From a Mexico Riding Friend on the K1600 Forum, regarding riding a motorcycle in Mexico!
We did the Real de Catorce ride with MotoDiscovery a few years back (as part of the Colonial Mexico tour) - that's NOT off-road riding at all - we did it with a group on K1200 LT's. You will see some gravel and improved dirt roads - but even the dirt roads there have good drainage and virtually all have speed bumps. Great riding in that part of the world - epic mountain roads - just watch out for goats and burros behind the next bluff in the twisties.
For those who say they won't go into Mexico - I understand why, but disagree - we take a friggin motorcycle out on the road, with no seat belts air airbags, no protective metal shell, and ride among smart-phone-addled idiots, yet Mexico intimidates?
It is the IDEA of Mexico - what the media tells people about Mexico is what keeps you away - the reality is that in most areas of Mexico, you are, on average, safer than in the U.S., also on average. ****, there are over 7,000 American retirees living happily in one Mexican city alone - San Miguel de Allende, representing more than 10% of the city's 59,000 population. It is an amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site - a place anyone can visit and feel like a local.
Like the urban ills in the U.S, the people who are targeted for crime tend to be criminals or live among them. We have a house near Baltimore, where there are murders almost every day. I do carry when inside the city, but have never felt in danger. Attacks on American tourists are very very rare - so they make big news when they happen - but a lot more tourists are attacked every year in New York City than in all of Mexico. With that said, the case of the American Marine who made a wrong turn carrying weapons is disturbing - but like all of the cases I have heard about, including the 2012 killing of a tourist (David Hartley was jet skiing in an area known to be used by narco-traffickers) on the Rio Grande's Falcon Lake, there has been a "story" behind almost every incident - like carrying weapons into Mexico illegally. A mistake, yes, perhaps an honest mistake, but still a violation.
Come on in, the water’s fine, or why there’s no logic in fearing a trip to Mexico | National Post
I carry a gun pretty much everywhere and have Maryland and VA carry permits. The Maryland permit is among the hardest in the U.S. to obtain, and I use it to carry almost weekly. Some would consider this paranoid, but I like insurance. Yet I still go to Mexico, typically two-up, often without a group, and without protection.
We leave the guns behind when going into Canada or Mexico, and have never felt threatened, even a little bit. I can't say that about South Dakota and Kansas, both places where my "protection" did us no good when needed. None of us are getting out of here alive. It isn't about b*lls at all - like riding a motorcycle, it is what makes life worth living.
A friend asked my wife and me why we took a two-month trip through Africa last year - a place where the corrupt police made us pay bribes daily, and where the animals, diseases, poor water, limited electrical power, bad roads, and remote services make it far more dangerous than anything in Mexico. We also never felt endangered there, even when dealing with bad cops and shady black market fuel dealer. Our pat response to people asking why we "take chances" is "We've raised our kids, completed our careers, and now spend some of our time doing things to give back, and the rest doing interesting things - and we plan to be dead for a very long time."
I highly recommend anything MotoDiscovery does - especially Mexico. Lee-Ann and I look forward to joining them on the Bob's BMW tour of Cuba next March, before riding the Ayres Adventures Epic Journey through Latvia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Mongolia, China and Hong Kong next summer.
Links to the Cuba and Epic rides below:
Bobs BMW CUBA Motorcycle Tour
The Epic Journey - Moscow to Hong Kong by Motorcycle | Ayres Adventures
On a sobering note - Ron Ayres has had to stop riding for now - he's battling stage four liver cancer and had to leave the exploration trip for the Epic Adventure. That ride has been taken over by Ron's most senior guide, John Jesson, a great guy. Ron is hunkering down on the gulf coast while he battles this thing. Ride while you can.
Vaya con dios amigos!
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Outstanding commentary dmfick, may I please have your permission to repost this excellent treatise on riding in Mexico to MOA Forum and AZB?
You and I share the same sentiments, 6 years in US Army overseas and 40 years in pipefitting construction and I've had a lifetime of close calls.
But at the end of my days, I want to look back unafraid at any of my life's adventures! Prayers of the Stanley Boys go out to Ron Ayres, Amen.
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