Is Mexico Safe?

[varna2win]

First of all I want to say to Ace Jones I'm no Mexico ADV rider but, you already knew that & to T.Rex63 thanks for straightening out my thinking. The original question was the shits & maybe I should have answered it like this,
Is Mexico safe ? I don't know, is it safe to cross the street?

[crashmaster]

Originally Posted by Pedro Navaja

I'm warming up to GPS myself. My wife has one and sometimes I borrow if for my car while city driving.

However, on the bike I am still a map dude, and for remote stuff I get topographic maps...intersection/resection and other UTM type land navigation. My son says this is because of my Army days. He's in the Army now and says that all their vehicles now have GPS units in them, even though they are still trained in traditional land navigation techniques.

Whoa! Crashy, checking out your blog. Way cool!

Mike, your son knows what he talks about. Topo maps, a compass and grid coordinates are no match for a GPS.

I was never a GPS guy, until I used it one time. It got me into places that I would have never been able to get to without a GPS. It also got me into trouble, off the grid, remote, and almost out of fuel. I knew which way I had to go to get gas, but thats about it.

I got myself into an area of central Nevada that was probably one of the most remote places I had ever been on a dirt bike. I ran out of gas. I parked on the side of the desert two track and slept in my gear after i drank the pint of Tequila I carry in my pack. I had been out of water for 8 hours. Smart move drinking the Tequila right? I didnt care though. In the wee hours of the morning a rancher came along on a horse and asked what I was doing on his ranch. I explained, he went back to his place and returned with gasoline, water, and a hand drawn map of how to get to the nearest paved road which was over 60 miles away....... shit, I was hoping he would let me crash at his place. It was f'ing cold outside, low 20's, Fahrenheit.


I would have never been there without the guidance of the GPS.

And thats my first experience with GPS.

[Lobby]

Ya know, I just can't imagine mixing tomato juice with perfectly good beer, calling it a michelada, then drinking it. It can't be good, huh?

[tricepilot]

That's because you're used to drinking vodka with your tomato juice

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by crashmaster

shit, I was hoping he would let me crash at his place. It was f'ing cold outside, low 20's, Fahrenheit.

He reasoned he only had one bottle of tequila left and wasn't about to let you get at it

[Lobby]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

That's because you're used to drinking vodka with your tomato juice

Lower carbs.

[Arte]

Originally Posted by PirateJohn

Damn, that looks good Arte! I'm doing some minor work on the silver GS right now ... then I think that I am off to Smokin' Aces (www.SmokinAcesBar.com) in a few minutes to see if they can make me one.

I meant to ask you and Andres ... do you guys still meet at La Finca?

Not actually there, but somewhere else with same purpose... bikes tales, giant mugs of beers, etc, ya know..

[Arte]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

How much beer is in that giant mug?

Is 1 Lt mug, with two 355 ml beer cans, one soup spoon of english sauce, one tea spoon of maggie sauce, 2 lemons, 4 ice cubes, and frostlike with salt, peper, and chili salt mixture on the edge. With that you are done with a perfect Mexican Michelada.

[Arte]

Originally Posted by Lobby

Ya know, I just can't imagine mixing tomato juice with perfectly good beer, calling it a michelada, then drinking it. It can't be good, huh?

that would be the second version of Michelada, with tomato juice (or Clamato). It really taste awesome, try it.

[tricepilot]

Originally Posted by Arte

It really taste awesome, try it.

I'll be right down to take you and Paloma out to dinner, if you make me one of those before or after dinner

[Arte]

Originally Posted by tricepilot

I'll be right down to take you and Paloma out to dinner, if you make me one of those before or after dinner

Bob,
Will be my pleasure. Mi casa es su casa, you know.

[bmwktmbill]

Originally Posted by TemeculaRider

Communicating with you would likely be much easier over a cold beer and face-to-face because my impression of you after this post is that you're totally full of shit. Why are you pretending to ask for information when you spend the whole post trying to convince us that you're the expert and the rest of us should, well, go fuck ourselves?

Hi Justin,
I'd meet you for beer but to be honest I started drinking when I was 14 and quit when I was 44, I smoked enough pot and did every other drug known to man but I finally quit and became a RN.
Now I just give drugs for a living.

As for being full of shit, sure I am, aren't we all?

