My first morning in Lima and straight to the KTM shop. I had a scheduled service with my bike and most importantly, to make sure Kevin's bike is going to be delivered. So much orange and black I can hardly see my own bike.. but it's in there!
It's always fun to wander the big shops and see what else they've got. This one had just recently finished the Dakar Rally. I like it..
Kevin spots a bike he would like. The KTM 990 Adventure. He's recognized on the journey down on the Buell that he didn't particularly pick the right bike for the job. He wants to ride more dirt roads which is far more fun and adventurous. For one, it's nearly impossible to get anything but street tires for the Buell here in South America. Secondly, the Buell has very low clearance we often need on the rough roads. Plus, he's been commenting that he's jealous I can get KTM service nearly anywhere and the guys I deal with are always so nice. Colombia, Ecuador and now Peru. He's only found one mechanic for his Harley engine in Ecuador and that didn't go too well!
When he sat on this bike, I think it suited him. He must have thought so too, because not long after he's forwarding messages of 990's for sale in Canada online to me and wanted to know what I think. Ha! Good man. Not that I could be much help about mechanics or prices.. But I love the blue!
The guys at KTM are super nice here as well, but they said 'no way' for working on the Buell. After some research we did find a possible Harley mechanic in Lima. While my bike is in the shop we took a taxi to meet him. I'm not great at Spanish but I acted as translator as to what sort of problems and work he needs. And then made a plan to bring the Buell over once it arrives on the big truck.. IF it arrives. Just kidding. I like to wind Kevin up. The guys at the KTM shop have had contact with the truck driver and it's still on its way.. Good news!!
The following day, we made it back to the KTM shop for the anticipated arrival. And there she is!! Big smile and relief for Kevin!
Not sure what the story is with the remaining thorny cargo.. but the bike looks fine up the front as far as he can tell.
Kevin balances as they bring it down with a fork lift.
We rode both bikes over to the Harley guys house, Kevin sputtered and stalled a couple times, but we made it slowly.
Together in translation we figured out a few things that needed to be ordered from the United States. The good news, it was easy to do online from our room. The bad news, it will take a minimum of 2 weeks to get here.
I can't wait around as I've mentioned before, I need to be to Copiapo Chile to meet the adventure team in only a few short days!
I had my google map going often, planning the 2700 km, how many days I needed, etc. Kevin kept dragging the little purple line on the map over to Cusco Peru and Bolivia. This was the original plan to ride together until we did Galapagos. Doing Galapagos meant forfeiting a fair bit of time needed for the other roads we wanted to ride.
He's playing the "How could I leave him in a time of crisis" card in a joking way. His better idea is that I still do Cusco and Bolivia and not meet the boys in Chile! Sure! It's only a small agreement I have had for months long before I met Kevin, but I actually considered it....!
We ran around for the next 3 days. Making sure everything was organized in Spanish for Kevin when I go. Where he goes to collect the parts from the USA. Approximately how much he needs to prepare to pay for customs.. where I'll be, where can we meet up after I'm finished with the adventure team.. All sorted.
Even though the parts are on their way, one of the days Kevin decides to take his Buell apart without the Harley mechanic (whom he's a bit frustrated with because he doesn't seem to have the sufficient tools for the job) and try to fix it himself again. And again, all I can do his offer a small hand. This was a clever one. He dropped a nut. So he had me find a rubber glove and he put a magnet inside one of the fingers. Then I need to run my hand into the deep of a Buell motor until I got it. Kevin was so pleased he took a photo of our achievement! ;-) Entertaining ourselves in Lima..
We discovered the most awesome city park in Miraflores. It is FULL of cats! What was super cool is they are all HEALTHY! They don't belong to anyone, but the city locals actually take care of them with food and water. Some are friendly, some are not, but it was amazing to see how well they live. Kevin loves cats as much as I do, so we stopped into the park every day (and every night).
This one was my favorite. It reminds me of a cat I used to have in Indiana many years ago.
