Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! 
Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to DAY 1 THE LONG RIDE IN
Day 1 finds all of us gathered at the 3 Palms Hotel(Presidio, TX) with bikes loaded and ready to go. Sixteen riders were originally on the roster but due to medical, home, work and/or various other reasons 13 of us make a break for the border. After a nervous start through Ojinaga (road construction and resulting confusion) we find the toll road to Chihuahua. My freaking bike is not liking the altitude and does not want to pull in top gear. Great, its only 320 miles to Creel and my bike doesn’t want to keep up. Billyj hangs with me and we make our way at 60mph instead of the 65-70 the others were running. I was told I needed 130 mile range. My bike regularly gets 160+ on a tank but not today......@#$%# as my bike quits going down a hill at 90 miles. I flip reserve and get another 16. The math didn’t add up and I was going to be short. I ended up adding two fuel bottles. I did not want to be the problem bike on this trip but it wasn’t looking good. We beat into a pretty serious headwind and a couple of others had fuel problems but a few tipped bikes and everybody made the first fuel stop.
Bikes fueled up and a couple of tollbooths later we reach the outskirts of Chihuahua. I’m bummed because the bike is running like crap but am making the best of it. Turns out that the route is running us through the interior of the city. Before you know it, the ride becomes a hare scramble event as 13 bikes try to keep up with the leaders who are leaving lights and changing lanes like its the Gumball Rally. Eventually, we made it to the far side of town and nobody got ran over by a bus. For lunch, the bikes got fuel and most ate tacos. Because my bike was running like crap, I told the group that I was going ahead as I knew that they would soon catch me. As the altitude got higher, the bike ran worse. On flat ground, I was good for 55mph. Within miles, the lead group make their way by me.
At La Junta, I got fuel and knew I had bikes in front of me but was wondering where the bikes behind me were. I waited 10-15 min but nobody showed. On the way into town, there looked to be an alternate road that bypassed the town. I thought maybe they had gone that route and was now way behind. I kicked the bike off and away I went at my slow as fast as I could go pace. As I edged southwest, the terrain quickly changed from the high desert to a more Rocky Mountain kind of landscape. Along with that change in landscape came a change in altitude and temperature. That stinking altitude now found my thumper chugging to a mere 45mph. I felt like a turtle running with a bunch of hares. The landscape was dusted with the white stuff they use in Aspen. It was quite striking. I was finding it hard to pay attention to the now curvy road because I was so busy rubbernecking. All of that stopped when I came across the ice on the road. Needless to say, the pavement condition in front of my tire became my focus.
Finally, I saw a sign that said Creel 65. Crap! 65 more miles to go! Oh wait, that is 65 kilometers. I did the mileage conversion on the speedometer and realized that I should soon be there. Margarita’s here I come.....or so I thought. Boy, Creel was bigger than I thought it would be. I thought how hard could it be to find 12 bikes in front of a hotel. On my 4th swing through town Bill waved me down to the hotel. There were only 4 bikes and I made the 5th. We were missing 8 bikes. I unloaded my stuff and paid Anna at the front desk. I shook off the chill and was trying to piece what might of happened to the rest of the group. I kept my ear out for the rumbling of the rest of the group. 10....15....30...60min and still 8 bikes on the road after dark. I was getting a bad vibe. Five of us sat down to dinner when I heard the bikes pull in. I’m telling you that was the sweetest sound. I jumped up from the table and ran out front and got my roommate Billyj unloaded. I counted to make sure there were 8. They were all tired but accounted for. Turns out that there was a flat and a fuel bowl full of sand that held up the group. Like good soldiers, they gathered around the sick bike and got it fixed. Turns out that this was going to be the theme for the rest of the trip.
As the rest found something hot to eat, I turned my attention to my bike. I rode a vintage dualsport on this trip. 1984 Yamaha XT 600 with 4100 miles on the clock. I had prepped the bike as had the others but couldn’t find anything on jetting my bike for altitude. It’s kind of hard to figure out jetting for 8000ft when you live at 600ft. I did buy some jets though. My bike has a two barrel carb. One has the traditional needle with clip adjustments and the other barrel has a constant velocity slide. I leaned the needle on the primary by adjusting the clip and hoped that was going to work. Finishing that, I went in and went to bed.
DAY 2 THE NEW PLAN, THE STAIRCLIMB AND ROGERS BIRTHDAY
Before we know it, the alarm goes off and Billyj and I get up and make our way to the breakfast table. There is talk about the rest of the scheduled days ride/mileage. Two groups emerge. One group(Irondawg, Rocketman650, Ray, Ian, Bill, Teeds and Skinny) are going on with the original route that Irondawg laid out. The other group consisted of (me tx246, team swaney (Roger and Jeremy), ta2240, Micah and Billyj). As a group, we decided to see more and ride less. This group adopted the "nobody left behind policy". We had a riding buddy and were responsible for each other. There was no hesitation on my part to join this group as I ridden with two of these guys in Moab last year. On top of that four of the six had been here before.
We make plans to meet up with the group headed out on the original loop later in the week. We were headed to Batopillas and the other group was on their way to El Fuerte via Batopillas. We left a few minutes before they did but they soon passed us as we stopped at the lake outside of town to visit with the Tarahumara.
A few pesos traded for some local crafts and we are on our way. The road is paved but has more twist than Sour Skittles. The bike is running better but not lean enough as it noses over at anything over 1/3 throttle. We all have a kick***** time doing our best MotoGP on the pavement. We all do pinch some of the seat foam off our bikes as ice still surprises us in the shady spots but nobody falls all the way down.
Soon enough, we are at the turn off to Batopillas. The road turns to dirt and we pick our way through the trees. We go through several small villages before the canyon breaks out before us.
