Repair Attempt and Maintenance

We had two down days, back-to-back while we prepped for Nicaragua. Yesterday was a bit of catch-up; today was some repair-and-maintenance.

Parque Cabañas in San Marcos de Colón, Honduras, is very green.
(It also was home to a very large iguana when we walked through.)

Clutch Fluid

My clutch went soft on my back in southern Mexico. Upon looking at it, I discovered that the master reservoir was nearly empty. Not good. At the next fuel stop, I picked up some brake fluid -- unfortunately only DOT 3 was available -- and topped it off. Over the next few days, though, I would find that it needed to be topped of regularly to maintain functionality. At one point, I forgot to do so, and when leaving San Pedro la Laguna (Guatemala), the bike wouldn't go into gear without dying. No clutch functionality whatsoever. Closer investigation revealed fluid dripping occasionally from the slave cylinder.

Since we had a down day today, I pulled the slave cylinder off and took a look. Things were really dirty inside the compartment, so I got that cleaned up. Thinking that may be a part of the issue, I tried to clean around the cylinder itself. After reassembly, though, the drips continued. Looks like I'll be topping things off for awhile yet to come.

All of that dirt, greasy gunk came out of the space behind the slave cylinder. It's carried there by the chain, since the front sprocket is behind the gray cover in the photo.

Those who've been keenly following along might recall that the slave cylinder was replaced immediately before the trip. Hoping to get useful from Reno's, but they haven't yet responded to my message from a few days ago.

Chain Maintenance

Pretty much any handful of spare moments is a good time to take a look at the chain. I gave it a fresh lube today and then tightened it just a bit. It's looking good, still: no excessive wear.

Helmet Maintenance

After supper this evening, I also did a bit of helmet maintenance. The Shark EvoLine 3 I got before this trip is the first helmet I've had that comes with its own, proprietary lube for the gasket around the visor area. Really does the trick, though. When it's dry, it tends to bind, but when it's lubed, it works great. I also found that the tracks that allow the chin guard to move up and down work much better when they're kept clean.

Paperwork

We got our approved solicitud back via email, including the updated itinerary (12-13 June rather than 9-10 June). In an abundance of preparedness, we found a print shop and printed that baby out. Additionally, since recent border crossings have required originals and [several] copies of vital documents, we decided to knock those out ahead of time today. The borders all have an office to make copies (for a fee), but with these in-hand, hopefully things will go a bit more quickly tomorrow morning.

Research

Nicaragua is undergoing some pretty major upheavals currently. Generally, folks we've met have hailed it as one of the best Central American countries to visit; however, since mid-April, there's been a lot of strife between the government and its citizens, to the point that there are roadblocks in many major cities, and there have been many resultant deaths. So we're doing our due diligence and learning a lot about the local situation.

Useful information on the tranques (roadblocks). It will likely be impossible to avoid them all, but we'll skirt as many as possible. From all the sources we've been able to gather, the tranques generally have little issue with letting tourist motorcycles pass.

We've met up with two additional motorcyclists who are making a similar trek and wanting to pass through Nicaragua quickly. So now we're four. One of the add-ons (Steve), is really well-connected to the ADV community and has been excellent for travel updates through that area. We've also spoken with border folks and local folks. The roadblocks, to our advantage, take issue with the government and not generally with travelers. Additionally, we've heard that motorcycles are nearly always allowed to pass through the roadblocks. With an early start tomorrow (5 a.m.), there is an off-chance that we'll make it all the way into Costa Rica. Alternatively (and more likely), we're looking at an overnight stay somewhere in Nicaragua -- hopefully Rivas, which would put us past the majority of the strife (centered around Managua and nearby poblados).