Gringo in Cancun

[MikeMike]

Damn near anything, up to and including, a dead midget can be used as a tope.
I have ridden over ship ropes, steel tubes, concrete sewer pipes, you name it.

Never forget the reverse tope. This is where they hollow out the road, think concave and not convex.

Look at this video and you will see real Mexican topes and what happens when a guy who thinks he is Don Chingon goes for a ride. I think he showed up on the ground radar at Benito Juarez Airport.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si8vgzxX0dE

[Lone Rider]

Originally Posted by MikeMike

Damn near anything, up to and including, a dead midget can be used as a tope.
I have ridden over ship ropes........

Those things can be really abrupt...like jarring your bike and bones abrupt.

My favorites are the ones with a real, live, sunbathing dog sleeping on the tope. Way cool!

[MikeMike]

That would be a "clunk and yelp" as opposed to a "wham and a curse"!

[markharf]

Most topes are good fun if you get off the seat a bit and your suspension is set correctly: each wheel rises and falls independently, the bike bucks twice without lurching, and you get to pass all the soot-belching buses and trucks which slow to near standstill at each tope.

Miss one in the shadows or neglect to come high enough off the seat and bad things are possible. Non-typical topes can also do you in--around here they're sometimes installed in a series which is specifically aimed at motorbike wheelbases, so that back wheels drop precipitously while front wheels are launched skyward, but cheaper variations (like the ones with a broad, flat top combined with steep entry and exit) are just as dangerous. Plus every so often I've found one which is actually taller than my bike's clearance, and the third bounce when the whole bike rebounds off my skid plate really messes with my timing.

But 99% of the time they're a boon to motorcyclists--fun, and a competitive advantage over other traffic. What's to complain?

Mark

[MikeMike]

"Most topes are good fun if you get off the seat a bit and your suspension is set correctly: each wheel rises and falls independently, the bike bucks twice without lurching, and you get to pass all the soot-belching buses and trucks which slow to near standstill at each tope.

Miss one in the shadows or neglect to come high enough off the seat and bad things are possible. Non-typical topes can also do you in--around here they're sometimes installed in a series which is specifically aimed at motorbike wheelbases, so that back wheels drop precipitously while front wheels are launched skyward, but cheaper variations (like the ones with a broad, flat top combined with steep entry and exit) are just as dangerous. Plus every so often I've found one which is actually taller than my bike's clearance, and the third bounce when the whole bike rebounds off my skid plate really messes with my timing.

But 99% of the time they're a boon to motorcyclists--fun, and a competitive advantage over other traffic. What's to complain?"

Mark

Mark, if you ride in Mexico everyday, they are nothing but a massive and dangerous pain the ass and the wallet.
First, you do have to slow down for them no matter how good your suspension is.
If you ride in Mexico, you go through more clutches, more brakes, do much more shifting, more steering head bearings if you don't keep them adjusted, etc...

A huge amount of them are not marked, can be of any size shape or material, can be any number, and most are made to simply control butthole drivers that insist upon speeding through towns and villages, past schools and hospitals, etc...

They are by no means fun. In fact, I have never heard of anyone describe them as fun. At least not anyone that has to confront them day in and day out and pay to maintain their own bike. Even a rental bike wouldn't be fun because it is not like whoop de doo riding on an MX track. It is pavement, slippery, and riders consider them to be a problem rather than any kind of solution.

Yes, my suspension is set up correctly. And no, there is no "typical tope". It is ridiculous to even think that.

[tricepilot]

Well, its been a week since the OP kicked off the thread, then went into the witness protection program

This is like the caller to the radio station talk show, who phones in a question, hangs up, and goes plays golf while the pundits craft his well worded but unheard answers

[markharf]

Relax, Mike. I've spent a total of a year and a half riding around Latin America, and I like topes more now than I did when I began. You don't agree, but this thread is not the exclusive province of those who "confront them day in and day out." And of course I pay for my own bike maintenance: who else is going to do it for me?

For me, they're fun, and often even useful. I've seen all sorts, and some of the worst are in an un-named Indian nation several thousand miles from you (but convenient to my home). The unfortunate truth is that up here I can't use them to pass slower traffic without risking incurring the wrath of the local uniformed law enforcement personnel. That makes Mexican topes far preferable to those closer to home. Count your blessings.

Mileage varies.

Mark

[kantuckid]

This is a silly argument?"liking topes" is like "liking potholes"? Sure they often can get you around a bus/truck but if they weren't there I'd be all the happier as they beat on your machine, peg standing or not! And then there's the ones with the "bike slot" that are not quite wide enough but suck you into thinking that you're bike fits & then watch out
The underneath of my bike has many scars from the "lovable topes" , whats to like...