Time for heading south (take 2)

Discussion in 'Ride Reports - Epic Rides' started by Red Beer'd, Sep 15, 2013.

  1. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    I'll try to make is thread again, tried earlier today and messed it all up.
    The wife and I and the gentleman we ride with most often are planning a little trip south for the fall and we agreed it would be nice to share since folks on this forum are so great at sharing their adventures. We've done this trip before where we leave Alberta destined for Arizona however previously we've always gone through the western states and this time we would like to travel through the interior with a side trip to Louisiana before heading to Arizona.
    I scratched a few lines on a Shell map with Paint, some of the roads we took on our two previous trips down and back:
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    A few pics from the road in no real order:
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    Monument Valley popular tourist picture

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    Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park

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    Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly

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    Badwater Basin in Death Valley NP

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    Crazy rock texture in Kings Canyon NP

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    A big ol' tree in Sequoia NP

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    Half Dome in Yosemite NP

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    Messed up "diptych" of the bridge over the Crooked River Gorge

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    Crater Lake in May 2012

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    The barking stinking critters on the California coast

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    Montezuma's Castle

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    South rim of the Grand Canyon

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    UFO Museum in Roswell New Mexico

    With our journey still in the planning stages we have only nailed down a few stops. The first day will likely take us to Moosejaw hopefully in time to sample some smoked prime rib. After that I'd like to pass by the Devil's Tower monument in Wyoming and Jewel Cave and Mt. Rushmore monument in the Black Hills. South of there is somewhat unknown since I've never been. More pics to come if I decide I can figure this thread thing out!
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  2. ClearwaterBMW

    ClearwaterBMW The Examiner Supporter

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    looking great so far
    appreciate the thread
    can't wait to read and see more
    thanks for sharing
    #2
  3. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    A bit of an update. Our departure date is set to Wednesday, about a week earlier than we left last fall.
    Here is a pic from October 10 2012, it was snowing and raining and about 30 degrees all the way from Edmonton to Canmore. Ice built up on everything, wound up destroying my fork seals which bled all over everything until I had them fixed in AZ.
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    It seems that when I remade the thread I neglected to mention the proposed rout so here goes: First stop: Moose Jaw Saskachewan for smoked prime rib. From there probably south through the western bit of North Dakota directly towards the Black Hills in South Dakota. Depending on how the weather is we might explore a little while there. After that we'll follow the scenic routs in the rand McNally road atlas and we'll probably see a bit of Nebraska, Arkansas, and Mississippi before we get to Louisiana. Getting pretty excited now!
    #3
  4. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    The weather has been pretty poor so far. Rain in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Pretty cool and lots of construction in North Dakota. Stopped yesterday afternoon in Belfield ND on account of it snowing a little. Waiting now in Bowman because of ice on the highway and the news of the highway south being impassible. Might have to re-think our rout!
    #4
  5. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    I'm slowly figuring out how to post with this tablet gizmo. Here is a picture from Thursday, a guy knows he is in Moosejaw when the crosswalk sign looks like this:
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    This is how we ended our day in Belfield on Friday:
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    So there were a couple of firsts for us back on Saturday: it was the first time we (the wife and I) ever rode on ice and also the first time we ever passed a working snow plow on the highway. She might not have thought I was nervous enough but there certainly were some pucker moments. Sitting in the café in Bowman we began to re-think our game plan. After some deliberation we decided to head straight west instead of south and carry on until we could get around the snow. We heard that going to South Dakota was a bad idea because the snow in Deadwood was quickly stacking up.

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    After a short ride we crossed into Montana where the conditions quickly improved. Also I had never ridden in Montana before and decided it was very scenic and beautiful.

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    Rolled over lucky sevens somewhere in there

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    Saturday night we got into Billings and had some steaks at the Texas Roadhouse which was great. Apparently there were more than 40 staff making everything run smoothly that night. Food and staff were both great.
    Sunday morning we started by checking out the pictograph caves close to Billings. Unfortunately not too much to see due to degradation over time but the weather was really starting to look up and we were in no hurry to be rushing away.
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    Our journey today was pretty short, we toured through the Craters of the Moon lava field, incredible to imagine how folks would have made their way through this area with horses and wagons a couple hundred years ago. Ran into some folks working for Klim on great big adventure bikes, two KTMs and a BMW.
    Made it to Twin falls after a rest in Shoshone, rode down into the gorge, yapped with a base jumper from Brazil then rode back out. Tomorrow we're looking to rend a canoe and maybe a kayak and paddle up river a little to enjoy this wonderful weather!
    #5
  6. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    So keeping a ride report up to date is pretty tough, kudos to you folks who manage to do it regularly.
    The threat of rain stopped the paddling adventure but we managed to miss the bad weather by riding out early.
    Here's a shot I liked from Twin Falls
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    A shot from Craters of the Moon which was closed when we rode through. Sure glad parks are back open.
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    Three Buttes. I'm always amazed by the crazy mount of volcanic leftovers spread across the US
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    That sweet building in Caliente
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    Somewhere on the road before we got to Vegas[​IMG]