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon North Rim, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and the Royal Gorge but this was something entirely different. From the top, the Canyon is green, deep, and full of views. The road flips on itself all the way to the bottom. We ride a bit, watch Jeremy do some rock climbing, take some pictures and generally just do a lot of gawking.
As we wind our way to the bottom, we come to a switchback that has a downhill shortcut and we use it to pass a truck. This little downhill will bite us later.
The little villa of La Buffa passes under our wheels and we are cruising and admiring the sights when we come around the corner to find Teeds standing beside his XR650r and it is evident that he has fallen. We get him on his bike and Jeremy gets it started as Teeds knee is tender. We put him in our lineup and continue through the canyon. Twenty minutes later we run into the lead group and return their lost rider. We head into Batopillas looking for lunch.
Roger heads for a previous destination. He soon finds it and negotiates for lunch. Lunch is at Reyna's house.....not resturante....but house as in her kitchen. The cheese enchiladas go down as easy as the Cokes. We make a date for breakfast and continue through town in search of gas. It is here that we run into the other group and find out that Skinny's brand new Husky just popped its CDI. That makes two out of the first group (one mechanical/one physical) looking for a way to the border.
We head back to our hotel just outside of town. It is above the road and just gorgeous. Roger negotiates and all of us pay up after making sure there is plenty of frio cerveza.
Everybody gets cleaned up and goes into town to find the lady who has silver jewelry. I stay behind to work on the XT. I adjust the back drum brake and pop in the leaner secondary jet. This ended up being the ticket to making the XT sing later at altitude and on the way home. Then its up to the room and take a quick nap. I hear the rumble of bikes and walk out to the rail. During negotiations, Roger makes sure it is ok for us to bring our bikes up into the courtyard at the top of the stairs. Let the great stair climb begin. There are four flights and some clear it and some don’t. I don’t but hop off and run it the rest of the way up.
Turns out that it is Roger's birthday. We didn’t have any cake but we had beer and limes. We sat out on the veranda and got into the spirit of things. Some of us got "more" into the spirit of things. Before long, we were serving ourselves and the bottles were stacking up along the wall.
This is Micah telling us how much he likes beer.
Birthday boy giving us the First Down Move.
Jeremy trying to take Tims beer.
Jeremy ends up having the more fun than the rest of us. He ended up feeling guilty and tried to give some his fun back. The lime tree accepted it as well as the dog. We have pictures but due to graphic content, we will be leaving those out.
Six of us knocked off 41 Sols. We settle some dysfunctional family issues and generally have a large time until the bar cooler had nothing left. We shared this hotel with one newlywed couple. Being tired and out of beer, the noise level drops as we retire to our rooms. Snoring starts up as soon as the lights go out.
DAY 3 THE CHURCH, THE WATERPUMP AND THE 8 BALL
Day three has us packed and headed down the stairs on motorcycles. It’s off to Reyna’s for breakfast. My stomach had been giving me problems so opted for some bland scrambled eggs while everybody else had huevos mexicali. It sure looked good. After breakfast, it was off to Satevo and to look at the "Lost Church". We soon find it as Billyj had been there before. There were kids in the courtyard and we handed out suckers and tootsie rolls. The church was unlocked for us and we admired the building inside and out. A stop that was very worthwhile. We headed back into town to get fuel and head back out of the Canyon the way we came in.
Kids eating our candy at the Church.
We then ran into the Group that was supposed to be in El Fuerte yesterday. We chat a bit and they head off as they are already a day behind. We run into downed riders Teeds and Skinny at Hotel Mary's in the plaza. They have not secured rides back to Creel as of yet but are making phone calls. Billyj offers to look for a truck but they are sure there is nothing going out today, as it is Sunday. Billyj is fluent in Spanish and looking back we should have found them a ride.
We fall into formation and give high fives to all of the kids as we ride out of town. Soon we have run the length of the canyon and cross the bridge.
Break at the bridge.
Looking back towards La Buffa.
It is straight up from here and we arrive at the little switchback shortcut which is now a challenging uphill instead of downhill. I watch Jeremy think about it as he circles by it. I race up to the top to take pictures. As I get to the topside via the road, I see Billyj make it up. I’m looking down and see Micah's bike on its side. This could be bad as ta2240 is waving for us to come back down.
It is bad as the bike fell hard on the right side and drove the bash plate into the waterpump cover. It is now in thirty odd pieces. Roger has that "you *****clowns" look going on. Before we could even get tools out, we hear the rumble of a vehicle on this very lightly traveled road. It looks like an empty stakebed truck and we wave it down. Out hops the driver and an occupant. A 50ish clean-cut cowboy surveys the situation and talks with Billyj. He agrees to get the bike to the pavement but cant haul us to Creel as they need to go to Parral, which is in the opposite direction. The 6 of us hand load the mortally wounded DRZ into the back of the truck and Micah is tying the bike down as best he could. While that is going on cowboy admires Rogers mini vise grips. Roger responds with "you keep". The friendly cowboy is conversing as best he can when he whips out a bag and offers us something that is illegal in these United States. Each of us politely decline as he sticks his key into the stuff and snorts it off his key. We are laughing and in shock. Micah is unaware of what just happened and we decide he probably doesn’t need to know. Micah plans on riding in the back with his bike but we insist he ride up front and take his helmet with him. You see, ta2240 and Roger are LEO in the US and ta2240 said holy @$#$, that was an 8 ball which is slang for a very large personal stash. We mount our bikes and take off up the hill.
