Need a KLR650 motor in Buenos Aires
 

I'm working my way back north from Ushuaia and am currently in Buenos Aires. Someone vandalized my motor and it is now seized and probably dead. If possible, I'd rather replace the motor with a used one that will get me back to Colorado. That would be faster and less expensive than rebuilding this motor with new parts.

I don't know what my price range is yet, depends on the motor and its mileage.

My bike is currently at Dakar Motos, waiting for Javier to have time to look at it.

Anyone know of a motor I can get quickly?

Thanks in advance

Hey Sgt,
Been following your website and Adv Reports. Sorry to hear about your situation. I'm in Panama headed to TDF and then Buenos Aires on a GS. If there is anything I can do for you, i.e., ship parts from Bogota, Quito, Lima, Santiago, etc let me know.

Bad Joss
 

Sorry to hear of your bad luck Marty. With the import taxes into Argentina I suspect you're least expensive option will be to rebuild. If anyone can do it Javier is the guy.
Best, and pass on a Hola to Javier and Sandra.
Dr. G

Don't know if this will help your situation...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...226#post224063

Buying original parts in Argentina is indeed not the cheapest and the quickest option. And something as big as an engine wont be easy to hide to customs.

May be your best bet is to buy one of the KLR s for sale by international travellers and sell it back once at home.

Buy and Ship?
 

Marty ... here's a link to a post offering up KLR....at DakarMotors no less... maybe ride one - ship one back as parts and then possibly rebuild and resell in the US??? May be some import issues though....

KLR 650

Marty,

I have a few spare engines and have shipped heavy items to BA but unfortunately you cannot ship used parts. The tax is about 50% on new items. I just make out the invoice for half the price so my customers don't have to pay high taxes.

I think you are better off having someone work on the bike there and maybe buying the parts here in the US.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Thanks, all.

Javier hasn't gotten a look inside it yet. A guy stopped by a couple days ago with a 2002 KLR he wanted to sell, and I missed him by five minutes. Javier gave me the guy's email, but he hasn't answered my message yet.

I'm still in our rented apartment, but after my wife leaves at the end of the week, I'll be back at Dakar Motos until a solution arises. My riding buddy will wait maybe a week with me, but after that he'll be riding north through Uruguay and Brazil. He'll ship his bike home from somewhere.

I met a Danish couple at Dakar Motos that bought one of the KLRs there and rode off on it today. There's another KLR there with a black IMS tank, but I don't know whose bike that is.

I have seriously considered flying home and back with a KLR motor split into two suitcases. None of the bike parts that my wife has brought to us (twice) has ever been questioned. The flight ticket would be about $1000, so I'd have that kind of budget for a bike here. All I need is the motor, really, but I might take other parts off and leave the rest to Javier to salvage for more parts.

Engine for Sale
 

Marty this was posted by Flashboyz on KLR650.Net on Jan 8

2000 KLR650 Engine for sale. Engine has 14,500 original miles, runs and shifts great. Will need: waterpump gasket and cylinder head cover bolt (right front) is stripped and wont tighten. $750

Says he's from Tucson.

More engines
 

Thread on engines from ADV rider...posted Dec 31, 08

KLR Engine - ADVrider

That is the one black tank KLR you talked?
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...rgentina-40244

Yup, that's the bike. It looks nice. Too expensive for me, though. I'd rather wait 2-3 weeks for a much cheaper bike.

My motor was removed today, but it hasn't been opened yet. There were a lot of steel and alloy bits in the oil. I'll find out within the next couple days what the decision will be. To rebuild or replace.

If anyone can point me to a KLR motor in Buenos Aires within 2 weeks for not much money, you get to be my hero. :D

Ok, the motor is apart and the damage isn't as bad as feared. The piston rings and cylinder are gone--too bad to reuse. The con rod is seized and will need to be replaced and the oil pump is badly scraped up from all the debris. There was a lot of metal--steel and bronze--in the oil. The transmission looked fine although I feared some damage there.

As far as we can tell, that's it, so I will be rebuilding the motor rather than replacing it. Thanks for all the suggestions, folks!

My wife is getting parts together now and the new plan if for me to fly home to fetch them this weekend and bring them back in my luggage. That'll be faster and maybe cheaper than shipping them and paying the import duties.

