No Return Ticket – Just a Ride Report /w Pics

[cavebiker]

Later that day 5 dudes arrive in a van from LA, California. These guys are fired up and ready for a good time. They’re here to fish but aren’t going out until tomorrow. While we were all down on the beach, a fishing boat comes to shore and we all walk over to see what they caught. Their hold was almost full of fish. The guys ask the fisherman how much for a few fish. About 5 bucks. The guys dig in the hold and throw out 6 Parrot fish. They bring the fish over to the restaurant at the motel and have the cook clean and cook them using their homemade salsa they brought from California. The guys invite us for some fish tacos, Veracruz style. The fish was excellent and these guys are super friendly. I don’t think I have ever heard a group of guys laugh so much while just hanging out.

HELP! What is wrong with our bike? Why does it start up again after waiting just a few minutes? Are their any mechanics out there who have experience with these symptoms? No indication of any problem then the bike just dies. Two incidents in one day now. This is SERIOUS. We can’t travel for 2 years in Latin America like this. We have been lucky so far. All three incidents happened with no traffic around and we had an area to pull off the road safely, but just barely. HELP……..!

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Another day in paradise
Our last day in Bahia de Los Angeles was another day in paradise. A slow morning, drinking coffee, reading and watching the sun come up while the fishing boats head out into the bay. A long walk along the beach with Heidi followed by a long brisk swim. Life is good. When I sat in my cubical at work this is the life I dreamed about. My mind is clearing, my eyes see with more contrast and my love for Heidi seems to grow by the hour. How long can this continue? It seems that with every new challenge brings a new high. I throw myself into the darkness of uncertainty and emerge into a new brightness and clarity that says to my soul, you are alive…..

The 5 guys staying next to us who are from East LA come back from a day of fishing around 2:00 PM. Mario landed a 30 pound grouper, Wow! He was more stoked than normal, and that is stoked! Mario had a cooler of marinated carne de asada and boneless chicken on dry ice. He creates a grill on the ground using 2 bricks and a grate. And we had one of the most delicious meals we have ever had. Que Rico!

Mario:

We are invited to join them for dinner along with 2 other guys from California who came here yesterday. Mario comes up to us and stares closely into our eyes and says “If I die from an accident or something today all this food would go to waste. I want to enjoy this food with you and Heidi” He is talking with real passion and feeling. He tells a story of how he was born in Mexico and at age 2 his mother brought him to the US to give him a better life. Man I gotta tell you that if the US was filled with more people like Mario and his family it for sure would be a better place to live.

We are all hanging out drinking, eating, laughing and talking philosophy until we couldn’t drink anymore. Encounters like this are a part of what makes adventure travel great. The guys from East LA refer to Heidi as their sister and make us feel that we made friends for life.

Bahia de Los Angeles, recommended:

 

[cavebiker]

We made it out of Bahia de Los Angeles and to Guerreo Negro without incident. The temperatures were cool the entire ride so we didn’t anticipate any problems with our bike cutting out. This helps confirm our theory of a faulty breaker inadvertently opening when it gets super hot. We like that, to say the least.

The plan was to spend 2 nights in Guerreo Negro, then continue on to Bahia de Concepcion and then Scorpion bay. While typing away we had the TV on and I noticed a weather report saying hurricane Ivo is heading straight to southern Baja, just where we are. In fact the expected landfall looks like Scorpion bay. Well we don’t really want to test our tent out in +75 mile an hour winds on a beach so we are holding up here in Guerreo Negro until the storm passes. We’re in a nice little motel with wireless internet, coffee and HBO plus for $36 a night. Dirty job but we are staying put until the storm passes.
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Bike problems: HELP!
Hey all, we are on the road in Mexico. A buddy of mine was trying hard to find out what breaker did what on my bike, I have 4 of them under the seat. I didn’t want to just replace all of them with fuses I just wanted to replace the breaker that controlled the ignition. Well, I bought a handful of fuses, 10amp and 15amp. Before installing them I did an experiment to see which fuse killed the engine. To my horror I discovered that the only breaker that would kill the engine also controlled the starter motor. The reason I’m freaking here is because the first time the engine quit outside of Yuma I tried the starter switch just before coasting to a stop. I think the starter turned over a little fickled but I do think I remember it Did Turn Over. Well if this is the case and the breaker didn’t just reconnect at that moment this would mean Its Not The Breaker. Ahhh! It just seems like I’m getting some type of divine help here. If my buddy hipster would have been able to tell me which breaker controlled the ignition I would have never tried this experiment and discovered that the ignition and the starter motor share the same breaker. So now I’m back to thinking it is something else. (Ignition sensor?) Yesterday we were at a taco stand waiting for some food.

