Adventure Ride Arrives in Loreto

As the adventure continues the next day we split into a group of 2 and the other group will have 4. Our group of 4 make the trek down the inland coast which is a beautiful ride. The other two, Bob G and Bob J, take a more adventurous route out to the Pacific that could be a bit too much for our group with the bigger Adventure bikes. Since Tracy is limping along on a taco front rim that has been beaten back into shape and I am limping along on a mashed foot from Adventure bike wrestling when I got my butt whooped! We decided to take the easier route. We will ride with Brian and Jeff and do some sightseeing along the way. We have a great ride day with a bit of exploring and photo opportunities.

Along the way Jeff leads us on a turn off which is a dirt road and has no real marking indicating there would be much down the road. We ride out 10 miles on this dirt road, lo and behold there is a community of rather large houses right on the gulf coast. These houses are like an upper scale American community with a small airport alongside the community. By Baja standards these would fall into the mansion category. I found this rather interesting and just figured with no markings on the hiway pointing this direction these people must want to be left alone in their vacation homes. Jeff says there used to be a very nice Hotel there but we find it has been long gone and overgrown. An interesting place. Don’t know how you would ever find it unless someone told you or showed you. 10 miles down a dirt road with no real markings.

Back on the main road and we roll on down to Loreto. We stay at another hotel Bob G likes and it is right on the water with great sunrises and a view of the water right out the door of the hotel. Our group of 4 pull in and check in. We hop back on the bikes and head for the rooms to off load our gear. I am unloading my stuff and Tracy comes in pushing his bike. He says it wouldn’t start once he shut it off at check in. Of course my first thought is he hit a kill switch other than the key and I ask. He said no, he had already checked. Gotta be a simple solution, we almost never shut a bike off and just not restart 5 min later. I am thinking battery; I have had batteries go dead instantly when they go. But Tracy says it cranks over just fine but won’t start. Uh oh, that becomes a bit more serious like an ignition problem or fuel pump, neither of which we can fix on the road. Everyone messes around with it for a bit and no one has an instant solution so after a while it is decided since it is late now we will go have dinner and then come back to work on it or continue diagnosing tomorrow since we were planning to stay a day anyway. Good plan, rest and thinking are a better first step.

Dinner was nice, very nice with more of a restaurant patio atmosphere overlooking the water that we would have taken our wives to instead of sitting here with 5 other Geezers!

The next day we start to work on the big KTM and several of us had reached out the night before seeking input from our contacts back in the USA as to what we should be looking for. I had a couple of people scouring message boards and service manuals for potential causes. The others had feelers out to people at dealerships and we got a fair amount of response. Thanks everyone (BearMeister) who took their time to try to rescue us!

I have had KTM fuel filters clog and the bike starts but won’t run with throttle. So I looked toward fuel pump filter issues. Other ideas came in with all sorts of magical remedies, turn the key on for 15 seconds, turn the throttle 3 times, turn the key off and back on for 15 seconds then hit the starter button. There were several variations of these ‘fixes’ but none of them worked or maybe we didn’t hold our lower lip just right. So after trying everything suggested it was still not running. Next internet suggestion was a possible low voltage that wouldn’t allow the bike to start, so we hooked a jumper box up to the battery and still no luck. So now desperation is beginning to set in because if this thing doesn’t run we are looking at having to have it trucked back to the states, Doh! So now even with all the help from our friends back in the States we are running out of options. So the next step is to remove the fuel pump from the tank and see if it may be the filter. It seems Brian has removed a fuel filter on one of these bikes before so away he goes. He jumps right in and starts dismantling with some help from the peanut gallery, mostly giving free unsolicited advice! I mostly stay out of the way and watch, I remember hearing someone once saying something about too many cooks. We do hand him tools time to time. Not only does Brian get it out he disassembles the pump which appears to be designed as not to be disassembled. You go Boy! As each new step or challenge arises we go looking for the next needed tool that may work. By now we have everyone’s tool packs open and spread out all around the bike which sits directly in front of our hotel rooms. Good thing they assigned us dirt bag motorcycle riders the furthermost rooms at the end of the hotel. Made for a great outdoor workshop and we didn’t have a bunch of lookie loos gettin’ all up in our business and complaining to management.