Should be on the road again next week. :D

What means "vandalized?"
 

The KLR trashed internals sound ugly, but if you're going to soldier on with that bike, likely you've made the best choice to rebuild versus fly in a complete replacement engine.
I had my bike(s) parked in and around BA for as long as a month. Was wondering what you meant by your's being "vandalized." I've often worried about some local adding everything from urine to sand/dirt to the oil via the oil intake places, so changed those for less ease of access.
How did your engine get vandalized? For the rod, piston, rings, cylinder to go it sounds like a serious high speed siezure. Did they cut the water hose, so no cooling? Drain the oil by dropping the oil plug? Take a hammer to it?
Good to hear Javier got it sorted though. BA isn't a bad place to spend time, could have happened a lot worse places.
Good to hear there's light at the end of your tunnel.
Best,
Dr. G

Hi, Greg.

You've got a bike here in Javier's shop, I see. One of your "fifty or so around the world"?

Someone removed my oil fill cap and maybe put something in it. I had a tire changed at a small shop and was kidding around with the guys hanging out there. When I got on the bike to ride on, they all gathered to watch and laugh. I thought it was because I was a fun guy.

It was such a hot day that I didn't notice the extra heat on my Darien pant leg. When we stopped for gas (about 160 miles later), the oil all over the bike (and me) was horrifying. I put in the spare liter of oil that I carried, and that got me to the next major town where I got more oil.

The next morning, it seized up on the road and that was that. I knew it was running badly, but I thought it would get me back to Buenos Aires. It cost me a lot to get the bike trucked back to BA, and that still grinds on me.

Got back to BA today from a quick trip home for parts. The motor should be back together sometime soon. Hopefully.

Javier seems competent, but not very motivated. Still, it's my time pressure, not his, and I understand that. My riding buddy needs to be home by a certain time, and we might have to split up for the ride up to Fortaleza.

I'm keeping a Zen posture.

I am exhausted.

I flew home on Saturday and got the parts to rebuild my motor back in Buenos Aires. Spent less than 24 hours at home and flew back to BA today (Monday). Hopefully the crankcase can get put back together tomorrow and I can get the rest of the motor back together.

Since the motor wasn't going to get worked on, I went to the U.S. Embassy and had them add more pages to my passport and am now in a Wi-Fi cafe in the Palermo Soho neighborhood.

Colorado was chilly and I loved that. Back to being sweaty all the time.

The beer is helping.

After the (upgraded 685cc) motor gets back in, I'll still have to scrub the new rings in for at least a day of working the motor. Maybe back on the road in 3 days if all goes well tomorrow.

Last resort is to wait for John's KLR here in mid-February. That's just in case something goes wrong that was overlooked.

Got the motor repaired and we are traveling again. Thanks for all the suggestions and offers! :D

Good to hear you're moving again
 

Hi Marty KLR'er:

Good to hear you're moving again. Sorry not to get back to you sooner but I don't check these boards much, plus been away for a while.

That '82 Silverwing is still down there at Javier's? Of the seven or eight motorcycles my Parkinson's pillion ( The Ultimate Globe Ride ) and I used on our 'rtw ride that was the one she liked the best. The least was the KLR, especially the 950 mile day from Seattle to my home in Montana, then the next day the other 550 miles :-)

Ugly thought, the oil filler plug on your KLR being taken out, loosened or something put in as an additive. On a BMW I have the filler plug came out (my fault, did not tighten it well enough) but I got lucky, heard the noise, stopped and used a hardware store rubber drain stopper twisted in to plug the hole. On the '01 KLR I used one of the Dual Star caps, think I'll do the same with the '09. The original Kawasaki filler plug seemed to invite quick finger twisting by digits other than my own.
Thanks for the head's up on possible vandalization opportunities.
Hope the rest of your trip is less mechanically and financially challenging.
ATB,

There was a Honda on a lift table in the shop, and Javier said it was yours, so I suppose that's it. It was covered with a lot of stuff, so it's mostly a coat rack now.

The 685 motor is going strong, so that's a blessing. All appears well with the motor. It's other problems now, but it will all work out. I'm just glad to be moving again.

Now in Salvador, Brazil. Don't know where I'm headed next. I'll find out soon.