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Road tours in Mexico

Any bike would be OK

skibumwi said:
Definitely find a guide, my experience with Mexican roads tells me a road bike like my RT would NOT be a good fit. Besides the poor quality of the roads they seem to place speed bumps in the middle of the highways far to often.

YMMV,
Ski
Click to expand...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Unless you are going off road. I've ridden RS's and /5's all over Mexico. Roads are no worse than in the U.S. except for the occasional speed bump and speeding buses.
 
Unless you've had one's head in the sand for the past several weeks, the horrific behavior of TripAdvisor as it relates to withholding criminal incident reporting from Mexican resorts, should be a massive red flag to spending time riding around in that country at the present time.

What gets me 'shaking my head' in disgust is when advice is dispensed to ignore all the warning signs and official alerts, and ".....travel Mexico, because I've been doing it for years and nothing bad ever happened to me...............yet."

Plenty to see here in North America, north of the Rio Grande. :usa:ca
 
36654 said:
Interestingly, the homicide rate in the city neighboring the Mar-a-lago club is as high or higher than that of Chicago or, worse yet, Milwaukee. But, how often do we hear of that crime capital?
Click to expand...

The problem with always trying to "level the playing field" by using only homicide rates is to ignore the many other crimes that are rampant in Mexico right now. Comparing the number of autos on the road doesn't even warrant a rebuttal.

US citizens are subjected to rape, sexual assaults, theft, criminal assaults, suspicious deaths (usually drownings), kidnapping ...... to mention some, and not just in the boonies, but at high-level resorts as well. Homicides are also occurring, but that alone isn't an accurate barometer of "Should I ride around in Mexico right now?"

Telling someone who has concerns to "Come on down. This expatriate has been here for years and nothing bad has happened to me yet" is akin to George Carlin's famous line of "I'm planning on living forever........so far so good." :banghead
 
It is unfortunate and I always hope I'm wrong but it seems that at the core of paranoia regarding places like Mexico is a deep seeded attitude toward people with brown skin. My skin is white like the vast majority of members here but I live in a place that is 90% non-white. Skin color is NOT the determining factor for good or bad behavior. There are good people and there are rotten people among all ethnicities. Lucky for all of us, the good outnumber the rotten by a vast majority.

It is just plain wrong to sit somewhere far removed from a neighboring country with little or no personal experience and condemn an entire society as unsafe, at best. Here, just like in Mexico, one makes personal choices that affect their safety and welfare. Based on my decades of experience, I might suggest that not associating with the drug trade is a good idea and not wandering around intoxicated dragging your Rolex watch at 2:00AM in the vicinity of brothels and bars is another real good idea.

It is possible to be hit by lightening but to never go outdoors to avoid the possibility is a dubious strategy.
 
crucian said:
It is unfortunate and I always hope I'm wrong but it seems that at the core of paranoia regarding places like Mexico is a deep seeded attitude toward people with brown skin. My skin is white like the vast majority of members here but I live in a place that is 90% non-white. Skin color is NOT the determining factor for good or bad behavior. There are good people and there are rotten people among all ethnicities. Lucky for all of us, the good outnumber the rotten by a vast majority.

It is just plain wrong to sit somewhere far removed from a neighboring country with little or no personal experience and condemn an entire society as unsafe, at best. Here, just like in Mexico, one makes personal choices that affect their safety and welfare. Based on my decades of experience, I might suggest that not associating with the drug trade is a good idea and not wandering around intoxicated dragging your Rolex watch at 2:00AM in the vicinity of brothels and bars is another real good idea.

It is possible to be hit by lightening but to never go outdoors to avoid the possibility is a dubious strategy.
Click to expand...

As someone who counts Hispanics among some of my best friends and former co-workers (a nod to my old department buddy, Chad Ramos), work closely with an Hispanic boss at Road America (Enrique Ramirez), have visited Mexico myself, and speak Spanish, skin color has nothing to do with any red flags I raised.

Mexico's reputation fermented in corrupt government, military and police forces, drug trade everywhere you go, poverty, pollution, a crime rate (NOT just homicides) off the charts, and note that most victims were neither incapacitated nor slumming it - often they were staying at high-end resorts when attacked or drugged.

