Road conditions in Sth America

[El Penguino]

Hi peeps,

I am planning on going around the Sth American continent from Buenos Aires to Santiago , up the west coast to colombia , venezuela .

I am planning on doing this on my present bike , a BMW K100RS ( unmodified ) .

Does anyone know if I can do this mostly / all on sealed roads ? Any other thoughts ? Suicidal ?

[d]

gidday mate!

no worries in argentina and chile. north of chile might be a bit boring, from ica (peru) till about 1,000 - 1,500km north of lima IS definitely boring and ugly. roads in ecuador are better than the ones in peru. all roads (panamericana) are fine, the ones in colombia just a dream, venezuela fine, too. bolivia would be an adventure.
cheers, d

[Stephan Solon]

You should have no problem. Last year my wife and I travelled two up on a Honda NTV650 from BA to Guayaquil and found we could easily go most places we wanted to on good tarmac. Of course there are plenty of interesting places up dirt roads which are worth exploring so not having a trail bike was frustrating at times. We just had to pass those places by but really, there are so many interesting and accessible places on the route you want to follow you will still have a good trip on your bike. A friend of mine has just written to me from Peru saying he met a man on a Pan European the other day. Robbie Marshall travelled through Central America and on from Columbia to Chile on a Triumph Trophy 1200!

Have fun!
Stephan

[El Penguino]

Guys,

thanks for the tips . That puts my mind at ease a lot . Maybe I won't put those enduro tires on the bike after all !

Cheers,
Chris

[Biram]

I'm thinking of doing the same trip in Feb 2003 but starting in NYC down to Tierra and back. My moto will be a k-75.
From what I've read, the Metzeler ME 88 for the rear should be all you need and the weight on the rear should give you plenty of traction on dirt. The front tire is where you want something more than a Metz Laser for traction if you venture of the beaten path.
Hope that helps.

[60seriesguy]

Main roads in Venezuela are pretty decent, but be careful of animals on the windier country roads.

In Brasil, avoid the BR-319 (which is a natural route to go from Manaos to Venezuela), it's the toughest "road" I've ever been on, 700 kms of mud, ruts and fallen bridges without any services or fuel depots.

[Jeremy Andrews]

Hey there Mr 60....

I plan on riding from Manaus to Caracas via the direct route in a couple of weeks from now, which I guess is the BR319 you talk about...

Is there an alternative ?

( Sounds like fun anyways..... )

Jeremy