The Panama Express Ride To The End Of The Road, Done - March 2025

9 Days, 6,000 Miles, 13 Countries, 13 Border Crossings

Three BMW R1250 GSA’s ( Bill, Mike & Greg ) met in Laredo, TX on March 22, 2025, and rode The Panama Express ride to the end of the road in Yaviza, Panama where the road ends and Darien Gap begins. We departed on March 23, 2025, around 8:00 AM and rode 2,800 miles to the end of the road in Yaviza, Panama. The goal was the sign in Yaviza that says Alaska 12,580 kilometers, see the photo on this webpage. We did this ride as a long distance endurance ride, and we rode day and night with just two hotel stops and a couple IBA hotels along the way. We make it to the end of the road in 100 hours with six difficult border crossings. It was some very hard riding with a lot of bad roads including gravel and dirt.

Then we did it all over again for the ride back to the US, riding back to Laredo, TX in less than five days and adding El Salvador just to make it more interesting.

 Greg Rice                                                       Mike Bobbitt                                                      Bill Karitis

Three BMW R1250 GSA’s ride to the end of the road and BACK! We rode as hard as we could for as long as we could day after day for 9 days in a row through 13 countries and 13 border crossings. As hard as we were riding day and night I am not sure many other motorcycles could pull off this ride due to the extreme conditions we encountered. The road conditions were from good to dirt and gravel, the speed bumps ( topes ) were large ( think airborne at 40+ MPH ) and many and the potholes were deep, aggressive and very often. The GSA's took a beating and kept going even riding for 30+ hour "days" and temperatures of 105 degrees.

A lot of people did not believe me when I said that I was going to ride from Texas to Yaviza and the End Of The Road where the Darien Gap begins and then BACK to Texas in less than 10 days.  Well, we did it!   After we made it to Yaviza and the End Of The Road in 100 hours ( 4 days and 4 hours ) people realized that I was not joking about riding from Texas to the End Of The Road and BACK to Texas in less than 10 days. Of course we did it in 9 days and 6 hours, we was balling are ass off! Our first "day" of riding was 40+ hours and 1,530 miles and 3 border crossings before we arrived at our first hotel in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. We stayed at our hotel in San Pedro Sula, Honduras for 12 hours before starting our second "day" of riding which was 26 hours and 800 miles and 3 more border crossings before we reached our hotel in David, Panama. We stayed 12 hours again at our hotel in David, Panama before starting our next day of riding which was to Yaviza and the End Of The Road / Darien Gap and then back to our hotel on the Panama Canal in Panama City. It was 650 miles and 17 hours and of riding.

Spotwalla Tracking Link Of 2025 End Of The Road Ride - Round Trip - South & North

Click here to download a Excel spreadsheet that has all of the Spotwalla tracking locations for both the ride south and back north.

This time Bill Karitis rode with us and we took a different route, starting in Laredo, TX instead of Eagle Pass, TX and rode all the way to the Darien Gap ( Yaviza, Panama ) in four days and 6 hours. We started and ended back in Laredo, TX which was 230 less each way than our previous two rides. So we rode 560 miles less round trip which is about 10 hours of riding time in Central America. We did the ride during the dry season for Mexico and Central America and except for 4 hours on the ride back in Guatemala we had good weather during the ride, it was a little hot is some places as the temperature reached 105 in Honduras. Just like the two previous years rides this ride was a "quick" LD endurance ride and we made it to the end of the road in Yaviza, Panama. If you want to know more about this ride and our past rides to Mexico, Central America including Panama check out the information on this webpage and my YouTube channel as there is a lot of information and pretty much everything you need to know about each country and some great photos and videos from our last three rides.

On all of my rides to Mexico and Central America it was strange riding at first but once you get the hang of it, it just works. As my friends in Mexico say, all of the highway signs are there just for decoration, no one pays attention to them. One big thing that took some time getting used too was that on two lane roads with one lane in each direction cars, big trucks and motorcycles will pull out to pass even in no passing zones. In Central America we once had four vehicles abreast including me on a two lane road. Also, just like in Texas vehicles will move over to the shoulder if possible to let you pass. Vehicles will notify you by using their left turn signal to signal you that it is safe to pass. If it is not safe to pass, they will put on their emergency blinkers. It seems strange and crazy, but it works once you understand the rules. I have even had police vehicles move to the shoulder to let me pass and wave as I rode by.

The ride plan for the last ride in March 2025 had us riding pretty quick and included long day's in the saddle. Since I only have two week's, and my only goal was to take a photo of me and the at the end of the road in Yaviza, Panama we had to push it pretty hard. We all had already obtained our TIP and FMM for Mexico online prior to the ride so we just need to stop at the Banjercito office in Nuevo Laredo to get our passports stamped. We were able to buy toll transponders and that really helped with all of the toll booths since there were 15+ toll booths along our route.

We left Laredo, TX on March 23th at 8:00 AM east coast time and rode to the Mexico / Guatemala border on the first day of the ride, a total of 1,180 miles. The route was mostly toll roads in Mexico which are pretty much like interstate roads in the US. We completed a Mexico B2B on the first day of the ride. We arrived at the Mexico / Guatemala border in the early morning of March 24th at 4:00 AM and the border gates were closed and did not open until 9:00 AM. So, we setup camp in the middle of the road until the gate was opened ( see photo ). We did manage to get an hour of or so of sleep until the rare Central America rhinoceros ( wild pig, see photo ) and the howler monkeys started moving around us.

