We recently pedaled from Telluride to Moab. It was great training for riding in the rain, and adventuring in general, even though we were missing some engines and had to rely on our own two legs to power us along.
Here is a video of the experience:
http://vimeo.com/82170507
And a few photos:
[...
San Francisco, USA After our trek to Fernley, the Zebra and I were both determined to not drive across states to find our second DR. Luck knocked at our door in the form of Craigslist ad for a DR conveniently located in the San Francisco Mission district. A few phones calls later, we were introduce...
The ferry we took from La Paz to Mazatlan only rides on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. It departs La Paz at 5pm to arrive the next day at 11am. The price 2006.80 Pesos for the bike plus 1102.00 Pesos for the rider includes dinner and breakfast as well as a spot on reclinable plane type chair. Whil...
San Francisco, USA Feb 8, 2014 Despite the inclement weather, a good number of our friends and supporters made it out to Piston & Chain last night to wish us well on our trip. We had promised to bring the bikes and show them off, and the torrential rains provided a great opportunity for us to tes...
San Francisco, USA ===Feb 25, 2014 Packing two lives, 4 motorcycles and 5 bicycles into a 3 x 3m storage unit might sound trivial until one attempts the feat. The Zebra and I have spent our past week sorting clothes, spare motorcycles parts, miscellaneous kitchen equipment and important paperwork i...
Not a backdoor but close
[map style="width: 300px; height:300px; float:right; margin:10px 0px 10px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" marker="yes" markerimage="http://www.wolfandzebra.com/files/map_pin.png" lat="17.259563" lon="-90.987861" maptype="OSM" z="6"]We crossed the border into Guatemala at E...
San Francisco, USA to Pismo Beach, USA
Feb 28, 2014 - Mar 2, 2014
We finally got every last little thing out of the apartment, and all the things coming with us for the next year or so packed on the bikes. The apartment looked very pleasingly empty, and the bikes looked horrifyingly loaded up. Th...
Pismo Beach, USA to Mulege, Mexico
Mar 2, 2014 - Mar 15, 2014
Soaked in Big Sur
The days leading to our departure from the US were mostly soggy so we comforted ourselves with some pancakes in Solvang and motorcycle porn at the Solvang motorcycle museum. Everyone we encountered marvelled at how i...
Mulege, Mexico to Mazatlan, Mexico
Mar 15, 2014 - Mar 24, 2014
A Thai jungle in the middle of the Baja desert
We stayed an extra day in Mulege to enjoy the breathtaking views the oasis town has to offer. The Mission Santa Rosalía de Mulegé was founded in 1702 and is flanked by giant cacti, but a...
To recover from our two weeks of intensive Spanish language immersion, The Zebra and I spent the week-end touring el Lago Atitlan. After about one and a half hours of very entertaining twisties leading to Patzun and a river crossing, we spotted a heavily loaded bike with Columbian plates. We stopped...
Mazatlan, Mexico to Tolantongo, Mexico
Mars 24 - April 12, 2014
11 States and counting
Mainland Mexico has been keeping us very busy so we're behind on the blog but we have now managed to set foot in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Hidalgo,...
Tolantongo, Mexico to Oaxaca, Mexico
April 12 - April 18, 2014
A city of 8.8 million people
After meeting a few hundred mexican tourists in the small campground at Tolantongo we decided things might be more peaceful in Mexico City. We broke down the camp and left the hotsprings as early as we co...
Oaxaca, Mexico to Tenosique, Mexico
April 18 - April 30, 2014
Escaping the asphalt
[caption id="attachment_2636" align="alignright" width="300"] Entering the cloud[/caption]
We left you guys as we were exploring the region east of Oaxaca with Centurion and Spirit, our two endurance champion hor...
Perquin, El Salvador to Somoto, Nicaragua
May 26, 2014
Honduras has been cancelled[caption id="attachment_4141" align="alignright" width="300"] The only picture we took in Honduras. It made us feel back home for a minute.[/caption]
Honduras North coast is well worth a detour. Way back in 2009 I...
Tenosique, Mexico to Antigua, Guatemala
April 30, 2014 - May 20, 2014
Thundershowers in Tikal
[caption id="attachment_2861" align="alignright" width="300"] Majestic Tikal![/caption]
Our first destination in Guatemala was the famed site of the Tikal ruins, where some of the highest mayan temples...
Somoto Canyon, Nicaragua to Lake Arenal, Costa Rica
June 1 - June 11, 2014
Kings of Leon
[caption id="attachment_3122" align="alignright" width="300"] The brilliant landscape from Somoto to El Sauce[/caption]
After a very pleasant introduction to Nicaragua, our GPS once again led us unknowingl...
