MexTrek 2009 - Oct 14-17, Galeana, Mexico

[bigdon55]

Hey Bo!
I 've found you a spot to expand your Horizons.
Check out the link I posted in the RRR @ MTF.

[GTgirl]

Originally Posted by mlstults

Is it working?

Of course it is working! I keep coming back every year!!

[WEBFOOT]

To all Mextrek 09 riders........I will not allow the last fifteen miles of Mextrek 09 to ruin it for me.I had agreat time and enjoyed it greatly.
I experienced a tremendous get off.and will be laid up for a while. In spite of the remoteness of my accident,my very efficent riding buddies had a local there with a truck within ten minutes to get to a clinic in Arimberi.then secured another truck to take me to Galeana. The next morning loaded up my bike and gear gingerly drove me to McAllen
I cannot begin to thank all who unselfishy cared for me gave me comfort,fed me,obtained dressings and medication,all of you went above and beyond.
You are all truly unique and I will never forget any of you......
THANK YOU....THANK YOU...THANK YOU

Don Gil (& his family)

[bigdon55]

Good to hear from you Don.
Glad you are on the mend and in good spirits.
Hope to see you soon.

[primate]

Don, good to hear from you, a lot of us were wondering how you have been doing. I was the one behind you, and yes it was a tremendous 'get off'. I will give you a 10, and since I was the only witness, it will stick.

[AttoirRE]

Thinking of ya' Don! Was good to meet you, hopefully we'll see ya again in the future on another ride.

--Joseph

[mlstults]

Don, take care and get ready for next year. We may be getting older and heal a little slower but we have more fun than the average 40 or 50 yr old.
You are the MAN!
hosta la vista,
Martin
We don't quit riding because we get old. We get old because we quit riding.

[Dave Bell]

With the experiences of the past two years, I would be astounded if some 2WTx did NOT pitch in to help someone get back. I know Jeff and I deliberately took a truck instead of riding down so that we could help someone (maybe one of us) get back quickly and as safely as possible. I feel sure that is why Wayland and company took the truck and trailer.

I would also be pretty sure that I'll be back and I'll be in a truck again. Same reason.

Good to hear from Don. It surprised me how badly someone can be hurt and still appear basically ok. Same with Jim last year. I do hope Don invests in just a little more protective gear on our next ride. I've started wearing the whole Robocop rig. Those ribs get hurt too easy.

[jinbody]

A couple pictures from two of the local attractions.

[Pinklloyd]

Originally Posted by Dave Bell

With the experiences of the past two years, I would be astounded if some 2WTx did NOT pitch in to help someone get back. I know Jeff and I deliberately took a truck instead of riding down so that we could help someone (maybe one of us) get back quickly and as safely as possible. I feel sure that is why Wayland and company took the truck and trailer.

I would also be pretty sure that I'll be back and I'll be in a truck again. Same reason.

Good to hear from Don. It surprised me how badly someone can be hurt and still appear basically ok. Same with Jim last year. I do hope Don invests in just a little more protective gear on our next ride. I've started wearing the whole Robocop rig. Those ribs get hurt too easy.

Very good point Dave, those dirt roads are much more demanding, bound to be some slipups for anyone of us. Physical injury is a definite reality with so many riders at Mextrek. Those of you that trailer help the group iin the most important way- emergency extraction.

Pinklloyd

[speedtrpl]

Sorry it took so long to post-up...I totally forgot!

First of all....mad thanks to tricepilot for hooking me up with Tramadol and a heating pad after I pinched a nerve in my back the day we arrived!


Double-mad thanks to Martin and Pancho for keeping me entertained and inebriated Thursday afternoon while I was waiting for the Tramadol to kick-in.


Triple-mad thanks to the SUPERHEROES *I hope I've got everyone's name right* (Mike, Hugo, Jarred, Roberto, Scott) who helped Juan change his tire (seriously we would have been there for 36 hours!) on Friday because I certainly wasn't going to lift anything with my back the way it was.


All in all I had a FANTASTIC TRIP and look forward to seeing all of you again soon. I've got lots more pics of Galaena and some riding here:
http://s668.photobucket.com/albums/v...einer/MexTrek/

If y'all get to Austin, we ride every Sunday so give us a ring!
-Mike

[Vinny]

Mike & Austin area riders,

I didn't make it to Galeana this time (I was there in '08). I would love to join those Sunday rides you speak of. I live around 2222 & Mt Bonnell.

Vinny
'06 Wee Strom.

[cotton]

Don,
Glad you are OK. Even though I did not get to ride with you this year (my trailer broke down on the drive over) ---I had a great time rideing with you in 2008. Remember the nite ride back to Galeana-curvy mountian roads-deep fog with about 20' visibility?? My flat tire. WE had a GREAT time. Hope your recovery goes well.
Cotton

[primate]

Cotton, don't forget about your fuel problems, that added to the joy also.

[cotton]

Primo,
Fuel problem Fixed. It was the small inline fuel filter that kept the last 2 gallons of gas in the aftermarket 4.9 gal tank from flowing into the carb well. Bike would idle but not run at highway speed. After I removed the fuel filter, the bike now runs great at any speed untill the gas tank is completly empty.
Do not ask me how I know this. That is a rideing in the Florida sand story.
Cotton

[jinbody]

I tried more or less a lawn mower type in-line filter (bought at the spure of the moment at the auto parts store) since my bike just has screens in the petcocks (the manual say it came with an in-line, but it didn’t). Road ok for 30 miles then intermittently cut out and died at highway speeds until I stopped for a couple minutes when it would immediately fire back up. Removed it and problem went away.