It was easy checking out of Mexico as we did not close out our TIP. It took an hour and a half to check into Guatemala and get our TIP. We was still feeling pretty good after 25 hours on the road so we decided to continue on and ride to the Guatemala / Honduras border which is another 275 miles and cross the border into Honduras and then we rode 65 more miles to San Pedro Sula and got a nice hotel there for our first hotel stop of the ride which was 1,533 miles and took 40 hours of riding from when we left Texas. Since we was able to make it to San Pedro Sula before our first hotel stop allowed us to have a shot of making it to the End Of The Road in Yaviza, Panama in 4 days.

On "day" two we rode to our hotel in David, Panama a total of 800 miles with three border crossings. We checked into the hotel at 12 noon and was back on the road twelve hours later at midnight heading to the End Of The Road at Yaviza, Panama which was 470 miles.

All was good until we rounded a curve and there had been an accident where a truck load of corn kernels had spilled across all 4 lanes, and it was about 2 to 3 inches deep. There was no real warning on our side of the highway. Bill was leading and hit the corn, which was like riding on marbles, and he started zigging and zagging while slowing down. He did a great job keeping his GSA upright. Mike and I saw this and were able to slow down before we started sliding. We all had to dog paddle our way out of the corn kernels hoping no one came up behind us not able to stop because of the corn kernels.

Because of the corn incident we arrived in Panama City at rush hour and got into some very heavy traffic. We accidentally got separated as we were entering Panama City and met back up about 50 miles south of Panama City. We continued on to Yaviza when I saw something bouncing in the road that looked like a pannier from a GSA. Well, it turned out it was Bill’s left side pannier that came off its mount and fell off the bike. I was in the rear and was able to communicate to Bill and Mike that Bill’s pannier fell off and we needed to stop to recover it. We stopped in the road as there was no shoulder and I started flagging vehicles to go around as Bill recovered his pannier and used straps to put it back on securely. About 30 miles from Yaviza my radar detector went off! I had been targeted with radar by a local police officer. I apologized a lot and did not get a ticket.

We arrived in Yaviza and the End Of The Road right at 12 noon on March 27, 2025, 100 hours after leaving Laredo, TX. We took a lot of photos, walked out on the swinging bridge that crossed the river to the Darien Gap, and then had a nice lunch before getting back on the road and riding 190 miles including the same 40 miles of dirt that we rode going to Yaviza back to Panama City where we stayed the night at a hotel just north of Panama City on the Panama Canal, Holiday Inn Panama Canal, we had stayed there on the first ride back in 2022. We got another 8+ hours of sleep before starting the ride back north to the US.

We stayed 13 hours at our hotel in Panama City to get some good rest to ensure we were ready for the hard ride back to the US. We departed our hotel at 8:25 AM heading for the Costa Rica border, it was a good ride and took a little over 6 hours to ride the 310 miles. It took an hour and twenty minutes to check out of Panama and into Costa Rica turning our Panama TIP and reactivating our Costa Rica TIP. The Costa Rican Aduana (Customs Office) is about 2 kilometers after crossing into Costa Rica on the right side in a new building since we were there back in 2022. We left the Costa Rican Aduana office at 3:00 PM as the time changed back to Central time (CST) in Costa Rica. The Nicaragua border crossing closes at midnight so we were pushing pretty hard to be sure we got there at least an hour before they close. We arrived at the Costa Rica border at 10:30 PM and it took 30 minutes to turn in our TIP and get our passports stamped out of Costa Rica arriving at Nicaragua border customs office at 11:05 PM. We got in line to get our passports stamped in and then everything came to a stand still. We were in the line for an hour wondering if we would get processed in and get our TIP. Finally, they started checking people in around 12:20 AM and we still needed to get our TIP. The persons working the TIP office said they would wait for us. We finally got all of our processing done, including being searched for drones, and got our TIP at 1:05 AM. While waiting in the line to get our passports stamped, I had booked two rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Managua, 90 miles away. As we were exiting the border area Nicaragua has a post that checks all the paperwork including the TIP. After checking Bill’s and mine they found an error on Mike’s TIP where they had entered the wrong license plate number and the person would not let Mike leave until the paperwork was fixed, which was not happening until the morning since the Aduana offices had closed until 6:00 AM. We tried to convince the person to let Mike leave but no luck. We sent Bill on to the hotel in Managua to get some rest and I stayed with Mike at the Aduana office to wait until morning so he could get his TIP fixed. The Nicaragua Aduana officer tried to make me leave the border area but I was not leaving Mike there alone so I just ignored their orders. While waiting until morning we tried to get some rest in a couple of chairs inside a small police hut. It was a LONG night.

