It took the whole day to import the bike and thats a long time by the standards of the Americas (though Im sure its small compared to some places in Africa or central Eurasia).
I started out by meeting up with the other three riders from the Yacht trip. We then did the fifteen minute walk over to the dock area to meet Leonardo the skipper. It took about fifteen minutes to row each of us out to the yacht in the two person dingy and then another half hour to unlash the bikes and disconnect from the anchor (which was left in place and tied to the dingy).
Then there was a half hour to motor quietly over to a small dock with deep enough water to get the yacht right up to.
Then it was about a twenty minutes for each bike to get lines on it,winch it up, pull it over the side, lower it down and untie it. And man, that was surprisingly hard work!... The problem here is the heat and humidity.Its only about 35 degC but it really hits you hard. There is no way I could work at a high level of output here in the direct sun... You gotta have shade to work in, plenty of water to drink, and a pace that is only about half of what Im used to.
But the bikes were now on land and undamaged.
Next trick was to get them running. Three of the four had fuel injection and started up more or less at the first try. But the Tenerre was an older bike with carburetion and my suspicion was confirmed when it cranked over just fine but would not fire up at all.
After about twenty minutes of Yanik pfaffing around and trying to get it going, I felt it was probably now OK to make a suggestion...
And that was that I had had this exact problem last time I was here, and the solution was to simply tow the bike for about a kilometer with it in second gear (but ignition off) and then try again. We were starting to run out of time anyway because we had a scheduled meeting at the customs place for 2pm. So, it was agreed that we would tow the bike back to where the boat had been anchored and see how it went.If it still wouldnt start then we could tow it further to the customs place.
The rope was deployed and we decided to try towing from footpeg to footpeg instead of from front forks to rear rack.
I did the towing and the other two guys with functioning bikes rode as rear guards to ward off the other traffic. Yanik had his hands full on the towed bike watching the rope tension and staying in the right line... We set off, and it all went really quite smoothly. We only had to stop in traffic twice and there were no real incidents at all.... a few kilometres later we were back at the anchorage and when Yank tried, his bike fired up immediately :))) And the footpeg to footpeg towing is a really good system too!
OK so now the next problem is to find the customs place. So to sort this one out I put the skipper on the back of the bike and we go for a half hour ride so he can show me where it is while the others watch the dingy,the dog, and the yacht. This also goes fine, so now we have about fourty five minutes to kill. So the skipper suggests lunch nearby and we all ride about another Km through the little streets (mostly one way streets) with his dog galloping along in amongst us! It was a bit hairy there with the dog seeming to want to leap under the front wheel all the time but we got there... And had a drink and a bite to eat.
Then we said our good-bys to the skipper and headed off to the customs meeting.... This was a bit trickier since where I had gone with the skipper was not quite right and it took us about fifteen extra minutes to locate the correct entrance and get the bikes in, but we were there on time.
And the customs agent (Manfred... same guy I used for this process last time I came here) showed up a few minutes later. He disappeared off into the offices and cubicles and we sat around for a while. Then Manfred came out and took two of us in to see the customs guy... It took about fifteen minutes and we had to sign about six pieces of paper and that was it (Manfred advised us not to distract the customs guy with chit chat or to give any more information than asked for... The intent was to minimise delay). Then the other two guys with bikes did the same, and then the waiting began... The papers needed one more signature from the big boss and that happened when he was ready. We had no choice but to just sit around and wait.... And about an hour later the papers came back OK.
So, then we each paid Manfred $30 (I used the same guy last time I did this and his price has gone up from $20) and said good-by again.
Then we had to get Colombian third party insurance for the bikes so we (following directions) found our way to an insurance office and got stuck into more paper work and more waiting.It also involved side trips to an ATM machine to get cash to pay since they would not take credit cards. But, about an hour later that too was done.
Now, our next highest priority was to get the damn salt off the bikes. This meant finding a place to wash the bikes. The first most obvious place was very near but when we asked, they wouldnt do bikes (only cars), so I then went to the smaller place that I had used last time I was here (about 200m away) and we negotiated a bit of a price reduction for the four bikes... It was still a bit of a "gringo tax" price I think.
But, the bikes then got a reasonable washing... Though I think all of us will want to do it again in a few days if we get the chance.
And that was about it for the day. It was five oclock and I admit I was feeling quite pooped!.
So, then it was every man for himself, and we split up and rode off to our respective hotels for a shower and a rest.
But its done. The bike is successfully imported and insured... I can ride on now whenever Im ready.
