And on the 7th Day, We Rested - Rob

So it's been a week! One helluva long one, these past seven days already make it feel like a month. It's actually hard to count the days, I keep having to look at the computer date to make sure what's going on. So we've traveled almost 5000 km this week. We thought it would be nice to take a day off and rest up for the next leg. Plus it didn't help with Nik's infection.  (read more below in Niks post).

Veracruz seems like the perfect place to take a rest, mind you, its more expensive than  every other place we've been to so far. The hotel is cheaper, but its more of a hostel than anything. I'm uploading some videos finally from earlier in the trip, but the problem is my Canon's HD video means my uploads of 500 megabytes tend to take about 5 hours each, so perhaps in the next post.

I haven't really mentioned the topes (speed bumps) too much because everyone else complains about it, but yeah, theres reason to complain. Most of them are marked pretty well, but suddenly you're minding your business and looking at the scenery when BAM, the 200 pounds of extra weight we're carrying goes flying, threatening the tires and shocks and whatever else we need to preserve.

Speaking of bikes, it's my turn to take the hit, after tightening the chain yesterday morning before we left, it still made some grinding noises, as if it were too tight. As the day progressed i'm building up some red dust from the front sprocket area, with what looks like bits of chain metal sprinkled around the swing arms. Anyway, I think my chain has bit the dust (pun intended) and I'm gonna try to make it to San Salvador to a dealership before I change over the chain and sprockets, hopefully with some oil it'll make it that far. Hell, if the chain snaps, at least I won't have to struggle taking it off.
But other than that, the bikes seem to be riding fine, we're thinking about calling ourselves the los guapos ciento-dieces. Still the perfect speed to get us where we need to. Mind you, the roads are now hit and miss, going 110 on some of them feels like 55, while others it feel like 200.

(Let's get a theme going)
Speaking of ROADS now, no one tells you how many damn tolls there are, the "cobrar" signs that make you sigh every hour. Combined we spent 230 pesos (we say about 10 X less, 23.00 US with the exchange and the bank rates and 3.00 transaction fees every time you take out money) in tolls, considering thats one day thats a lot of extra moolah not intended. I'm not sure if there are anymore along the way, time will tell. The passing game becomes a bit addictive, with everyone else passing these big trucks "peligroso: doble" (2X normal 18-wheeler size) it pushes you to do the same. Of course, for those who care, we're doing it safe enough, more safe than the 18-wheelers passing each other on corners and whatnot. We followed a fellow from Ohio with an RV for an hour or so, watching him almost kill himself on at least one occasion with his obsessive passing and double speed limit speeds. We felt it was safe following him, because the cops would pick on him first. Also saw a fellow ADV'er with his wife on a beautiful 1200GS. WE're hoping to meet some of these people in some towns we're staying at.

(Let's keep it going)
Speaking of friendly people, the cops are friendly, they dont pull us over for speeding, the military is friendly, and the locals here are pretty friendly too. Some of them shout "Bievenidos a Mejico!" which is a nice surprise. Some people tho look at us with shifrty eyes that tell us "miras los monstruos" (mind my weak spanish its getting there).

Last night's dinner, WAY too expensive, 17.00 per person, we splurged on some burgers and some beers at a true restaurant. Big mistake too, DONT eat burgers until you're used to the foods. For those of you who don't know, my stomach is awesome. If it doens't like what it's eating, its.....instantly flushed. Meaning, no food poisoning, no sickness, and that burger was the first indication so far on the trip. Beer was good tho!

Anddd finally, today we took a walk down the beach (the hotel is on the ocean boulevard for 300 pesos a night! BONUS) and stumbled across the aquarium, the number one attraction in Veracruz. At 90 pesos a pop it wasn't cheap, but after long deliberation, we haven't really seen any attractions, so we took the plunge (going over budget AGAIN today). Anyway, here's some of our adventures from yesterday and today: ENJOY!

Yesterdays breakfast, cheap and super effective, this is what we need for msot of the trip! Fantastico!

