South American Adventure - 2 up on a R100GS

[Gustavo]

Originally Posted by k7

I assume that motorcycle lane-splitting is the norm there?

Sure is. Actually, I always joke that in Argentina, cars split lanes too. Very often you'll see 5 cars across a 3 lane avenue, waiting for the light to change...

I think the US (and Canada?) is the annomaly with respect to (motorcycle ) lane-splitting. Very unfortunate, because this is where I spend most of my riding time...

Gustavo

[DiasDePlaya]

Originally Posted by Gustavo

Sure is. Actually, I always joke that in Argentina, cars split lanes too. Very often you'll see 5 cars across a 3 lane avenue, waiting for the light to change...

I think the US (and Canada?) is the annomaly with respect to (motorcycle ) lane-splitting. Very unfortunate, because this is where I spend most of my riding time...

Gustavo

I have the same idea. In Europe and the rest of the world the normal is to do lane-splitting. Only the "gringos" don't do it. In Italy is very difficult to see a bike in the middle of the lane, the same in Spain and Grecia.

[KingRat]

Originally Posted by NAVIGATOR

I think that DDP is correct, must have a scratched or cracked firing and the owner went the pennytech way, it looks great BTW

No, it's a Honda NSR125F that someone has added vacuum cleaner hose [or something] to, in order to make it look forced-air sporty-ish. NSR125F

This is an awesome thread by the way, thanks for taking the time.

Edit: must read the whole page before replying...

[k7]

Just got off the phone with Dale. They're doing great and confirmed that life is great!

[Flyingavanti]

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A huge metal sculpture of a flower which slowly opens in the morning and then closes at night.

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On the 22nd of April we take a taxi to La Boca, which is the old seaport of Buenos Aires. I wish the sun had been out so that the colors would be a little more vibrant.

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Because La Boca is a seaport, the trains come right through the village.

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La Boca is very touristy.
But if you get a few blocks from the area where the tour busses stop you get a much more realistic feeling of what La Boca is really like.

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The area is old and worn, but very scenic. We will return on a sunny day, and get some colorful shots.
Horses and carts, and we are less than 4 miles from the downtown area of Buenos Aires.
Some old bridges in La Boca. But you have to take a small boat to get to the other side.
We asked the guy in this small boat, which hauls passengers from one side to the other, to take us to the other shore. He refused. After 2 minutes of trying to find out why, all three guys pointed their fingers like a gun, and then used the word "peligroso". Understood!
Very tourist oriented, but still is a must do.
We had lunch in La Boca. Every 15 minutes different dancers show up and dance. Hey, where do I get pants like these?
She was hot....

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That's it through April 22, 2006....... More to come.

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[Venturello]

Thanks Dale - glad you are enjoying BA, more so after the difficult intro!! :)

[GatorTiger]

Hi there Sandy and Dale!

You're (cough) slacking (cough) on the (cough) then and now pics (cough)...

Thanks for sharing!!!!!

[Gustavo]

Originally Posted by Flyingavanti

We had lunch in La Boca. Every 15 minutes different dancers show up and dance. Hey, where do I get pants like these?

Gaucho trousers are called bombacha, there are some slight variations in style, but they are mostly loose/baggy coton pants. You can get them at any of the stores that sells typical Argentinean goods, or at some of the clothing stores that cater to ranch hands (probably significantly cheaper than the tourist traps). I'd be surprised if there aren't several stores on Florida, Lavalle or Corrientes that sell these. Just keep in mind that in bombacha also means panties in Spanish, so make sure you clarify which type you are after...

Gustavo

[JamesC]

Originally Posted by Gustavo

Just keep in mind that in bombacha also means panties in Spanish, so make sure you clarify which type you are after...
Gustavo

I think many following have come to feel a kinship with Dale and Sandy, perhaps even come to 'know' them but I'm not sure I want to see photographic evidence of Dale ending up with the wrong type here

[Flyingavanti]

Originally Posted by GatorTiger

Hi there Sandy and Dale!

You're (cough) slacking (cough) on the (cough) then and now pics (cough)...

Thanks for sharing!!!!!

Funny that you brought that up. We just spent 6 hours walking through the Recoleta Cemetary, looking for 2 "Then and Now´s". Found the first one in 30 minutes. We have to come back tomorrow morning to get permission to climb a building to take the other! We have MANY others in Buenos Aires to find.....

