I've compounded some general information for driving through Central and South America. Specifically, it relates to cost of gas, oil, and general road conditions. First is a summary of prices followed by a more detailed explanation. Cost is in US dollars per US gallon where one US gallon = 3.7854 liters. These prices were what we encountered in 1997. The price ranges may be for regular versus premium gasoline. In general, gas is of good quality, and easy to find. The longest distance travelled between gas stations was 150 miles (250km), and that was in Chile. Higher octanes are available in most places, the only exception was when one town in Ecuador had run out, and only had what they claimed was 72 octane. Other than one time, 84 octane is the lowest we have seen while travelling. Leaded gas is much rarer than unleaded. USA $1.25 Mexico $1.52 Belize $2.50 Guatemala $1.80 El Salvador $1.60-$2.02 Honduras $1.23-$1.96 Nicaragua $1.73-$2.07 Costa Rica $1.75 Panama $1.36-$1.80 Colombia $1.05-$1.45 Ecuador $1.09-$1.28 Peru $1.81-$2.41 Chile $2.02 Argentina $1.48-$3 Regarding motor oil. It's available everywhere. Cost can be outrageous, or very cheap depending on country. Synthetic oils may be hard to find in some countries. Chile and Argentina can charge 5 to 10 times the price the same quart might cost in the USA. See below for details. _____________________________________________________________________ Mexico: ------- Gas is of high quality, and readily available everywhere. The only exception being in the Yucatan where distance between gas stations that are not closed, and have gas may be far. Pemex (Petro Mexico?) is the government owned oil company that owns every gas station in Mexico. Contrary too my thoughts on monopolies, these gas stations are quite nice, usually oversized with modern digital gas pumps. They always sell "magna sin" which is an unleaded 90 octane gas and denoted by a green sign (if you can't read but know your colors). A few rare stations (found in Cancun) carry premium gas which is a higher octane gas. Most carry diesel, and some gas station still carry leaded gas. Gas cost 3.10 pesos per liter (exchange is 7.70 pesos per dollar) Motor oil, and gear oil (transission) can be found through out Mexico. Prices can be expensive for import motor oils. Mobil 1 15W50 sold for 73 pesos ($9.12) per quart. Castrol 20W50 sold for 23 pesos ($2.88) per quart. I haven't been able to find 5W or 10W fork oil. Japanese motrcycle shops are common, however they only carry parts for the bikes they sell which are 250cc or less usually street bikes only. The most popular motorcycles in Mexico are the Islos and the Carabellas which are usually 300cc or less. The only BMW shop I know of is in Mexico city. I only saw one Harley in all of Mexico which was in Cancun. Mexican insurance is mandatory. There were signs all over the Texas side of the border advertising it for sale. AAA sells it in Austin and Laredo only. Despite what I was told, I was not able to extend my AAA insurance after I purchased it. Cost is between $1-$2 per day. Belize ------ Gas stations are plentiful and are either Shell, Texaco, or Esso. Premium, regular, diesel and kerosene are available. Premium is unleaded gas and sells for about B$5.00 (US$2.50). Oil is available from gas stations but is expensive. A quart of Shell Helix Ultra (Synthetic) 15W50 sells for around B$22 (US$11). Shell Helix Super (non-sythetic) 20W50 sold for arounf B$6 per quart. Driving style in Belize is much more laid back compared to Mexico. There is little traffic outside of Belize city. When driving in Belize and making a left turn (across traffic), it is the drivers responsibility to make sure that traffic is clear both in front and behind. Usually one will pull over to the side of the road allowing traffic to pass, and before making the left turn. Turn signals are used to indicate a turn and also for signalling one to pass. However, unlike in Mexico where the left signal is used, a person will put on their right signal indicating that rear driver may pass. Old Land Rovers (not the luxury models) are very common in Belize, and used spare parts are easy to find. Ford pickup trucks are the next most common off road vehicles. The road from Chetumal to Belize city, Belize city to San Ignacio is all paved and in good shape with little traffic. Other secondary roads are usually graded dirt, and can be very rough travelling. Some may turn to mud in the rain, and while likely still passable with a four wheel drive, they may be difficult on a motorcycle. There are no posted speed limits, however there are often speed bumps in town. It is possible to drive through Belize from Chetumal Mexico to the border of Guatemala in about 6 hours. Insurance is mandatory, and may be bought in the no man's land on the Belize side before crossing through immigration. Inside Belize, police check points will ask for proof of insurance. Tourist vehicle insurance sells for