Tricepilot's...The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

For the first time ever, I take a KLR650 instead of my GSA to Mexico, to do a "little" off-road riding. And I learned a lot in the process...mostly about what I don't know about off-road riding.






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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre could be described as the little town of Galeana, in the state of Nuevo Leon. A couple of my friends pioneered the trails and back paths in and around Galeana, opening up a world of hidden gems. More about these trailblazers as the story unfolds.

Several dunked bikes, some crashes, heat exhaustion, some broken ribs, a broken collarbone, dead batteries, lost in the mountains, and a jeep driven off the side of a mountain ending in a fatality. It's all part of the story.

Beautiful vistas, old friends, new friends, challenges met, going beyond your own expectations, finding your limitations, fists in the air, a yee-hah or three screemed under your helmet, learning mechanical skills. It's all part of the story.

Treasures take many forms. For some people, it's really gold. For others, the answer is more mystical. For me, perhaps my personal nugget of gold is Mexico, and especially her people.



So let's go back, to the mountains of Mexico, and see what we can find

If you haven't been in a while, you've been a Long Time Gone!

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To get the KLR ready, I first went out and got a stock 2009:





I then tore it down to the bones, and painted it using Dupli Color Truck Bed Liner:



I also added a bash plate, crash guards, a new seat, Caribous, steel braided front brake line, Pro Tapers, Acerbis, and a Zumo.











The paint job came out better than I expected. It was FAST and EASY







I was so happy with the results of the bed liner, that I went crazy and painted my riding kit with the same stuff:





If anyone is interested in how to bed liner your ride, I'll post up the easy, step by step way I did it here in the report.

Oh Ya, TP rides again on a new steed

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If you stage out of McAllen/Reynosa, Galeana is just a couple hundred miles southwest.

If you stage out of Laredo/Nuevo Laredo, Galeana is just a little more than that almost straight south.

If you want to combine Galeana with another neat destination, Real de Cartorce is just to the southwest, just a few hours away.

A decision had to be made on what to take to Richard's MexTrek.

MexTrek will be fully explained. Just be sure that while the GSA is a fine bike, and I've taken it to Mexico many times, there's a reason to leave that beast at home and try something more, well, nimble.

For MexTrek, the (now) annual gathering of off-road nutcases at Galeana every October:



Richard

And the pioneer of off-road exploration and exploration in general, especially in the Nuevo Leon region of the Sierra Madre:



Milton