DAY 26 - The tire repair day
December 9, 2011, 00:36
Today was my Tire Repair Day. It started in the morning quite good the first 40 km the tire was working quite well. The distance to Arica and the first vulcanization station was ~150 km. So still 110 km to go. A Pffffffft reminds me to practise the tire repair again. It was not a new hole it was just the size of the hole. So I out another rubber strip into the hole and PUMP IT....
Well done so back on the bike. This time my performance was not very good. It took not even 10 km and the air was gone. Another try - and 15km. I thought about replacing the tyre complete. But with only two hands, no help, this did not work. So my last idea was to use a used TIP TOP rubber piece - which a thought are the better choice. And what should I tell you - it took me to Arica with 2.2 bar and not faster then 80kmh. That was really a frustrating start in the day.
Arrived in Arica. I realized that all the shops were closed. It was 12:30 so it could have been lunch brake. But it was not as I realized later.
Then the highlight of the day was standing on the side of the road. A brand new Yamaha Super tenere with a guy wearing a BMW Motorcycle shirt. I stopped and asked. He told me that today is public holiday in Chile and all the shops are closed. BUT he knows some places...
The first one was closed as well but the second one was open. Including a hydraulic tire replacement centre. The guys were Peruvian and live in the shop.
They told me they can fix it but they could not dismount the tire on the Bike. That was easy as I did it quite often the last couple of days. So it took us half an hour and the bike was fixed for 5000 Peso (~7 €). Cristian, the guy on the Yamaha told me that he pays only 2000 Peso for that repair but it was okay for me. I do not like pumping the tire again. The really friendly topic of meeting Cristian was - he invited me for Lunch in his house. So we prepared Papas Fritas and Pollo Assado together and had a really nice lunch. Beside that I used the can opener wrong and screwed the Postre...
In the end I arrived in Iquique again without any pressure loss.
Special thanks today to Cristian for the Tire and lunch support and to Sabrina Redzic from Touratech for the First Class Support of travelling customers.
Side Note:
A couple of Days ago I met three guys on Long Board’s driving down the PanAm. I thought that is a crazy idea and how fast they will be? Today I met them again and shoot a photo. They will not have problems with leaking air from the tires but still I am not sure if that would be the suitable travel stile for me.
Well done so back on the bike. This time my performance was not very good. It took not even 10 km and the air was gone. Another try - and 15km. I thought about replacing the tyre complete. But with only two hands, no help, this did not work. So my last idea was to use a used TIP TOP rubber piece - which a thought are the better choice. And what should I tell you - it took me to Arica with 2.2 bar and not faster then 80kmh. That was really a frustrating start in the day.
Arrived in Arica. I realized that all the shops were closed. It was 12:30 so it could have been lunch brake. But it was not as I realized later.
Then the highlight of the day was standing on the side of the road. A brand new Yamaha Super tenere with a guy wearing a BMW Motorcycle shirt. I stopped and asked. He told me that today is public holiday in Chile and all the shops are closed. BUT he knows some places...
The first one was closed as well but the second one was open. Including a hydraulic tire replacement centre. The guys were Peruvian and live in the shop.
They told me they can fix it but they could not dismount the tire on the Bike. That was easy as I did it quite often the last couple of days. So it took us half an hour and the bike was fixed for 5000 Peso (~7 €). Cristian, the guy on the Yamaha told me that he pays only 2000 Peso for that repair but it was okay for me. I do not like pumping the tire again. The really friendly topic of meeting Cristian was - he invited me for Lunch in his house. So we prepared Papas Fritas and Pollo Assado together and had a really nice lunch. Beside that I used the can opener wrong and screwed the Postre...
In the end I arrived in Iquique again without any pressure loss.
Special thanks today to Cristian for the Tire and lunch support and to Sabrina Redzic from Touratech for the First Class Support of travelling customers.
Side Note:
A couple of Days ago I met three guys on Long Board’s driving down the PanAm. I thought that is a crazy idea and how fast they will be? Today I met them again and shoot a photo. They will not have problems with leaking air from the tires but still I am not sure if that would be the suitable travel stile for me.
