Copper Canyon on a 1945 Indian Chief
 

This was supposed to be a shakedown cruise for our world tour bikes. We got way more than we bargained for. Without a doubt the most adventurous and dangerous thing I have done to date. The road to Batopilas is under HEAVY construction. Would not be difficult for a 400 BMW but for these bikes it was all they could handle at times. Good to know their limits. We each went down once and survived to tell the story so that says something. No damage thanks to Jesse bags. It was on the way out that things got interesting and dangerous. Ended up at the back end of not one but TWO cartel war zones. Multiple cars burnt to a crisp,thousands of shell casings on the road and weaving around dead bodies to get through. Get me back to Kansas! Sierra madre mountains are spectacular for scenery and riding. However even our ride home from Bassaseachi to Hermosillo was littered with danger as we were harassed by banditos,chased by wild dogs and just generally felt extremely threatened. I know this is not the typical post from this trip but it is the reality of what we went through from 10/29-11/6/14. Be aware safety may be a significant issue in this area right now. For us ,we are now off to New Zealand to start our world tour.

Glad you made it out safe. Did you take the newly paved road in to the Batopilas canyon? The one that turns off the Creel-Parras road and goes through Samaquiche and Quirare? Where was the battle aftermath at?


As you may know, Horizons Unlimited used to have a meet in the area, HQ'ed in Creel. As far as I know there were never any problems with violence, but this was a long time ago now. It wasn't stopped due to the narcos, but because.... ask Grant, Horizons' owner.


The Jesse bags look good on the Indian. I've never said this on this site before but, hope the rest of your trip is less exciting

Simply AWESOME Fellas!

Photos, we need more stories and photos ?c?

Happy travels :mchappy:

We did take the new road. The last 30 kilometers is the part that is under heavy construction. They have blasted the mountains apart to try and finish the road quickly. It did not and will not happen. They will be working on this road ,either constructing or repairing ,for generations. All of the cartel activity was between the junction and Creel. The last episode as we were heading North was only 10 miles south of Creel. Will work on more pics.

Our first day was from Douglas,Arizona to Casas Grandes. It looked doable on the map but was a bit too long for our bikes as we ended up arriving in the dark. Our cruise speed is 45-50 on the straight and with the twisties we lost some time. Stayed at the las Guacamayas which was a nice place but very hard to find. They cook a mean breakfast! Next day was off to Creel. Again with road conditions and breakdowns we ended up arriving after dark. The one thing we had been told about travel in Mexico was do NOT be on the road after dark. So far we were 2 for 2. The reasons for not traveling after dark are twofold. One that is when the bad people come out. Secondly the road conditions between vehicles without lights and unmarked pot holes and speed bumps make it extremely hazardous. Creel was a welcome sight and the beer was cold! The next day we headed for Batopilas. We were told it would take about 4 hours. Not on WWII vintage machines. The road is newly paved for a fair amount of it. The last 30 kilometers is under severe construction. To be honest the road would be a mild nuisance for modern off road bikes. A 400 BMW would be perfect. For our bikes it was a severe test for both rider and bike. Keep in mind,for those of you unfamiliar with Indians, these are left throttle,foot clutch,suicide shift,right hand spark retard operated machines. There is a lot of stuff going on when you speed up or slow down. Suspension travel is a misnomer. This road was the limit for these bikes. We wanted to find out what those limits were and we did. Both of us went down at one time or another. Not a good feeling looking at a 650 lb fully loaded bike on its side. By the time we got to Batopilas we were spent. Used Saturday for recovery and then headed North for Creel. As we approached the junction for our turn we were confronted with a hundred or so federales with weapons drawn and trained on us. They did not speak English and we did not speak Spanish. They were obviously agitated but we managed to communicate "Americanos" and they waved us on. A couple of miles up the road we came upon the carnage of a cartel ambush against another cartel. I have seen this stuff on the news but this time we were making the news. It appeared the battle had been over for a few hours but the road was littered with cars,shell casings and two bodies were still in the middle of the road. Moving along quickly was our only option. Counting our blessings we were talking continually on our headsets about what we had seen. Low and behold 20 miles up the road we come around a corner and are faced with the exact replica of the previous scene. The main difference was the officer spoke English. He said it was a repeat of the previous attack and they needed to sweep the area to make sure the danger had passed. Soon after he let us go. We passed a long line of army and police vehicles only to come upon the same scenario we had just been through. Multiple cars still burning,shell casings and you guessed it- dead bodies in the middle of the road. This was 10 miles south of Creel. Talked with the hotel manager about our day. He said we were in no danger since it was a cartel to cartel issue. They have apparently been fighting over the marijuana fields in the mountains for some time. There is no publicity about these situations since one it is fairly common to locals and two they do not want to impact tourism. Our friends Ivan and Yolanda,owners of Three Amigos Travel in Creel, have been there for 15 years and never seen anything like we experienced. Not sure why we got so lucky. Could have done without the experience. More about our trip home later. Will try some pics.

