Bahía de los Ángeles, 2017 ...

[OaklandF4i]

Hilary -

I agree with John, the shot coming out of the mountains down into the village of San Isidro and the La Purisma river valley is FANTASTIC. Absolutely love seeing Baja from other folks perspective.

I couldnt figure out how to link a few of the photos I really liked. Can anybody teach a Luddite?

If you have the time and are so inclined, I know folks would absolutely enjoy an entire thread of your photos from last years trip. Photos are that good.

 

[kalle]

Broken Fan

I dropped my bike a few times in Baja.

Kalle's bike took a dirty nap when the kickstand sunk through the sand.

... more KLR karnage ...

And the blades on my radiator fan broke loose of the center hub at some point. I didn't notice until a hill climb on the way to Mission San Jose Comondu. As long as I kept my speed above 20 mph it wasn't a problem. Last week I finally bought another fan on Ebay. The seller claimed it was for a 2007 KLR 650 but it was for the newer 2008- models. Which is a different design.

You can see the 2008- fan on the right has the ring built into the fan and more fins. But it fit inside the older 1987-2007 housing.

The hub size on both fans and diameter was the same.

The shroud on my fan had bent in and hit the fan so I decided to reinforce it by fabricating an addition ring.

Spot welded the new ring to the old one. So everything is a little stronger.

And a little heavier.

Kalle Hoffman
San Francisco, CA

 

[anytwowilldo]

That sticker is now even more appropriate. It looks familiar. I wonder who could have put it there?

Nice job on the repair! The new style blade looks more efficient and I'll bet moves more air.

 

[Rumbo Sur]

Great Baja report! I will try to make the June 28th planning meeting for next year!

Question: on my previous Baja group rides (ages ago) we had some problems at some mealtimes at restaurants. Breakfast and lunch especially as we were always under the gun to make a specific destination.

In many small towns in Mexico they can't handle things when 8 to 12 Gringos walk in for lunch and expect "fast food" service. it would take HOURS.

I know you guys kinda were in a few different groups ... so maybe at break fast or lunch there were fewer riders? Dunno. Big groups are also a problem with Motels. I rarely camp in Baja. Often times places would FILL up ... no rooms.

Any thoughts on this from John and others on that ride?

Cheers!

 

[Eric B]

Great Baja report! I will try to make the June 28th planning meeting for next year!

Question: on my previous Baja group rides (ages ago) we had some problems at some mealtimes at restaurants. Breakfast and lunch especially as we were always under the gun to make a specific destination.

In many small towns in Mexico they can't handle things when 8 to 12 Gringos walk in for lunch and expect "fast food" service. it would take HOURS.

I know you guys kinda were in a few different groups ... so maybe at break fast or lunch there were fewer riders? Dunno. Big groups are also a problem with Motels. I rarely camp in Baja. Often times places would FILL up ... no rooms.

Any thoughts on this from John and others on that ride?

Cheers!

The breakfasts & lunches are not an issue, since folks are traveling in small groups.
The dinner is usually 1 loong table. I do think we should break up the dinner into smaller groups, to spread out the load on the service staff. 1st ones there, start ordering. Cerveza is the appetizer while waiting for food.
Can be discussed.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Any thoughts on this from John and others on that ride?
Cheers!

... this was my first BARF Baja trip, so
I'll throw in $0.02 based on that ...

I was worried about big-group Baja dinners, too,
and was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were
with the BARF Baja crew in 2017 ... I put it down
to the fact that 2017 was the third time they'd
done the same-ish late January/early Feb loop, so they
had experience with the dinner places, and experience
with the group check/tip dynamics (which was really what
worried me the most ... kudos to the folks that
stepped up and dealt with the group dinner check/cash/tips ... they
know who they are ... )

We were riding in groups because I'd say BARF Baja is mostly
a plated-dirt-bike/non-n00b/tequila crew ... certainly the
handful of "big" bike riders were much better riders than me ...
the two KLR guys mostly left at sunrise to
go an easy KLR way and not feel rushed ...
so that made breakfast and lunch a non-issue ...
we also knew our way around that part of Baja ...

I think the time of year and recent economic/tourist
trends in Baja made the motels easy (and the good planning)
... certainly the nice
hotel in Catavina was empty in late January, 2017 ...

