I'm comfortable traveling alone, but for this trip I think company would be nice, particularly as concerns safety and breakdowns. Anyone interested in joining me for part or all of this trip let me know.

About me: I'm a 32 year old Canadian male. I've done long backpacking trips in Africa and Asia, and have traveled a bit in Central America (I don't speak Spanish, but have started learning). My only motorcycle trip experience was a tour around Southeast Asia (which was great, so I'm following it up with this trip). I like to travel slowly, cheaply, and without too much planning ahead. No real goal except to see / eat / do / meet new things / places / people.

I'm currently working in Asia, and will be back in Canada mid-July. I have a '99 DR350 waiting there, which will be fitted with all the usual bits for lightweight long distance travel. I'm definitely up for trail riding although I'm far from experienced at it. I'll have unlimited time for this trip (but plan to keep moving pretty steadily), and no worries about running out of money.

The trip: I'm headed out from Calgary late this summer (likely mid-August). A good friend on a KLR will join through the Western US and perhaps Baja; he's not really my style of traveler (a bit uptight, paranoid, spendy) but that part of the trip will be more about miles interspaced with trail riding. No particular route in mind: just keep heading South until I can't anymore. I plan to camp as much as possible (I'm a pretty experienced hiker/camper), but particularly in Central America and Northern South America I figure hostels and cheap hotels will make the most sense most of the time.

What I have in mind is basically what these girls are doing; maybe a bit faster paced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v3eOB_S8uA

If you think you might be interested leave a message. We can Skype or whatever if you want to really talk it over.

Hola,

I might be up for joining you. I have to see about a few things before totally committing at this point but the seed has been planted and timing could work possibly. I would be leaving from BC interior located near the HU CanWest Meetup in Nakusp (which would be great send off if it could work for you).

I will send you a PM with my email / skype.

When is this meetup in Nakusp?

I'm quite flexible about the time I leave: I'll have no job and will be enjoying the Summer in Canada, and my friend who's coming was just laid off - Alberta - and is content to chill on unemployment until we go.

late august (25 - 28)
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/canwest-2016

lots of really amazing things to check out in that area we you have time to test the fully loaded rides on some sweet single track and check out some stunning kootenay mountain vistas and vibes. worthy of a trip (or lifetime) in itself, pure gold

Thanks for the heads up. That makes a good target for a start date.

Hi there
My name is Olaf, 57 and from Penticton in the Okanagan.
I got two bikes ready for the trip, depend on what the weather and road will be.
My plan is to leaf late September for Ushuaia .I would like to be there before December the 10.
I only would go back to Brazil and send the bike of from a friends place and fly out.
Right now I,m by my self on this trip. I can change time and route if we go together.
Olaf

I too shall be departing central Alberta this summer. Was hoping to leave July, but may end up later. Will continue to monitor your thread, see where we all end up. Happy travels!

Sent this to someone who asked for a bit more detail re: plans:

I don’t like to plan much ahead when I travel. Better to figure out along the way. Overall I plan to take things pretty slowly with a lot of down-time to explore and relax. I have only a rough idea about timeline and route (if something/someplace is fun spend more time, if something isn’t keep going). Something along the lines of...

- 2-3 weeks in the US, going south down through Montana, Idaho, and Utah quite quickly (since it’s pretty similar to Alberta/BC), then more slowly SW through Arizona, NM, and California ultimately crossing into Mexico at Tijuana. I plan to camp most of the time, with some couch-surfing interspersed. This part of the trip will be all about taking in nature and riding scenic trails. I really need to start researching must-ride trails, and the possibility of doing through-trail riding in sections. All I know at this point is that I want to do a lot of riding and camping in various types of deserts, and maybe spend a week in LA taking in the sights.

[edit - originally thought more than a month in the US, but on reflection even 2-3 weeks might get tiresome camping most every day, and bleeding money when staying in cities.]

Budget for this portion I’d estimate ~$40 a day, largely gas and food, mostly depending on how often we eat restaurant food. Will be on the bikes almost every day I figure.

- At least 1 month really taking my time going down through Baja, taking advantage of the endless beaches and the endless trails, and the ability to camp with ease. Then taking the ferry from Cabo to Mazatalan. Budget should drop to perhaps $20-$30 a day due to cheaper food.

- From Mazatalan the security situation I think dictates heading inland toward Mexico City at a fast clip. Under two weeks to Mexico City, then at least a week exploring the city. Sometimes around now it should be “the Day of the Dead” which should be something to behold. Maybe $30-$40 a day staying mostly in cheap motels/hostels.

- Oaxaca and Chiapas I expect to be real highlights of the trip. Tonnes to take in as far as culture, and the riding should be scenic. Budget should be ~$30 a day including motel/hostel most of the time. I figure a bit more than a month to do Southern Mexico justice. What I’m unsure about it whether to take a detour through Yucatan and/or Belize. Belize might be a nice break from Spanish / Latino culture at this point.

- Somewhere in Guatemala/Honduras/Nicaragua I think it’d be nice to really linger and maybe take Spanish lessons, learn to scuba dive (something I regret giving up on before), do some fishing... Particularly when not burning gas the cost-per-day should drop to practically nothing. I’d say at least 2 months to pass through here, very likely more.

