Expedition Big Bend

[Trail Boss]

Sidebar: The Rade Tank and Terry

You know how some guys have lots of working mechanical knowledge about motorcycles and can seemingly diagnose and fix anything that might go wrong? For example, during a Mexico ride a few years back one of the guys in our group had a problem with his KTM 690. In particular, the bike suddenly died as we were riding down the highway. I watched in amazement as my buddy Chuck diagnosed the problem as a spark plug cap wire issue and then proceeded to make a temporary roadside fix by making a new plug cap with some aluminum foil. That got the 690 going well enough to ride to the next large town with an auto parts store. Once there, Chuck acquired a spark plug wire for a 1960s Volkswagen Beetle and made a more permanent repair. It was awesome to watch - sort of like a real world episode of MacGyver.

Well, I’m not that guy. While I do have some mechanical aptitude and can do basic work on my motorcycle I am limited beyond that.

To further complicate things, I have to do all my work in my driveway. I always envy those with large, well-stocked and lit workshops whenever I’m standing in the doorway of my one car garage overflowing with all my wife’s excess stuff. She has so much junk in our garage that if you saw it you might wonder if we were going to be featured on an episode of Hoarders.

In any case, there just isn’t enough room for me to do any meaningful work in the garage. Anytime I need to do something to one of my bikes, you’ll find me in my driveway.

Which isn’t a totally terrible thing. Why, you ask? Because while other guys have large workshops with every tool you might imagine, I’ve got a Terry.

What’s a Terry?

Terry is my adventure-riding neighbor. Whenever he sees me working on my bikes, he can’t resist coming over to visit with me. I always welcome Terry’s visits because shortly after he arrives, he starts supervising my work. Then, a few minutes later Terry takes over the job and I end up being his assistant.

When I was struggling to get the shift arm installed on my 701, Terry showed up and in short order had the shift arm installed and the bike buttoned up. It was summer, and hot, so my part of this job was to make sure he had cold water to drink at all times. Gotta stay hydrated, don’tchaknow.

When I was trying to figure out how to modify the Madstad windscreen on the 701, Terry came up with a plan, provided all the tools, and then executed the plan as I sort-of helped…Okay, I admit it, I mostly watched and provided comic relief because Terry had things well under control and didn’t really need my help.

Anyway, the instructions for the Rade tank indicated that it should only take 2-3 hours to completely install. At hour 4, I was standing in my driveway, scratching my head, wondering why the Rade tank wasn’t fitting in the tiny spot it’s designed for. Luckily Terry arrived, pointed out my installation error, corrected it, and then proceeded to complete the rest of the tank installation. Without his assistance, who knows how long it would have taken me to solve the puzzle.

Everybody should have a Terry. Especially if you have a wife who thinks your garage is a dumping ground for every “must keep” item she doesn’t want in her house.

Here's a pic of Terry installing the shift arm on my 701.

Terry, if you are reading this, I can’t thank you enough for all your assistance.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled ride report.

 

[clutchless]

 

[Mudd Missile]

Trail Boss wrote, "Everybody should have a Terry. Especially if you have a wife who thinks your garage is a dumping ground for every “must keep” item she doesn’t want in her house."
Not only you have a Terry but you rode with JT, whom in my experience, is a very capable mechanic, troubleshooter and navigator.

 

[Tourmeister]

You need to start working on the bike in the living room. When she asks you about it, casually mention that if you had a garage, you would work in there...

 

[M38A1]

You need to start working on the bike in the living room. When she asks you about it, casually mention that if you had a garage, you would work in there...

TM for the win!

As to this next adventure.....

 

[JT]

You need to start working on the bike in the living room. When she asks you about it, casually mention that if you had a garage, you would work in there...

Good answer!

 

[Trail Boss]

Not only you have a Terry but you rode with JT, whom in my experience, is a very capable mechanic, troubleshooter and navigator.

I'm no dummy - that's why I keep riding with JT.

 

[Trail Boss]

Getting to Del Rio

The plan was for JT and I to meet in Del Rio on Sunday evening. I had crafted a grandiose route to get from my home in Austin to Del Rio via the Texas hill country and some fantastic paved and dirt roads. However, I spent so much time working on my bike on Saturday that even with Terry’s help I ran out of daylight before I finished the bike. And my driveway is really dark when the sun goes down. All of which meant I would be doing all my packing on Sunday morning. Instead of leaving at 8 am as I had hoped, I finally rolled out of my driveway at 10:30 Sunday morning, resolved to slabbing the 259 miles to Del Rio.

