Since the last post of the LAA (Latin American Adventure) the parts we were waiting for from England for the Tiger arrived in a timely manner and we (the Tiger and I) departed Antigua, Guatemala on Friday Feb. 6 and crossed into El Salvador. I stayed one night in San Miguel and was at the Honduran border the next morning.
I had planned to cross Honduras in about four hours. About 20 minutes before reaching the Nicaraguan border I hit a bad hole in the road and the bike died. It would not start. It was about 1PM and I was stranded. Within 30 minutes there were two guys that stopped to see if they could help. They spoke no Ingles and I seem to speak less Espanol than I did before I stayed three months in Guatemala. Anyway, another chap, that did speak broken Ingles stopped and he went and brought back a guy that was a moto machico, but he had no luck at finding the problem. After nearly three hours I was able to hire a pickup to take the Tiger and I back to Choluteca, Honduras.
In Choluteca I was taken to the Hotel Casa Real. The hotel is owned by Roger Misael Rodriguez Hernandez who told me he knew a guy that was a moto racer and mecanico. Misael treated me as if I was member of his family. At 8AM Sunday morning Ishmael came to the hotel with four other guys. They stripped the bike down and after two hours of not being able to find the problem the four other guys left. Not Ishmael....OH NO....he was obsessed. After three more hours he had isolated the problem using jumpers around sensors. What he discovered was a tilt sensor, under the rear plate near the rear light, was malfunctioning. He disassembled the sensor and found a half moon magnetic wheel that tells the computer that the bike is upright had been dislocated. Ishmael reassembled the sensor and the problem was solved. He charged me $300, which is an astronomical amount of money in Honduras. The vast majority of the population here earns less than $10 a day. I gladly paid him...for he had saved me countless dollars and days of delay. Otherwise I would have had to transport the Tiger to Tegucigalpa, Honduras or Managua, Nicaragua.
At Hotel Casa Real Sunday morning.
Ishmael just would not give up!
This is a shot of the sensor that caused the problem.
Ishmael after the job was completed.
I have always believed that mankind was basically Good and this adventure continues to affirm this belief. At no time on this adventure have I felt fear of another person. Life is Good!
The Adventure is now in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. San Juan is a lovely town on the Pacific coast. I will stay here for a few more days before heading into Costa Rica.
San Juan del Sur.
I had planned to cross Honduras in about four hours. About 20 minutes before reaching the Nicaraguan border I hit a bad hole in the road and the bike died. It would not start. It was about 1PM and I was stranded. Within 30 minutes there were two guys that stopped to see if they could help. They spoke no Ingles and I seem to speak less Espanol than I did before I stayed three months in Guatemala. Anyway, another chap, that did speak broken Ingles stopped and he went and brought back a guy that was a moto machico, but he had no luck at finding the problem. After nearly three hours I was able to hire a pickup to take the Tiger and I back to Choluteca, Honduras.
In Choluteca I was taken to the Hotel Casa Real. The hotel is owned by Roger Misael Rodriguez Hernandez who told me he knew a guy that was a moto racer and mecanico. Misael treated me as if I was member of his family. At 8AM Sunday morning Ishmael came to the hotel with four other guys. They stripped the bike down and after two hours of not being able to find the problem the four other guys left. Not Ishmael....OH NO....he was obsessed. After three more hours he had isolated the problem using jumpers around sensors. What he discovered was a tilt sensor, under the rear plate near the rear light, was malfunctioning. He disassembled the sensor and found a half moon magnetic wheel that tells the computer that the bike is upright had been dislocated. Ishmael reassembled the sensor and the problem was solved. He charged me $300, which is an astronomical amount of money in Honduras. The vast majority of the population here earns less than $10 a day. I gladly paid him...for he had saved me countless dollars and days of delay. Otherwise I would have had to transport the Tiger to Tegucigalpa, Honduras or Managua, Nicaragua.
At Hotel Casa Real Sunday morning.
Ishmael just would not give up!
Ishmael after the job was completed.
I have always believed that mankind was basically Good and this adventure continues to affirm this belief. At no time on this adventure have I felt fear of another person. Life is Good!
The Adventure is now in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. San Juan is a lovely town on the Pacific coast. I will stay here for a few more days before heading into Costa Rica.
San Juan del Sur.