Morning arrived, and it took 2 hours for them to fix Mike’s TIP before we were able to leave the border area at 8:00 AM. We were at the Nicaragua border for over 8 hours, Nicaragua border crossings always seem to be a problem for us. In the meantime, Bill was at the hotel in Managua. We sent him a message that we would not be stopping at the hotel and that we would meet him at the Nicaragua / Honduras border crossing later that day. We rode the 195 miles to the Nicaragua / Honduras border crossing arriving at 1:50 PM. Mike and I made a couple stops to take some nice photos with a couple different volcanos in the background. Just as we were arriving at the border there was Bill in front of us, very good timing. It took  50 minutes to get all of us checked out of Nicaragua and turn in our TIP. It took another 1 1/2 hours to get checked in to Honduras and get our TIP. Our plan was to ride through Honduras to El Salvador and on to the Hilton in the capital, San Salvador, and get a couple rooms there to catch up on our sleep.

The ride from the Honduras border to the El Salvador border is only 80 miles so we expected to be at the hotel in San Salvador by 10:00 PM as it was only another 130 miles from the El Salvador border. We left the Honduras border area at 4:00 PM with only one border crossing and 210 miles to ride to the hotel in San Salvador. We arrived at the Honduras / El Salvador border at 7:00 PM and it took 30 minutes for us to check out of Honduras and turn in our TIP. We checked in to El Salvador at 7:40 PM and then rode over to the Aduana office, about 2 kilometes from the border area, to get our TIP. For some reason it took 1:45 minutes to get our TIP, as we was just waiting and waiting. This changed our planned arrival time at the hotel in San Salvador a little as we still had to ride 130 miles at night on some twisty roads. In the US that is less than 2 hours but in El Salvador with really bad road conditions and some good mountain roads it took significantly longer. We left the El Salvador Aduana office at 9:30 PM, and it took us 3 hours, finally arriving at the hotel at 12:20 AM. We decided to again take a 12-hour rest break as Mike, and I had not slept since we left the hotel in Panama City some 40 hours earlier after being stuck at the Nicaragua border for over 8 hours. Bill was able to get some sleep at the hotel in Managua.

In San Salvador Bill had decided to break off from us at this point and ride to Belize and other places at a more leisurely pace. He had already left the hotel before we woke up.

Mike and I left the hotel at 12:30 PM after taking our time to get around and get back on the road. Our plan was to ride straight through to the US. We thought the Guatemala / Mexico border crossing that was on our route was open 24 hours. We arrived at the El Salvador / Guatemala border at 2:10 PM and it took only 15 minutes to stamp out of El Salvador and turn in our TIP. We arrived at the Guatemala border 2:35 PM and it took 15 minutes to stamp in as we had our previously uncancelled TIP from our ride south.

It started to rain soon after crossing into Guatemala and rained hard for about 3 hours. We rode through 20 high water crossings some as deep as our foot pegs. We stopped twice to get out of the rain and dry out a little as it was very hard riding. We finally got out of the rain, but it had really slowed us down and added a lot of time to our ride. We did not arrive at the Guatemala / Mexico border at El Carmen until 11:00 PM and found the border closed at 10:00 PM. It was not opening until 8:00 AM the next morning. It did not look safe to hang out at the border, so we decided to backtrack and find a safe looking gas station to get some rest until the border opened. About 7 miles back we found an open Texaco gas station with a small café and booths that we could hangout in. There was also a security guard with a big shotgun. Around 1:30 AM as we were sitting in the booth trying to get some rest, I noticed a sign that said reception and Mike checked and found that there was a hotel attached to the gas station with small rooms for $25 a night. We got two rooms and got a couple hours of sleep until 6:00 AM before getting up to ride back to the border crossing.

Mike and I packed up the GSA’s and started riding back to the Guatemala / Mexico border at around 7:30 AM so we would arrive at the border just as they were opening. It took us 20 minutes to stamp out and turn in our Guatemala TIP. It took us 15 minutes to stamp into Mexico as we already had our TIP that we did not close on the ride south. We rode pretty hard all day and the temperatures started to climb around noon time. We made a few stops for gas and a little food but just kept going. The temperatures were between 102 and 105 degrees all afternoon, it was hot and it felt hot. As the sun started to set the temperatures dropped back into the 90’s. We kept riding hard for the US border. At 6:15 PM we stopped at a Pemex gas station with a café near Cordoba, Mexico for about an hour to cool down and relax some as we still had a hard all-night ride to the US border ahead of us. At 4:00 AM we stopped for gas just pass Miramar, Mexico at a Mobile gas station that had a OXXO store. We took a 30-minute coffee break as it had been a long night and we was tired. We were both anxious to get back in the US, so we got back on the road headed for the border.

We had 375 miles to the US border at 6:00 AM and we needed to make one more gas stop. Our last gas stop was at 10:40 AM at a Gasolinera gas station that also had a big restaurant. We met a group of riders from Mexico riding back south from the F1 races in Texas. We stopped for 50 minutes before we got back on the road for the final 100 miles to the US border. We had decided to cross back into the US at the Colombia, Mexico border crossing instead of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico border crossing to avoid some of the heavy traffic in that area. It added 30 miles to our ride, but it was a good decision. The road was pretty new and hardly any traffic the last 70 miles to the border. It took 30 minutes to stamp out and turn in our Mexico TIP. We arrived at the US border at 1:15 PM and it took 10 minutes to get through US Customs. We rode up the highway to a safe place to stop so we could congratulate ourselves for a hell of a ride to the End Of The Road and BACK in a little over 9 days. It was a crazy hard ride, and we rode the last 30 hours and 1,300 miles without sleep after riding as hard as we did for the previous 8 1/2 days.