Brian gets the pump disassembled and removes the filter, it is indeed discolored and restricted. The bike has about 16k miles on it. It is a specialty filter of course and we now have to decide to attempt to clean, modify, jerry rig a replacement or remove it altogether. The general consensus after all the brainstorming and with all of our combined intellect, it was a rather small storm, it is decided to reinstall without a filter to see if it ran at all. Brian, the now Head Mechanic reassembles and installs the pump. Checks for leaks, turns the key on and……………..Nothing but a cranking motorcycle.  One attempt is made to take apart the Fly by Wire throttle assembly, no throttle cable just a twist grip with sensors, a gear cam system and a last item that Jeff called a ‘sypgmomanometeroccullator’, or something like that! I had no idea what the hell that was but it sounded kinda like a rheostat for a throttle. Someone said if it got dirty it could quit working. Didn’t seem logical to me on an Off Road Adventure bike, but it seems we have run out of ideas, options and time since it is now most of the way through our Rest Day in Loreto.  Apart, cleaned and back together. No dice! Snake Eyes! So Tracy throws in the towel and begins to look for ways to get the bike back to the states while exploring flights that he could book to get himself home. He finds a flight if he stays over a day and arranges with the management to store the big Adventure bike at the hotel until it can be picked up in a couple of weeks. It seems a plan is coming together but not one any of us wanted to have to arrange.

Tracy begins to off load his gear from the bike and pack it into backpacks and plans on buying a sports bag at a local sporting goods store to pack what won’t fit and carry it home with him. I am sharing a room with Tracy, we have been cellies for the week so far. So I hear him mumble, ‘O-shit’ as he is organizing and packing his gear and wonder what else could go wrong. He doesn’t say any more and heads back outside with his key for the KTM. Inserts the key, presses the starter button and the big Adventure bike comes to life!!!  I see this and wonder how the hell did he do that. The rest of the crew is hanging around outside and turn to see why Tracy was starting someone else’s bike. When they realized it was his bike the looks on the faces were raging from dumbfounded, to incredulous and all the way to ‘what the Freak did you do to fix it’!

It seems at check in Tracy had shut his bike off, put his key in his pocket and when he returned to start the bike grabbed ANOTHER key he carried for the gas tank that DOES NOT RUN the bike!  We had been working with that key that was NEVER going to start that bike for the last 24 hrs. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. I think everyone else was in amazement not quite sure how to react. When everyone gathered around the now running KTM it was time for Tracy to explain how he ‘Fixed’ his bike. The story was told and none of us knew of the second key until he laid it out to us. So from that time on he is going to be known to me as Tracy “2-Key” P*******.  Now you didn’t really think I would use his whole last name did ya’! I can’t throw a homie under the bus, but I can tell the story, lol.

So it was decided that the other four, Bob J, Bob G, Brian and Jeff would continue on the intended route and 2-Key would head back directly on the shortest route. Since he was now riding with no fuel filter in the tank on a fuel injected bike. As his cellie and wing man I figured it would not be a good idea for him to ride alone 800 miles in Baja without a backup. Everyone else agreed and we parted ways the next day. The Boyz headed for St Javier Mission and on over to the coast. 2-Key and I headed for the border at Mexicali with a stopover in San Felipe. We had a good ride with zero issues going home and enjoyed our shortened ride every bit as much. We made good time and 2-Key’s bike never missed a beat. We crossed the border easily on the motorcycles, Mr. Border Patrol at the crossing needed a class in public relations though, and parted ways after a quick breakfast. My ride home seemed a bit longer since now I was riding alone, but I occasionally I caught myself laughing as I heard myself say 2-Key Tracy out loud in my helmet.

I guess now I will have to upgrade the little V-Strom to a more off road worthy bike if I ever do this again.

#33

‘It’s not the destination, it’s the Ride’

Adventure Ride?

Sure Why Not!

Having just completed my first ever Adventure ride and found there is a wide range of riding and bikes in that category.

My trip started out with a text from my buddy Bob asking if I wanted to do an Adventure ride down to Baja, Mexico. Funny thing is I was on an off road ride sitting with a group of guys at lunch when I got the text. I told him to let me see if I could get permission from the warden and I would let him know. So when I got home and asked I sent him a message saying I was in!

