altitudes in the Andes

[Panny]

Which altitudes will we encounter in the Andes?

Greetings form from the capital of rain and mudslides (Bogota)

[Misery Goat]

Where are you riding?

You can get over 14Kft without much difficulty in Peru if you stay in the mountains. I saw 15K ft a few times b/w Chavin and Huanuco.

And you can stay ABOVE 9K ft in Bolivia without trying too hard. From Tupiza to Uyuni and south through the lagunas you'll stay around 13K ft or higher with a max of 16K ft as you near the Chile border.

[crashmaster]

Between 4000 and 5000 meters, a little bit higher in Bolivia.

However, in Peru it is very difficult to jet your carbs because in one day you may start at 4000 meters, climb to 5000 meters, back down to 800 meters, then up to 4000 meters again, all in the same day............

In Peru, closed loop fuel injection is great, Bolivia too.

[Panny]

@Misery Goat + crashmaster: thanx for the quick answeres! That´s pretty much, what I would have guessed.

@crashmaster: I experienced that kind of altitude-change in a single day before. And exactly because of that I´m meanwhile in favor of injection! The old argument, that you can adjust your carburator is nonsense, if the altitude changes so quick and often.
For a start we had 4057 m on the GPS a few days ago in Venezuela´s Andes and the fuel injected Honda Transalps behaved great!
Besides: are you still in the area?

greetings from rain-capital (Bogota)

Panny

[crashmaster]

I didnt realize that you were on an injected bike. I am in Panama, starting to eat some miles and borders in the next week. My trip pretty much ended when I got into Panama. Now its just about riding the bike home as I dont have much time left.

Got a few traffic tickets in Panama today. I guess I'm not in Colombia anymore. The worst part is that the cops wouldnt accept a tip instead because I think that they were scared of my helmet cam. Or, in only one year and half, Panama cleaned out all the corrupt cops. Last year those guys were hitting me up for tips all day long. I guess I have to seriously adjust my riding style now. I miss South America.

Vince

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Panny

The old argument, that you can adjust your carburator is nonsense, if the altitude changes so quick and often.
For a start we had 4057 m on the GPS a few days ago in Venezuela´s Andes and the fuel injected Honda Transalps behaved great!
Besides: are you still in the area?
greetings from rain-capital (Bogota)

Panny

Actually you can adjust your carb for altitude quite effectively. Of course it will never be as precise as E.F.I. but carbs are also quite forgiving. The main down side of altitude is the loss of power. All bikes lose power ... injected or not.

Modern bikes with carbs are capable of running very very lean and will do no damage running this way. So this allows the ability to jet quite lean so as to cover a very wide range of altitudes. A 100% stock DR650 Suzuki can run well from sea level up to 12,000 ft with NO modifications. But with simple changes it will run better of course.

On my DR650 once over 10,000 ft. I simply remove the air box cover. Instant improvement. This takes all of five minutes to do.

Trans Alps? I did not know they sold these in Colombia. Or ... are you riding on rental bikes from Chile or Argentina?

[Misery Goat]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

I didnt realize that you were on an injected bike. I am in Panama, starting to eat some miles and borders in the next week. My trip pretty much ended when I got into Panama. Now its just about riding the bike home as I dont have much time left.

Got a few traffic tickets in Panama today. I guess I'm not in Colombia anymore. The worst part is that the cops wouldnt accept a tip instead because I think that they were scared of my helmet cam. Or, in only one year and half, Panama cleaned out all the corrupt cops. Last year those guys were hitting me up for tips all day long. I guess I have to seriously adjust my riding style now. I miss South America.

Vince

Wow, I had no problems in Panama (except for that little border mishap) and rode like my usual vagabond self. Do they have radar in Panama?

Costa Rica was where I had all the problems with radar. Luckily I ran video and most just let me go. I got one ticket and left the country without paying it. Which reminds me I guess I can't go back to CR with the SE anytime soon.

[crashmaster]

Sorry about the thread creep, but in one day in Panama I got 2 speeding tickets and one ticket for crossing a double yellow. I was riding just like I normally ride, nothing off the hook or outside of local custom so i dont know what was the problem with the cops, maybe they have quotas now or something because every cop told me not to worry about paying the ticket because I was a foreigner. Then I asked them why they even bothered with the ticket but I didnt get an answer.

So when I left the country, I realized that I forgot to pay them.

[SS in Vzla.]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Sorry about the thread creep, but in one day in Panama I got 2 speeding tickets and one ticket for crossing a double yellow. I was riding just like I normally ride,

Sounds just like my Bogota-Medellin-Bogota trip to go drink (errrm, visit) you guys

Oh... and to NOT sidetrack this thread so much....
On Colombia you'll be going continuously from 200 meters to 3000 plus. Normal mountain roads are around 2000-2500 meters though.

On the Altiplano Boliviano, the LOWER you will be at is 4.200 meters above sea level.

Buen viaje