That's what my face is saying, really! Fantastico!

The best orange juice you could have, from the orange capital of Mexico, Naranja. Over uno litro por 40 pesos!

Every second of third truck was filled with oranges like this one!

This man carried many! The  most impressive statue besides the Christ Redeemer statue I missed :(

In the U.S., this is where you drive

In Mexico, and most likely all down south from here, this is where you drive, seriously...

The massive fields of orange trees for as far as you can see and them some!

I'm rich BITCH! 1200 pesos, a hundred bucks :( It's weird getting used to it.

The view from our hotel window!

How cool is some Jalapeno sauce with your McMuffin?

The whole beach to ourselves, all we need now is some sun

The lonely moto's cuddling up to each other for protection

Coolest aquarium I've been to so far

Nik is scared of sleeping with the fishes

I welcome the presence of fish my size!

Figured it was a snazzy shot, so look at it and appreciate it damn you!

Told you it was a nice aquarium!

Gracias por las photos amgios de aquarium (omg spanish it getting worse)

Local coral

Just missed the hammerhead over our heads:(

We're watching you!

Watch it

Veracruz is definitely a resort town, there was another audi dealership two blocks down.

Alright, we're camping here tonight, we'll see what happens inthe morning, I think it's gonna rian for a couple days, not really looking forward to that. Will post again with updates!

- Robeeeez

Challenges and Oranges? - Nik

For the last two days after the food poisoning I started getting abdominal pains. It got worse and tonight I had trouble sleeping because of it. So, I called my insurance and went to the general hospital of Veracruz at about 5:30 am. Talked to the doctor and explained to him everything as best as i could in Spanish and hand language. "mi estomago ace malo"  turns out i got an infection due to the food poisoning. I got my prescription at the 24h pharmacy and I'm now taking antibiotics. I am happy its nothing too serious and i couldn't thank the doctor and staff enough for helping me so speedily.

As for the drive down to Veracruz today, It was incredible views. We passed a town that grew oranges... trucks and pick ups and 18 wheelers filled with oranges stacked 15 feet high and orange trees as far as the eye can see. Oranges splattered all over the streets. They even made a huge statue of an orange picker (rob will be posting the pictures). We stopped for a big glass of fresh oj. Best Oj I have ever had!  As for Veracruz, beautiful. We got a hotel\hostel for 300 pesos\night, water front and really neat looking. I'm looking forward to getting better and getting to explore this city and take a dip in the ocean.

Tampico Mexico - Nik

Made it into Mexico this morning and immediately got lost. We where riding along and then suddenly I notice a police on the side of the road, going towards him to ask directions he waves his speed gun showing 71... they try to get us to pay a speeding fine... in a 60 zone lol... lucky i didnt have any money on me so they let us go with proper directions out of the city. We  are now in Tampico, Mexico. One crazy city... Sunday night and its busy like mad. Weather is getting much better and the days are getting longer. Tomorrow we hope to make it to Veracruz.

Mexico: Staying In Its Good Books - Rob

So let's clear a few things up first. This blog seems a little repetitious I'd imagine. That's how it goes, see both of us are writing our experiences, and of course there's mutual overlap, but it gives you a double perspective on what's going on and what we see/hear/understand. It also helps to complete the full picture, because we both forget certain happenings with so much that goes on each day. So once more, heres my approach to the daily events...

I'm gonna break this post down into a whole bunch of point forms to make Mexico a clear picture for everyone. I know, I know its not a place to be taken lightly, but unless your into the middle of things, its hard to put a true finger on it. But of course, that's what every blogger says..and well, I guess I'm gonna say that too. I apologize ahead of time, these  posts almost seem a bit sad, but its the weariness of riding day after day that makes a 10 o clock post a bit dreary. As we get used to the daily grind I'm sure I'll make it more entertaining :P.

Alright so we start by getting the border in two minutes. This is the where the clock starts ticking. Thank god there was no one there.