A surfer dude came in to also and ordered food. We started talking and I mentioned our bike problems. He comes back with a story about his truck killing when it got super hot but would start back up after a long cool down. It ended up to be the ignition sensor. Wow, what are the chances of that, where did this guy come from? This is a common problem on BMW’s, blueglide88 thinks this is our problem. I am one lucky dude. Without all this help I would have no idea what the problem would be if it’s not the breaker. Several friends and inmates here have told me of a HD shop in Cabo San Lucas. Well it’s a dirty job but we decided that after Scorpion bay we are heading to Cabo to have the HD shop order an ignition sensor for us and probably have them install it also. Hipster says it’s a $120 part in the US, I’m sure it will be $250 down here (Ouch!) but it we get this problem solved here it will be worth every penny.

Hey HDtalking forum! Am I nuts or does anyone here agree with this diagnosis? Thanks for any help you can give us.

 

[cavebiker]

We’re making our way down the Baja. Guerrero Negro is a nice small Mexican town famous for its whale watching boat tours. We stayed at Hotel Malarrimo two years ago when we came through here with our jeep and thought we would check it out again. We decided that if it was $40 or less a night we would stay here. $36 a night with free wireless internet, we took 3 nights. That’s the window to our room on the left.

The hotel has a fancy restaurant attached but we prefer the small taco stands where the locals eat. This became our favorite place, about a mile walk up main street.

Tacos carne de asada (grilled beef), tacos de pescado (fish) and all the fixings.

I was busy on the internet trying to figure out what is wrong with our motorcycle. I received a ton of help from the advrider.com and XLforum.com community. This is huge. I had a theory as to why the motorcycle starts right back up after a short rest after killing. This theory was confirmed by several people from the advrider.com community. I also received several other ideas as to why the bike may be killing. Before getting all this help from the internet community Heidi and I were planning on shooting for Texas after reaching mainland Mexico to have a Harley mechanic look at the bike. Now we are again continuing on our original route with just one additional stop at a Harley shop in Cabo San Lucas to get a new ignition sensor part, a possible cause to our problem. While in Guerrero Negro I stopped at an auto parts store and bought a handful of auto fuses. I replaced the motorcycle ignition system circuit breaker with a fuse. The more I think about it the more I’m convinced that that is the heart of all our bike problems. Three times the bike just killed while riding along in extreme heat. Every time it started right back up after just a one or two minute rest, as if nothing was wrong. If the bike problem was a faulty ignition sensor or a faulty ignition module or a faulty ignition coil, the probability of the bike firing right back up after resting just two minutes in the blazing sun and heat I think is minute. My theory is a faulty circuit breaker inadvertently tripping and killing the bike while riding in the extreme heat. I’ve had at least five people agreeing with this theory without me mentioning it. I guess it’s a known problem on some bikes and a couple people know people who have had this exact problem. Still, I’m stopping in Cabo to get a new ignition sensor just in case my theory is wrong. Dirty job.

We are on the road before noon, shooting for the Sea of Cortez and some beaches where there is a lot of camping available.