The group was five riders and I apparently was the needed 6^th guy to round out the group. I guess it wasn’t my magnetic personality and charm that got me in. They needed to round out the group and I was the only one available since the ride started in 6 days. There is some preparation and bike set up required to do an adventure ride if you don’t use a support vehicle; which is my favorite kind of adventure. So I set out setting up what I thought would be needed for a week or so of riding and did my best to secure it on the bike over the next few days.

Bob gave me a few specifics, length of time gone, general direction we will travel and names of the guys going. I knew a couple of them and would meet the others on the road. I was told to meet the group at the Tecate border crossing Sunday morning. I arrive early to exchange some American dollars for Mexican pesos and sit down to go over my equipment since it is all new to me, first timer and all. The group arrives and I meet a couple of guys. The group consists of Bob G, Bob J, Brian, Jeff and Tracy (aka 2key) but we will get to that later. I take a look at the riders, the gear, the bikes and realize I may have brought a knife to a gunfight! I see all late model KTM adventure bikes and a Honda Africa Twin!  Did I mention I was on a 15 yr. old V-Strom 650? Oops, guess I will have to make the best of it.

Said quick hellos, money exchange for the boyz, purchase a few Visas to cross into southern Baja and away we go. We get about a mile or so through town and our first tip over occurs. Baja traffic is something to be wary of.  At a stop sign a car speeds through in front of Tracy (2key) and he stabs the brakes, can’t touch the ground and tips over! Now remember we are on Adventure bikes all loaded down for a 9-day trip, that makes an already big bike very heavy. I was last in line and was about to put my kickstand down in traffic but Tracy is a big strong guy and lifts it up before I can react. No harm, no contact, no foul and away we go. We roll along on a two lane roadway until our turn off which is dirt and goes south about 90 miles toward a small town, Ojos Negros.

The road is scenic with lots of sights from grave yards, to big ranchos, to remote communities.  We climb, descend, twist and turn with all kinds of surfaces ranging from hardpack to rocky to sandy. The rocky and sandy sections slow my progress as the V-Strom is not capable or negotiating these sections like the true KTM adventure bikes. With half the travel and half the ground clearance I need to be careful I don’t end up on my head! When we reached one section of deeper sand I discovered the big KTMs also struggled when it got deep. I watched as a couple of them slowed to a crawl and do their best to wobble through without going down. I felt a little better about my antique V-Strom. We got pretty spread out over the next hour or so on this road and fortunately didn’t have to ride in a lot of dust. When I got to the end of the road it intersected with a paved road. We were headed left toward Valley Trinidad and lunch at a taco stand Bob G thinks makes great tacos. These must be some good tacos because there is no Bob-G or Bob-J waiting there!  I thought about rolling on and catching up but thought I should wait at the intersection to make sure the next 3 riders arrive with no problems. Good call, because our 3 riders plus 4 more roll up intermittently and Tracy has a flat front tire. Not only is the front tire flat but since it is tubeless it becomes painfully obvious as to why he has a flat. The front rim has a HUGE bend in it. So big that the bead of the tire is exposed and will not hold air! It seems that with all of the riders leaving such a trail of dust there were times when the rocks could not be seen clearly. Tracy was introduced to a large one he couldn’t see resulting in a damaged front rim.

When everyone arrived and the damage was surveyed we set out to get Tracy back on the road. There was not a chance in Hell that the rim and tire were going to hold air. We could see past the rim and tire bead into the rim. So it was decided that a tube install was the only way we were going to get rolling. So away we go with the wheel removal to install the tube. About an hour and a half later the big KTM had a tube in the front and we were on our way to Valley Trinidad for some tacos. However, we could no longer call it lunch, it would have to be classified as Linner! When we roll the 40 miles of pavement and find our buddies at the taco stand they were all filled up with tacos and ready to go. Nice hour and a half rest, eh boyz?  So we choke down a couple of tacos and a beverage and get back on the road toward San Felipe because it is getting late in the day.

