Found decent mechanics!

These mechanics have multimeters and everything!  So, it turns out the coil is bad and not the regulator, so they are trying to rebuild it and will put the original regulator back on. I wish the gringo helping me yesterday knew about this shop. 

The very nice lady we met at seagull cove (Ana Cecilia) found this shop and "What's app'd me. I bought a cell SIM card and now have internet on my phone that helped get us here. Lesson learned is use technology to help when you can. 

The black coils are toast. 

They will have it rebuilt for tomorrow at noon, hopefully. 

More bike trouble!!

So, we headed out from San Jose toward Nicaragua early this morning. Such a beautiful ride. But when we stopped about an hour away it wouldn't start again. 

The new regulator seems fine, but is not getting enough current. The battery is good (and we switched hers and Karen's batteries to be sure). So it has to be something with the generator that feeds the regulator. Argh!!!

So, we are heading back to San Jose, 1-1/2 hours away, to fnd a motorbike mechanic who can hopefully fix the bike. If not, then we sell it and fly Jada home. 

Frustration is running high here. It is hard to find any mechanics who know what they are looking at, then even if they do, finding parts is a gong show. Even going to the Kawasaki dealer/service shop in Panama City, the service and organization was terrible (they screwed up putting oil in for goodness sakes!). 

Note to self, before going on a Multi-country motorbike ride, take a full mechanics course!  And stock a few more parts (tire tubes, alternator, belts, fuel pump assembly, etc). And don't let anyone else touch the bikes. 

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew. 

Not the smoothest day in Costa Rica

So we all had a good night sleep after a long day getting out of Panama.  We were ready for the day, but Jada's bike wouldn't start, so we tried to push start it in the gravel parking lot.  Nope, didn't work. So we took it to the highway to push start it.  Success!  Then Jada's bike quit entirely on the highway, so Karen and I ran after her to push start again. Failure!  We tried again and it would not keep going,  the battery was completely dead and the alternator was not giving enough to keep it going.  We had a car put his hazards on to help divert traffic, which was really nice though. And he knew of a motorcycle shop that he lead me to.

I got Jada's battery on charge and headed back to go for breakfast.  It sure was nice to have coffee in the morning!  After breakfast, I went back and got the battery, put it in Jada's bike and we were off.  The mechanic had a Kawasaki alternator, so we drove there with Jada's bike and tried it out, but it did not give enough charge back to keep the bike running.  So off we went, However, we didn't know how long her battery would hold out.  So after about 3 hours, we filled up with gas and her battery was completely dead again.

We swapped out Jada and Karen's batteries, so Karen's bike could charge the dead battery while Jada's bike discharged the full one.  This got us just enough time to get close to San Jose where we can hopefully find a new or rebuilt alternator that will do the trick.  Lots of small alternators but none with the oomph we need (lots of small bikes in Central America but not many big ones like ours).  My Phone doesn't work here so I lost the address of the bike shop I was aiming for, but remembered the general area of San Jose, so I headed in that direction, but we were all tired, hungry and thirsty, so I pulled us over to a mini super store to ask about a hotel.  They directed me to one about a 2 minute drive away down a crappy road.  

We pulled into a house to ask for directions to the hotel, but the house was actually the hotel.  Awesome!  A place to stay and for only $40 too.  The owner's husband is from the states and gave me a ride in his car to get water and food.  Double awesome!!  He is taking me to the parts shop,that should have an alternator.  Triple awesome!!!  I might even get Karen's fuel pump for just in case while I am there (and gas tank gasket - does not help if I cause a leak right above her motor fixing the fuel pump).  We will see tomorrow. 

One final thing on our "hotel". We couldn't find a sign for it, because it is a rendezvous hotel for local shenanigans of unfaithful spouses!  They did let us put our bikes tucked in beside the room, in the back on the sidewalk.  I don't think it is the safest area, but it will do for the night.

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew.

Frustration with Panama Customs

So we met the customs officer at the border at 8:00 sharp this morning. We followed him as he drove like a bat out of hell back to David. 60 km/hr zones, people walking, people turning on did little to slow him down. We reached 160 km/hr at times. Great to feel the wind, but scary too. 

He took us to a building in a complex with no signs on it to say it was Aduana (customs). We parked the bikes and were led into a dirty room with three chairs where we handed over documents and waited, and waited, and waited. 

Finally after 4-1/2 hours (1:00 at this time) we get the boss to sign the forms and we head off to pay the fine in another area of the building. First the guy who brought us over took our keys then a lady took the paperwork (some 10-12 pages each bike) and had to call her boss to see what the fine would be. A little more waiting and we were told it will be $1,550. Ok, I expected a fine, but not this much. 

So then we had to wait for the bill so we could pay. And we waited again. Finally at 3:00 the bill came (maybe they had to call another boss). We paid then had to find the guy to get our keys back, oh and Karen's original registration (why just hers, I will never know).  

So in total, having our bikes in Panama for longer than 6 months, cost us 2 full days delay and a lot if cash. We had been expecting 3-1/2 hours per border, but not days delays. 

What also sucks is that we have not had water since the morning. We carry granola bars for this type of situation, but we need food, water and coffee. Everyone is a lot on edge and all directed at me. I offered for Karen or Jada to take over negotiation, translation, navigation, planner and general shit taker duties, but no takers. 

So we were escorted out of Panama right to the border. I've never been kicked right out of a country before!!

Entering Costa Rica was really easy and only took 1-1/2 hours to get through. Although I drove right through the whole border, thinking it was farther ahead. We had to turn around to go back!

