Wandering with Tedder and Tamara

We slept in a little at Santander, had breakfast downstairs, then zipped down the highway. For the entire day we were in twisties- and I mean serious twisties. It was a bit like crossing Rattlesnake Grade (and the other Chase the Snake type roads) with Alaskan fjords with Californian mountain roads- both north and south. It was spectacular- huge canyons, incredible views, you name it.

However, at one point I felt the back tire go flat. The sensation was sort of sudden, like the bike dropped a hair. Well, I thought it went flat. I immediately pulled over and checked the wheel- it was fine. So I went another half-mile, and knew what was wrong. I lost another rear bearing.

So, I found a nice place to stop, and began taking the bike apart. We removed the three cases, put one under the bike as an improvised workstand, then pulled the rear wheel. Sure enough, the same bearing had failed. The remaining bearings came tumbling out, then I removed the inner race. Just like last time, I couldn't remove the inner race- I didn't have a Big Enough Hammer, among other things.

We were just approaching a small town, so after trying to hammer the bearing out, I hoisted the tire on my shoulder and walked into town. I found a tire repair place (every town has at least one), and tried to explain my problem. My favorite solution would have been to use a Dremel to grind out the race, but that wasn't going to happen. The guys at the shop pulled out scrap metal (large bolts and such), found a piece that fit inside the outer race, then welded it to the race.

We then flipped the tire over and tried to beat the race out. The welds failed.

So, another few pieces of metal. I was a little bumped because he wasn't worried about the rust or any sort of surface prep- I am so OCD about welding prep. But he tacked the pieces of metal, then did some full welds around the race. We flipped the tire over, and it came out. Excellent!

I borrowed their Big Hammers, installed the new bearing (I've been carrying two spares), then I hoisted the tire and walked back to the bike. It was 0.3 miles- not far, but the rear wheel is heavy and very awkward. I used a BMW strap over my shoulder to carry it- that was better than just carrying it with my hands, but still difficult.

It took Tamara and I about 45 minutes to get things back together. The bearings hadn't seated fully, so it was a bit of work to get everything in. Plus, the inner race of the new bearing wasn't perfect, so the axle bolt was a little troublesome to get installed.

Finally, we got it, and went on our way. It took two hours (okay, 122 minutes), which is a lot better than the several days we spent in Guatemala with the same problem.

From there to the border was another 110 miles. The curves stayed, and we started climbing more- for instance, we climbed 7200 feet in 33 miles, then dropped 4400 feet in 10 miles (8.3% grade), then climbed 3500 feet in 20 miles.

The border crossing was fairly easy, but the customs office wasn't open, so we need to come back tomorrow to register the bike. Our passports are stamped, and we are in Ecuador, but we aren't totally legal yet. We are only about 5 miles inside the border, so going back will be easy enough.

The altitude definitely takes a toll on small-displacement bikes. The DL650 was probably down 20-30% of its horsepower at 10,000 feet. (Do any of you smart people know how to do the math on this? I'd like to know). In fact, when we were in Tulcan, I backed up a little and tried to make a hard left uphill turn. I revved the engine and dropped the clutch, but the bike just bogged, and we went down. I have to give the bike more revs, especially on something like that (a steep uphill). It feels and sounds like I'm trying to start in second gear.

Passes have the same problem, but not as bad. The DL makes good top-end power, so it's just matter of letting it rev high enough. The curves are so tight that we'd spend a lot of time in first gear if we were following vehicles. It's pretty gratifying to pass in first, with the bike nearly bouncing off the rev limiter.

It ended up taking us 10.5 hours to cover 220 miles. You can remove 2 hours for the repair, plus another half-hour for eating, but 8 hours for 220 miles is still only 27.5 miles per hour. That shows how curvy the road was.