Antigua, Guatemala to Somoto, Nicaragua
May 21 - May 26, 2014
Salvatruchas for a week
It was with a bit of sadness that we left Antigua and our host family. To cheer us up Zebra's friend from University, Rodrigo, was waiting for us in El Salvador. After the usual 3 infernal hours of immigration-...
Lake Arenal, Costa Rica to Cartagena, Colombia
June 12 to June 21, 2014
Mind the Gap
Most people never hear about the Darien gap until they try to drive from Panama to Colombia, which granted not many people do. They then learn of this 100 or so kilometers of unruly jungle haunted by Guerillas,...
Cartagena, Colombia to Medellin, Colombia
June 20 to July 14, 2014
A colourful cast of characters
We did not bump into many other riders throughout Central America, except for the friendly couple from Motopasaran and some rude chap on a BMW who didn't bother to stop and say "hi". On the Stahlrat...
Medellin, Colombia to Salento, Colombia
July 14, July 29 2014
Paisa Paradise
Our good friend "Marcos el Narco" in tow, we glided down the mountains and into Medellin unsure of what to expect. Our experiences with Colombia that far had been wonderful, but we were now entering the lion's mouth, t...
Salento, Colombia to Quito, Ecuador
July 30, 2014 - Aug 6, 2014
Tatacoa desert[caption id="attachment_3475" align="alignright" width="300"] The Zebra looking gorgeous in the Tatacoa desert with the Cordillera Central in the background[/caption]
With the route our friend Joaquin helped us plot l...
Yungay, Peru to Lima, Peru
Aug 29, 2014 - Sep 3, 2014
Marcos on the rocks
After a wonderful but dusty and challenging first week in the Peruvian mountains, we were ready for a change of decor. The Cordillera Blanca, home of the majestic Huascaran National Park, promised to deliver. But first we...
Jaen, Peru to Yungay, Peru
Aug 21, 2014 - Aug 29, 2014
Respecting lunchtime
[caption id="attachment_3581" align="alignright" width="300"] The lonely La Balsa border at lunchtime[/caption]After several hours of riding dusty roads, we reached the tiny border post nestled in the mountains right at...
Lima, Peru to Cusco, Peru
Sep 3, 2014 - Sep 13, 2014
Miraflores
[caption id="attachment_3713" align="alignright" width="300"] City means shopping, a change for the W&Z crew to get all the bling their bikes need for the next leg of the adventure[/caption]
We were not particularly stoked about go...
Quito, Ecuador to Vilcabamba, Ecuador
Aug 7, 2014 - Aug 21, 2014
BlaséAfter almost 2 months having a jolly good time rolling up and down Colombia's cordilleras, we were not quite prepared for Ecuador. First, we had taken a closer look at the map of South America and were a bit daunted by the kilo...
Cusco, Peru to Copacabana, Bolivia
Sep 13, 2014 - Sep 21, 2014
Wolf on rails[caption id="attachment_3745" align="alignright" width="199"] The Wolf was adamant it was possible to ride to Aguas Calientes. It took a Police station and a military outpost to dissuade him.[/caption]
After a few relaxi...
Isla del Sol, Bolivia to Uyuni, Bolivia
Sep 21, 2014 - Sep 30, 2014
A high altitude encounter
[caption id="attachment_3882" align="alignright" width="300"] Marcia and Monica at exiting Peru with us.[/caption]
At the Bolivian border we bumped into two lovely and incredibly enthusiastic Chilean l...
Uyuni, Bolivia to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Sep 30, 2014 - Oct 2, 2014
No hay gasolina, the return[caption id="attachment_3957" align="alignright" width="300"] light tracks of crushed salt is the only evidence anyone has ever been here[/caption]
One of our concerns leaving Uyuni that morning w...
San Pedro de Atacama to Valparaiso, Chile
October 4 2014 - October 16, 2014
A dry start
[caption id="attachment_4054" align="alignright" width="300"] Not much inbetween[/caption] It's hard to overestimate how long Chile is. You can look at a map, you can see the numbers, but until you're eating...
Valparaiso, Chile to Puerto Montt, Chile
October 16 2014 - October 31, 2014
A piscina to behold
[caption id="attachment_4222" align="aligncenter" width="700"] The second largest swimming pool in the world.[/caption]
As is our wont, we took the scenic route from Valparaiso to Santiago, and found...
