and it doesn't need to be discussed. We are both lucky and we both know it. Down the road a few more hours, and Michael wants to stop to check his tire because his bike is wobbling. His tire pressure is okay, but we notice his wheel bearing are loose. While they are not loose enough to cause a wobble yet, they will need attending to. They are probably worn out due to the fact that Michael likes to jump tappas, but he won't believe me if I tell him… Down the road further, we pass a truck at a set of tappas and the top box thats strapped on from a previous encounter decides to pop off Michael's bike, but is left dangling by its strap. Lucky for the strap, otherwise we would likely have lost the box completely. Reinstalled, strapped back in and tightened, we are enroute again. These tappas are getting to me. I'm looking forward to driving without unnecessary, unexpected slowings for no reasonable reasons. I guess they are silent police, but I don't like them. We arrive to Dad and Lynda's on time at about 5pm with them watching for us and waving from their balcony. When we turn into their driveway, I stall the bike and the battery doesn't have enough to start the bike, but we made it!!! Its great to see them after 5 1/2 months on the road.

March 14, 2011

On the road at 8am, we go searching for the elusive battery charger. After 5 shops and explaining to numerous people in spanglish of our needs, one person writes down our requirement and we are pointed to another store, to no avail. Then we resort to driving up and down streets that Javier took us the day before and saw an open store that sells tools. Sure enough, the have one.. By now its after 9am and we are on the road. Made it through Acapulco with only one small mistake and carry on to Zihuatanejo.  Made it to our destination with battery charge to spare. Plugged the battery in and was it ever low, but we made it. Stayed on the highway and picked up a hotel.

Charging Problems in Mexico

March 13, 2011

Up early, start pulling the bike apart searching for a connector that has pulled apart. Nothing! Search further and by now all the fairings and gas tank are off the bike. Still nothing. Michael takes my back tire off as I have had a slow leak for a few days now and numerous plugs have not cured the problem. Needs a patch from the inside. Javier, the hotel owner, takes us in search of a multi-tester and a vulcanologist on a local election day Sunday. Multi-tester and repaired tire in hand we head back. Pull up my service manual on the computer and check the alternator and regulator with factory specs. They are screwed! What next? OK, Frankenstein the bike! Javier takes me back into town for a car battery to sit on the back seat to strap down and be wired inline with bike battery and a battery charger to charge it every night. Battery bought, installed it onto the bike with a plugin for quick removal and charging. Pulled all the fuses so that I can run the bare essentials of fuel injection and ignition. All lights off and no speedo or dash. All stores are now closed. Have to deal with the charger in the morning on our way out of town. Javier was wonderful! Couldn't help us enough. We are very appreciative of all of his help and his wife is an excellent cook! Puerto Escondido is a nice, small town and the people appeared very friendly.

Julie's Birthday

March 12, 2011

Julie's Birthday… Rode hard to Puerto Escondido. About 150kms from our destination, my bike starts doing a funky chicken with the ABS light coming on and going off and then my dash starts going dead and coming back on and then the fuel injection light comes on and the FI starts flashing on the dash… Passing a vehicle, the bike starts missing and then dies in the middle of nowhere. Oh Shit! Dead battery! Remove the battery from my bike and start removing Michael's, the battery connections is seized and corroded. Drill the top of the battery bolt and switch batteries. Pulled the headlight fuses and push started Michael's bike, which now has my battery. Road to Puerto Escondido and just as we found a hotel the bike quits again. Beer time!! 6:30 at night. Sun going down the only thing left to do is dinner and cervasa.

Mexico Border

March 11, 2011

Up early and on the road. Hard riding today as there are many little towns with lots of speed bumps. Lots of twists and turns, some of the road surface was rough with numerous potholes. About 4pm the skys open up on us just about 10 minutes from the border. After waiting it out for awhile under a gas station cover, we decide to daun our rain gear and head to the border. Border crossing was the easiest yet, a helper helped us and we were through the Guatemala side in 15 minutes. The Mexico side took longer but after photo copies and paying an entrance fee, we are in. Then we have to drive through town that has flooded streets from the rain. Once through town, we head to another border thing called Viva Mexico and have to import our bikes. We continue to ride for a while and find a nice basic hotel with parking.