    A shot from that rest stop after the hover dam
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    Window Rock in the capital of the Navajo nation
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    A shot of the moon I took at Petrified Forest
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    and finally a picture of the sunset last night in Gila Bend. [​IMG]Tonight we're in Nogales and we plan to ride into Mexico tomorrow morning, hopefully we can make it all the way to Guaymas after we take care of all the insurance jazz.
    #6
  7. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    Having some success lately. The wife and I got up pretty early in Nogales in order to sort out our insurance and trade for some pesos. Not sure if this is a no-no but I'll drop a name here as it was Don Smith that we got the insurance from. He also provided reasonable exchange for our American dollars. We were also provided with information on what to do each step of the way to successfully enter into Mexico.
    So we ride south and cross the border. As we are carrying on I'm enjoying the road and not really paying attention. 60 kilometers into Mexico the little lady leans up and says something like "Weren't we supposed to stop for a visa or something?" Darn it! So we make a U-turn and cruise back to the 20 km mark and pull into the inspection station and are immediately directed back to the correct cluster of offices where we fill out papers, get copies of all of our documents, pay the 400$ deposit for importing the bike, go back to the first office and finish all the formalities, ultimately losing an hour and bit of progress but probably for the best.

    Once under way again we can settle in resting assured that if we are stopped by officials we should have most everything in order. The 15 going south is a fine mix of perfect pavement and shite pavement and everything in between. The morning is still cool but temperatures climb to sweltering over the course of the day. We crack on at 120 and stay there except for the ton of construction, the tolls, the towns, the topes, and the gas stops.

    On our only previous trip into Mexico we only rode as far as Rocky Point but we soon found out that Mexico wasn't nearly as foreign to us as we had thought it might be. We reached Guaymas probably an hour before dark and easily found the Holiday Inn where the wife had booked the first real reservation of the trip so far. This place was sweet, not much more to say other than it was the nicest place we have probably ever stayed in, friendly staff, clean room and what not. Security watching the moto outside the front door.
    For eats we walked the 250 meters to the Marisco El Rey and got some wonderful sea food for a reasonable price to nicely round out the day.

    Today's ride was much the same as yesterday's. We knew that we had some miles to make so we cracked on at about 120 again and carried on south, slowing once again for construction, tolls, towns, topes and petrol. Occasionally a cager would blow by us at some great unknown velocity leading me to believe that while suggested speeds are posted the maximums are whatever a person thinks they can get away with.
    About 762 kilometers later we roll into Mazatlan and easily locate the second real reservation of our trip at the Aguamarina. Reception was great, parking is "secure" on a chunky cobblestone lot. The room is a little stuffy and muggy but this place is on the ocean so I guess it is to be expected. After settling in with a refreshing shower we wandered up the street still a little bewildered by the volume of traffic. After a few blocks we turned around and walked back to the hotel to find food.

    We're planning to kick it here for a day or so since the gentleman we ride with has flown to Guadalajara to re-assemble his other bike which he had painted down there. Once things start to come together we're planning to ride that direction and he will meet us somewhere on the outskirts so we can ride into the city together. We'll probably stay in Guadalajara for week or so since this guy has a few friends and is the co-proprietor of a business in the city. The plan for the way back is to ride into Arizona again to meet some friends that will ride with us back into Mexico to attend the annual Rocky Point Rally!
    #7
  8. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    Last Friday almost as planned we rode from Mazatlan to Tequila where we met our friend who was actually expecting us on Thursday. The scenery was beautiful and the wife was able to snap some nice shots of the ride.

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    Turns out our friend spent all of Thursday in Tequila waiting for us. We felt bad but he felt fine because Tequila is a nice little town to wait in.
    Once in Tequila we had a rest by this church and walked around a little before heading out towards Guadalajara.

