Is Mexico Safe?

[Turkeycreek]

Originally Posted by SR

All three of our Mexico crash adventures have been in trucks not bikes, although one was vs. a bike (D'oh). The first was a US registered vehicle with Sanborns insurance and the last 2 incidents were in Mexican vehicles with Mexican insurance (AXA). In all 3 cases the Insurance Adjuster came within a few minutes and went to bat for us (really, he went to bat for the insurance company). But it's great to have him around. Otherwise you never know what the Transitos will try to do. They can try to pull all kinds of BS. One thing they like is to take money from the guilty party to call it a no fault accident, which screws the innocent party.

If you are not in the city it could take a long time for the Adjuster to come. It's worth waiting around for them, even if it's 2 hours. Don't sign or agree to anything until he gets there.

The Adjuster has a printer right there in his car and can hand out hospital vouchers to the injured. They can write out a check on the spot to the victim for vehicle damages to get it over and done with.

On my US plated Wee I have HDI Seguros, which I got through Bajabound. I have not made a claim with them so I can't comment on their service.

Thanks. We have been buying yearly insurance now for 5 years and we have never had a claim. Most of our neighbors don't have insurance so they have no experience with claims adjusters here. My wife imported here 2005 F650GS because she couldn't get a TVIP on it and the Suburban at the same time. We still have it titled and licensed in the US as well as Mexico and swap plates in the US. We looked at full coverage on the Mexican plate and it was much higher than tourist insurance from the same carrier.

Hope you have this crashing thing out of your system now.

[jimmex]

Originally Posted by Turkeycreek

Thanks. We have been buying yearly insurance now for 5 years and we have never had a claim. Most of our neighbors don't have insurance so they have no experience with claims adjusters here. My wife imported here 2005 F650GS because she couldn't get a TVIP on it and the Suburban at the same time. We still have it titled and licensed in the US as well as Mexico and swap plates in the US. We looked at full coverage on the Mexican plate and it was much higher than tourist insurance from the same carrier.

Hope you have this crashing thing out of your system now.

SR needs buddy crash insurance...

[SR]

Originally Posted by Turkeycreek

Thanks.

Hope you have this crashing thing out of your system now.

I think I have, but you never can tell.

Originally Posted by jimmex

SR needs buddy crash insurance...

I'll take full coverage on that! With the lowest deductible possible please.

[SR]

[SchizzMan]

Originally Posted by SR

I have to disagree. I sport bike could be fun in Mexico. Heck, there are probably 4 or 5 of them for every DS bike here. So someone is enjoying them. About half of the guys who ride them are teenaged squid looking to get severely hurt, but there are also some serious guys on sportbikes with all the gear. It looks like they have a lot of fun.

True. I read his question to be about riding south of Mexico. A local rider here (Austin) rode a Ninja to Ushuaia last year so I know it can be done even by a relatively inexperienced rider. However, the farther south he rode the more his bike was like a fish out if water. Far better to do it on a cheap DS like a used KLR or even a Sherpa 250 like jdowns is riding. rtwpaul described some of the SA roads where the Nick Sanders group dropped most of their DS bikes. A sport bike would take (and give) quite a beating on such roads.

[rtwpaul]

nice tag line JD

[Turkeycreek]

Fiesta at el Hotel. Celebrating 3 birthdays and the 3rd anniversary of Hotel Los Arcos.

Carne Asada was the obvious choice on such a suspicious caucasian



The lovely Claudia having a nosh



Not quite Gringolandia tonight with a mix of locals and gringos including some hotel guests. Cervesas were consumed. Desert of chocolate cake and home made (by Mrs. TC) vanilla ice cream. Somehow, shots of Bacanora never materialized but maybe next time we have a fiesta or a sunny day or just a day...

Nine out of eleven Banamichi expats in attendance, including one mujer de alemania who practices Qi Gong healing. Only 4 of us including Gerlinde, are full time.