Volcano Tres Virgenes:

Sea of Cortez:

We tool through the town Santa Rosalia. There is a ferry here that goes to the mainland. We were considering taking this ferry before we had a plan to fix the bike. Before hitting mainland Mexico we need to have customs clear the motorcycle. I see the customs office (Aduana) and try to get the bike cleared here. A very friendly and helpful woman informed me I can’t get it done here but writes down where I need to go in La Paz to have it done, the phone number and the hours it’s open. It’s a good thing we changed our plan to take the ferry here, because we couldn’t without clearing customs first.

Lunch stop in Santa Rosalia:

Tostadas de pollo:

 

[cavebiker]

Mulege:
I think this is a Mexican prison:

While driving in Mexico we see a lot of these little religious memorials along the side of the road, usually at a sharp turn. They are usually filled with little religious statues and candles. We think they are locations where someone has died in an auto accident.

Entering the town of Mulege. It feels like another world here. After riding along in dry desert and cacti then bam, palm trees everywhere.

Before leaving town we see a sign saying “Villa Maria Isabel - RV - Camping – Pool” We gotta check this out.
$13.50 a night. Looks good to me!

The tent is up in no time:

The pool is huge, clean and in a tropical paradise setting. We are the only guests here. Life is good…..

Heidi finds her spot.

Figs drying in the sun to become dates. I didn’t know figs came from palm trees. This place is loaded with them.

We were going to spend just one night here but it soon became apparent that we needed at least two nights to do Mulege right.
About a forty minute walk along the river to town.

We felt like we were in a scene of some tropical jungle movie or something.

Mulege really seems like it is trying to be tourist friendly. At a restaurant the waitress kept asking me if I wanted more coffee. This has never happened to me in Mexico before.

 

[cavebiker]

Signs in English.

We have a small cabin in northern Wisconsin with an old septic system. We tell family and friends to apply third-world rules to the toilet. They never know what we are talking about. Where Heidi and I travel we see signs like this all the time….

We see electrical wiring like this all the time also. Not very child friendly.

This place was a real score. We enjoyed late night dips in the pool under a clear sky with a full moon shining through the palm trees.

We are always trying to figure out ways to lighten our load on the bike. I have vivid memories back in high school of stories my father and older sister told of their three and a half month backpacking adventure hiking the Appalachian Trail. This was their first big hike like this and they had way too much gear they said. I’ll never forget the story of them chopping their toothbrushes in half just to lighten their load. Funny, but when you are carrying everything on your back, every ounce counts. Well, this photo is of the same pot my late father carried on all his thousands of miles of backpacking the Appalachian Trail. I’m paying homage to the pot by cooking in it one last time before we ditch it to lighten our load. I remember cooking with this same pot with my father on one two week leg of the trail we backpacked together. Sitting around the camp after a strenuous days hike, listening to my father tell stories never told before of being a frontline solder in WW2 in the Philippine islands. This is a poor photo but it’s absolutely priceless to me.

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Loreto:
Again we are on the road before noon. It is hot. Two days of riding in the heat and the bike is having ‘no problems’. Heidi gets freaked whenever I pass a vehicle, worrying that the bike could kill just as we pass, a valid concern. I never pass when I have another vehicle behind me. An engine failure in that situation could be fatal.

Bahia de Concepcion. This is where Heidi and I camped with our Jeep two years ago. The place is like out of some National Geographic show with birds and marine life everywhere. When we were here two years ago the part of the beach in the photo was filled with RV’s permanently parked under palapa houses, some were for sale. They are all gone. Where did they go? Did the Mexican government decide that no permanent RV’s are allowed on the beach and hauled them all away? That’s my guess.

Another beach with camp palapas.

We’re shooting for a village called Loreto today. That’s where we will stage before our last leg to Scorpion bay. From Loreto, Scorpion bay is under 200 miles but the last 30 miles is a dirt road. With our heavy load and knowing how Baja dirt roads can be this last 30 miles could take us three hours or more. We hope not but must plan accordingly.