Ride Timing From March 2025 Ride To End Of The Road And Back To The USA

Photos And Videos Of Our Ride To The End Of The Road In 2025

2025 Ride To End Of The Road Videos

Video of riding in southern Mexico - March 23 2025

Video of our BMW GSA's getting fumicated at Guatemala Aduana - March 24 2025

Video of us sitting at the Guatemala Aduana Office - March 24 2025

Video of us riding in Costa Rica - March 28 2025

Photos Of Border Crossing Documents

Ride To Costa Rica - September 2023

On our ride in September 2023 it took us 7 days round trip to ride from Eagle Pass, TX to Costa Rica and back. On the ride back to the US we kind of took our time stopping at the best hotel in Central America, InterContinental Managua at Metrocentro Mall, and staying late the next morning to catch up on some much needed rest and have a nice big buffet breakfast.

Ride Timing From September 2023 Ride To Costa Rica And Back To The USA

Photos Of Gas Stops Along Our Route In 2023

Photos Of Border Crossings Along Our Route ( 2022 & 2023 )

In September 2023 I had a newer GoPro Hero 11 mounted for the ride to Panama and recorded a lot of videos on this ride and I uploaded them to my YouTube channel. Here is the video of us entering Mexico at Piedras Negras at the Eagle Pass International Bridge I September 10, 2023.

Video of Mike Bobbitt and I entering Mexico from the Eagle Pass International Bridge I - September 2023

Based on what you just read, you could see that we did a lot of night riding on our ride down to Panama and back. We had no issues and easily found gas stations open along our route with plenty of places to eat. We had no problems and no one messed with us. We stayed out of the towns and on the roads on our route which we knew was going to be pretty safe.

Ride To Panama Canal - April 2022

On our ride in April 2022 took us 9 and a half days round trip to ride from Eagle Pass, TX to the Panama Canal and back. We had some issues like the flat tire I had in Guatemala on the ride down and on the ride back we was delayed 12 hours trying to enter Nicaragua. Nicaragua closed the border crossing early and we had to sleep over night in no-mans land between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Also on the ride down we stopped early in David, Panama because it was raining cats and dogs and we spent the night there. We are hoping that those issues will not happen this time and we can save one day of riding. I am still thinking it could take up to 9 days to do the ride though because we are riding farther south to the Darien Gap. Here are the times of our ride in April 2022 based on Spotwalla tracking. We did ride an extra 150 miles trying to ride to the Darien Gap ( rain, bad road and running short on time forced us to turn around ) which took 4 hours.

The below maps refer to “Greg Rice” days to ride from Texas to the Panama Canal and back. “Greg Rice” days are a little different than your normal 24-hour day as I like to extend the day a little. I call it endurance riding.

Ride Timing From April 2022 Ride To The Panama Canal And Back To USA

Spotwalla April 2022 Tracking Maps For Each "Day" Riding South

Spotwalla April 2022 Tracking Maps For Each "Day" Riding North

Here is Mike's and my Spotwalla tracking links from our ride to Panama in April 2022.

Greg Rice - 2022 Panama Spotwalla Tracking Link

Mike Bobbitt - 2022 Panama Spotwalla Tracking Link

Photos of the flat and what caused it that I had on the rear tire in Guatemala in April 2022

Tire Repair Shop In La Libertad, Guatemala - April 2022

Once we located a tire repair shop I removed the rear wheel and they had a tire machine and removed the tire and patched it on the inside with a large truck size tire patch. They did a great job and it only cost $20. I also gave them a $20 tip for getting it done quickly. The patch worked and I rode the rest of the ride to Panama and back home to Fort Lauderdale on that tire which was over 6,000 more miles.

We stayed at the Hotel Monja Blanca in La Libertad, Gatemala on both the April 2022 and September 2023 rides in both directions. It was a nice clean and cheap ( $35 ) hotel where they close the gates and lock them in the evenings.

The next day we rode nineteen and a half hours riding through Honduras and Nicaragua to get to the Nicaragua / Costa Rica border where we arrived at 4:30 AM. We waited three hours ( rested on the ground in a parking lot ) for the border to open and then one hour to complete the exit process and turn in our TIP so we could enter Costa Rica. After completing immigration and getting our TIP we continued to ride until we reached David, Panama. The process at the Panama border was going great until we had to purchase temporary vehicle insurance ( $20 ) and the person who sells the insurance was away at church as it was Easter Sunday. He did not come back for two hours so it took two and a half hours to complete the process to enter Panama. It was a thirty-seven hour "day" with a three hour rest break at the Nicaragua border.

On the April 2022 ride once we entered Panama it started raining like crazy and we started looking for a hotel. The closest big city was David so we found a hotel there and I called to book rooms on the way.

A couple short videos of the rain we encountered on our ride during the April 2022 ride, one video heading south after entering Panama and the other on our ride north in the Costa Rica rainforest.

During the April 2022 ride we stayed at two hotels on the ride south and two hotels on the ride north and couple times we slept on the ground to get some much needed rest. I mention this because I want others riders who may want to ride with me understand what it will take to do this ride with me.

On the April 2022 ride we treated ourselves to a nice hotel in David, Panama, Hampton by Hilton. We got our own rooms and relaxed. We had to dry out our riding gear and get some real food. I ordered so much food from room service I ended up only eating half of it. The room service bill was bigger than the hotel bill which was $60.