I did manage to hit a little fun stuff along the way but much less than I had originally hoped for.

There are actually a few fall colors trying to make an appearance in the hill country.

Elsewhere in the hill country, the trees are still green.

This was the longest distance I’ve ridden the 701 at one time since purchasing it in May. I don’t do much long distance riding in the Texas heat so the bike accumulated only a few miles May – Aug. In September I started concentrating on completing the build for adventure type riding (windscreen, Seat Concepts seat, luggage rack, etc). The Rade tank was the final touch and you already know how that went.

I was quite happy at how well the mighty 701 did on the long stretches of highway to Del Rio. I’ve owned two KLRs, two DRZs, and a XR650L and they were all a bit underwhelming at highway speeds. The 701, however, is a different animal. The engine is satisfyingly powerful while also being remarkably smooth, the Madstad windscreen is fantastic, and the Seat Concepts seat is reasonably comfortable. As an added bonus, the Rade tank didn’t leak gas everywhere and I was able to ride 200 miles without running out of gas. Overall, I was really glad I chose to ride to Del Rio so I could evaluate the 701 prior to crossing the border and was feeling less apprehensive about the its maiden voyage being into one of the most desolate places I’ve ever ridden.

Once in Del Rio, I quickly checked into the hotel and then set off in search of something to eat. The front desk clerk told me I could get a 10% discount at the Sirloin Stockade restaurant next door if I showed them my room key, which sounded okay to me. This restaurant is an all-you-can eat buffet with a wide variety of choices. I did my best to moderate my consumption. I think I did okay.

Afterwards, JT called and said he was still several hours away so I pondered what to do next. There didn’t seem to be a lot of appealing options and I didn’t want to just sit on my hotel bed and watch television. There was a mall on the other side of the restaurant and the movie theater inside was showing the new Justice League movie. Fandango informed me that they had lots of open seats, a bit surprising since this was opening weekend. Off I went and found the movie was not nearly as bad as the critics had led me to believe.


I couldn’t resist a picture of the carnival ferris wheel set up in the mall parking lot.

JT had safely arrived while I was engrossed in the Justice League. Once I made it back to the hotel we finalized our plans for the next morning and then headed off to bed.

 

[Tourmeister]

You neglected to mention the Italian supermodel you had for a while... Did you not part on happy terms? And what about that 500 EXC you want to sell to me...?

 

[Trail Boss]

You neglected to mention the Italian supermodel you had for a while... Did you not part on happy terms? And what about that 500 EXC you want to sell to me...?

I can't mention every bike I've ever owned for if I did it would surely crash the mighty TWT servers.

Wearing my brown robe and waving my hand towards you..."My 500 EXC is not the bike you are looking for"

 

[SpiritAtBay]

 

[Tourmeister]

I am immune to your silly mind tricks

 

[PigTrail]

This is good!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Ok, I need more. Sitting here suffering through a Friday at work as my first day back from work. Sigh.

Oh yea, since when is the 500EXC NOT the bike for something? It's on my lust list as I've been led to believe it's the holy grail. Maybe that needs another thread.

C'mon, you are almost to the good stuff!

 

[Trail Boss]

Here we go

Our objective today was the border town of Boquillas, 235 miles away from Del Rio.

Ready to ride, we are all smiles.

Crossing into Ciudad Acuna was a non-event. We rode across the bridge, paid our tolls, showed our papers to the guard, and were waved on our way.

As usual, navigating the surface streets through Mexican towns is challenging. Street level maps are often not reliably accurate nor do they typically indicate one way streets. Mexico loves one way streets, a fact you really need to be cognizant of when riding there.

Additionally, the cops were out in force. Not because of the drug war. Instead they were directing traffic all over town. Today, the third Monday in November, is Dia de la Revolution – a national public holiday celebrating the 10-year revolution that began in 1910 to oust the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Many towns have parades organized by the primary schools to celebrate the revolutionary victory. My presumption is that the cops were helping keep traffic moving while preparations for the parade were underway.

