circa Monterrey, Nueavo Leon Mexico

[elektron]

Carly and I just got back from our short, but eventful adventure south of the border. A complete story will follow, but for now, some eye candy:









:-D

[ezekiel]

[trailuser]

fine dining, beautiful countryside

[icrashed]

Do tell.

[elektron]

Well, as usual, before we left i was rushing because i waited until the last minute to get things ready. I tried the RTV fix for my leaky water pump once. That didn't work. So i ordered a new mechanical seal and replaced that.



The new part didn't help, so the day before we left, I tried the RTV fix again. I figured they had coolant in mexico and it wasn't leaking too bad. So we finished packing and i loaded the bike up in the truck.

The cat was being the cat:


We sure were gonna miss him ;-)



We took off after midnight and headed for Austin. I got stopped a few hours into the trip by an eager young state trooper, who after he was convinced i wasn't drunk, was excited to hear about our upcoming trip. He let me go with a written warning for improper lane usage and a petition to be careful on our long drive south.

[elektron]

We arrived in Austin, Tx the next afternoon after a lot of driving, some sleeping and a lot of driving. We unloaded the bike and went for a ride around Austin to see some sights. We rode up to the mt. Bonnell lookout point. I believe that overlooks lake Travis (a.k.a. the dammed Colorado river). Some of the most ridiculously huge and beautiful houses surround that river. We had lunch downtown at some place. The bike seemed okay, and as far as i could tell the water pump leak had stopped. (YAY!!!)

We went back to the truck to get our shit together and figure out what was up.



I decided that before i got into another country I should highway test the bike in the states. So we took off down I-35 outta Austin south. After about an hour i noticed the front tire wasn't quite mounted right and was causing the front end to bounce quite annoyingly. seeing a motorcycle dealer along the road i pulled a U turn at the next interchange and headed back to see if i could get a hand:

New Braunfels Cycle Country
1933 Ih 35 E, New Braunfels, TX
(877) 885-8990

This place we meet some very nice people who fixed the mounting of my front tire, and let us relax a bit in the air-conditioned showroom. Cycle Country of New Braunfels forever holds a place in my heart for helping me out of a jam.

;-)

That night we got a hotel on the U.S. side of Laredo, Tx and crashed. Highway miles sucked, but the bike was running better, and i felt good about tomorrow.

[elektron]

The next morning, We got up and headed 10 miles or so south to the border. Stopped at the 'last chance' Gas stop to fill up the gas tank, change monies, and have a breakfast snack.




This was our last taste of the U.S. for a little while. and all those highway miles had already taken a bit outta us.




So we crossed the border, imported the motorcycle and got the hell outta Nuevo Laredo as fast as we could. Border cities are not the best places to hang out as a tourist these days..

after we got past the military checkpoint going into the state of Nuevo Leon, we stopped at some little diner along the way for our first taste of mexico, and got back on the road. after a couple of hours we started to see mountains along the highway.





Late in the afternoon, we rode through Monterrey and got a little lost. I decided to head in the direction of Saltillo, and we got a hotel in San Pedro (west of Monterrey).

That night while on a mission to find some things, i noticed the battery on the bike was dying, i had to push start it :-(

Called home to talk to people with more motorcycle mechanical experience than i. and tried not to worry too much. Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring.

[ezekiel]

[elektron]

The night before, i ripped a few pages out of the yellow pages with motorcycle dealers around an in Monterrey. Was gonna try to make it back into the heart of the city, where chances were better that i could find a mechanic that could diagnose my electrical problem.

We loaded up the bike and headed back east down the road. About a mile or so down the road, the bike sputtered it's final breaths and died. We cut across four lanes of traffic to the side of the road, dismounted and smoked a cigarette.

Clipped the helmets to the back of the bike and started walking. We walked for a couple hours, pushing the bike over curbs, around stuff. over a highway ramp walkway overpass, took a couple breaks for water. Eventually, while asking for directions, we were offered a ride in the back of a pickup to the address in question. I gladly accepted the invitation.

