On two wheels south through Latin America

[HiPERnx]

Hello!
First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Gustaf N, born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. Always loved travel and meeting people.
In 2018 i bought a brand new Suzuki V-Strom 650xt in SF Bay Area, California, USA. The original thought was to use it as a daily driver while in the area (there a lot on business). My dreams got the better of me, and as easily said i did it. Equipped the bike for adventure travel. You know the deal, better suspension, panniers crash-bars etc...
[Camping in Big Sur, California]


I've had bikes before, but never traveled with them, mostly traveled with my overland equipped 4x4 (Jeep WG/WJ -99). Posted about the Jeep on the forum before.
[Somewhere near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Montenegro]


On December 1 i left the Bay Area and set of south towards Mexico.

Episode 0

Any questions or ideas are welcome.
English is not my first language, please kleep that in mind. Constructive criticism is much appreciated.
As i write this initial post (2020-02-13) I've already reached Costa Rica, just now catching up on posting/editing.

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 1
Baja California, Mexico - Camping on the beach and what camping gear I bring

After the last episode when i arrived in Baja California, Mexico i have traveled down through Baja, all the way to the southern tip. In this episode i spend a lot of the time camping in Baja California and enjoying the bike offroad on parts of the Baja 1000 route. Going from Ensenada to Puertecitos camping for one night on the beach, continuing on via Coco's Corner and following parts of the Baja 1000 to Bahia De Los Angeles camping for an additional 4 nights on the beach. Being tired of camping i continue to Loreto, staying for a few days before i do a impulse trip to Cabo san Lucas. After almost a week of relaxing ond resting up in Cabo the trip continues to the final destination in Baja; La Paz! In La Paz i discovered that i had some visa problem and had to fly back to Tijuana to get it fixed. I ended up flying back and forth within two days. In total ended up spending almost 2 weeks in La Paz. Staying positive, i had time to service my bike and i stayed at Casa Esterito, an absolutely amazing hostel! The boat from La Paz to Mazatlan was an adventure! See you in the next episode, touring Mainland Mexico!

Video

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 2
Mainland Mexico - Gas shortage and Mexican Cartel territory

Heading into mainland Mexico, arriving in Mazatlan by boat and continuing south to Sayulita and Puerto Vallarta. Then inland via Guadalajara to Jalisko, Uruapan, Tzintzuntzan and Morelia. Eventually ending up in Mexico City.

During this time there was a huge fuel shortage in Mexico because of a political decision. The V-Strom has a large tank as it is, but i needed to go 1000km+ without fuel, Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City. I managed to find the last gas cans in a hardware store. In addition to the 3.8L rotopax i now had 4x 5L cans that i could squeeze 6L each into. It really saved me!


The gas cans, 4x5L + 1x 3.8L Rotopax




Only one gas can left, but also just a few hundred KM left to Mexico City [Taking a nap]

 

[flyboyaviator]

Good luck in your travel Gustaf, looks like a lot of fun.

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 3
Mexico City - Getting into an accident and saying goodbye to my camping gear

After leaving Morelia i continued onward to Mexico City, i was planning on staying one month to catch up with work and explore the huge city. Ended up staying two months.
I sent my camping gear back to Sweden as it's to dangerous to camp around Mexico City and south. Also threw in some warm weather gear that i needed earlier in the trip. Departing from Mexico City i continued along the coast of the Mexican gulf, took a detour to Palenque and eventually ended up in Belize where I'll see you next time.
motorcycle travel central America


[Climbing up to a temple with another motorcycle traveler i met earlier in the trip]




[Hanging out a Monkey Butt Cafe in Mexico City. A great place to meet other riders]


[Xochimilco, a really cool place in Mexico City]


[Hotel in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz on my way to Belize]


[Palenque]

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 4
Belize - Getting lost in the jungles of Belize

Crossing into Belize from Mexico was a big change. Suddenly i could understand what people was saying! Belize has a completely different vibe from Mexico. Stayed just a few days in Belize before continuing into Guatemala. Belize is a place i will return to in the future.

