As Rain Rolls Into Actopan

Post date: May 29, 2010 12:40:26 AM

My motorcycle is deemed complete by my mechanic, John Cena, at Italika Motors, a tiny shop a five minute walk from my host´s place. (Who says one needs Couchsurfer.org to find a free couch?) For a grand total of $350 US he straightened the frame, welded the forks, straightened the front rotor, bonded and reattached the broken fairing panels, and basically made it drivable on the highway. Not bad, considering it was essentially totaled for these reasons, and would have cost weeks and $2000 in the US. On the down side, he put bolts back in the wrong place, rerouted wires incorrectly, omitted some washers altogether, and failed to fix the A) broken choke cable and B) inoperative turn signal, horn, and bright headlight. But, she runs! And she´ll get me to Tierra del Fuego, if I must drop a part or two along the way! I had to bend my luggage racks in multiple locations to get them to fit and fit securely. The top box is still loose, but may hold. Should be little to no waterproofing loss, which is essential, because Actopan is getting its first sprinkles in the week I´ve been here. The bike shudders a tiny bit when using the front brake at high speeds, and this is due to the slightest bend in the rotor still. The front brake line also seems to have some air still because it doesn´t have the power from before. Also, the handlebars are still bent a bit, but this is minor, all considered. He replaced the left mirror with one that makes objects appear much closer than the actual. At least that offsets my right mirror, the stock mirror, which makes objects appear further away than they actually are.

As a side note, rumor now has it (I call it rumor, it may be true, however), that the accident witnesses watched the police rob my camera and ipod from my jacket during the cleanup of the scene. Add to that my gloves; I noticed those are missing today as well. I´ve debated reporting this to the embassy, out of principle only, of course, because they´d never do anything to help. Maybe my report to my insurance company will help though. I may be teaching english at some point.

These keyboards in Mexico have odd key placements, and the key symbols don´t always match what comes out on the screen. At this point, I´d say that fits the personality of Mexico.

I met a nice Englishman by the name of Garry, through another friend, Tim, an Australian motorcycler doing a similar trip as mine. Garry seems to operate a hostel free to motorcyclers, and he has offered to take me in tomorrow night after Teotihuacan. I am lucky to have found 90 percent of the english speakers in Mexico. I hope to meet up with Tim in Merida in a few days. I am also having my ebay -ordered camera and memory card mailed to the same hostel he is at.

I feel despicable at the present condition of my bike, knowing what it was before, but I also feel so lucky to be able to continue my mission. I suffered extensive losses in gear, but I´ve learned so much about Mexico while here, and I´ve been touched by the generosity of the locals (minus the police). Such is adventure, no?