Loreto is a nice friendly small town with a lot of tourism. We tooled around town looking for a place that looked like we could afford with good parking. The first place we went to looked new and over our budget but it had a pool and we were planning on staying only one night, so went in to inquire. The guy said they were booked up. I asked for a recommendation of another place. The guy said most places he knows of are closed up until October. He gave me a feeling that we were not going to find anything. After a long pause he did give me one suggestion but said “If they are open” What The Heck. We zigzagged around town and never found the place he recommended. Down a side street I see a sign half tilted resting along side a building on a corner “Hotel Palmas Altas ½ block -->” I was on it.

The office is right at the entrance and a woman was sitting there. I didn’t even have to get off the bike to talk with her. I asked if she has a room available for tonight “?Tiene una habiticion para esta noche?” “Si”. Then I asked, how much does it cost. Under twenty bucks. She shows us the room. We take it.

Hotel Palmas Altas. I park the bike right in front of our room.

After surveying the grounds and thinking about the price, I go to the office and pay for three more nights. O… Yeah.

Around 2:00 in the afternoon we were in the room hanging out. It’s a small room with just enough room for a bed and if you are sitting on the throne, there is not enough space to shut the door. Well, we hear someone enter the room next to ours. Heidi says she thinks someone is Doing-it. I say “No, that’s just the maid bumping her mop against the wall” Then we hear a female voice moaning in rhythm. 40 minutes later they are out of the room and the maid is in there cleaning. I guess this hotel rents by the hour also.???

The courtyard here is a tropical garden surrounding a pool. We set up for a day of hanging around the pool. I-pod boom box, cocktails, beans, tortillas and avocadoes, life is good. We have fun watching the couples come and go. It looks like some girls live here. The guys know just what door to knock on.

We saw this gym on our way into town. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, perfect warm-up.

The guy who ran the gym, Manuel, was super friendly and made us feel at home.

Stay tuned! Much more to come….

 

[cavebiker]

Last day in Loreto:
It rained all day our last day in Loreto. I guess it only rains about 3 times a year. People were out all over driving around and checking out all the flooding. Here are a few pics of our last day.

What is this thing?

We are out of here. Shooting for Scorpion Bay...

We headed out of Loreto around 10:00 AM just after the rain stopped. We were prepared to stay another night if the rain continued but luckily it stopped early enough for us to have plenty of time to make Scorpion Bay. We are taking the southern route. It’s the longest route but also the easiest with only 30 miles of dirt road to contend with. Still, 30 miles of Baja dirt road can be a killer, 2-up on a Harley Davidson Sportster packed with full camping gear and supplies to last for two years of travel.

Getting out of town was a challenge, flooded roads, huge pot holes, slippery mud and tight morning traffic. Every large flooded section I just hoped we wouldn’t fall into a big hole. We didn’t and made it out of town in tact.

Riding south from Loreto we came across several road sections that were flooded. Usually there was a dirt path on the side that paralleled the main road which was dry, or mostly dry. I was wishing we had our dual sport knobby tires on at this point. In Arizona we elected to just go with street tires because of the longer expected wear. I first thought we would buy a knobby near the Mexican border and haul it but decided against it because of our already heavy load.

We gassed up at Ciudad Insurgencia and stopped for a cappuccino. It was one of the best cappuccinos we have ever had. What a surprise, it was extra large for about $2.20. This would have been close to five bucks in the US and for sure not as good.

It’s about 100 miles to Scorpion Bay from this gas stop. If we want another gas stop we will have to go past the dirt road turnoff to Scorpion Bay for about 5 miles.

At first the road is mostly straight and in pretty good shape, then the road turned to sections riddled with large deep pot holes. I kept it around 50 MPH, throwing the bike left, right, left, right, left, right. I finally get a double, double poke from Heidi telling me to slow down. I had to agree. I was doing good and only hit a couple small holes but if I did strike a big one it could have been bad. Not worth it. We haven’t even been on the road for two months yet. We have a long way to go.

We came to the dirt road turnoff to Scorpion Bay and decided to just continue down it, thinking 8 less liters of fuel will help us ride the bumps better.