On the April 2022 ride back north we stayed at a in Hotel Choluteca, Honduras. It was called Hotel Boutique Casa D' Luna and was a nice hotel and cost $40 for a room with two beds.

Fun times in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on the return in April 2022 where we meet José Rolan Talbott Muñoz, at this Burger King

Mike Bobbitt's photo of me entering Mexico - April 2022

Traffic Cam picture of Mike and I entering Mexico at Eagle Pass, TX - April 2022

This is a short video ( turn up the volume ) of the Howler monkeys closing in on us while we was asleep in no man's land between Costa Rica and the Nicaragua border on our ride back north. This was around 3:00 AM and we was asleep on the ground and thought we heard monsters attacking. The monkeys kept getting closer and more and more of them. The Costa Rica National Guard started shining bright lights up into the trees around us and eventually the monkeys started to move away. Of course we did not go back to sleep after that.

Based on what you just read, you could see that we did a lot of night riding on our ride down to Panama and back. We had no issues and easily found gas stations open along our route with plenty of places to eat. We had no problems and no one messed with us. We stayed out of the towns and on the roads on our route which we knew was going to be pretty safe.

On the April 2022 ride to Panama I had a GoPro Hero 9 mounted on my GSA and I made over 100 videos during our ride. Here is the first video of us crossing into Mexico from Eagle Pass, TX. I have all of the videos on my YouTube Channel. Greg Rice - YouTube Channel.

Video of us entering Mexico from the Eagle Pass International Bridge I - April 2022

Mexico, Central America And End Of The Road Ride Planning

On out four expeditions to Mexico and Central America we have used different routes Mexico and in Central America. Some rides started in Eagle Pass, TX and others in Laredo, TX. For a little while it was getting a little crazy in Eagle Pass and very hard to get a hotel there. Starting in Laredo, TX makes it easier to get a hotels and reduce the miles riding in Mexico around 230 miles if you take the route along the east side of Mexico instead of down the center along the mountains. You can do this ride on any motorcycle and a ADV motorcycle is not required. I rode my BMW RT on the September 2023 ride and it did just fine. I know others who have ridden Gold Wing's, C14's and FJR's to Panama and back with no problems. The reason a ADV style motorcycles works better on Mike and my rides is that we move quickly and we ride at night and a ADV motorcycle is more forgiving with the extra suspension travel and more ground clearance.

After the border crossings the hardest part of the April 2022 ride was heavy rain in northern Panama on the ride down and in the Costa Rica rain forest on the ride back. We just rode slow and took our time. We did have some heavy rain in Guatemala on the September 2023 and March 2025 rides but it was just for about 100 miles. The other hard part is seeing the topes ( speed bumps ), these can really wake you up if you did not see them at 40+ MPH. Topes are mostly entering and exiting towns and some in the middle of towns. They can be big and potentially damage your wheels and or motorcycle. Once you ride over a few you get the hang of how best to ride over them.

One of the toughest things I had to do over the years was to convince my wife that my idea to ride to the Panama Canal would be safe and that everything will be ok. It did take some convincing but I was able to prove that I could do this ride safely in April of 2022. The next step was to convince my wife that I could do the ride again and this time all the way to the end of the road the Darien Gap. So in September 2023 Mike and I set out to ride to the Darien Gap and we was stopped at the Costa Rica border due to some document issues and we had to turn around. It did not feel good.

We believed we have resolved the vehicle TIP document issues and in March of 2025 we made it all the way to the Darien Gap, it was a hell of a ride. It took us 100 hours from the Banjercito office in Nuevo Laredo to the End Of The Road at Yaviza, Panama. We also had a thrid rider with us on the ride, Bill Karitis.

Now that we have the experiences from the four rides ( 2022, 2023, 2025 & 2026 ) to Mexico and Central America we have found some ways to improve on the ride and timing of the rides both south and back north. One way is starting the rides from Laredo, TX and leaving around 11:00 AM so we arrive at a good time at the Mexico / Guatemala border crossing as it does not open until 9:00 AM. The goal is to reduce the amount of down time we had during the 2022 year ride and one way wedid that was by starting in Laredo instead of Eagle Pass and this reduced the miles on the route in Mexico to 1,180 miles from the 1,408 miles in the previous two rides. This does cut the time riding in Mexico by 3 hours in each direction.

One of the best things we have done is to purchase toll transponders for the toll roads in Mexico. We like using the toll roads in Mexico as it really reduces the time it takes to ride through Mexico going south and back north. On two of the rides to Central America we have saved over 3 hours of time each way using toll transponders. One reason we have saved so much time is that motorcycles move tot he front of the lines at tool booths and we do not have to wait in some of the very long lines at some of the tollbooths. You can buy toll transponders at must convenience stores like OXXO's. Once you purchase the toll transponder you can add money to it when you purchase the transponder. You may need Mexican pesos as some of the convenience stores will not let you use a credit card to add money to the transponder. See below in the Mexico country section for more information on the toll transponders.

We had a total of 41 hours of stopped time including the flat I had, time waiting for borders to open and hotel stops on the ride in 2022. We only wasted a few hours in Mexico on that ride. One of the ways we are improving the time is that we are starting in Laredo, TX which makes the route 250 miles less than the two previous rides.