We beat the truck to the pavement junction and get something to drink. It isn’t long and the truck pulls into the store. Before we can unload the bike, we find another truck that is heading to Creel. Friendly Cowboy gets us all hooked up and tied down in the new truck. Friendly Cowboy is cutting lengths of rope to tie the bike in the new truck but is having trouble with his smaller type knife. Roger whips out a nice SO knife and tells Friendly to keep it. We ask Micah about his ride up the canyon and he proceeds to tell us a story. Friendly made a comment about Micah’s sunglasses, which were red lenses. Micah told him "you try" as he handed them to him. Friendly put them on and looked in the mirror. Micah then replies "Ohhhh El Diablo!" and they both got a laugh. Friendly then asked how much Micah paid in US for them because he wanted to buy them. Micah insisted he keep them and didn’t want any money. Friendly pulled his wallet out and said " Me No Bandito!" Micah convinced him it was gift for getting him to the road.
Creel is still there and we make it back to Hotel Margarita's. Same routine as we unload, clean up, and look for beer before dinner. Micah and bike arrive and we unload. We consider our options and decide our best bet is to have a water pump cover pulled from a buddy's bike and have it overnighted. Turns out fastest delivery to Creel from Houston is 6 days. Next best alternative is to have it shipped to Chihuahua in 2 days. That is what is decided on and phone calls are made. Thanks to all that made that happen(Michah's wife and greasemonkey). We go to a restaurant and end the day thanking our lucky stars with all things considered. I make my way to an internet cafe and let the family know that I'm still alive. I get back to the room and Jeremy has started the surgery on the cover.
Fankencover
We are missing several significant pieces but the seal portion is intact. He has started with JB Weld and has most of the pieces together. I whip out my tools and pull apart my feeler gauges. The brass one makes a nice addition to the Frankencover. In the morning, Jeremy and Billyj look for anything remotely looking like a bike shop with no luck. They do return with rtv silicone. We sealed the inside with the rtv and added a layer of moose putty on the outside. Hey! A can of spray paint and it would look factory.
DAY 4 TO SNOW OR NOT TO SNOW TO THE FALLS
Originally, the plan had us going to Urique today but with Micah’s still hardening and untested Frankencover, we decided to head to the Basisahchi Falls instead which was supposed to be an hour and a half from Creel. Earlier this morning, Teeds and Skinny showed up with their bikes. Roger had already secured a ride to the border from Creel the previous night. IF YOU ARE EVER IN TROUBLE IN THIS AREA, FIND CEASAR AT MARGURITAS! This guy gets it done and speaks excellent English. He also manages a hotel in most every town. Back to the day's adventure......We decide to ride to the falls but had one bike down but there was a healthy 650r that just arrived (Teeds). I agreed to ask Teeds if we could use the bike for the day as his knee was keeping him out of action. The thought occurred to me as Micah and I were walking up the sidewalk that Skinny too was physically able to ride and this would be his last chance at riding as he and Teeds were leaving for the border in the morning. Micah agreed that we should offer the ride to Skinny but he would take it if Skinny didn’t want it. Teeds offered the BRP faster than I could ask. It took some convincing, but Skinny finally took the ride. Skinny has a bum ankle so he would ride Billyj’s ATK and Billyj would ride Teeds BRP. Micah spent the afternoon with Teeds while we made a late start to the falls.
Boy, you could tell right away that this road is slated for pavement, as there had been considerable widening and work done in the first 15 miles or so. It wasn’t long before we were in the snow/ice/mud all at once.
Progress was made but it was late in the afternoon. We found some locals and asked how much more and we were informed that it was another 15 miles. Nobody wanted to be on icy pavement in the dark, so we reluctantly turned around and made our way back to Creel. Everybody was filthy but had a good ride. We would have to return another day. Again more food and some beers with Caesar finish off the evening. Caesar sits with us and gives us some information about where to ride the next day and we make arrangements at another one of his hotels for the next days ride.
DAY 5 TO URIQUE I SAY
It is a new day and we are headed to Urique. Only Billyj has been there so it will be some new territory for the most of us. We wave bye to Creel again and head toward Divisidaro. Before there we head to one of Caesar’s recommended turnouts and boy was it spectacular. Several canyons were visible from this vantage point. We soon took our pictures and headed into town.
Billyj made friends wherever we went. This time they were from Latvia and had been on the train to Los Moches. Not long after leaving town, the road turns to dirt and there is a military checkpoint. Billyj does his dumb gringo act and they wave us through. The road runs through a higher canyon and it is quite beautiful if not a bit busier than other dirt roads we have been on. We see several tunnels and rail bridges that the train uses along this road. We follow the river for miles and actually have to cross without aid of a bridge. We make it to Boachivio and have lunch.
billyji outside the restaruant.
This time its Carne Asada and it is quite the treat followed by a couple of frescas. It’s later in the afternoon and we are headed to the motel for which we have a letter to hand to a Paco y Christina in a small pueblo that is well before Urique. We find the hotel and it is closed up but from the outside it is fantastic. The main lodge is literally perched on a private canyon. There is a 5ft walkway across the front of the Lodge and after that is some serious air.
Inside the lodge is a center fireplace that has a good 10 ft opening on both sides. It isn’t long before Paco y Christina show up and get things going. Hot water heaters fired up/fires built/and dinner started are all a going. We sit in front of the fireplace and start draining Tecates.
Dinner is served and it is delicious. We retire to our rooms, which are ridiculous. In the States, the only way I could get close to one of these rooms is if I worked there. They are that nice.
Roger does have a problem in his room as he turns back the sheet to find a big iguana in the middle of his bed. The help come in armed with brooms and herd the critter outside. I sleep like a rock once again.