Killer washboards, big rocks and sections of deep sand. I’m standing on the pegs manhandling the bike. I’m glad I grew up riding dirt bikes on dirt roads in the northern back country of Wisconsin. Without that experience we would be had. I was so concentrated on the road I didn’t even know Heidi was there. What a champ, she did admit during our second rest stop that the deep sand has kind of been freaking her out. She asked God to help us. We would go into a side slide. I would press heavy on the pegs and goose the throttle. This has to be disconcerting to a passenger and was. Heidi said she was getting a sick feeling in her stomach. I assured her I would slow it down more. After an hour of hard riding we made it 15 miles. Sweeet! Half way, we are going to make it. We decided to slow it down even more. The theme every time we mount the bike is ‘Safety” We always tell each other that no matter what happens, if we stay safe and healthy we are going to have a good time. (flipen' click!)

A few miles later a miracle appears, we couldn’t believe it, PAVEMENT! We stopped, toke a photo, cheered, hollered and in our minds, jumping up and down for joy. How could this be, no one told us anything about any pavement going into Scorpion Bay. The pavement looked completely new. Are we the first vehicle on it? Is this a mirage? It wasn’t and we continued into San Juanico with ease. I kept it around 50 MPH, still in disbelief we were on pavement and savoring every mile.

In San Juanico we had no idea where Scorpion Bay was but just continued like we knew what we were doing. I hang a left toward the water as soon as the pavement ends again. We take a right when the road T’s and ride along the coast. A mile later down a dirt path we see the sign “Scorpion Bay” YeHaa!

O Yeah!

 

[cavebiker]

A few more pics from Scorpion Bay.
We planned on pitching our tent but a palapa was open to rent, we took it. The palapas are a lot cooler inside during the day and have a great view of the bay.

The palapas are comfortable, sleep 6 or more people but are a little expensive. Bringing candles and bug spray greatly added to our comfort level.

We were inside playing cards one day when a bunch of powdery stuff falls from the palm branch ceiling. We looked around on the floor and found a small tarantula. The first night at the cantina there was a huge one crawling around the floor. I guess they’re common here and come out every night. Whoa!

This guy practically flew right at Heidi’s feet while we were eating some canned corn and tortillas. It didn’t want any food but sure seemed like it wanted something.

The surfing in the bay was poor but people were enjoying the water anyway.

We took a long walk along the coast. This stretch of coast is all under development for practically as far as you can see. We were told that a few years ago plots were selling for around $50K. Now the same plots are selling for $80K to over $100K. There is no AC power out here or anywhere in Scorpion Bay. Any power comes from diesel generators, solar cells, wind generators or some combination. All the water has to trucked in. I’m sure this is why the prices for lodging and camping are expensive.

Scorpion Bay and the village of San Juanico originated as and still is a fishing village.

The fishing boats head out while it is still dark and start returning between Noon and 2:00PM. Standing on the cliffs overlooking the bay we can see what looks like coral reefs but they are actually huge schools of fish. Sometimes the fishing boats will stop on their way out and fish at one of the schools. One morning Heidi and I saw over a dozen Dolphins surfacing around one of the fish schools. It was fun watching four or more Dolphins all surface in unison over and over.

It’s been great here but it’s time to go. We want to try to meet a couple that are heading to South America, 2-up on a motorcycle when they come through Mazatlan.

The 20 miles of dirt road south of town didn’t get any easier to ride. I kept the speed way down which made the washboards easier to handle but made deep sand seem more difficult. Sometimes in deep sand we would fishtail from one side of the road to the other before bringing it under control. I think the greater speed causing increased inertia make the wheels track better in deep sand. This was not fun with my precious cargo on back but I kept the speed down anyway. If we were going to dump it, it would be a slow dump.

During one rest stop this truck with locals stopped to make sure we didn’t need any help. That made us feel good knowing that even out here in the middle of nowhere we could get help if we needed it.

The scenery didn’t get any less beautiful on the way back either.

