Hi,
Yes, we are watching this thread. Thanks Kurt for the approval.
E.Marquez: we aren't heading anywhere at the moment as one of the DR650s is not happy -- engine chatter
Our next stop is going to have to be made with one of the bikes on the back of a truck, trailer, etc.
Our intention was to head over to Arizona, down through Mexico and Central America, South America and down to Terra del Fuego. Our trip site
Trans-Continental Mambo is still a little sparse as we were first focusing on getting out of close to freezing, rainy weather, and now focusing on the current situation with the bike.
At this point direction of travel doesn't matter much as their is no real travel until the bike is running. On the plus side, we do have time to spare in that our schedule is open ended. Relatively speaking, though, money is tight as one might expect for a large trip.
It *is* going to cost money to fix this issue and we are prepared to deal with this, but service quotes from the local Suzuki dealer were getting high with upper end work, and when getting into lower engine work, it was well, well above the cost of obtaining a second hand motor, for example. Yikes.
We are carrying camping gear which is in obvious way to reduce costs if that becomes an option but we are finding the motels in San Angelo very expensive (and expensive for what you get), and more to the point, there is not much more we can do in terms of diagnosis/fixing from the parking lot of a motel.
We won't be sure what the problem is until we tear into the engine a bit. We have had the side covers off and don't see obvious signs of damage. It could be piston related, or something down in the cranks shaft. At this point, we haven't found tell tale signs of loose metal either in the engine or in the oil so that is much better news than it could be.
We would definitely like to reduce our current cost of living as days turn into a week, etc.: couch surfing, backyard camping, basements, etc. -- I would go so far as to say we can offer to do yard work in exchange if need be.
We also need to delve into the problem. Best case, it would be great to be able to set up in the corner of shop of someone who is a qualified motorcycle mechanic, or a very decent amateur, and bounce questions of said person while we perform the grunt work. At some point I am sure that we are going to have to get profession opinion, if not service, and order in some parts and probably specialized tools
So that is our story. With rain in eastern Texas behind us now, we are enjoying the sunny days, and new-to-us scenario of Texas.
Adam/Farkles