I will be riding solo from El Paso, TX to Panama in early March 03. I will be riding a 2001 Harley Wideglide. I am looking for info on toll road costs from El Paso through Mexico as well as border crossing cost. Any info on road conditions through central america would be helpful as well.

Thanks,


[This message has been edited by Busseynm (edited 09 October 2002).]

This depends on what kind of visa you have, but the usual border fees in mexico are about $20 for you and $24 for the vehicle, give or take a bit. Sometimes a dollar or so for photocopying etc. You need a major credit card, bike title, etc--AAA and most guidebooks have detailed information on this. If crossing at El Paso, you do all the paperwork at the Aduana checkpoint about 20 or so km south of the border. The aduana people are really nice and helpful, at least at the crossings I have used. Make sure you get an exit stamp in your passport when you leave mexico, or you may have problems when reentering.

Tollroads depends on the route. In New Mexico you should be able to pick up a Guia Roji which has a lot of toll information in it. One rule of thumb is to assume about one peso for every kilometer, more or less (yes, expensive!). However, if you so choose, almost all tolls can be avoided simply by taking the libre roads rather than toll roads (often they are more or less parallel, but there are significant exceptions to this--look carefully at the map). More traffic, more towns, more potholes, but cheaper, more restaurants, hotels, stores and more people which tends to feel safer. (Statistically the toll roads are far safer, though...) More curves, too.

Road conditions: I can only speak for as far down as Mexico City, and the answer is that it will vary from better than the US to awful. Toll roads are uniformly superb. Libre roads are usually pretty good on the main routes (watch for rocks put in the road to warn of broken down trucks ahead), but sometimes the road passes through a town and deteriorates into a rugged track with stream crossings. Off of the main roads things again vary from superb to awful, and can change quickly in the rainy season. Around towns watch for cobblestones, missing stopsigns, and bus drivers.

[This message has been edited by rapaz (edited 08 October 2002).]