home, 6,538 miles later

First a little note about the aluminum box photos above. This is a little modification i did just before our trip. It provides a easy place to put everything when you are unloading the boxes. The cable hanges out to the side a little, but we never had it hang up on anything. I spent $12 on hinges, rivet and cable. the aluminum I got out of a fabrcators scrap pile. The Afrika boxes already have a space in the lid big enough on the side to fit the shelf when it is up.
Good luck and happy travels!


From San Miguel we headed north to Ciudad Victoria to spend the night in the hot town. Again, few places to eat and nowhere for breakfast at 7am. But the city is quiet enough and easy to navigate, so was a good place to stay. We enjoyed air conditioning here and also enjoyed one of the heaviest thunderstorms I have ever seen. It was a big push to get here but it was very do-able.
Just highways home. Fast traffic. Made it to Brownville by lunch.
We never got a receipt for paying the $22 each to enter Mexico and the immigration man wanted me to pay it again. He showed me the receipt from the bank. I have decided that anytime you pay a person and not a bank window, you are probably giving a bribe. The two guys in Reynosa probably pocketed our $44 dollars when we entered.
I would not pay this money again to the man in Matamoros and eventually won that argument that
“I never received a receipt. The sign here, right in front of me, says I must pay this amount when I enter. So how could I have possibly entered without paying it? I’m not paying it again, its too much money. I already paid it.”
The aduanas man checked out the bike and gave us a paper saying the permiso is canceled.. and they wont charge our credit card for taxes on the bike. Pretty painless all in all.
Crossed the toll bridge and waited in a long line to through US customs. After two months of going to the front of every traffic line, Steve tried it again and was met with unhappy people not allowing us to cut in. Finally a woman (probably a Mex resident) let us in. We got searched because we had some gifts and paid a dollar on our bottle of Mescal. The border guards seemed very shocked by our trip. I would have thought they see it more often.
Well we are back in the states. load the bike on to the truck and now, a long drive through Texas and New Mexico.
A great trip with friendly people and no problems. The bike did wonderfully and so did the driver.
6,538 miles all. two headlight fuses. 1 new tire. one bribe of $1.60 at the Guate border.
bike details to come