Puerto Montt, Chile to Paso Roballos, Argentina
November 1 2014 - November 6, 2014
Three ferries in one day
[caption id="attachment_4312" align="alignright" width="300"] A picture perfect Volcano viewed from the Hornopieren ferry stop[/caption]We set off very early that Saturday morning, fully w...
Paso Roballos, Argentina to El Calafate, Argentina
November 6 2014 - November 10, 2014
Drying out in the wind
We were so happy to leave the persistent rains of southern Chile. Until we realised that by crossing the Andes into Argentina and onto Ruta 40 we were exchanging rain for wind. Relentle...
El Calafate, Argentina to Ushuaia, Argentina
11 Nov 2014 to 14 Nov 2014
It's not about the destination
It's about the journey. Yet when we finally found that Ushuaia was merely days away, we had a hard time stopping to smell the roses. In all fairness, there were no roses to smell on that last s...
Ushuaia, Argentina to Puerto Natales, Chile
15 Nov 2014 - 24 Nov 2014
Next stop, Porvenir
I will not hide that we felt nostalgic when we rode out of Ushuaia that morning. A countdown had begun and it was now only a matter of weeks until we parted with our beloved DRs and left the continent that...
Pueto Natales, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina
November 2 - December 8, 2014
Slow boat to Puerto Montt
As you might have guessed from our frequent yet subtle references to the hellish wind, the 1500km ride from Paso Roballos to Ushuaia had left us with mixed feelings. The Zebra and I were determin...
Last stop, Buenos Aires
[caption id="attachment_4911" align="alignleft" width="225"] The battered bus.[/caption]
After a night in Pehuajo, where I learned about Manuelita, the famous turtle, I reached Buenos Aires the following afternoon.
The broad, clean avenues, the modern buildings and the re...
Baja California Sur loop - 26 Jan - 4 Feb 2017
Desert dreams
Growing up in France in the 80's, the Paris-Dakar stood at the acme of extreme motor adventure. Every year, during the Christmas holidays, the national TV channels would broadcast images of surreal landscapes, endless expanses of sand...
Almost a year ago, the Zebra and I were flexing our South African wings with a fabulous flight around Capetown and the Cape of Good Hope. We are now back in the US and now that the dust has somewhat settled, we have been able to resume our flying adventures.
Welcome aboard as we fly above Oakland a...
It all started with the painful realization that our American DRs were not equipped with a kickstart or a manual decompressor. What it means is should the battery dies we would not be able to easily start our bikes.
And why would the battery die you might ask? Bad luck comes to mind, but also our p...
We were lucky enough to find a 49 states bike for the Zebra. No such luck for the Wolf so we spent a few hours removing the annoying smog and evap.
The arrow #1 points to where the evap brass fitting used to be. The part is press fitted and can easily be removed. We then tapped the hole and screw...
To handle the Wolf extra fat, we initially decided to try Progressive Suspension progressive fork springs, Ref. 11-1510 and Procycle linear 7.5 kg/mm rear spring.
We liked the result but felt the bike still squatted excessively when loaded. We transferred that setup to the Zebramobile and ordered...
Carretera Austral
We first heard of the Carretera Austral from a fellow traveler in Nicaragua. Intrigued we started digging out information and learned that this name designed the section of road connecting Puerto Montt in Southern Chile to Villa O'Higgins. Built under the drive of Dictator Pinoche...
I was recently working on the Zebra 2000 Yamaha R6 and found myself horrified at the unbridled growth of hoses and pipes connecting the 4 carbs to the rest of the machine. In an attempt to clean things up on sought advice on several forums but failed to find a simple, clear diagram explaining the fu...
Provence, France
July 10, 2015 to August 30, 2015
The Wolf built a house of bricks...almost
[caption id="attachment_4546" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Once upon a time there was a house in the South of France and a Wolf[/caption]
Once upon a time there was a rabid Wolf who had decided to ad...
Our first week in Peru has been quite amazing. We elected to forsake the coast in favor of the Andean mountains. After several hundred kilometers of dusty trails we reached the Canon del Pato, a 60km road squeezed between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra, that dives through the rock to...
We had ridden close to 400km that day when our guide Juan asked us: "There is a place I'd like to take you to tomorrow, it's a long ride but we'll get to ride a 4000 meters pass, are you guys tempted?" The answer was unanimous: "Hell yes!"
This is how we found ourselves riding the highest road in C...
Durability and versatility were the two main criteria behind our choice of chain and sprockets for our DRs.
Chain
We decided to stick with a 525 chain. The reason is quite obvious, it last longer than a 520 chain. There is a lot of talk on the interweb of "520 conversion" and as usual a lot of co...
