Cachi to Salta

 

Cachi to Salta

Cafayati to Cachi

Cafayati to Cachi

Quilmers

Indian ruins at Quilmers

Tafi del Valle

Tafi del Valle

The new rear plate

Plasma cutting the 4mm aluminium sheet

Milling the aluminium plate

Attaching the plate to the bike

The finished plate

Two Weeks in Tucuman

Pete and Frederico in Tucuman

Changing Tires

Changing Tires

Local Porter

Jeep

Axa’s IKA CJ-5 Jeep built in Cordoba, Argentina between 1956-1970 – What a beauty! 

Check Point

There is a police check point outside of Tucuman. A cop waves us down and we pull up to a stop. At first I think he just wants to check our license and then he asks us to pull the bikes over to the side of the road. Another fat cop walks over.  Great, I can see where this is going. They want to search the bikes.  Pete’s in front of me and he gets the first treatment.  They ask Pete to open up his panniers and the first cop starts going pulling his stuff out, fanning through his books and saying “Dinero, Euros, Dollars”. What! He’s kidding right. I tell Pete to ask him what he is looking for about he just mumbles “Control”.

I figure the best way to deal with these guys is to get them on our side. The fat cop comes over and asks “Como se Llama”, I reply “Como se Llama” to which he nods thinking I hadn’t heard him right. I look at him and he looks a bit confused then I say again “Como se Llama”, He replies Jose or Juan or something and I tell him my name then start rambling on about the trip and where we are going, getting him interested and hoping he won’t want to search my bike as well.  Not that I was carrying anything that needed ‘Control’ just that I had been riding all day and couldn’t be bothered taking the padlocks off the panniers.  Well that didn’t work and have to open up my panniers as well.

I’m carrying nothing in the left side except some clothes and my laptop. When I open up the right side he gets a bit excited seeing a bag full of medication but then he sees the box containing my bottle of Glenmorangie Scotch and his eyes light up. He starts fingering at the box to open it up. Like hell he is taking that away. I push the lid back down saying “Esta vale, esta vale” (it’s ok) but he open’s it up again and pulls out the half drunk bottle while shaking his head. He holds it away from himself and inspects the label.  I’m waiting for him to yank the cork off and take a swig. He starts telling me that having alcohol on the bike is dangerous but I just keep saying “Esta vale” till he gives it back. Dangerous my arse! God I can’t wait to get away from these guys. We quickly shut up the panniers, get our licenses back and take off to Tucuman through fields and fields of ripening sugarcane till we reach Axa’s house and the warmest of welcomes.

Pete and Axa in Tucuman

Loose nuts and oily fingers

Sunrise over the Pampas

Pete and I wake at 6:30am, eat some breakfast at the hotel and ride out across the pampas at sunrise. It’s a wonderful clear day, perfect for a ride to Tucuman. The route 34 is a long flat road across the pampas with the country stretch away on both sides for as far as the eye can see. We pass small, dusty towns along the road and begin to see the third world poverty that many poorer Argentineans live in.

Pete honks his horn and I pull over. I’m spraying a substantial amount of oil again, but what the heck is it. Is it the supposed cracked seal coming out of the oil cooler? I idle the bike and check the engine and can now see where the problem is. The valve inspection caps on the top of the engine are loose! And I know why too. Back in Azul just south of Buenos Aires, Bjoern had checked the spacing on the valves and I suspect he just nipped the bolts up on the cap instead of properly tightening them.  Ah well, I lost a little oil but no major problem. I tighten the bolts up properly, put the tank on and the rest of the bike back together and start her up. I’m about to take off when I give it some throttle but the bike has no power. I get of my bike and yell to Pete. “I’ve got no power!”  As he walks over from his bike it dawns on me and I quickly plug the fuel line back into the bike…

Loose valve inspection caps on my bike

Were on our way again…