Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca to San Marcos, Guerrero

126 miles -- Total miles: 2,722

Today my intention was to head up along the coast to Acapulco. The bike had not been running right for the last couple of days. I made it up to Cuajinicuilapa and decided that it was better to stop than trying to continue. It had gotten so that 35 mph was about top speed and anything over 3.5K and it would start cutting out.

I called the insurance company and got to talk to Larry, Curly and Moe. I started with Larry, got passed on to Curly, and finally talked to Moe. Between the 3 of them I got to answer the sames questions 10-15 times. At first they could not find the policy or any of its information. After continuously asking the same questions over and over again they seem to come up with the policy. After that they could not locate the town that I was in. 130 miles east of Acapulco and 30 miles west of Santiago Pinotepa Nacional on Hwy 200. They then did not know where Hwy 200 was. It's the main highway that runs along the western coast of Mexico and goes straight through Acapulco. Eventually the call got dropped.

When I called back I got to talk to Christian. He asked the same questions again, but this time he actually could find the town. The only catch was that they needed the KM post # so they could locate exactly where I was at. Right, I always keep track of the non-existent KM post while I am riding. I got a local to talk to Christian about the exact location and the problem seemed to be resolved. Closest tow truck was in Acapulco and it was on its way.

In the mean time I had dumped some Fuel injection cleaner into the gas tank and took the bike out for a test ride. It ran almost perfect. I canceled the tow truck and took off once again for Acapulco. The bike was running good, for about 30 miles. It kept getting worse and by the time I got into San Marcos I decided that it was best to stop instead of it quitting between town. Taking the rest of the day off and will give Larry, Curly, and Moe a call back tomorrow.

I had an interesting experience at the restaurant tonight. Small town. Mom and Pop, not sure that Pop was around. Open air. Hot. Ceiling fans not running. Sufficient amount of flies. Two small dogs running around the tables. One was very friendly and kept me company most of the time. No menu. No English. The lady asked me if I wanted pollo. I said "Si". She could not understand what I was trying to order to drink, so I went over to the cooler and got it myself. When she brought me my dinner she brought both chicken soup and beef stew plus all of the extras. She gave me my choice of which I wanted. Both looked really good so I kept both. When it was time to pay up, my bill for the "two" meals was $6.00.

Speaking of high costs, my motel tonight cost me $10.00. A little rough around the edges but clean and everything I needed except for internet. The swimming pool is right in front of my door.

San Marcos, Guerrero to Acapulco, Guerrero

46 miles -- Total miles: 2,768

The bad news – I have a bad gas pump on the bike.
The good news – I am stuck in Acapulco for the next few days.

The bike was running so bad that I was trying to decide if I should go ahead and get a tow into Acapulco or if I could make it another 50 miles. I could not go over 45 mph, could not use anything above 3rd gear and it would start stalling out around 4K rpm or climbing hills. I decided to chance it and try for Acapulco.

It was slow go but I eventually got into Acapulco without any major problems. I did finally get to stop at a military checkpoint on the way in. The soldier came up to me and said something in Spanish. “No habla espanol”. He waved me through. The mountains were starting again in Acapulco and climbing a couple of the steeper hills became a little iffy.

My better half had located a Yamaha dealer in Acapulco but there was not a Suzuki dealership. My goal was to reach the motel, see if I could leave the bags and try and locate the dealership. Shortly after reaching Acapulco I did see a Yamaha dealer and stopped. They were more into watercraft but they called a mechanic who arrived in about 5-10 minutes. I explained the problem to him and he said that he could not do anything with it. He did give me written directions to the Yamaha motorcycle dealership. On to the SeaScape Hotel.

I found the Hotel, turned into the parking area and it seemed like I climbed straight up the side of a cliff. I parked the bike and hoped that it did not roll backwards back down the hill before I got off. I went inside, told them that I knew that I was too early to check in but could I leave the bags there until I got back from the motorcycle dealership. My room was ready so I could go ahead and put my bags in the room. He also told me where there was a independent motorcycle repair shop that was just a little over a mile from the hotel.

