Sorry, I don't want to seem a nit picker Ian but in the first paragraph I must tell you there are two serious errors, and you put yourself through a lot of needless work by going to Tijuana.Obviously an outcome of your admitted poor Spanish skills.
At TECATE there most definitely is a BANJERCITO office - it is located on the east side of the street right across from the customs building where you got your tourist card ( you called it a visa, not the same) Yes , you can pay this at any of the listed banks , but at some border crossings they will actually now permit you to pay it in cash at the BANJERCITO ( and I think Tecate is one of those, if memory serves). More importantly you do NOT need to have paid it before you can get your temporary import permit. What they clearly tell you is that it must be paid before you can CANCEL the temp.import permit and tourist card when you leave Mexico at the end of their legal valid period.
You could have obtained this temp.import permit at TECATE just with the proof of your tourist card. Correct, as you state, this import permit can only be paid for by use of a credit card. However , failure to have a working credit card would not need to stop you from entering, as in such cases you can post a cash bond , up to $400 depending on age of vehicle. That cash bond will be promptly returned to your hands when you cancel the temp.import permit when you leave.

HONDURAS ENTRY ; your 90 day visa had nothing to do with any of the other countries but it was valid for any return to Guatemala within that time so if you did come back to GT you would not have paid any additional fees, just stamps in passport.
I agree that the Central American borders can be very trying, depending on which crossing you choose.However there is a standard sequence which applies to them all, in four steps 1 MIGRACION - PASSPORTS 2 TRANSITO- VEHICLE DOCUMENTATION 3 "SEPA' the acronym for the entity in charge of protecting the agriculture,health and environment, also called OIRSA, CUARENTENA and FUMIGACION, depending which country and step 4 ADUANA - They check all your documents and luggage. These steps must be followed in this sequence, or you will be wasting time waiting in line to find out that you will be sent to another line to wait some more.

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SB,
IIRC, there's been a change about being able to get vehicle permits at Tecate. I read this on the 'Internet'.

Suerte...

I just checked my notes from Sept. 2004 , the most recent crossing I made at Tecate into Mexico on my way home from the James Bay Hydro Projects of Quebec.
I made a note at that time that the Banjercito hours of Tecate were shorter than the 6am - to - midnight opening of the border and that Banjercito-Tecate was CLOSED on Sundays. This may explain why Ian had such difficulty as he reported. I will check up un any changes taken place but doubt I will find any. It was possible to get these import permits in La Paz before getting on the ferry also if one neglected that chore at the border.

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I think Tecate may have stopped handling vehicle permits. As recent as 8 or so months ago...

Greetings SB

As I mentioned at the start of my write up this is simply what happened to us and other people will have different experiences, yours being one of the different experiences.

Just to clarify a couple of the points you raised. Prior to going there I also understood that there was supposed to be a banjercito at Tecate and there may still be one there but the three different immigration people we spoke to on the day understood what I wanted and all of them said that I would have to go to either Tijuana or Mexicalli. Please let me know what you find out when you go down there next. From memory we crossed mid week as I assumed that banks etc might be closed or have limited hours on weekends.

As for the Honduras visa I think the rules might have changed since you were there.

Travel Advice for Honduras - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

The relevant section from the link is

Entry and Exit Requirements

In June 2006 Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala signed the Central American Border Control Agreement (CA-4). Under the agreement travellers may travel between signature countries without completing exit and entry formalities for periods up to 90 days.
Visa and other entry and exit conditions (such as currency, customs and quarantine regulations) change regularly. Contact the nearest Embassy or Consulate of Honduras for the most up to date information.

I found out about this CA-4 afterwards and it made sense to me why they didn't bother stamping me into Honduras. As I said we were travelling on Australian passports and I don't know which other countries it applies to. It would not surprise me to find out that maybe US or Canadian citizens are exempt and allowed to stay for much longer periods than Oz passport holders (but it doesn't explain why they did stamp it in Nicaragua who are part of the same agreement??) who knows what rules they make up on the day.

As they mention above visa/customs rules change all the time.

Ian J

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Right if , as Lone Rider says , they changed the process at Tecate recently I am wrong .
I did cross from Guatemala to Honduras early April this year at Florido Copan and found the process no different from previous years , just the fee was a little bit les. But Florido is always a straightforward affair.As explained in a post elsewhere earlier last fall the CA4 agreement is primarily intended to ease the transit of citizens of those countries, not tourism .

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Question:

I don't think I ever properly cancelled my motorcycle permit/vias last year. As I understood it (poorly I will admit), I had to return to a Banicito office to do this.

I just crossed at a small crossing into Guatemala.

Now I want to ride back through Mexico on a different Motorcycle.

Is the failure to properly check-out last year going to catch up with me when I try to re-enter?

Martin