The story on being stopped and asked for documents....
I had the unfortunate experience of having a few things swiped from me
on a brief excursion into Brazil in February (I got too relaxed in Uruguay).
Among them was my driver's license, the title, and aduanas permission for
my motorcycle. I had a trip home planned anyway, and so decided to just
wait and deal with the hassle of getting a new title there. When the stuff
was stolen, I went to the police to get a report and to aduanas for a new
permission slip. Aduanas was very efficient and had the original one faxed
from the border at Chuí, which they stamped and sent me on my way. I
decided to fly out of Uruguay, as it was cheaper, and I had friends there
with whom I could leave the motorcycle (it is also the easiest country to
leave a motorcycle - legally - as they give you a full year permission to
circulate). On the way back to Uruguay, I was stopped by the Policia
Rodoviaria just south of Porto Alegre and asked for documents. I explained
that I had had them stolen and presented the police report. The policeman
was not happy with that and threatened to call a tow truck to have my
motorcycle towed away. In the end, I simply out-waited him - as I think
that he was mostly after a bribe - and he finally sent me on my way. Still,
it was a bit scary for a few minutes there, as I think that he probably did
have the authority to have me towed. Actually, now that I think about it...
I was legally OK with the motorcycle documentation (the stamped copy from
aduanas - as that is really all that you need), but the policeman pressed me
on the issue of the title, my driver's license, and (for only the second
time) an international drivers license. The thing is that the policemen
really don't usually know what is required, but if you happen to get a
stubborn one, he could make your life difficult. Really, I guess that I'm
not answering your question, as I did have my permission to circulate - he
did look at it. It could be that you're better off not getting one, as it
is the thing that really limits your time in Brasil (the fine for
overstaying on your passport really isn't that much - but for the motorcycle
it is severe!), but you will not really be legal without it, and that could
present some problems. I guess that I'll just have to see how things go
from now on - I'll give you a report at a later date. As of now, I would
have to say that, in my experience, Brasil is the most complicated country
that I know for overstay or for having your papers out of order. However,
this may just have been bad luck.
I'm curious, what did they say to you in Chuí when you tried to leave
Brazil without your aduanas slip to turn in?? Hey, if I can get by without
one, I might even give it a try!
The truth is that I try to stay a legal as possible. When I got my new
title, I made several color copies of it (which look pretty good) and have
them stowed about in various locations now. I got one of those stupid
international driver's licenses (which are only good for one year and you
can only get in your home country!!). By the way, if you decide to get one
of those, the ONLY places that you can get a real one are AAA and the
National Auto Club (you don't need to be a member of either one). All of
the other places (especially on the internet) are 100% SCAMS. Don't be
fooled! The real one costs ten bucks. There is another hitch... when you
get it you will notice that Brazil is NOT listed as one of the countries
that honors the INTERNATIONAL drivers license. For Brazil (and technically
Uruguay) you need the INTERAMERICAN drivers license - also ten bucks and
available at the auto clubs. If you are only going to be traveling in the
Americas, this one works the best. If not, you technically need both to be
able to drive in any country in the world. They are just a translation of
your driver's license and MUST be accompanied by your true license. As I
say, I have only been asked for them twice and got out of the situation both
times. I just picked the license up the last time that I was home as it was
convenient and I wanted to avoid any more potential hassles.
On your carburetors - your problem sounds like bad diaphragms to me (a
rip or hole in the rubber). It is a common problem as bikes age. Also, the
older type diaphragms don't resist some of the new chemicals found in
gasoline very well. The symptoms would be as you described. To replace
them is easy - you only have to remove the round top covers from the carbs
(no gaskets - the diaphragm acts as the gasket) and then some screws from
the top of the plunger. Just note which way the old diaphragm came off
(there is a tab on the outside of the rubber which fits into a slot on the
carburetor body and orients the plunger. I strongly recommend, though, that
you buy the allen type screws from bing to replace the phillips screws in
the cover, which become very tight and are often very difficult to get out -
resulting in stripped screw heads. The new screws will take care of that
problem once and for all, and they are cheap! You can just buy the
diaphragms or, to be safe, you can buy a full rebuild kit from bing or BMW
(I recommend Bing, as they have more options and are very knowledgeable).
