Day 76/77 - Repair day/Quitilipi to Iguazu, Argentina

RobC:  Day 76. The morning after the fall I woke up surprisingly fit and with a lot less pain than the evening before. Must be the injectable medication. This was good news and if we can get the bike going, we may not have to load the whole business on a truck after all.

Despite the disappointing set-back and the partial destruction of my bike, I realize I have been very fortunate to have survived this ordeal. When I look at my Aerostich riding pants, there are several tears and burns through the cloth and into the protective padding. The seat area of the pants is completely scraped and the back pocket was completely shaved off.

RobT:  We spent almost the entire day working on RobC's bike and figuring out options for getting to the Iguazu waterfalls in the north of Argentina, on the Brazilian and Paraguayan borders.  We needed to get there by Sunday,  December 26, and the bike had to at least get to Resistencia, where we found out we could get some repairs done and possibly take a bus or flight to Iguazu, in order for Rob to catch his flight to see Gaby in Porto Alegre, Brazil for a couple of days of family R&R.

We had an excellent spot to carry out our work.  Hotel Refugio [Place of Refuge in Spanish - appropriately] was a great place to stay!

Hotel Refugio

In front of the hotel and where the accident occurred.

Some of the work we accomplished today:

• repair the perforated hydraulic clutch cable with some duct tape, tie wraps and a hose clamp.  Didn't totally stop the leak but did get the clutch to function after bleeding the line
• bend the left side pannier mount back 
• replace pannier cam lock, as it was sheared off
• replace left rear indicator light bulb
• shave plastic off on left side turn signal switch housing, as it was interfering with the spring mechanism of the turn signal button .. causing it to stay on
• offset support for left pannier, had to be remounted with new fastener
• rear tail section support had to be removed, bent back into shape and remounted
• top box had to be remounted with new fasteners (old ones sheared off)
• left pannier lid hinge needed to be reshaped, so the lid could close
• bent crash bars forward so they wouldn't further pinch any cabling
• twist left intake duct, as it was pulling the throttle cable out (engine ran very rough because of this, desynchronizing the pistons)
• duct tape broken wind screen together
• tried to bend the handle bars back to normal, which was unsuccessful
• tie wrap bottom protection plate on the left cylinder head
• tighten mirrors, as they became loose
• check other items for damage such as tires, steering column, shift lever, etc

We had the whole bike apart, fixing what we could to get it in riding shape

Our "garage" as well as hotel room entrance.

We accomplished all the work and found that the bike was in fact safely functional, but still needed some TLC along the road.

Day 77.  Into the red clay territory of Misiones, heading north to Iguazu, Argentina.

 RobC crashing, but of a different kind.  We were both tired, so we decided to take a nap along the roadside in the tall grass. (RobC edit: this is part of our new safety strategy.  :-)  )

Another 800 km day (500 miles) by the time we arrived in Iguazu.  Aside from refilling the hydraulic clutch reservoir several times, RobC's bike behaved fairly well.  He also got used to the handle bars being bent, causing him to drive with the right shoulder up high and the left shoulder down low.  The day ended well and we made our destination. RobC will make his flight tomorrow to see his wife in Brazil. Despite everything, we are on schedule, incredible!  I will spend the next couple of days inspecting the Iguazu waterfalls, the most massive falls in the world.