Where might be the best place to have a flat tire if not in the neutral zone between El Salvador and Honduras? No shop around and no towing service of course. Fortunately, I´ve got the skills and the tools to change a tire. Plus, there were a few truck drivers willing to give a hand so it took me only 2 hours to finish the job, down from half a day last time I did this. After this I deserve a picture with the truck! The lesson I learned is don´t be lazy and do the tire change yourself or else the cheap shop that is doing it for you might puncture again your tube…
Fixing a flat tire
The weapon of choice
So: in Mexico every security guard had an M16 hanging of his neck. Then in Guatemala it seems you can´t go very far without a maceta. But down here in El Salvador for some reason the weapon of choice was the shotgun. Wondering what´s comming next…
The Salvadorian Military Museum
This is the only museum we visited while in El Salvador. The collection was limited, but they had some interesting items: a numismatic collection with Saddam Hussein´s face on the bills, a Romanian military uniform (from Irak) and even a popemobile!
Shopping time!
In any vacation there is a time for shopping. That´s what we did while in San Salvador. A new pair of dual purpose Pirelli Scorpion tires plus 4l of Repsol 15W50. Then we went to a smal shop to have everything changed. A decision that I would regret, later the same day.
Thank you, Raphaelo!
Once in San Salvador we got to the BMW Motorrad dealership. Remember the ABS light was on since Guadalajara? Raphaelo, the BMW technician found the problem and fixed it in 30 minutes. I can tell for sure his skill saved our trip: only 2 days after this, while we were riding through a village, a child suddenly started crossing the road in running. I saw him only at the last moment, as he was hidden by a stopped bus. The speed was around 80km/h and I think I saw him when he was less than 5m ahead of me. Without ABS we (and possibly the kid) would have been history. I literally missed him by less than 10cm… Thanks again, Raphaelo!