On the previous ride in 2022 our hotel stops were longer than we liked due to a couple things. The first hotel stop was because of my flat on the rear tire and needing to find a tire repair shop. We were a total of 17 hours in La Libertad, Guatemala and I hoped to reduce that on future rides to 10 hours. We was able to do that on the 2023 ride. We had ahotel stop in David, Panama was 14 hours and mostly because we stopped early after dealing with a 3 hour delay at the Panama border crossing waiting on the vehicle insurance office to open. It was Easter and the person who worked at the insurance office was at church playing the piano and we had to wait for them to return as it was the only place to buy the required insurance. We also was riding in heavy rain once we left the Panama border crossing so we started looking for a hotel to get a brake. We stopped at David and checked in to a hotel there around 9:30 PM and did not leave until 12 noon the next day. We needed that rest because of the time spent waiting at border crossings. I am hoping to improve on the time we spent at hotels and improve on the timing of border crossing to reduce the stopped time. On the March 2025

A nice thing about riding in Mexico and Central America was that the gas does not contain ethanol and our miles per tank went way up. We both had AUX tanks so we had over a 450 mile range since the gas had no ethanol and the speeds are lower. On one leg between gas stops I rode 538 miles before I bought gas.

My GPS Showing The 538 Miles Since The Last Gas Stop

Important Things to Have and Do Before the Ride

After four expeditions through Mexico and Central America—including two rides to Panama and the End Of The Road in Yaviza—we have learned that preparation, organization and flexibility are just as important as the motorcycle. Border delays, changing road conditions, bad weather, flat tires and paperwork errors can cost hours or even end the ride.

Here is some of the things you should do if you are looking to do this ride as a long distance endurance ride to help make it more successful. First is to be prepared as best you can to solve most any issues that could happen during the ride. One main thing is to have a good tire repair kit and air compressor. On all of my rides to Central America I had two air compressors and three tire repair kits and it turned out that was a great idea as I had a flat in Guatemala on the April 2022 ride that we had to plug three times before we made it to the next town and could get the tire patched. On the ride back north during September 2023 ride I had a TPMS warning on the rear tire showing I had lost 5 pounds and I was able to use one of my tire compressors to add air at a gas stop. I also carry three tire spoons in case I need to remove the tire on the road. I also carry a tow rope to tow me or the other rider if the engine stops working. There are may places along the route that there may be no help for many miles.

Documents and Border-Crossing Preparation - Before leaving any border office, carefully check the motorcycle’s VIN, license plate number, rider’s name, passport number and TIP expiration date. A single incorrect number can prevent a rider from leaving the border or entering another country. This happened to us in Nicaragua when an incorrect license plate number was entered on a TIP, resulting in an overnight delay. Never assume a previous TIP was properly canceled. Our 2023 ride ended at the Costa Rica border because the motorcycles still appeared in the system from the previous ride. Keep every cancellation receipt until well after returning home.

• A passport valid for at least six months beyond the planned trip.

• A valid driver’s license.

• The motorcycle’s original registration and a color copy of the title.

• A lender or leasing-company authorization letter if the motorcycle has a loan, lien or lease.

• Proof of motorcycle insurance for every country where it is required.

• A major credit card in the rider’s name for deposits, insurance and vehicle permits.

• Two color copies of every important document for every border crossing.

• Digital copies stored securely on the rider’s phone and in cloud storage.

• Separate document packets organized and labeled for each country.

• Printed copies of hotel reservations, emergency contacts and the planned route.

• Copies of every Temporary Vehicle Import Permit—TIP or TVIP—and every cancellation or suspension receipt.

• A pen, small clipboard and document pouch that can be reached without unloading the motorcycle.

Border Timing and Country Requirements - A border may technically be open while the insurance, fumigation or customs office needed to admit the motorcycle is closed. During our first Panama ride, we waited approximately three hours for the only available insurance office to open. Country requirements, fees and border hours can change without notice. Riders should verify everything again shortly before departure using official government and embassy sources.

• Confirm the current operating hours of every immigration, customs, fumigation and insurance office.

• Check weekend and holiday schedules, not just the normal border hours.

• Plan to arrive several hours before a border closes.

• Allow extra time for TIPs, insurance, fumigation, inspections and photocopies.

• Verify whether a country allows its TIP to remain open for the return trip.

• Complete any required online applications or land-entry preregistration before leaving home.

• Do not build a schedule that depends on every border crossing taking less than an hour.

• Have a safe waiting or hotel location identified near every major border.

Important Nicaragua Warning - Do not carry a drone into Nicaragua. Luggage and motorcycles may be searched, and bringing a drone can result in confiscation, delays or denial of entry. Nicaragua has also required advance notification for some travelers entering by land. Verify the current requirement well before departure instead of waiting until arriving at the border.

Money and Payment - The toll-road transponders were one of our best purchases. They saved us several hours in each direction through Mexico and avoided repeatedly handling cash at more than fifteen toll booths.

• Obtain Mexican pesos and smaller amounts of local currency before the ride.

• Carry small bills for border fees, fumigation, tolls, food and parking.

• Keep border money separate from the rider’s primary cash.

• Carry at least two credit cards and store them in separate locations.