Half of the following day is spent taking the KTM wheel back off and finding a garage/repair shop of some kind that could minimize the damage to Tracy’s front wheel. We find a Taller/Mechanico shop that is going to give it a shot. Interesting shop, if you were to go back in time to when you were a kid and remember seeing auto and diesel repair shops with big old lathes, drill presses, arc welders and machines probably made sometime in the 1950’s you would be that kid again. I was. It was a pain in the butt to have to do it but I was having fun seeing it!  The Mechanico got to work on the wheel. He heated and bent, heated and bent. It took a while but when he was done it looked surprisingly decent. He covered the ugly with a little black spray paint. These guys were nice enough but fairly emotionless and non-chalant through most of our transaction. Since they didn’t speak English and none of us really spoke Spanish we managed to communicate. However, I had gone across the street to a market and purchased a 12 pack of Tecate.  I saw a small smile from the guy when I put it on the counter. Barely noticeable, I laughed and said Adios!  Midday we were up and running and on our way south toward Bahia de Los Angeles or Bay of L.A.  An easy trip since the government is paving this section in anticipation of making it a truck thorough fare for the peninsula. We arrive at the Hotel Bob G seems to have taken a liking to and check in kind of late in the day.

Nice hotel but fairly pricey by Baja standards. It still had the obligatory cockroaches, there was a mashed one as I stepped in the door of our room.  I noticed as I started to unload some gear and change from riding gear to street clothes that a few of the boyz were already over hanging out at the bar in their riding gear. I discovered fairly quickly why this was one of the more favorite stops. The Cervesas, Margaritas and Shots were already underway when I finally made it over there. It went like that until dinner. Then it went kinda like that after dinner………..for quite some time. Everyone told stories, maybe a few were slightly embellished but I didn’t care, I laughed my ass off as arm-wrestling matches broke out and had a great time! Some of the antics got more entertaining as the evening grew late. But as you know, ‘What Happens in Mexico stays in Mexico’. So everyone eventually made it to bed, with help and maybe a bandage or two. Now I gotta quote Forrest Gump, ‘That’s all I got to say about that’.

The next day we roll toward San Ignacio. Tracy and I stop at a road side taco shop in Vizcaino and sit down for a couple of minutes to have lunch. The family running the place are very happy to see customers and welcome us warmly. We had a great lunch, atmosphere, convenient location, a short rest then get back to our journey.  It has been a fairly easy and uneventful day and it is early so Tracy and I peel off to explore a side road that neither of us has ever ridden. It takes us out to Punta Abreojos but it takes longer than we expected. So after making the trip out and back it seems we will roll in just a little after dark. Oops. Everyone gets dinner and settles in for the evening, catching up texting and phone calls since we have cell service in San Ignacio. I decide to pull my bike up in a secure spot between the motel wall and Tracy’s KTM.  As I move my bike which is a bit heavy with all the cargo I lose my footing and start to tip toward Tracy’s bike. Now I am between the two bikes and there is barely enough room for me to stand there. My bike starts to tip toward me and I stop it but not before I bump Tracy’s bike with my hip and it starts to tip away from me! So I am catching my balance and trying to hold my bike upright but now I have to catch Tracy’s bike before it falls over. I grab Tracy’s seat and slow its progress but that sucker is HEAVY! It continues to tip painfully slow away from me while I struggle to hang on to both bikes. It gets away from me and falls over and as I pay more attention to it, my bike is now on the way over too! Right toward me standing next to the already downed KTM. The V-Strom tips over and catches my foot on the way down. I barely manage to stay upright myself and begin to take inventory of the mess I just made with two loaded down Adventure bikes now laying on the ground.  On top of that, now I have a sore right foot. It doesn’t take me long to realize I will need some help with this mess before I really hurt myself by getting a hernia trying to lift them.

So reluctantly I head up to the rooms and knock on Brian and Jeff’s door. Whoever comes to the door says, ‘who is it?’  I thought about saying I am a bandito and am here to rob you, open up! But my foot is sore, the bikes are on the ground and I can’t lift them by myself so I decide not to be a wise guy.  I inform them I need help lifting the bikes laying on the ground. Maybe I should I tell them some vandals came by and pushed our bikes over!  Naw, I fessed up and told them and they came down to help pick them up. Not sure they were not chuckling the whole time! It was a damn good thing both of them came down, that KTM was a hand full for all three of us since it was slightly over center downhill. Wait a minute! I am not quite sure why I am telling all this since ‘What Happens in Mexico stays in Mexico’. I was just happy that there was no damage and I limped away happy.  Tomorrow we will make our way down to our furthest stop going south, the town of Loreto.  There is a layover day planned to relax and do some sightseeing. Loreto is a pretty cool town right on the water, great scenery and there is an old Mission, Saint Javier, that we are going to ride out to see. There is a bit of an interruption, but that is another story………….. I will be shaking my head and laughing at the same time I tell you. Stay Tuned for the day I almost got to see Saint Javier, part II.

