Austin, TX to Ushuaia. Leaving in September
 

Hi all,

My father and I are planning a trip from Austin Texas, USA down to Ushuaia and back, leaving next September. My Dad is taking a KLR650 and I am riding a Ural Sportsman with at BMW conversion. I've been lurking here for the last few months and just wanted to introduce myself and say hi.

Hi.

I'm sure you'll see me posting stupid and obvious questions over the next few months and I look forward to hear what all'y'all have to say.

Thanks,

Matt

Should make for an interesting journey with 2 totally different vehicles.
What Beemer engine did you insert into the Ural? Incidentally, I happen to think this was a very smart move and regard the Beemers as 1000 times more reliable than the Urals.

Will this present some shipping challenges going from Panama to Columbia? Never heard of anyone shipping a bike/hack before.

Heh, I tried to get my Dad to get a Ural but for some reason he didn't go for the idea . . . I think it'll work out well. This way my Dad can zoom ahead (as he likes to do) and I can putt along and wave at the cows, and we can switch every now and then for a change of pace.

I have an R80/7 engine mated to the Ural transmission and FD and I completely agree about the reliability. The beemer engine also gives me a bit of extra hp, which helps a lot in handling steep hills. The Sportsman has full time 2WD, which I think will come in very handy.

As for Panama-Colombia, I just saw a posting on here maybe a month ago from a Frenchman who shipped his beemer rig out of Colon, so I know it's technically doable. I definitely would rather ship than fly, so hopefully I can work something similar out.

I think the hack will fit on a standard pallet, so that may help in air shipment. Looking at the shipping reports I think the ocean shipping is pretty inconsistent, so I wouldn't count on it but who knows. For air if they use a standard volume kind of thing instead of real weight, that would help the hack and hurt the klr. Guess we will have to investigate further, probably right up to ship time. :)

By the way I am the dad in the trip. <img>

I shipped my bike from Panama city to Bogota in October, and a sidecar rig would have fit on the pallet they placed my bike on. This was with Girag air cargo.

I shipped with Girag from Panama to Bogota on January 5th of this year. There appeared to be 4 other bikes (all BMW's) on the same flight - never saw any of the other riders. But none of them were on pallets either side of the flight - looked like they were rolled on, rolled off, so it may be as simple as that if you decide to airfreight them with Girag.

quastdog -

thanks for the info, if that is how it works makes it pretty simple. See you are from Seattle, as am I. Spring is here and the riding is great.