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    I snapped a few pictures of a mural depicting the creation story of tequila or something like that, there is a lot to the mural after all:
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    That day our friend had run his 2001 Victory out of fuel and began to experience some difficulties with it. It would run ok but only at full throttle which obviously can be quite dangerous. We stopped just out of Tequila to see if the problem could be dealt with. We were carrying next to nothing for tools so we were lucky when a local riding a Harley stopped and was carrying.

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    Although we didn't get the issue fixed we did meet good people and were able to carry on into Guadalajara in a somewhat reckless fashion.
    We spent most of Saturday messing with the broken bike, went on the tequila express to Amatitan on Sunday and spent the better part of this week messing with the scooter some more. Finally we chased the problem to the fuel pump and changed it out with one from auto zone.

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    Now it seems to be running fine. Yesterday we took it out in the city to make darn sure. We visited a seafood market, a basilica, and the Victory dealer here in Guadalajara. There was a real big rain but we managed to stay mostly dry. Saturday we're supposed to leave to head north again but I'm not starting a new thread despite the title of this one. The plan is still to ride back to AZ and meet up with friends before attending the Rocky Point Rally, after which we will ride back to AZ with our friends before turning around and riding back to Guadalajara because we spent all week fixing and didn't do much of the sight seeing that we had wanted to do.
    #8
  9. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    One shot of the basilica in Zapopan

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    Hard rain in Guadalajara

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    Once back to Arizona we saddled up with some folks and headed back south destined for Rocky Point.

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    Lots of bikes and good people at the Rally, plenty of visiting and good times.

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    One shot from the ride home. Gearing up now for riding back to Guadalajara.

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    #9
  10. Doug329

    Doug329 Adventurer

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    Thanks for sharing. Hope to get to Mexico someday...but more off-road tracks (dual-sport). I could feel the cold and wet on your way South..Not much fun for sure.
    Ride Safe,
    Doug :clap
    #10
  11. Toiretto

    Toiretto Getting into it!

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    Great pics! I lived in Guadalajara for a while. The "Basilica de Zapopan" brought some nice memories.

    Thank you for sharing! :clap
    #11
  12. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    It was time for heading south again. On Friday the 15 we finally had our ducks in a row and were ready to ride out again. We left Lake Havasu City maybe a little before noon and stopped in at Don’s Cactus Bar in Salome for a rest, came across an inmate but didn’t get a chance to yap with them.
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    We took Salome Road south, then the interstate to Gila Bend, then more highway to Tucson where we got another great meal at a Texas Roadhouse and a room at a hotel. Turned the Odo over 88888km.
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    Saturday we rode to Nogales and stopped in at Don Smith so our riding parent could switch his insurance to the other and we grabbed some pesos since it is so convenient. We crossed the border in the same way as last time and took the truck route. But instead of making a right after the border to ride over the topes, through the inspection point and ultimately through Nogales Mexico, we stayed left, dodged the topes, and got on the highway immediately, avoiding the morning city traffic. <o:p></o:p>
    American style lunch was found at Elba’s in Santa Anna after which we carried on south. The #15 toll highway was similar to two weeks ago, plenty of construction but mostly 4 lane. Well before dark we were riding into San Carlos where we planned to get a room instead of in Guaymas like on our first trip. Rooms were found at a Best Western where our friend had stayed when he rode down last November. The room was a little stuffy compared to the wonderful Holiday Inn at Guaymas but it had a view of the ocean and San Carlos seems quieter than Guaymas. We got our sea food fix across the road while we watched the sunset and retired for the evening. This was the view from our room.
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    Sunday we got a real early start and started heading for Mazatlan. It’s a fairly long day, we passed lots of local people going about their Sunday, coming and going to and from church, playing baseball or soccer in the sports fields, and visiting in public areas. We were on the road for most of the day, I rolled into Mazatlan on reserve and we immediately caught the first Pemex. With plenty of gasoline we set off finding our hotel which only took one change of direction. The Palms was real nice and on this visit we took in their complimentary breakfast which was very satisfying. We burned up a day in Mazatlan and returned to a few of our favorite spots: the beach road going south to the harbor and a nice restaurant, the name of which escapes me at the moment.
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    Over the course of our two night stay more than one local quizzed us up about our trip and because of their advice we changed our game plan and decide that instead of riding to Guadalajara from Mazatlan we would ride to Durango on the brand new highway. Of course once we looked at the map we were real interested in the Libre highway but it will have to wait for another day.<o:p></o:p>
    Tuesday’s ride on that new highway was nothing short of spectacular. Not to startle anyone but the toll is pretty high.
    Here everyone takes a picture
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    #12
  13. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    We got into Durango a little later in the afternoon and got a meal at a place called El Porton and then found a room in a hotel called Posada San Jorge. The hotel was in a historic building that used to be a casa if I am correct. The rooms are large with plenty of historic character and clean bathrooms.
    Here is the inside of the hotel lobby:
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    The area of Durango where we stayed is close to the big central cathedral and early evening brought lots of people out and about. We took in a tour of the mine that runs under the streets for some 300 yards. There must be tons of old mine shafts kicking around under this city, out of sight and perhaps partly forgotten.
    Here is the cathedral:
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    Wednesday we put our faith in Sheila on the GPS and she led us in a more of less direct route out of the city. The ride to Zacatecas was through a different landscape filled with fields and big hills. The weather was nice and we made decent time. Once in Zacatecas we wound through the streets towards a big cathedral (is this getting redundant?) and got a room across the street from it in an expensive but very nice hotel called El Emporio.
    Here is a shot of the cathedral:
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    And a picture that I thought would be cute, they start young but they still get stuck in traffic. Papa was in the drivers seat but can't be seen in the photo.
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    Our stay in Zacatecas was unique and amazing. Before dark we wandered around and visited a few shops and found some food at the hotel. Then with a growing beer tooth we set out to find refreshments. At our first stop we met some local students, one of which had been to Alberta for work at some point. After a few beers we wandered back out into the street just as some motos were pulling up to park. It was a group if local riders belonging to a club called Druidas. They were a great bunch of guys who welcomed us to Zacatecas and invited us to join them for one or two more refreshments. We visited and took some photos and called it a night.

