Skipping TDF???!!!
 

I´m not a big fan of backtracking, and I figure the scenery is comparible to other scenery on the continent?

So am I nuts for just heading down Ruta40 to the Glacier National Park area in and just head back a bit to go into Chile and onto the CA?

We´ve just headed off Ruta 30 onto Ruta 22 toward the mountains, and the dull flats are doing my nut in. It´s like going to Australia and the first thing you do is crossing the Nullarbor so far.

Mmmmmmmm...............yes go to TDF
 

TDF is unique,at least for me! I think your question can be answered by you only.
Now if you are short on money and time and are sitting in la Quiaca.......thats diferent.
Taste is very subjective.
Karl

I did 23,000 miles from Colorado down to El Calafate and back up to Brazil.

I skipped TDF and don't have a problem with it....It is what the trip means to you....(I was also getting snowed on and was sick of tourist towns)

If I had it to do over again, I'd skip Southern Argentina and spend more time exploring Brazil.

Besides, its not that much of a ride, I could shoot on down to TDF any old time.

;-)

Course, I also thought all the riders who were gaga over Ruta 40 were a bit nutty....I can ride on crappy roads all day long here in the backwoods....I shot down the highway at 130 mph all day long despite the guanaco and nadu.

My recommendation is to go as far South as Bariloche and do a separate airplane trip to Ushaia from Buenos Aires.

You are right about the whole Southern half of Argentina except the last 300 miles being a wasteland pretty much. It was not to exciting spending a week riding through Nebraska type scenery.

If you are content in riding all the way to Ushaia then I would say stick to the Caterra Austral, then Ruta 40, and then the inevitable boring Ruta 3. The Caterra Austral and Ruta 40 are very tough gravel roads though.

agree
 

hej guys,

just arrived in Barriloche, coming up from Ushuaia and I definitly agree, would skip Ushuaia, a long way with nothing, just to ride to the ´most southern point´...pfff...and indeed the last 100 km, before arriving in Ushuaia was beautiful. a dissapointment to me. on top...Chili is working on a road next to Ushuaia., i was told, which will be in the future the most southern point..he he he...then we have to do it again...me no way.

on top...the strong winds as soon as you go down..horrible and a hell. had an accident coming from Ushuaia, on the border with Chili/Argentina, broken ambriage handle (not handle but connection). no solution yet to fix that problem. will start riding to Mendoza tomorrow..and go and have that changed overhere, i suppose.

another question : need another backtyre...any suggestions ? have a Continental TKC80...have a spare one (used one, not very good anymore) in Valparaiso, but will first try to find a new one ?

Cheers,
pascale

Wich size of tire?
 

What bike also?

bike
 

bmw F650gs - 2004, so far all going well. tomorrow leaving, for San Martin de Los Andes, by the 7 lake road, part is ripio. lets see. yesterday and today the first 2 days in 2 months we had good weather, could run around in t shirt...what a difference. cheers

i'd go
 

did last year, in fact. down ruta 3, back ruta 40.
wouldn't have missed the trip or the place. loved the vastness of the place (despite being australian). TDF, southern patagonia - the endless corrugations (despite...), the remoteness, the wind, loved it all. besides anything else, the night sky - you just can't look straight up at the southern cross from anywhere else.
of course as others have said, it depends what you like.
cheers,
andy.

A good knobie tire is Karoo(metzeler) or MT-21 Pirelli.Both you can buy in any mayor city(mendoza).Maybe even TKC in Santiago.
Yes weather down there(patagonia) is allways like that.My sister lives in Ushuaia and we have most times 20º diference!!!hahahaha and not talking about sun......
Karl

We must have just missed each other. We´re in Bariloche now coming from SM de los Andes. I think I´ll miss TDF. The cost of Argentina and the crashed Aussie dollar is really hurting us, so we´ll have to heavily reduce our trip. Argentina is not the reletively cheap country I was told it was going to be by just about everybody. The fencing is also a lot heavier than people made out to be. Had the coppers show up somewhere around Neuquen the other day. And you look around at the La Pampa and wonder, what do you care if we´re here for a night. It doesn´t seem to be used for anything.

Bit bored of La Pampa, so much to go still.
Any tires to be found around the start of the Carreterra Austral?

We must have just missed each other. We´re in Bariloche now coming from SM de los Andes. I think I´ll miss TDF. The cost of Argentina and the crashed Aussie dollar is really hurting us, so we´ll have to heavily reduce our trip. Argentina is not the reletively cheap country I was told it was going to be by just about everybody. The fencing is also a lot heavier than people made out to be. Had the coppers show up somewhere around Neuquen the other day. And you look around at the La Pampa and wonder, what do you care if we´re here for a night. It doesn´t seem to be used for anything.

Bit bored of La Pampa, so much to go still.
Any tires to be found around the Southern side of the Carreterra Austral? Also 17" for a F650

nooooo.....
 

Don't tell us that tmotten!!