• Keep some emergency U.S. currency in a protected location.

• Use a credit card for Mexico’s refundable motorcycle deposit when possible.

• Purchase and preload a Mexican toll-road transponder.

• Keep additional pesos available because some stores may not accept a credit card when adding money to the transponder.

Navigation, Communication and Tracking - We became separated in Panama City traffic during the 2025 ride. Every group should have a clear separation procedure: continue to a predetermined fuel stop, hotel or GPS waypoint instead of trying to stop in unsafe traffic.

• A primary GPS loaded with current Mexico and Central America maps.

• A backup GPS or navigation-capable phone.

• Offline maps that work without cellular service.

• GPX files containing the planned route, border offices, fuel stops, hotels and alternate routes.

• Printed border coordinates and critical route information.

• A satellite communicator such as Garmin inReach or SPOT X.

• Satellite tracking shared with family or trusted contacts.

• A group intercom system with replacement charging cables.

• Multiple motorcycle USB charging ports. Portable battery packs for phones, headsets and satellite devices.

• A prearranged meeting point in case the group becomes separated.

Road and Riding Hazards - Topes are especially common when entering or leaving towns. Slow down whenever buildings, roadside businesses or populated areas begin—even when there is no warning sign. Do not assume that the pavement will continue because the GPS identifies the road as a highway. During the 2022 ride, our planned route in Nicaragua unexpectedly became a long dirt road, requiring an alternate route and a different border crossing. Riders should be prepared for:

• Large and sometimes unmarked topes or speed bumps.

• Deep potholes, broken pavement, gravel, dirt and construction.

• Washouts and damaged bridges.

• Livestock, pedestrians and unlighted vehicles.

• Debris or spilled cargo in the road.

• Heavy tropical rain and standing water.

• Extremely high temperatures.

• Long sections with little or no shoulder.

• Aggressive passing on two-lane roads.

• Heavy traffic around Guatemala City, San José and Panama City.

Group-Riding Organization - Every rider should be completely responsible for their own motorcycle, documents, money and expenses. The group should also:

• Assign a lead rider and sweep rider.

• Decide who communicates with border officials.

• Inspect one another’s TIPs before leaving each border.

• Establish fuel, food and rest procedures.

• Agree on what happens if a motorcycle breaks down.

• Carry duplicate critical equipment across different motorcycles.

• Avoid storing every tool, compressor or document copy on one motorcycle.

• Establish daily and emergency check-in procedures with family members.

Health, Hydration and Emergency Protection - Long border delays, heat exceeding 100°F, tropical rain and repeated long riding days can quickly create fatigue and dehydration. Rest stops should be based on the condition of the riders—not just the planned schedule.

• A substantial first-aid kit with trauma supplies.

• Personal medications in their original containers.

• Additional prescription medication in case the ride is delayed.

• Electrolytes and a motorcycle-mounted hydration system.

• Extra bottled water.

• Rain gear and waterproof boots and gloves.

• Hot-weather base layers and sun protection.

• Medical evacuation and travel-security coverage such as Medjet Horizon.

• Emergency contact and medical-information cards.

• Registration with the U.S. State Department’s STEP program.

• A review of current State Department travel advisories before departure.

To find out more about riding in Mexico and Central America go to my YouTube Channel and checkout some of the 100+ videos I recorded of the ride last year. I have videos entering and exiting some of the countries, many military, police and other checkpoints and just some good riding through the countries. Greg Rice - YouTube Channel

This is the approx Sunrise and Sunset times during the dry season. All times are local time.

This is a image from Basecamp of POI's and routes along our route to the Darien Gap

My Documents Packages For Each Country With Multiple Copies Of The Required Documents

I spent around $1,500 on my ride back in April 2022 and about $1,200 on the September 2023 ride. On the 2025 ride I spent $1,700 roundtrip. I went to my bank and a local currency exchange to get currency for each of the countries we were going to be ridding in and that really helped. Most gas stations took our credit cards with no issues. I think there was only one gas station Mexico that did not take our credit cards.

We had NO issues with anyone on any of the four expeditons to Mexico and Central America, everyone was very nice. We did pass through many checkpoints some being police, military and others with no problems.

Most of our routes were planned around roads that have lots of traffic including commercial traffic and trucks. These roads are better maintained and border crossings are usually quicker because they have to be more organized to handle the amount of traffic they have. Many others look for the opposite types of roads but for this ride I think the more the better and safer.

Central America border crossings are a challenge and will require some patience's and lots of copies of documents. During the April 2022 ride Guatemala and Nicaragua took the most time to complete the paper work. Guatemala took time just because they was slow and the person had a typewriter. On the 2023 ride Guatemala was quick and less than 30 minutes as we learned we could get the required documents in the building next door instead of walking into town. Nicaragua took time because they had many windows we had to visit along with searches for drones and police sign offs on our documents to enter and exit Nicaragua. It was better in 2023 since there are no more COVID test . The other countries each took less than an hour to do the immigration and vehicle temporary import ( TIP ) paperwork.

Now that we have some experience doing this ride and what to expect at border crossings we are working on fine tuning the timing of the routes for each new expediton. Guatemala border crossing is only open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM so arriving early helps. Nicaragua can close the border crossing early so arriving before 11:00 PM ( closes at 12 midnight ) in both directions is a good idea.

