I am planning an ~8000 mile trip to Guatemala and back in December and January. I have found some info on border crossings and taking the Ferry, but I have some questions on maintaining the bike on a long trip. I ride an '09 V-Strom 650 and by the time I leave my bike will have around 9000 miles on it. Should I put a new chain (sprockets?) on it before I go? Do you bring chain lube with you? Do you plan a stop in a town that has a dealer to get the oil changed? What spares/tools do you bring? I am thinking of putting some new tires on it before I go but I am not sure what type of tire should I put on it. Something a little more knobby for dirt roads in Mexico?

Here are some more details of the trip:
Leave Dec 16 and return around Jan 16-17. Ride down Baja (sea of Cortez side) take the Ferry to Mazatlan and ride a long the coast all the way down to Guatemala. On the return, go through Belize, the Yucatan penisula then central Mexico hitting places like Cuernavaca, Morelia, Guanajuato, Zacatecas and maybe Monterrey. I am planning to stay in towns and find inexpensive hotels/hostels. I speak fluent spanish (for the most part) I lived in Mexico City for 2 years, but that was almost 10 years ago.

I would appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks!

I'm in Guatemala now and would suggest a smaller bike if that's an option.
My DR650 is huge compaired to any other bike down here and I often wish it were smaller but that's just me. It's also much much eaiser to split lanes (lane splitting is just a fact of life in Mex) with soft bags or at least boxes to do not stick out too far. If smaler is not an option, don't worry about it, the V-Strom is a great bike. A new chain and sprockets should last more than 10k miles but I brought spares since I'm going further. I'd bring some oil filters and maybe brake pads if yours are not pretty new.
If remember correctly, I actually saw a V-Strom at a dealership in Mazatlan so maybe they have some parts there too but over all, I would not depend on it.
Hotels were not that cheap for me, I usually spent around $200 pesos a night so it's a lot better if you are with someone else.
Oh yeah, about 100 miles South of Acapulco, the road was blocked for a protest. It would have been smarter for me to wait until the next morning to pass them instead of going all the way to Oxcaca, eh, I don't know, the riding was actually great and I was pretty sick of the coast...calor!

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Thank you for the information. I do not have the choice of bringing a different bike, so I will have to make the V-Strom work? How often are do you have to split cars when riding? Is it when you are in a bigger city?

I will likely replace the chain, sprocket and brakes before I leave, and I will plan on bringing some oil filters with me. What problems have you encountered on your trip? I will also try to contact some dealers down there is case I need any other parts.

Split lanes? very often, every day in every big city and when passing through the smaller ones. I'm a very conservative rider but it really is just a fact of life around Mexico. They don't seem to do it nearly as much here in Guatemala and that's a good thing because the drivers here are not as nice/good...at all (IMO). In Mexico, I'd follow a pizza bike because they are usually pretty good at that style of riding...then, at a stop light, I'd notice that I'm following a 16yr old girl, pretty funny.

I traveled with one fellow who had Pelican boxes on his KLR and managed pretty well but he also took more chances than I would have too.
Another fellow I rode with was more conservative than I was and that suited me fine. He was on a Vee-Strom with the Suzuki hard luggage which was very nice but also very wide and made passing slow trucks/VW Bugs harder. Mexican drivers (to me at least) are pretty polite and will move over to let you pass, they will even turn on their left turn signal to let you know when it's safe. They will often do this when slowly driving over the giant speed bumps (topes).

The bike problems I've had, you will not have. Drowned bike in a river/blown two shocks ect... mucho problemas on the Divide Trail in June.

My buddy with the V loved the bike and it performed fantastically for him with the exception of the skid plate mounting breaking (high centered on topes). I'm not sure if there is an aftermarket solution for that or not.
I'm sure the bike will work out fine for you...I'd ugly it up a little just so you don't stick out quite so much, but again, that's just me.
At times, I'm sure my buddy wanted to be on a smaller bike but was thankful for the speed and comfort of the V. His last email to me however, was all about DR's KLR's and F650's. Not trying to confuse, just letting you know.
Anyway, I'll pm you my number if you want to call and chat...I'm bored and tired of stumbling through bad Spanish.

Ricky

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I am the rider that Zentropa says took risks on the KLR. Actually, I am far more aggressive riding bicycles in cities. We all have different tolerances, I am somewhere between California rider and bike courier.

I like to wheelie over topes, so I have no problems with high centering. :-0

With the exception of actively sought-out offroad adventures here, I could have done the 4400 miles of Mexico and Guatemala that I have completed in the last eight weeks on a V-Strom just fine. Most of the riding has been epic road sections, punctuated by gravel, potholes and sleeping policemen.

I upgraded my KLR suspension, and those upgrades were the best money spent. Better fork valving, oil, and springs would serve one well, plus a stronger and more compliant rear shock. A built out Strom would be a good choice, ESP with dual sport tires or D606s.

I could have done all of Mexico's roads on my VFR just fine, but would have bashed down a few times.

I'd also highly recommend Queretaro up near Guanajuato (I spent a month in GTO). Be careful and lucky in Morelia. Personally, I hid from the problems in Michoacan.

Starting out with a new bike with only 9000 miles on it you should be able to do the whole trip with the original chain and sprockets still in place, unless of course you have abused them already with sand rocks and water immersions for long rides. See what they look like , or have a mechanic make the call and check the brake pads at the same time. Know how to replace them yourself a and carry a set of pads for later installation. You only need to do one oil change en route if you get the oil and filter changed at home the day before setting out.Just buy the right oil when the time comes and do the change yourself at any cambio de aceite shop. If you did not buy the oil from them they dont mind, they just ask a few bucks for their service ,loan of drain pan, hand cleaner.
New tires would be a good idea and they would then last the entire trip, unless again you ride with fire and grind them down quickly.
Also with a new bike you should have no problems so service center visits are unlikely.
You can do the entire ride you describe on 99 .9 percent pavement.You would only have gravel the last 24km from Guatemala into Belize border and the occasional bit of construction detour elsewhere, so excessive wear and crashng is not a problem.The VeeStrom will be easily able to handle the trip.
For hotels you can spend as much as you can afford $500 per room (US Dollars!)-or as little as you can manage.Look for the small locally owned hotel in small towns and you will be set for $17 or less, like down to $5 if you are not intent on having all the US style amenities..Prices go down the farther you get away from the US border .Enjoy

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

Zentropa, I got the number, I will give you a call sometime. I have been busy lately.

Thanks for the all the info. I have thought about replacing the fork springs but haven't heard too much about re-valving it. What types of place can do that? I will look into the rear shock as well.

I will likely spend a little more time on dirt (by choice) so I will get some more aggressive tires. Thanks for the recommend on the D606's.

I am thinking of taking my bike into the dealer for the last service before I go and have them check everything out. I was going to just replace the chain as sprocket as a precautionary measure but if they look fine I probably won't. I will bring some extra pads in case I need them. And I guess I won't need to change the oil filter down there, just the oil.

Should be pretty straight forward. Thanks a lot for the help.

Any advice on border crossings?

I am thinking of getting a flip up helmet, make it easier to talk to people when I stop. What do you all think?