On the jetting: READ THIS CAREFULLY AND TAKE NOTE BEFORE RETURNING TO
BRAZIL!!!. The jetting problem has nothing to do with altitude - that is a
completely different problem and, really, is not that much of a problem with
the CV carburetors used on the BMW's (you can re-jet for altitude if you are
going to be there for a long time or are going to really severe altitudes.
I did it, but it is not totally neccessary). For altitude you use leaner
jets. The problem in Brasil has nothing to do with altitude and the "Fix"
is MUCH more important for the well being of your bike. The problem is
BRAZILIAN GASOLINE which is VERY different from gasoline in other parts of
the world, and the "Fix" is just the opposite of what you would do for the
altitude. You need to go richer with the jetting... It is MUCH better to
have your bike a little to rich than a little too lean (within limits, of
course). The reason that you need to go richer is that Brazil uses a 25%
mix of ETHANOL in their gasoline - by law. It is gasahol. They sometimes
do this in the U.S. too, but law allows only a 10% mix because anything more
makes the engine run very differently and requires re-jetting. There is a
very expensive blend of gasoline in Brazil that will work, but it's
availability is VERY limited. You WILL find yourself in MANY situations
where it is not available. It is not that the gas in Brazil is bad (in fact
it is quite good), but it is very important to make the jetting change to
account for the ethanol mix of the commonly available (Aditivada) gasoline.
Ethanol has a different chemistry than gasoline and the mixture must be run
richer to combust properly. Otherwise your bike will ping on acceleration
and run very lean - causing it to run hot, and very possibly, overheat...
Not good!! I urge you to take another look at my last e-mail and consider
taking the appropriate jets with you on your next trip to Brazil. All cars
in Brasil are jetted like this (if they have fuel injection, it
automatically compensates). If you feel that you don't need them, you can
just carry them with you (they are tiny!). BUT I'M SURE THAT YOU WILL BE
MUCH BETTER OFF RE-JETTING WHEN YOU GET TO BRAZIL AGAIN!! I HIGHLY
RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO SO!! I don't remember which bike you have (as I
recall, it is something of a hybrid) so I cannot recommend exact jet numbers
to you. If I remember right you are on a modified R100GS. If this is true,
and you have the 32mm (factory stock) carburetors, then just try the jetting
that I recommended in my last e-mail. If you have a different set-up...
What I ended up doing was going up two steps on the mid-range (needle) jet
(not the jet needle - which is the pin that drops down into the mid-range
(needle) jet), and one step (from 145 to 150) on the main jet. The idle
jet and the needle clip position remained the same - the idle screw will
require some adjustment (richer) to idle correctly with the gasahol.
The above steps were made from the already slightly richer setup that I
was running before: Later model (after 1985 or so) were shipped lean from
the factory to meet U.S. emission requirements, and I had gone up a step on
the idle jet (45 to 48), one step on the mid-range (2.66 to 2.68), and two
steps on the main jet (135 to 145). The needle clip stayed in the same
position (#3 from the top). With this richer setup for normal gas
(recommended by Bing) I got the same OR BETTER gas mileage as with the
leaner setup (as hard as it is to believe - and the bike ran quite a bit
better)! What I am saying, then, is that if you NOW have the ORIGINAL
factory lean setting, you would need to go up a total of: one small step on
the idle jet, three on the mid-range, and three on the main (a number change
of five being considered ONE step on the main).
I know that this sounds confusing, but I urge you to share and discuss
it with someone who you trust before returning to Brasil. I GUARANTEE that
your bike will run much better and healthier this way......
Quickly, thanks for the tip on Gorge - the Ipiranga station owner. He
gave me lots of useful info. and invited me to his house for a churrasco
with other members of his motorcycle club - it was lots of fun. He's quite
an enthusiast....
Got to get out of this internet joint - I hate them!!!!!!!
Até logo!!
Que passe bem,
Chris
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