Nicaragua in April 2014
 

I'll be riding a Yamaha AG200 (gracias, SalCar!) for the first 2 weeks of April. The starting point is Managua, and I'm planning to visit Granada, Ometepe, Matagalpa/Jinotega, and Leon. Any other HUBBers planning to be there around then?

If anyone has tips or suggestions, please feel free to post 'em. I started a similar thread on ADV and got some great feedback already.

I'm a senior, experienced rider looking at a MC fly & rent in Nica for late March. Not April, as my weather is great in KY then.
A ride partner would be great. What are the general plans for your trip?
Mike in KY.

quick tips
 

I enjoyed San Juan Del Sur and points south from there, like Playa al Flor, but that is further south than you are planning to visit. You can see Costa Rica from there. Camping is permitted for a fee. There is also a fee to visit the beach where turtles lay their eggs. I was with a really pistol of a rider from Mexico City; he talked the soldiers that operate the facilities into a lower price...

Its not easy to find the schedule of when the turtles arrive. I believe there are several time of year for the various turtle that visit Playa la Flor. Watching them emerge from the ocean, dig hole, lay eggs and return to the sea was nothing short of epic. I got up several time during the night to watch them...in early October.

Next time I ride Nicaragua I want to work the Pacific coast line as much as possible. Sadly I don't have any advice or experience, except south of San Juan del Sur.

One piece ride advice, don't cross a double yellow line. I was pulled over and managed to not get a ticket...a story for another time.

volcano
 

Check out the volcano the is a short ride south west of Managua. You ride to the top. I believe you can see the lava at night, so you might want to time the visit for late afternoon. The eruption blast/lava fields at the base of the mountain are impressive. You would want to see those during the day.

Thanks for the tip about Volcan Masaya, Peter. That one is definitely on my list, including hanging around after sunset to do the bat cave.

Mike, my dates are set in stone due to my work schedule. It looks like we'll miss each other by mere days! I'll be there the first 2 weeks of April. If you get a chance to post updates during your trip, I'd love to see them!

Nicaragua Bound
 

Hey guys,

I am heading to Managua this Wednesday with my girlfriend. The only problem is that we don't have a motorcycle; probably the biggest problem you can have when wanting to do a two-wheel adventure!

Do you guys know of somewhere in the Managua area that we can find a bike cheap that can ride 2up? Any info will help.

If all works out we would love to ride south with anyone that is interested. Thanks

-Stephen

The place to get a rental bike in Managua is nicamotoadv.com (Salvador). He has a nice place to stay, and can arrange taxi pickup at Sandino Airport as well.

Enjoy your ride! I'm on Ometepe right now and will be in either Leon or Matagalpa on Wednesday so we won't quite cross paths.

Hey CBracer,

Great! Thanks for the info. I am going to look into his rentals now. Can we cross borders with one of his bikes? I thought that would be tough because my name wouldn't be on the registration or the title as an owner. If not maybe he knows someone that is selling a bike.

Sounds like your moving good. Enjoy!

You would need to talk with Sal about whether or not he would do the paperwork. It is technically possible to take a rental vehicle across some borders, but it involves one hell of a lot of paperwork in advance.

Thanks, I sent Sal a message and he got back to me. Yikes... you were right about the paperwork and the price of the paperwork to boot!

Any word about foreign registered bikes for sale in Nica? I'm still hoping to get lucky.

Don't know about any bikes for sale here, but you might find one by checking and asking here on the HUBB and also ADVrider. Good luck!

what is your budget for rental? a proper two up bike is gonna be a dr650 or klr 650, neither of which are common or cheap in nica.

as for buying a foreign reg bike, i may have a lead for you. waiting to hear back from a buddy. however, you will likely still have some trouble since you will not have 1) a registration in your name, 2) a title in your name.

I'm afraid I have no info about what it takes to buy a bike here or how much time it takes to do the title transfer and varous paperwork,. I can tell you that 2-up riding is certainly possible on a small bike (e.g., see the thread "2-up Texas to Argentina on a 250 Ninja" on ADVrider) but obviously takes a certain mindset. That said, Sal rents a KLR 650 as well as the Yamaha 200.

BTW, the little Yamaha has been the perfect bike here. I just got to Leon an hour ago, having ridden from San Ramon on the southeast coast of Ometepe Island. It doesn't look particularly far or adventurous on a map, but yowza! I did hours of off-pavement riding through dirt, gravel, broken road, and animal paths.

Craig,
I am envious of you. You dah Man!
Keep spinning and thanks for your help.

Teevee,
I am sending a PM now. talk to you soon.

A DR650 would be a good choice, but even with only a XR250 Tornado rented from Jurgen I toured Nicaragua 2 up for 10 days without any problem

Here are some of my pictures