Day 418– 30th January 2010
Posted by TravellingStrom on January 30, 2010
Saturday – Buenos Aires, Argentina
An early start was possible and was done with minimum fuss. My head was clear and so was the sky which was unusual after last night’s dust storm. It was cold though when I set off, a lot colder than I expected. The countryside was becoming more greener as I headed north through the farms and paddocks, with more and more trees around to start with.
I started to run into toll booths, but they very kindly allowed motorbikes to ride around for free, another bonus, better than Chile 🙂 The ride was just a ride, it was good to ride with no expected chain issues and I just clocked up the miles. Mostly through flat countryside, no twisties and no hills, so it was easy to do and no pressure.
Later in the afternoon I was getting low on fuel, which I wanted to do so I could remove the tank the next day, but once again I experienced the surging and coughing, so as it had also started to rain, I stopped and added the extra fuel from the tank and once again it fixed the problem, real strange 😕 I am starting to think I need to add some fuel injection cleaner, but that would not explain why the engine seems to be starving with low fuel levels, oh well, I guess I can look into that when the tank is off.
I got into the very outskirts of Buenos Aires just after 4pm and started to hit traffic lights, this is where I bumped into a local biker who warned me about speeding and the radar detectors. Mind you, he was riding at a fast pace with two helmets attached to the bike and none on his head!
I had the GPS location of Dakar Motos where I was going to meet the potential buyer. This place also had a basic bunkhouse place to stay, but trying to get there via the one way streets was horrible, what is it with one streets on this continent, there is no need for them as the streets are usually wide enough for two way! Anyway, I managed to get close before I gave up riding around in circles and ended up following another local rider who asked for information from some local cops. He took me to the address and there was Xavier, the owner came out to meet me 🙂
So, I brought the bike inside and as usual, found the closest beer shop and brought some back and did some blog updates. It turns out the buyer is crook and would come by tomorrow, while another couple also staying here (Ken and Carol Duval ) were at a BBQ and would be back later.
In the end they turned up around 11pm and we introduced ourselves before sitting around chatting until late. They had crashed just recently and were here waiting on parts for repairs and were slowly getting better themselves, a few cracked bones etc. The plan for tomorrow was to start stripping the bike and getting all the stuff off that I want to keep for my bike back home, then fix the fuel and clutch rod issues and hopefully do some paperwork and do a deal 🙂
For those wandering if this is legal, yes it is, it is a US bike registered to a US address, being sold to a US citizen with a US address, the money will be transferred in the US, so there is no problems with an import into South America.
Day –470 miles and 756 km
Trip – 54,042 miles and 86,972 km
Cheers
TravellingStrom
WORLD
Mightywizard said
Hey Friend what would be your best advise to one to have a trouble free trip? Like the most important thing one must do ? If you don’t mind give free advise. lol
All the best
TravellingStrom said
There is nothing that can be done for a totally trouble free trip. Learn your bike, look after it.
Sometimes the trouble times are the best, not at the time, but afterwards.
Cheers
TS