The good news is that the ride north on Ruta-3 is generally with the direction of the wind, so less buffeting and a slightly more comfortable ride. The bad news is that the Argentinian landscape is still as barren and dull on the way up as it was coming down. 2,000 miles of not much to look at makes the journey rather long and boring. I’ve been camping by the side of the road every night, for two reasons. 1) It’s free! 2) You don’t have to think about where you’re going to have to get to by nightfall. It’s a hell of a long way through a very sparsely populated area so planning to get to a certain town by a particular time is an added hassle I don’t want to have to think about. Plus, camping is rather enjoyable here and although I say “by the side of the road”, it’s not like you would imagine in England. By the side to the road here is actually more like being in the wilderness (see photos below).
Now to the karma bit. Before I left Rio Grande (in Tierra del Fuego) I replaced both my front and rear tyres. I know I previously said that my current tyres would probably last the distance but as with many of the maintenance decisions I’ve made during this trip, I was wrong. It appears the expensive Dunlop rear tyre I bought in Iquique was crap. Bald after 3,500 miles! The journey north goes over gravel roads before getting to Ruta-3 and there was no way that I wanted to risk getting multiple punctures in Tierra del Fuego so rather than struggle on with a bald tyre I decided the grown up thing to do would be to replace it there.
After initially panicking slightly that I wouldn’t be able to find 17″ tyres in Rio Grande (nearly the most southern town in Argentina) I found a moto shop that had a pair of Meltzer Tourance, which are in fact perfect. Rather pricey but it was either that or the prospect of being stranded in the freezing cold, wind swept plains of Tierra del Fuego whilst I try to repair various punctures in my rear tyre. Simple decision to make!
After my fiasco in Iqueque and the lateness in the day I decided that now was the time to use a professional tyre changer. I’d had enough of practicing for the possibility of a puncture on the road. So off I went to the local tyre repair shop and got them to change my tyres. USD$10 well spent. However, it looks like the motorcycle gods were watching my slackness and decided to test me. Sure enough, on the 3rd morning of camping (miles from civilisation) on the journey north I was given a front tyre puncture to repair. Bugger! And I’m pleased to say that I passed. No ripped fingernails or pinch punctures. All went like clockwork. Although I’m relieved it was not the rear tyre. Could have been a slightly different story. Photographic evidence below…
Wake up to a flat front tyre in the middle of nowhere. Nothing to do but fix it myself. I’d been dreading this day.
Found the culprit.
No need to take the wheel off.
Pumped back up with tiny foot pump.
Rather large ehh.
Also, after 24,000 miles or so I’ve finally decided that my chain can go no further. You’ll see below how slack it is, and I can’t adjust it any more. I was going to try and nurse it to Buenos Aires but the noises it was making yesterday morning gave me the fear so I’ve stopped at Puerta Madryn, where a moto shop is replacing it. Unfortunately, after they did the work things sounded a little odd so they still have the bike and hope to have it all sorted by today. Having a new chain is going to be a great weight off my mind, as I was constantly worried it would fail and I’d really be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Tags: argentina, chain, karma, puncture, puncture repair, repair, ruta-3, sprocket, tire, tyre
[...] need them or I could probably find one on my travels. Tools were my heaviest items. I only had one puncture in the wild in 27,500 miles. Fortunately on the front so was able to repair it with the wheel on the [...]