Making it back to Ciudad Insurgentes meant we would be pushing our bike close to its gas range limit. When we hit the paved road we turned left to La Purisima, the opposite direction we needed to go. The map said this town had gas.

La Purisima is an oasis in the middle of a barren desert. Miles of fig palm trees.

No one was around to sell us any gas. I asked a woman walking down the street if there is any gas in town. She said “NO” but described a place where we could buy some. Then a police officer drove by in a truck and said there was no gas in town and described a place 7 or 8 kilometers out if town where we could buy some. We didn’t have a good feeling about finding gas so we just turned it around and made a run for Ciudad Insurgentes. I had confidence we would make it if I kept our speed down and held the throttle steady.

There was still water on the road but a lot less then when we came through here four days ago. No problem.

 

[Joyflyin]

For the record, I'm jealous. We have had our share of adventures and all, but man, this is just awesome.

 

[Joyflyin]

Never say never, you never know what may come your way. Opportunity knocks, I'm opening the door. But, DK, you are soo right, the lack of feul stations and such makes things scarier.

 

[cavebiker]

Hey joyflin & DarkKnight. Glad you are enjoying the report! This is great….
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La Paz:
Entering La Paz we tooled through town all the way to the malecon while scanning for any hotel that looked like it had good bike security and that we could afford. A few blocks from the malecon we found a hotel with a pool. The guy at the front desk said we could pull the bike right into the lobby. The price was $57. We decided to continue looking for something more in our price range. We find another place just off the malecon for $35 / night. The guy at the front desk there also said we could pull the bike right into the lobby. I said “If it will fit we will take it” We were too wide to fit and had to continue looking.

Heidi spotted a hotel on our way into town that looked like it had a secure court yard. We head back out of town a few miles and pull into Hotel Calafia. $33/night, king size bed, pool, restaurant and a very friendly feel. We are set

We made it into town too late to get our bike cleared through customs. The office is open from 8:00AM to 2:00PM Monday through Thursday. Bummer, we have to wait until Monday before we can cross to mainland Mexico on the ferry. We were hoping to meet up with Conchita and Brian in Mazatlan. If they are on schedule we will miss seeing them

Cruising into town we spotted a DHL office. We decided to send home our tent, bed rolls, one sleeping bag, my jeans and Heidi’s long sleeve hooded sweatshirt, about 12 pounds of load. It’s hard to describe the relief this brings. A lighter bike handles better, takes bumps and potholes better and is easier to push.

Before shipping the boxes out we had to get it cleared with Mexican customs. Luckily the customs office was just up the block.

I like the rule Horizonsunlimited teaches. Plan on achieving only one task per day while on the road. We got our one task accomplished and are now free to just enjoy the rest of the day, sweeet!

The malecon is only a few miles away from our hotel. We take off on foot and start enjoying the sights and culture of La Paz, Mexico.

Some day we dream of selling it all and cruising the Caribbean. Heidi’s dream boat is the cruiser on the left, mine is the ketch on the right. Our compromise is the triamaran in the middle. I could live with that….

La Paz

Heidi spots a bunch of Adventure motorcycles and some guys standing around them. We go over to take a photo.

I say “How are you guys doing?” “Where are you from?” I say “We are on our way to South America” they point to one guy, saying he rode down there. I ask if anyone is an adventure rider. I say “I’m cavebiker” One guy leaps forward with his hand out “I’m FlyingAvanti!” Unreal, this guy and his wife Sandy are like our heroes. They cruised, 2-up through Central America and South America and posted one of the top Ride Reports on advRider.com. I have posted to his thread several times and we have e-mailed each other.

FlyingAvanti was full of life telling us all sorts of information about our route through Central and South America. He is super sincere and offered to help us in any way through e-mails and phone calls. The whole gang was warm and friendly. We talked for a long time. They are taking the ferry over to the mainland and heading to Copper Canyon next.

We felt like we met a legend and let me tell you, he surpassed all our expectations.

I asked if they are really adventure Riders.

I guess so….

Cappuccino on the malecon, nice…..

Hang in there. Much more to come…