The HUBB

Darien Gap? Container leaving Panama City for Cartegena 11/27/09

havelovewilltravel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:17:26 GMT

Hello all

I met a Mexican fella at the Costa Rica/Panama border who was planning on driving around South America. We got to chatting about how to do this, and I gave him a couple tips on freight shippers.

The quote I received from Girag was for $910 one way, just for the bike, which is obscene. I may be an eccentric world traveler, but I ain�t a rich eccentric world traveller, so was planning on heading back to the states.

Well, I just bumped into this fella in the lobby of my hotel here in Panama City, and he mentioned that he made arrangements to book a 40 ft. container, and asked if I was interested in joining to split the cost.

His vehicle will take up only half the container, max, so that leaves room for 4-6 bikes, with gear. So, if there�s anybody who wants to come with, please get in touch right away. The shipping company needs all the documentation by Tuesday (11/24/09).

For future reference, the shipping company is:

Johana M. Jaen
(507) 265-1190
China Shipping Agency, South America
ASR Tower, Floor 11
58 St., Samuel Lewis Ave.
POB 0832-2771, WTC
Panama, Republic of Panama
:: China Shipping Agency Central America ::

As of 11/21/09, prices from Panama City to Cartegena are:

$950 USD - 40 ft. Container
$850 USD - 20 ft. Container

The Mexican fella making the trip is named Francisco Martinez, here is his email:

mamfra@hotmail.com

If anybody wants to join up, please contact me first:

Douglasfgrego@gmail.com

Hasta Luego

Darien Gap? Container leaving Panama City for Cartegena 11/27/09

havelovewilltravel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:15:04 GMT

Road from Puerto Maldonado to Cuzco

Brian and Marie — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:01:47 GMT

Hoping somebody can tell me if the road from Puerto Maldonado to Cuzco is possible to do in late January, early February. I have seen conflicting reports on the feasibility of doing this 2up on a large bike (1100GS) at this time of year.

Road conditions - Ushuaia

John1234 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:39:00 GMT

Hello All

I'm looking at a 4 week trip early next year from Buenos Aires - Ushuaia - Santiago - Buenos Aires.

Have very limited off road skills so would be welcome feedback on severity of road conditions.

Thanks, John

Gearing change. Same bike � changed characteristic.

G600 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:05:28 GMT

Hi all.

Little info for those considering some gearing changes…

The bike is a 2005 TT600RE. The stock front sprocket is 15t.I got my 14t front sprocket from wemoto yesterday and installed it this morning. Then I went for a ride, 40 Km offroad/trails, 70Km road, 20 Km around town.

The sprocket is made by “Techcorps”. It looks like a quality part, I like how they let the splines run the whole width of the sprocket, and not only 2/3 of the way like on the stock Yamaha (see pic).

The sprocket swap was straight forward. I did not need to shorten the chain, I had enough adjustment left.

General:
The bike feels more responsive, the difference is very noticeable. With the stock gearing the bike felt a little lazy, but now it will pull better out of turns and feel more “awake”. Gearing changes have great impact on how smaller capacity bikes feel, but I did not expect this big thumper to react this much to one tooth change on the front sprocket.

Offroad:
Big improvement. The first gear is now OK (but a little high), and the second nearer to it. Much easier to find the right gear in the rough.

Dirtroads/trails:
Big improvement. The bike is now plain more fun. It will pull better out of corners. Easier to power slide. More responsive.

Road:
The sweet spot in fifth gear is now around 90 KM/H, perfect IMHO. I was not happy with the stock gearing on the road, fifth was often to high ( no lugging - fifth gear problem) so I was changing between fifth and fourth a lot (uphill, downhill, wind, exc) . I hardly ever ride the bike over 100 KM/H for any length of time due to the upright sitting position and the lack of windshield. For people riding over 100 KM/H for long periods of time it’s better not to lower the gearing. I did run the bike for a short period at 110KM/H and it was OK I guess, but the RPM’s felt a little high.

Wheelies:
Big improvement. I have been pulling wheelies in second gear on this bike, I am not good enough to use first gear. To lift the front, with the stock gearing, I needed to move backwards on the bike, hit the front brake hard to compress the forks and then, when the forks rebounded, clutch and throttle aggressively. Timing was everything. Hard to do. Now the procedure is the same, but *MUCH* easier.

