Oregon to Ushuaia on an XR650L

[mcma111]

Originally Posted by bwalsh

My 04 takes right at 2 quarts to fill, including filter change.

My 08 uses 2.5 with filter.

Go figure...

Just about everybody with an "L" has a different amount they add to full. I think you already know this but it's best to check a few minutes after shutdown. There is a valve in the bottom of the frame tank that on some bikes...and it's happened a few times with my 04...the oil will bleed out of the tank and into the bottom of the engine over night so it shows NO oil on the stick in the morning.

Item #4, Oil Leak Stopper Valve is what keeps the oil in the frame from draining down to the engine sump. There is no valve in the bottom of the frame only the screen for the big stuff.

[crashmaster]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

but I've seen numerous people draining the oil/radiator fluid/gasoline/etc out of their vehicles into the ground/street/sidewalk/ect. When I started this trip I would ask people what I should do with that kind of stuff and they would tell me not to worry about it, so I stopped really worrying about it. Still, I suppose that's no excuse. I guess it's time to clean up my act.

In some countries I had the same experience as you wrt to used fluids. I did it like the locals a couple of times and felt bad about it.

The next time I took my oil and coolant to a taller that does lots of oil changes and asked if there was a place I could dispose of the fluids. The mechanic looked at me kind of funny and said sure, he would take it. He then took both jugs behind the shop and dumped them in the dirt. In some countries/some places there is simply no way to dispose of this stuff properly. Its just the way it is.

[alvincullumyork]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Spud,

The rack is so beat up now, especially after it took the brunt of two seperate crashes, that I think it's just going to keep breaking. The only thing to do is to replace it, which obviously won't happen until I get home. The president of TCI has offered me a new rack at no extra cost as soon as I get back.

Awesome! That is some pretty good CS.

Do I get a spot on the tank?

Originally Posted by ONandOFF

Thanks BF. Interzone sounds interesting, but I really wouldn't know what to expect. In the old days, the 'hippies' were the nicest people; smartest and most considerate. Not to mention, fun. But this is now, and a lot of things have changed. I wonder where modern hippies would fit in Bryce's insightful type analysis.

There are many different types of hippies. Some of them I even like (mountain kill your own meat hippies among others) but the college know it all bring your type writer to the coffee shop hippies get on my nerves.

[Merlin III]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

In some countries I had the same experience as you wrt to used fluids. I did it like the locals a couple of times and felt bad about it.

The next time I took my oil and coolant to a taller that does lots of oil changes and asked if there was a place I could dispose of the fluids. The mechanic looked at me kind of funny and said sure, he would take it. He then took both jugs behind the shop and dumped them in the dirt. In some countries/some places there is simply no way to dispose of this stuff properly. Its just the way it is.

The EPA estimates that the used oil from just one typical oil change could ruin a million gallons of freshwater—a year’s supply for 50 people. Also, I am surprised that in the back areas of CA and SA that the people don't at least burn it for fuel.

[jfink]

I learned a couple valuable lessons today in Argentina I would like to pass on. First, don't speed through town even though you are in a pack of locals speeding through town. You are the gringo, be the gringo! Cost for this lesson, a mere 50 peso's ($10 US). AND don't piss off the peace officer, who can't pass because his car is a POS. And when you do pass, he catches up with you at the police check point and claims you passed on the double yellow line. Damn, that was a mouth full, I not sure I even believe that lesson. Cost, a mere 830 peso's ($160 US).

The Sargent wanted to know if I was going to pay in Gringo dollars, I said, hell no!!! Hint: they really, really like the "blue" dollar in Argentina. The official exchange rate is around 5 pesos per dollar but I just saw that you can sell "blue" dollars on the "black" market for around 7.50 pesos. ... so many colors.

[Brown Falcon]

Originally Posted by Plasterman

I agree. More pictures. Include a cute girl occasionally please

I agree! As long as I'm living vicariously through you on this trip, I want to see some babes! (Just don't tell my wife).

[huzar]

Bryce,

Hewby and I are in Cusco for the next two nights, right down the street from Norton Rat's Tavern. If you make it here, the first couple of beers are on me

Road to Cusco is mostly in great shape, except some washouts as you drop down to the Rio Apurimac. The Chalhuanca to Abancay stretch was probably my favorite.

[Ben99r1]

Ulyses. Been thinking about your front wheel problem. Is it possible that your fork are twisted? Sometimes when you hit a rock or hole the fork legs will twist in the clamps. To fix this you loosen all the clamp bolt they should straighten out on there own.

