Hi my names Abe im 18 years old i just graduated high school. Im leaving my home in California in Novmeber for a year long motorcylce trip through Mexico, Central and South America. Im using the volunteer organic farming network known as WWOOF (World Wide Oppurtunities on Organic Farms) for food and lodge...with the occasional luxury resort. i dont have a set route in mind besides where each WWOOOF host farm is. I plan on taking many side trips along the way to seed different kinds of natural landmarks, cities, etc.

I will be riding a 2009 KTM 530 EXC. GPS, LED lights, hand guards, jetting kit, K&N intake, FMF exhaust, skid plate, saddle bags, local bike shop aftermarket leather seat, 4.1 gallon aftermarket tank, i think thats it.

I would appreciate any feedback especially sceptics, if you can think of an issue i may have overlooked, please mention it.

thanks,
Abe

anybody at all have anything? any info even if i already know it will help. as far as countries to avoid riding in? Ive heard Colombia is not such a good place to go because of drug trafficking etc? which countries/areas exactly are known for bandito and police shake downs? i assume most of te way standard unleaded gas will be available the whole way am i right? Only place im worried about is Brazil dont a lot of their vehicles run off of methonal? even so, every city has some gasoline operated machines..
I am aware of the mental and physical strain ill have to endure, have and do ride enduro.

I think a KTM EXC is a bike made for competition and not suitable for travelling. I do competition (Rallye, Enduro) too and I do also own a competition bike (Yamaha WR) and I would never dream about travelling with that competition bike. Not eaven to closer places for weekend - trips. Those bikes dont last long enough for such long journeys.
A KTM EXC is not made for travelling - I think travelling with that bike will cause many problems sooner than you think. :-)
Travelling to and in South America does not require Enduro bike or enduro driving skills - so go and get yourself a bike that is made for travelling, not for competition.
Silke
... flying to Peru in 2 days :-)

hi abe

I'm an Australian about to arrive in LA in mid september, and my plan is to buy a bike there, then like you I intend to ride through south america though my plan is for 7 or 8 months.

I'm also very interested in hooking up with the woof network, so found your post v interesting. I have travelled through india and asia by motorbike and done many other countries by other methods.

Thus i reckon it would be good to hook up when I get there, I havent travelled to south america before, but as stated I have a lot of other travel experience.

send me a msg cos I'd like to exchange ideas and info.

nice one
troy

Abe, just did a trip California-Guatemala in Jan 2010. Crossed México twice. Make sure you have ALL your paperwork for you & the bike in order, & do not forget to buy Mexican Insurance. It's the law there, you have to have insurance, otherwise they'll take you to jail. Make sure to ride in the morning, try to avoid night riding. By mid to late afternoon, we were already checked in. Toll roads are kind of expensive, but WORTH it. Gas was never an issue. I hid most of my money, in my overpant's hip protector, & I carried just enough money in my pocket. Plenty of ATM machines that accept US cards.
Hydrate yourself, Be Safe,Enjoy & good luck.

PS: it's a good idea to have a tire repair kit with a little portable compressor.

Abe, one more thing. When you cross the México-Guatemala border, make sure to 'hire' one guy ( on the Guatemala side) that will do all the paperwork for you. They were a big help. You will see lots of them at the border. It would be a good idea to buy some Quetzal ( Guatemalan currency) from your local bank, you can always buy it at the border, but it's too chaotic. So you'll have one less thing to worry about, and you will need Quetzal to do your transactions, they will not accept Mexican pesos.
Also in Guatemala, motorcycle riders are required to have their motorcycle's license plate written in their back. So, what we did, we bought some cheap 'orange' shirts ( the type that Cal-Trans wears while working on the freeways) from Home Depot, & wrote our license plate number on its back. And, we had this 'orange' shirt over our regular vest.
Make sure your horn is working & it's loud, you will be using it allot in Latin America.
Hope this helped.
Alex

Unlike in México, in Guatemala, we couldn't find a place to buy insurance. So I'm assuming they're not that strict.
Also, it would be wise to get an international medical coverage like meddex or medjet, it's pretty cheap.

just got some unexpected news and won't be leaving until January...

January should be fine! But not sure about your bike ....

Love the WWOOFS idea. When you get a load of the amount of Pesticides down South you'll gag. (you probably know all this already?) Guess where all our outlawed DDT and other dangerous stuff got sold to? Si, Senor. Hope you can do your best to turn this around while you're there.

The Bike: The KTM 530 is an awesome dirt/race bike, but as stated above, no way a travel bike. It would also be a major target for thieves. Worth a King's Ransom there.

Sell it. You can always buy another later. The money will buy a better and cheaper travel bike that will make the trip with far fewer problems, more comfort and totally adequate for most all off road situations you'll encounter.

I ride dirt bikes with lots of KTM guys and have owned several (KTM Duke ll, KTM 300EXC, KTM 250EXC) The EXC four strokes are not long distance travel bikes. I loved my KTM's (especially the 640 Duke ll, but just not a travel bike. The 530 may be street legal .... but it's still a race bike. (I have a WR250F ... retired "B" enduro rider)

For serious travel I ride a Suzuki DR650. Buy a nice clean used one, low miles. Like an '08 or '09. Pretty inexpensive bike. Read the forums to get info on set up. (count on about a $1000 worth of mods to make it right) and you will thank me from down the road. A great travel bike and pretty fun in the dirt.

The DR650 compared to the KTM is maintenance free. Needs very little, bullet proof and fun to ride ... whether shredding the paved twisty bits, doing fire roads and two track or cruising the highway at 75 mph ... all day, every day. It can carry all your stuff and the sub frame won't crack, frame won't break and the motor is easily good for 50,000 miles given reasonable care.

TIP: long distance travel is hard on bikes. Any bike. It will eat your KTM alive and spit it out dead. Too many miles, too much high speed highway time. If you were doing just Mexico, I might agree with the KTM choice.
But doing the long run down, you need something simpler, more primitive and solid.

Safe Travels!