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Madness

Brilliant, and welcome! I think you should definitely follow your dream and do a scooter trip through Peru and possibly South America. You only live once!

@kenshapperttravelstheworld8845 Next year I intend to go on a second initiatory trip with a group in this country. I'm just dreaming about the motorcycle for now. I live in Europe, Romania, and it's a bit difficult from a logistical point of view, but one day it will happen.

To you (belatedly) also!

Belated merry Xmas. Yes, valle de cócora was incredible!

No, I have not yet been to Labrador

No idea about the wrecks really, my assumption is that they are breakdowns or thefts that are stripped and set alight over time. But that is pure speculation, if logical. Wind going north was terrifying for the first day. Almost at the point that I had to pull over lol. On the way down I was thinking “I don’t know what all the fuss was about” 🙄

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Nice! It’s an adventure lol. I believe I made it to Tuktoyaktuk around 27th of June, so end of June I was up. I think it was good (early) timing as on the way up I wondered about the stories of the unbelievable bugs swarms, because I hadn’t seen anything of the sort. And then on the way back…..

I never really added up a firm total, it was too painful to really think about. That, and the trip is never done 😉. But in hindsight I could have done it considerably cheaper without much less comfort. I really enjoyed myself 😂🤣

@kenshapperttravelstheworld8845 Thank you for the reply! I would like to know if the date/time of your videos corresponde to the actual time that you were there? The reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to plan a motorcycle trip from Ecuador to Ushuaia and trying to figure out which months are best. Thank you again!

No, when the video posted is not related to when I was there as I quickly realized I had no interest in religiously pumping out a couple videos a week like a job haha. After about 5 months in Colombia I did Ecuador to Ushuaia from the beginning of June until mid December. It was absolutely perfect timing and luck weather wise, I can count on my fingers how many days I had rain

Hahaha fair enough. That’s funny. And understandable. You definitely don’t need to ride as aggressively as me, but a combination of slow truck (20kph) after slow truck in the mountains with a moto crazed culture and it just feels like the only thing to do 😬🙈. Yeah I got gas. My biggest problem not being a “professional content creator” is that when I’m faced with problems my first thought isn’t “this will make great content, I need to ensure I get it all on film”. I just go into problem solving mode and then afterwards realized that I, once again, missed the opportunity for great content LOL. The other motorcyclist I met that day took me and we passed the whole convoy, got gas and then caught our way back up to the front of the convoy. Ahhhh what a day/memory

Well i got the rally raid suspension so it’s better than stock, but even so on some of the rougher parts of the hill-climb I made her get off and walk 🙈. On the way up some of the (paved) roads had so much camber twisting and undulations in the corners that I was really scraping the pegs going around corners. I was not going all that fast, nor trying to scrape the pegs, so it wasn’t exactly great. But that tiny little bike isn’t made for, and is overloaded by, two adults with full luggage + aluminum boxes. So it did it, and without real “problems”, and I would do it again for a day or weekend, but it would not be long-term sustainable (or good for the bike)

Yeah, #1 rule of riding anywhere in Latin America is DON’T RIDE AT NIGHT (and not necessarily for the reasons you think)

No. With proper hand-guards and, most importantly, a solid bash plate to protect the vulnerable bottom and oil filter the bike actually crashes very well (see my other videos lol). As-is you would need a very angular rock or something to get in there and do catastrophic damage; I deemed the added weight, vibration potential and aesthetics of crash bars to not be worth the minimal perceived benefit

Colombia has some of the best riding on the trip, and is also probably the most moto-centric country in the world (that I’ve seen)

If you mean to ride your own motorcycle, yes. If you mean to rent one, I have no idea but assume yes. In my personal experience the IDP is just about never asked for or necessary, just a North American (english) license. They also expire after a year so I spent a year without a “valid” one. I would, however, probably leave home with one as it is one less excuse for anyone to give any sort of issues over. Cheap insurance imho

Yeah the stock seat sucks, I have the same problem with the slope sliding me forwards and crushing my balls. Very uncomfortable. Honestly I don’t think the sheepskin really holds you in place, it may even have less friction than the plastic on the seat (?), and I would assume that changes with material, as the seat would, marginally. But… It makes the seat significantly more comfortable overall, and creates a nice soft barrier between the seat/tank and your nether regions. Dollar for dollar vs benefit, this was probably the best mod/accessory I did to my bike. Keep in mind that I do lots of high mileage days often, so being comfortable is crucial for me

@@kenshapperttravelstheworld8845 Oh ok I understand. Thank you for the explanation. I do mostly short rides, but if I do longer ones, I would probably want to try the sheepskin 😉

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No idea what that is but sounds bad

Yeah don’t worry too much. This was probably the least fun border due to the heat and wait, just got unlucky with the tourist busses. Entering/exiting Nicaragua is a notoriously bad border crossing, most aren’t as bad. The only other one that was as bad, or worse, than this was the Belize/Guatemala border. You eventually figure out what is supposed to be going on LOL. It doesn’t help that apparently it depends who is working that day on the experience you receive. Best advice I had is show up early to the border and plan for it to take all day. If you get through in a couple of hours it’s a bonus, that way your not stressed out and in reality 99% of the time your gonna get through that day. No idea about my nose?? Haha.