After riding around in circles only a few times, we finally managed to locate the road out of town that we were seeking and we were off, riding west.

About the drug war: The #1 topic I get asked about riding in Mexico is safety. People in the USA have heard about the terrible Mexican drug war and all the murders and can’t believe we would venture into such a dangerous environment. Yes, there is a drug war. No, I have never encountered it in the 10+ years I’ve been riding in Mexico. My personal opinion is that the very nature of journalism makes bad things seem worse and more pervasive than they really are. Similar to riding in any country, including the USA, there are simple rules of safety that I follow to minimize the risk of being caught up in a bad situation. Follow those basic travel safety guidelines and you have a very high probability of not having any problems at all.

My purpose with these comments is not to use this ride report as a bully pulpit or to spark a heated discussion of the drug war and/or the relative safety of riding in Mexico. Instead, it is one of those topics that many riders ask about so I thought to address it up front. I will leave it at this – we decided, based on our individual risk assessment of the situation and our personal experiences of riding in Mexico, that the risk was minimal and the odds of us getting caught up in a drug-war related incident extremely unlikely.

The first 25 miles or so out of town was pavement, till we reached the community of Santa Eulalia. Beyond that the road turns to dirt. This particularly community is a collection of houses and two small tiendas (stores) on the main drag through town. When I passed through here in 2007 there was only one store. Now there are two, across the street from each other, but the old one seemed to be in disarray so it may not be open anymore. Seeing that it was clearly open, we stopped at the newer store for a short break.

Even in Mexico you will see advertisement for a personal university of choice. This truck was parked outside the store in Santa Eulalia. Go UTSA!

After a refreshing break, we mounted up and headed west, looking forward to finally riding some dirt. Just outside of town I was surprised to see what I first thought was a guy wearing motorcycle armor standing in the middle of the road. Then I realized it was a soldier wearing combat gear standing in the middle of the road. A few guys in uniform had a truck and appeared to be manning an impromptu checkpoint of sorts. We stopped and looked at them. They looked at us. Neither party sure what to do. I believe they were a random checkpoint set up for drug interdiction (routine in Mexico) and we certainly didn’t fit the description. We were (a) gringos, (b) on motorcycles, and (c) riding west into the desert.


The soldiers figured out within about 30 seconds that we weren’t the guys they were looking for and indicated we could go about our business. I asked for permission to take a picture and my request was granted.

 

[Trail Boss]

Dirt

West of Santa Eulalia is desolate country. It’s all desert and few people live here. There are no services and we wouldn’t encounter an occupied village for more than 100 miles. The main human activity is ranching, mining, and hunting. The road was fairly well maintained at first, all things considered, but deteriorated the further west we rode. There just isn’t a lot of traffic, so not much reason to keep the road in good condition.

The rocky and bumpy road caused JT’s bags to shift a bit too much while riding so a stop to re-adjust was necessary.

The next “place” beyond Santa Eulalia was Progresso, which is a collection of buildings. I don’t think Progresso is permanently occupied, at least it gave no appearance of on-going human activity. No people, dogs, vehicles, clothes hanging out to dry, satellite dishes attached to houses, etc. My guess is that it is being used as a hunting camp. The clues were a) the Baja bug that was pulling in just as I arrived and b) the hunting trucks close behind the bug. I do need to point out that this was the first time I have ever seen a VW Beetle employed as an off-pavement vehicle. I love the tires.

Somewhere west of Progresso we passed what appeared to be a ranch perched on the edge of a dry creek bed.

If you like the desert you would enjoy the riding we had done so far. It was just easy desert riding on a continually deteriorating dirt road with almost no one else around.

After about 100 miles we reached the eastern edge of the Sierra del Carmen Mountains and things got a bit more interesting. The eastern edge of these mountains are really just big hills but the riding was fun nevertheless. The road, now a two-track, meandered through a valley; enjoyable, especially at speed, but no major elevation changes. I couldn’t resist stopping more frequently to take pics of the big hills.

Who doesn’t like a road like this?

 

[kman]

Great ride report and photos! Looking forward to more.

 

[Trail Boss]

Coahuila 1000

After riding through here in 2007 I had the idea that it would be really cool if a race similar to the Baja 1000 was run in this part of Mexico. I thought it should be called the Coahuila 1000. Why should those guys on the west coast have all the fun? Well, I’m not the only one to have that idea, except the other guy who had the same idea apparently acted on it. The Coahuila 1000 is a reality and this sign gives it away. Cool we are riding the Coahuila 1000 course! I knew this was a great road. 

