Foflappy on a KLR650 Exploring Mexico and Central America on a KLR650

[Aces 6]

Originally Posted by Foflappy

I rode for a week with my wife as pillion. The (sightly) added weight change the suspension geometry enough to cause the chain to drag alone the top of the guide. It took awhile to get the spring and chain adjusted correctly. The whole load on the rear suspension and chain length thing is pretty mystical to me

I made a number of mods to the bike you can see them here: http://klradv.com/ just look under the modifications drop down in the menu bar..

Well played--should be a politician!
Great site! We have pretty much made the same mods from bow to stern. On the oil consumption route I went the 685 big bore kit route (have a 08 that burned a 1/2 quart if I ran at 70-75mph). I have 11k on the big bore kit and it doesn't sip any of the crude. Might be a mod for you when you get back. I am a mechanical noob but with a Clymers and some newly puchased torque wrenches was able to do the job. Worth the investment and something to do in the winter.
Good luck and keep posting-all ears to see how it goes.

[somalick]

Originally Posted by Foflappy

I rode for a week with my wife as pillion. The (sightly) added weight change the suspension geometry enough to cause the chain to drag alone the top of the guide. It took awhile to get the spring and chain adjusted correctly. The whole load on the rear suspension and chain length thing is pretty mystical to me

I made a number of mods to the bike you can see them here: http://klradv.com/ just look under the modifications drop down in the menu bar..

Hey, I checked this RR because of your Foflappy name. I think you might be friends with a couple VW gear heads I had in Highschool. If Andy G. and Robert C. from Normal Il back in the early 90s rings a bell we have met but very briefly . I'm in Portland OR these days and have a 07 KLR 650. Changed the doohickey yesterday in prep for this summers adventures. Looking forward to your updates. Be Safe in Mexico.

[roninwva]

How about safety, as in drugs and drug cartels. Any problems in that area? Most of what we here on the TV is don't travel alone in Mexico. Great report.

[Foflappy]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac

Great ride report and pictures. Thanks for taking us along. How is the GPS mapping down there?

The GPS has saved me many an hour being lost in cities and towns! Even the smallest named town are mapped which is good because the road signs really suck! There are very few bypass roads where I've been and that means you need to ride through the center of a town. Its super easy to get lost! I am using a Garmin 60 csx I am only using a 3 years old version of the North America NT map set. In rural areas there are some roads missing or there is a new road but for the cities its been fantastic! I carry paper maps as well but not at the city level. Getting lost is all fine and feel but getting lost in a big city when all you want to do is get out to the rural areas again is very frustrating and stressful.

[Foflappy]

Originally Posted by somalick

Hey, I checked this RR because of your Foflappy name. I think you might be friends with a couple VW gear heads I had in Highschool. If Andy G. and Robert C. from Normal Il back in the early 90s rings a bell we have met but very briefly . I'm in Portland OR these days and have a 07 KLR 650. Changed the doohickey yesterday in prep for this summers adventures. Looking forward to your updates. Be Safe in Mexico.

Its a small world! Yep I lost contact with Andy for a while but I recently get back in touch with him. Robert is one of my closets friends. I was just out in Oregon last August when I rode out to Eugene then down to San Diego and back to central Illinois. I stayed with Brain P in Eugene and some other old time Normal folks in LA.

Glad to hear you've got the best dual sport ADV bike you can have You have got some great riding out there in the Northwest!

PM me. I'd like to find out who the hell you are I've got a few fuzzy memory gaps from those days that need defining...

I've still got the VW thing going on with a '66 Type II.

[Foflappy]

Originally Posted by roninwva

How about safety, as in drugs and drug cartels. Any problems in that area? Most of what we here on the TV is don't travel alone in Mexico. Great report.

Since I am not a drug dealer nor am I a member of a gang my chances to meet a violent end are slim!

There is pretty much a war going on right now between the cartels. Its complicated but it involves politicians and ex military guys. The MAJORITY of the victims of this violence are cartel members or those involved in the drug trade.

There is a large military presence on the highways and roads in the form of road blocks but I have not had any problems they have all been super cool with me.

[Foflappy]

Originally Posted by Aces 6

Well played--should be a politician!
Great site! We have pretty much made the same mods from bow to stern. On the oil consumption route I went the 685 big bore kit route (have a 08 that burned a 1/2 quart if I ran at 70-75mph). I have 11k on the big bore kit and it doesn't sip any of the crude. Might be a mod for you when you get back. I am a mechanical noob but with a Clymers and some newly puchased torque wrenches was able to do the job. Worth the investment and something to do in the winter.
Good luck and keep posting-all ears to see how it goes.

Thanks!