As for me, I got my first motorcycle in 1963. I've ridden, raced and traveled by motorcycle ever since despite drug addiction, kids, failed marriages, I've lived through and been without protection or friends around about 2/3's of this world. I've been in a couple of real bad situations and fought for my motorcycle once or twice thankful for bear spray, worried about knives. I weigh less than 140 lbs.

I first went to Mexico in the 70's and have been back on and off ever since.
Now with your permission I'd like to find out how safe the border area is on the Mexican side. It appears that most people get through this area as fast as possible without giving it much of a chance.

I'm not interested in going down to Mexico to buy women or drugs, legal or illegal. I'm not interested in the good cheap life Mexico can provide because it is exploited economically by the US and by it's corrupt politicians. I travel to see beautiful countryside. Most of the motorcyclists you meet traveling for these reasons are Euros, not Americans I am sorry to say. Maybe it has to do with that prostitution is legal in most of Europe.

Anyway,if you have traveled east and west on the Mexican side of the border in the borderlands I'd like to hear about it or just point me to those who have. Pictures, maps and scant reporting allude to a beautiful land.

A long time ago I figured out my sense of myself didn't depend on my motorcycle or how I ride it. It's just another means of transportation but it's my favorite. I come from the 'Thumpers' section of Adventure riders. Maybe us KTM riders in general are a little jaded. Over there when people get too full of themselves we get a little exasperated and tell them to fuck themselves. This thread is pretty high handed, maybe it's just a joke about safety.

I'm not afraid of anything Justin but I'm not stupid either.
So I asked for information in the way I thought might make people think and cut the bullshit.
Or just say I don't know....
Got any new ideas or information to share?
bill

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by bmwktmbill

I'm not afraid of anything Justin but I'm not stupid either.
So I asked for information in the way I thought might make people think and cut the bullshit.
Got any new ideas?
bill

It kind of seems like you are waiting for an answer that you want and the answers we've given are not doing it for you. I've ridden from Yuma Az to Tijuana on the Mexican side.

The biggest danger BY far is traffic.
The Second biggest danger for me was operator error. In the US we're used to stop signs and traffic lights being visible, a certain size and in a specific location. In Mexico it's very easy to miss a stop sign and blow an intersection.

But that's all irrelevant, I could get killed on the freeway in LA tomorrow. That would make LA more dangerous that the cali cartel for me but have no bearing on you.

Fortunately Americans are phenomenally lazy, 100' from the shady titty bars 'real' Mexico begins and it's very nice. It gets more 'dangerous' the more you act stupidly, just like any town in the US.

[bmwktmbill]

Originally Posted by xymotic

It kind of seems like you are waiting for an answer that you want and the answers we've given are not doing it for you. I've ridden from Yuma Az to Tijuana on the Mexican side.

The biggest danger BY far is traffic.
The Second biggest danger for me was operator error. In the US we're used to stop signs and traffic lights being visible, a certain size and in a specific location. In Mexico it's very easy to miss a stop sign and blow an intersection.

But that's all irrelevant, I could get killed on the freeway in LA tomorrow. That would make LA more dangerous that the cali cartel for me but have no bearing on you.

Fortunately Americans are phenomenally lazy, 100' from the shady titty bars 'real' Mexico begins and it's very nice. It gets more 'dangerous' the more you act stupidly, just like any town in the US.

XYmotic,
I am trying to find out who controls the roads once you get off the beaten track. Are they open, safe from robbery, safe to camp in the national parks. I don't give a damn about the traffic in the cities or life in the barrio. I won't be there. Tell me about the countryside 150 miles south of Big Bend on the Mexican side of the border on the gravel roads. Have you guys ever traveled where the government doesn't control the roads, it happens in many countries. I am trying to find out if this is the case in The Mexican borderlands.
Thanks,
bill

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by bmwktmbill

XYmotic,
I am trying to find out who controls the roads once you get off the beaten track. Are they open, safe from robbery, safe to camp in the national parks. I don't give a damn about the traffic in the cities or life in the barrio. I won't be there. Tell me about the countryside 150 miles south of Big Bend on the Mexican side of the border on the gravel roads.
Thanks,
bill

There's nobody there. If you run into bad people this can be bad because there's nobody to help you. But it would be random violence is what I am saying.

Who "controls" the roads 19 year old kids with machine guns.