That is a home (ranch), nestled up against the hills. And it’s a really long way from anywhere else. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live way out here, hours and hours away from services like a gas station, grocery store, or medical care.

While the riding was great, we couldn’t let our guard down. Mexico is always ready to surprise you. In this case, it was a cattle guard that had seen better days. I recommend avoiding the pipe sticking up as it would likely not end well.

150 miles into the trek, we reached a bit of civilization. Just outside of the community of Morelos we found a store. It was about 2 pm and this seemed like as good a time as any to take a break and, maybe, find something to eat. How did we know there was a store here? The sign gave it away. At a minimum they had Cokes and Fritos.

The arrow pointed right, so we went right. But at the end of the dirt road, there was no obvious store. There was, however, a house. Could that be the store?

A man and a woman came over to the gate to see what we wanted. I asked if this was the store and the woman indicated it was, opened the gate, and invited us into her house. We sat at the dining table and enjoyed a cold coca-cola while she made chicken tacos for us.

Salud!

I didn’t know it at the time but this was our last cooked meal of the day. I’m really glad we stopped here. And that we asked her if she would cook tacos for us. We paid about $10 for the sodas and tacos, a price I was happy to pay.

Beyond Morelos we headed south, around the mountains. In their “Wrong Way Round” trip JT and Milton went over the mountains. But that route had locked gates so for this trip we were taking the main road around the mountains. The views were nice though.

Once around the mountains we reached pavement. If we turned south, we could go to the town of Muquiz, about 90 kilometers away. North would take us to Boquillas, also about 90 kilometers away. Of course, we went north.

As we rode along, I spotted a dirt road leading to a tunnel in the mountain above us. Cool, a tunnel. I want to go see it. So did JT. The road and tunnel are here to serve the mining operations going on in this area.

We spent a few minutes taking pics and looking around but it was getting late and we wanted to get to Boquillas before dark. Time to go.

 

[SilverBullet]

...
While the riding was great, we couldn’t let our guard down. Mexico is always ready to surprise you. In this case, it was a cattle guard that had seen better days. I recommend avoiding the pipe sticking up as it would likely not end well.

Well at least the pipes were perpendicular to the road. I hit a cattle guard in Sonora last month that was orientated parallel to the road!! 3" wide strips of flat metal plate with 3" gaps between each. Good thing the Tenere has relatively fat tires. Still sketchy on a heavy loaded big bike though. T.I.M.

_

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk

 

[Tourmeister]

I do need to point out that this was the first time I have ever seen a VW Beetle employed as an off-pavement vehicle. I love the tires.

Dust to Glory!

So was that the place where the caballeros on horses just popped up out of no where while we were stopped checking out the abandoned buildings?

 

[jdsmetx]

Just spent some time going over Google Maps trying to follow the route. Wow is all I can say! Looks like a fun trip and can't wait for the rest of the report.

 

[Mudd Missile]

Last time I went through the same little dusty town we stopped to get something to drink but we avoided stopping on the main road. We found a bodega on one of the side roads and had our drinks. As we were standing just like Richard was seating there, a suburban with Texas plates passed the intersection, saw us there back up and came down to meet us. As the official translator for the group, I approached the window of the passenger side as it was rolled down. I could see three people in the suburban, two up front and one in the back. The one on the back had some sort of machine gun pointing down and the two up front had no weapons that were visible. They were all wearing civilian clothes so I couldn't tell if they were Policia Municipal or Federales. The boss man first told me that they were part of a SWAT group and were patrolling the area looking for smugglers, narcos, whatever and then proceeded to ask me from what direction I was coming from. I told him that we have been riding the back country and we haven't seen anyone beside some working cowboys. I felt that all eyes were on me and my friends behind me. I better say the right things or we could be wiped out right here and there. The guy kept proving me with questions until he decided that I had no information that he could use. They said their farewell and went on their way. our group had a quick meeting to decide what to do next, continue on the same route or find an alternative one around the country side and avoid running into the same people. We agreed to continue on the same main road and eventually ran into them again at a police check point a few miles from the town. When we got into Acuna we figured out that something was up because there were federales, police and army everywhere. The Pope was visiting El Paso/ Juarez that day.