I burn a little oil when forced to run slab miles. 1000 miles at 70 = 1/2 qt. The bike will have 40,000 miles on it this summer. I was planning on the 685 at the end of the season. I was going to buy the schnitz racing piston and rings and then do an exchange on the cylinder. there are a couple of guys over at KLR.net that re sleeve and bore you send them your old one as core and they send you a new one ready for install. I'll probably lap the valve seats and clean the heads.

[Aces 6]

Originally Posted by Foflappy

Thanks!

I burn a little oil when forced to run slab miles. 1000 miles at 70 = 1/2 qt. The bike will have 40,000 miles on it this summer. I was planning on the 685 at the end of the season. I was going to buy the schnitz racing piston and rings and then do an exchange on the cylinder. there are a couple of guys over at KLR.net that re sleeve and bore you send them your old one as core and they send you a new one ready for install. I'll probably lap the valve seats and clean the heads.

Right on! Went with Schnitz myself-that combined with the taller gearing really smooths out the 70-75mph runs.
Great rundown on the crime situation. Good to know--I did a Baja run back in 1997 and no issues at the roadblocks except for some solidiers trying to pilfer some of my military gear I had bungee corded on. Whipped out my military i.d. and asked for the officer in charge (in my broken spanish) and they chilled. Soldiers being soldiers I guess. Other than that the federalies and military were pretty cool and wiling to shoot the sh*t.
Keep the rubbers side down and continued good luck.

[Mad Mac]

What about "mordida"? Are you getting shaken down for bribes at checkpoints?

[bush pilot]

Great report,

I'm missing those great tacos!

For your mystical chain, keep in mind; as the suspension compresses the chain gets tighter.
If you're carrying a heavy load and using all the suspension travel you need to be careful not to have the chain too tight. Double check the adjustment with a load on the suspension.
If the chain is too tight you'll hear a funny clicky sound when the suspension is compressed.

[Foflappy]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac

What about "mordida"? Are you getting shaken down for bribes at checkpoints?

Not a single one...I think these have diminished since the PRI left power but things may change again in July for the worse if they regain political power.

[Foflappy]

Originally Posted by bush pilot

Great report,

I'm missing those great tacos!

For your mystical chain, keep in mind; as the suspension compresses the chain gets tighter.
If you're carrying a heavy load and using all the suspension travel you need to be careful not to have the chain too tight. Double check the adjustment with a load on the suspension.
If the chain is too tight you'll hear a funny clicky sound when the suspension is compressed.

Thats how I keep it adjusted not click = good

[Foflappy]

I really hate to leave San Cristobal. The weather is great the people are friendly and the city is a manageable size. In short it is a very comfortable place to hang out. Faced with to routes to choose from I opted for the old route not the new tollway. As a general rule, if you want to get somewhere quick take the tollway. They are very expensive and they skip by what makes Mexico, and for that matter, any place you travel, more interesting. The small towns and villages are where you really get to see what life is like. People and food more reflective of regional ways. The small villages along the seldom used road I take are each unique. In this part of Chiapas the women dress and wear their hair alike depending on the village or area they are from. Its market day in several village I pass through and the colors and smells are wonderful. I am headed west towards Oaxaca and it will take me two days to get there even though it is only 400 miles. The mountains slow the pace down quite a bit and the secondary routes slow it down even more. The numerous topes and the fact that many large cities lack bypass roads brings a moving average down to around 35 miles per hour. I am in no hurry so it really does not matter to me. I have become comfortable not knowing where I will be staying as my choices range from fancy hotels to a tent tucked alongside a field. Towards the end of the day I have made it to 250 miles to Tuhuantepec. I am beat and I know another mountain range separates me from Oaxaca. I stop in at the first place I see. A hotel right on the Pan American Highway. It has a restaurant advertising pizza and cheap beer so I stop.


Chiapas East of San Cristobal by KLRADV, on Flickr

I get another predawn start to the day. I really love riding west because the sun is at my back. It is safer that way without the glare of the rising sun. I do not get far before the road starts winding up into the mountains. It is dry and brown heading towards Oaxaca. The road works its way continuing to twist its way up, weaving between rocky peaks never dipping into the valleys below. The hillsides are covered in scrub brush and cacti. The areas that are cleared are planted with Agave or Maguey the plant that is used to make mezcal and tequila. I stop at one of the small hillside places advertising that they sell mezcal. There are a couple of guys making mezcal. They work and sleep here in a rudimentary shelter. All parts of the process are carried out here. The maguey is grown on the hills nearby, the hearts of the plant are harvested and roasted here. The roasting produces sugars that will be extracted and then fermented. After fermentation occurs they liquid is distilled twice. The resulting liquid or mezcal is a smoky tasting strong alcoholic drink much more flavorful than tequila. I share some of my homebrew with them and they think its strong but its nothing like the drink they make. I buy a liter which is siphoned by mouth into a used water bottle. I am pretty sure that the bottle came from the side of the road but I figure with the high alcohol content it can’t harbor any bad bugs.