I swam/dove among Great Whites in Long Beach harbor for my Tactical Combat Diver certification in 1999. High-risk behavior - wouldn't do it again. But wait - because nothing bad happened to me, I should recommend it to one and all?!

To pretend that riding around in Mexico is safe as a favor to their 'image' is a disservice to those seeking objective advice. :scratch
 
Last edited:
How many of the people commenting on this thread have substantial personal experience living or riding in Mexico?

I have lived in Mexico for 10 years and in that time have traveled, walked, ridden, driven or hitchhiked in about half of the Mexican states, including spending lots of time on back roads in rural areas.

Certainly, there are dangers in Mexico, but reading the newspaper and writing off the whole country, may be satisfying, but it is misleading. Mostly Mexico is just different than the US with different things to be careful about. As just one example, I gave up hitchhiking in the US about 40 years ago. No one will pick you up anymore and I would be suspicious of anyone who would. In rural Mexico, many people have no cars, and those that do are used to giving rides to strangers. Bumming rides is a functional way to get around on back roads. Generally, the first vehicle to come along will be a pickup that will stop and let you climb in the back.
 
BlueWaterCooled said:
How many of the people commenting on this thread have substantial personal experience living or riding in Mexico?

I have lived in Mexico for 10 years and in that time have traveled, walked, ridden, driven or hitchhiked in about half of the Mexican states, including spending lots of time on back roads in rural areas.

Certainly, there are dangers in Mexico, but reading the newspaper and writing off the whole country, may be satisfying, but it is misleading. Mostly Mexico is just different than the US with different things to be careful about. As just one example, I gave up hitchhiking in the US about 40 years ago. No one will pick you up anymore and I would be suspicious of anyone who would. In rural Mexico, many people have no cars, and those that do are used to giving rides to strangers. Bumming rides is a functional way to get around on back roads. Generally, the first vehicle to come along will be a pickup that will stop and let you climb in the back.
Click to expand...


.....and hope that the pick-up driver isn't on the 'outs' with the local drug cartel, and you're on-board when it get ambushed. Unlikely scenario? I'd give it 6 weeks (8 tops) before at least one such incident occurs somewhere in Mexico. Sad.

You should work for TripAdvisor! :dance

Hey - we get it that you're passionate about living down there (my son was even shortly engaged to 'Norma,' whose family was from Guadalajara), but you can't disqualify others just because they haven't logged time in your neck of the woods (or mountains or high desert).

I've spent zero time in a Turkish prison, but have confidence in my judgement I do not wish to ......... ever.

There are many who have not endured Wisconsin winters, yet think us nuts for hanging out here year after year. Their opinion is just as valid.

May you never have a sad tale to tell, and all your miles be smooth. :thumb
 
While living in Fairbanks I noted that there seemed to be a surprising number of people who had migrated from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Now I realize they were running from the harsh winters. It sounds like the reason I don’t recall any North Dakotans is that they were snowed (or snirted) in.
 
I am going on a 7 day Mexico trip in February.

The safest place I have motorcycle toured is thru Thailand and Laos but I am not overly concerned about Mexico. I am not working in Asia now and I need to find new locales to explore.
 
greenwald said:
.....and hope that the pick-up driver isn't on the 'outs' with the local drug cartel, and you're on-board when it get ambushed. Unlikely scenario? I'd give it 6 weeks (8 tops) before at least one such incident occurs somewhere in Mexico. Sad.

You should work for TripAdvisor! :dance

Hey - we get it that you're passionate about living down there (my son was even shortly engaged to 'Norma,' whose family was from Guadalajara), but you can't disqualify others just because they haven't logged time in your neck of the woods (or mountains or high desert).

I've spent zero time in a Turkish prison, but have confidence in my judgement I do not wish to ......... ever.

There are many who have not endured Wisconsin winters, yet think us nuts for hanging out here year after year. Their opinion is just as valid.

May you never have a sad tale to tell, and all your miles be smooth. :thumb
Click to expand...

Touché. I have to admit that I do get tired of hearing about how dangerous Mexico is. :)
 
Interesting thread. Lots of valid opinions.

We have friends who own a house in Mexico. They just roll their eyes the same way everyone did a when the Canadian in another thread asked about safety in the US.

But if someone does not feel confident to visit Mexico they should not go. I have gone to Mexico for work frequently. But I am on a MC vacation in February. Will see what happens....
 
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