About 20 minutes into Costa Rica, we found a nice hotel with three beds and air conditioning. Yay!  It was right close to a cool looking cemetery. 

Remember Stew,

Enjoy your journey!

Overnight in a border town.

Ok, so we got to the border on our way to Costa Rica a little before 9 am (it opens at 8). We got to a checkpoint before the border and were told that our temporary Vehicle Import Permit had expired and we would have to go back to David and pay a fine on Monday (not open today). The customs official lead us to the border, and after him and another person trying to find a way to get us through for about 2-1/2 hours, finally did up some paper work and asked us to return the next day at 8:00 am.  A delay, but no big deal, except that they kept our bikes, keys and registration.  The bikes were not registered, so could not be used.

Plan B has been to stay at a hotel right near the border, that is actually semi nice, clean and cheap with a queen bed for Karen and I and a smaller bed for Jada. We have always said we would avoid border towns, but this one is not too bad.  Both Panama and Costa Rica have similar governmental policies and more importantly the border extends for about 15 km toward the ocean ports and the only thing preventing travel between the 2 countries is a boulevard (there are 2 parallel streets in either country).  People walk back and forth all day and night. So instead of needing to smuggle anything across the border, they just walk it across.  So the system is great at catching honest smugglers, but not anyone who does not want to get caught.

We will see what tomorrow brings.  Maybe we'll get to Costa Rica early, maybe not.

Enjoy the journey,

Stew. 

David Panama

Well, we arrived in David early (around 2) and beat the rain!  But we did have some bike problems.   Since getting the bikes fully serviced so that they were ready to go, we have had some issues.  Karen's bike loses power when she tries to accelerate.  I changed the air filter, checked the fuel vent and added fuel injector cleaner to try to fix it, but it was still losing power today, worse than ever and it does it more when it is hot.  Jada's bike was not starting, so we push started it a few times today.

We booked into the hotel and asked where to take the bikes to have them looked at and were told to go to Robinsons, so we did.  It was a tire shop, but I thought they might have a good bike mechanic there.  We told a guy our problems and he called someone to come to the shop who spoke English better, so we waited.  The guy came and we explained our issues.  I wish the first guy would have let me explain, but when I asked if he spoke English it scared him off.  I am sure I could have explained it in Spanish well enough.  So we waited some more while the translator spoke to the busy mechanic.  Then we waited some more and couldn't see the guys dealing with us.  Finally after about 45 minutes in the shop, they said that they didn't have any bike mechanics and that I should go somewhere else.  We got directions to a bike shop. 

We pulled into a very little Honda bike shop and within 30 seconds a mechanic was there to talk to us and he spoke English!  He asked the problems and immediately asked if he could check the battery on Jada's bike.  He checked it (it was at 9.2V - low), so he put it on charge to see if it was the battery or if not then probably the alternator.  I was hoping for a bad battery, but the battery was good after a charge.  Batteries are easier to find than alternators.  When the battery was charged, he started the bike and checked the alternator output, which was low, but stil giving some juice.  So he disconnected the headlight (we don't drive in the dark anyways) to help keep the battery charged.  Hopefully we can find an alternator somewhere along the road.  While the battery was charging he looked at Karen's bike.

We talked over the issue and what I had done and he asked a lot of questions.  In the end he said that it was probably one of three things, fuel pump, fuel filter or fuel pressure valve.  Fortunately all three come as a one piece unit, so changing that out should fix the problem whatever it is. Unfortunately the chances of getting one in David is zero.  Karen can drive it, but we might have to take more breaks than we normally like too.  Hopefully we find a Kawasaki dealer in Costa Rica, maybe in San Jose.

Not the best start to our journey, but at least we got closer to home today.

Enjoy the journey,

Stew. 

A New Chapter Begins!

Our time in Panama has ran out.  Yesterday Brandon flew home to Calgary (although his bags did not quite make it all the way) and today Karen, Jada and I ride South.  Tonight should take us as far as David, near the Costa Rican border.

Reflecting on our time here brings a couple things into focus:

- we will miss the friends we have made here the most and hope to see some of them in Calgary sometime.

- you don't need stuff to be happy.  I could live without missing anything with what I can pack on a motorcycle, and nothing I pack on the motorbike is worth anything really.

- people are basically the same everywhere you go.  My dad gave me a very good rule a while ago "every place is basically the same.  Every town has an Asshole, a loudmouth and a whole bunch of good people and generally 10 minutes into town you know who is who." and he is right on the money!

- time passes fast.  Enjoy the journey.

- the best experiences don't cost very much if you have an open mind.

- most of us live in places that other people think is paradise when they visit.  We should take time to appreciate what we have.

Ok, enough sappy stuff.  Time for details on what we are doing over the next few days.  We will go through a country a day until we hit Guatemala (weather might change this though).  In Guatemala we might stop at Lake Atitlan for a mini break for a few days.  We missed it on the way down here. After Guatemala we head up the East coast of Mexico into Texas.  We hope to meet Bob, Nan, Gerry and Rita Schneider and others (hopefully Stu Gammel can make it) in Albuquerque New Mexico for the convoy home.

On our way down here we took 40 days and travelled 10,000 km including about 10 no travel days.  this time we are taking the more direct route that should cut off 2,500 km and we hope to be back in 25 days give or take.  This depends on weather and how much we enjoy certain areas.  If we like somewhere then we might stay a little longer.

Enjoy the journey!

Stew.