All up, I was in Lima for a week. We enjoyed the last few days just living a somewhat normal life. Going to the movies, nice Italian dinners, wandering and shopping on the streets of Lima.
While on a walk, I went in to a beauty shop. I have been telling Kev the one thing I would like to do in Lima myself is get a hair cut. The last cut was all the way back in California and I'm desperate! He said no way, we are only one block from the beach and he wants to show me these guys he saw hang gliding.. and I can do my hair later. "But they are available now!" How long will it take. About 2 hours. Mmm, he was not keen about it. He was making a point that I can get my hair done later, rather than during our last day together. I agree, but I can see the amount of desert I'm about to ride through, it really should be done here, now, in the city. He said he will be back in exactly 2 hours and walked away. Uh oh...
I got done early and I waited outside the shop. He was back literally at 2 hours on the dot. For a minute I thought he might still be grumpy, but instead he just kept telling me I look hot. Ha! Grumpiness gone and whole lot of you look hot's to follow. I was surprised, but happy he was happy. We had a long walk along the beach, sunset, wine.. so that worked out well!
Why take the designated walk path when we can instead take our own lives into our hands and walk along the edge of a cliff! I think that man has no fear. For me, just like a dodgey bridge, I go slow, I'm scared, but I get there... and well worth it. The sunset is great!
One last night out on the town. Tomorrow I have to draw the line and begin my 2700 km marathon number 2 to Copiapo Chile. I don't know if it's the right decision, but it seemed okay at the time, since Kevin absolutely must wait for bike parts and actually fix the Buell problems before he can go anywhere. The project in Chile was going to take 2-4 weeks, depending on what conditions we came across at high altitude on the mountain. So at this stage, we even expected it's possible he could be to Chile by the time I got off the mountain.
Kevin made an enormous wonderful breakfast the next morning as I wanted an early start, so nice! We said our goodbye's with a plan to see each other again in Chile soon. Little did I know this would actually be the last time we'd see each other again....
It's always fun to wander the big shops and see what else they've got. This one had just recently finished the Dakar Rally. I like it..
Kevin spots a bike he would like. The KTM 990 Adventure. He's recognized on the journey down on the Buell that he didn't particularly pick the right bike for the job. He wants to ride more dirt roads which is far more fun and adventurous. For one, it's nearly impossible to get anything but street tires for the Buell here in South America. Secondly, the Buell has very low clearance we often need on the rough roads. Plus, he's been commenting that he's jealous I can get KTM service nearly anywhere and the guys I deal with are always so nice. Colombia, Ecuador and now Peru. He's only found one mechanic for his Harley engine in Ecuador and that didn't go too well!
When he sat on this bike, I think it suited him. He must have thought so too, because not long after he's forwarding messages of 990's for sale in Canada online to me and wanted to know what I think. Ha! Good man. Not that I could be much help about mechanics or prices.. But I love the blue!
The guys at KTM are super nice here as well, but they said 'no way' for working on the Buell. After some research we did find a possible Harley mechanic in Lima. While my bike is in the shop we took a taxi to meet him. I'm not great at Spanish but I acted as translator as to what sort of problems and work he needs. And then made a plan to bring the Buell over once it arrives on the big truck.. IF it arrives. Just kidding. I like to wind Kevin up. The guys at the KTM shop have had contact with the truck driver and it's still on its way.. Good news!!
The following day, we made it back to the KTM shop for the anticipated arrival. And there she is!! Big smile and relief for Kevin!
Not sure what the story is with the remaining thorny cargo.. but the bike looks fine up the front as far as he can tell.
We rode both bikes over to the Harley guys house, Kevin sputtered and stalled a couple times, but we made it slowly.
Together in translation we figured out a few things that needed to be ordered from the United States. The good news, it was easy to do online from our room. The bad news, it will take a minimum of 2 weeks to get here.
I can't wait around as I've mentioned before, I need to be to Copiapo Chile to meet the adventure team in only a few short days!
