The Carretera Austral Gives My Motorcycle a Rough Time
Update 3 (December 2022)
Coyhaique to Cochrane, Chile
Coyhaique is a nice town with around 50,000 people. I spent the next day just taking it easy. I explored the town by foot a bit and found a pretty good pasta for lunch. I always walk when I reach a town.
The hotel had a nice garden and view so I restarted my morning exercises. I carry a set of resistance bands with which I can basically replicate any exercise I would do in a gym. It’s just a matter of finding a nice space, with some anchoring points for the bands e.g. trees, poles, my motorbike crash bars (that protect the engine). It’s just a good way to be somewhat flexible and strong, ready for the rigors of motorbike travel.
After a couple of nights it was time to move on. My plan was to get to the end of the Carretera Austral at Villa O’Higgins and then backtrack a little and cross into Argentina to continue south.
This is going to be a pretty light update as I am way behind and need to just punch out a few and get up to date.
The lake is Lago General Carrera and it is shared by Chile and Argentina.
It was also about now that I noticed water on my front tyre, which seemed odd, as I did not remember going through any water.
The Fuschia is native to this part of Chile and Argentina.
I stayed at Terra Luna Lodge near Puerto Guadal. These glamping places actually do not appeal to me. They are are often just an over priced tent.
I really haven’t captured the volume of water that is around this area. There are some magnificent, clear fast flowing rivers, as you’d expect with all the snow melt. Upstream from here there was a small town where white water rafting is popular. But further downstream you would surely die if you fell in.
So, it turned out that the water I noticed on my tyre was actually oil. After my sleep at Luna lodge I realised both my front forks had started leaking oil.
The front forks are a serviceable part, that need new seals and oil fairly regularly, depending on the activities of the motorbike. The road has definitely been harsh, but this shouldn’t have been happening as they had only been serviced about 3,000km previously in Australia. Previously I had reached 20,000km, including a trip to Arkaroola and the Oodnadatta Track in South Australia. It was also a little suspicious that both had failed.
Anyway, they were broken and it is a specialist job with new parts to fix them. The host at my Cochrane accommodation was very helpful in chasing someone that could repair them.
Cochrane is a small town with a population of about 3,000 people. There is no motorbike shop that I found (too cold and snowy for much motorbike riding). So I ended up at a car repair place. He was helpful, but it wasn’t his thing and he thought the parts would be 2-3 days from Coyhaique, if they were there. Then he called someone and there was a new lead. I ended up with a guy that services ATV’s from his garage. No, it was too specialised. He gave me a tip on someone back in Coyhaique.
So, I pulled the pin on going further south. It would have been nice to go to the bottom of the Carretera Austral but it wasn’t worth risking a more complicated failure in the middle of nowhere.
So the next day I turned around and headed back to Coyhaique.
This is a good time to talk about breakfasts. In Chile, most of the time my accommodation comes with breakfast included.
In Cochrane I stayed at Kalfu Patagonia. This is the top end version of a Chilean included breakfast and it was nicely executed. It’s typically not a buffet, they just bring the items to your table, as per your preferences.
So, I turned around and headed north back the same way. The bike was fine. Maybe I could have continued south?
Edit – with some more experience now, I’m sure I could have kept going south. I think it was about 350km. A failing suspension is not that bad, you just need to be wise. Slow down, be a little more cautious.
A nice lunch in Puerto Rio Tranquilo on the way back to Coyhaique. Sadly I have had trouble finding a fresh healthy meal like this, and the chips were homemade.
Hanging out in Coyhaique.
The next day after arriving back in Coyhaique, things came together. I was fortunate that the motorbike shop, Servicio Automotriz Pestana just happened to have the right size oil seals on the shelf and they did the job the same day.
By this time I had decided it was time to head for Argentina. But first I needed to find third party insurance to be able to enter the country with a vehicle. After two official looking insurance offices I ended up at a cafe called Camello Patagon with a lady that sold Argentinean insurance on the side. It seemed genuine. And fortunately I didn’t need to test it out.
Puerto Varas to Coyhaique, Chile
Update 2 (early December 2022)
Coyhaique to El Calafate, Argentina
Update 4 (mid December 2022)