Checked in, took all of the bags off the bike including the top box, and made the long climb up the side of the mountain to my room (actually it was only 52 steps). Headed down to the motorcycle repair shop and found it without any problems. Almost no English was spoken there. I asked him if he could work on a Suzuki. His answer was “No”. He asked me what was wrong with it, I explained to him what the bike was doing and he said that he would see what he could do. Lot of sign language going on here. He went over to the bike, started it up, took it for a test ride, came back and drove it into the shop.

While they were cooling down the bike with fans so that they could work on it I went down the street to get some lunch. Just never quite sure what I am going to wind up with. Went back to the shop and they were taking the bike apart. Told him that I would leave and come back later and he said to give him around 3 hours. I left all of my riding gear at the shop and made the long trek walking back the mile + including the killer hill to the hotel.

Good time to work on the ride report. Keys to the panniers were on the key ring in the bike. Good thing that I always keep an extra set with me. I keep them in my jacket pocket. The jacket that I had left at the shop. I walked back to the shop and found out that the problem was the gas pump. Closest Suzuki dealership is in Mexico City. His guess was that it will take 2-5 days to get a new gas pump in.

What can be worse than being stuck in a place like Acapulco? About 3 blocks down (the other side of the killer hill) is the beach. If I keep walking up and down this hill I am going to have to start drinking some Margaritas to offset any healthy effects that all of this hill climbing might have on me.

Acapulco

This morning started off with a bang. Or maybe I should say a shake, rattle and roll.

It was around 6:00 am this morning while I was still asleep. I wasn't sure what was trying to come through the glass patio doors but it sounded big. Big as in freight train size, and the entire building was shaking with it. It lasted around 5 +/- seconds and after it had stopped I realized that I had just experienced my first earthquake tremor. 15 minutes later another smaller tremor occurred. Another 15 minutes and the third one was even smaller.

It was down hill from there. No, really. I walked down the hill and checked out the beach. There is a very nice beach hidden behind all of the motels, stores and shops. I still need to go back and get some pictures later.

Some days you have good luck and some days your good luck runs out.

I went down to the bike shop this morning to check on the status of the bike and see if they had any idea when the new fuel pump would be in. When I walked into the shop they were in the process of putting the bike back together. Another 30 minutes and it would be ready to go. But, but, but, but, I was suppose to have to stay for another 2-5 days here in Acapulco. Guess I will pack up tonight, get everything ready to go for in the morning and head out back on the road. Sometimes things just don't go my way.

Acapulco, Guerrero to 30 miles south of Tecoman, Colima.

395 miles -- Total miles: 3,163

I still cannot get the hang of getting through the bigger cities. It took me about 15 minutes and 5 miles to get out of Acapulco using the same Highway that I came in on. It also took me 45 minutes and 10 miles to find the highway again after I lost it. When a main highway turns they usually do not show the highway number. Most of the time they will show a name to a town that you can get to by going in that direction. The town may be 10 miles away or 200 miles away. Sometimes they will give the name of a town that you have already gone through (as in the opposite direction that you are going through). The second time today that I lost Highway 200 was when I was traveling west and the highway made about three turns. The sign at the first turn was for a town that was on a different highway and about 200 miles to the north. I probably spent 2 hours today trying to re-find Hwy 200 after it would make a turn.

Highway 200 was a great road to ride. I would switch back and forth from being up in the mountains and twisties to running along the ocean. A few stretches were fairly flat and the curves were not as numerous or sharp.

I did get stopped in a military checkpoint today. Checked a pannier and the top box and then sent me on my way.

My objective for tonight was to make Tecoman. I hit one area of road construction that lasted for about 30 miles. Got in a little bit of dirt practice. Over all average was slower than what I had expected. About three hours out I realized that I was not going to make it before dark (do not ride in Mexico after dark) and was hoping to find a hotel in one of the smaller towns. This turned out to be one of the longest stretches of road that I have ridden while down here with the fewest towns on it. Fewer towns meant fewer topes to slow me down but it also meant no hotels.

I found a hotel about about 10 minutes before it got dark. The hotel is new and not bad at all for the price. It appears that the right side of the hotel is for overnight guest. The left side appears to be for the ones who stay for only half of the night. They even have an enclosed personal garage so no one will see their car and wonder what they are up to.