B$20 (US$10) per week or B$10 per day. If going to the Cayes (keys), the launch points are from Belize city. Because of the high crime in Belize city, it's necessary to leave one's vehicle in a secure place. Possible places include the Belize City police station, or maybe at one of the high end hotels secure parking areas if you spend a night as a guest and tip the parking lot guard. It may be better to leave vehicle at a hotel in Orange Walk or Crooked Tree and take the inexpensive hourly bus into Belize City (B$3 from Crooked Tree). Guatemala --------- 6 Quetzales US$1 This is the most difficut and dangerous to drive of central america due to either bad dirt roads, or on coming blind passing traffic on paved mountain roads. The roads leading from Belice to Flores are unpaved, and rough dirt/gravel. Same from Flores until 16km South of Poptun. Paved roads are in generally good. In the South and West through the mountains be careful for oncoming traffic passing around blind curves. Double passing is common even around blind curves especially when there are shoulders. One person will be passing another person using the oncoming traffic lane, meanwhile someone will be passing the passer using the oncoming traffic lane shoulder. Head on collisions are common, as well as vehicle graveyards that show most accidents from head on collisons. Chicken busses are commonly used for transportation here, and are usually a drivers worst nightmare. As with the rest of Central America, tree branches and rocks in the road are often used to flag hazards up ahead. Shell, Texaco and Esso are prevalent everywhere selling regular, premium and diesel. Regular 10-11.5Q per gallon, Premium is 10.5 - 12 per gallon. The more difficult areas to get to like around Tikal are closer to 12Q. Oil is easy to find everywhere Castrol 20W50 sells for around 12Q per quart (US$2). El Salvador ----------- 8.5 Colons: US$1 Outside of San Salvador, driving will certainly feel more laid back than Guatemala or Honduras. The Pan Am highway is in excellent condition West of San Salvador. Gasoline (Texaco, Shell, Esso) is 17.15 Colon (US$2.02) per gallon of Premium. or 14.35 Colon (US$1.68) per gallon for regular Honduras -------- 13 Lempiras = US$1 Roads are the best here than in all of central america. Most roads are nicely paved, some with shoulders. However, rock and mud slides are commonly found over the road. Occasionally the under side of a road may erode away. Cows and horses roam the highways untethered. Honduras has many very scenic highways that wind through the mountains; good motorcycle roads. Many towns have police checkpoints on the outskirts of town where they will check for vehicle papers and drivers license. Sometimes, they will ask for money making up some infraction for example seat belt. Helmets for motorcycles are required, and rumor has it that one's drivers license can be confiscated for a couple days until fines are sorted out. Unlike north of Honduras, there are very few speed bumps, however some police have radar guns, although rare. Shell, Texaco, Esso, as well as several other brands are available. Premium, Regular, Diesel are common. Premium unleaded sells for 25.50 Lempiras per gallon ($1.96) Regular unleaded sells for 16 - 24.50 Lempiras per gallon. Oil is readily avaiable. Penzoil 20W50 sells for 40 Lempira per Quart. (US$3) Nicauragua ---------- 9.6 Cordobas : US$1 Paved roads are fair. PanAm highway is in good shape. Motorcycle helmets are required. Shell, Texaco, Esso. Super 19.95/gallon Regular 16.65 /gallon Costa Rica ---------- 239 Colones : US$1 Paved roads vary in quality. North of Liberia, they're pot holed. Nicoya peninsula have fair paved roads. The PanAm highway between Liberia and San Jose is in good shape, however gets congested with trucks closer to mountainous San Jose. Unlike the rest of Central America and Mexico, few people speed as radar speed traps are frequent. Speed limits on highways usually range from 60kph to 90kph (37-55mph) Motorcyle helmets are required. Texaco, Shell, Philips 76 are prevalent. Oil is easy to find at any gas station. Mobil 1 15W50 oil sells for 2,160 colones ($9) per quart. Castrol 20W50 sells for 750-850 colones per quart Castrol Synth 20w50 915-970 colones ($4.06) per quart Penzoil 20W50 sells for 725-775 colones per quart Esso premium gear lube 80W90 sold for 640 colones ($2.57) per quart Oil is easy to find at any gas station. Texaco super unleaded 110.4 colones per liter Of quality motorcycle tires, the only brands that seem to be available are Dunlop and Pirelli. A good place to buy Pirelli which is well stocked is Moto Boutique, 1000 Sala Garbo 150 MTS Oeste, San Jose, Tel:221-1827, 255-4174. A Pirelli MT80 90/90-21 sells for 26,587 + 13% tax (US$126 total). A Pirelli MT80RS 130/80 R17 65H sells for 40,603 + 13% tax ($192 total). Panama ------ (Panamanian's uses US currency) $1.80 per gallon for Super. $1.36 for regular. We had some questionable experiences