DAY 6 SMOKING BRAKES, STILL HOTTER SAUCE AND THE GREAT MEXICAN ROAD RACE
We wake up short of Urique but climb out of our palatial digs and load up as breakfast awaits us in Urique. Within miles, we are at the top of the canyon and it takes our breath away. It is stunning in scale and beauty. The road is dangerous as witnessed by the many roadside memorials. We pick our way down in the early morning light. The road was like a pile of spaghetti all the way down. There is so much to look at, that we almost forget to steer.
Thats Urique in the bottom of the canyon.
We see the town long before we get to it. The sides of the canyons are carpeted in green. All of the farming is old school and done by hand as is road maintenance. We go a long way before we see the first inhabitants of this magical place. Always friendly, they wave, as do we. Two thirds of the way down, everybody has pretty much lost their back brake due to overuse. I learned my lesson going to Batopillas and relied on engine braking most of the way down. Finally, we descend the final 1000ft or so and find ourselves at the literal front door of the town. We cross the threshold and make our way to the plaza. We pull up to a place where a nice KLR is backed against the curb. We meet Kevin inside and find out has been out since the first of Dec and planned to be back in Idaho the first of May. We tell him of our travels and he shares with us what he has seen. Breakfast is ordered. She rattles off egg choices and the one that caught my ear was "camarones" which means shrimp. Yeah gimmie that por favor. Micah tried it too. It turned out to be my killer breakfast of the trip. There was a seedy looking hot sauce in the middle of the table. I warned Roger as he smeared a bunch on his first tortilla. He sampled it and I swear his eyes bugged out the same time ta2240 was coughing and looking for another drink. A little dab will do ya. We finish up and pay. We roll through town and make good with the kids. Its too short and we are headed back up the canyon. This time we stop at an overlook and stare at what is indescribable at best. Helmets strapped back on, we head back up the Copper Canyon. We travel back towards Creel on the same route we came into Urique.
The military checkpoint is still there before Divisidaro. This time there are more soldiers and an older looking Senior Officer is heading today’s crew. He pulls us over and Billyj is doing the stupid gringo routine again. Captain asks where have we been and we tell him. Captain asks "druggas?' while making the classic weed puff. No. Says our translator. Captain starts barking carrera, carrera! and pointing to each bike individually. Then it dawns on me. He wants us do a motostart!! We line up and give him a show. Slowing down a half mile later, we are laughing our heads off as we head into town. Creel shows up through my goggles in the late afternoon and we check in for the last time at Margarita's. This time we crash the bar on the corner and drink quite a bit before dinner. The group of five that left us days before have arrived with one less. They lost Irondawg due to a backed out sprocket bolt that ended up riding the chain all the way to the case resulting in catastrophic failure. He/bike were headed to Chihuahua via train and then to Presidio on truck. We all got caught up with each other’s rides. Some went back to the bar and because that was me, I don’t know what the others did. Reports from home indicated that cold, wet weather was on the way. A vote was taken and we decided to make a break for the Texas border while the weather was good.
DAY 7 RAIN OR SHINE HOME BY NINE.....MAYBE
We awoke find drizzle outside the window. That meant raingear for the day......yech. After breakfast, the long haulers group decided to head out to the falls and continue with the original route. We said our good byes and made our way out of Creel for the last time. The first 60 miles were wet and cold but it soon stopped raining. The canyon outside Creel was beautiful too. Coutomec came and went and we found ourselves in Chihuahua in the early afternoon and feeling good about it when it started raining again. But this time it was only raining under Micah's DRZ. Uh Oh. The Frankencover had let go. We pulled up on a wide sidewalk and Roger did his best taxi call. Before Micah could get his helmet off he and Billyj were stuffed into a cab and off to the DHL office where there should be a part waiting on them. Jeremy and I hung out with the bikes while Roger and ta2240 went to the tienda. Ta2240 brought me an oversize chocolate Hershey bar, which hit the spot as I had been having withdrawals. There was a possibility that the part had got hung up in customs and would not be there but we were confident. Thirty minutes later, the cab rolled out with two thumbs up sticking out the window. Faster than you say teamwork, the part was on and we were adding water. Bye bye Chihuahua. Got last gas and cleared the last tollbooth when we heard it. Hisssssss. It was coming from Billyj's ATK back tire. A nice nail was pulled from the well-worn tire. A quick shot of air and the slime didn’t seal it so a tube change was in order. Tire expert ta2240 handled the tube change like the pro he his. If a flat was going to happen, that was the best place for it. It was done in last light and I hope somebody got a picture or two. Loaded up, we headed toward the Texas border in the dark. The miles quickly passed and there was Ojinaga. A quick check in with the Mexican authorities cleared our vehicle permits and soon we were stateside. A quick flash of our passports and we were back at the 3 Palms looking for showers, food, beer and Tony. We soon found all four. More stories and updates on the riders followed but soon it was time load up on the trailers for quick getaways in the am. Before turning in, we said our goodbyes and thanked each other for the ride.
DAY 8 HOME
Uneventful was the race to DFW. It was close though. The temperature dropped quickly and we flirted with freezing temps for the last 4 hours home. As always, its good to make it home.
EPILOGUE ROGER IN MY REARVIEW ......TIM IN FRONT OF ME
Just wanted to say thanks to all of my teammates on this ride. It was a good feeling knowing someone had my back and I had theirs. My roommate for the trip was somebody I had met just hours ago, but soon found out cut from similar cloth. Everybody contributed in some way to make my Mexico experience greater than I could have ever hoped. Riding is a very individual thing but can be rewarding in a group environment. We never got lost and never lost a rider. We never went too slow nor too fast. We all got along and in a group of six, that is saying something. I can’t wait to do it again.
PICTURES PENDING IF I CAN FIGURE OUT THE SMUGMUG THING.