[ONandOFF]

Originally Posted by Merlin III

The EPA estimates that the used oil from just one typical oil change could ruin a million gallons of freshwater—a year’s supply for 50 people. Also, I am surprised that in the back areas of CA and SA that the people don't at least burn it for fuel.

Wow, that's a lot! I burn used oil for fuel... to heat with.

[ONandOFF]

Originally Posted by jfink

I learned a couple valuable lessons today in Argentina I would like to pass on. First, don't speed through town even though you are in a pack of locals speeding through town. You are the gringo, be the gringo! Cost for this lesson, a mere 50 peso's ($10 US). AND don't piss off the peace officer, who can't pass because his car is a POS. And when you do pass, he catches up with you at the police check point and claims you passed on the double yellow line. Damn, that was a mouth full, I not sure I even believe that lesson. Cost, a mere 830 peso's ($160 US).

The Sargent wanted to know if I was going to pay in Gringo dollars, I said, hell no!!! Hint: they really, really like the "blue" dollar in Argentina. The official exchange rate is around 5 pesos per dollar but I just saw that you can sell "blue" dollars on the "black" market for around 7.50 pesos. ... so many colors.

Good to know!
Man, every country is different. In Ecuador, you'd better go as fast as everyone else or there will be honking and knashing of teeth. Personally I was able to get away with driving like a total maniac through the city of Guayaquil without even turning the heads of the Transito. It was a blast ignoring everything but red lights. I find the practicality delightfully refreshing in that they are only concerned with safety, not behaviour. Do what you want, but if you get in a wreck, you're gonna pay big time, and sit in jail until it's paid. That's how it should be everywhere - you rarely see wrecks in Ecuador. Outside the city on the via a la playa, I passed a Transito (they run with their blue/red lights flashing all the time there) on a curve with a double-yellow line. I gave them a wave as I went by on the outside of the curve. But I didn't do it at random; I saw someone else ahead of me do it first. Fun country!

[Ulyses]

Day 93 (January 16, 2013)
Nazca, Peru to Arequipa, Peru
Day's Ride: 356 Miles



Last night I threw my laundry in the machine at the Hostel and sat down to read a book. A few moments later I was angrily confronted by the proprietor's wife who told me that the laundry was not free and that even if I paid her to do it she didn't have space on the close line to dry my things. She then told me that she had shut off the laundry machine and drained the water. So now I had a bunch of soapy wet clothes.

I was not a very happy camper but I forced myself to be calm and after giving her a few "tranquilo's", I told her that I was sorry and that if she didn't want people using her washing machine that was sitting in the middle of the common room that she should put a sign over it or something. I eventually convinced her to turn the washer back on, despite her protests that she couldn't dry my things out. I told her that I would come up with a solution:



This morning as I was getting ready to leave she came up to me and told me that I had to pay for the laundry service.

In my mind I was thinking, "Laundry "service"? Excuse me, I'm trying to remember what part of the process that you actually performed. Ohh, that's right, nothing!" But, I shoved my anger down and asked her how much she wanted. 10 Soles ($4.50). I almost laughed in her face. I asked her if she thought that was a little bit expensive, considering that I had done all of the labor. Nope. Eventually I just paid her and left. Hostels can be so frustrating sometimes.

I found some street carts for breakfast and just pulled up next to them and ordered while sitting on my bike. It was quite nice, almost like the Peruvian version of Sonic's.



The lady and her two sons had a bunch of freshly made sandwich's available. I had a cheese sandwich, an egg sandwich, and a beef sandwich for 3 Soles. Combined with a cup of lukewarm, overly-sugared, instant coffee for another Sole, and my breakfast cost less than half of what my Laundry did.

I sat on my bike and enjoyed my breakfast in the warm morning sun. The sandwiches were superb, the coffee strangely good, and the service excellent. My feet never touched the pavement the entire time. Everyone on the street was staring at me, the strange bald, bearded gringo on the huge motorcycle I got one of the boys to take a picture of me washing down my coffee.



After breakfast I blasted out of town and found a good spot to pull over and adjust my chain and front axle. After tightening the chain slightly, I went to adjust my front axle.....and seriously ruined my day.



Using my idiot strength, I managed to torque off one of the bolts on the right fork that holds the front axle in place. I was instantly cursing up a storm and having a minor panic attack, not quite sure what I was going to do next. I eventually calmed down and tried to think rationally about my next move. There wasn't anywhere nearby that could fix my problem, so I tightened the remaining bolts, reinforced everything with a few zip ties, and decided to re-route to Arequipa instead of Cuzco. I knew that there was a shop in Arequipa that rented XR650L's and that they would probably have a mechanic that could help me out.

Arequipa was a long ways away. It was going to be a long day. I knew I was going to have to ride hard and stop seldom if I wanted to make it there by nightfall.

