No Wimps in Baja

[Tingram]

I have just joined the forum, and have been riding dirtbikes for about 40 years, with the last 20 or so of them here in BC. I am going to make my first trip to Baja in January and plan to do the "No Wimps in Baja" ride with Malcolm Smith Adventures.
Here are some details of the ride:

No Wimps in Baja 2022

The toughest ride in Baja! It's back and tougher than ever! If you have ever been reluctant to go on a Baja tour because youre not the tour type then stop what you are doing and sign up. This is not a 'Tour'.

events.r20.constantcontact.com

I will drive my pickup down and back with my KTM500EXC in the back. If anyone is interested in doing this ride as well, it would be great to have someone to carpool with.
Feel free to PM me or shoot me an email at: terrenceingram{at}shaw.ca

 

[tomcycle]

You are so lucky, your first trip to Baja! Its gonna be sooooo much fun. I am Jealous. I think this is the best way to do your first trip. Be sure to take lots of pictures. It should not be that hard to find someone to join you.


Tom

 

[Tingram]

Thanks Tom. I will take some pics and put them up. I am not normally much of an organized tour guy, but this one sounds really good and it will be a great turnkey way to get acquainted with the Baja area.

 

[Rustic]

Sounds fun. I also am not a tour trip guy but also Mexico has always been a destination for me so riding Baja with no real set trip plan was easy and what I found in every trip is just more to explore. Take lots of photos and have a blast.

Some experienced Baja guys here so if you have any questions post em up.

 

[04klr]

Perhaps a few pics. to whet your appetite!!
First thing to understand, it's Baja, and it's not always about riding.
Here's El Mur catching a few rays.

there's really challenging sections, at speed! Or it could be full of twenty foot wide, five foot deep whoops, that go for miles and miles!

after 17 or so kms. of sand wash you climb a face up to a plateau that is "the rock trail".
Here's Mr Terry B, cleaning the climb up to that plateau and to the trail that is so perfectly named.

Jimmy G. ahead of Cactus Reid on the rock trail

super easy to follow well worn track.

on the cortez side crossing from San Ignacio.

Cactusreid along the Bill Nicol trail (i thimk)



Randall, stay away from spikey things!!

full serve gas stations. Baja style.

big pic. of the shoreline along the nine hr. No Wimps trail, a very big day!

Baja can be hard on bikes and bits of bikes, like here In San Ignacio where there are broken bits on Tomcycle's bike which will sadly make the journey home on the back rack of a bus. ( I should add that he tied the very broken bike back together and rode it some distance to the safety of Rice n Beans in San Ignacio, note the straps holding the very broken bike together)

After destroying the tire, rim and then the spokes til it would ride no more, Al would later be heard to say, "well yeah I guess I could've slowed down a bit", no Al, just keep it wicked my friend. Ride on.



there's heaps more pics. from many trips there, these were just a few. Will see if I can find a pic of rustic's temporarily dead DR seen at Kikis in San Felipe.

thx fer lookin

 

[Tingram]

That does whet the appetite! Thanks for the pictures. It’s so different to the BC riding. It will a good way to break up the winter.

 

[04klr]

Go with new tires chain sprockets, steel sprockets only. At least consider running very heavy tubes maybe slime or even a Mousse or two. Some people get no flats, others as silly number of flats.

 

[Rustic]

Here is a few more pics because I had to look back at my own, Last trip to Baja..... normally I go every other year but Covid. If I dont go this Spring I intend to next winter for sure.

First fuel stop is normally Ramonas Ramcho at "The Sawmill" right along the Sierra de Juárez range, the backbone of northern Baja


The faithfull old DR650 knows these trails, height of the afternoon was siesta time.


Hard to tell but that is the Pacific Ocean behind me, just hours later.


So.... the faithful DR finally left me stranded after over 100k miles on the odo. 100 plus km of Baja race course and whoops and rocks and the CDI died, pretty much the only thing I couldnt fix or replace down there. Have faith though I pushed it out here and laid it over in the cacti out of site while I hitch hiked back to the highway and bused it up to Tecate to get the truck. Driving the old f350 down the whoops from the nearest access road was and adventure in itself.

Locals are friendly and want to help, often refusing compensation when you offer it.

Have fun!

 

[Rustic]

Go with new tires chain sprockets, steel sprockets only. At least consider running very heavy tubes maybe slime or even a Mousse or two. Some get no flats some get lots of flats.

2nd the new chain and new steel sprockets seen lots of guys eat up alloy sprockets, your packing luggage anyways so you won't be that light flickable dirt bike anyways. I am a huge fan of mousse bibs when possible, even the mid size adv can handle bibs in the front long term.

 

[04klr]

added a coupla more pics. why not I'm on a roll.

 

[Randual]

2018 Baja Trip...Great adventure!!

 

[Randual]

March/April 2022 can't come soon enough!

 

[Tingram]

Thanks for the insights. What type of map is everyone using? I saw several mentions of the Cartografia E32 maps as being excellent. Is that the way to go? I usually use Gaia topo maps - are they any good down there?

 

[Rustic]

I like to have a big physicsl map with grid and contours (Yeah thats saved me a few times) so I can visualize a whole route and have back up, National Geographic has a waterproof one with Norte on one side and Sur on the other. I use Gaia GPS on an old android and then have my inreach mapping as back up.

 

[04klr]

E32 is good and the,though large, Good ol Baja Almanac, are both good considerations.

 

[Rustic]

E32 is good and the,though large, Good ol Baja Almanac, are both good considerations.

I search online regularily for the Almanac currently there is one for $300 listed
I made the fatal mistake of loaning the copy out I was given, never to see it again.