Ask me again why I love Mexico. Maybe I'll sneak out for a ride tomorrow

[MikeMike]

Is Mexico safe?
Safe enough for me to head out in less than an hour into a thunderstorm and darkness so I can meet up with the Craneguy and his pal in Coatepec and show them the "Jimmy" ride. I like to get out of town before light these days, traffic is lighter and I won't be getting splashed very much. It's raining on the coast but should be clearing up inland, (he said hopefully ha,ha!).
Is Mexico safe?
If it's where you live, it's where you ride! LOL!

[WeazyBuddha]

American Shot in Reynosa


PHARR – A 38-year-old Pharr man was released from the hospital Tuesday after surviving a shooting in Reynosa over the weekend that sent him to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.

Jose Luis Ruiz had been driving to the Tamaulipas port city of Tampico on Sunday morning and was southbound on the outskirts of Reynosa when he noticed a tan Chevrolet Tahoe with three men in it following him, according to an internal Pharr Police Department memo.

The men signaled for him to pull over, but he refused and instead turned around and began driving north, back toward the city, the memo said. Ruiz refused to stop even as the men displayed rifles and began shooting through the back window of his red Ford Ranger.

When he was struck on the right side of the head, he lost control of the truck and stopped, the memo said. The gunmen approached his car and tried to open the driver’s-side door, but were unable to and left. Ruiz was able to flee to the Pharr bridge, where he arrived about 8:20 a.m. asking for help.

Ruiz was transported to McAllen Medical Center, according to the memo. Pharr police Chief Ruben Villescas said Tuesday night that he had been released. Public records list Ruiz as having a San Antonio address, but Villescas said he had recently moved to Pharr.

Villescas said Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as the FBI, had been notified of the incident, but that Mexican law enforcement was taking the lead on the investigation. He said Pharr police had been unable to interview the victim because they were waiting on Mexican agents to do so.
“It’s not our investigation, we’re just waiting on the Mexican authorities,” Villescas said. “We spoke to him briefly, but then he was placed under sedation.”

Reached by The Monitor on Tuesday evening, Ruben Dario Rios, spokesman for the Tamaulipas attorney general's office, had little to offer on the subject. “We don't have any information about any incidents or anything of that nature,” he said in Spanish.

Villescas said he did not know exactly where the incident had occurred, but emphasized that it was far south of the bridge.

He noted the similarity to the shooting of Nancy Davis, the 59-year-old missionary who died last year after an attack on a highway near San Fernando, Tamps., Mexico. Davis also arrived at the Pharr bridge with a gunshot wound to the head after she and her husband refused to stop at a checkpoint.

[jimmex]

Ugh. Sounds dubious though.

[SR]

Originally Posted by Turkeycreek

Fiesta at el Hotel. Celebrating 3 birthdays and the 3rd anniversary of Hotel Los Arcos.

Carne Asada was the obvious choice on such a suspicious caucasian

Felicidades! Nice Carne Asada. Obviously a Gringo grill!

Have you noticed the difference between the Gringo grill and the Mexican parilla. Mexican grills are much bigger. The reason, tortillas, take up a huge amount of real estate on the grill. Enough to snuff out your Weber in a few seconds.

[Bato]

Originally Posted by jimmex

SR needs buddy crash insurance...

SR buddy's usually caries their own insurance...., I thik !

[larrylarry75]

Osmosis People...

Can anyone tell me if you need to use the same border crossing to "export" your bike back into the USA as when you rode into Mexico? My gut guess is you can use any one of them but thought I'd ask. I'm finally getting off my ancient ass and ready to ride the old Ninja back to Nogales. Late last spring when I returned to the USA I made a wrong turn or two and ended up crossing at TJ, not my first choice. By the time I wormed my way through the throng of people heading north I didn't feel like going back to do the re-entry thing right so I headed home. I have another 2 1/2 weeks to go back and do it over so I'm leaving tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest.

