Oil Change in Colombia
Sunday, 03 January 2010 13:00
My first destination in Colombia was Medellin to get an oil change for the Beast and to visit the Barking Spider pub.
On the way to Medellin, I spend a night in Manizales, a college town with a vibrant downtown and an Irish Pub. The pub had handcrafted beer on tap which was a welcome change after months of bottled beer.
Green hils and twisty roads
At the 11,660 foot pass
Manizales
Manizales at Night
The next morning, I was off to Medellin and Ruta 40, the BMW shop in Medellin. However, I arrived Friday; thinking the shop would be closed on Saturday, holidays and all, I decided to wait until Monday for the oil change. Until then, I had plenty of other stuff to clean.
Parque Lleras - Medellin
After more than two months, my riding gear had gotten to the point that I had a difficult time putting it on. Spotting a bottle of Listerine in a local shop, I decided to fumigate all my gear. With the armor stripped from the jacket and pants, I handed them over to be washed. Then the armor was washed in Listerine, rinsed and set aside to dry. If nothing else I would smell very minty for a while!
Cleaner, I hope
With my gear taken care of, it was time for the Beast. However, before heading out to Ruta 40 in the morning, I discovered that the rear tire had a flat. I was lucky in that it wasn’t a fast leak, so I was able to inflate the tire and make it to Ruta 40.
The Beast at Ruta 40 - BMW Shop in Medellin
For those heading south, I’ll repeat what I’ve hear several times: Ruta 40 is an excellent bike shop. The guys got me in, fixed my tire, changed the oil, checked my throttle body sync, found that one of my auxiliary lights was not working (it started working after some troubleshooting) and cleaned my bike. To top it off, they only changed for the oil change! While I waited, I had free wireless and my choice of coffee or beer. Oh yeah, then they spent the better part of an hour suggesting a route through the remainder of Colombia, Ecuador, and down to Chile. These guys as awesome and if you're are headed this way, you should plan of stopping in, if nothing more than to say "Hi."
On the way to Medellin
More locals
I learned that the next several weeks are sort of a big fiesta time with Christmas and New Year's, so I decided to ride to Salento, in the heart of the Coffee Zone, for the New Year's fiesta.
Relaxing in Salento
South America! Congratulations!
It looks like your right side mirror is broken. Did you bump into a truck?
Happy riding!