While in Medellin we had the rear shock re-checked, although they did their best we still have a knock between the compression and rebound strokes so now it can stay like that until it packs a sad or does what it does, they can’t find anything that is causing the noise within the shock.
The radiator was being rubbed by the safari tank because the safari tank is expanding with the heat here and rubbing hard against the radiator side tanks causing wear.
Calling on the Orange Crush lads of ADV rider I was given good advice that yes it WILL wear through if not attended to.
Confirming what I had thought we then put some ideas together, I told Andres from R2R what I wanted to achieve and he came up with a great plan of using double sided sticky tape to hold on the sacrificial angles we had formed to fit to the radiator.
This worked out really well as we didn’t really want to solder anything to the side tanks of the radiator.
Using the double sided sticky we utilized three strips per side and three strips on the back so cross fingers it will stay there.
The LHS
The RHS
Maya also received new 15 - 50 fully synthetic Motorex blood which we overshot the change by mileage by 59 km .... don’t tell anyone.
Unfortunately our fuel pump died, the Dr Bean circuit board seems ok but our pump failed, we left R2R and only got a few km down the road before it completely died and Maya had to be taken back on a truck for diagnostics.
We discovered our pump was still pumping but soon as any load was applied it just died, R2R very kindly lent us a fuel pump to get us on our way.
That afternoon, although we were now 4 hours behind and still in Medellin another silver lining appeared with meeting Daniel and Lina, Daniel is famous for riding the indian made Bajaj branded bike from South America, up through South Africa, up and across to India to the factory where it was made.
This is on a 180 cc bike with two metal side cases and a top box, his ride was based on taking the bike from Colombia and riding it back to where it was born ... pretty bloody cool.
Daniel has made it to print in magazines and articles so a primo effort from a Colombian man following his passion, he also has an old skool BMWR80GS which I like too.
This on Daniel .....
"AROUND THE WORLD on a PULSAR “ Journey of a lifetime"
Daniel Velandia, a Colombian biker and a proud owner of the Bajaj Pulsar, has traveled around the world to 23 countries on his Pulsar180, and finally reached Pune in India, the hometown of the Pulsar.
Pune, June 2, 2009: Daniel Velandia, a biker from Colombia has just concluded a mammoth journey around the world on his Pulsar 180, traveling across 23 countries and covering about 30,000 miles from Columbia to Pune, India. This was a journey of a lifetime and of self-discovery for Daniel, experiencing the freedom and magic that can only be sensed onboard a motorcycle, to the commands of a Pulsar 180, which Daniel calls Elvira.
He was struck with the idea of combining his passion for Motorcycling and Traveling across the globe in the year 2007, giving birth to this adventure. His journey started from South America, through the African continent and concluded in Asia. Along the way he passed countries such as Columbia, Argentina, South Africa, riding country by country towards northern Africa, passing by the Suez Canal to the Middle East, and finally arriving in India. Daniel's motorcycle was equipped with some trimming protections to save him from any fall and was loaded with two cases for his limited luggage.
He rode on his Pulsar 180 showcasing to the world that his motorcycle can handle the 30000 miles, climbing snow clad mountains, crossing deserts and the African Steppe and finally arriving in India to reach Pune, where his very own Pulsar was born in Bajaj Auto's Chakan plant. He is overwhelmed by the performance of his Pulsar during this journey with special mention for its great autonomy, handling and amazing fuel economy.
Daniel says, "I am delighted on completing this journey on my Pulsar 180. My dream of traveling and riding across the World has become a reality. This has been an unforgettable adventure, filled with unparalleled experiences, surviving difficult times in which both human and machine strength were tested, but from which both came out proud.
He further added, "I really wanted to visit the place where this wonderful machine is being made and I thank Bajaj Auto India and Auteco Bajaj in Colombia and its people for fulfilling my wishes."
According to Mr. Ashok Saxena, General Manager-Marketing, International Business, Bajaj Auto Ltd " This is the kind of journey, which is a dream for every biker. We would like to congratulate Mr. Velandia on successfully completing this enormous adventure and wish him all the best for his future endeavors."
He further added," Bajaj has been in the forefront of developing products like Pulsar, which instills this passion in its rider and drives such levels of performance. This journey has once again shown that Pulsar is numero uno when it comes to performance biking. We will continue to make such dreams a reality for professional bikers, with our commitment to provide distinctly ahead products."
Profile of Mr. Daniel Velandia :-
Daniel Velandia is 34 years old and he has been riding motorcylces for the last 9 years. His first possession was a Plus (Chetak 150) model, year 93 and over the last 5 years,he has dedicated his life to motorcycles.He was a test rider at a local factory in colombia and then a test rider for the colombian magazine La Revista DEMOTOS where he had the opportunity to test some amazing motorcycles. During the course of this trip, he got the opportunity to pursue some riding courses, both off road and race road riding, in South Africa. He hopes in future to get some kind of a PhD for riding.
For more information,please visit his blog :-
http://www.elcolombiano.com/infograf...lish/home.html
About Bajaj- Pulsar
In 2001 when motorcycles were just an efficient mode of transport, Bajaj Auto Ltd. launched a performance motorcycle with distinct styling and muscular features. Eight successful years later, the Pulsar is today one of the icons of youthful, progressive and confident India.
The Bajaj Pulsar continues to set new benchmarks in technology, performance, and styling.The Pulsar's durability and its sustainability in the toughest condition has been worthwhile to address the needs of a growing segment of pro-bikers. Today, the Pulsar is not only India's best performance motorcycle it also is the category leader with nearly 50% market share in the 150cc plus segment. Pulsar has presence in global markets as well including Columbia and it has been well received the world over.
http://bikeadvice.in/daniel-velandia...ia-pulsar-180/
KTM, if you need someone to do that pick me, I have not been Austria yet (we almost did but ran out of time) I will happily ride a bike back to Austria .... and 1190R will do!!
So, back to reality, Daniel and Lina seeing our plight and learning we are RTW travellers kindly invited us back to their place up in the hills above Medellin, we accepted their offer and once Maya was going we followed them home.
A quick stop to buy some tea on the way and we arrived at their .... and what a cool home they have, close enough to Medellin but so tranquil in bush, perfecto!!!
Daniel And Lina ... not sure what his grin had in mind
Groovy fire place
The stair case
Someone who looked like Daniel liked Maya too, he has good taste
Chats over some wine and food, about travels, motos and experiences a great night unfolded, we saw some of Linas works as well, she has an arty touch I can only dream of and a singing voice that makes you sit up and listen.
The moon over Colombia from their home through the trees
Onya guys, a real pleasure to meet you and Lina ... see you in New Zealand?
The four of us
The following day was back to reality heading toward Bogota to get some shite sorted out, the not so good part or travelling, more or this under our Bogota report to come.
The road was meant to be blocked by protesters so we already had a Plan B put in place just in case, as usual when your are organised for it you don’t need it and we had an easy run through, we decided to stay in Mariquita that night so the next day would be shorter in Bogota and we could reach the US Embassy in time.
Getting into Manizales the clouds opened and we got a good wash, heading in to get petrol we geared up for what looked to be a very wet and cold 3800 pass but after fueling up, gearing up it had almost past us, we left the gear on anyway knowing it will be cold at the top which turned out to be a good move.
Up and over the pass was quite pleasant apart from one woman driver trying to overtake us into a blind corner locking it up and almost losing it ... dunno what the hell she was thinking and at that point she may have felt the same but she cut us off to save her arse nearly kicking us off the road only to sit in front of us in traffic ... total winner.
Next day Bogota.
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