#33

‘When nothing goes right, Go Left’

Red Neck Engineering Tire Repair

It has come time to rollout on the 2019 #33 rolling Circus and the first stop on this year’s tour was at my buddy Jess’s house.

It is always a fun filled month long extravaganza of wood choppin’, fence bildin’, gun shootin’, grass mowin’, tracter runnin’, an sumtimes motersicle tare fixin’!  For those Non Red Necks reading this article here is your translation. We split wood for the winter, repair perimeter fences, sight in newly mounted scopes, mow and weed eat (a lot), remove stumps with a backhoe, and do our best to fix flats or improperly installed tires.

The motorcycle tire repair was the one that got my interest this time. Mostly because I am usually the one doing the fixing and although it is normally tedious and boring mounting and dismounting tires it rarely involves me running away!

This time it was my buddy Hose-b (Jess) doing the hands on since it was his bike. A quick side note: Jess will call me Jose’ so it only makes sense that he must be Hose-b!  So back to the bike tire, Hose-b was being bugged by the fact that his tire was slightly out of round since the bead never seated on the original tire install.  He decided we should remount or seat his tire to run true and I said it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I have mounted literally hundreds of tires in my 40ish years of riding. However, let me make this disclaimer before we begin, I have always used soap and water or just plain water when out on the trail during my tire repair.

So Hose-b removes the wheel, dismounts the tire in an attempt to seat the bead. He then reinstalls and starts to use WD-40 as he mounts and attempts to pressurized it to seat the bead. I am not in charge, but offer the information that I always use soap and water. Hose-b sees this extra slippery solution as the answer to seating the stubborn bead on the rim. Ok, you go boy! I just may learn something here. So as I watch him pump the tire up sure enough here comes the stubborn bead creeping out to the rim. I am thinking maybe it is time to stop pumping it up and wait for the bead to completely seat itself on the rim. Jose-b obviously is in the camp of, if a little air is good a lot must be better. After this experience I think 80 PSI or so may be too much.

Just about that time I am getting a little nervous and start to say something when I notice the tire has reached the seated position and is still creeping outward. Oh CRAP! That thing is not going to stop and I begin to voice my observations but decide I can run and talk at the same time!  As I turn to run in a panic it never occurred to me that the bench and the stand alone vice were in my exit path. I bounced off the bench just as I heard the explosion when the tire slipped off the rim.  I careened into the vice gouging my hand and arm which helped slow my retreat. Boy am I lucky or what!

So when the dust settled we both survived with only a couple scrapes. Hose-b had a surprised look on his face and had obviously retreated in the other direction, with no obstructions! Lucky him!  Once I got a paper towel and stopped the bleeding on my arm it became pretty funny cause no one was really injured. Remember when I said I just may learn something here? Well, I did. I learned that I will NOT use WD-40 as my tire mounting medium.

So we dismounted the tire, got a new tube and reinstalled everything using a little soap and water. Old Skool!

#33

“Be daring, try something new”

Passion Defined!

Just another casual trail ride with #33. Who else do you know that rides 15,000 off rode miles every year? 

3 Amigos Ride!

 Just a couple of weeks ago I finally got to do some woods riding. It was with Buckmeister, (Buck at SBB suspension) and Gino Belino, (Gene is from Folsom Prison). Well, let me clarify that Gino WORKS at Folsom Prison. So it was not on a weekend pass, parole or anything. He actually had the day off! Then there was Doo Rag, (Darrin) also fresh outta prison, with a Kitchen Pass and Matt. Matt had paroled a few years earlier when he got a creampuff job working at a Fire Camp in Nor Cal.