We're Aussie too and really feeling the squeeze on the dollar here in Chile. Especially after the cheapness of Peru. We're holding out to get to Argentina where everyone has told us it will be considerably cheaper!!

We're definitely going to ride to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine to do some hiking, but I'm unsure about the final section to Ushuaia. We'll be heading Sth from Valparaiso in a week or so down the CA. My concern is more that my girlfriend who will be riding too is fairly inexperienced, so want to skip any particularly difficult roads if the reward is not sufficient.

Ca
 

Nick

Are you coming south via Talca and Osorno? I am in Talca, going to Osorno for a service, new bearings, new tires. Would like to hook up with another rider (or two) for the CA. Please PM or mail me. vagamoto@mac.com

Tyres in Osorna
 

Motoaventura in Osorno has a big stock of Metzler Sahara 17 in tyres, plus electronic balancing. And great service, all the parts you need for F650 and 1200 GS. sonia@motoaventura.cl
Chile Motorcycles Rent,Motorcycle Rental Agencies|Ciudad Chile

Tdf?
 

Just back in BA from Ushuaia after travelling down Ruta 40 from Villa la Angostura.

I loved Ushuaia. We rode in over the Garibaldi pass just on sunset. There was plenty of snow reflecting the sunset colours - this was stunning. A highlight of the trip. Be careful though, the road is the best sealed scratching road that we rode and it has claimed two bikers in the fortnight prior to us being there. Too temping to go too fast.

The town is quite eclectic, bit touristy but nothing horrible like Bariloche at one extreme or Perito Moreno at the other. The setting with snow covered mountains is magic. Took a trip out on the original tourist boat (the Barracuda - not the mega cats packed with tourists) into Beagle channel - definitely worthwhile.

In the scheme of things, the balance of the gravel and sealed roads was better than the average for our trip - the gravel is much better than most of that in Ruta 40. Not mentioned by the others are the multiple border crossings needed - these are slow.

I´d say, go!

Cheers

Skipping TDF ? Never!!!!
 

Hi All,

although I understand the point skipping TDF I definitely do not agree. We have done Quito - Ushuaia - BSAS in 2005/2006 and have to say that the Ruta40 /TDF portion was one of the highlights of our trip. For us being Central Europeans the shere remoteness and emptiness of this landscape was just overwhelming. less then 1 inhabitant per km square - go figure...

Being in Ushuaia over christmas and new year's eve, congregate with like-minded souls on the southernmost campsite of the world at appriximately the midddle of our trip added siginificance to the matter. True, Ushuaia itself is nothing to write home about, but it was the circumstances that made the stay worth while...Still there is enough to do, you could hop on an antarctic cruise, explore the surroundings, looking for shipwrecks, drive down to the end of the southernmost road (which is not Ruta 3 with the famous signpost by the way but the road passing estancia harberton) and just recharge your batteries... 2 weeks there passed like no time for us

We found the R40 not too difficult, took it slowly, camping besides the road and enjoying that south patagonian sundown skies every evening.

You could also avoid backtracking and the Ruta 3 altogether by taking the Puerto Montt - Puerto Natales Navimag ferry (what we did). So you'd go Ruta 40 /Carretera Austral one way, take in the sights like Moreno glacier (Beautiful camping Lago Roca, 70 km outside El Calafate direction Glacier), Cueva de los manos, Fitz Roy and Torres del Paine national park) and relax 2 days on the ferry doing nothing the other way.

Also you dont need to backtrack the Rio Grande / Bahia inutil / Puerto Natales portion, there is another border crossing called "paso de los libres", mandatory river crossing included, in the middle of the TDF peninsula. The road there starts at the "estancia menendez" junction just south of Rio Grande...

Oh man, only from writing about it I start longing to go again...

Have a safe trip

Martin and Silvia

zwei auf reise: neun monate durch südamerika

I felt that the Tierra del Fuego part was magic. Some of my best photos were there. It's only an island, but it's a big island, with prairie-like expanses, then mountains, and finally, Ushuaia, sitting like in a fairy tale right on the sea with snow-covered mountains rising up around it. And then I took a quiet sail on the "If," into the Beagle Channel. We sailed to "H" island, and there, contemplated the original Tierra del Fuego people- people now extinct.

On your way, you're riding along, and suddenly the road is HUGE. Like ten times wider than it needs to be. And it's flat. And you wonder... why? And then you realize you're on a runway. I'd like to see an airliner land there.

If I do South America again, I'll want to spend at least a few weeks exploring Tierra del Fuego.

This is one interesting thread. About a dozen years ago, my wife and I rode our Elefant down 40, and up the coastal roads, eventually to Barilochi. We have ridden all over the world, and my personal favorite is Ruta 40 and everything along its path, including the WINDS. Though I live in the mountains of No. Arizona, USA, I relish the high deserts. Patagonia is a not to miss experience, and we plan to head down there again soon. The gravel is part of that experience, reaching TDF was a reward.
Allen.