Wow! Hell of a trip guys! Great report, thanks for taking the time to share with us!
:thumbup1:

I'm amazed the Army let you pass. Normally they'd close the road for several days or give you an escort through the "war zone". Bodies still in the road?
Wow! Now that I've never seen! YIKES! :gun_bandana:

Pot growers have been in the Sierra Tarahumaru for 100 years or more. Problem now is Meth labs producing Meth, Cocaine, and Heroin. Before meth when it was just Pot, growers and Army sort of got along. "Fees" were paid, all good, no violence that I ever heard of. Meth changes everything. Pure evil. :alucard:

Yet a few years ago at peak of Cartel trouble, they had a full on shoot out right in the Creel Zocalo!!! :eek3: Bad news for tourism which seems to have evaporated over night.

Meth is moved from hidden labs down to Culiacan and distributed world wide from there. It's on the road where trouble happens.

I just passed through that area last week ... not a tourist in sight. So we just missed each other I guess? But I didn't go to Creel, just came over from Cuauhtemoc, straight over to Hermosillo via Mex. 16. Road a bit beat up in places and of course, takes HOURS to traverse. Endless twisties, some construction, repairs, but about 70% good.

http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...-sR5jhQb-L.jpg
Logging camp near Creel on Highway 16. They make "Carbon' (charcoal) there and ship lumber out.

I end up riding at night quite often in Mexico. Depends where you are regards dangers. On your bikes it will always take longer than expected .. as you guys know well. Hey, no rush, right? Good lights help!

Enjoy the ride. BIG UPS for tackling the world on those bikes. As a I kid a friend owned an old suicide clutch, tank shift HD of some kind. (from late 40's or early 50's?) Once I got the hang of it all ... it was pretty fun! Great for burning rubber off the lights!
(hey, I was just 16 years of age at the time! :smartass: )

Safe travels boys!

bier

Me thinks me keep this thread away from my wife
 

Wow! You certainly got an eye opening shake down ride. I am hoping that you two don't run into anything that is as overwhelming as your shake down ride. Now it needs to be fun with lots of the awe factor.

I am very impressed with your choice of bike and I look forward to hearing more about your trips. I would think that Jesse bags would look strange on the Indians but they blend in well.
Have a wonderful trip.
Mikey

New Zealand
 

Doubt you will have that sort of excitement here in NZ. If you get near Nelson call me +64 21 422 097 David .

I believe these articles refer to the incident in the original post:


Borderland Beat: At least 11 dead after Juarez/Sinaloa gun battle in Guachochi Chihuahua


Mataron a un primo del "Flaco" Salgueiro

Hi
Will you come to Spain?

Although the scenes described in the article are identical to what we witnessed I noticed the date on the article was September 28. We were on that road in almost the identical location on Sunday,November 2. This is the day the Mexicans adults were celebrating the "day of the dead". Turned out to be prophetic to some.

Wow...crazy start to the trip. I've only ever seen stuff like that in Detroit...minus the bodies.

Where's your route plan taking you?

Wow commendable