Tricepilot's México: Off-Road Through the Sierra Madre From Durango to Mazatlán

Oh. And I don't know about the GS Adventure. I was talking about any of the big pigs. Only one of my "crazy fucker" nominees has one of those. The others are on big Katooms. None are on Vstroms or Teneres.

I hate to Jab those BMW guys in the video because I know it's very hard to capture all of the ride on a few shots. Also, they may have been running against the clock. Although, what they showed in that video really doesn't look that hard!

It's easy to take scenery shots but it is very hard do capture the level of difficulty of any ride. Especially inclination, which never shows up in photos. And again, the camera doesn't come out when you trying to get through a tough area.

This ride is long, longer than most enduro races, but it's not super gnarly for an off road ride. It's just not made for big bikes. Probably because we are on a forum with a lot of guys who ride big bikes the narrative keeps coming back around as to whether or not a big bike could do it?

Sure a very good rider could get through on big bike, he would probably dump it several times and would need some help to get through some sections, but what would be the point? Who wants to waste a weekend taking the wrong bike on a sweet ride. If anyone really wants to take the wrong bike for a ride, just enter the GSA into an enduro race or hare scramble any weekend of the summer in the US.

Agreed. And that's what I have been saying. Look. As an example, you minimize the difficulty of the GS Giant course based on what was posted but you recognize that had you been there it might have been quite different.

Same reason I asked about Ruta comparisons to Colorado passes we both might have ridden. I was trying to get a feel because the pics posted weren't matching up with the words. But we had no common passes.

The pics of the Ruta posted simply don't look that hard but I might have missed one. Now, you know "it is that hard" and are doing your best to convey that.

But at times on this board people will say don't try the RMAR ride or Big Bend National Park on a big bike and then people do it and have a good time. That's all that is going on.

But for me, I'm convinced. I'd never try it on a big bike. Might not try it all on little bike.

You would probably just need a couple guys to help you through some gnarly sections; who knows....I would try it if the others would not be put off by having to lift and push. I think one of the real risks is having the bike fall on your leg or having it slide down the hillside. I have been a witness to great rides turning into ambulance rides and don't want to inflict that on my buds or have it inflicted on me, especially in super remote areas.
Nest year it will be possibly Super Enduro but probably 530EXC with 6.3 gal tank for me. I can't wait as this stuff is right up my alley.

And SR. As to why anybody would try it on a big bike? You got me. I dunno. Lots of things people do for fun just look like work to me.

I guess they might find it extremely challenging and they want an extreme challenge? I am just out to play so I don't get it.

Trust me. I only have one answer to "why did you ride that road on that bike?" Well. It looked like the most fun at the time.

lol Those are 100 mph roads. I was speaking of all the thread pics I have seen. Again. I could have missed one.

Edit: Jimmex. I have seen 950 SE's do some amazing things.

Slowoldguy, I forgot about that stretch that I mentioned to you when I was describing the route earlier. There was a 8 km stretch in Sinaloa right down a broad river valley. Most people didn't do it because it was late in the day, hot and the highway was close by, so most people just jumped on the highway. But I did it, it was very gnarley.

It was a dry river valley filled with loose coarse gravel. The bike would sink in as soon as I stopped moving. There was no marked trail because it had been erased away from when the water last came. There were lateral banks of baby heads and I found myself moving into the baby head fields because at least they gave traction. The channel within the river bed was dry, but it was was 4 or 5 feet deep in some places, so I had to go up and down the steep soft gravel bank dozens of times. I had to keep the engine running at about 140% its normal load just to plow through the gravel. The bike got real hot and I burned the hell out of my leg on the muffler guard.

I am almost certain that it would take a big bike all day long with 2 guys pushing to do this 5 mile stretch. Simple physics, too much weight on too little tire. Even the ATVs were struggling with this stuff.

I didn't take any photos of this area. I was just happy to get out of there without any problems. I didn't do the this part of the Pre-Route but the guys who did told me that in this section one of them (Hector) broke down. They were in the hot tropical sun in the middle of the day for 3 hours trying to get the bike going. Two guys started to get heat stroke. When they finally got out of there they laid down on the floor of the first house they came to for an hour while the other guys poured water on them!


