On Friday, the 21st of October, we head to the restaurant for
breakfast, at the "Golfo Hotel" in Trujillo, Peru. In comes a Harley
rider from Brazil. As it turns out, he was part of the group riding we met
on October 13, 2005, which was riding North to Ecuador. They were now
heading back home after nearly 6 weeks on the road. Later in the day we
joined them for the ride across the deserts North of Lima, Peru. This was
our second "Harley" ride (We had first Harley experience with Tom Roach, in
Baja, earlier this year).
So off we rode...... The desert is VERY different than
the desert of California and Arizona. You can ride for 40 miles with NO
vegetation. Very stark. Very beautiful!
| Although it is vegetation free, the scenes change from
mile to mile. Sometimes it is very "Moon" like. |
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| Although it is desert, there is a marine layer of fog
and clouds. Notice the temperature is only 70 degrees... |
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| Just a "Corny" picture. |
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| Very poor areas along the coast. |
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| For hundreds of miles it is pure desert, but about every
30 to 60 miles there is a river, with water flowing from the Andes.
Where these rivers cross the desert, there is typically a one to two
mile wide valley with rice paddies and other crops. |
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| Machinery is used rarely in agriculture or construction. |
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| More typical, vegetation-less desert. |
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| The dunes and desert go right to the shore line. |
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| The pictures do not do these deserts justice. Every
time I rode over a rise, my jaw would drop! |
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| Jacob, This one is for you. The sign is about 35
feet tall.
Jacob is my grandson and he started drinking Inca Kola about years
ago.
My daughter is not please with us serving Jacob the drink, because it
get him "wired"! |
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| Snow like vista's........ |
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| And another fort/ruin. |
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| After riding about 150 miles we ran into the "Harley
Gang" from Brazil. The group also had 1 BMW, so we were accepted
with open arms. In all seriousness, these Brazilian were VERY
friendly.
This is Dov Koren, who was a delight to met.
He also spoke English, which simplified the communications. |
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| Sandy and more of the gang. They are going to send me
emails soon, so I will have all there names.
They were kind enough to give us Harley shirts.
I may have to see Tom Roach, in Palm Springs, and get the bike to go
along with the shirts! |
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| Tom R., I now have another Latin Harley ride under my
belt. |
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| Dov told us Lima was difficult to get around in, so he
was going to have a few of his friends meet us at the airport to ride
with us to the hotel. Harley's are rare in Peru, and it seems that
every owner know every other Harley owner.
Although Dov is from Brazil, he is very active in Harley events and
has developed a continent full of friends.
Once you meet him, you would understand why. A real neat guy! |
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| We had M3 BMW's and Honda's escort across town. |
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| Ralph, in the beige jacket, is a "Little
Touched"......... I was afraid of getting lost, so stayed on his tail,
but felt like the hooligans you see in the videos like Crusty and the
like.
He is a "Mad Man", and his Honda had the marks to show that he is not
afraid to stretch his envelop! |
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| Harley's cost about 40% more in Peru, than in the United
States, due to tariffs. So many of the owners we met were attorneys or
doctors.
On Friday night we had a large "Biker" dinner.
Hey, Sandy and I now have the T-Shirts! |
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| Dr. Victor Su Wing Diez offered to insert a needle in my
back to relieve the pain. Enrique Navarro, in the background.... |
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| We had a great time. And received invitations to stay
all over Peru and Brazil.... |
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On Saturday we discover that we had major movement in the rear wheel, which I
have never had prior to this trip. I posted some notes, asked for help
from old riding friends, old "Big Dog" riders and on ADVRider.com.
I was surprised with the amount of feedback I got. I got torque
specifiations, drawings, parts lists, repair manuals and other documents pdf'ed
to me within a day. Although I had a few slee[less nights worrying about
be stranded in Peru, with a worthless heap, on Monday we purchase a few tools
and got the problem resolved.
| On Saturday we met Nico, a Harley/motorcycle mechanic.
We tried to resolve some driveline problems with the BMW.
As it turned out, Nico wants to go to Race Tech,, in Corona,
California and take a class on suspensions.
Race Tech is just across the freeway from where we live. He now
has a place to stay! |
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| Prior to completing the bike issue on Monday, Nico took
us on a tour ot Lima, in his Citroen. |
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| We reciprocated, by treating him to a lunch in a very
trendy restaurant. The food was excellent. |
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| And the service was it's equal. Every time you used a
napkin, it was immediately removed and replaced with a clean one.
Your beverage never got below 80% full! |
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| On Sunday, the 23rd, we awoke to whistles. Got out of
bed and looked out our 5th floor window, and saw the Lima Marathon pass
by..... |
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| I would guess there was at least 3,000 runners. |
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| Got up and went for a ride. Although the core of Lima
is nice, the surround areas are not places where you would want to
breakdown.
We were told that many people which lived in the country during the
80's and 90's moved to Lima, due to fears about the "Shining Path". |
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| Much of the city is very poor and run down. We started
to drive up some streets about 2 miles from this location, and based on
our lesson in Guayaquil, got out quickly.
Found out later that police do not enter some of the areas which we
skirted.
No pictures of the dangerous areas, based on the fact that when fear
sets in, the only goal is to retreat! |
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| We followed the shoreline of Lima (about 16 miles long).
About 40% is like the picture above.
The other 60% is like this picture.
It would put Santa Monica to shame. |
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| It is similar to Santa Monica, in the way the coastline
has a bluff along the entire beach. Many modern restaurants built on a
cliff.
Very domesticated...
Even a "Tony Roma's" |
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Click on the "Next " button to proceed to "Old Lima"......
and many "Then and Now" photos.
   
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