Valley of Oaxaca by KLRADV, on Flickr


After my mezcal break I head back to the road which has started descending into the valley of Oaxaca. The closer I get to the city the more places are making mezcal. There are some rather large commercial operations but somehow I doubt their product is any better than the mezcal I have. Oaxaca is a good sized city and it takes me a while to find my way to the city center. Set in a valley the city has views of surrounding mountains but there is a haze in the air that dims the view. The zocalo or town square is a tree filled place with a bandstand in the middle. Surrounding the square are restaurants perfectly fit for a beer and some people watching. A good nights sleep in a comfortable hotel has me up refreshed and early. I head back to square to wander around the many vendor stalls and shops selling a variety of artisan handcrafts. Tarps. Blue. Red. Various shades of green. Hundreds of huge tarps are being strung between buildings creating a tunnel of tarps waving in the breeze. The entire town center and the streets radiating out are covered in the colorful tarps. Under the tarps are hundreds of small dome tents popping up like mushrooms. By midday there must be over ten thousand people packed into the area around the zocalo. I find out that they are teachers representing various districts in Oaxaca and they have come to rally for their cause. Although each district has a distinct message the same thing resonates through the rally. They are against cuts to education and they are against privatization. Part conference part political rally they are very peacefully organized. Missing from these large crowds are any sign of the police. I imagine that if this many people set up camp in a city in America there would be riot police and tear gas. Looking at some of the banners I had to laugh. Emblazoned on many were images of Che Guevara and I had to think that these teachers were exactly what the right wing in the US think the teachers in the US are. If only.


Street in Oaxaca by KLRADV, on Flickr


Oaxaca Market by KLRADV, on Flickr

I was a little concerned that it might be hard to find a route out of town with all the roads blocked but the hotel receptionist gave me great directions and I was out of town very quickly. Almost the moment I left the city limits heading towards Veracruz I was climbing mountains again. Great views, good pavement and almost no traffic made the first couple of hours a wonderful ride. I had figured that the road would climb up and over the mountain range and into a valley but this road followed the ridge and the road kept climbing higher. I had not realized that Oaxaca sits at over 5000’ and that I had quickly reached 8000’ then 10,000’. It got very misty and very cold. Soon my hands were getting stiff and painful. With the tightly winding road I needed to use my hands constantly to shift and brake. My hands were becoming so stiff that the riding was becoming dangerous. I rounded one of the many hundreds of curves of the day and saw a road crew at the side of the road. I pulled off and as I coasted up I could see they were heating food and drink. They looked very surprised to see me and asked if I was cold. Without asking they offered a hot drink. It was coffee like but it was either the worst coffee I have ever had or it was something else entirely. It did not matter because it was warm. I held my hands under the gas tank of the bike to warm them up against the engine. I asked if the road got any higher in altitude and they said yes. They thought I was a little crazy. The road did indeed go higher. It got colder and the fog turned to a light rain. The visibility dropped to about 20’-30’. My pace slowed to a crawl but soon the road began its descent. It warmed up quickly and soon I was carving the downward curves into a cloud forrest of ferns and moss covered trees. The views were amazing both deep into the valleys below and of the rows of mountain ranges in the distance.


Sierra Madres North of Oaxaca by KLRADV, on Flickr


North of Oaxaca by KLRADV, on Flickr

I’m getting hungry so I follow a sign for a village. It is only 5 kilometers so it can’t take that long. The village is near as the crow flies but it lies at the bottom of the valley reached by a gravel and dirt road with steep switchbacks. You sure would not want to overshoot these sharp turns because there are no guardrails and a mistake would send me off into the air and a plummet to the earth far below. Twenty minutes later I make it to the village sitting along a river. I get some strange looks and it takes me a while to find a place to get some food. Its soup. I generally avoid soup because you never know what you may find at the bottom of your bowl. This isn’t bad but I really can’t tell what the meaty bits are. Maybe goat? The ride back up to the road is much more enjoyable. I do not know if its a psychological thing or a physics thing but riding tight switchbacks uphill is fun and exciting but downhill can be a bit terrifying at times. It takes over 5 hours to travel 100 miles of mountain roads and another 2 hours to make it to Veracruz. I get stuck on the tollway and pay a whooping $13.00 for 40 miles! Despite the sometimes uncomfortable ride and the long day this might be one of the best days riding so far!

[David_in_TX]

George, It was nice meeting you today. Please keep in touch and next time you're passing thru the Dallas area let's have a beer.