On two wheels south through Latin America

[HiPERnx]

As the last post, this I'm way behind on updated. This took place in March of 2021.
Episode 12
Costa Rica - Taking the motorcycle out of storage and trying to get it running



The transit to Costa Rica was awful, I've never been fond of Lufthansa and never had a good experience, and this was no exception. In addition to that i first needed to go to Mexico as some of my gear was there with my partner's family and my partner and i was traveling together together to Costa Rica. After over 48h in transit i arrived in Costa Rica, but it's all a part of the journey. Even though it was an awful experience i wouldn't trade it for anything.



Well in Costa Rica the process of taking the bike out of storage started, it's fairly easy.

1. Get papers from the storage place
2. Insurance
3. Customs
4. Pay for the storage and get my keys
5. Ride

There was some problems at the customs as there were special pandemic laws limiting TVIP possibilities. After the problem was resolved it was back to the storage place and bike started fine thanks to my portable jump pack. Roll-starting a 200+kg bike is a pain on good surfaces, and even worse on a gravel road, do yourself a favor if youre traveling with a modern bike and get a jump pack.
It turned out i had forgotten to disconnect the battery in the bike for a year and it had trained and disintegrated and wouldn't hold charge.
The hunt for a battery started. Tried the only thing that was still open in the evening, a Wallmart store. Sadly they only sold smaller batteries for 125 bikes. All this while being heavily sleep-deprived after the transit.
The search for a battery continues....


Old battery:

 

[HiPERnx]

As the last post, this I'm way behind on updated. This took place in March of 2021.
Episode 13
Costa Rica- Solving the battery issue and heading to La Fortuna and Arenal area of Costa Rica (and dropping the bike)


Before my arrival in Costa Rica i had booked a service with a Suzuki shop online via Suzuki Costa Rica's website, but it turned out that the shop didn't exist and had been closed for months prior. I managed to find another local motorcycle shop that also happened to have a battery that was somewhat similar to mine. I managed to get it fitted with some slight modification to the cable routing of the battery connectors.
And off we went! The ride up to Arenal is stunning, even with some rain. It felt amazing to back on the bike and traveling.