We were all pretty excited to hit the trails since it had just rained a couple days before. Apparently not enough since it was much dustier than we anticipated in the open and exposed areas. The tree covered areas were still pretty good as the shade of the trees held the moisture much better. So in some sections we could all ride close but had to space out when the dust reared its ugly head. I had a great time, since they let me ride in front all day!  I guess age does have its privileges, lol.

We rode most of the ride with big grins on our faces with an occasional stop to regroup and catch our breath. In just a few short hours Matt reminded us he had to head back as he did have to work a swing shift that day. We said good bye and were now down to four riders. Doo Rag was beginning to feel the pace as he doesn’t get a kitchen pass very often and subsequently has had very little seat time. Doo Rag spends his free time hanging onto a fishing pole, not a set of handlebars. So Doo Rag says he will meet us down by the river crossing and away he goes.

Buckmeister, Gino and I explore a little on our way down the canyon into the river, where we finally catch up to Doo Rag. I forgot that Doo Rag carries a collapsible fishing pole in his pack when he rides. So guess what he was doing when we rolled up. We took a rest break while Doo Rag fished and proudly displayed his trophy when he caught one of those whoppers!

While we were there it was kinda hard to miss the newer Toyota SUV 4x4 that was lodged in between a couple of trees just above the river. It had not been there long as there were no bullet holes in it yet!  Also, there was a bit of debris scattered indicating it was a new arrival. This compared to the old Toyota car that had been down there since the 80’s that I can remember. That one had a few bullet holes.

Our rest period turned into an hour and a half long break with snacks and a lot of stories being told. Some I will remember and some I will try to forget! None that I will ever repeat……………..Time to go. Doo Rag informs us that he is Fished out. I think that is code for he is too tired to continue on our ride. So he says he knows his way out to a road and will meet us back at the trucks. So now we are down to 3. Buckmeister, Gino and #33.

The 3 of us head up out of the canyon and are having a big time blasting through the trees. I know I am as I now spend most of my time in the desert and only have to dodge bushes and cactus, not trees. This is Great!  We continue on trail after trail until we come to a very rocky, somewhat steep slate/granite trail that is probably now considered to be in the ‘Advanced’ or ‘Extremely Difficult’ rating on the trail maps usually printed for the riding area. I go ahead to the top and stop at the next intersection to make sure we all head the same direction. I wait……and wait………hoping someone got a flat. It had been about 10 min and I figured maybe they didn’t have the tools to fix whatever it was. So I head back down eventually finding Gino holding Buck’s bike.

Doh! Buckmeister is standing there holding his clutch side wrist/hand. I observe that he is standing and walking ok so if we can get his bike to the top of this rocky ascent we should get back to the trucks without calling for outside assistance. Buck says he will walk to the top if I will ride his bike up. I park my bike and get on Buck’s bike and remember, crap, he is riding a YZ 125!  The last time I rode a 125 was years ago on a motocross track and I wasn’t very good at it. It has been MANY years since I owned or rode a small bore. I am a 500cc kind of guy. I weigh about 250 lbs. dressed to trail ride. But away we go, uphill, rocky, ledges and crevasses to traverse to reach the top. 8 to 10 thousand RPMs and a little abusing of the clutch and I make it. Sure glad that ain’t my clutch!

Buckmeister stands there and now has to figure out how to get rolling with a dicked up clutch hand. He does it and we are headed toward the trucks on normal trails and find a road that leads us out. We eventually make it back to the trucks and find Doo Rags truck still there. He should have been back long ago, loaded up and gone. We load up Buck’s bike, our bikes and get ready to go. Gino says, “shouldn’t we go look for Doo Rag?”.  I think it over for a minute and tell him, ‘Naw, he has a fishing pole.” I figured if he got stuck somewhere he would just catch his dinner.  A few minutes later Doo Rag rolls up. We asked him how we could have beat him back to the trucks considering our misfortunes and slow return pace. After all he was riding the road back.

“Uh, I turned the wrong way and went to hi way 193.”   I tried not to laugh, but I never promised not to tell he was directionally challenged. Dude caught a fish though. I have pictures, lol.

So we started with 5. Went down to 4. Finished off with 3 and 1 straggler. Rolled in with 2 intact and 1 damaged.  This may have been The Best Ride Ever!!!

#33

‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. Explore. Dream. Discover.’