Day 1 finds all of us gathered at the 3 Palms Hotel(Presidio, TX) with bikes loaded and ready to go. Sixteen riders were originally on the roster but due to medical, home, work and/or various other reasons 13 of us make a break for the border. After a nervous start through Ojinaga (road construction and resulting confusion) we find the toll road to Chihuahua. My freaking bike is not liking the altitude and does not want to pull in top gear. Great, its only 320 miles to Creel and my bike doesn’t want to keep up. Billyj hangs with me and we make our way at 60mph instead of the 65-70 the others were running. I was told I needed 130 mile range. My bike regularly gets 160+ on a tank but not today......@#$%# as my bike quits going down a hill at 90 miles. I flip reserve and get another 16. The math didn’t add up and I was going to be short. I ended up adding two fuel bottles. I did not want to be the problem bike on this trip but it wasn’t looking good. We beat into a pretty serious headwind and a couple of others had fuel problems but a few tipped bikes and everybody made the first fuel stop.
Bikes fueled up and a couple of tollbooths later we reach the outskirts of Chihuahua. I’m bummed because the bike is running like crap but am making the best of it. Turns out that the route is running us through the interior of the city. Before you know it, the ride becomes a hare scramble event as 13 bikes try to keep up with the leaders who are leaving lights and changing lanes like its the Gumball Rally. Eventually, we made it to the far side of town and nobody got ran over by a bus. For lunch, the bikes got fuel and most ate tacos. Because my bike was running like crap, I told the group that I was going ahead as I knew that they would soon catch me. As the altitude got higher, the bike ran worse. On flat ground, I was good for 55mph. Within miles, the lead group make their way by me.
At La Junta, I got fuel and knew I had bikes in front of me but was wondering where the bikes behind me were. I waited 10-15 min but nobody showed. On the way into town, there looked to be an alternate road that bypassed the town. I thought maybe they had gone that route and was now way behind. I kicked the bike off and away I went at my slow as fast as I could go pace. As I edged southwest, the terrain quickly changed from the high desert to a more Rocky Mountain kind of landscape. Along with that change in landscape came a change in altitude and temperature. That stinking altitude now found my thumper chugging to a mere 45mph. I felt like a turtle running with a bunch of hares. The landscape was dusted with the white stuff they use in Aspen. It was quite striking. I was finding it hard to pay attention to the now curvy road because I was so busy rubbernecking. All of that stopped when I came across the ice on the road. Needless to say, the pavement condition in front of my tire became my focus.
Finally, I saw a sign that said Creel 65. Crap! 65 more miles to go! Oh wait, that is 65 kilometers. I did the mileage conversion on the speedometer and realized that I should soon be there. Margarita’s here I come.....or so I thought. Boy, Creel was bigger than I thought it would be. I thought how hard could it be to find 12 bikes in front of a hotel. On my 4th swing through town Bill waved me down to the hotel. There were only 4 bikes and I made the 5th. We were missing 8 bikes. I unloaded my stuff and paid Anna at the front desk. I shook off the chill and was trying to piece what might of happened to the rest of the group. I kept my ear out for the rumbling of the rest of the group. 10....15....30...60min and still 8 bikes on the road after dark. I was getting a bad vibe. Five of us sat down to dinner when I heard the bikes pull in. I’m telling you that was the sweetest sound. I jumped up from the table and ran out front and got my roommate Billyj unloaded. I counted to make sure there were 8. They were all tired but accounted for. Turns out that there was a flat and a fuel bowl full of sand that held up the group. Like good soldiers, they gathered around the sick bike and got it fixed. Turns out that this was going to be the theme for the rest of the trip.
As the rest found something hot to eat, I turned my attention to my bike. I rode a vintage dualsport on this trip. 1984 Yamaha XT 600 with 4100 miles on the clock. I had prepped the bike as had the others but couldn’t find anything on jetting my bike for altitude. It’s kind of hard to figure out jetting for 8000ft when you live at 600ft. I did buy some jets though. My bike has a two barrel carb. One has the traditional needle with clip adjustments and the other barrel has a constant velocity slide. I leaned the needle on the primary by adjusting the clip and hoped that was going to work. Finishing that, I went in and went to bed.
DAY 2 THE NEW PLAN, THE STAIRCLIMB AND ROGERS BIRTHDAY
Before we know it, the alarm goes off and Billyj and I get up and make our way to the breakfast table. There is talk about the rest of the scheduled days ride/mileage. Two groups emerge. One group(Irondawg, Rocketman650, Ray, Ian, Bill, Teeds and Skinny) are going on with the original route that Irondawg laid out. The other group consisted of (me tx246, team swaney (Roger and Jeremy), ta2240, Micah and Billyj). As a group, we decided to see more and ride less. This group adopted the "nobody left behind policy". We had a riding buddy and were responsible for each other. There was no hesitation on my part to join this group as I ridden with two of these guys in Moab last year. On top of that four of the six had been here before.
We make plans to meet up with the group headed out on the original loop later in the week. We were headed to Batopillas and the other group was on their way to El Fuerte via Batopillas. We left a few minutes before they did but they soon passed us as we stopped at the lake outside of town to visit with the Tarahumara.
A few pesos traded for some local crafts and we are on our way. The road is paved but has more twist than Sour Skittles. The bike is running better but not lean enough as it noses over at anything over 1/3 throttle. We all have a kick***** time doing our best MotoGP on the pavement. We all do pinch some of the seat foam off our bikes as ice still surprises us in the shady spots but nobody falls all the way down.
Soon enough, we are at the turn off to Batopillas. The road turns to dirt and we pick our way through the trees. We go through several small villages before the canyon breaks out before us.
