Motorcycle trip from US to Panama

YumaJames

YumaJames

Guest
Around October 2016 (my dates are flexible) am planning on a one-way motorbike trip from Yuma, AZ to Panama in Central America. Was thinking about taking about one month to do it, ride down, leave the bike down there, then fly back. Gonna be riding down on an older reliable bike, nothing too expensive, but something I'm OK with leaving down there. Know a couple guys who may be interested in coming, but am looking for anyone else who may be interested in doing the trip. I'm 51, semi-fluent in Spanish, plan on doing main highways all the way down.
 
T

TICO-T

Guest
YumaJames said:
Around October 2016 (my dates are flexible) am planning on a one-way motorbike trip from Yuma, AZ to Panama in Central America. Was thinking about taking about one month to do it, ride down, leave the bike down there, then fly back. Gonna be riding down on an older reliable bike, nothing too expensive, but something I'm OK with leaving down there. Know a couple guys who may be interested in coming, but am looking for anyone else who may be interested in doing the trip. I'm 51, semi-fluent in Spanish, plan on doing main highways all the way down.
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Spend some time in Costa Rica. You will love Panama and Costa Rica.
 
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TICO-T

Guest
jerry said:
Think you need 2 months....sounds fun but weather is fickle....
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Yes weather in Costa Rica during October is rain and more rain. Wish Yuma James would take his adventure in the the dry season. December would be a great time. December is summer time in Central America and Panama.
 
YumaJames

YumaJames

Guest
Good advice TICO, thanks. Am flexible when I go so if December is better than that works. Still have lots of research and planning to do. And you're right, Jerry, I'd love to do two months, but don't know if I can take that much time off work. Am wondering too if I can leave a motorbike down there, when entering some countries with a motorbike they stamp your passport so they know you entered with a motorbike, and when you leave the country they make sure you're leaving with the motorbike. One of the few things I still have to research.
 
Estero

Estero

Guest
I too have always wanted to do a ride like this. I had a friend a few years back that rode from San Diego to Panama, sold his bike there. Then flew to Buenos Aires to catch the start of the Dakar rally in January. He rented a bike and rode to different spots along the course. He had a great trip and kept a blog of the whole trip.

About a month ago I was in TJ checking out of the hotel and saw this awesome BMW bike setup for a long ride, the thing was brand spanking new. As I start to load the truck I see a twenty something guy working on the bike. We chat for a bit and he was headed to Argentina via Baja crossing over to mainland Mexico via the ferry out of La Paz. I have ridden Baja a few times and he never had so I gave him some intel on what to expect on the ride to La Paz. Great guy and I was jealous of his awaiting adventure. He spoke virtually no Spanish and had a TON of tattoo's but seemed fairly well prepared with an all new bike and all new gear. Turns out he is something of a world class tattoo artist and calls himself tattoo Dan. You can just google "tattoo dan" and see his twitter account with his trip updates and his instagram pics. As of a few days ago he had just left Panama and was on a sailing catamaran for 6 days with the bike headed to Columbia. I've been following his blog allowing me to vicariously experience the same trip. http://www.tattoodan.com/moto-diary

Last week I took a buddy to a dental clinic in TJ and while I was waiting for him they had an ADV Rider magazine in the lobby which I was flipping through and I saw an ad for CSC Motorcycles. These are very cool and have some great reviews, they resemble the BMW or KTM adventure bikes and only cost about $3,500!
http://www.cscmotorcycles.com/RX3-CYCLONE-s/108.htm
http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/csc-motorcycles-cyclone-rx-3-review/
http://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/wrenching-your-own-ride-a-look-at-the-new-csc-rx-3-cyclone
http://www.adventuremotorcycle.com/reviews/24-reviews/bikes/796-bikes-test-ride-review-csc-cyclone-rx3#.Vhs0niv70Zw

Lastly if you are not already familiar with http://advrider.com/index.php
It is a great forum with trip reports, tips, etc.
 
YumaJames

YumaJames

Guest
Estero,

1. Come along (Panama or Cabo)
2. Thanks for the links.
3. Coincidence you mentioned CSC motorcycles. April 2016 a few of us are riding from Yuma to Cabo, and a couple of guys are looking into buying those CSC bikes. Was checking our their website. Thing that would concern me is that they're only 250 cc, but apparently they're geared real high for highway speed. Can't beat the price.
 
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ernesto

Guest
I drove Phoenix to San Jose in an SUV two years ago,the border crossings are interesting, bring copies of your vehicle title. Biggest hassle was staying on highway 1 as we went through towns, no signage. Your espanol will come in real handy. 3300 miles, only drove during the daylight in January.
 
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