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 5
Guatemala - Riding solo through the deep jungles of Guatemala

Guatemalan jungle is thick and absolutely stunning, riding through all the small villages and riding the Pan American Highway is a dream come true. Guatemala is back on the tourist tracks, the tourist industry is built out, both for better and worse.
I did have some problems with the bike in Guatemala, the sub-frame bolt was starting to come out by itself. Was just a few millimeters left when i caught it! Some thread-locker and put it back and it was all good.
The bolt holding on the chain guard also flew off. Had another one in the "random bolt/nut bag". My ram mount also broke that i had for my phone, i did get a new one on warranty (really good service).


The bolt that came loose. You can also see my aftermarket suspension ( TFX 141 Shock )


Bye bye chain guard bold, RIP. New one in place.




When i chose the panniers i wantet to keep the bike under 1m wide. With the 37L (or was it 38L?) panniers from SW-Motech it's under 1m by a few cm.

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 6
Honduras - Breaking the SW-Motech rack and enjoying cigars

Honduras! Oh amazing Honduras!
First days in Honduras i stayed close to Copan Ruinas, a really cool ruin place. My second favorite after Caracol in Belize.
I'm a big cigar fan, so a visit to a cigar factory was a must! I visited Plasencia's cigar factory outside of Danli, Honduras on my bike.
Managed to break the rack holding up my SW-Motech top-case. It broke clean off! Managed to find a mechanic that could weld it up for me so it would hold up until i could get my hands on a spare part.
Getting a spare part was not that easy, SW-Motech (while being very friendly) were hard to work with. I was getting sent around between SW-Motech in different countries.




The view from Hostel Iguana Azul in Copan Ruinas, a really nice hostel.


Big birbs


Broken top-case rack. Don't know how it happened, never overloaded the case.


One of the broken brackets, both sides were broken.


Nothing more permanent than a temporary fix! Jokes aside, already have the replacements and will put them on when i take my bike out of storage.

 

[Stumper92]

Definitely a trip of a lifetime! Looking forward to following your adventures.

 

[HiPERnx]

Definitely a trip of a lifetime! Looking forward to following your adventures.

Thanks! Even if it's the trip of a lifetime i hope there's many more trips to come in the future!

 

[Sierra Valley]

Cool trip

 

[PaintRock]

Nice trip! I just got back from two and a half months in Guatemala. I didn't want to leave. What was your route through Guatemala? I might drive back there this time. I want to go to Panajachel via Livingston and Puerto Barrios. But I'd also to squeeze in Semuc Champey this time too.

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 7
Nicaragua & Costa Rica - Storing a bike in Costa Rica

I drive through Nicaragua, stopping in Esteli, Granada and San Juan del Sur. A way to short visit to such an amazing country. Should have planned for more time in Nicaragua over all. From Nicaragua i continued in to Costa Rica, going through the worst border crossing of the trip so far. The thermometer on the bike measured 44°C.
Didn't do any exploring of Costa Rica this time as the plan was to park the bike long term. I was sick for the first week in Costa Rica and the only exploring i did was when i went back and forth from the hospital. I needed to make sure i didn't have Zika or tome other disease that i would carry with me back home.




The nicest hotel lobby I've seen if i say so myself.

Cigars in Estelí, Nicaragua


Police stop in Costa Rica. (I'm 206cm (6'9") tall, noticable in the picture)

At the border with Costa Rica, the temperature was awful!


My bike in storage (left) and some random persons bike also in storage. Maybe the person is also here on the forum?

 

[HiPERnx]

Episode 8
Costa Rica - Rescuing the bike in Costa Rica

We all know what's going on in the world now, and it's affecting my trip. Just finished the anew video. Rescued the bike from the hands of the Costa Rica government. And from now and until the situation in the world calms down the trip is on hold and I'm waiting it out in Mexico City, Mexico.



I will make some more content while waiting. I've also made the decision to move over to soft panniers, more on that later!

 

[HiPERnx]

Costa Rica – One week of Pura Vida - Ep9

The plan was to spend 2 weeks in Costa Rica, we had Zuzu the V-Storm 650 packed and ready. But the situation deteriorated in Costa Rica and the outbound flights started having problems. We decided to only stay for one week in Costa Rica. This drastically reduced where we could travel. We decided to head for the coast.

After the week in Costa Rica had passed we had a chock when the flight to Mexico City by Interjet was cancelled, no communication by the airline at all. We were told the flight was cancelled with bags in hand at the airport by the security guards.