I managed to make it out of Escondido and into Mexico, passing through the Tecate Border. Fairly fast (just needed to get a visa – which I thought I already when I got my Temporary Import Permit for the Himi). Nobody even looked at the Himi. Oh, well.
Of course, Verizon stopped working once I got to the border. It took me a while to figure out how to get it back – restart the phone (thanks, Wife, for that tip). Once I got things up and running, I started heading south.
I ran into a group of Mexican ADV riders at a gas station. One of them had ridden to Ushuaia (my destination) on a little 90cc Honda. Man, that takes some cojones! It’ll make it, but forget about carrying anything.
Spent the night in San Filepe, which turns out to be quite the party town on Saturday. At 5:00 AM, I gave up trying to sleep, packed up, and headed south.
Here’s a tip for traveling in Baja – check Google Maps for gas station locations. I left San Felipe with a full tank of gas, expecting to fuel up at where a gas station would logically be located – the intersection of two major highways. Nope. No gas. Nothing in site. As I rode, I spied a sign indicating the next gas was 140 kilometers away. I looked down at my fuel gage and realized I had about 80 km of fuel left. Another 750 ml in my stove fuel can would give me, maybe, 10-20 km. That was short, by about 40km. Oops.
Luckily, I found a guy selling fuel on the side of the road and got enough to make it to the gas station. Fueled up, had a tamale and a burrito (neither were like anything I had had before – not bad, just different), then was on my way (this time with fuel in my tank, stove fuel can, and a collapsible bladder).
When I pulled into a small town with a five-word name (Villa Aberto Andres Alvarado Amburo), I turned the bike off to drink some water. Went to start it – no joy. Thought it was vapor lock, which required putting the bike in shade to allow it to cool off – something difficult to do when the temperature in the shade is over 101F. Finally got it started and went to a cheap motel nearby (hey, it had a good shower and AC).
Next morning, took me a while to get it started. Made my way to San Ignacio, where I intended to weather out Hurricane Polo, which is bearing down on the Baja Peninsula, arriving today.
I accidentally stalled the bike (hit the stupid kill switch as I was turning) and couldn’t get it started. Had it towed to a mechanic’s shop (with me riding – no fun).
As far as I can determine, it’s one of three things: a fuse (not likely), relay switches (likely) or a fuel pump (also, likely). If it’s a fuse, no sweat – just change it out. If it’s the relay switches, cleaning them may work. Otherwise, we’ll need new ones (not sure if we can get any, but they’r Bosch, which is everywhere). If it’s the fuel pump, I’m screwed. I would have to order it from …drumroll…. Hitchcock Motorcycles in the UK. Another 3-5 day wait (likely 7). Either way, I’m here for the next three nights staying at a little hotel called “Rice and Beans” (really, that’s it’s name. Not Arroz y Frijoles, but the actual English version). It has AC, great shower, a restaurant, bar, and a pool. Right now I’m in the restaurant sucking down a Model0% Negra (alcohol free Modelo Negra).
Oh, well. I could be working…
