An overlander's account of South and Central America by motorbike - the trusty Suzuki DR650. Within are great travel tips and hints (2011).

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Stats for South America

Dogs hit: 2 (one hit my boot with its head, I nicked one´s tail)
Dogs bit me: 1 (dogs starting chasing me as I pulled up to ask directions.  As I took off one nibbled on my calf)
Dogs chased me: THOUUUUSANDS.
Chickens hit: 2 (hit one fair dinkum and I looked behind and it was still going...so so did I)
Near misses: A few (closest was 1m from hitting a bus front on, on blind 1 lane corner with cliff drop off!)
Pissed in own face: once (120 km/h winds)
Big Stacks: 5ish (once I came off on a dirt corner with deep gravel and broke fishing rod and LHS mirror)
Drops: MANY (dropped the bike many times while stationary or barely moving.  The best include on the salar do Uyuni in mud and skidding to a halt to catch a lizard, the front tyre digging into the gravel and the bike dropping and the lizard running away!)
Snakes caught: 2 (one rat snake eating a mouse and one Coral Snake guarding Nessie in the jungle)
Stolen: 1 unused telescopic fishing rod ($20) and scammed in the street for $160 in Colombia (more in the upcoming Colombia thread
Injuries: Very lucky...none
Flat tyres: again lucky...none! Although pinched a tube then broke the valve stem during a service.
Tyres: 2 new front, 1 used front, 3 new rear tyres.
Services: 4.
Consumables used: 10 L oil, 1 rear tube, 2 new spark plugs, 1 chain, 2 sprockets (front and rear), 1 clutch lever, 2 oil filters, several fuses, several inline fuel filters, various glues. 2 tins chain lube, 1 bottle carb cleaner.
Repairs: 1 tube repair then replacement.  Carburetor cleaned twice after getting clogged.  Numerous electrics (starter button spring faulty twice, killswitch sticking, inidicators sticking), GPS power inlet repaired twice.  Sidestand was fouling swingarm so lubed and fixed using vice.  Numerous welds to cracks on subframe braces, sidebag racks and rear brake foot. Clutch lever replaced after dropping bike to catch lizard...which got away!  Numerous stitching repairs to clothing, gloves, sidebags, dufflebag.  
Broken: 1 helmet visor (dropped at a servo) then broke other side when dodging a bird at 110 km/hr.  Clutch lever.  Coleman multifuel stove (generator). LHS mirror.  1 expensive 3 pc fishing rod (now an expensive 6 pc fishing rod). Dignity.
Bribes Asked: 1 (about $5)
Bribes Paid: 0
Bribes Sneakily Avoided without them seeing me: several!
Problems with police: none.
Time between showers: about 4 or 5 days
Rode with other riders: 2 (Canadian, Charley for 3 days.  American Calvin for about 3 weeks)

South America Stats
Total Distance: 24,867 km
Gasoline used: 1280.74 L
$ Spent on gas: $1326.01
Days riding: 88 days
Av gas price: $1/L
Times filled up: 169
Border crossings: 9
Countries: 6
Money spent: Approx $10,000 including fuel and bike shipping by air, Brisbane to Santiago ($3000)
Arrived in Santiago: 5th Feb 2011     Left Santiago: 16th Feb 2011     Left Colombia: 15th May 2011


Chile
Km´s: 3189.1
L: 155
Gas kilometrage (mileage): 20.58 km/L
$ spent on gas: $247.47
Gas price: $1.60/L
Average distance accumulated when filling (the paranoiascale): 144.96 km
Average L when filling: 7.05 L
Times filled up: 22
Argentina
Km´s: 9741.9
L: 500.13
Gas kilometrage (mileage): 19.48 km/L
$ spent on gas: $489.20
Gas price: $0.98/L
Average distance accumulated when filling (the paranoiascale): 159.7 km
Average L when filling: 8.2 L
Times filled up: 61
Bolivia
Km´s: 2717.9
L: 161.15
Gas kilometrage (mileage): 16.83 km/L (Bolivia fuel octane is about 80...less than everywhere else and is high 3000 m +)
$ spent on gas: $79.79
Gas price: $0.50/L
Average distance accumulated when filling (the paranoiascale): 108.7 km
Average L when filling: 6.45 L
Times filled up: 25
Peru
Km´s: 4528
L: 243.58
Gas kilometrage (mileage): 18.59 km/L
$ spent on gas: $304.60
Gas price: $1.25/L
Average distance accumulated when filling (the paranoiascale): 129.37 km
Average L when filling: 6.96 L
Times filled up: 35
Ecuador
Km´s: 1572.1
L: 81.86
Gas kilometrage (mileage): 19.21 km/L
$ spent on gas: $41.57
Gas price: $0.51/L
Average distance accumulated when filling (the paranoiascale): 142.92 km
Average L when filling: 7.44 L
Times filled up: 11
Colombia
Km´s: 2673.1 km
L: 139.02 L
Gas kilometrage (mileage): 19.23 km/L
$ spent on gas: $163.38
Gas price: $1.18/L
Average distance accumulated when filling (the paranoiascale): 178.21 km
Average L when filling: 9.27 L

Times filled up: 15

*Note: Always fill tank to full.  Bike takes 13 L (10 main, 3 res) and does about 260km on a tank.  The averages below show how paranoid I was in each country about running out of gas.

3 comments:

  1. Thank YOU!!!! Your trip stat break down is fantastic and a massive help. We are setting of in a year for a world wide tour ourselves and this type of info is invaluable. Thanks again ride safe and see you out there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You´re most welcome mate. It´s nice to be able to give back after I leeched off the HUBB for endless months. Feel free to contact me with any specific questions.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just found your Blog and it's great! This stats page is wonderful help for my planning to ride to Ushuaia in September 2013 (on a DR650 of course).
    I'm only a few hours down the road from you in Edmonton. If I can help you with anything before you head to Alaska let me know

    Dave
    www.Two-Wheel-Tours.com

    ReplyDelete