Repairing a plastic fuel tank on the road

Cut a plastic milk or water bottle into small pieces, and put them in a can. Tuna cans work very well for this. Build a small fire to melt the pieces to almost boiling and pour it over the crack in the fuel tank, forcing the hot, gooey stuff in as far as you can. Smooth it out with a spatula or tire iron. When it cools it will have a good, strong seal and last for a long time. You can also fix cracked battery casings the same way.

Finding Rooms for Rent in Latin America

The best way to find rooms for rent in most cities, especially the small ones, is to talk to the women who work at the pharmacies and supermarkets. Another good source of information is the men who work at the gas stations. But the women at the pharmacies tend to steer one toward the safer lodgings.

Many times these rooms for rent are not official, therefore there is no sign out in front advertising that they exist, nor are they in any guidebooks. The only way you will learn of their existence is word of mouth.

Laundry Soap

In most supermarkets throughout Central and South America, you can buy a big block of glycerin laundry soap for about a dollar. This will last for months of washing your travel clothes at night or every other night.

Quick, Cheap and Easy Motorcycle Alarm

In the US, JCWhitney offers an alarm in their motorcycle catalog that clamps to the handlebar. I have used them on many of my trips and they work pretty well. One thing I do is let it go off for about ten seconds when I set it at night, so anyone watching with bright ideas will get discouraged and move on to easier pickings.

Here's a link to the little rascal

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2001372/p-2001372/N-111+10211+600014362/c-10111