1. Flat tire repair.
Whether you're running tubeless or tube tires, you should be familiar and confident enough to change a tire roadside on your own. Center stands obviously make our lives easier, but in the absence of one, you should know how to lean your bike against a tree or find a log or rock to sit your bike on to be able to remove your tire. Breaking the tire bead is usually something hard to do when you don't have the proper tools. Place your tire under the bike's kickstand and apply slow pressure around it until you hear the tire pop.
In case of tube tires, always make sure your new tube doesn't have any punctures or leaks. Using gloves, look for sharp objects on the inside of your tire and remove them with pliers, place your new tube inside the tire and make sure you don't bite it with your tire irons when placing the tire back on the rim.
Use some soapy water on the tire lip to make it easier to pop into the rim.
If your air compressor doesn't have enough power to pop the tire bead, get enough air into it to get you to the next gas station or tire shop.
If you're running tubeless tires, find the object causing the air loss, remove it with pliers, clean the puncture with your tire repair tool, insert the plug with your plug tool and remove quickly, cut out any excess coming out of the tire. Double check for any leaks with soapy water.
2. Electrical malfunction.
The First thing you need to do when something electrical doesn't work or the bike itself does not start or gives any electrical power, is to check your battery connectors or terminals, vibration sometimes makes them loose. If they are tight and in place, next thing you need to check is your fuse box. Remove fuses one at a time and make sure the fuse bridge is not broken, you want to see a continuous metal connector inside the fuse, if it's burned or broken, you need to replace it with a new one of the same amps.
3. Drained battery.
Let's say you made it to your destination and couldn't wait to get off the bike to go check out that beautiful colonial town. You forget to turn off the bike key and your headlight drains the battery overnight. First thing to try is to push start the bike if there is an inclined road with a grippy surface. Open your bike switch into run position, put your bike in 2nd gear, let it roll downhill, once you get good momentum, pop your clutch and give it some gas. If you can't get this done for whatever reason, the next thing to do is find jumper cables and a car or a bike to give you some juice. If I need to explain how to jump start a battery...I am not sure you should be even considering going on an Adventure Ride on your own. Just kidding. Not.
4. Punctured oil pan or oil cover.
This one is not common, but trust me, you want to be able to fix it if it happens.
The moment that big rock gets under your skid plate or side engine cover and makes that horrifying sound, make sure you pull over to check for damages. If you see oil coming out, quickly put the bike on its side to avoid further loss of the precious liquid.
Remove your skid plate if necessary, let the engine cool off. Use sandpaper to deeply clean the surface where the crack is, then clean with some gasoline or degreaser. Use JB weld or any quick dry epoxy mix to cover the crack, wait until fully dry to place the bike back up. Replace any lost oil before starting the bike if possible, if not, ride to the nearest gas station or bike shop to buy new oil.
5. Bent handle bars.
If you get into a situation where you take a spill on the bike hard enough to twist your handle bars, find a tree, post or big rock, place your tire against it and try to push your handle bar to the side it needs to bend back, if pushing doesn't work, try hitting it with a little momentum, this usually does the trick.
6. Running out of fuel.
Well...what can I tell you. Get on your knees on the side of the road, put your hands together in a praying position and wait for a good samaritan, plenty of them in Colombia.
These are our Top 6 mechanical failures when touring around Colombia.
Be confident on how to approach these situations and have a worry free Self - Guided Adventure in Colombia.
If you join one of our Fully Guided Tours, well, you don't need to worry about anything. We will take care of any issues along the way while you sit back and relax.
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