Friday night we left to head into Rio proper and meet some of Paulos frined and go out for Pizza:clap ...alright!!!

Hungry? :evil

IMG_1719 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Rio was cool with cloud cover making it temperate to walk and sight see, Paulo and Elizabeth taking us around the waterfront on a nice walk finishing off with a very nice lunch which we took them out for in appreciation of all their help.clap

IMG_1736 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

I local bird along the way

IMG_1728 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

They love their paddle boards here

IMG_1738 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The Saturday night weather caved in setting it up for a very wet and windy Sunday no incentive to drag Maya out for a cruze...in fact it rained cats and dogs :eek1 some landing on the couch beside Ellen

IMG_1752 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

So one of the cats took fascination with our camera strap smooching around for some cuddles ...good times!!

IMG_1760 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

This is what friendship looks like :clap

IMG_1770 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The view of the storm fed day across Rio De Janeiro

IMG_1773 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

An opening in the weather ... the famous Cristo (Christ)

IMG_1779 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Rio is a beautifil city with the abrupt rock surroundings, it was great to see it in sun and storms both having different aspects of beauty to add.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

So she got it, the bottom headset bearing a little rusty and beaten from 66000 enjoyable km.

I love wearing stuff out as that means new faces, places and fun!!clap

Having accesss to Moto Bius workshop was outstanding, we bought everything from him given he had supported us ... comes around goes around :clap

Although the front bearings were ok as was most of the rear we took the opportunity to do the lot while we had access to the equipment and space to make the job easy.

We replaced the front and rear wheel bearings, cush drive bearings and the headset bearings ....so nice to turn without a notch off the middle ... WOHOH ... welcome back young lady.

The brown colour is less than ideal, a little bit of rust from water and muck

P1190940 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Up the stearing stem

P1190941 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Men at work .... (sorry Fiona no pump .. only greasy bits) :rofl Biu checking out her top while I looked up her skirt :eek1

P1190947 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The bottom outer cup with a few rail tracks, not too bad but enough to make it grotty off the middle when steering

P1190961 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

So easy when you have the correct gear, Biu making very very easy work of it

P1190962 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Hooking out the front seals to gain access to the bearings, new bearings, cleaned hub and regraesed everything ....million bucks :clap

P1190963 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

We did the same for the back wheel which missed out on the photography session, we could not get a new seal here so put it back together nicely greased till we could get our new seal ... that later.

Pheww all this dirty talk and romance has made me thirsty .... time for a Rum or 10.:evil

A huge thank you to Biu for getting us the parts and helping us change some and lending some space, Biu your blood is worth bottling mate.

Needing aprts in this part of the world? ... MotoBiu Racing

Finishing up after Maya was complete was the final time to say goodbye to Paulo, Daniel and Elizabeth, again thank you guys for your hospitality, local knowledge and treatment of total stranger now great friends.

Nossa casa é sua casa (Our house is your house), please come to New Zealand so we can reciprocate the warmth and welcoming.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Great ride report, wonderful photos, enjoying it all. You always make the repairs seem so easy. Do you ever regret going to one bike?

Mac

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Every day with the Lord is an ADVENTURE

Heya Mac

Thanks mate really appreciate your kind words, easy to take nice photos when you are in a nice place

Repairs, they are easy, KTM is just a man size meccano set and are actually very simple, 99% of the bearings, seals etc are all off the shelf which is a moto god send when travelling, specialty parts are expensive and unavailable.

Going to one bike has +/-, the plus is I don't have to watch my mirrors all day with Ellen behind, in Peru this would have simply been a nightmare.

The negative is weight, two humans (well one human and a Kiwi) plus our gear, we have skinned it down to what we need but camping stuff does add extra weight so yeah sometimes it would be great to be lighter but in all honesty with the HP and handling of the SE 99% of the time it is not an issue, our only real enemy is the soft sand and red cay Brasilain roads when they get wet.

Cheers Andi

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Time to release the thoughts of my mind, having had nearly 2.5 years to enjoy my No 1 & No 2 passion in life I have had the chance to think long and hard .. that is with the coming of age thinking long is hard.:rofl

I now reflect back on a few simple things, to set up a free account you need to buy a computer, a cellphone and various other bits and pieces to take advantage of your free account….then you need everything app wise that you never needed before. :huh

I saw a hot young lusty on the beach the other day, Ellen agreed she was hot and we carried on walking, Ellen asked if I liked her, I replied well I would but I don’t have a “Like” button so how can I like her?

We thought long and hard (again) and decided the poor girl would have to go on her merry way unliked and I felt sorry for her.

