Oregon to Ushuaia on an XR650L

[alvincullumyork]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Mario,

Y tu tambien! You're the man! Thanks so much for everything: the pickup, the oil change and brake job, the awesome night at the coffee farm, and the amazing BBQ! I may have to come back and buy that XR650R from you...

Hope to see you again sometime!

Bryce

And give it to me?!?!?

I want one so bad.

[Brown Falcon]

I'd totally rock a street legal 650R...

What happened to you ammo cans? Finally get fed up with breaking your racks?

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by Brown Falcon

I'd totally rock a street legal 650R...

What happened to you ammo cans? Finally get fed up with breaking your racks?

Funny story about that. The Canadians and I were joking with Justin about having a yardsale in the hospital parking lot with all of his stuff....and eventually we ended up just buying a bunch of stuff from him.

I bought his Pelican cases, disk lock/alarm, head lamp, gear oil, fastener kit, and key chain! I left my ammo cans with him....hopefully he can bring them back to the states when he returns.

The Pelicans were a little cracked on the back where they had been torn off of Justin's rack during the wreck. I filled in all of the holes with JB weld, then went to the local hardware store and bought a big sheet of aluminum which I used to make a big plate to fit inside of each case and reinforce it. I then drilled through the plastic/JB weld/aluminium and attached my brackets for the outback rack. It worked like a charm!

Thanks to Justin's Pelicans, I was able to shave 22 pounds of weight off my bike! I do miss my ammo cans though. they were so cool! And I don't know what I'm going to use as a center stand now....

[Brown Falcon]

You could rig up a "trail stand", which allows you to prop up either the front or rear tire.

http://www.endurostar.com/

[Ulyses]

I got on the road this morning around 6:00 AM gunning for a 400 mile day. I managed to cover about 60 miles before I stopped for breakfast. It was looking good. Unfortunately, I was super depressed about having to blast through Costa Rica. I have a friend in San Jose who I didn't get to visit, and another friend who had commissioned me to go hunt down some dude who had obsconded with $100k of his money. I could tell from the road that Costa Rica had a little more money than the other places I had already visited.



I kept passing great beaches and finally I had to stop and just get one picture.



I had a little trouble getting the bike out of the sand afterwards with my significantly worn down Distanzias, but it was worth it.

Beautiful roads for most of the way through Costa Rica; it got a little rough when the coast highway linked up with the Pan American, but all in all, some of the best roads for me so far.

I got to the border and breezed through the Costa Rican side. I was expecting a similar crossing into Panama; unfortunately, when I pulled up to Imigration, I was met with this:



Eight million people crossing the border in front of me to get cheap christmas gifts in Panama! Some of the officials told me it would take nearly four hours to cross! Aye aye aye!

Luckily there were some fellow gringos in line who offered to watch my bike and save a spot for me while I took care of the Aduana (customs) process for the bike.

Still, it took nearly three hours of waiting in line to get my imigration stamp! Second worst border yet, behind the Mexico-Guatemala crossing. I met a family from Quebec who outfitted a short bus, then took it to Alaska, then all the way down to Costa Rica! They were trying to go all the to Ushuaia, however, the Darien crossing would have cost them $3,000, so they decided to just to head back to Canada. Check out their bus:





Now that's the way to travel! I considered hiring them to be my sag wagon. This is Simon, the dad:



He and I had a great time trying to figure out the whole vehicle import process. This guy is a stud. He's taking his wife, two kids, and both grandmothers on this massive voyage through Indian Country. Imagine having him as your dad.

After I finally got all of the paperwork finished, I had to manuever my bike out of this mess:



Simon, his family, and his little bus were still stuck behind a semi when I left. Even after finishing all of the paperwork and waiting in line for imigration, he was still getting screwed by Panama!

After that prolonged nightmere, I got into Panama. So far, Panama seems even better than Costa Rica for road quatlity. Plus, I saw the golden arches, which is always a sign of an advanced civilization:



I realized that my 400 mile day wasn't going to happen, so I pushed a ways into the country and started looking for a Hotel. I found a place called Paradise Inn near Las Lajas. It's a little pricy ($30) compared with what I'm used too; however, I've got my own Cabana with A/C and hot water and a decent swimming pool.



