Gear

Just started packing and laid out some essentials for the trip.
Heres a list of a few things:


Olympia GT Air Waterproof motorcycle jacket
Joe Rocket Ballistic 10.0 Waterproof motorcycle pants
Alpinestar SMX4 Boots
Gortex waterproof boot covers
Tank bag
3 sets of gloves and waterproof covers
Canon Camera
GoPro HD camera
2x Cobra Radios and helmet headsets
Into the Wild book courtesy of May
Joe Rocket Magnetic Tank bag
Tailbag
Some spare parts(Clutch/Brake Levers, Clutch Cable, Shifter)
Quick dry towel
Headlamp/flashlight
Backpack
Passport Holder
Sandles
and some other misc stuff.

That is only some of the stuff which will be packed onto the motorcycle.  Still have to go through the checklist before next week and get the bags fully packed and ready to go.


The other two will be packing similar gear.  We will also be bringing along a three man tent and some cooking gear to give us the option to camp along the way.

For future adventurers...

Our bikes have made it to Miama via rail which will then be loaded onto a cargo ship.  The shipment is currently on time and is estimated to arrive in the port of San Antonio February 26, 2011.


On a related note, for those who are interested the shipping company we used is Baseline Forwarding (www.baselineforwarding.com) located in Richmond, B.C.  Get in touch with a man named Marwan Barwarchi (mbawarchi@baselineforwarding.com) he will set you up with some decent rates and provide you with a quote. Shipping companies charge by volume not by weight.


You will also need a shipping agent who will take care of your shipment once it reaches the port of Chile and ends up in customs.  We used a couple recommended in a motorcycle forum (http://www.horizonsunlimited.com), a woman name Martina who can be contact via email: villakunterbuntvalpo@yahoo.de. She seems to be quite experienced in dealing with motorcyclists shipping their bikes down.


Shipping process so far has been pretty straight forward... we'll see how getting our bikes out of customs in Chile goes.....

No turning back now...

Flights are booked. Departure date.... March 1, 2011.


Approximately 16 hour flight in total.  One stop in Toronto then a flight down to Santiago, Chile.
Then take some sort of transportation to pick our bikes up at the port in San Antonio, Chile.


Hopefully the bikes arrive in one piece...

Crating KLRs in a yamaha crate..

Free yamaha crates courtesy of Western Motorsports and Big thanks to Paul England

Welded frames in Colin's shop

Disassembled KLR ready to be tucked away under the frame

Steady....

KLR's being hoisted up onto the trailer

 

Eduardo Opted for the cheater route and had Burnaby Kawasaki crate his bike for him:).  They only charge for 3 hours of labour where they provided and crated the KLR.

Total weight of all three bikes loaded in crates with some gear came out to be a nice light weight of ...... 750 kgs.  approx. 1650 lbs.

PS:  If you plan to crate your motorcycle yourself... don't use plywood... we found out the hardway...

Time off work.

Three to three and half months off.. time to travel south.... Thanks to some understanding bosses.  

There is 3 of us on this trip:  Colin, Eduardo, and Derrick.  All three of us have jobs with good companies but have decided to take time off to travel. 

The trip will start off in Santiago, Chile.  From there we continue to ride our Kawasaki KLR 650 motorcycles South until we get to Ushuaia in Teirra Del Fuego.  Then from there we figure out our way back North to Vancouver, B.C., 20,000kms away from home.  This involves cross into approximately 14 different countries and crossing the Darien Gap between Columbia and Panama.

Should make for a good adventure...