    Thursday before lunch the president and one of the members of the club presented us with Mexican flags before we got on the road.
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    We rode out of Zacatecas on the 45 and once out of the city we consulted a map and cross referenced with Sheila on the GPS. We promptly made a U turn and rode straight back through the city to get onto the 23 which would take us more or less into the area of Guadalajara close to where we would be staying. For the most part the ride on the 23 was beautiful and scenic but first we would have to deal with choppy busted up pavement and heavy construction.
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    The ride took us the better part of the afternoon and pounded the last 60 miles of pavement after dark but managed to make it into GDL safe and sound.
    Saturday we attended a softball game, here is a victory parked at the Harley dealership across from the University where the game was:
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    Sunday we rode to Guachimontones. From Guadalajara it's a short tease of a ride but the view from on the big hill is pretty decent and there is lots of neat historic left-overs to walk amongst. General admission is 30 pesos and there is a beautiful interpretive center to help answer a few questions. There were plenty of bikes there, even some with Alberta plates!
    This is a ball court at Guachimontones:
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    And this is one of the round "pyramids"
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    #13
  14. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    After such a hiatus I’m kicking myself for not getting this together sooner. Now that the most recent leg of the journey is complete and I have gotten plenty of good feedback from non inmate followers I feel that the story must be finally wrapped up. So here goes:
    A day or two after taking in the sights at Guachimontones I took the opportunity to hang some generously donated lights on the highway bars. One trip to auto zone and a michelada or two and the task was complete.
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    During the next few days we put on some miles with our new friends and visited some local attractions like Lake Chapala, and some surrounding communities.
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    We braved some traffic in Guadalajara:
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    Visited that great big market in Guadalajara close to the basilica as well as the street market in Tonala.
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    A common sight on the highway were the trucks piled high with sugar cane:
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    Striking out on our own the little lady and I passed a place that made sweets that we had tried:
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    And while I waited with the bike the wife snapped a picture of a beautiful church in a small town, the name of which escapes me:
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    Re-joined with our road captain comrade I stopped for this photo op, the light wasn’t quite right but I like the picture:
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    All packed up we were ready to leave Guadalajara:
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    Rode to Mazatlan and got courtside parking again at the palms.
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    The following day we rode to Navojoa, deciding that the ride done previously between Mazatlan and Guaymas/ San Carlos would be too far for this day. The next morning, riding through Obregon we went down in traffic, scratching the hell out of the pipes, the right side bag, and bending the crash bar up against the engine and breaking the plastic nipple off of the return side of the rear brake master cylinder. Upon approaching an intersection I was watching traffic but not the road, attempted a lane change and failed to notice the six inch height difference between the lane I was in and the lane I wanted to be in. The drop to the pavement and the 180 degree spin happened real quick. After adjusting the crash bar we rode out of Obregon sans rear brake. We stopped that night in Nogales at the Motel 6 on the north side of the border.
    The following morning we woke up to frost on the bikes, remembering that we were no longer south of the tropic of cancer and it was, in fact, December. Some careful planning around our flight home and holiday plans set our destination on Chiricahua National Monument. To get there from Nogales we took the 82 toward Tombstone where we stopped for a refreshment in Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. Santa was there too.
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    The end of our day took us to Bisbee where we found friendly folk to sip and visit with in the Stock Exchange Saloon and later the historic and possibly haunted Copper Queen where we also found accommodations.
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    The following day took us to Douglas where the obligatory stop was the historic Gadsden Hotel where it’s said that Poncho Villa rode his horse up the marble stair case in the lobby. Our road captain’s cattle brand hangs on the wall in the attached tavern.
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    The following day took us through Chiricahua Monument:
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    We finished our day in Wilcox where we found cold beer on tap in an establishment that allows you to cook your own burger.
    The next day took us to Globe via Oracle where we found our way to Bio Sphere 2 and the missus suggested we stop. The tour we took in was very interesting but rather expensive.
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    The day after we took those loops around Phoenix, the 202 and the 101. Outside Phoenix we got on the carefree highway and booked it towards Lake Havasu, arriving in the evening. Here is a pic from somewhere along the way:
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    On the 19<SUP>th</SUP> of December we returned to Canada by air.
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    #14
  15. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    That text is a bad size and real hard to read, sorry.
    #15
  16. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