Any of the Unknown route riders (or anyone else for that matter) have the story to getting a waterlogged bike started while on the trail without permanently harming the bike? I get the part about pulling the plug and bumping the engine to get the water out of the cylinder (which presumably comes in from the air box and carb); not sure what you do with the oil on the trail given all the wires and tubes that seem to also go into the crankcase and provide a means for water to get it if you lay it over for 20 seconds or more in 2 feet of water.

[miltonotto]

Originally Posted by jinbody

Any of the Unknown route riders (or anyone else for that matter) have the story to getting a waterlogged bike started while on the trail without permanently harming the bike?

Hummm. I'll tackle this.
1. Remove & dry the battery
2. Open the air box, drain out the water, remove & dry soaked air filter.
3. Turn the bike straight up in the air to drain the water out of the exhaust system.
4. Pull, the plug, crank the motor or otherwise turn the engine over until as much water has spurted out as possible.
5. Water in the oil, of course, shows up milky. On the trail there ain't much you can do about this. Pete fired up Wayland's engine and let it idle for several minutes with the hope that increased oil temp would boil off excess water. There definitely was a lot of water vapor coming out of the open oil filler tube. (Yeah, leave this open for a while.) The collective wisdom of the group was that of course you would want to replace the oil until it's not milky anymore at your earliest convience. That being said, collective wisdom said that water in the oil would cause rust, but as long as the engine was running there wouldn't be any rust.
Extra Steps that we didn't have to do (I don't think) would be to drain the carb. In a really sorry situation you might have to drain the tank. You also might have to remove the stator cover and dry it.

[Snuggs0802]

I've always read that inline filters must either be in pressure fed fuel lines (not gravity fed) or if gravity fed, the fuel line diameter and the angle/ length-of-run of the fuel flow must allow sufficient fuel pressure/flow through the filter to prevent scavenging of air in the filter.

To address your second question, about servicing a bike that has been submerged... it is necessary to check for fluid contamination by water wherever fluid is maintained on the bike;

Rule #1 with any engine that is suspected to have been submerged, is NOT to crank the engine with the starter. Pull the spark plug, then crank to harmlessly expel water from the cylinder, otherwise serious damage may result.
Water in the cylinder will not compress thus forcing the crankshaft around with the starter motor may bend or break the connecting rod & or piston.
Many times people are lucky that their starter motor is not strong enough to crank the engine hard enough to do damage &/or most modern large single cylinder 4-stroke engines have a compression release that automatically engages when the starter motor is used.
The compression release opens the exhaust valve a little to make it easier to crank the engine, and thus will also inadvertently provide a path for water to be pushed out of the cylinder into the exhaust system.

Keep in mind that the exhaust system might also be full of water. The exhaust system must also be drained enough to allow air flow through the cylinder and out the exhaust valve before and engine will run.

You can also get hydro-lock in the crank case if water completely fills up the crank case in which case the piston cannot come down inside inside the crank case. The crank case would have to be drained enough to allow free movement of the piston and crankshaft.
The good news is that water is more dense than oil, therefore if allowed to sit for a short while, water and oil will separate. Water will settle to the bottom of the crank case while the oil will sit on top of the water. The crank case drain plug can be removed, long enough drain out water, then reinstalled when oil starts to drain out. Check the oil level to ensure the crank case is not overfilled. Drain more oil as necessary.
Of course the oil should be changed completely (multiple times) as soon as possible after it is contaminated. Thereafter the engine should be run at full operating temperature long enough to evaporate any remaining moisture in the crank case.

Water can gets into the following areas as well:

Gas tank- Generally speaking water tends to stay out of gas tanks, but water is more dense than gas, therefore if allowed to sit for a short while, water and gas will separate and the water can be drained out the petcock (remember to apply vacuum to vacuum operated petcocks to get them to flow)

float bowl- Carburetors will allow water in through the airbox/airfilter. Remove the air filter and wring the water it out if it is a foam type filter. Gauss type filters (K&N) just have to dry on their own enough to be used again. Paper air filters will not flow air once they get wet, even after they dry, and therefore must be replaced or the engine will not run. Also remove the drain screw in the carburetor float bowl, or remove the whole float bowl, to remove water. Blow air through the fuel line at the same time (by mouth, not compressed air) to push water out of the fuel line and carburetor.

Crank case- Crank cases will take on water through the PCV vent which is typically routed through the air box. Water may also get past the rings once inside the cylinder. Water gets into the cylinder by flowing through the carburetor or exhaust system into the cylinder via open valves, either intake or exhaust.

I hope this answers your question to some degree

[izz]

Waylon,

How did the water treat your bike after you got home and all?

[waylandc]

I changed the oil, plug, recheck the air filter and did my best to re-check every thing. I am going to knock out about 200 miles and then change the oil again. The bike is running good though.

Originally Posted by izz

Waylon,

How did the water treat your bike after you got home and all?