The Shed sorted......and onto Argentina

With Richard heading back to Blighty we had to focus on our own next move. First of all the shed needed a well deserved service. Henri had given us the name of an independent BMW mechanic just outside Santiago to the north, Gabriel was a real find.


We had taken the shed there while Richard was still in town and, after some help off Henri for technical translation (Gabriel only spoke Spanish) left her in capable hands. Now the more observant of you will know I only take the shed to official BMW dealers as a last resort. I much prefer to find the independent expert for for several reasons. One - it's always more interesting to find these folks out, two - it's much, much cheaper, and three - you can pass on any mechanic goldmines to other travelers following in your footsteps (anyone can find a BMW dealer).

Well Gabriel turned out to be a bit of a find, once we found him that is. Tucked away in a northern Santiago suburb behind a shopping mall, the graffiti walls and the lack of signs hid well, a treasure trove of a workshop Gabriel had built up over the years. Crammed with BMW's both old and brand new, this chap knew his stuff and I felt we had left our bike in good hands. When Sandra and I went to collect the shed she was in great shape, For the technically minded of you we had the following done, now keep in mind the shed has done over 20k miles since her rebuild.

Engine oil and filter change
Transmission and final drive oil level check (oil changed in Ecuador)
Air filter change
Brake pads front and rear changed
Alternator belt changed
Oil sight glass changed (started to seep oil some 5000 miles ago)
Parrealever bearings adjusted (BMW's shaft drive is a complex affair.....give me a chain and sprocket any day)
Clutch adjusted
Throttle bodies rebalanced, ( these where never quiet right after the last service)
New plugs
Valves adjusted (the shed sounded like a bag of bolts in a tumble drier when she got hot)

It was wonderful picking her up. Gabriel did not charge the earth and, along with Richard bringing out most of the parts we needed from the UK, the work done was great value for money. When you ride a bike every day it deteriorates little by little and you don't really notice the deterioration, but when set up properly by an expert its a great feeling. The shed was back to her old sprightly self and was great to ride.

Back at the hotel we needed to sort out the panniers and get the seat comfy. I had bought a touratech seat for the shed prior to leaving but unfortunately it is not holding up well and the foam is collapsing. Richard had brought a purpose made fancy sheepskin cover for the seat and, when we went horse riding I had obtained a sheep's fleece,fresh form the sheep, with the blood and gore still on it. Both would make excellent padding for the rest of the journey. This was almost a good idea until it rained, but more on that later.


This looked like a good idea at the time

It was time to leave Santiago. We had asked Henri if he would like to join us for the next day or two of our trip and it very nearly came off. However, some last minute hiccups prevented this from happening but we would have loved for him to come along.

Saying Goodbye to Henri

We had decided to make the crossing back over the Andes and into Argentina (our final last new country). Our destination was Mendoza. The ride started out with the usual confusing routes out of the city. It took us an hour this time, but we were soon heading north and then east towards Argentina. What a great road this turned out to be, mostly great surface, and great hairpins as we climbed out of Chile.

The view towards Argentina

We met lots of other over landers too, all heading our way. Right at the top of the Andes is the Chilean /Argentine border which was the easiest one to date. In fact we never got off our bike once, the Chilean guards just giving us a quick check then, after 20Km of no mans land, the Argentinian officials could not have been more helpful and cooperative even filling all our paperwork out for us as we sat on the shed......perfect.

Once we had completed all the formalities, we got off the bike for some lunch, the usual a Snickers bar and a drink of water. We were asked by a chap if he and his family could have a picture with the bike. Of course we obliged and had every combination of family and us taken.


It was a real pleasure to catch up with this Columbian family.

It was a nice ride to Mendoza and the city itself was a surprise. We had read that after a big earthquake the city was rebuilt with wide streets to enable rublbe to fall into should such a dreadful thing happen again. This meant most of the old buildings had gone but this earthquake resilience planning had made a beautiful widw tree lined streeted city which has a wonderfully relaxed feel about it. I did my usual thing of trying to find the best deal in town for a hotel only to go back to the very first one after two hours of looking. A shower and a few beers saw us at a street side restaurant and already begining to enjoy the charms of this city and pace of life in Argentina.

This first impression of the city and the country stayed with us and grew. We liked it here and decided to stay for a few days, we checked out the winery, we ate fantastic beef, drank a few beers and did a little shopping. We could definitely get used to this. All of this experienced in just delightful sunny weather, hot during the day but at night cool enough for the festivities to begin. We saw a great drum band and spent 20 minutes being entertained by them.

However, on the morning we decided to leave it was raining hard. I had checked the forecast and it was meant to be better as we traveled south, our destination being San Rafael. What a journey it turned out to be. Continual heavy rain, and I don't mean the heavy rain you get back home, this was like a monsoon but freezing cold.

This lasted the whole of the 150 miles to San Rafael. Now I know its just rain and we are on an adventure after all, but other factors mess with your head as your riding. One being your in johnny foreigners country and can't speak the lauguge well. You're remote, very remote (I looked for shelter on the way but there was simply none) In the UK you cant' ride for 10 miles without seeing a house or a town or a bus stop or a bridge or a million other things you can keep dry in. But in Argentina in the countryside...... nothing, not even other cars just massive open fields that go on forever. Praying the shed would not stop, and its a wonder it did not due to the rain, all that could be done was press on. I could not even see my speedo due to the rain so I had no idea how far the town was. Anyway cold and shaky we came to San Rafael and stopped at the first hotel, grabbed a set of keys and got into a warm shower. It rained the rest of the day, but we were now warm and dry.

Now I told you about the modification to the sheds seat, a mixture of synthetic comfort provided by the seat cover Richard had brought along and a scanky old sheep's fleece we had obtained when horse riding. Well let me tell you one thing, sheep's fleeces absolutely stink when wet. I am not talking about a bad odour that is unpleasant, I'm talking about foulness from the bowels (and I have chosen that word very carefully) of hell itself. One sniff and I nearly choked on my own vomit, it was unbelievable. Unfortunately the damage was done and everything in contact with the seat cover from hell stunk too. This was a very bad situation. The only solution was to wash everything and discard the fleece, which we promptly did.

Having disinfected everything, including ourselves, we headed off into town for the now usual steak dinner and a few beers. My dad is a big steak fan and he would just love Argentina.

The next day saw the sun shining and a beautiful day. All clean and nearly smell free we set of for Malargue. Now this is not far but we are trying to pace ourselves for Christmas. We have decided to stay in the Chilean Lakes and as Chile is very expensive we are taking our time getting through this part of Argentina, so only a few hundred miles a day.

So here we are in Malargue. We have rented a cabin like house for a few days as we chill and prepare ourselves for the more serious business of riding off road for the next leg. However, it has to said that we really, really like Argentina. The pace of life is calm, its has friendly people, beautiful scenery and great (mostly) weather.