Here we go

Our objective today was the border town of Boquillas, 235 miles away from Del Rio.

Ready to ride, we are all smiles.

Crossing into Ciudad Acuna was a non-event. We rode across the bridge, paid our tolls, showed our papers to the guard, and were waved on our way.

As usual, navigating the surface streets through Mexican towns is challenging. Street level maps are often not reliably accurate nor do they typically indicate one way streets. Mexico loves one way streets, a fact you really need to be cognizant of when riding there.

Additionally, the cops were out in force. Not because of the drug war. Instead they were directing traffic all over town. Today, the third Monday in November, is Dia de la Revolution – a national public holiday celebrating the 10-year revolution that began in 1910 to oust the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Many towns have parades organized by the primary schools to celebrate the revolutionary victory. My presumption is that the cops were helping keep traffic moving while preparations for the parade were underway.

After riding around in circles only a few times, we finally managed to locate the road out of town that we were seeking and we were off, riding west.

About the drug war: The #1 topic I get asked about riding in Mexico is safety. People in the USA have heard about the terrible Mexican drug war and all the murders and can’t believe we would venture into such a dangerous environment. Yes, there is a drug war. No, I have never encountered it in the 10+ years I’ve been riding in Mexico. My personal opinion is that the very nature of journalism makes bad things seem worse and more pervasive than they really are. Similar to riding in any country, including the USA, there are simple rules of safety that I follow to minimize the risk of being caught up in a bad situation. Follow those basic travel safety guidelines and you have a very high probability of not having any problems at all.

My purpose with these comments is not to use this ride report as a bully pulpit or to spark a heated discussion of the drug war and/or the relative safety of riding in Mexico. Instead, it is one of those topics that many riders ask about so I thought to address it up front. I will leave it at this – we decided, based on our individual risk assessment of the situation and our personal experiences of riding in Mexico, that the risk was minimal and the odds of us getting caught up in a drug-war related incident extremely unlikely.

The first 25 miles or so out of town was pavement, till we reached the community of Santa Eulalia. Beyond that the road turns to dirt. This particularly community is a collection of houses and two small tiendas (stores) on the main drag through town. When I passed through here in 2007 there was only one store. Now there are two, across the street from each other, but the old one seemed to be in disarray so it may not be open anymore. Seeing that it was clearly open, we stopped at the newer store for a short break.

Even in Mexico you will see advertisement for a personal university of choice. This truck was parked outside the store in Santa Eulalia. Go UTSA!

After a refreshing break, we mounted up and headed west, looking forward to finally riding some dirt. Just outside of town I was surprised to see what I first thought was a guy wearing motorcycle armor standing in the middle of the road. Then I realized it was a soldier wearing combat gear standing in the middle of the road. A few guys in uniform had a truck and appeared to be manning an impromptu checkpoint of sorts. We stopped and looked at them. They looked at us. Neither party sure what to do. I believe they were a random checkpoint set up for drug interdiction (routine in Mexico) and we certainly didn’t fit the description. We were (a) gringos, (b) on motorcycles, and (c) riding west into the desert.


The soldiers figured out within about 30 seconds that we weren’t the guys they were looking for and indicated we could go about our business. I asked for permission to take a picture and my request was granted.

 

[Trail Boss]

So was that the place where the caballeros on horses just popped up out of no where while we were stopped checking out the abandoned buildings?

No, the other abandoned town you are referring to is west of Progresso.

When we went through here in 2007 we called that abandoned town where the caballeros popped up Progresso. But on this trip, the Progresso sign was at a different "abandoned town" east of that.

So, in short, there are two apparently abandoned towns on this route. The one with the Progresso sign appears to be newer and in better shape, though apparently still abandoned. The older one is further west and is even worse shape that when we came through here in '07. It is marked on my E32 map as Braulio Fernandez Aguirre. Let's call it Aguirre for short.

 

[Hoss83]

Gentleman I find this totally fascinating. I want to do this in 2018 for sure. What a cool adventure! Keep up the reports, I'm totally fascinated and envious!
I got to do this and it is now on my bucket list close to the top.
Great stuff...keep it coming!

 

[SpiritAtBay]