Also world records seem to be a forefront of lots of peoples minds, who has achieved the longest, fastest, shortest … the most countries, the most continents or the most mileage.

While this is kinda cool I spose one does have to wonder the merits of some of these incredible everyday world records.

I say this because I know I am the first guy ever from Wanaka in New Zealand to travel with a Chinese wife on a 950 Super Enduro through Central and South America so everyday we turn the key we are indeed setting a worlds first and a world record ….. hmmmmm Ok.eek1

Then we have the “Fail” comparison of why are you riding a KTM down the world and how many times has it crapped out and left you standing on the side of the road, well the answer is not once in 66000km.:clap

What has ACTUALLY crapped out in 66000 km is 1 waterpump and 1 stator, are both just a result of wear, tear, time and good times?…..i.e. maintenance or are these epic failures making it an unreliable bike? … good question I think as nothing lasts forever and everything will by design fail at some stage with time, use and mileage….ouwh and good times.

It is good to have deep thoughts now and then … but not too many cos thinking long is hard.:lol3

So if an orange is called an orange why isn’t a lemon called a yello or a Ducati … runs for cover now.:hide

As computers slowly make people easier to use we note what can only be described as a endemic phenomena, although not new it is spreading quicker than a serious disease, it will be the undoing of the human race and communication as we once knew it, the culprit is smart phones, seemingly much smarter than their users which are totally smitten with the use of such devices at the expense of their real friends.



It would seem that Faceplant and What sup are consuming the world with restaurant table loads of users all on their phones, no longer restaurants are raucous with laugher but under a vale of near silence as everyone communicates with their “friends“ in front of their friends.

I know we are still having a good time as I goooooogled it and we still fit in that criteria according to the computer so I am pleased about that, I could probably even like it. :huh

I also wonder the merits of being sick, so some people on Faceplant say OMG I am so ill and I am chundering my guts out uke1…..and what happens on Faceplant … people like it…WTF …so are they liking the fact you are sick or are they sick liking it … you decide.?

While technology has a great place is technology overfullfilling our daily lives?, I am not looking forward to have a machine ride my bike for me and do all the safe stuff to keep me safe from myself just in case I want to ….. heaven forbid….enjoy myself.

In the moto circles all the “toys” the new bikes are coming out with are turning riders in steerers and removing common sense everyday, this is why I believe common sense is not that common because we are allowing ourselves to be overly digitally enhanced and at the handlebars the switchgear is nearly bigger than a cylinder head.

So don’t get me wrong we do love a certain level of technology and we have been traveling without a phone quite successfully until we got a phone card from Claro in Brasil, firstly they did not load our credit, $15 lost, we then paid additional $15 only to have in the very small Portuguese fine print that it was valid for not even one month so when we went to use it we have no credit because they made it expire ….WTF… now no more phone, it was easier.

Little money but big problems, no more phone use for us as we had more success without it.

Also, whatever you ride, however long you take, wherever you go to you will be setting a worlds first as no one can ever do for you what you are about to do.…

My advice, download a riding app then it will save you riding, use a smart phone to talk to your friends so you don’t have to see them or have a coffee with them, hit the like button instead of the starter button that way you will not have to enjoy any of lives true adventures and what mum nature offers you for free, mind food beyond belief…..try it you will be surprised.

For me at least having had time time reflect, consider and assess I feel sorry that humans need to overload themselves with all of the above and this is a major cause of stress across the world, I am so glad I am not human.

OK, back to the program.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

jesus mate! get off the keyboard on get back on that crappy orange bike for crikey's sake!

aside from that, dead on the balls accurate.

cheers

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'07 DL1000 '08 DR650

Heya teevee

I was sitting on that crappy orange bike while thinking bout this stuff .... too much tar seal time was the cause I think, now rectified

Correct, maybe, just my thoughts and observations, not wrong, not right but somewhere in the middle.

We need to discuss this further over a Pino Noir or 10 I feel, I know a nice place in New Zealand!!

Cheers Andi

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

With Maya totally sorted with bearings etc our next destination was Visconde De Mauá in the National Park Itaiaia.

Mrs.Garmin decided it was a long (300km) away but local knowledge said 3.5 hours and leaving at midday so we had to crack a pace.

We took the BR116 which seemed more like a truck race for the most of it, for us it was like a video game of weaving in and out of the masses and avoiding being hit :eek1

Staying safe we got to our turnoff which was a pleasant and instantly relaxing change in pace ...as we headed off towards the mountain my head and heart were alive again with the thoughts of being in a tranquil setting out of the rat race.