Also looking for the good looking INDIGENIOUS!

[Flyingavanti]

Originally Posted by JamesC

I think many following have come to feel a kinship with Dale and Sandy, perhaps even come to 'know' them but I'm not sure I want to see photographic evidence of Dale ending up with the wrong type here

Me, in those pants, you will never see.

[Flyingavanti]

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We have gotten lazy. When we left Santiago, Chile, I thought that the next "Then and Now" was in Buenos Aires.
So this morning I start laying out plans for all the "Then and Now's" in Buenos Aires.
Surprise! I should have gotten some "Then and Now's" in Mar del Plata.
Do we backtrack 400 miles? Nope... too lazy!

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This photo is from the book "Fireside Travels in South America" by James Fitzpatrick, and printed in 1948.

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As it turned out, we had a photo, but not from the exact same spot. Are we going back? Nope!

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The next picture was also taken from same book printed n 1948.

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This is the closest shot I had. It is the same casino, but different distance and angle. You can see that the Casino was the only large building in the old photo. Now the entire center of the city is 8 to 12 story apartment houses.

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So we are caught up in the "Then and Now's", so during the next few weeks we will attack the photos in Buenos Aires.

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[Flyingavanti]

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On the Sunday, the 23rd we head out for a relaxed day on the bike. We ride to "Dakar Moto", a motorcycle shop (www.dakarmotos.com/index1.htm), but they were closed. We have learned from others that ride South America, that the owners of Dakar Moto are really friendly and helpful for people on long rides. Got to met them. We will come back later this week.

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Across the street from "Dakar Moto" is a guy washing his car. We asked if we could wash the BMW, which is long overdue for a bath. He was more than willing to let us wash the bike, but we had to FORCE him to take $3,00 to help cover the cost of the water. After he washed his car, he helped me clean the bike up. What a nice guy.

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The bike had 5,000 miles of grime.
The 276c Garmin is always a good conversation piece. Everyone seems to enjoy seeing where they live, on the color display.

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I was so proud of the clean bike, I couldn't resist a picture before it gained a new layer of dirt.

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We then rode Northwest along the Rio de la Plata on small side roads. No destination, just wondering around. We stumbled on a very large Car Show along the river. If you don't like cars, scroll down a dozen or so pictures!

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Many Fiats.....
A "Borgward". I have never seen one, so I did a little reaserch. Here is an interesting link with some very interesting photos. Borgwards
Apparently they also race them.
Most of the cars were in excellent condition.
I think our old airhead R100GS has more horse power than this BMW car!
This was a 1936 Oldsmobile. I am not sure if it was stretched, or came from the factory like this! It was in concourse condition.

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The variety of cars was very surprising!
The car shows which I have attended in California seem to focused on one or 2 types of cars.

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This was the only Studebaker I could find.

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The same Studebaker.
I flock of pristine VW's.
Here is a 1951 VW, which had 25 HP (less than 1/2 the HP of our motorcycle). What was strange about this car was the windshield!
A spotlight built into the windshield.

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This was a 1956 Meschermitt (that's what was on the window). Front and rear.

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Isard TS 400 Coupe. This car was MUCH smaller that what this picture portrays.

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Love the Citron's.
We saw many of these on the streets in Mendoza, but they seem much more rare here in Buenos Aires.

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There were many hotrods and muscle cars.

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And a lot of antiques.

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[Flyingavanti]

Just a little update.....

Right now we feel like we are walking on water! Yesterday we spent 6 hours at the cemetary of Recoleta. We needed to get permission to clmb the church tower. We spent another 2 hours there this morning.

After talking to this person, then that person, we finally spoke with a priest, that escorted us to the top of the steeple. As we walked through the church, there was a ceremony in progress. The choir was singing from the balcony, with their voices providing an almost mystic atmosphere. And the organ just added to the experience!

The priest had never been to the top of the tower. I think he enjoyed the climb as much as we did.

WOW! How cool to climb the steeple and then look out over the amazing cemetary of Recoleta. I am not a real religious guy, but this was a very moving experience!

You may think that spending the good part of 2 days to get one photo is crazy, but to figure out where the photo was taken from, then get permission to access that spot, and then finally look out from the same vantage point that some author experienced over 80 years ago was quite exciting!

And talk about change...... Will try and post the pictures soon.....

Hope all is well with everybody......

Our day is going great!

[k7]