cordoba

hung out in cordoba for a couple days running around trying to find a sensor. no luck.got an email from my cousin, aaron, in phoenix. he went and got the part at his local ktm dealer and is shipping it down to buenos aires. thanks a million aaron!

with all hope it should be there on friday, customs pending.

at any rate it certainly eases the mind and feels great that he would take the initiative to help out....getting things done like this in south america as a little spanish speaking gringo is next to impossible and horribly frustrating. heading to BA tommorrow.

My guide book says Cordoba is the cultural epicenter of SA......i say its where women are beautiful and plastic surgeons are busy......if indeed culture is now measured by silicon...the book is on

i'll never get used to bikes being sold next to home appliances i took this pic to remind me of walking down this street yesterday and guy spotted me and out, ran up and started talking? pointing to his clothing store....then pointed to my pants seeing how dirty they are and trying to sell me some new ones...... too funny once i figured out

not sure what i felt about this billboard but didnt stop me from another red meat dinner.... really is incredible how good argentine meat is...arteries are gonna be clogged by ushuaia

easy rider

Pounded out good miles today from tucuman to cordoba.... epoxy held on oil pressure sensor...eases mind for now.

2 lane highway could have been any back highway in the Midwest( flat and straight with a total of 4 curves in 400miles) aside from a rigamortis set in bloated dead horse and a pack of gypsy chicks that came out of their tent and horded us as soon as we pulled over for a break. Identical tooth missing daughters exept for noses smashed and broken in different directions…..too tough and scary to take a picture when they were trying to hustle us but I snuck one in walking away which is not at all reminiscent of how the fronts looked. Grandma pikey was straight out of a Romanian crystal ball and poor grandaughter is in the making. Got out of there as quick as we could before husband pikeys decide to come out and shoot us. bought some helmet speakers before i left and threw a concert all day to shun the boredom.....more bands than loolapalooza (is that still a tour)...bike dancing...toe tapping on footpegs, shoulders shaking, chicken neck helmet head..one arm drummer...looked back at simon doing the same thing realized no where near cool as bennis hopper and pete fonda in easy rider
Made it into Cordoba which is considered the cultural capital of argentina in time to see a bit of the city but gonna ride out pretty quick to get to Buenos Aires in time for the New Year and the Paris- Dakar race that is in Argentina for the first time ever…should be pretty cool…over half the bikes entered are KTM. hoping to find an extra oil pressure sensor from one of the teams

rest legs on engine guard and im riding a lazy boy

little too lazy when i pulled off for a break on what i thought was dirt but actually was slippery mud from the rain

leaking oil

biggest regret of this trip is not learning more spanish before leaving. particularily when it comes to bike problems. communicating with mechanics is like talking backwards to a donkey. goes nowhere with a stubborn ass.

while all the mechanics i have met mean well..... communicating how much i rely on the bike is impossible. not the case at becker motos in tucuman though......the owner Raul who is great has the same bike and has ridden all over SA on it.

in his day deemed the best enduro racer in the country, as proven by hundreds of photos and trophies in the shop. managed to repair the fork seals and got clutch in good working order at the cost of a small fortune. high performance= high maintenance

unfortunately the worst problem....my oil pressure sensor.... went out the other day and is leaking about half a quart of oil every 75 miles...more unfortunate, unable to find anyone who has one in stock.....so we did a makeshift epoxy job on it. since its not leaking slowly and will only continue to get worse until the oil runs straight out...got my fingers crossed that the epoxy is as strong as this statue and will hold!

it did for shannon, guy i met in belize few months ago, from Costa Rica to peru.

but want to get a new one to make it down to remote bottom and back with not worrying piece of mind....... emails out to all the dealers in argentina and chile... also looking into having one shipped from the UK or USA...however customs holds the recieving time card.

Dakar rally is in beaunos aires next week with loads of ktms entered so i am working my way over in hopes of finding the part there as well. right now im in tucuman about a thousand miles away. time will tell, something will work out.

city of tucuman itself has a huge main square surrounded by some epic buildings that light up cool at night.

what they say about beauty of argentine women is starting to really show here :)

wino

went to a vineyard today for a tour. i like drinking red wine but not big on talking about it so after getting to the vineyard and realizing all the info was in spanish i bolted the tour, walked around and took pictures instead. not learning anything but it was a nice place and perfect day..

no idea what this is used for but its cool looking..same goes for all the old equipment

tubes reminded me of high school chemistry but they were locked in a glass walled room. maybe little more advancedjust as you'd imagine courtyardafterward rode to tucuman encounter biggest llama in 1000's seen...horse size. big llama house too

Feliz Navidad!

Spending Christmas in wine country….Cayafaye, argentina.
Picture postcard small town surrounded by vineyards butting up to the Andes, which here are red rocky with green..christmasy in their own right. First noticeable tradition difference was the blasting fireworks at midnight on Christmas eve…not a big display like 4 july but everyone in town lights off their own little displays lasting until 6am or so. Say fireworks lightly because I'm pretty sure there was some small dynamite included too….huge blasts actually feel the air pressure when they go off…not sleep much.
Was hoping to go to church at old school cathedral type but the one here is adobe new and modern…ok though…..don’t have to go in as they project it thru loudspeakers in the square to whole city….lots of people attending outside. Gonna head to another dealer town tomorrow because the oil pressure sensor went out on the ride down from Salta…oil everywhere constantly having to refill…..want to square clutch and forks too before getting into remote south.own little christmas dinner on 23rd before parting ways...martina and didi going west first 30 miles south of salta was flood zone... rode more like creek and sprayed from oncoming cars soaked before drying out in beautiful foothill arid-ish countryside

merry christmas.............................!

just like that

.....out of poverty and into summer.
Argentina definatley has distinct feel of being unlike all other countries of the ride.
Western faces, big houses with pools…with what? Bbq’s, boating, farm animals/ horses everywhere.... a giant butterfly that just flew in the window at this cafe and landed by my feet...swimming in rivers instead of washing clothes, lush green landscape modern gas stations with high octane...nike, smiling faces, bigger bikes, no death smells, European feel and organized streets….and for the first time in 4 months Im the one being flipped off and yelled at for passing on solid lines and running red lights….they mind road rules and even have brake lights ….just when not think about it accept road mayhem as the norm…its back to rules
Drove down to salta appreciating another great thing about this easy to fall in love with country……perfect one lane mountain hugging road with more twists and turns than any ive ever seen. top it off with thick huge steaks everywhere in argentina...goodbye chicken and rice

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!