So for me, this change was 100% positive. Bigger difference than I expected for sure. But for someone that mainly rides on the road at higher speeds… not a good idea.

F650GS for sale, Oxford, UK.....

Steve Pickford — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:35:32 GMT

Advertising on behalf of a friend:

"2003, arctic silver BMW F650 GS. 8950 miles. Excellent condition. One previous owner. MOT till December 2010, six months road tax. Just serviced this month plus full dealership valet and ACF-50 treatment. Full service history. Garaged underground. Includes 2 touring cases. A rare buy. �2898
Call Ray on 01865-552288, bikes in Oxford"

I've seen the bike in the flesh, the description is accurate, couple of pics:

Only contact me if you're unable to get in touch with Ray.

Travel to Europe (Norway)

barny'sklr — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:32:06 GMT

I am new to this site. I am planning on going to Norway for my parents 50th wedding aniversery and would like to make a dream come true by traveling europe on my bike. Here is the problem I really would like to take my bike, my dog and myself all on one flight or ship. Is there a company that I can take the dog with me in the cabin as I really don't want to have him stached away in a storage bin. He is a 22 lb cocker spaniel.

Long Way Up - Well at least Claudio's doing it.

Alexlebrit — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:02:38 GMT

Looks like at least one of the team's getting their Pan-American adventure.

Links and stuff HERE

Could be something to watch out for on the road next year. Who knows they might even like a little help?

D Day To Berlin

BORN2BMILD — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:22:27 GMT

we are looking for bikers to join in a charity bike ride from d day landing beaches to berlin in 1 day for help for heroes it will take place on 6th june 2010 early stages at the moment it will be a pay your own exspenses as we want all the money you get sponsered to go to help for heroes more the merrier let me know if your intrested
cheers tim

Fuel prices in Vietnam at the moment...

FUTURE — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:19:01 GMT

Hi. Can anyone tell me how much fuel is per litre at the momeent in Vietnam?? :scooter:

TIA

Yamaha Tenere / XT500/600 etc series, BMW F650, R80/100GS, R11xxGS, Suzuki 650 single

gusonopa — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:41:57 GMT

Any of these Bikes would do !!!

i land in Santiago in May 2010!!!

i can come and collect the bike if is all good!! ;)!!!

scrmtt (at) hotmail (dot) com:scooter:

Riding buddy through centrel america

stacyanddan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:54:31 GMT

Hi Guys
I am a 31 year old Aussie riding a KLR. I previously road from the US down through Mexico over a four month period. I have stored my bike near the boarder for the last 5 months and returned to work for a while and now I am getting back on it. I plan on crossing the Mexican/Guatemalan border at Tapachula around the 26th of November heading south. I have no real time frame or itinerary, just take each day as it comes and go where ever looks good. If anyone is around that way and would like to hook up for a bit you would be more than welcome as it is so much more fun riding with someone. Drop me a line if anyone is interested. I have a bit of knowledge of Guatemala as I lived there for a few months about a year ago but nothing further.
Dan

Kathamandu

DuncanCarwright — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:52:56 GMT

Hi,

Currently in Kathmandu and will be shipping to Thailand soon Yn Shallah when I find a decent company to do it. Anyone about going the same way to share a crate and costs or just to meet up for a beer and share tales of the road?

Am staying at Tibet Peace Guesthouse - KTM 640 Adventure.

Duncan

Mobile internet - Europe. greece turkey middle east

Arow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:34:26 GMT

What do you guys do aside from public wi-fi spots?

I just read this fascinating page on Turkey using sim
nomadic-one.com - Affordable Internet anywhere in Turkey through GPRS/EDGE

but it sounds complicated to me, I've not travelled with laptop before how do you use one in conjunction with a mobile phone?

getting to Vladivostok

mlpisula — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:56:48 GMT

Two questions:

1. Where is the best place to ship a motorcycle (via air) to begin a ferry ride over to Vladivostok? Korea or Japan.

2. Where to ship out of US from? LA, SanFran or Seattle?

Thanks