Santa Barbara to Buenos Aires, and then some...

The BMW is seeking international happy trail with a new rider.  It made it to Fin del Mundo and is heading north, destination northern Mexico.  I picked up a near-new Strom - somebody else's midlife crisis touring machine (completely adventure-rider outfitted).   It arrives in January.  Packaged in Florida - ready for the container south...    

Drove San Luis to Buenos Aires - Ten hours in the saddle.   Trip Summary: Distance: 5,035 km Moving Average: 79 km/hr Moving Time: 63:22 hours.

Gotta love that view - that's a bus wayyyy down there... Heading over the mountains from Santiago Chile to Mendoza, Argentina. Treeline, what treeline?  Altitude: high.

San Carlos de Bariloche Installed a tire,  $2800  + chain $750 + tube and installation $370 pesos argentino ~ US $261. Hit the road by 11 AM bound for Chile. 42,536 miles on bike  

Trying not to forget to ...

New brake pads, an oil change, air filter, repaired some cables and cleaned up some clutter.  Mounted GPS.

I pick up a new ride this week from a guy who just arrived Buenos Aires after a year on the road heading south from the US. It's been lowered two inches so about the same height as the a regular GS or the V-Strom. On the way home I stopped for gas and then... it wouldn't start - kind of like the South Park banking episode: "and it's gone..."  After some tinkering and head scratching (and a trip to two tool stores to buy torx wrenches so I could get the fairings off) I pulled the (gel cell) battery and discovered it had a shorted cell (overheated plastic shell).  Five hours and a new battery later, I made it home. It just had to reinforce it's position in out relationship - I've been bitch-slapped. Mileage:  40,992