Durango to Mazatlan Highway

[SR]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

When I went through there in October people in Mazatlan warned me about those "road blocks." I didnt give much credence to the warnings as I thought they were being overly dramatic. Guess I should have paid more attention.

Who are the folks setting up these road blocks? Drug cartels, or just well armed bandits?

Those road blocks a real. Here in Durango we probably hear about a dozen incidents on that stretch of road a year but I am guessing there are several times that many incidents that are not reported.

In fact, I know someone who was attacked on that that stretch about 6 weeks ago. They said that they were stopped with windows rolled down and AKs in their faces before they even realized that it was not an official Army checkpoint. This incident happened at 2 AM in the morning. The victims were almost more embarrassed and mad at themselves for being on this road at that hour than anything else because it is so stupid to be on that road at night. The bandidos made it abundantly clear that having just stolen their IDs, they knew where to look for anyone who reported them to the police.

That incident could have been a whole lot worse, rape is common if women are involved. About 2 months ago, just south of El Salto they threw a grenade into a car that didn't stop and killed 6 children.

Vince, I don't really know who those bandidos are but I suspect they are lawless hillbilly A-holes that come from families who have been doing this same thing for generations. They come up from ranchos like Mesa de Los Negros steal what they can and scurry back down before daylight. Nothing this guy couldn't handle.



All that scary stuff being said. There are clearly hundreds to thousands of people traveling that stretch of road every day. I just did it twice yesterday. So all of this just serves as a reminder not to travel at night in Mexico.

[Ozz]

Road blocks on main highways are becoming very common. They are done more frequently at night, but I've heard of it happening during the day as well.

In my region, northeast Mexico, they are mainly done by criminals looking to take away your vehicle for other purposes. They mainly target SUV's and pick up trucks. Although a close friend of mine got his minivan taken away from him. This happened on the toll highway from Laredo to Monterrey. My friend and his wife were forced out of the minivan at point gun. They did not ask for cash, jewelry or anythig else. The bandidos just got on the vehicle and drove off.

Another person I met recently was also forced out of his SUV. He was cut off by a pick up truck as another truck stopped right behind him. Three men aproached them with automatic rifles forcing them out. Now this is the funny part. The bandits asked them if there was anything inside the vehicle they wanted to keep. They said just the luggage since they had gone shopping and the wife's purse. Two gunmen strapped their rifles to their backs and proceeded to unload the luggage and properly set it on the sidewalk and handed him the wife's purse! The leader asked again, is there anything else in there that you need? Last chance! Can I get my sunglasses? The guy said. One of the thogs reached in and handed them to him! Can you believe this shit!!! This guys were not in a hurry at all. Which makes you think that they know that the police, weather local, state or federales are not going to interfere! This happened about 200 meters after crossing the border into Nuevo Laredo. Unbelievable!!!

This two incidents happened within the last four weeks, to people I personally know. Go ahead and extrapolate to calculate the frequency!

I have not heard of any incidents like these happening to motorcycle riders. It is clear that in this area, they are looking for just vehicles that they need for other purposes, but you never know what you might run into. We need to be very cautious.

[Rapperdoug]

It's funny, I just rode this route about 4 weeks ago, and we left Durango around 3pm, not knowing it would be dark before we got to Mazatlan... Towards the end of the mountain section, when the sun was just going down, we came through one of the mountain villages where everyone who looked at us just seemed angry .... Up to that point, every single person we encountered waved at us or smiled, etc... With really no exceptions.. I was thinking how this mountain village must not be a nice place to roll through when it was later in the evening - I could easily see them setting up and robbing people along that stretch..
Worth noting - you should be leaving Durango no later than 1pm if you want to assure yourself that you'll make it to Mazatlan in full daylight ... Otherwise you'll be riding at least part of the way in the dark.

[Gustavo]

Originally Posted by SR

Yesterday I rode Mexico 40 from Dgo down to Copala, Sinaloa to meet up with another ADV rider (Misery Goat) and then back to Dgo. Doing that road twice in one day must be getting close to setting some kind of record for most curves in one day. It is about 10 hours of curves, maybe 7 hours of tight curves. The KLR has crappy breaks and I wear through break pads fast. I wore a brand new pair of front break pads down almost half in one day.

Keep the RPM up and roll on/off the throttle as you go through the turns. I only use the brakes in the tight hairpins, and even there, it's just a quick speed adjustment and back on the gas.




The V-Strom has just OK brakes (granted, compared to the KLR they are like a force-field... ), but it's irrelevant to the fact that I get over 40K out of a set of pads. We did well over 4K miles at a very good clip on the trip that pic is from (both Remarksman and CrazyBrit are fast road riders, you gotta work hard to stay ahead of them without slowing them down) and there was no discernible wear to the pads, even after running El Espinazo both ways.


Gustavo

[Misery Goat]

The 40 was pretty tame when Stephen and I rolled through.

[SR]

Originally Posted by Gustavo

Keep the RPM up and roll on/off the throttle as you go through the turns. I only use the brakes in the tight hairpins, and even there, it's just a quick speed adjustment and back on the gas.