We ride with camping gear,
so we were not feeling any motel or get-there stress ... we actually stayed
more in motels than I'd thought we'd be able to, mostly so we could
be/stay part of the group ... there always seemed to be a room ...
and we probably eased the room/bed issues by camping
at Daggetts and Punta San Francisquito arty

San Ignacio can be tough for big groups but Rice and Beans
worked well for me for dinner and breakfast ...
I was well into Baja-bliss-mode
by then, and the whole trip everywhere we went
I felt welcome/appreciated by our service providers
even when all 25 of us showed up ...

I'll have to try your big-pannier/empty-luggage rack DR650-style riding
some day ... I go with Dirtbagz (they are small) and a huge
river bag for the camping gear and water I always cary,
and the KLR is a handful in the rough stuff ...

see you at
Lanesplitters,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[Rumbo Sur]

The breakfasts & lunches are not an issue, since folks are traveling in small groups.
The dinner is usually 1 loong table. I do think we should break up the dinner into smaller groups, to spread out the load on the service staff. 1st ones there, start ordering. Cerveza is the appetizer while waiting for food.
Can be discussed.

Thanks Eric. Actually, dinner wasn't a problem for us either. The day's ride was over, so no rush, chill time for all (except the missing riders who would stumble in at 3am )

Problems we had was breakfast/lunch. The fast guys would be there first, eat first, then take off ... leaving the Noobs lost and miles behind, sometimes getting lost for hours.
I've only led one ride into Mexico. We buddied up, waited for slower guys and tried not to spread out too far. Sounds like you guys have a similar safety first strategy.

Having seen up close in person a few Baja tragedies, can attest to being on the safe side and looking out for your buddy.

 

[Rumbo Sur]

I'll have to try your big-pannier/empty-luggage rack DR650-style riding
some day ... I go with Dirtbagz (they are small) and a huge
river bag for the camping gear and water I always cary,
and the KLR is a handful in the rough stuff ...
see you at
Lanesplitters,
-- SFMCjohn

Thanks for the detailed reply John! Sounds like your guys are PROS at this


I was testing those BIG Nelson-Rigg panniers for a possible S. America ride.
They are HUGE and over kill for a month in Baja. But they work pretty good but
they allow me to OVER PACK.

My DR is a handful too and me being out of shape does not help.

 

[1962siia]

Great Baja report! I will try to make the June 28th planning meeting for next year!

Question: on my previous Baja group rides (ages ago) we had some problems at some mealtimes at restaurants. Breakfast and lunch especially as we were always under the gun to make a specific destination.

In many small towns in Mexico they can't handle things when 8 to 12 Gringos walk in for lunch and expect "fast food" service. it would take HOURS.

I know you guys kinda were in a few different groups ... so maybe at break fast or lunch there were fewer riders? Dunno. Big groups are also a problem with Motels. I rarely camp in Baja. Often times places would FILL up ... no rooms.

Any thoughts on this from John and others on that ride?

Cheers!

Part of the planning that goes into this trip is making sure there is an easier route each day that can be ridden relatively quickly. I think 150-175 miles has been the longest day off road. There really is no rush planned into this trip. My story to friends at home about Baja restaurants is that we walk in, the restaurant calls the waiter in to work, we order fish, they call the fishermen and they go catch our fish, an hour or so later someone shows up with fish and shortly afterward our food is served and it's always awesome.

So looking forward to the meeting and seeing folks. I'm considering how to get mrs1962 to join us this year. I may be driving a support vehicle to make this happen.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Thanks for the detailed reply John! Sounds like your guys are PROS at this


I was testing those BIG Nelson-Rigg panniers for a possible S. America ride.
They are HUGE and over kill for a month in Baja. But they work pretty good but
they allow me to OVER PACK.

My DR is a handful too and me being out of shape does not help.

haha, sorry for the long reply,
I have fun thinking about riding
and group dynamics and how people
get along ... we are not pros but we do
ride a bunch with groups, so I think we had
well-prepared and relaxed group-riding attitudes ...

Also, can't really say how proud I was of the
BARF Baja group in 2017 ... some stuff
went pretty side-ways and was handled VERY
well by the ride-veterans ... having lots of people and lots of trucks in
BoLA helped with that ...

I hear you about needing to be in better shape ... arty
South America sounds epic ...
I over pack, too ...