Leaving the Country for awhile

[kjsett]

Hi all,
It has been a while since i posted much and here is why:
My wife and I sold our Phoenix home and have been traveling (hoped to see some of you this fall, but bike issues prevented it) some and basing out of our son's home in New Mexico (just east of Albuquerque). We rode almost 5k in 4 weeks mid Sept to mid Oct and just got back from driving to Washington state (borrowed son's PU and trailer) for another 4 weeks.
We will be flying down to Panama to do a 4 1/2 month look see and then return for a few weeks. With no retirement, this is completely on faith as we will be doing a combination of ministry and internet based business.
After the May 2017 return (ministry engagements and do taxes), I don't know. Probably return to Panama, but right now the plan is to travel and base out of there (economic reasons). I will be starting today to mothball both bikes till May where i hope to use them to go again to the Pac NW, but then either sell (probably her 97 Vulcan 800 as when we get bikes again I want to upgrade her ride), ride them south (not likely), or mothball them again for unknown time.
I am hoping we will get to continue to ride in the future in other parts of the world, but different bikes are probably required. I intend to continue membership here for the foreseeable future and will put a reminder in my calendar.
Till we meet again in the future, be blessed and keep the dirty side down and the shiny side up and keep riding as long as you can. We will see you on the byways of the world sometime in the future.
Sincere appreciation,
Ken (and Shelley) Settles

[Lucasind]

Thanks for the update on what has been hap'n in your life Ken . I know that we were all hoping to see ya at the Mid Atlantic Voyager ride in this past September.in Altoona PA....but I guess that was not meant to be . ..................Best wishes ,and stay in touch with the AVA family ! .........

[Mr Jensee]

It takes tremendous faith to do what you are doing without a retirement income. Just watch your back in South America, and take care.

[kjsett]

Hi All,
Well, it has been months since I posted (and almost as many since I have been on here). I met a Canadian and his wife for coffee the other morning as we connected on a local blog here in Boquete, Panama (Chiriqui Province, near the city of David). Turns out he had his '94 ZG1200 shipped down and used to be a member of the AVG (he says he tried to renew his membership online, but ran into issues). He has ridden it some, but currently is building a house and the bike is waiting it's turn for a new water pump (or a rebuild kit, whichever is appropriate). I will have to see about getting him one (if cost isn't high) to bring back in June.
Here it is, I am planning on leaving the US in early June to ride from New Mexico to the west end of Panama. My wife isn't on board with this yet. I will pull my trailer and haul what I need (and some of my music gear), probably crossing at Laredo, TX. Is there any interest in riding along (for as long as you want). Any one out there done anything like this.
I have started talking with people who have done this, or anything like it. I was able to have lunch at a TGIF (yes, they have them here) on Saturday. He and his wife drove down from Texas to here and had primarily two issues. The roads in Guatemala, and the border crossings in Nicaragua. I have flow in and out of Nicaragua and Belize (my wife has also been to Costa Rico) but neither of us are fluent (yet) in spanish. I will be arranging to have several multilingual friends on speed dial during the trip. Talking to Will, he bought a sim card as soon as crossed into a country each time to keep telephone working. He also video'd every official that talked to him. I will try to hook up with other travelers (car or bike) as I head south, but I plan on taking my time, never get in a hurry, and work on my espaniol as i go. With the trailer, I will try to bring enough tools, and a set of spare tires for it and the bike.
My wife isn't on board yet with this and unless she is an enthusiastic participant, I don't think I want her to ride her bike (97 Vulcan 800).
One way airline tickets are over $900 and add another $100 to $200 each for bags to haul my music gear and so that is the base for travel expenses. I will need to also "import" the bike into the country of Panama, but I am not sure what that will cost yet. We are in the process of getting residency here and on the lower extreme, the cost for the bike could be near zero (one import every two years). But naysayers think up to a couple of thousand. I am still working on getting to the bottom of that.
Other than the parts I want to bring along, I can ship things down, but costs range from $2/pound (200# minimum) to $7.65/pound (plus over size charges). They do have tires down here, but mostly Chinese made.
Needless to say, I will not make the Rally again this year. Maybe in a year or two we can have a Panama rally with the new Panama Chapter hosting it.
More to this saga later. KenandShelley on Facebook. connect@globalgraceoutreach.com or my personal one that this account is connected to. My US phone number is a VOIP (magic jack) so free to you: 360-989-9326.
Blessings to all,
Ken Settles (and Shelley)

[VoyKimmer]

You should go on adventure riders website and read some ride reports and possibly hook up with someone from there. Several have done it more than once and have experience.

http://advrider.com/index.php