Well, rock is far less “slidey” than snow/ice, but you have a LOT longer way to go that you can pick up speed; if your brace enough. I wasn’t as brave as I thought I would/wanted to be, the scary video they showed ahead of it obviously did the trick lol

Yeah the mic makes a huge difference. When it’s working as intended….lol. Sometimes the wind noise takes over and renders the audio unusable, and sometimes it just doesn’t work. But it makes the videos far more entertaining, until it stops working 🙈

Yeeeeahhhh, as bluntly as I can put it is to not stress if you don’t have it, lots of people don’t, it just means more bumbling around. But every single word more you can learn is helpful. From my first border crossing where I didn’t really speak Spanish, to my last where I’m fairly confident; the main thing is just a world of difference in your confidence and therefore comfort level during any and all interactions 😬. It makes me grateful for the hours that I soaked into Spanish practice before leaving lol

Yeah the people from El Salvador really love their country and supported this video. Probably the only real regret I have in my trip is not spending more time in El Salvador. Windshield extender should be stock on the CB imo

2020 mate

Ah I made it smoking like a champ, and with a destroyed back lol. I am not even remotely athletic, and this was probably the most challenging physical thing I’ve done, but I did it! You can also take a horse/donkey up, some people did and I almost did haha. I paid to have the horse lug my backpack up, no way I could have done that with my back still recovering. Really cool, and always a way to do it if you want!

Yeah, it's hard to beat Guatemala!

It was such a cool ride, from Tikal to Atitlan was probably one of the most interesting rides of the trip, just riding through Guatemalan Countryside and I definitely got the impression that this route was far less travelled than the other one that goes by the waterfalls. Great memories!

I’m pretty sure it was “Guasaule” crossing from Honduras, it was a while ago now but I was heading to Leon and I think that’s the crossing I used 😬🤞🏻

Ah man I was so freaked out lol. Driver of the truck never really acknowledged or said anything to me for the whole hour standing around afterwards lol. Yeah I may look at doing a short again, I believe I tried for this but the issue is shorts are vertical and cut off a good bit of the screen, so it’s not really understandable that I’m on a motorcycle waiting for a ferry when a truck almost takes me out, it’s just a bunch of movement and yelling haha. May be a work-around

This was such a cool place, not to be missed. Felt like a national geographic explorer!

Yeah the suspension has been a good-send. Not necessary, but made life a LOT easier in some places. Borders get “easier” as you go (as in, you expect the confusion and chaos so it become easier to deal with) 😂

Yeah it was insanely expensive after mexico. Depending on time/budget I hear the coast and islands of Belize are just stunning. But when I was there it was high season and just no way I could afford any extra time in Belize lol

They say the best bike to do the trip on is the one you have now 😉

Ah no need to be scared, the crossing can be a bit rough but whatever that’s the price you pay. Will be something you never forget

@ I don’t care if it’s choppy (struggling to walk, not allowed outside that’s fine) like most videos I’ve seen but what I’m really scared of is if it’s completely wild and very very high waves causing the entire ship to dive back and forth and the deck flooded like in the news, I pray that doesn’t happen but I will be going anyway

I replaced the water pump for the second time around 30,000kms in Los Angeles, right before I crossed into Mexico, October 2022. Zero problems with the water pump or anything else Honda OEM related since then. Bike currently has around 86,000kms 👍

@kenshapperttravelstheworld8845 I'm getting a 2016 cb500x tomorrow for 5000 cad it has less than 10k on it

It’s absolutely spectacular around there, fascinating to imagine what life must have been like!

Yeah, in hindsight I definitely should have just stayed put a few days to rest up. Ah well, places to go and people to see lol

That’s amazing, thank you for your kind words! I will enjoy a little break, but hopefully that is it haha. I love being on the road with the bike exploring!

Thank you!

Not exactly sure what that means mate, but cheers! Guatemala was a great country btw

Amazing!

Boy, haven't heard that phrase in a long time!

So confusing lol

Haha, I’m not really sure about the hotel to be honest, this was quite a while ago in travel time memories lol. But the road and area was quite an interesting one for sure!

Ah yeah, I wasn’t only in a hurry to escape the madness of the border and get out of notorious ciudad del este, it was also extremely chaotic and confusing! I own every mistake I do in this video or any others, but you can’t really imagine how chaotic and confusing this border is (unless maybe you’ve already done it!)

Yeah anything over 30 degrees isn’t much fun, but I’ll take the heat over an unrideable Canadian winter any day!!!

Thanks! It’s been a great little bike, and since getting a couple little wrinkles out of the way during the first year or so of ownership (which was admittedly frustrating) I’ve had zero problems related to Honda reliability or build quality.

Great trip for sure! Thank you. And I actually got the hat in China, like a type 65 replica. Interesting that it is now associated with different communist regimes on opposite sides of the world! Everyone thought it was a Che hat, and it’s really just the hat that folds up the smallest and gets crushed the least haha

Good night!Kkkkkk I was joking!But.."Hasta la victoria siempre!"❤

Honestly man I don’t really know or recall for sure. Every border was slight variations of the same thing, but I don’t recall if I needed insurance for Panama or what the process was (this video was filmed a while ago and I don’t remember lol). I suspect that if you are living in Costa Rica and have a plated and insured bike there the process will be somewhat different to mine, and you should be good to go, but I don’t honestly know mate

Yeah pretty impressive for sure man, and not to take away from the amazing spectacle in any way, but it think I was slightly less excited to go and impressed to see than most because of how many times we’ve been to and seen Niagara lol

@ lol that’s awesome bro 💯👏👊

I almost skipped it due to timing and route planning (and living around the corner from Niagara Falls), but once I realized I would have to turn around and backtrack to BA i couldn’t miss it a second time!