Our first mission was the twisty climb to the top some 20 km which was tighter sweeping bends to 1st gears jobs.

Visconde De Mauá, don't blink or you will miss it, today is the 24th September which means that tomorrow on the 25th I get olda and hit 48, that aside we found our self a home for two nights in a nice Pousada.

Maya watching guard

IMG_1884 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The following morning was get older day which started with a nice breaky, omelet, bread, coffee ...awesome :clap

IMG_1805 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The day was to set out for a cruze around the park to take in waterfalls, moto museum etc and generally relax, we squidded it with the riding gear as everything was close and it was very hot so shorts and Tee the order of the day....yeah a rebel without a cause (how tuff eh :rofl)

IMG_1809 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Various locations around the park

IMG_1832 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

These guys were swimming in here, it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a Brass Monkey

IMG_1824 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Some cool old ex army trucks they take tours in

IMG_1834 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

All in all a great day out for the youngold fello, Visconde De Mauá a very nice quiet place to be and a mice setting in the evening for drinking some deep chilled local Banana liqueur.

Next up ... Campinas to meet Carlos and family... ADVer and orange brethren :clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

loving the photos it seems you are on the up after some of your troubles, you really seem to have captured some of the magnificient views espically the curves and plunging valleys!!!!

i hear ya! just booked ticket to singapore for next month.

will be winging over to wanaka once you and your better half are done with this boring ride of yours...

give her my best and heya from my better half!

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'07 DL1000 '08 DR650

Hiii Andy, Ellen. Super big happy birfday Andy ... oke a wee bit late

Loved the rant & rave post 'bout the techno thing I tend to use as much of it as I can. Makes travel a load easier. Lets face it :

ATMs instead of carrying loads of dosh & or travellers checks,

Mob. smart phone to phone ahead to check room availability & to book cheap hostel, saves loads of time making the rounds, tired, thirsty, sweated out, grumpy

Laptop to plan routes, latest info, e-mails etc.

E-reader to store loads of loony planets full of useless info, nitpickers guide to the universe etc .... to while away the boring bits

MP3 player to drown out the noise of snoring, braking wind, partying wildlife whilst you are trying to get a bit of shut eye in the middle of the jungle

If it's there use it & if you lose it thank the stars & then back to basics

Glad to see that you both doing well & the lean mean orange maya machine coming out tops.

Andy have a nice one, keep the rubber side down

Take care Vince

yep am still lurking in the back ground

Heya Vince

Great to hear from you mate. No worries bout the bifday .... just an excuse ta eat nice food and drink really

Yes agree with techno thing, certainly has its uses for sure but a lot of people are overusing it just because and at the expense of real people type friends, we still use FB etc but minimally compared to many.

Yeap Maya going well, we had difficulty with rubber side down for teh hit and run but will post about that later.

All else is good on the front with Brasil (for the most of it) being outstanding.

Cheers Andi

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Completing a successful birthday Campinas was on our list, Carlos a fello ADVer lives there and kindly invited us to meet up with him and his family.

Taking various back-roads we had an easy and nice ride, about 100 km away we called Carlos to let him know where we were, he said to be very careful with the roads which was nice of him, we thought he is a very caring person, I didn't ask him why as I thought he was just being a nice fello moto rider.:clap (which he is)

At about 70km away it turned black.

P1190973 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The sky lit up like a soccer stadium on fire and all hell broke loose, at about 60 km from Carlos house we were down to 25 - 30 km/hr with torrential rain, thunder and lightening and flood waters rolling along beside us....well...that made it interesting to say the least.:rofl

P1190989 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Undeterred we soldiered on to Carlos house with sleeves full of rain water and helmet cheek pads full and dripping down my front, at one point we rode down a hill into a gully and a car coming the other way drowned us under a tidal wave of stormwater and yes my visor was open...it was quite refreshing to be honest but I felt fresh enough prior to that :lol3

P1190983 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

P1190985 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

On arrival at Carlos house the gates were opened, our wet gear removed and hot shower to go as Ellen was freezing cold, me not so bad having a 950 cc heater underneath and heated grips :clap

P1190994 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Hot coffee to compliment our hot shower we regained some body warmth with Ellen turning from blue back to yello,....me..my cheeks rosy red after being battered by heavy rain and cold wind, I am guessing Carlos wondered what he had let himself in for at this point.:evil

So Carlos being brethren in KTM we had lots to chat about, he has a 990 adventure in white with orange crash bars etc so a striking looking machine :clap