1. You enter Mexico by paying 3.00 US at the toll.
2. You go through a line that, if you're novice that us, will flash red and they will pull you over asking for a traveling permit.
3. You are instructed to go back round to U.S. and turn around into the main Migracion office.
4. Once inside, hope there are no lines, because you first go to customs, they may or may not check your bike; ours weren't. Then you go to Migracion and he looks at your passport, tells you to fill out a travel form. You go to the Banceritos ( i think that's what it was called) and they take your copies...wait what...oh you didn't get copies, go over to copy line and pay 2.00 for copies. Go back to Banceritos and watch them make text messages and talk to each other, while it takes 20 minutes for them to fill in a form, but that's fine, we expect these things on a Sunday for sure.
5. Pay 26 dollars for the permit, another 40 or so for a tourist pass (or other way around, it was hectic and they just took my money and card) and then go back to Migracion to have him look at your completed papers.
6. Don't forget your insurance, another 6.00 per day in Mexico; we purchased ours beforehand to save us time and money.


All in all, for the first time through a border, it was expensive as hell, but it wasn't too bad. About 45 minutes from start to finish. Nik will fill in the rest with his new friends.

Los Guapos Locos entering the Estados Unidos de Mexicanos

You'll get to this point and frown when the light turns red

If you forget anything, the checkpoints 20 miles and 40 miles down the road will remind you and send you right back haha, they were nice to us.

The mexican car wash, sans agua.

The main gas provider in the Mexico: so many of them, and none take American.

The further we traveled the less english was spoken, but we are getting by pretty easily. So easily that 10 minutes into getting lost through Matamoros Nik drives full speed toward a cop to ask him how to get around. Good idea: asking a cop for a helping hand.
Bad idea: driving as fast as yo can towards him.


He pulls him over, shows him how he's going 31 km over the speed limit and starts giving him a 30.00 ticket. He comes over to me, I argue in broken spanish and basic english that I was behind him and the gun couldn't get my speed, besides I was traveling half the speed. Long story short, he brings Nik over to pay and Nik manages to get out of it completely. Brilliant, our first win! Mainly due to the fact we both don't have pesos....Mexican's dont like American dollars :(.

We figure out where we are, get on the road and take the quickest route here to Tampico. It took a helluva long time, about 500 km, but for the most part the roads are pretty awesome. Good conditions, some nice speed bumps, but the 180 into Tampico was a really nice quiet, and scenic and challenging drive.

Beautiful scenery of Tamipitula

Insanely busy city of Tampico (this doesn't really cut it)

The best part is the speed limits. We went pretty easy after the ticket incident, and watched as thousands of cars sped past us at about double the posted limit. So we started to join them, mind you we ride at an even 110kph every where we pretty much go (we find for the KLR's this provides us with the best time/gas expenditure ratio, anymore and you blow through a ton more gas, any less and its a bit slow). These cars would blow through any 40kph or 60kph speed zone at 130kph+. Its amazing how they drive, I literally mean amazing, I would if Ottawa had the same road morals. No one takes sh** from anyone and I think thats pretty spectacular. For those who have never driven in Mexico, the highways, instead of having two lanes each side, have one and a half. So you drive on the shoulder and let other pass you, at ANYTIME. A corner or oncoming traffic doesn't stop anything, so you better get over as far as possible. It sounds worse than it is though, I think that system works pretty good.

Tampico itself is ridiculously busy....its a Sunday night and it seems like every single resident is out and about, honking horns, in the streets, in the restaurants, it sure is a happening place. We got to eat some tamales and ...some carne something, cost about 6 bucks with drinks. Our hotel is good enough for the night, a little less than last night at 36.00 US (again they dont take American...we had to negotiate and pay extra). But we got internet and shower, thats fine with me.

I think thats about all for tonight, off to Veracruz in the morning for our first Gulf swim.

Robeeez

Mexico! - Nik

Happy to say that we made it to Brownsville, the border city to Mexico. The last two days did not go as planned. First off, in Louisiana, I had a flat which immobilized us for the day. On the bright side i got to spend some quality time with the locals and even got to try out a hunting shotgun! what! yah. After getting back on the road the following day I felt ill. First time getting  food poisoning, ughhhh. Not pleasant at alll!  The weather keeps getting nicer and more and more palm trees seem to be popping up, very good sign. Gona pack up right now and head towards the border and hopefully eat some tacos for lunch!

This Is Hard Work

It's not the fact that motorcycling is a tough job, its the s*** that happens along the way that makes you realize the importance in 1. planning and 2. dedication that you need when it comes to going cross country.

So things have been a little rushed lately, my last blog post was miserable in length and detail...but this is for of course good reason. The lack of sleep, the need to ride and cover as much ground as fast as we can, and the whole hurried nature of sitting around doing nothing (but of course posting is anything but nothing, bah who am I kidding it's definitely hard to find the time) make it so hard to reflect on what has happened. In fact, everytime I even think of the date or the day I get all jumbled. There's two things I can tell you right now (because 8.1 percent tall can energy beer kills more brain cells than a Vodka and Redbull shot anyday), we are one day behind already, but I am one day up in cash savings. See I take out roughly enough for 50.00 USD a day, right now I have about 60-some dollars in my wallet: good news. This is because of recent events and the story of our adventure...so let us backtrack a little...

First a picture

 

 

Yeah., mistake number one

And now another...

Field of dreams?

The two things that have killed our progress have led to a slow start..there's two, will tomorrow bring a third? Only one way to find out, but first, lets see what happened since New Orleans.

So we packed up that morning and head off towards Houma, LA. After stopping and grabbing a bunch of stuff we needed, because there's ALWAYS something else you need along the way, we passed through a lot of the marshlands that make up the Cajun side of Louisiana. We're cheap, so we camp when we get the chance. Sure, it's cold, but it seemed alright to do so...until the sun set. We were running out of options and picked a spot in a rice field/ swamp / marsh / nasty place. Luckily no one bothered us...but the creepy clown noises in the middle of the night, oh and a coyote and some weird birds. No harm done, other than the extremely cold night we weren't expecting and maybe 4 hours of sleep. You gotta remember too, this is January, in LA the sun sets at 5:30 and is up at about 6:30. That's over 12 hours of sitting in a freezing cold tent trying to either stay warm or sleep. Alright...enough complaining about the damn cold, its our faults for even going that route.

Ok, a little blurry, I'm practicing, this is still the States...

It's amazing the difference an SLR will make though

The next morning, bright and early, we got a quick start and headed for Galveston along the coast.

Almost a perfect reflection

So we got about 40 miles up the road when some how the hell Nik's tire goes flat, oh and we're both on our reserve tanks in the middle of nowhere. His being tubeless, wasn't actually the tire, it was the spokes and the valve stem. How it happened, no idea, and no way to fix it. Super glue didn't work, tire foam wouldn't do it, we had a couple kids watch us for awhile and a couple Sheriffs offer some help, but the bottom line was that I'd have to travel 100 miles one way to get the spare I had on me on his tire WITH a tube to stop the leaking. Yeah, if it wasn't for the tire we'd be stuck for 3-5 days in the boones.

Smile Nik, you get to sleep all day while I ride into Lake Charles

The ride into town I tell you was the most boring stretch of road thus far...I think...if theres one thing lower states are known and good for, its long boring roads. We're talking back in Canada, the 401 may seem boring, Albion rd. in ottawa may seem straight enough...no, these roads will go for 50-75 kilometres without a bend. It's strange.

My lonely solo journey...the first of many I'm sure

This is what country folk do for fun..where's your stick young feller?

This is what most of the road looks like (well this bridge was the only change for almost 100 miles)

Ok, ok, so I return 5 hours later with a tire, we put it on, slap on some brake pads and take off..."f*** it, we're riding till midnight" we told ourselves, and ride we did. We almost made up for lost time, we made it to Galveston that night. Riding along the coast into Texas was perhaps the best ride I've ever had to date, mind you, no pictures we're taken because we were zipping so fast. But the oil refineries look like mega casinos in the nightscape contrasting against the half moon and ocean tides. Beautiful. Galveston was historically awesome, but we flew through it towards Bay City. We made it about halfway and decided to tent it up again behind an office at midnight. This...night....was.....terrible....

Although we slept better, the night was seriously 2 degrees celcius. An arctic wind they say blew in, and boy we felt it...We woke up to find horses all around us ahah and the goddamn roosters at 5:30 am. We packed it in  and headed off for Corpus Christi.

Sun set over the Cameron ferry, if you look close, the thing popping out of the water is a dolphin!! So many, yet I never got a perfect shot

The ferry almost ran into that Aircraft Carrier, AND SO COLD HERE

Right outside our tent

The morning again started off pretty decent, then Nik started feeling like shit....like terrible shit. I didn't blank that one out, that's how bad it was. We're pretty sure it was some bologna food poisoning, a trick from the locals in southern LA to keep us out of their territory. Long story short, hours upon gruesome hours later or straight driving and stomach pains, past the not so pleasant weather of Corpus Christi, we made it to our present location...Brownsville. We have both decided we could probably live here, there is about a 95/5 percent ratio of Latino's to Caucasians, but the atmosphere, the birds, the weather, the actually really busy hustle and bustle makes this place pretty cool. We're about five minutes from the border now, the next post will be somewhere through Mexico. We plan on getting through it in 4-5 days, we'll see how it goes.

Nik's terrible morning, part deux.

King's Ranch: 60 miles of straight roads and cops everywhere waiting to bust the innocents.

Like this for example...except, me thinks this guy isn't innocent if he's got 5 cops after him

Our first hotel of the trip, rightly deserved omg we feel so much better, as do our bikes

As does my hair...but this is the half done version

Stage 1 Complete

A quick post right now, i'm running on batteries and I don't want to waste them in case we need them. We're about to take off from New Orleans today...quite the beautiful place. I did forget my camera when we toured, but we're about to venture off and next post I'll have some.

At first I was like....

And then i was like...

A lot of the drive ended up being like this

To all our faithfuls, we made it no problems in his honky tonk tundra. The winter storms were massive and the gasoline fill-ups added up, but here we are ready to leave for Galveston, our next stop where Nik's tires are waiting for him.A price to pay though, about a hundred bucks a tire for Bridgestone, we'll see how they are when we get there.

So today a relaxed day, only have to be in Galveston for 12 pm tomorrow. I'll sign off for now, when I have more time I'll write about the drive down.

Thanks SOOOO much aunt and uncle for holdin us up last night and for showing us around this morning. New Orleans is a sight to come back to again and again.

- RobeeeZ



Well, sold the Toyota T100 pick up ... 200$ last night.Very sad to see it go since it was a very reliable vehicle *tear*. This morning Janice took us for a visit in the French Quarter in New O  and ate some bruelos donuts (correct this) which reminded me a lot of Churos from spain. Yum! When we got back i called a few moto shops for a set of tires and managed to find one that could get a set in for tomorrow, in Galveston TX. So, we are now packed up and ready to leisurely make our way ouest through the marsh lands. Thank you very much Stephen and Janice for your hospitality and have a great trip in China!


-Nikael

Omens...

So, its Monday night, eve of departure and we have spent the last 3 hours looking for Rob's wallet.... where did it go? who knows...  The good thing is that he only had his drivers license and bank cards in there which he will replace it early mañana. Good thing I'm not superstitious because this would definitely be a sign.  I'm now going to figure out how I'm going to fit all the stuff in our travel luggage and get a good nights rest before the long long drive through 5 states! Let you know when we get there. 26h drive!

-Nikael   

Countdown - Three Days

A VERY quick post tonight just to say things are about on track, we're leaving Tuesday morning for sure. Just a few things to tidy up (ie. our boat is leaving without us and we're forced to last minute search another one across the GAP), but I want to spend time with my wonderful family before I go, so I'm posting this as an introduction to spamming my blog all over Facebook etc. The adventure begins, and the nerves set in. Here we go :O

Also updated the packing list on the blog tonight....to what we REALLY need, as opposed to what we might have needed.

This would be a picture where everything is going as planned (4000km in 4 days) ; I hope this trip we get to do the same thing

Countdown - One Week

You never imagine this day coming at you until reality smacks you with it right in the face. Yeah a bit of the nerves set in, there's a lot of encouragement, but there's also a helluva lot of doubt and disarray from those closest to us. With completely valid reasoning too, there's nothing expect experience that can prove whether or not someone is cut out for this sort of stuff. We'll...we're about to give it a try.

So with just under 7 days left, heres our remaining lists:

Still to get:
Sunscreen
Repellent
Shaving Cream - i actually don't already have this...
Mosquito Net
Keys Copied - not a good idea to get going on one key
warning triangle - they give you hefty fines for not having this useless thing
Mexican insurance - best to get it up front and save some cash

Still to do:
Complete Maps
Complete Master Book - my physical copy of all vital information we may need along the way.
sell bike - on advrider and Buenos Aires forums
where embassies are in each country
make emergency cards
photocopy all documents
email all documents to oneself
call visa - let em know where outta here
Install camera mount




There's also been some positives since Christmas time! I'm fully geared up now and I got my yellow fever shot (omg 165.00 a damn ripoff) and Nik picked up some medicine for us (preventative diaherrea, malaria and he also got Hep A shot), I know my last post was a pathetic excuse but as for MEEEEEEEE (Nik get your shit together....more of that later), I now haveeee

YESSS PANTS AND BOOTS. Thanks to the Fat Man (no I'm not referring to you Dad although I'm sure you gave a helping hand) for listening in on my prayers, with much love and respect, I will ride those AlpineStars hard.

New Alpinestars - Waterproof, stylish and definitely wearable.

Red means it wont catch on fire....

So again, thanks to my parents for this helpful little surprise. You have saved me countless hours of soaked arse + I am a sexy bomb all geared up and ready to blow (gimme a damn break, its the third night in a row i'll be up past 3).

Also, cause it's Christmas and i'm no longer working at the Wine Station after a 4 and a half year haul, I want to shout out to all the guys and their support and how they've become not only my friends but brothers (about 10X as friendly brothers would ever want to be :/ ). But seriously, thank you guys for making work a little more like play.

And on one more note: to all the customers again as well who have shown their support and are following me along:

- Ms. Victoria M. for all that advice and of course these little fellas which is deserving of all the spare wines we have at the Station:

The damned biggest padlock you'd ever did see. Try n' break into this hombres. well...actually please dont try.

I was supposed to flip this picture but it's too late now. But thats a damn fine tool case and rubbers (watch it)

 - Ms. Louise T. for being one of my bestest friends working there, if you ever need another BBQ built, don't you dare hesitate. And once more thank you for the awesome x-mas gift to help me along:

Another thing I forgot, the infinitely helpful multi-tool, and no one steals my money cause YOU CANT FIND IT NOW SUCKERS

- To Tanya W. W. for also being my best friend, gonna miss our chats cause it was the only time I could sneak off during the busy times to help you bottle.

- To Ms. Redekopp: enjoy that Barolo, I'd say my job is on the line if you don't like it but I think I'm safe for now.

- To Dave and Diane Menard, I missed our Friday night chats but we finally got to catch up. I hope your new shingles aren't flying off the roof due to crappy labourers with all this howling winter wind.

- To Mr. Stach for all the Peruvian and GPS advice. Even though I go to Ottawa U, you changed me into a Raven's fan.


And to all those I didn't get a chance to thank because I had left without telling you my blog but one of the guy's did in my place, drop me a comment and I'll keep in touch with ya!


So on that note, Merry Christmas everyone, Happy New Year. And we're almost ready to roll.








........Oh yeah, that reminds me, about the whole.......uhhh.....let me just show you. I don't REALLLLY want to show you, but you're gonna see it sooner or later...we'll I mean everyone's gonna see it...and it ain't pretty, and...Nik, seriously, I haven't complained yet, but this isn't making the trip an easy task by any means. To all you adventure travel fans, get ready to ROFL or LMAO or whatever you feel necessary sitting there:


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.
.
.
.
.

The homemade pannier...and I won;t say anything else in this caption.

I just saw this a couple days ago when he brought it over. He INSISTS there's no wind interference or wobble or whatnot, well, we'll see about that. Its the same width as mine mind you, but practicality/movability/maneuverability is about a 0.2/10.

It needs a few things before we get going: paint.......structural integrity, an "ICE CREAM TRUCK" sign on the back, and needs to be about a kilometre back from where I'm riding at all times. Well guys, let the real fun begin.


P.S. All these ugly orange pictures will stop soon, the night posts in my room will be replaced with beautiful scenery and the big ugly tin box soon enough.

RobeeZ

The Final Touches

Because there's ALLLWAYSS something you forget...

I've been MIA for the past month, hard at work figuring out every little detail to tie up loose ends. It's actually been the part of planning that's been the most fun, because with major details out of the way the trip begins to come together. I still haven't gone through a lot of what I've been preparing for and a lot of things have changed in the past month too...gotta break up this post like sooooooo:

Step 1: Equipment

- I've lined the panniers with felt for that soft, fuzzy feeling. I can use it for a snuggly blanket when I finally realize its gonna be colder than I think.

- I'm now bringing two cameras, the SLR for amazing HD video and the point and shoot for quick snaps. I've created a homemade camera mount using PVC for the handlebars to get that personal cinematic POV experience for you all.

- We scrapped the Bully Alarm lock, and went with a more traditional approach: one huge ass armoured cable lock (OnGuard Rottweiler 5025) and an army of padlocks and cables. We figured it would be an easier and cheaper method of keeping the bikes together. Also wanted the Fagghedabout lock from Kryptonite, a real contender rated at the 12th security level (and there are only 12 levels), but it was 12 lbs....how the hell do you carry 12 pounds of chain.

         <---my new set-up..........^ the ultimate protection, but way  too heavy for us.

 I am also using small cable locks that go through the top handles on the pannier to garner added protection because I've heard Happy Trails panniers can be pried open from the latches. The lock passing through the tops and around the bottom should prevent that. These stupid ideas took the longest to figure out haha.

- The new shock along with all the maintenance is finally done. I now understand a little bit more about bikes now that most of it was taken apart and put back together again. This felt like the biggest accomplishment, but the worry for me now is that I haven't gotten a ride to test out and make sure everything works. I don't want to get 100 miles into the trip and have the rear shock explode into my arse (as much as Joey or Dan would like to see this). It's been snowing EVER since I put the last bolt back in, I'll just have to take a polar ride before I go.

The milk crate is an amateur motorcycle mechanics' BEST friend

Out with the old and in with the new, the rear shock is surprisingly easy to install

The biggest pain in the ass is re-aligning the rear tire. This is what scares me, but its an easy enough fix as long as it doesn't align me with the front of an 18-wheeler first.

Even with this experience, me being me I can never be 100 percent certain of myself unless I'm packing a couple of these along with me in the laptop, just to be sure:

All the KLR installation and repair videos I could find on Youtube

- I direly needed a tank bag because I didn't want to lug around a backpack the whole way, plus I need a way to see my map along the ride. When I do things, I tend to make a big deal about it, or attract attention to myself. I'll be the guy that rides around in a car whose sound system is worth roughly a third to half the price of the car. Case in point: meet the Eiffel tower....

Yeah, its actually that tall...

This is sort of the bag that you would bring to move your house on your motorcycle. Its 3 bags in one, so I can take it apart and not have to worry about cocking my head 90 degrees towards the turn signal. Got everything I need and the reason I bought it, well tank bags are not cheap, but this one was $49.99 and free shipping through the U.S. I got it shipped to my aunt's in New Orleans (our first stopping point). VERY CHEAP. Thanks to Motorcycle Superstore for their ridiculously cheap prices and awesome closeouts. My $200.00 jacket is on sale for 50 bucks.


Step 2: Clothing

- So far the clothing preparation is taking the hit. Both me and Nik have decided to bring what we already have for jackets. My Fieldsheer with two layers will be alright in normal weather, but useless in the prolonged cold or heat. Nik's jacket is not waterproof, but don't worry Nik, its stylish and we know that's what's most important.

- I dunno about Nik for now but I don't have boots unless I find some last minute on closeout. I'll be wearing shoes the whole way, bringing a spare along with me; but my most grateful gratitude goes to Victoria for passing along not only that REALLY heavy duty padlock but the waterproof shoe slips and the tool bag. I would have totally overlooked a waterproof solution to shoes.

- I'm just bringing the one helmet I have, Shark RSF-2 racing helmet; I plan on racing mopeds and scooters in central america to boost both my ego and morale. Besides, who wouldn't want to wear a super-tight and form fitting, low-visibility and hot as hell helmet in hot as hell weather??

- Gloves again, same ones I use here, simple off-road/ casual riding gloves. I plan not to fall a lot, I should be alright with these.

- We also don't have motorcycle approved pants, but we do have waterproof overalls to pack along with us through the rain. Look people, all we're planning for here is what seems to be a casual ride. Haha, we're young and we're poor, there's no need to feel pity or make fun of us as you read this, we'll make it. Hence the next section's importance.

Step 3: Health

- I did of course buy a first aid kit, its not in the pictures but it'll do when I stumble off a curb or something; i'm pretty sure it's not meant to heal any form of high speed motorcycle accidents....

- Health care comes at a pretty decent price here in Canada. I've barely looked but I'm being quoted $219.00 for 60 days of medical travel coverage. Far cry from the $400.00 I though it would be. This is through my CIBC bank institution in case someone was wondering. This doesn't cover Mexico because they require their own motorcycle insurance, quoted at $43.00 or similar for only like 4 or 5 days. This seems nearly invaluable in the need for medivac or if I fail at motorcycling in the States.

- The shots/vaccinations (yes up to now all this was overlooked, well, I'm not as irresponsible as you all might have assumed huh huh) I looked into were very expensive. I think if you were to get all the shots you would be looking at $350-$400 canadian. I'm lucky to still have my Hep B vacc. from my school days. I'm not getting the Hep A shot, it's too late anyway. If you were to get Twinrix it takes a full 6 months to complete the procedure (3 shots at $70 a pop). Its been said that if your safe and responsible, its nearly the same risk of getting the virus as here in Canada..ie. don't drink the water. Cholera shots are often recommended, as are Rabies. The only shots we are getting are Yellow Fever shots because I have heard that proof of vaccination receipts are required in certain countries if you travel through hot zones in other countries (panama and a few northern south american countries). That one is $70.00 alone, and can be taken 10 days prior to being in that country.

- Malaria pills are last but not least, but they are another hugely expensive purchase at $150.00 a prescription. I will take my chances until Mexico where I have heard they are infinitely cheaper, as are the shots, but you have to be weary of the fake clinics.



Well, I think that sums up a lot of the planning up to now, the "book" I'm writing is almost finished, and I will post most of it up here. Just basically a compiled list of all dealerships, country info, packing stuff and wisdom for on the road emergencies.

Until next post my friends and followers and especially to all those at the Wine Station, employees and customers alike who are following me along on the adventure. I'll use your support as strength to post and post some more!


RobeeeeZ