I'm spent. I've been travelling hard every day and dealing with some really crappy borders. I'm also still exhausted from dealing with the wreck and still recovering from being sick. I covered around 286 miles today and did a three hour border crossing. I only have to make it to Panama City tomorrow, so I think I may sleep in. As I'm typing this I'm being kept company by an intersting character:



I may try and kidnap him and take him with me as my mascot tomorrow!

[mathews42]

Don't let that character swipe anything.... He could be a trained thief.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Brown Falcon]

That beach does look nice!

How many miles you got on those tires now?

[MasterMarine]

Wow! What an adventure.

You had me busting up about the spacy gravy!!

Good Luck on your journey.

[RexBuck]

Hey Bryce

Got a bit behind on my reading which I was catching up this morning and was shocked to hear of Justins little get-off. If he is reading this, hope you are feeling better and wishing you a speedy recovery.

I'm in Colombia now and hope to pick up my bike at the airport today. I'll be wandering around this country for a couple of weeks so we may run across each other again.

Sounds like you need some rest and that boat trip sounds ideal. I'm insanely jeolous that you got on a boat - be a helluva lot more fun than standing around airports.

Steve

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by mathews42

Don't let that character swipe anything.... He could be a trained thief.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It's too late Jeff.....he already stole my heart.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by Brown Falcon

That beach does look nice!

How many miles you got on those tires now?

Approaching 6,000. They're really holding up well. Probably get another 2,000-3,000 miles out of them.

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by MasterMarine

Wow! What an adventure.

You had me busting up about the spacy gravy!!

Good Luck on your journey.

Thanks! What unit where you with? What was your MOS?

[Ulyses]

Originally Posted by RexBuck

Hey Bryce

Got a bit behind on my reading which I was catching up this morning and was shocked to hear of Justins little get-off. If he is reading this, hope you are feeling better and wishing you a speedy recovery.

I'm in Colombia now and hope to pick up my bike at the airport today. I'll be wandering around this country for a couple of weeks so we may run across each other again.

Sounds like you need some rest and that boat trip sounds ideal. I'm insanely jeolous that you got on a boat - be a helluva lot more fun than standing around airports.

Steve

Steve!

Good to hear from you! Glad to see you're still alive and kicking. How's Colombia been so far?

[MasterMarine]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

Thanks! What unit where you with? What was your MOS?

I figured that would be coming considering your background.

I never was in the Marines. I used to have a houseboat repair business at Lake Powell at Wahweap Marina that was called MasterMarine. I logged into ADV way back then for the first time so that is my user name.

Anyway, thanks for everything you have done for our country and great job on your RR. It is not often that I find myself laughing out loud while reading these things and it has happened several times while I have been enjoying this one. Thank you so much for sharing the experience. It has to be tough to do in real time.

[QCRider]

Originally Posted by Ulyses

I met a family from Quebec who outfitted a short bus, then took it to Alaska, then all the way down to Costa Rica! They were trying to go all the to Ushuaia, however, the Darien crossing would have cost them $3,000, so they decided to just to head back to Canada. Check out their bus:

Now that's the way to travel! I considered hiring them to be my sag wagon. This is Simon, the dad:

Those Frenchies are everywhere, isn't it!!! (Just kidding - I'm also from QC originally). Too bad you had to blast thru CR. I've been catching up with your RR over the past few days, and was hoping to have a chance to meet you while passing here. I could even have rode with you to the PTY border to help a bit. I've done it several times now, even to help a few friends to cross. Any reason is a good reason for a ride!

Last time I was there, I spent 2 full days to help a buddy who was importing his bike from PTY to CR, thanks to the Central America Bureaucracy! At the end, he had to leave his 2012 GSA there and get it back after all the paperwork was done 2 weeks later. I don't know if it gets better in SA as far as border crossings, but for CA, based on personal experience, I came up with this rule or thumb: Plan for 6hrs / Anticipate 4 hrs / Hope for 2 hrs.

Enjoy the rest of your trip in SA, and pls keep posting whenever possible. Your RR is top quality!

PS: I sent a few pesos over to Justin to help. Hope he's doing fine.