As luck would have it the Spanish MotoGP was on so with a good strong coffee we enthusiastically watched on with a wet race unfolding, Carlos and I giving all the riders good advice from our armchairs :lol3

There was some interesting decisions made by the riders during the race which ended in tears for some and saw Jorge Lorenzo win, I still like him as he is butter smooth to watch, Valentino suffering a big off and a trip to the vet with concussion.:eek1

If Carlos is a good boy he is allowed to go for a ride (same for me ), so socks up, no swearing and being well manoured Carlos took us for a small round the block ride on local back-roads, some gravel roads etc around to a Dutch restaurant, we did 250 km for the day so had an awesome look around and nice ride:clap

Bear crate box seating at a cafe :clap

P1190998 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Our fearless leader

P1200025 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The ladz

P1200037 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Dunno how these two dodgy louts managed to pick up these two hot lusties :lol3

P1200039 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The Holland territory ...

P1200053 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The lunch table view ... Carlos KTM playing hide and seek in the trees

IMG_1941 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Coffee.....allowing men to stupid shit much quicker.....:eek1

IMG_1942 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

A nice and rear sight in Brasil, two KTMS clap, Carlos bike looking sharp with orange bars and wheel pin stripping ... I like it!!

IMG_1948 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

An old farm house now flash restaurant

P1200074 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Ellen also treated us to a sushi feed with Tais (Carlos good lady) being no 1 apprentice and doing a great job, an instant expert:clap

IMG_1935 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

IMG_6952 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

A quick team photo before we set too

IMG_6951 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Carlos also picked up a hub seal that we wanted to get for Maya so we changed that out in 15 minutes, perfecto.

With the weekend over we headed for the coast to Canania, a huge thank you to Carlos, Tais and the girls for putting up with us, we really enjoyed our stay and hope we can reciprocate back in New Zealand.:clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Campinas to Canania....started off a nice day but as we got closer to the sea the weather started caving in, first thick fog then thick fog laden with heavy water.....again, as luck would have it we found a building in the middle of nowhere to have some lunch and being able to park Maya under the verandah and out of the wet.

IMG_1958 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

More rain

P1200102 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Onwards to Canania the weather improved bit by bit and we arrived at the ferry boat with time spare, mum nature decided we needed another wash ....and another but we had a roof to hide under so no worries :clap

IMG_1962 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Todays entertainment provided by a rat which Ellen hates, a small shreak from Ellen as she watched it go towards her, I came over and it was so busy watching Ellen it did not see me, the rat hit its head on my boot 3 times and died much to Ellens delight, I then played soccer with it kicking it into the sea for fish food.... wife meltdown emergency averted

While waiting for the ferry a local on a XT250. Tenere turned up, nice guy we had a sortof chat with him, he kindly took us to a Pousada (hostel), it was a nice place, clean quiet and under cover parking, perfect.

P1200105 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Being seaside and having a fish market right there we bought fresh fish and squid and made a curry which was beautiful, we made enough for two nights as we planned to stick around at the beach the following day.

IMG_1967 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

IMG_1975 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The beach is another ferry ride, gratis to passengers, vehicles pay, not wanting to take Maya as we were wanting to do some walking it suited us down to the ground, a 2 km walk across the island and there was the beach ....empty being a school day.

We just crazy frogged it on foot :clap

IMG_1988 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

IMG_2003 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The asian fish went for a swim, on the way back we spotted some KTMushrooms pretty cool I thought.

IMG_1989 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

The paving in Canania has little lovehearts imprinted .....ouwh :evil

IMG_2009 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Finishing our seaside jaunt we headed inland to Curitiba with a local tip off of being able to find good tires, yes another thank you to local knowledge from Carlos, this type of information not obtainable from maps or gps, onya Carlos your blood is worth bottling.:clap

When it is tight and blind tho ladies and gentlemen you need to slow down and take it easier or you will find a big truck at the wrong moment like this guy did.

P1200139 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Again more local knowledge sending us down a nice twisty road with views along the way saw an enjoyable ride, Ellen had organised a couchsurf in the big smoke with Jarques and Gloria, we found them no worries with Mrs.Garmin being a good girl today.

P1200133 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

P1200165 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

P1200136 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Taking Carlos good advice we found Jarva racing who are the importers for Mitas tires, Carlos has them on his 990 and loves them, I also have one on my DR650 at home and like it, the shop was only 1km away from where we were staying too so everything was falling into place quite nicely, they had the sizes we wanted in stock and they gave a good deal on the price for a cash purchase, all in all successful and a great stay.

P1200198 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr

Next up Curitiba ...the civilian tour :clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Just 1

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere