A perfect day of riding

As per a recommendation from Rudy and Marcelina (the owners of Hakuna Matata) we decided to take a pass over the mountains that pretty much dropped us directly into Cuenca. It's not a big pass on the map, but it looked interesting. We rode south from Hakuna Matata (and megan rode across the suspension bridge for which she was previously scared to ride) on brand new tarmac through twisty roads with no traffic until we reached the town of Mendez. Mendez, although still technically in the Amazon, is right on the edge of the mountains. It is a very quite town with no tourists perched along a river in deep valley.

We left the next morning and heard that due to construction on the road, it was open at some place from only 12:30 until 1. We didn't know where this place was so we sort of had to skidadle.
Up we went. Through incredible terrain with absolutely no traffic. The road was paved in places, broken pavement in others, and completely dirt in other (mostly where it had washed out at some point).
Eventually it turned to all dirt as it clung to the edge of a steep valley dropping several thousand feet to the floor. We hit the construction, but being on motorcycles, they waived us right through and on we went winding up moderately difficult dirt/ mud roads.
The roads had just enough challenge to keep us engaged, but nothing was so technical that we felt like we couldn't do it. Just the kind of stuff we came down here for. Yippee for motorcycle riding in Ecuador.

My stomach, unfortunately, picked up a little friend somewhere in the Amazon and we are currently battling it out in Cuenca. Jorge, as he is known, is defending himself by blowing up a big balloon somewhere in my gut. I, however, have Cipro and I hope that together we can exploit Jorge's weaknesses and force him out of me. It is a battle for which my role generally is that of staying in bed and watching movies.
Never fear, as I have been laid up in bed Megan has entertained herself quite well by hanging out with her college friend Kathleen. Kathleen and her husband, Fran, have a 1 year old who is beyond cute. Just look at the little bugger.

On to Motorcycle maintenance.
Part of the fun of a trip like this is getting in touch with your bike. As I ride along, I am constantly feeling for any changes. Anything that seems out of the usual. Then when I do feel something, I hope that either a) I'm wrong and just never noticed it before or b) it magically fixes itself. But sometimes you have to go to option c) actually diagnose and then fix the thing.
Front Brake: The brake issue from a few days back took route b. I did open up my brakes and give them a good cleaning, but I think what really made them work fine again is that they just broke into the ever-so-slightly new alignment of my front end after the firefighters looked at my steering head bearings.
Water Pump: This is something that I really was hoping was option a from above. This is the fact that sometimes when I ride, I smell a little bit of antifreeze. I sort of had convinced myself that this is normal and that the engine was just hot and therefor gave off a little smell. However, I am now ready to accept that this isn't normal and in fact is most likely an indication of bad water pump seals. It could also be a cracked head, but for now I'm going with the simplest solution which is bad seals. (Thanks to Gary and Jodie at RPM cycles in Ventura for helping me to diagnose this- what a kick ass shop).
I got online to f650.com and spent a little time researching what it takes to replace the water pump and whether I really should. After a lot of reading (f650.com is an amazing resource for anyone owning an F650GS single), I now know how simple the water pump on this bike is and that I really should have brought the part down with me. So tomorrow I'm off to try to source the part from Quito and have it flown down to Cuenca.
Fork Seals: Along with that part, I need to get fork seals since my left fork seems to be leaking a little bit. Again, I hope I can find them in Quito as well. [If all else fails, we could go by horse- check us out as cowboys]
Steering Head Bearings: An yes, I finally give up and will replace my steering head bearings as well. Option B from above is just not going to happen. Fortunately, I brought that part down with me.
Valve Shims: As long as I am at it, I am going to check the Valve Shim clearances on both mine and Megan's bikes. For me, this is about a 2-3 hour job per bike, but very gratifying because you have dive deep into the bike to get these puppies. It makes me feel like a real mechanic. I get to play with timing chains and cool things that go click click click. I even have digital calipers to measure the shims.
Spark Plugs: I've been carrying them, I might as well put them in.
Oil and Antifreeze: Although we have only ridden maybe 1000 miles since I last changed the oil, it has been 8 months and it seems worth doing. Especially on my bike which may (and probably does) have antifreeze in the oil.
[our horse back riding guide Fausto teaching us about local plants]