So, instead of climbing up into the mountains for a nice leisurely stroll to Cuzco, I resumed my cannonball run down the Panamerican Highway along the Peruvian Coast.



The scenery remained quite barren and bleak. I spent a lot of the day simply tracing the shore line. Not wanting to put any added stress on the remaining bolts that were holding my axle in place, I passed up several nice opportunities to ride on the beach. The temperature remained relatively mild, mostly due to the nice breeze coming off the ocean.



I made several 100 mile legs without getting off the bike; quite a challenge on an XR. Due to a nasty head wind and the crappy Peruvian fuel, I burned through nearly $40 worth of gas. Eventually boredom set in and I started messing around with the camera.



I passed quite a few small fishing fleets and eventually I had to stop and take a quick picture of this one at anchor.



The majority of the terrain was barren desert. However, at intervals the road would cross a beautiful river valley. I love the contrast of a river valley cutting through a desolate expanse of a desert; it's always so fascinating to see so much green after only seeing shades of brown all day.



Eventually the road left the coast and began climbing inland. Things started to cool off and I had to pull over to get out my jacket.



As I climbed higher, I started seeing what I thought was snow on the hillsides in front of me.



However, as I approached I realized that it was just sand.

After over 350 miles of hard riding, I finally reached Arequipa in a light drizzle. I rode to the center of the historic district and found a hostel for 30 Soles. The name of the Hostel is "Hostal Sumay Wasy". The room is nice, the wifi works (sometimes), they have parking for one or two bikes in the entry way, and they have showers with lukewarm water. That's about all you can ask for.



Today was the longest riding day I've had so far. Luckily, in Peru the roads have been phenomenal and relatively free of traffic. Even so, I don't really enjoy doing over 300 miles on the XR. If it were a big bore, multi-cylinder cruising machine that could sustain speeds over 75 MPH for long durations, it wouldn't be so bad. But putting down desert straightaways at 62 MPH on that narrow dirt bike seat all day can really cramp you up.

Tomorrow I have to go try and figure out how to fix my front fork. I'm hoping that the solution is relatively simple. If anyone is reading this and has a copy of the Honda Service manual with an exploded view of the front fork, I would appreciate a copy of the picture!

Cheers!

[Spud Rider]

Bryce,

You shouldn't have any problem fixing that broken stud on the right fork.



After removing the other 3 nuts, you should be able to remove the broken stud with pair of pliers, or vice grips. Perhaps you will need to tap the broken stud with a hammer, or heat it with a torch, but it should come out fairly easily. Some penetrating oil will also help loosen the broken stud.

If you can't find a replacement for the stud, just substitute a metric bolt with the proper length. The stud is size M6x25, and costs $0.56 in the United States; it's part #33 in the following diagram.



If you need to substitute a bolt for the stud, the bolt will need to be shorter, perhaps M6x20 or M6x15. You can replace the bolt with the proper stud when the opportunity presents itself later.

Spud

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by Spud Rider

Bryce,

You shouldn't have any problem fixing that broken stud on the right fork.



After removing the other 3 nuts, you should be able to remove the broken stud with pair of pliers, or vice grips. Perhaps you will need to tap the broken stud with a hammer, or heat it with a torch, but it should come out fairly easily. Some penetrating oil will also help loosen the broken stud.

If you can't find a replacement for the stud, just substitute a metric bolt with the proper length. The stud is size M6x25, and costs $0.56 in the United States; it's part #33 in the following diagram.



Spud

Pheww! Thanks Spud, I've been sweating bullets all day, wondering if I was going to have to disassemble the whole fork and drill out the bolt or do something crazy like that. I may just have to find a bolt and cut it to size. Do you think I should use some red locktite on the side that screws into the fork?

[elsalvadorklr]

good advice spud,

lastly you tighten the top nuts first till they bottom out...then you tighten the lower nuts, honda designed it this way so it actually clamps correctly

leaving a gap on both the bottom and top puts stress on all 4 bolts...

good luck

ride on bud!

[Spud Rider]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Pheww! Thanks Spud, I've been sweating bullets all day, wondering if I was going to have to disassemble the whole fork and drill out the bolt or do something crazy like that. I may just have to find a bolt and cut it to size. Do you think I should use some red locktite on the side that screws into the fork?

You're welcome, Bryce. Indeed, you can cut the head off a bolt and make a new stud. It might not be necessary, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to apply a drop of red locktite to the end of the stud which inserts into the fork. I would probably just purchase a bolt of the proper length, and replace the stud later, when it was convenient. If you use a bolt, don't apply any locktite to it.

Spud