Motorcyclist Warning

I rode the beast today to Sahuayo in search of baleros for another bike. I was passed by Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi near San Cristobal at +100mph. I did not catch them until Tizapan where they slowed down and pulled over for gas. On the way back from Sahuayo I stopped at that Pemex and asked the attendants who those two guys were, one on a Beemer with hi vis yellow helmet and the other on a KTM SM. He told me Marquez and Rossi. Figures, bunch of show offs.

Just a heads up,

lol and why are they in Mexico?

Just messin´ with you. I suspected one of the riders this morning was a guy out of Ajijic who is a poster here. But the thread did not get a rise out of him so maybe I´m wrong.

I´m not much into track day riding on Sundays when every other driver on the road in Jalisco is drunk or on the way. Hey but whatever floats your boat.

Gosh Kiko, we were takin' it easy.  You should try riding with D & R.  Seriously!

At least if you get out early and ride, most of them are still sober.  And the traffic is very light.

Great day to ride!  And Mexico is a rider's paradise, rough pavement nothwithstanding.  Scads of bikes out on Sunday.

The guy with me is a new rider here, very skilled and also a dirt lover.  You and he will probably end up playing in the polvo at some point.

BTW you probably know this but you can cut up to Ruta 110 just west of Sahuayo.  There's a turnoff signed to El Guirio and Las Galenas at the top of that long hill after Cojumatlan.  There's a rough gravelly section but otherwise it is a good road and avoids driving through Sahuayo.  It's also very scenic.

You guys can do this in your cars too.  Really recommended.

Also, for the record, we weren't doing anything remotely resembling 100 mph.  

I did not know that about the turnoff. I looked on Cartografia E32 this morning and that road is not there. I have oftentimes gone thru Sahuayo, then back around 110 South to San Jose Gracia with a dog leg down to Lazaro Cardenas and Cotija de la Paz to grab something to eat.

The problem with my Kawasaki is that like most Japanese motorcycles it was designed and built to a price point-volume for the American consumer. The bean counters always cut corners on the brakes and suspension. The suspension is fine for NOB roads but no valving or damping to speak of in the forks. Only way to adjust compression damping is with fork weight oil, like in 1980 technology. Ohlins would be nice but why dump 2k in suspension upgrades in a 5k bike?

By the way, Bob N from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin had a great time with you guys the other day. Good people, hope they move here.

I found that replacing my stock Beemer shocks with Yacugars really improved the rough road handling.  I also boosted the HP by removing the cat converter and replacing it with a Y pipe, plus adding an AX-Fied (similar to power commander) that allows me to enrich the air fuel mixture as most bikes run too lean.  This really boosted the mid range torque and HP and enhanced the control and handling and ability to accelerate out of the twisties.

You can get those forks rebuilt to perform better and replace the back shock with an Ohlin or similar.  I'd be happy to bring the shock down for you in April, PM me. These aftermarket shocks make a huge difference on these roads.

I even think there's someone here (GDL) that does the fork rebuilds.  Talk to D.B.

The road is not on the map.  R. showed it to me and then I looked it up using Google Earth.  PM me and I'll give you the details on how to find it.  It's easy. You'll really enjoy it, promise!

Glad the helmet visibility works, that was the reason I bought that color. It's a Nolan, great lid.

We really enjoyed Bob N and hope they move here as well.  He's enthusiastic, not sure about his esposa.

I´ll try google earth for that road. I think I know the turn, I saw a semi trailer parked there once and the military was unloading bales out of the trailer.

I upgraded the rear shock to a Yamaha R1 and it is great. The forks are ok, but at hi speed with a pot holes, Brace yourself Sheila (an Aussie taught me that phrase).

Talked to Racetech and the guy told me upfront, $1500 to install cartridges and valving in the left dummy fork leg but basically it is what it is,

When it comes to suspensions, BMW and KTM are top shelf. The only UJM that may come close I would think is the Yamaha Ténéré.