This photo is from the pre-route ride and is not mine. It is not very representative. The valley was a lot wider in most places and there is shade in this photo!


Here is another photo I just found. This area isn't too bad looking.

Gentlemen, it is the rider....not the bike .

Back to Mexico

Nope. Hell no Trice! Not me. Like I said, I am convinced by the words that the switchbacks and the river bottom silt would eat my sadass lunch, even on my KLR. The smallest bike I own. The pics just aren't conveying it. Kinda like the pics and vids I posted on my February Pic Thread. I know it was tough for me fully loaded on a 600 lb GS Adventure but the pics lie.

But yeah. Flat level class 1? It's on like Donkey Kong.

Ya think? lol That was my sig line for years.

And my reference was to Jim's choice between two bikes. Same rider.

After years of taking the GS1100 through stuff that was sometimes crazy, I no longer do that and choose the more appropriate tool for the job. I remember the days where I tried to use the GS (insert "big bike" of choice) like a dirt bike.....just use it for paved, gravel, dirt roads these days....no more gnarly deep sand, mud holes, deep water crossings, or 6" wide track above treeline on a talus slope....

There are even rides where I make a distinction between my 450 and 690 as "which is best for this ride".

Having a smart brain is better than big balls these days....

Yup. Knowing that ain't the worst of it, that's starting to look a lot like the kinda shit I don't like on a big bike. It already sounded like it.

Apparently you miss the old videos of the African Dakar. Over 8000 miles of "Big Bikes" ie: Yamaha's, Honda's, BMW's, and many other wrong bikes, won those races. I not saying I'm a pro rider, but I didn't think we were talking about a race to start with, just an adventure ride in the mountains of Mexico with folks of like minds. Jeez, here lately if your not riding a WR450R or like, your just an out cast. How in the hell did motorcyling evolve anyway. We old fart didn't start out on a 450. I can remember back in the day riding a CB750/4 with my buddies with HD Sportsers and other bikes up in the mountains because that's all we had in those days. The little Suzuki's and Bull Taco's didn't carry enough gas to go more than 50 miles. Hmmmm how did we survive ?

I respectfully disagree. Since you mentioned CB750/4 you can't be that old. Small bikes were the rule prior to that. In 1969 when the CB750 Four came out it was considered "big." Anything bigger, especially Harleys, were ridden by the cops or the Angels, and generally not on dirt. Bultaco 360cc Bandito MX predates the CB750 Four by a year.

Bigdave, you can come down and ride whatever bike you like. It doesn't make any difference to me. You were saying before that you are pushing 300 pounds, so maybe you can handle the "big bike" like a smaller guy handles a 450. So go for it.

For everyone else, I don't think it's a good idea to advocate bringing down to Mexico a completely inappropriate bike for this event just to see if it can be done? These are 12-13 hour days on an enduro bike, so unless you think you can go faster on a big bike, then you will be coming in at night.

This is not Texas and we don't have rescue helicopters. If you break your leg in some of these places it's a 8 hour ride to a hospital in the back of a truck. If you leave a $20K BMW on the side of the road at night without an armed guard it very likely wont be there in the morning.

Don't get me wrong, the sierra is a huge area ripe for exploring and there is a lot of terrain well suited to big bikes. Just not this event with its terrain and distances/time constraints.

Lets get on with some more photos.


We got up out of the caldera steadily climbing west toward the barranca country. The road we were on was probably originally used for logging but had been improved to access a regional power line that goes from Mazatlan to Torreon. Here we are looking to the next drainage to the south. Past this point the road drops down abruptly about 1300 m and the climate starts to feel tropical.


This helipad is relatively new. I don't know if it was built to access the power line or if it is was to access the Baluarte bridge construction? We didn't see any on this trip but I've seen deer, coatimundi and a bobcat and almost always wild turkey up here.

<iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="640" height="360" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/2630268984_T2Ddpcn?width=640&height=360&albumId=30321563&albumKey=6Hg3nW"></iframe>
Here is Tricepolit leisurely negotiating a switchback as we start to get some good views of the new Baluarte bridge.






The Puente Baluarte where we had lunch. I'll let Tricepilot take it from here. I think he must have some more photos of this area.