- Travel quickly through Costa Rica and Panama (due to much higher costs). See some jungle. I figure it’ll take a couple frustrating weeks in Panama to figure out how to get the bikes to Colombia (will be working on leads ahead of time of course). I think the most interesting route would be small boats along the Pacific side.

- Once in South America I really don’t know. Explore Colombia as the security situation allows. Really relax and soak in Ecuador… see the Amazon and Andes and deserts and all that… Might be interesting, at the end of the trip, to ride through Southern Brazil and Uruguay, since it seems few overland bikers do that (stopping/starting instead in Chile or Argentina). But this is so far out into the future...

In the end I don’t have any intention of shipping the bike back home. It’ll be lucky if it makes it all the way in one piece or isn’t stolen (buying a local bike is the solution if it comes to that). Bringing a bike you can’t comfortably walk away from on a trip like this would seem incredibly foolish to me. But if you wanna’ try it, then budget in shipping.

For budgeting of course you need to add in parts and repair on the bike (I’d expect parts to cost several times what they would in the US/Canada), visas, the odd toll/ferry, bike insurance in some places, and activities. The cost of getting the bikes from Panama to Colombia could be significant. Plus a flight home in the end.

This may sound like a very long time to get from Canada to South America, but I think it’s realistic. You could do it comfortably in half the time, but you’d be flying by everything at 80km/h with hardly a chance to step off the bike: what’s the point of that? Especially when you’re not moving, you won’t be burning through much money, so you should enjoy your ‘entry pass’ to these exotic places.

Hey Gents,

I'm looking at heading 'South' around the same time frame.
Not sure how many borders that will involve but at this point but I am open to all options.

I've recently picked up a 701 and am busy modding her up with travel accessories.

I'll be in Nakusp in Aug and could discuss further at that point or before.

Olaf, I live in Vernon and will be visiting Penticton in the next week or two.
Let me know if you are interested in meeting up for lunch to meet and connect.

Cheers

Sounds like an awesome trip.

I would not worry too much about security. I am currently in Peru and have ridden all over from Mexico to Peru with no issues. With normal safety precautions your chances of a problem are slim. At any given moment there are millions of backpackers/tourists in the Americas with few problems. The only area I did avoid was Acapulco but this was in the beginning when the internet tried to scare me.

All countries were excellent and I didn't find that Costa Rica or Panama were any more exp if you stayed away from the obvious "gringo" rest and hostals. You can easily stay in hostels and hotels from 8-15 per night from Mexico through Peru.

Colombia is amazing due to the services, roads, costs and friendly people.

Buen viaje!!

Thanks for sharing your insights John,

If I may ask, what is your choice of ride for your trip?

Riel

Hey all, Name's Noah. I'm 24 and been riding/living off my KLR-650 since i was 19. Currently working in Northern California doing a wildland fire gig until approximately beginning of october, then i plan to bomb south to Baja, intentions to mosey around mexico and central america two months or so before catching a sail from panama to Ecuador or Columbia.... Ideally would be camping as much as possible, and couchsurfing/blending/hosteling up when necessary or when the fancy so strikes. A little about me: Wildland Firefighter, Wilderness EMT, Licensed Boat Captain, experienced Backpacker, Backcountry hiker, and am pretty handy with troubleshooting mechanical issues on motorcycles, as i have done most of the work on my own klr over the years (still getting my tube/tire changing skills down to a science, damn you snake bite!!!) I'm an amateur spanish speaker but working on it in advance of the trip, hoping to be conversational in the following months. While it sounds like your timeline is a bit ahead of mine lets stay in touch and play it by ear to see if we can RZ somewhere along the way.

Hey all, Name's Noah. I'm 24 and been riding/living off my KLR-650 since i was 19. Currently working in Northern California doing a wildland fire gig until approximately beginning of october, then i plan to bomb south to Baja, intentions to mosey around mexico and central america two months or so before catching a sail from panama to Ecuador or Columbia.... Ideally would be camping as much as possible, and couchsurfing/blending/hosteling up when necessary or when the fancy so strikes. A little about me: Wildland Firefighter, Wilderness EMT, Licensed Boat Captain, experienced Backpacker, Backcountry hiker, and am pretty handy with troubleshooting mechanical issues on motorcycles, as i have done most of the work on my own klr over the years (still getting my tube/tire changing skills down to a science, damn you snake bite!!!) I'm an amateur spanish speaker but working on it in advance of the trip, hoping to be conversational in the following months. While it sounds like your timeline is a bit ahead of mine lets stay in touch and play it by ear to see if we can RZ somewhere along the way.

I am riding a 2014 f800gs.

Also, you can get parts (Brakes, filters) etc fairly easy in your travels so you don't need too many supplies with you, and yes, most parts are more expensive than purchasing in the USA. I carry an extra oil filter (because they might not have in a small town) and rear brakes when the gap between replacement parts might be a little far. Then, buy your oil from a shop and the oil change is free. No appointments, and you feel you just got a bump to first class.
:-)

Hi. I'm Andrew. Living in Edmonton. I'm interested in leaving around the end of August beginning of Sept. I'm hoping to be in cancun by Sept 20. I ride a Suzuki c50t 800cc v twin.