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon North Rim, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and the Royal Gorge but this was something entirely different. From the top, the Canyon is green, deep, and full of views. The road flips on itself all the way to the bottom. We ride a bit, watch Jeremy do some rock climbing, take some pictures and generally just do a lot of gawking.
As we wind our way to the bottom, we come to a switchback that has a downhill shortcut and we use it to pass a truck. This little downhill will bite us later.
The little villa of La Buffa passes under our wheels and we are cruising and admiring the sights when we come around the corner to find Teeds standing beside his XR650r and it is evident that he has fallen. We get him on his bike and Jeremy gets it started as Teeds knee is tender. We put him in our lineup and continue through the canyon. Twenty minutes later we run into the lead group and return their lost rider. We head into Batopillas looking for lunch.
Roger heads for a previous destination. He soon finds it and negotiates for lunch. Lunch is at Reyna's house.....not resturante....but house as in her kitchen. The cheese enchiladas go down as easy as the Cokes. We make a date for breakfast and continue through town in search of gas. It is here that we run into the other group and find out that Skinny's brand new Husky just popped its CDI. That makes two out of the first group (one mechanical/one physical) looking for a way to the border.
We head back to our hotel just outside of town. It is above the road and just gorgeous. Roger negotiates and all of us pay up after making sure there is plenty of frio cerveza.
Everybody gets cleaned up and goes into town to find the lady who has silver jewelry. I stay behind to work on the XT. I adjust the back drum brake and pop in the leaner secondary jet. This ended up being the ticket to making the XT sing later at altitude and on the way home. Then its up to the room and take a quick nap. I hear the rumble of bikes and walk out to the rail. During negotiations, Roger makes sure it is ok for us to bring our bikes up into the courtyard at the top of the stairs. Let the great stair climb begin. There are four flights and some clear it and some don’t. I don’t but hop off and run it the rest of the way up.
Turns out that it is Roger's birthday. We didn’t have any cake but we had beer and limes. We sat out on the veranda and got into the spirit of things. Some of us got "more" into the spirit of things. Before long, we were serving ourselves and the bottles were stacking up along the wall.
This is Micah telling us how much he likes beer.
Birthday boy giving us the First Down Move.
Jeremy trying to take Tims beer.
Jeremy ends up having the more fun than the rest of us. He ended up feeling guilty and tried to give some his fun back. The lime tree accepted it as well as the dog. We have pictures but due to graphic content, we will be leaving those out.
Six of us knocked off 41 Sols. We settle some dysfunctional family issues and generally have a large time until the bar cooler had nothing left. We shared this hotel with one newlywed couple. Being tired and out of beer, the noise level drops as we retire to our rooms. Snoring starts up as soon as the lights go out.
DAY 3 THE CHURCH, THE WATERPUMP AND THE 8 BALL
Day three has us packed and headed down the stairs on motorcycles. It’s off to Reyna’s for breakfast. My stomach had been giving me problems so opted for some bland scrambled eggs while everybody else had huevos mexicali. It sure looked good. After breakfast, it was off to Satevo and to look at the "Lost Church". We soon find it as Billyj had been there before. There were kids in the courtyard and we handed out suckers and tootsie rolls. The church was unlocked for us and we admired the building inside and out. A stop that was very worthwhile. We headed back into town to get fuel and head back out of the Canyon the way we came in.
Kids eating our candy at the Church.
We then ran into the Group that was supposed to be in El Fuerte yesterday. We chat a bit and they head off as they are already a day behind. We run into downed riders Teeds and Skinny at Hotel Mary's in the plaza. They have not secured rides back to Creel as of yet but are making phone calls. Billyj offers to look for a truck but they are sure there is nothing going out today, as it is Sunday. Billyj is fluent in Spanish and looking back we should have found them a ride.
We fall into formation and give high fives to all of the kids as we ride out of town. Soon we have run the length of the canyon and cross the bridge.
Break at the bridge.
Looking back towards La Buffa.
It is straight up from here and we arrive at the little switchback shortcut which is now a challenging uphill instead of downhill. I watch Jeremy think about it as he circles by it. I race up to the top to take pictures. As I get to the topside via the road, I see Billyj make it up. I’m looking down and see Micah's bike on its side. This could be bad as ta2240 is waving for us to come back down.
It is bad as the bike fell hard on the right side and drove the bash plate into the waterpump cover. It is now in thirty odd pieces. Roger has that "you *****clowns" look going on. Before we could even get tools out, we hear the rumble of a vehicle on this very lightly traveled road. It looks like an empty stakebed truck and we wave it down. Out hops the driver and an occupant. A 50ish clean-cut cowboy surveys the situation and talks with Billyj. He agrees to get the bike to the pavement but cant haul us to Creel as they need to go to Parral, which is in the opposite direction. The 6 of us hand load the mortally wounded DRZ into the back of the truck and Micah is tying the bike down as best he could. While that is going on cowboy admires Rogers mini vise grips. Roger responds with "you keep". The friendly cowboy is conversing as best he can when he whips out a bag and offers us something that is illegal in these United States. Each of us politely decline as he sticks his key into the stuff and snorts it off his key. We are laughing and in shock. Micah is unaware of what just happened and we decide he probably doesn’t need to know. Micah plans on riding in the back with his bike but we insist he ride up front and take his helmet with him. You see, ta2240 and Roger are LEO in the US and ta2240 said holy @$#$, that was an 8 ball which is slang for a very large personal stash. We mount our bikes and take off up the hill.