We ended up at Guppy Sports:

Guppy Sport
Giro: Agencias, Talleres, Refacciones, Accesorios
Descripción: Accesorios y servicios mecánicos
Dirección: Vasconcelos No.1240 Pte. CP66220
Ciudad: Monterrey
Estado: Nuevo León
Teléfono: (01 81)8336-6177
Sitio Web:
E-mail: guppyp@rocketmail.com

After the head mechanic using a multi-meter tested the bike for a while he said he was fairly sure he could fix it. the stator was working, and the voltage regulator was working. He said it was a wiring problem. He had some other things to work on that afternoon, so we left the bike and some of our gear, and left with an entrepreneur that just opened a restaurant near there, he was headed back anyway so he gave us a ride.



Daniel, was a very nice guy. When we tried to pay him for the food we ordered, he said he invited us, and would not accept the money.



His shirt says, "Will try anything twice."



Lunch was great, and we left him the money for it, and a nice tip on the table, and went off to find a place to sleep for the night. If you are in or around Monterrey, I would highly recommend this restaurant. I took a picture of the crossroads where it stands, so i could advertise for this guy:



I am so clever.



So we found a hotel and stuff, i called guppy sports around 6pm, and the guy told me the problem was found and would be fixed shortly, i could come pick up the bike. the labor was kinda expensive he said, 400 pesos ( $40 US ). I told him that was okay and i'd head over there now.

Took a cab to the shop and as he said the bike was fixed, one of the wiring harnesses had a bad connection in it, so he had cut it out and replaced it with something. Great ! I paid the man, loaded up my stuff, and with some well-wishes in both directions i was off.

Driving during evening rush hour in a city is not the best idea as a motorcycle tourist in mexico should know, but i was determined to make it back to the hotel before dark and flew off down the street. Not knowing the layout or the language of the city very well, i had a general idea of which direction i should go. But loosing the shield on my helmet added a bunch of difficulty to the task at hand. As you may or may not know, Mexican cities are not famous for their clean streets, and rush hour this windy evening was kicking up all sorts of dirt and crap right into my unprotected eyes, i made it back to the hotel eventually, but my eyelids felt like sandpaper on my eyes:



All in all, we had working transportation again and everyone was alive and (mostly) well, so we were in good shape for tomorrow ;-)

[elektron]

So in the morning we packed up and headed south. My eyes had somewhat recovered over night, and the sandpaper feeling was gone. We arrived in a couple hours to the town of Santiago. A beautiful, Not-So-Small Mountain town. I Pulled through the town square, and couldn't help my self, just took every possible turn up hill for about 20 minutes or so, until we came to a nice spot to stop for a smoke break:





At this point it was so scenic i convinced Carly to hold onto the camera while we rode and take some pictures.



So we packed up and did some riding...




yulp, that's the road ;-)





Carly meet some friends, and we stopped to pet them, as they behaved very friendly:






We stopped for lunch on the square:



We found the place with the most colorfull chairs we could:




... Too be continued ...

[ezekiel]

:grinner

[elektron]

after lunch it was off to see the waterfall that i heard so much about from the padre and me hermano. cola de caballo or something. so..



once there, Carly met some more friends:





we rented a couple of horses to take us to the waterfall, being lazy americans and all.



okay, actually we got the horses because carly loves horses ;-) (fuzzy animals in general)





after about ten minutes carly decided she was done petting the horses, and we walked up to the waterfall









we rode back down:



said goodbye to our friend,



and headed back to Santiago town square where we were staying that night.

[McD]

[elektron]

We decided on the italian eatery with outdoor dining for diner



With a bottle of wine, and the perfect setting, we ordered a pie from an italian eatery in santiago, mexico.





The pizza pie was awesome. Best thin crust pizza i ever sunk my teeth into. flakey crust, flavorfull sauce, and great cheese cooked over a fire in a brick oven.



Carly was in heaven.





stumbled around the town square for a bit,







found some sangria's served in a way i had not seen before ...



perfect day..

[elektron]

sangria was good, btw...