It just gets better and effin better;

So there was no way I was going to stay in San Pedro, who's sole purpose in this universe is to separate stupid but rich tourists from their money.   The bike was running, albeit at moped velocities.  The next town is Calamas, 100 km of desert away.  So I load up and head out of San Pedro. 

Before leaving, I checked the fuel and I could see nothing wrong with it, no water, no dirt.   About 20 km out I came across a big parking area beside the road, looked like a good place to do a carb overhaul, and I was getting tired of crawling along at 23 kmh, so I pulled in and pulled off the carb.  I could see nothing obviously wrong, so I put it together again.  No joy, everything still the same.  Then I got about 100 meters farther down the road when my rear tire decided to go flat.

Good thing I was carrying a spare tube, so out with the bad and in with the good.

It took me most of the day to get to Calamas.  It was definitely the right thing to do, as Calamas is a great place to stay while I sort all this out.  I found the perfect hostal as it is called, for working on the KTM
The carburettor came off again, this time for a more thorough examination and cleaning.  Still no joy.

I have the KTM manual (as a pdf) with me, which suggests my problem is either carburettor related or electronic ignition. 

The nearest KTM dealer is 1200 km south, I have sent them an email, and I will keep plugging away.

Meanwhile I am enjoying Calamas and considering my options.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A new era

Image
This year I officially became a 'senior', or 65 years old.  So the 60's have been a lot more fun than the 30's, but there are also some indications that things are going to change.  Take last summer, I was riding my KTM 640 Adventure down a quad trail by myself.  The front wheel fell into a deep rut going up hill and down I went.  No biggee, except I couldn't pick the bike up.  This had never happened before.  I have dragged that bike out of mud and sand on its side, and picked it up numerous times.  This time it was staying down, and I was not even sure why.  With the help of a nearby fisherman I was able to get the bike up and out. So, no more solo off road excursions, the reason I still had the KTM, which truth to say was never the greatest highway bike. Since I started riding well over 40 years ago, I have always been more interested in performance, not necessarily all out extreme by the numbers performance, but motorcycles that did someth...
Read more

A tale of two XTs

Image
Over the years I have almost always had more than one motorcycle at a time, but never really had a collection.  Collecting stuff has a lot in common with activities like recreational drug use or gambling, it can be fun, but watch you don't get hooked.  In my case the wake up call arrives when I can't get into the garage anymore, and then it's 'everything must go!' until the garage is empty.  After which, like coat hangers in a closet, a bike creeps into a corner, and another and another. The collecting bug does not discriminate, people collect all kinds of shit, from buttons to military tanks. I never saw my random moto acquisition binges as an investment, I was mostly sucked into buying old bangers through the motorcycle price-age curve, a tool used by economists to study the demand for rusty old crap. As you can see in the graph below, the actual selling price of a motorcycle descends very swiftly the moment it leaves the showroom, mostly because the dealer...
Read more

I'm baaaack

Image
Wow, a long time since I posted here, my 9 followers must be getting anxious.  So, since I last posted about trying cruiser-dom, I really like the Guzzi, and have added nearly 20,000 km to its odometer. The only thing I don't like about it is the buffeting.  Buffeting for those who haven't experienced it, is a type of vibrating wind blast common to large handlebar mounted windshields on motorcycles.  It occurs at speeds above 100 km ie highway speeds.  At first you don't really notice it, but after a few hours it wears you down.  I tried a larger windshield, no joy. I tried cutting some openings into the windshield to reduce the low pressure behind the windshield, a little better, but not much.  Changed helmets, which did not work until I changed to a very light weight three quarter jet style, which worked best of all the things I tried.  So that's why cruiser guys prefer beanie style helmets, who knew?  Not really an ideal solution though, I li...
Read more