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    On the 26<SUP>th</SUP> of April I returned to Havasu to meet with the folks I would be riding home with. While riding on the 29<SUP>th</SUP> near Parker a friend of ours went off the road on a corner with a soft gravel shoulder, getting pretty banged up in the process. Thinking about seeing him go down in my mirror gives me the willies. We were to leave Havasu on the 30<SUP>th</SUP> so the wreck was fresh in all our minds as we left. <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /><o:p></o:p>
    Our objective for the day was Amargosa Valley in Nevada and we got there by heading up the east side of the Colorado river to Bullhead City where we crossed over to the 95 which we followed through Vegas. From there we stopped in Indian Springs:
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    Where one of our party riding his brother’s bike applied an aftermarket modification.
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    <o:p> We reached Amargosa a few hours before sundown. The next day took us through Death Valley. Here is a shot from Dante’s View:
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    <o:p> And one from a stop somewhere on the valley floor:
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    <o:p> After crossing Death Valley we took the 395 south to the 178 where we rode west along the Kern River. We stopped for a rest and I took a few pictures.
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    <o:p> At Bakersfield, where it was 100 degrees, we took the 99 south to the 166 which we followed to Santa Maria stopping in Maricopa to discuss our route.
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    <o:p> The following day took us from Santa Maria to South San Francisco along highway 1.
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    <o:p> Construction stopped traffic on the bridges near Big Creek so I snapped a picture.
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    <o:p> stopped a few more times for some photos.
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    <o:p> Here is a picture of someone parked at the motel we stayed in, made me chuckle.
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    <o:p> Bright and early on the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> we crossed part of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s the third time I’ve been across but only the first time I’ve gotten some pictures.
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    <o:p> North of San Francisco we followed the 101, taking in the Avenue of the Giants:
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    <o:p>At Eureka we cruised over to Samoa and found our big meal of the day at the Samoa Cookhouse. I have to recommend it due to the nice atmosphere, family style dining, and hearty food. There were perhaps a dozen other motos in the parking lot when we arrived</o:p>
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    <o:p>Back on the coast we stopped at a beach where four grown men wearing cow hide walked across the sand to the water</o:p>
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    <o:p> Once we saddled back up we carried on to Klamath were we stopped for the night at Rhodes’ End Bed and Breakfast. After a couple visits there the Proprietor has become a good friend and I always look forward to returning there.
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    <o:p> The following day was miserable for me, rain and sleet and snow and cold. I took no pictures. The 199 into Oregon, which is one of my favourite rides, was nice but we were soaked immediately from the rain which took some of the fun out of it. From Grants Pass we rode toward Crater Lake and as we climbed in elevation it got cold and we got a little light snow with the rain. The rain stopped near Bend where we stopped for the day also. We got a hot meal, wiped some of the grime off the scooters, and cranked up the heat in to motel room to dry out some gear.
    <o:p> The following day we had a nice dry ride that took us North through Redmond, Madras, Clarno Unit John Day Fossil Beds. We reached the Columbia River at Arlington and followed it upstream to the tri-cities area of Washington were we made a point of getting a meal at the Famous Dave’s BBQ, a mandatory stop for us.
    [IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9025.jpg[/IMG]
    <o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]With full bellies we took the 395 to Spokane, carrying on straight through to Coeur d’Alene Idaho. We took the 95 North, crossing the border in the evening. Our last night on the road together was spent in Cranbrook.<o:p></o:p>[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]The ride from Cranbrook to Radium on Tuesday was delightful with mild temperatures and dry highway. While stopped for petrol in Radium we spied a delivery truck from across the pass, slushy snow was dropping off of it and splashing on the asphalt. I bought a pair of rubber dipped gloves and we headed up the 93 bound for Canmore. At first it was real nice and we stopped for a picture.<o:p></o:p>[/COLOR]
    [IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9027.jpg[/IMG]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]After a little while it was snowing and less nice and we stopped to re-group.[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9][IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9029.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]Here come our friends:[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9][IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9030.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]In Canmore conditions were near white out. I seem to remember ruining my fork seals right around here on a previous trip.[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9][IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9032.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]After getting gas in Canmore:[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9][IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9033.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]Hoping the #1 would be in better condition than the 1A we took the more boring route to the intersection south of Cochrane where we turned north again. Our crossbike riding comrades carried on while we got hot soup and sandwiches in Cochrane. The weather smartened up somewhat after lunch and we rode north on the 22, cut across to the #2 at Olds, and rode straight for Edmonton. I’m pretty sure I was chilled the entire way. Somewhere close to Red Deer this happened:[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p>[IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9035.jpg[/IMG]</o:p>[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]But wait! There’s more![/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9][IMG]https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/C/Cambium_bucket_IMGP9038.jpg[/IMG][/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p> [COLOR=#fde9d9]South of Edmonton the last two of us parted ways and I was home by late afternoon. <o:p></o:p>[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=#fde9d9]Not sure how to wrap this up now, I’ve been doing repairs, replaced the busted front brake lever and damaged rear brake line, my forks are torn apart as I type this. Not too sure when I’ll be able to take on a trip like this again with work and life and all, all I know is that I’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to do such a thing, a sentiment I’m sure many of you share. Thanks for reading. Keep the rubber side down.[/COLOR][COLOR=#fde9d9]<o:p></o:p>[/COLOR]
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    #16
  17. DirtDancer

