Fork broken, park bike in Buenos Aires

[madmarco]

Hi out there!

Yesterday was best driving weather and I decided to go to El Chalten. Nice place, really :-)

But 1 km before entering the village, my AfricaTwin suddenly made some problems, no more front suspension... I first thought, that the seal ring was broken. Today, after a close inspection, I saw that the fork is broken. I mean there is a big crack right at the place where the frame holds the fork, and all the oil is coming out of there....

Because my budget is quite exhausted, it's not possible for me to buy/repair the fork at the moment. I have a possibility to transport my bike to Buenos Aires from here (I hope!).

What I d'like to do, is to transport my bike to BA, park it there in a safe place and return in a few months with the necessary parts for making it work again. To park my bike in Argentina was anyway what I've planned, but of course, not as early and urgently as it is now...

Because I can't do anything else than leave the bike here (no good option) or bring it to BA, I wanted to ask you, if somebody knows somebody in BA who could help me with my problems?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Marco
http://www.schnueriger.net


P.S. If somebody heads into chalten, I'm at the free camp site on the right side before the bridge which leads into the village (camping confluencia or something like that)

[mattpope]

Hi Marco,

Sorry to hear of your problem. Which fork is broken? Is it damaged where it is held by the black steering yoke?

I had a big crash up on the Carraterra Austral 2 weeks ago which damaged the whole front end of my Africa Twin. Basically I managed to find a second hand front end for my bike with just 2000kms of use and had it shipped to Santiago in quick time. I replaced both forks on my bike but one was not damaged too severely and could possibly be used to get you out of a fix.

If you give me a good description and maybe a photo of what has happened then I am heading south to ushuaia in the coming days and if I can help you with parts I am happy to do so. However, I have decided that I will most likely not come down Ruta 40 while my wrists are still a bit weak. Therefore we may need to look at an alternative.

Anyway, let me know and I will see if i can help.

Good luck,

Matt

[liketoride2]

Marco, what miserable, rotten luck. Is there any possibility you could find a local welder who could weld the fork, doing enough of a fix that you could continue your journey? This has worked for other international motorcycle travelers when they've had a broken fork.

If there's any possible way I could help, contact me. I can't imagine how I can (especially since Africa Twins haven't been sold in the US), but if there's any way possible, I'll be glad to help.

Mike

[This message has been edited by liketoride2 (edited 21 February 2005).]

[Mick O'Malley]

Marco

Contact the Bs As community, I'm pretty sure that there's someone there who will be more than happy to help you out (and he's an AT rider as well!). In the meantime enjoy El Chalten; don't miss Lago del Desierto and say hello from me to Manuela in the little wooden pub.

Good Luck.

Regards, Mick

[richardb]

Get in touch with Javier and Sandra (JavKap username on HUBB) who run Dakar Motos workshop in BA. I am sure they will be pleased to help are absolutely fantastic people, Javier is also an excellent mechanic and rides an AT himself


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Richb
http://www.postmaster.co.uk/~richardbeaumont/60684/

[GlobeBusters]

Marco! That is really shitty news especially after we had talked about you not having problems with the bike. Did we tempt fate?

We are in Ushuaia now, leave 21 Feb and will be in BA for 2 March. Have heard great things about Sandra and Javier, so try contacting them. Maybe meet up for there and drown sorrows. Dan Walsh is holed up in BA at the moment, methinks . . .

[madmarco]

A big hello from the mountains :-)

I contacted the BS AS community and really got an incredible fast answer from Javier and Sandra! They said that I can leave my bike at their place for a while. thank's god there's such friendly people all around the world!

Fortunately there is a weekly truck of a local goods dealer which goes to Bahia Blanca, and from there I could hopefully send it to BA with his forwarder. I have to check that out, because it would be perfect to park my bike in BA.

Matt, I contacted you by e-mail regarding your fork, but I think it's a bit too risky to put a fork which had an accident on my bike.

The story began a few months ago in russia, where i had an accident. both my forks were bend and were put sraight again. but oil was licking out and in korea I let the fork which has now a crack be produced from a honda dealer, but obviously the chosen material was of bad quality...

Another question: At the border i said to the customs officer, that i only need three months for the temporary import. I thought i will go to Chile again. Does somebody know if you can make it valid longer if you go to a customs office? or do you really have to cross the border again?

Thanks for all your help!

Marco
http://www.schnueriger.net

[Albert Hoermann]

I also can recommend you to contact Javier and Sandra in Buenos Aires. They are very nice people and you can trust them!!! My bike is there as well in the moment because i returned to Austria for the skiing season!

Good luck, Appie

[Rene Cormier]

Ouch! That sucks, Well, join the group. There is a rash of bad luck out there. I just re-entered Argentina after a record 5 flats in 3 weeks in Chile.
I finished War and Peace in a week, now I need something else!
See you in BA?I will be there (doing work at Javier and Sandras in less than two weeks!
Rene

[GlobeBusters]

Yep - Kevin got a flat on Ruta 3 too and ended up running the 1150GS front tyre with my spare F650GS rear inner tube (hole too big for BMW repair kit to work). However, got a Brasilian made Pirelli MT69 (shitty thing) in Viedma - better than holey tyre. Got in BA now - my cheap chain made it (just), but had to be adjusted every day!!

[madmarco]

hi out there!

I'm hitting the road again (but just for a short time) :-) From El Chalten I took a truck to a little city near Bahia Blanca. 2000 kms sitting in a truck driver's cabin was a quite new point of view of the road

My fork tube broke at the place where the frame holds the fork, so I put it a bit more upwards. My bike is now extremely low, but i can drive. So the last two days I was driving with a maximum speed of 70 on ruta 3...

I'm now in Azul, tomorrow I will be in BA. I don't know when I catch the plane, but I think I stay at least two weeks there, so write me an e-mail if you're heading into BA.

I was thinking about doing something like a little Travellers Meeting, because I know of a lot of people heading to BA during the next two weeks. Does somebody know of a camping or a cheap hostel in BA with Asado facilities??!

Marco
http://www.schnueriger.net

[javkap]

Hi Marco:
We are waiting for you. This weekend a lot of travelers are leaving Buenos Aires but there is a lot more coming next week. The most of them will stay at Munro hotel near our home and shop. It has parking but no place to make a BBQ, but we can do it at home.
Any way we will send you a mail with our telephone numbers an the way to find our home
Sandra & Javier.

Ps If you are in Azul don’t forget to visit “La Posta Del Viajero En Moto”. El Pollo, Jorge (the owner) is waiting you we just talk with him. (Mendoza 685)

[DiasDePlaya]

Hi Marco,

Sorry for your bike.

Was a pleasure to receive your email yesterday from the ATIC list.

But I can note that you are really enjoying your days in Argentina: "with Asado facilities??!" hahahahaha

Have a good trip to home, and return as soon as possible to this side of the word to enjoy more asados.

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Ya verás como quieren en Chile al amigo cuando es forastero (traditional song)

Jose Pedro Espinosa
Curico, Chile