We beat the truck to the pavement junction and get something to drink. It isn’t long and the truck pulls into the store. Before we can unload the bike, we find another truck that is heading to Creel. Friendly Cowboy gets us all hooked up and tied down in the new truck. Friendly Cowboy is cutting lengths of rope to tie the bike in the new truck but is having trouble with his smaller type knife. Roger whips out a nice SO knife and tells Friendly to keep it. We ask Micah about his ride up the canyon and he proceeds to tell us a story. Friendly made a comment about Micah’s sunglasses, which were red lenses. Micah told him "you try" as he handed them to him. Friendly put them on and looked in the mirror. Micah then replies "Ohhhh El Diablo!" and they both got a laugh. Friendly then asked how much Micah paid in US for them because he wanted to buy them. Micah insisted he keep them and didn’t want any money. Friendly pulled his wallet out and said " Me No Bandito!" Micah convinced him it was gift for getting him to the road.
Creel is still there and we make it back to Hotel Margarita's. Same routine as we unload, clean up, and look for beer before dinner. Micah and bike arrive and we unload. We consider our options and decide our best bet is to have a water pump cover pulled from a buddy's bike and have it overnighted. Turns out fastest delivery to Creel from Houston is 6 days. Next best alternative is to have it shipped to Chihuahua in 2 days. That is what is decided on and phone calls are made. Thanks to all that made that happen(Michah's wife and greasemonkey). We go to a restaurant and end the day thanking our lucky stars with all things considered. I make my way to an internet cafe and let the family know that I'm still alive. I get back to the room and Jeremy has started the surgery on the cover.
Fankencover
We are missing several significant pieces but the seal portion is intact. He has started with JB Weld and has most of the pieces together. I whip out my tools and pull apart my feeler gauges. The brass one makes a nice addition to the Frankencover. In the morning, Jeremy and Billyj look for anything remotely looking like a bike shop with no luck. They do return with rtv silicone. We sealed the inside with the rtv and added a layer of moose putty on the outside. Hey! A can of spray paint and it would look factory.
DAY 4 TO SNOW OR NOT TO SNOW TO THE FALLS
Originally, the plan had us going to Urique today but with Micah’s still hardening and untested Frankencover, we decided to head to the Basisahchi Falls instead which was supposed to be an hour and a half from Creel. Earlier this morning, Teeds and Skinny showed up with their bikes. Roger had already secured a ride to the border from Creel the previous night. IF YOU ARE EVER IN TROUBLE IN THIS AREA, FIND CEASAR AT MARGURITAS! This guy gets it done and speaks excellent English. He also manages a hotel in most every town. Back to the day's adventure......We decide to ride to the falls but had one bike down but there was a healthy 650r that just arrived (Teeds). I agreed to ask Teeds if we could use the bike for the day as his knee was keeping him out of action. The thought occurred to me as Micah and I were walking up the sidewalk that Skinny too was physically able to ride and this would be his last chance at riding as he and Teeds were leaving for the border in the morning. Micah agreed that we should offer the ride to Skinny but he would take it if Skinny didn’t want it. Teeds offered the BRP faster than I could ask. It took some convincing, but Skinny finally took the ride. Skinny has a bum ankle so he would ride Billyj’s ATK and Billyj would ride Teeds BRP. Micah spent the afternoon with Teeds while we made a late start to the falls.
Boy, you could tell right away that this road is slated for pavement, as there had been considerable widening and work done in the first 15 miles or so. It wasn’t long before we were in the snow/ice/mud all at once.
Progress was made but it was late in the afternoon. We found some locals and asked how much more and we were informed that it was another 15 miles. Nobody wanted to be on icy pavement in the dark, so we reluctantly turned around and made our way back to Creel. Everybody was filthy but had a good ride. We would have to return another day. Again more food and some beers with Caesar finish off the evening. Caesar sits with us and gives us some information about where to ride the next day and we make arrangements at another one of his hotels for the next days ride.
DAY 5 TO URIQUE I SAY
It is a new day and we are headed to Urique. Only Billyj has been there so it will be some new territory for the most of us. We wave bye to Creel again and head toward Divisidaro. Before there we head to one of Caesar’s recommended turnouts and boy was it spectacular. Several canyons were visible from this vantage point. We soon took our pictures and headed into town.
Billyj made friends wherever we went. This time they were from Latvia and had been on the train to Los Moches. Not long after leaving town, the road turns to dirt and there is a military checkpoint. Billyj does his dumb gringo act and they wave us through. The road runs through a higher canyon and it is quite beautiful if not a bit busier than other dirt roads we have been on. We see several tunnels and rail bridges that the train uses along this road. We follow the river for miles and actually have to cross without aid of a bridge. We make it to Boachivio and have lunch.
billyji outside the restaruant.
This time its Carne Asada and it is quite the treat followed by a couple of frescas. It’s later in the afternoon and we are headed to the motel for which we have a letter to hand to a Paco y Christina in a small pueblo that is well before Urique. We find the hotel and it is closed up but from the outside it is fantastic. The main lodge is literally perched on a private canyon. There is a 5ft walkway across the front of the Lodge and after that is some serious air.
Inside the lodge is a center fireplace that has a good 10 ft opening on both sides. It isn’t long before Paco y Christina show up and get things going. Hot water heaters fired up/fires built/and dinner started are all a going. We sit in front of the fireplace and start draining Tecates.
Dinner is served and it is delicious. We retire to our rooms, which are ridiculous. In the States, the only way I could get close to one of these rooms is if I worked there. They are that nice.
Roger does have a problem in his room as he turns back the sheet to find a big iguana in the middle of his bed. The help come in armed with brooms and herd the critter outside. I sleep like a rock once again.
DAY 6 SMOKING BRAKES, STILL HOTTER SAUCE AND THE GREAT MEXICAN ROAD RACE
We wake up short of Urique but climb out of our palatial digs and load up as breakfast awaits us in Urique. Within miles, we are at the top of the canyon and it takes our breath away. It is stunning in scale and beauty. The road is dangerous as witnessed by the many roadside memorials. We pick our way down in the early morning light. The road was like a pile of spaghetti all the way down. There is so much to look at, that we almost forget to steer.