with gas quality. Texaco, Delta, Accel, Shell are prevalent. Oil is available at most gas stations, but if you're picky it's certainly more difficult to find what your looking for than Costa Rica. However, it's cheap. A quart of Penzoil 20w50 can sell for $.80. Selection of motorcycle tires appeared to be similar to Guatemala with Bridgestones and IRC being easiest to find. Motorcycle helmets are required. Panamanian cops use radar guns to control speeding. There appear to be more police on the streets than anywhere else in Central America. Some useful WGS84 GPS coordinates for Panama City: Suzuki & Yamaha N8d59.930, W79d31.997 Honda N9d00.828, W79d32.105 Yamaha N8d59.174, W79d30.846 Dimar(fork&air oil) N8d59.897, W79d31.120 BMW N8d59.378, W79d30.769 Nuts & Bolts Store N8d58.043, W79d32.497 Dimar was the only place I found that sold air foam filter oil. They also sold fork oil, transmission oil, and engine oil. The BMW shop had some more obscure parts, however they were twice what I would expect to pay at a BMW shop in North America. Suzkui, Yamaha, and Honda stock and sell 250cc bikes or smaller. Panamanian roads are for the most part in good shape. Relative to the rest of Central America, Panamanian drivers are not too wild, likely due to the police patrols. Colombia -------- exchange is 1281 per dollar Gas 1340 regular 1860 premium driving is as wild as Guatemala Ecuador ------- exchange is 4300 sucres per dollar and falling gas 4700 regular 5500 super sometime regular has claimed octane of 70 or 72 while super can be as high as 94. We did end up in one town where all of the gas stations in town said they were out of super, and only had 70 or 72 octane, however they had on hand octane boost for sale. Our 8.4:1 and 8.6:1 compression engines did fine on this claimed 72 octane. A Honda TransAlp we were travelling with also did fine. In Quito, the best place for tires is Clinica de Motos with a selection of Pirellis and various parts for jap bikes. They only stock some Brazilian Pirellis. They didn't have nor could get the German made Pirellis. They could get Bridgestone if requested. Osaka Motors carries Cheng Shin Taiwanese tires. They also had a BMW R100GS for sale there with a Bob's BMW (from Alabama) sticker on it. I thought it was interest to see how it had Avon Gripster tires on it, the most popular choice of North Americans on the BMW-GS internet mail list. Osaka was selling it for US$6,000. There are two BMW motorcycle parts dealers. One is Euro Servicio, and the other the BMW car dealer "Alvarez Barba". Although prices where cheaper than Central America, neither was stocked with anything much more than an oil filter. Moto Partes is on the far South end of town. They carry parts for small jap bikes. They do carry Thai made VeeRubber tires for larger bikes. Clinica de Motos: Luis Cordero 2235 y Av 10 de Agusto, Quito;Tel 505968 Osaka Motors: 10 de Agusto y Carlina Moto Partes: Av Alonso de Angulo 1030 y Cesar Chiribog Tel 660453 Euro-Servicio: Av Los Shyris y Rio Coca. Tel 454-261 Albarez Barba(BMW dealer): Panamericano Norte y no 10 de Agosto Peru ---- exchange is 2.7 soles per dollar Gasoline octane 97,93,90,84 is available with prices varying between 7.7 to 5.5 per galon Typical Price of gas in Peru 84 octane 4.9 Soles 95 octane 6.5 D2 4.2 D1 3.4 The PanAmerican highway is in excellent condition the entire length of Peru without exception. It traverses through the Peruvian desert the entire length of the country. Roads off of the PanAmerican may or may not be in good shape. While not a hot desert, one might want to consider what this may do to your air filter. Chile ----- exchange is 460 Pesos per dollar Gasoline is about 250 pesos per liter. It's cheapest around Santiago area where it may get down to 235 pesos per liter. The price of oil is outrageous. Non-synthetic 20W50 can sell for $4.50 per liter. The PanAmerican highway is in excellent conditions the entire way. Side roads are also usually in good shape. The caratera Austral along the East side and through of the Andes is gravel. BMW contacts in Santiago Marco Antonio Canales - cheap BMW motorcycle parts Telephone: 2835059 - call at night only BMW dealer in Santiago Williamson Balfour Motors Av. Vitacura 2955, Santiago Tel: (562) 2334044 Argentina --------- exchange is 1 peso per dollar. Peso is pegged to the dollar by law, and most places except US dollars as payment. motoroil is worse than even Chile. In Ushaia, I saw plain Shell (non-synthetic) for $7.50 per liter. Mobil XHP 20W50 was the same price. Gasoline doubles in price North of South latitude 42 degrees due to tax incentives from the government to get people to populate the lower half of Argentina. In Tierra del Fuego, gas sells for $.39 per liter. Buenos Aires BMW parts: "Avant Guird" Av Pueryrredon 981 y Av Cordoss OR GG ---- Dave Thompson thompson@pdnt.com www - http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Thompson Net-Tamer V 1.09 Palm Top - Registered