Mexico 2026

[andydavis]

I got back from Mexico on March 1st. I left Berkeley, CA on January 6. This is my fifth recorrido, third time on the Beemer. I crossed both ways at Mexicali and went down and came back through Sonora and Sinaloa, mostly on the boring highway #15. One of the destinations is always to visit an old friend of mine who is retired on the beach in Playa Azul, Michoacan. It was not a particularly well planned trip and I spent a lot of time on the (expensive) autopistas getting someplace or retracing my route between Playa Azul and Acapulco on #200 (the Pan American highway).
I went down on the Pacific coast as far as Puerto Escondido, then turned east into Veracruz, thinking I was going to do more day trips to waterfalls, but eventually being driven out by bugs! I went as far a Catemaco in Veracruz, here's what a little of the road looked like:


The trip was mostly uneventful, made memorable by the occasional landslide, highway blockade, or open manhole. I'd say the most memorable road was the descent from Tehuacan to Orizaba on #150 above Acultzingo. There the road (a major transportation link) famously crosses sides on the numerous hairpin turns. One is directed to do this by obscure stripng on the road surface...the first couple of hairpins were a little disconcerting until I figured it out (lot of cursing at oncoming traffic until I figured out that I was the problem). Definitely worth a return visit just to take a better video. I stopped at the head of the descent for a selfie because I could not get by a tractor trailer:


I feel like I should return next year just to film the descent, because it is so strange. Here's another guy's video to give you the flavor:


My wife came down to visit for eight days in Cuernavaca (which entailed renting a car). Kind of poor planning, I ended up crossing Mexico City five times in ten days...the traffic is justifiably famous! Overall, "Che" behaved super well...there's no ethanol in the fuel there and I regularly got more than 50mpg going 75-80mph. I'm kind of tempted by the new R1300RT's but, really, for the kind of riding I do, my old 2009 is about perfect.

[ColoradoGreek]

Trip videos look amazing. Besides a passport and/or Global Entry card do you need any other documentation to ride a motorcycle into Mexico from the US? Safe travels.

[andydavis]

If you go beyond Baja or Northern Sonora, you need a Temporary Vehicle Import Permit and a six month tourist visa...both are available at the biggger border crossings.