The V-Strom has just OK brakes (granted, compared to the KLR they are like a force-field... ), but it's irrelevant to the fact that I get over 40K out of a set of pads. We did well over 4K miles at a very good clip on the trip that pic is from (both Remarksman and CrazyBrit are fast road riders, you gotta work hard to stay ahead of them without slowing them down) and there was no discernible wear to the pads, even after running El Espinazo both ways.


Gustavo

I find that the KLR doesn't have a very good power curve to engine brake and then roll out (actually it doesn't have very much power in general). In the curves I am always clutching and shifting and breaking. My front rotor was a little bit rough and I am sure that contributed to my premature break wear. I don't know about the pads on the V-Strom but the pads on the <2008 KLR have about 2 square inches of surface area.

One thing I love about Mexico is that I can get a mechanic to turn my break rotors for about $5. They never tell me that the book says the disks are too thin, out of speck and need to be replaced. They just do it! I will probably get that done this weekend.

Saludos

SR

[SR]

Originally Posted by Misery_Goat

The 40 was pretty tame when Stephen and I rolled through.

Nice work Goat, but you are kind of hanging me out to dry showing me pass on a double yellow on the Internet for the whole world to see. I am sure the Federales de Camino will be knocking on my door at any minute to issue me a 150 peso fine. Thanks a lot Amigo!

Keep up the good work!

Saludos

SR

[Gustavo]

Originally Posted by SR

I don't know about the pads on the V-Strom but the pads on the <2008 KLR have about 2 square inches of surface area.

Yeah, I had a KLR of that vintage. Sort of like a Flintstone's bike, you get more effective braking by dragging your heals on the ground... CrazyBrit bought that bike from me and replaced the rotor with an oversized Braking rotor. It made it less scary to ride, but still didn't have as much braking power as a "normal" bike.


Gustavo

[crashmaster]

Originally Posted by SR

Those road blocks a real. Here in Durango we probably hear about a dozen incidents on that stretch of road a year but I am guessing there are several times that many incidents that are not reported...............So all of this just serves as a reminder not to travel at night in Mexico.

Thanks amigo for being the "Durango resident Gringo" on the ground info source. You and the Mexicanos that post here are an invaluable asset to this forum. Mil gracias a todos......

However, I am glad I didnt talk to you before I put in about 5 full dusk to dawn nights riding in Sinaloa, Michoacan, and Oaxaca! I thought that I would be OK, and i was OK.. Just lucky I guess.

I had always thought that if I had good enough lights, I would be OK riding Mexican open range highways at night. I also thought that more remote I was, the more safe I would be at night. Dark and secluded dirt road = stealth.

However at the time, I was only worried about 4 legged animals and cars without lights. Little did I know, I now get an idea how naive I was about the whole safety situation............. However, I would do it all again tomorrow in a heartbeat. Maybe I didnt have trouble because I stayed in el campo???? Quien sabe????????????

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Thanks amigo for being the "Durango resident Gringo" on the ground info source.

Look. I love Stephen. I really do.

But until and unless he meets up with Ingrid (:)



(And Oh By The Way I've told him where to find her)

....

He has no (Durango) street cred with me

... just kiddin SR

[SR]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

Thanks amigo for being the "Durango resident Gringo" on the ground info source. You and the Mexicanos that post here are an invaluable asset to this forum. Mil gracias a todos......

Dude thanks for the props. I love this website. I sometimes feel a little bit isolated being the only Gringo here in Durango and I really enjoy communicating with people with like interests.

However, I am glad I didn't talk to you before I put in about 5 full dusk to dawn nights riding in Sinaloa, Michoacan, and Oaxaca! I thought that I would be OK, and i was OK.. Just lucky I guess.

I had always thought that if I had good enough lights, I would be OK riding Mexican open range highways at night. I also thought that more remote I was, the more safe I would be at night. Dark and secluded dirt road = stealth.

Those big lights are great any way you cut it. I don't have them on the KLR but I like to use them on the trucks I drive. Ideally you don't want to be caught out a at night but if you do, they are a great investment.

However at the time, I was only worried about 4 legged animals and cars without lights. Little did I know, I now get an idea how naive I was about the whole safety situation............. However, I would do it all again tomorrow in a heartbeat. Maybe I didn't have trouble because I stayed in el campo???? Quien sabe????????????

Unfortunately in some places you also gotta keep an eye out for those 2 legged animals as well!

Keep up the good work on your RR I'm following along everyday.

SR

[SR]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

Look. I love Stephen. I really do.

But until and unless he meets up with Ingrid (:)



(And Oh By The Way I've told him where to find her)

....

He has no (Durango) street cred with me

... just kiddin SR

I don't know what to say about that Trici. You're calling my macho prowess to the table.

I know you are kidding. It is all in good fun! Puro cotoreo!

Ingrid, no te preocupas, seguramente te encontraras un buen viejo.

[tricepilot]

I talked to her over dinner for maybe two hours.

You could have her for life! Think of the possibilities!!!

[SR]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

I talked to her over dinner for maybe two hours.

You could have her for life! Think of the possibilities!!!

Come on now! This isn't going anywhere that's good for me! Ya!

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by SR

Come on now! This isn't going anywhere that's good for me! Ya!

SR: The new Matthew McConaughey?

Ingrid is a prize! Go for it! We'll all be down for the wedding!