Thats Urique in the bottom of the canyon.
We see the town long before we get to it. The sides of the canyons are carpeted in green. All of the farming is old school and done by hand as is road maintenance. We go a long way before we see the first inhabitants of this magical place. Always friendly, they wave, as do we. Two thirds of the way down, everybody has pretty much lost their back brake due to overuse. I learned my lesson going to Batopillas and relied on engine braking most of the way down. Finally, we descend the final 1000ft or so and find ourselves at the literal front door of the town. We cross the threshold and make our way to the plaza. We pull up to a place where a nice KLR is backed against the curb. We meet Kevin inside and find out has been out since the first of Dec and planned to be back in Idaho the first of May. We tell him of our travels and he shares with us what he has seen. Breakfast is ordered. She rattles off egg choices and the one that caught my ear was "camarones" which means shrimp. Yeah gimmie that por favor. Micah tried it too. It turned out to be my killer breakfast of the trip. There was a seedy looking hot sauce in the middle of the table. I warned Roger as he smeared a bunch on his first tortilla. He sampled it and I swear his eyes bugged out the same time ta2240 was coughing and looking for another drink. A little dab will do ya. We finish up and pay. We roll through town and make good with the kids. Its too short and we are headed back up the canyon. This time we stop at an overlook and stare at what is indescribable at best. Helmets strapped back on, we head back up the Copper Canyon. We travel back towards Creel on the same route we came into Urique.
The military checkpoint is still there before Divisidaro. This time there are more soldiers and an older looking Senior Officer is heading today’s crew. He pulls us over and Billyj is doing the stupid gringo routine again. Captain asks where have we been and we tell him. Captain asks "druggas?' while making the classic weed puff. No. Says our translator. Captain starts barking carrera, carrera! and pointing to each bike individually. Then it dawns on me. He wants us do a motostart!! We line up and give him a show. Slowing down a half mile later, we are laughing our heads off as we head into town. Creel shows up through my goggles in the late afternoon and we check in for the last time at Margarita's. This time we crash the bar on the corner and drink quite a bit before dinner. The group of five that left us days before have arrived with one less. They lost Irondawg due to a backed out sprocket bolt that ended up riding the chain all the way to the case resulting in catastrophic failure. He/bike were headed to Chihuahua via train and then to Presidio on truck. We all got caught up with each other’s rides. Some went back to the bar and because that was me, I don’t know what the others did. Reports from home indicated that cold, wet weather was on the way. A vote was taken and we decided to make a break for the Texas border while the weather was good.
DAY 7 RAIN OR SHINE HOME BY NINE.....MAYBE
We awoke find drizzle outside the window. That meant raingear for the day......yech. After breakfast, the long haulers group decided to head out to the falls and continue with the original route. We said our good byes and made our way out of Creel for the last time. The first 60 miles were wet and cold but it soon stopped raining. The canyon outside Creel was beautiful too. Coutomec came and went and we found ourselves in Chihuahua in the early afternoon and feeling good about it when it started raining again. But this time it was only raining under Micah's DRZ. Uh Oh. The Frankencover had let go. We pulled up on a wide sidewalk and Roger did his best taxi call. Before Micah could get his helmet off he and Billyj were stuffed into a cab and off to the DHL office where there should be a part waiting on them. Jeremy and I hung out with the bikes while Roger and ta2240 went to the tienda. Ta2240 brought me an oversize chocolate Hershey bar, which hit the spot as I had been having withdrawals. There was a possibility that the part had got hung up in customs and would not be there but we were confident. Thirty minutes later, the cab rolled out with two thumbs up sticking out the window. Faster than you say teamwork, the part was on and we were adding water. Bye bye Chihuahua. Got last gas and cleared the last tollbooth when we heard it. Hisssssss. It was coming from Billyj's ATK back tire. A nice nail was pulled from the well-worn tire. A quick shot of air and the slime didn’t seal it so a tube change was in order. Tire expert ta2240 handled the tube change like the pro he his. If a flat was going to happen, that was the best place for it. It was done in last light and I hope somebody got a picture or two. Loaded up, we headed toward the Texas border in the dark. The miles quickly passed and there was Ojinaga. A quick check in with the Mexican authorities cleared our vehicle permits and soon we were stateside. A quick flash of our passports and we were back at the 3 Palms looking for showers, food, beer and Tony. We soon found all four. More stories and updates on the riders followed but soon it was time load up on the trailers for quick getaways in the am. Before turning in, we said our goodbyes and thanked each other for the ride.
DAY 8 HOME
Uneventful was the race to DFW. It was close though. The temperature dropped quickly and we flirted with freezing temps for the last 4 hours home. As always, its good to make it home.
EPILOGUE ROGER IN MY REARVIEW ......TIM IN FRONT OF ME
Just wanted to say thanks to all of my teammates on this ride. It was a good feeling knowing someone had my back and I had theirs. My roommate for the trip was somebody I had met just hours ago, but soon found out cut from similar cloth. Everybody contributed in some way to make my Mexico experience greater than I could have ever hoped. Riding is a very individual thing but can be rewarding in a group environment. We never got lost and never lost a rider. We never went too slow nor too fast. We all got along and in a group of six, that is saying something. I can’t wait to do it again.
PICTURES PENDING IF I CAN FIGURE OUT THE SMUGMUG THING.
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Good reading. Thanks
. A great trip with a good bunch of guys. I am glad the 6+2 were able to have an adventure and keep it fun.
We finally make it to the toll road and are headed off.