The Zebra and I were chilling out in the Drakensberg when a magazine randomly tossed on a table caught my attention. Featured was a picture of the gorgeous Moses Mabhida stadium with written in a large font "Come experience the highest swing in the World!
Naturally I could not resist. It took just...
A bit of context[caption id="attachment_3903" align="alignright" width="300"] La Paz, creeping up the surrounding mountains[/caption]
By the time we reached La Paz in Bolivia we had already ridden on some rather impressive roads. Most of them gloriously unknown, a few affectionately nicknamed to re...
Gateway to the "Flower Route"
[map style="width: 300px; height:300px; float:right; margin:10px 0px 10px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" marker="yes" markerimage="http://www.wolfandzebra.com/files/map_pin.png" lat="14.017620" lon="-89.906870" maptype="OSM" z="6"]La Ruta de Las Flores in El Salvador...
Go East young man!
[map style="width: 300px; height:300px; float:right; margin:10px 0px 10px 10px; border: 1px solid black;" marker="yes" markerimage="http://www.wolfandzebra.com/files/map_pin.png" lat="-4.977242" lon="-79.115623" maptype="OSM" z="6"]Our thwarted attempt to enter Ecuador in the Val...
Top End
While reassembling the top end on the Wolfmobile, I noticed an error in the Service Manual. The correct location of the bolts is shown on the picture below. Basically both external bolts are 180mm. Internal bolt IN side is 200mm. Internal bolt EX side is 190mm
Some great footage. We can't wait to get on the road.
http://youtu.be/85VErvTqgWc
To keep you entertained while we work on our next post covering the Guatemala-Nicaragua leg of our adventure, here is a short story of a recent Costa Rican escapade.
[caption id="attachment_2823" align="alignright" width="300"] Bahia de Salinas under inauspicious skies[/caption]
I was particular...
San Pedro de Atacama to Taltal, Chile
October 3 - October 5, 2014
We left Potosi well prepared. Collectively our 2 DRs were carrying close to 52l of fuel, enough to cross the Salar de Uyuni, make our way South to San Juan and face the 200kms of sand of the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve. We reac...
Lake Tahoe, USA to Fernley, USA
May 26, 2013 - May 27, 2013
When we planned a romantic mountain biking weekend (yes - that's romantic for us) in Tahoe, we had no idea we would end up in Fernley, NV buying the first of the two DR650s that would take us through South America. Some innocent craigsli...
A known weak point
[caption id="attachment_4090" align="alignright" width="295"] Suzuki sells an OEM carrier for the DR650SE. Part# 46300-32820-20H[/caption]Among the few known weak points of the DR is the left tab that normally holds the back of the grab bar. Under normal circumstances you will p...
North Bay and Marin County
If you are tempted by a shorter loop and want to venture North of the Golden Gate, our friends at Riders Share have recently released the following map
March 17, 2015
Pretoria, South Africa
For passport holders from most countries, visiting South Africa is pretty straight forward. Just show up at the border and receive a 90 days tourist visa waiver, voila!
Things get more complicated for those desiring to extend their stay past 90 days. Until r...
Barichara, Colombia to El Cocuy, Colombia
July 6 to July 9, 2014
Debating the detour
El Cocuy was on our radar thanks to our friends at Moto Pasaran but this tiny town, perched high up in the mountains of Eastern Colombia, was well out of our way. It took quite a bit of debating between the Zebr...
Loop around Corsica, France
September 2, 2015 to September 10, 2015
Our last road trip
It was bound to happen, we knew it from the start, this fantastic adventure of ours would come to an end, we would find a comfy little house and head back to work.
Just before though, we would go for a last r...
[timeline-express limit=10 order=ASC display=all]
When we found the Wolfmobile in a backstreet of the Mission district in San Francisco its undercarriage was dripping oil and a few drops of fuel were hanging from the carburetor bowl. We quickly diagnosed a leaking base gasket and dried up carburetor seals. Convinced these would be easy fixes, we br...
Originally from Canada the Zebramobile benefits from an adjustable carburettor needle. In our search for another such needle for the Wolfmobile, we were referred to Derek from motolab in Redwood City, CA. A phone call and a blip of the throttle later, we found more expertise and advice than we could...
250 Miles to see the Bay Area
We have had a few friends visiting us in San Francisco lately, a few toyed with the idea of renting motorcycles to re-enact Easy Rider and cruise through the many fabulous roads and landmarks the Bay has to offer. But where to start? How to make the most of your stay?
...