    DirtDancer Slidin' Downhill

    Joined:
    Oct 21, 2010
    Oddometer:
    97
    Location:
    Santa Maria, CA
    great pics! you text is unreadable since you switched it, but pics are still good!, thanks for sharing and esp. the motels and restaurants,, etc. I am putting a trip together and appreciate this.
    #17
  18. vicmitch

    vicmitch Long timer

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Oddometer:
    1,037
    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Great report, seems more and more Victorys are venturing farther and farther. I didn't even know there were Victory dealers in MX. I met only one Mexican Vic rider on my trip and he said that there were no parts in MX for Victorys. Nice as well to see another 2001 running through Mexico.

    Mitch
    2001 Victory Sport Cruiser

    http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=886176
    #18
  19. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2013
    Oddometer:
    133
    Thanks for reading guys! Sorry about the font mess. The polaris dealership in Guadalajara is a little small with only 3 or so vics on the floor, if you look for parts there keep in mind to double check the part numbers if you're not fluent in Spanish (another friend picked up an oil filter for me and I only realized after I had dropped the oil that it wasn't the right one) and that parts might seem very expensive. That fuel pump that my friend installed was from AutoZone, I think the one from Victory was 3 times the price or something like that. The pump wasn't identical but it worked with some extra fuel hose.
    Before I got down to Arizona last month my friend with the V92 and the blue cross country rode his cross bike down the Baja and then across to the mainland before getting to Guadalajara and back to Arizona and advised me that I must do it also. He plans to have his V92 re-built now that it is home and has over 240 000 Km on that motor.
    #19
  20. Red Beer'd

    Red Beer'd Tourist

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2013
    Oddometer:
    133
    The frosty side of the thermometer says that I'm late. Vamos!

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    #20