Thanks from Orygun

LL75

PS - Yup, I kept all the paperwork, receipts, sticker, etc. MX insurance is also good through the end of Oct.

[Turkeycreek]

Originally Posted by larrylarry75

Osmosis People...

Can anyone tell me if you need to use the same border crossing to "export" your bike back into the USA as when you rode into Mexico? My gut guess is you can use any one of them but thought I'd ask. I'm finally getting off my ancient ass and ready to ride the old Ninja back to Nogales. Late last spring when I returned to the USA I made a wrong turn or two and ended up crossing at TJ, not my first choice. By the time I wormed my way through the throng of people heading north I didn't feel like going back to do the re-entry thing right so I headed home. I have another 2 1/2 weeks to go back and do it over so I'm leaving tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest.

Thanks from Orygun

LL75

PS - Yup, I kept all the paperwork, receipts, sticker, etc. MX insurance is also good through the end of Oct.

Yes, you can turn the TVIP in at any Banjercito office on the border. They are all networked over the internet. At Nogales, you have to go down to KM 21, hang a u-turn and go to the "Retornos" building on the east side of Hwy 15. You can also turn it in at Naco on weekends (Thursday 4 pm to 10 pm, Friday - Sunday 10 am to 10 pm.) The ofice is just past the border gate on the left with lots of parking. Almost never a line in Naco, easy in easy out. If you had your passport stamped clear your visa as well. Douglas/Agua Prieta is easy as well, also just past the gate on the right. Immigration and the Banjercito co-located wit a copy guy right there in the office. Cananea is tough t find the first time and there is no migration office there.

Easy. See http://www.losarcossonora.com/index....ps/attheborder

[rockymountainoyster]

In 2008 I skipped over Mexico, Central America and Northern SA to begin my journey South to Ushuaia from Valparaiso on a rented DR650. Most of our route was on Ruta 8 in Chile and 40 in Argentina. Most of it was on "improved" gravel roads. The legendary "ripio". There were times when I could only characterize this stuff as "greased marbles" They use larger gravel down there. It banks up in the middle of the road and in the turns. The road is often not truly two lanes, but three tracks and if you are riding in the middle track you have to cross the deep gravel to get to the right track to make room for oncoming traffic. I doubt that this has changed a lot in the last four years. I guess people do it but I would not want to ride a sport bike on that trip. Some of our group were on their big bikes....950's and 1200's. When they got to ride the 650's they said that they wished they were on lighter bikes...the big bikes tend to plow in the deep gravel. We started with 11 riders... three guys had to be flown home due to falls, another guy fell 13 or 18 times and turned a new 650 Dakar into rubble, another rider on a new Adventure had a hard centerline kiss with a rider coming the other way on a 650GS. They exchanged insurance info., she had to get a tow due to bent wheel and forks, our rider just had some scrapes on the great pumpkin. We all went on our way. The point of recounting this is INSURANCE. Our boy was insured, or so we thought, we spent a lot of time making sure we had all the right insurance the first time we crossed into Argentina. A week or so later we crossed the Drake Channel on the ferry and when we tried to leave Chile they impounded home boy's bike because the woman he had hit, who was Spanish, was able to convince a judge to impound our friend's bike until she got a settlement. Definitely helps to know the language. Homeboy hitchhiked on a sausage truck back across the country to where we had first crossed, saw the judge, got release papers and the stink eye from the Spanish babe, hitched back to where his bike was in prison, rode 1700 KM in one day and caught up with us three days later. Oh to be 30 and a mountain bike racer! So, get insurance, stay on your own side of the road and don't ride a sport bike on the ripio or ignore all of this and go have a good time. BTW, not only will you be riding on greased marbles but when you get to the roaring forties the wind blows 60-80 mph.... non stop. You will learn some interesting techniques to deal with it and just hope that it does not blow anything large in front of you.