This is the journey I have always dreamed of, to ride my motorcycle across the Americas.
Follow me as I travel south from Texas to the tip of South America on my BMW GS.
Here's a view of the Maps
Today I met Pepe, an old friend from Tulancingo, Mexico. Pepe is a fellow GS rider and hosted me in his home for a couple of days. In exchange I checked out and changed the oil on his GS.
On my way to Pachuca, I came across a group of five GS riders form Puebla, Mexico. I joined them for lunch. In conversation I mentioned that I am a tech for BMW motorcycles. This led to an invitation to Puebla for lunch and to do some work on their BMW motorcycles.
After two days of fun and relaxation in San Miguel it was time to move on. My stay in San Miguel was great like always, I got to visit old friends and meet some new and interesting people. Leaving in the morning was a bit cold, with the morning fog was on the heavy side. The sun eventually came out warming me up. Today I set out to visit the Ruins of Tula. They are small Toltec site with some giant statues that stand guard over the valley below. I got there at 12:00 noon so I had a hard time getting some good photos. After Tula I rode around the northern edge of Mexico City, not wanting to go there I managed well to avoid the city. Along the way I can across a grave yard with some beautiful flowers I believe are left over from the day of the dead festivals.
From Galeana, Mexico I rode on a road that I had ridden on many times. I never get tired of this road as it is one of the most beautiful roads in Northern Mexico. The road starts in Linares and goes to Galeana and then on to Matehuala. I traveled on twisty roads for about 200 miles at elevations of between 6000 feet to 8000 feet above sea level. It is a small road with little local traffic. The mountain valley vistas were fantastic and the temperature was crisp.
One thing to keep in mind is this area is open range or free range country. Therefore, travelers must keep an eye out for wildlife, cattle, wild donkeys and horses which can be on the road. On this day I saw a lot of, or most of all of these animals along or on the road. I arrived and ended my day in San Migual, Mexico.
For many years I have been dreaming of, and planning and saving for traveling through Mexico, Central America, and South America on my motorcycle. Today my journey finally starts!!
As I departed from my hometown of Dilley, Texas the starting mileage on my trusty 1995 BMW R1100GS (GS) was 429,314 miles. Dilley is located 80 miles north of the Texas – Mexico border.
The Rio Grande divides the United States and Mexico. Immediately upon crossing that river you become aware that you have entered a different world. I am always astonished by how different the world is on the other side of the Rio Grande. From this point south to the tip of South America the world will be much the same in language, culture, etc. – It Is Latin America.
The weather was mixed, cold rain with strong winds in the south of Texas. The temperature got hot when crossing the Monterrey, Mexico area. I ended my day in Galeana, Mexico, which is located in the cooler temperatures in the mountainous area south of Monterrey.
I met Francisco who was traveling to Mexico City on his motorcycle. He had started his motorcycle trip in New York State.
The starting mileage on my motorcycle 429314
The BMW Rallies in Mexico are very different that those in the USA. Rallies in the USA are about camping and finding the vendors you've been trying to get a deal on there products. Rallies in Mexico are about getting a group of riders and having a BIG party, the five star way!
Its the kind of rally that you'll ether like or not.
I like them myself, its a chance to see old friends and me new. You go on some sort of rides then stop for a big lunch, then ride a little more back to the hotel and then get ready for an even bigger dinner.
This year we were entertained in Guadalajara for the first two day, taking a Tequila Express train to the land were Tequila is made. After the two days in Guadalajara the entire rally moved to Puerto Vallarta 320 km away. Fun and relaxation were the order of the day after dropping into the heat of the coastal pacific area.
It's been crazy! With the announcement of my leaving Rhine West I have been slammed with lots of motorcycle work. Seems everybody what's to have their BMW motorcycles looked at before I leave on the RW. This was good and bad in some ways. The good part is that I was touch by all the support of my customers. The bad part was that I had promised a group of riders that I would guide them into Mexico to attend the Mexican BMW Rally to be held in Guadalajara & Puerto Vallerta.
This rally was different from others as it was going to move from one city to the other.
After 17 years of working for Rhine West Inc. I was told that the motorcycle side of the business was coming to a close. The simplest explanation was that the company wants to concentrate on BMW Autos. I was given the option to stay on as a car tech but, I had to pass on the offer. For those who know me its the BMW motorcycle that is my passion. It was a bit of a surprise given the timing of a Mexico trip coming up and the even bigger trip to South America.
Being a believer that everything happens for a reason I know that things will work out for me.
I would like to Thank All my customers who have been a great support to me. It gives me a great feeling knowing that you stood with me and that I have made the right decision.
Thank you for the encouragement.
My girlfriend always said that my bike would someday be in a gallery or museum. Well she was right! My motorcycle was part of the display at a photo exhibit by Patrick Zeller who traveled across the countries of Turkey and Iran by motorcycle about a year ago. It was quite an adventure and Patrick captured some great images.
Patrick's photos will be on exhibit all of September 2008 at the Blue Star gallery in San Antonio,Texas.
One day after giving the GS a rare bath a coworker
notice an odd rust ring about half way around the tubed frame. Having a closer look It turned out to be a crack in the frame. In some ways I was glad to have discovered the crack as now I had a chance to beef up and repaint the rear or tail frame. The removal of the frame was to be done when I got all my clutch and transmission parts in. Removal of the frame was not as hard as I thought. I have a local high tech machine shop re-weld the cracks and I also made some plates or supports to be added to areas that are prone to cracks. After the machine shop did its magic I had to find someone to sandblast what was left of the old paint. From Here it was off to the powder coating shop for a fresh semi shinny black paint. It looks like a new bike now!
The suspension was something high on the list of must do's. If I learned one thing in our run to Panama is that your suspension is going to take a beating. Even if you are only going to stay on paved roads, chances are they are in real bad shape. We tend to carry to much stuff that if the suspension is in any kind of weak shape, your going to have major problems. I had an Ohlins rear shock for a long time and it worked well. For this trip I needed to make sure to get the front Ohlins shock and have to rear one serviced. These things are rather pricey to say the least but its good insurance knowing that I won't have to worry much about a shock blowing out or worse breaking other parts like the rear swing arm or transmission housing because of a weak suspension.
The transmission: Like the motor this transmission has been here since the beginning. Sometime around the 190k mile mark I thought I might need a new clutch, so at that time I replaced the clutch disc and while I was there I also replaced the bearings. I was amazed to see the used disc to be in almost as good shape as the new one. Well fast forward 230k miles and here I am again replacing the clutch disc not because it had worn out but because it had been some time since. This time I replaced the clutch disc & pressure plate, all the bearings , all the seals and the input shaft of the transmission. The input shaft with 420k miles finally had enough wear that it need to be replaced. I almost forgot to mention that I also replaced the shift barrow, this guy was pricey! In fact, it was because of the shift barrow that I thought to have a look inside the transmission. I had started to have some problems with the shifter staying stuck in 5 gear in hot weather. I figured that maybe some wear had gone to far causing the shifter to stick and that was exactly what had happen. Again to my amazement the other items were not that bad looking give the mileage. The thought in my head was do it now rather than some roadside fix somewhere in Bolivia.