I had my google map going often, planning the 2700 km, how many days I needed, etc. Kevin kept dragging the little purple line on the map over to Cusco Peru and Bolivia. This was the original plan to ride together until we did Galapagos. Doing Galapagos meant forfeiting a fair bit of time needed for the other roads we wanted to ride.
He's playing the "How could I leave him in a time of crisis" card in a joking way. His better idea is that I still do Cusco and Bolivia and not meet the boys in Chile! Sure! It's only a small agreement I have had for months long before I met Kevin, but I actually considered it....!
We ran around for the next 3 days. Making sure everything was organized in Spanish for Kevin when I go. Where he goes to collect the parts from the USA. Approximately how much he needs to prepare to pay for customs.. where I'll be, where can we meet up after I'm finished with the adventure team.. All sorted.
Even though the parts are on their way, one of the days Kevin decides to take his Buell apart without the Harley mechanic (whom he's a bit frustrated with because he doesn't seem to have the sufficient tools for the job) and try to fix it himself again. And again, all I can do his offer a small hand. This was a clever one. He dropped a nut. So he had me find a rubber glove and he put a magnet inside one of the fingers. Then I need to run my hand into the deep of a Buell motor until I got it. Kevin was so pleased he took a photo of our achievement! ;-) Entertaining ourselves in Lima..
We discovered the most awesome city park in Miraflores. It is FULL of cats! What was super cool is they are all HEALTHY! They don't belong to anyone, but the city locals actually take care of them with food and water. Some are friendly, some are not, but it was amazing to see how well they live. Kevin loves cats as much as I do, so we stopped into the park every day (and every night).
This one was my favorite. It reminds me of a cat I used to have in Indiana many years ago.
All up, I was in Lima for a week. We enjoyed the last few days just living a somewhat normal life. Going to the movies, nice Italian dinners, wandering and shopping on the streets of Lima.
While on a walk, I went in to a beauty shop. I have been telling Kev the one thing I would like to do in Lima myself is get a hair cut. The last cut was all the way back in California and I'm desperate! He said no way, we are only one block from the beach and he wants to show me these guys he saw hang gliding.. and I can do my hair later. "But they are available now!" How long will it take. About 2 hours. Mmm, he was not keen about it. He was making a point that I can get my hair done later, rather than during our last day together. I agree, but I can see the amount of desert I'm about to ride through, it really should be done here, now, in the city. He said he will be back in exactly 2 hours and walked away. Uh oh...
I got done early and I waited outside the shop. He was back literally at 2 hours on the dot. For a minute I thought he might still be grumpy, but instead he just kept telling me I look hot. Ha! Grumpiness gone and whole lot of you look hot's to follow. I was surprised, but happy he was happy. We had a long walk along the beach, sunset, wine.. so that worked out well!
Why take the designated walk path when we can instead take our own lives into our hands and walk along the edge of a cliff! I think that man has no fear. For me, just like a dodgey bridge, I go slow, I'm scared, but I get there... and well worth it. The sunset is great!
One last night out on the town. Tomorrow I have to draw the line and begin my 2700 km marathon number 2 to Copiapo Chile. I don't know if it's the right decision, but it seemed okay at the time, since Kevin absolutely must wait for bike parts and actually fix the Buell problems before he can go anywhere. The project in Chile was going to take 2-4 weeks, depending on what conditions we came across at high altitude on the mountain. So at this stage, we even expected it's possible he could be to Chile by the time I got off the mountain.
Kevin made an enormous wonderful breakfast the next morning as I wanted an early start, so nice! We said our goodbye's with a plan to see each other again in Chile soon. Little did I know this would actually be the last time we'd see each other again....
Sherri Jo, I've finally managed to catch up on your blog, and through your entries, I feel like I've gotten to know Kevin personally. It's very evident through your writing that you two had a very special bond that very few people get to experience. Thank you for sharing him with us. I can't think of a better way to honor his memory.
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