The Chile Border!

Chile!! yes thats right we are in Chile.  Its been a long time coming and now finaly we arrive.  Chile is a funny place it dosn´t really belong down here.  Its nice, expensive, clean, and just very first world.  As soon as you cross the border you can see the difference, the cars are newer, the gas stations have more then just gas.  You can buy things like maps and coffee at gas stations.  The roads are well paved and maintained.  It is just a really nice first world spanish county stuck in amongst the the rest of South America.  You can´t bribe the police, they take it very seriously down here.  A police officer in Chile can be fired and sentanced to prison just for suspition of Corruption, they don´t even need proof.  You are expected to follow the rules down here, no speeding or running red lights or stop signs, you can´t drive your motorcycle down sidwalks or through parks.  Its really not as much fun as the rest of South America.  Anyway at the border to Chile we ran into a couple,  Bob and his girlfriend Angie riding two up on 2000 BMW Dakar 650.  Bob has been riding around South America for the past 3 years on his BMW and Angie is from Peru.  We spent todoay togther in Arica, Bob and I worked on our bikes and Liz and Angie when for a Siesta.  Liz and I are on route to Argentina and Bolivia and both these countries are well know for their really bad gas. The KLR650 and Liz´s sherpa both don´t have fuel filters, So I spent the day installing them and fixing my front breaks.  My breaks got contaminated when the bike was sprayed down with gas during my last oil change and they haven´t worked well since. So I got the fuel filters installed and my breaks working again, bob spent the day re-building his front shocks. 

      Caleb´s KLR 650 With a new Fuel Filter                        Liz´s KLR 250 with a new Fuel Filter

Bob & Angie were planning on buying a bigger tent, so they gave Liz and I there tent.  I am not sure if you can recal but our tent was stolen in Panama City.  Bob & Angie are heading up to Argentina as well so we are all going to head up to the border together and camp along the way.  We are heading into the Atacama Desert in the next few days so we have to buy some gas tanks for liz´s bike because she has a small tank and there is no gas stations for hundreds of Kilometers in the Desert.  I got my new tire finaly installed on my bike and Liz and I got our air filters cleaned and oiled, new spark plugs put in our bikes.  Our brand new bikes that we left with are not so new any more. 

Caleb and a Mechanic working on liz´s Bike (told you they dont look new anymore)

The last day that we were in Peru Liz got tooth pulled.  It was rather funny we asked around and we were told to go to the expensive dentist so you would have the best service.  So off we went, the dentist froze liz´s mouth then he continued to freeze her until she could no longer feel anything.  The entire left side of her head was frozen.  In total he froze her 8 times before he started on the tooth.  So he broke the tooth first to make it easier to get it out, then he pulled out bits and pieces and finally a huge chunk, then put some cotton on it and sent her on her way.  No stiches, no suction, just sent her packing.  When we made it back to the hotel Liz went to have a look at it and noticed there was still a big peice of her tooth in the gapping hole.  Now Liz is not your normal girl, most would have gone back to the dentist but no no not liz, she goes and gets a pair of tweezers and proceeds to pry it out of her head.  I´m way to skwimish to watch that sort of thing so I tried to look away but was so impressed by her that I had to watch. I was gross, but she got it.  So the expensive dentist set us back another $5.00 US.  Five dollars! amazing eh, but really, liz should get 50% for finishing his work. 

In regards to the questions that Gord posted yes the tires I was riding on was the Mefo Explorer 99´s and I have nothing to bad to say about them.  I will probably exlusivly run those tires when  I get home.  I got 15,000 KM on the back and the front one is still going strong.  Every single KM on those tires was with my bike  been completly loaded and have taken me through lakes, steams, mud, mountians, asfault, and gravel.  They handle geat in any terrain and I truly did love them.  My new tire is a Duro (hate it).  As for spair parts, I have new chains with me and sprokets if you get stuck without them somewhere your in bad shape.  I also took spare tubes with me and the tools needed to swap out a tire and inflate it on the side of the road.  As for things like spark plugs, cables and things that every bike has I wouldnt bother.  Its often cheaper to buy down here and easy to find.  One thing I do recomend is the Stainless Steal oil filter its great and you never have to find an oil filter, really handy in South America.  We have had very few problems that require parts but we are only half way through the trip.  I would also change my battery for a stronger sealed one.  But other then that the KLR is a great stock bike.  Mind you today when checking over my bike I found 3 lose bolts and 1 of them would have been a big problem if it let go and it was only about 2 threads from doing so. 

The steel oil filter, Mefo tires, chains and sprockets and Tall windshield I have can all be bough from KLR650.COM they are great people to do business with and have helped us out on our journey a great deal.  If you buy anything from them say hi to all of them from us. They also carry the heated vest, and in some places this is a wise investment!

So Chile, then Argentina, then Boliva, then we are on our way home.  Now that we are on the road I will try to write a bit more.  Its always easier when you are doing something. 

Caleb Dykstra & Liz