FWIW, and you guys probably already know these PDF maps, but if not. . . http://www.sct.gob.mx/carreteras/

Plug the area you want into Search box and if you magnify enough you should find your road. For example, and this is only 50%. . .
http://www.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/Michoacan_01.pdf

MC-Everest told me he never got it over 30mph on Sunday...

That was in first gear.

Trailrunner wrote:FWIW, and you guys probably already know these PDF maps, but if not. . .  http://www.sct.gob.mx/carreteras/

Plug the area you want into Search box and if you magnify enough you should find your road. For example, and this is only 50%. . .
http://www.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/Michoacan_01.pdf

I'm really dumb about compootars. How do you magnify?

Thanks! And thanks for the link. Looking at it, it doesn't appear to show the road we went on between the lake and the Ruta 110.

here are a bunch of riders enjoying excellent tacos al pastor in the tizapan plaza. all of them as you can see were riding inferior bikes. well except for the klr-SNORK!

It probably will when it gets magnified. When you get to the PDF map page, look up at the top. See where it says Zoom with a + or - sign? Hit the + until it's magnified either all the way or until you can see what you're looking for. These maps are updated frequently and are used by TelMex and CFE when they go out into the wilds to build new roads in order to install phone/power poles and lines.

You're welcome.

There is a new Chinese restaurant just East of the plaza in Tizapan across from the coffee shop there. When I first dropped in there I realized that no one there spoke Spanish so I tried English, no dice there either. So I ordered with my index finger. I tried to suggest to the owner that maybe since they don´t speak the lingo, they could slap some posters on the wall with photos and prices. Three months later I went in and there were the posters and the owner was speaking English and Spanish. Industrious bunch there.

kiko wrote:...He told me Marquez and Rossi. Figures, bunch of show offs.

If you get a chance you might enjoy a documentary called FASTEST (2011) about Valentino Rossi. NOB it is currently available on Netflix, Amazon or VUDU.

kiko wrote:There is a new Chinese restaurant just East of the plaza in Tizapan across from the coffee shop there.  When I first dropped in there I realized that no one there spoke Spanish so I tried English, no dice there either.  So I ordered with my index finger.  I tried to suggest to the owner that maybe since they don´t speak the lingo, they could slap some posters on the wall with photos and prices.  Three months later I went in and there were the posters and the owner was speaking English and Spanish.  Industrious bunch there.

How was the food?

Cheap and so-so, something like 45 pesos entre with rice.  Good coffee tho´ across the street.  

I know that taco stand on the SW corner of the plaza in the photo Pedro posted.  Went there once with my wife, and the waitress there was a 10+
.....so, the wife put that place on the Homeland Security no fly list for me.

I´m going to take the dirt beast over to that dirt road you mention outside of Cojumatlan and do some exploring.

Anyone recognize Perla in that area working the local Pemex?



Cojumatlan ^^^^

Kiko, that road isn't dirt. There's a section in the middle that is badly deteriorated, gone to gravel pavement. On both ends, pretty good pavement.

Interestingly when I blew up the maps posted above, they still don't show the road going through. But it does.

That is interesting. Can you see the road on GoogleEarth? Or here:
http://www.maps-of-mexico.com/mexico_states.shtml

BTW, have you peeked in that church in Cojumatlan? Also, between the turn off for Petatan and Cojumatlan there is a mariscos place on the right on the highway. The food is good.

Yes I did find it on google earth, that's how I identified where the turn off was located on Ruta 15.

Also, on a previous run we did stop and take a look at the church in Cojumatlan and it is a real beauty. Nice town and nice square.

I'll plug that Mariscos place into my (always iffy) memory, thanks!

As an old motocyclist, I´ve lost some brain cells over the years to concussions. I now can manage what little grey matter remains much more efficiently. I appreciate that.

I killed mine with alcohol. But NOT when riding!

I suppose, though, if you can only manage 30 mph or so for a few miles and you dress like you're at the beach, drinking when riding might lessen the pain when you fall off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGibK_d0mQ0

My GS friend sent me this link and I got a kick out of it,

just messin´with you beemer heads here...