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culcune- Spudrider, Weldangrind and the group-
Agree totally about price on the Hondas- So a new Honda Tornado is $5200- about 15,400 soles. Then racks, panniers, some riding gear, helmet, a GPS- close to another $1 K gone before on the road. Also agree about rentals. There are rental places both in Peru and Ecuador. Nice bikes, lots of dollars though. Lots of people bring bikes down here from the US or Europe, ride and then sell them after the trip rather than taking them home. Problem with that is if you anticipate staying as I do, the bike can't be imported. Another expat can buy it, ride and then sell again.
Question is when you are a wanderer with an indeterminate schedule and not rich what then. I mentioned I think I looked at an 850GS, used, US bike in Ecuador asking $11,000 so you ride it and what then. Say you want to stay somewhere get a visa. Bike has to go. Besides its tall and damn heavy and I can't imagine getting it down on a muddy road and getting it up by myself. That and its tall enough and heavy enough where I dot know I would be comfortable on it on the highway loaded. Also with gas at $6 a gallon then the added fuel consumption- so smaller , again.
So that leaves buying locally. The Kawa 250 new was $6k. Again outfitting. So yes the Chinese bikes are attractive. Buy the ZX200 then you have about $3k in the rig road ready. Immediately the RX3 is a lot more attractive because you have luggage and racks for it. Plus the power plus a 6 speed tranny. Plus it s dirt capable with tires. When I checked in to the hotel this evening, met a Spanish couple on a pair of Honda 125's. They have been all over the place down here and said due to the Andes plus gear weight to get 250 cc. They are leaving tomorrow headed out to Lima. There are a couple of other people here traveling as well that I have not met- I got in at 8:30 and while I am writing this I am having a beer and a sandwich. Trujillo is a much larger city than Piura was. The taxi driver has a Pulsar 200- he has been on a ride down through Chile and into Argentina with the Pulsar and said 200 cc was adequate one up with gear but no more. So the RX3 makes more and more sense to me even given the fact that its a new model. Or a used Honda 250 or the ZX200. In the used 2010 Tornado I looked at- he was asking 9000 soles or $3400 more or less. Again another K into that so the RX3 looks real good considering.
Juanacho is a small bedroom- beach community of Trujillo. It is a surfing community and though we are going into sumer months here the hotel guy who surfs said the water is cold as hell right now. I have a shorty wetsuit and when I got in I noticed there was a clothing rack in the courtyard with long suits on it so I am going to guess I won't be surfing- I don't like cold water at all. Will get some photos tomorrow and post- the trip from Piura was 6 hours mostly semi arid and some desert hinting at whats prevalent here on the coast all the way down through Chile. Its beautiful and had I a bike I would have spent longer on the way down to take photos. Buses here though are excellent and secure- to ride a long haul bus requires your passport, being fingerprinted and they take photos of everyone on the bus. Whether this is a holdover from the Shining Path days here in Peru I don't know but one must remember they fought a counter insurgency here not many years ago under the Fujimori (since pilloried for human rights abuses but who is actually to say) where Shining Path controlled between 70 and 80 % of the land mass area outside of the cities.
Thats it from this end. Understand I won't be pilloried or burned at the stake for buying a non Chinese bike. The Chinese bikes $ wise do and particularly the RX3- make good sense.
Expat
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