Across the Border

Yes we crossed the border and now we are back in Mexico.  It is a story hard to believe.  We had left La Paz on Tuesday the 24th of May and headed into the hills and canyons that led north.  After about 100 miles (160 km) we came to the last curve to the long (50 mile, 80 km) flat that led through Ciudad Constitución.  As I crested the rising curve to the right I lifted my eyes to the road ahead checking for oncoming traffic hazards.  Then I look towards the right at the highway department's sign, all together less than two seconds.  Before I had focused on the sign the front tire hit something big in the road.  A loud clang from underneath and smoke started to come up around my feet.  I thought I had blown the front tire!  I started braking with the foot brake; it works the rear brake and the front brake together.  It didn't handle like the front tire was flat and we came to a safe and easy stop at the edge of the road (remember, no road shoulders in Mexico).  It's 10:00 a.m. and we have BIG trouble.

I looked down and oil was flowing sideways off the road.  This did not look good!  I looked behind us and a swath of fresh oil had been laid down over the last 100 feet (30 m) of road leading right to us.  The bike had come to a straight level stop, using the back brake, on a gallon (4 L) of fresh oil!!  I LOVE THAT ABS!

I walked back to the spot where it happened and found a piece of a semi-truck's brake drum.  It was about 8" (20 cm) across and 3/4 of and inch (2 cm) thick.  I had not seen it laying flat in the road but the front tire had flipped it up into the engine and punched a hole into it.  We were not going anywhere soon.

It is a poor picture but that is the piece of metal laying where I put it on the top of the trailer.

A man shortly stopped and he took me to the city of Ciudad Constitución (an hour away) and found me a "Taller" (mechanic) and explained the situation.  Arturo, the owner of Taller Ortiz dropped everything, called his son, and loaded us into his Ford Ranger extra cab pickup.  We headed down the road south.

(A Canadian we met in a campground said the reason Mexicans drive so fast is because they have American speedometers and are trying to keep the needle on 80, the speed limit.  I had my GPS with me and we were doing 130-135 kp/h!  I looked at the dashboard and the Canadian was right!!!  It was American and Arturo had it nailed on 80!!!)

We returned to the place where Kathy was sweating under the sun and proceeded to load the bike into the truck.  After we got the truck back onto the road (without spilling the bike over the side) we tried to hitch the trailer to the truck.  Not possible, the distance from the top of the ball to the bottom of the tailgate was not enough for the hitch on the trailer to fit onto the ball.  So we hitched the trailer to the bike at very steep angle.  But at least the rear didn't drag on the ground and there were no topes between here and the shop.  Arturo is in blue and his son is on the other side of the bike.  After we got everything ready we each got in and headed down the road, slower this time, his poor truck is grossly overloaded.

At the shop he recruited more of his mechanics and sons and we literally lifted the bike out of the truck.  The ramp that had loaded it would not stay in place to unload.  We backed it up a bit and Arturo called a motorcycle mechanic he knows.

This mechanic arrived on a Yamaha that looked at though it had been assembled from several different bikes.  He assessed the situation and took off the lower front cowl, a piece of decorative plastic.

Then he took off the problem piece.  It is a cover on the front of the engine.  My visions of needing a whole new engine vanished.  All I needed was this cover and a couple more parts.  The total for the parts when I ordered them over the internet, just over $200 USD.  I was impressed with the care and skill of the mechanic.  I doubted he had ever worked on a GoldWing but he analyzed it and did the right things.  He removed the piece and checked inside.  No damage to the main case.

I put a plastic bag behind the piece and reinstalled it to protect the engine from dirt and water.  We then pushed the bike across the street into Arturo's back yard and under his patio cover.  It is safe (he has a "junkyard dog" on a chain) and out of his way for work.   Arturo took us to a nearby, economy hotel and we set up for the night to make a plan.

We debated trying to get the parts into Mexico, not good.  We debated trying to rent a truck to take it home, expensive and not possible in this City.  We decided to fly home and get my pickup truck and come back for the bike.  We can take the canopy off and do like Arturo and his Ranger.  During the flight we decided that it would be better to put the bike on a trailer.  It would overload my truck too and we were 1,900 miles (over 3,300 km) from home, not just one hour down the road. 

The first flight out of Loreto, the nearest international airport, was on Friday, two days away with Alaska Air.  I ordered tickets on line and we went to the bus station and got tickets to Loreto, about two hours away.

One of the great things about what Americans think of as "third world countries" is that they have excellent public transportation.  It may not always be this nice a bus, but they go everywhere and often.

We arrived home about 11:30 PM on that same Friday night.  On Saturday I went trailer shopping and found a perfect one.  It has a bed 5' by 10' (the bike is 3 and a half feet by 9 feet.  It has a ramp for loading and was reasonably inexpensive.  The dealer said he would be willing to discuss buying it back when we are done with it.  (We have no place to store it where we live and I'm not going to rent storage for a trailer I will seldom need for anything.)  I licensed it and we headed back to Mexico Sunday morning.  We are driving long and hard.  We have air conditioning and sun protection.  We took the tent as one of our checked bags, and our clothing and computer as carry-on bags.  So we are camping our way back south using our older sleeping bags and the tent.  We hit the border in two days and are in Ciudad Constitución in another two.  It is Wednesday and I told Arturo we would meet him tomorrow to load the bike onto the trailer and the bike's trailer into the truck and to pay him.  He has done all this without receiving a centavo yet.

On the way down we talked and we have decided that the truck should handle well enough that we can probably get the other two far distant checkpoints.  The route up Interstate 15 is only a day longer than using Interstate 5 from here.  Both of the checkpoints are not far off of I-15 and it seems foolish to skip them.  Of course it will take us longer than just one additional day because we will be travelling much slower when we are loaded than we were with an empty trailer and truck.  We hope to hit the border in 4 days at San Luis into Yuma, Arizona.

The next update will probably be across the border again.