40 Days until Departure... Problem! Problem! Problem!

We got word from the shipper today.  The bikes are now at the dock finishing up the last paperwork.  That is all fine except the the scheduled voyage does not get the bike to Valparaiso until 12/28.  Jim and I arrive on 12/28.  The plan was to have the bikes there and ready to go in the hands of my friend Carlos.

We may yet get the bikes on an earlier ship, but if not Jim and I discussed the delay and worst case is we'll have to hang out in the area around Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina, and enjoy the wine county, riding and let the Dakar Rally come to us.

Jim also suggested that after the rally and a taste of Bolivia it might be good to go see Alejandro Braceras in Buenos Aires if we miss the Atlantic Coast on the first pass due to shipping delays.

I enjoy the lack of a fixed plan...

45 Days until Departure and All is Quiet.

Two days ago I delivered the bike to the shipper in Bellevue.  Mark N. and Keith Cline helped with the delivery.  It was a beautiful sunny day in the lower 60's so the ride was nice.  It was fun to ride the bike through the front door of the shipping company and park it on carpet in their lobby.

Not much to do now but get on a plane!

47 Days until Departure, Bikes ready to go to the Shipper!

Gerry's bike is the Blue and Orange 2007 KTM 990 Adventure S.
Jim's bike is the Black and White 2010 KTM 990 Adventure R.

The bike are fully loaded in these pictures.  They will be dropped off at the shipper at lunch time today!

51 days are rushing by…

but, there are also 51 days
dragging out. Mix a little anticipation with apprehension, toss in some anxiety,
and that is what is going through my head. I dropped the bike off at Gerry’s
last weekend, now it’s out of my hands until December 28th (if all goes as planned). Gerry has taken on the shipping duties from our end, with his friend Carlos in Chile, and all I can say is thanks. It was tough to see my prepped 990 in the trailer for what seems like the last time.

Now, the issues of “what” have I forgotten are ricocheting around my head. Prior to turning over the bike, we did an inventory of gear and equipment. Gerry has the primary tool kit; I have the tire changing/repair equipment. The goal is to minimize weight by eliminating redundancy. But the nagging questions remain; what did I forget to do to the bike? What did I forget to ship with the bike?

My collection of gear-

Gerry’s paraphernalia collection-

To help answer my questions, I looked over the photos from a trip this last June across the Great Divided Basin in south central Wyoming. Asking the question, what did I need and not need with me. For most of the day I did not see another sole, antelope, wild horses yep, saw them, but not another sole. Knowing that you are totally on your own is an intense rush of adrenaline. At the same time you realize just how small you really are. Help is a long way away. The nearest paved road is over 50-miles away, but which direction? That’s the Oregon Buttes on the western horizon. There are times when the GPS does not always correlate with the actual road in these areas.

Oh and do you ever want to twist that throttle on a simple gravel road. However, one simple fact must remain in your mind; you’re out there on your own. Sliding out or high-siding could lead to a long cold night. I managed to drop my bike in the driveway at the start of this trip. With the appropriate technique I can get the 990 back up on its wheels. But, a crash in rocks, or sand at any speed calls the uninvited laws of physics into play, and they generally don’t play nice. Which explains why riding is so therapeutic, you must stay focused in the moment. Which proves my theory; if I was riding right now, I would not be pondering what I forgot.

Unbelievable, I just noticed the tabs for my bike expire on Dec 31, 2011. This could have been a big problem.

57 Days...Almost Ready

Jim was out this weekend.  His bike is ready except for new tires (which I will take care of this week).

I need new tires and to fix the two steps backwards for the three steps forwards.  I got all the maintenance but the tires finished but had more help than I needed...  One bolt got stripped and the harness for the rear cylinder O2 sensor was damaged under a crash guard clamp.  Apparently this is a pretty common error.  I'll fix the harness and the stripped threads this week and we'll be ready to ship the bikes next week.

This photo shows most of our stuff scattered on the floor.  I'll be happy when the shippers have the bikes and it will be useless to worry about over/under packing.

59 Days to go. Jim is ready!

Jim has finished all of his bike prep.  He'll be bringing his bike to Washington today.

Jim is going to bring the little TTR, seen in the background of the above photo, so we have a pit bike for the Dakar.

I should be able to finish up on Saturday.

74 Days until Departure, Last Big Pieces in Place

We have finally put the last major pieces in place.  We found a shipper to get the bikes to Santiago:

Mike Morrison
mike@pakmail726.com
Pak Mail

2620 Bellevue Way NE

Bellevue, WA 98004

V. 425.803.0627

F. 425.803.2916

www.pakmail726.com

And a return shipper:

Bob Morley

global.biker@gmail.com

SSL Consolidation

Napoleon 3565, Officina 1007

Santiago De Chile

Contact in Santigo is: Luis Echenique <luis.echenique@sslconsolidation.cl>

And to top it off, Carlos Grez will store the bike crates for us while we are in South America so we don't have to drop about $400 to build new ones at the end of the ride.

-Gerry