The weather on all of the rides was dry, wet, hot and cold. Pretty much the whole gambit except snow. In 2023 it was above 100 degrees leaving Eagle Pass and for around 100 miles into Mexico. On the 2022 ride we had some pretty cold temps ( low 40's ) in the mountains in central Mexico and we put on our heated jackets. I expect to see temperatures as low as 45 degrees and as high has 90 degrees.

On the 2025 ride we started in late March and was the normal dry seasons for Mexico and Central America but we did have some heavy rain in Guatemala on the ride north. All three of us wear good Gore-Tex riding gear including boots to help keep us dry.

We registered with the US State Department Smart Traveler Enrollment Program ( STEP ) on all of our expeditions. This program allows you to register your trip with the US State Department so that they can notify you of important information from the Embassy about safety conditions in your destination country, helping you make informed decisions about your travel plans. Help the U.S. Embassy contact you in an emergency, whether natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency. Help family and friends get in touch with you in an emergency.

We all have a medical transport insurance called MedJet Assist that provides hospital to hospital transportation on an air ambulance or other means. We also have the motorcycle shipping option that will handle shipping our motorcycles back home if we are transported by MedJet. For this ride to the Darien Gap Panama I will again use a MedJet service called MedJet Horizon and with the upgrade to Horizon I get the following additional services (  travel security and crisis response services benefits powered by corporate security experts FocusPoint International ) that at least make my wife and me feel a little more secure knowing I will have some additional help if I need it.

The Motorcycle and Gear

During our ride planning we have been trying to figure out what we will need to take with us on the ride and I have been building this list that is still growing. Here is a list of items we will be carrying that I feel is about the minimum needed to be able to get us back on the road.

• Extra Fuel ( AUX Tank ) - Longer range in case gas stations are not available

• Good Lighting ( Clearwater AUX Lights ) - We are planing on doing some night riding when possible

• SPOT X Two Way Satellite Messages - TWO-WAY Satellite Messenger

• SPOT GEN 4 Satellite Messages - Satellite tracking

• Garmin inReach - TWO-WAY Satellite Messenger

• Dunlop Mutant Tires - Versatile tires

• Flashlights ( 8 )

• Stop n Go Tire Repair Kit ( 3 )

• Portable Air Compressor

• Slime 40061 Tire Inflator - Backup Air Compressor - Backup air compressor

• Tire Inner Tube - In case we can not plug a hole we will put the tire tube in and that should get us down the road

• Tire Spoons ( 3 ) - Be able to remove tire on the road

• First Aid Kit ( Sam's Splint, Israeli Bandages, Tourniquets )

• Tools - Many

• Duct Tape - Gorilla Tape

• Jump Start Battery

• Backup Portable Chargers - To Charge Cell Phone And Or Sena 50S

• USB Ports For Motorcycle To Charge Phone / Headset

• Siphon Hose

• Fire Extinguisher

• Reflective Road Hazard Triangle

• One Gallon Hydration System For Drinking Water

• Extra Bottled Water

• Tow Rope - In case someone needs to be towed

On the April 2022 ride I rode my 2019 BMW GSA and it is a great choice with its all around capabilities. On the September 2023 ride I rode my 2023 BMW R1250 RT and it also was a good choice and handled all of the road conditions that we came upon including a foot deep water crossing. The RT could have used a little more suspension travel and more ground clearance.

I am back on a BMW R1250 GSA so lets roll!

I have done a few modifications that help me be a ride farther, longer and more comfortable. The changes I made to the BMW RT help make it a better long distance riding motorcycle. Many of the modifications listed below did come in handy on last years ride to Central America and will give me a better chance of completing the ride this year.

My motorcycle is well prepared for rides like this so I do not expect any issues related to my motorcycle. I performed a full maintenance including valve check and the drive shaft spline check on the prior rides to Central America.

Tires

On the September 2023 ride I ran Dunlop Mutant tires on the front and rear on my 2023 BMW RT. I used these tires in the 2021 Senior Butt Rally and they worked great. I ran an oversized rear tire, 190/55R17, to get a little more ground clearance. The Dunlop Mutant tires got good mileage and worked well on all of the roads we rode on. On the April 2022 ride I rode my 2019 BMW GSA and I ran a Bridgestone Battlax Adventure A41 on the front and on the rear I ran a Dunlop Trailsmart because I found a nail in my tire on the day the ride started and switched to the only tire I had available. I first I looked at using a run-flat car tire that would give me a lot of miles but I am not sure I could remove a car tire on the side of the road for repair so I decided against that. I used a car tire back in 2018 on my Gold Wing when I rode to Mexico and it was fine as I was near services all the time so it was not as big a concern for me. I am still reviewing tire options for the upcoming ride but the Dunlop Mutant, Michelin Anakee Adventure and the Bridgestone A41's are on the top of my list.

EElectronics

Bill, Mike and I have a lot of electronics on our motorcycles that help us keep informed and headed in the right direction. This includes multiple GPS, weather and weather radar, radar detectors along with other electronics. On my motorcycle it takes a elaborate audio mixer system to get all of this information into my helmet so I do not have to take my eyes off the road when I can hear information in my helmet.

Communication

During our April 2022 ride our Verizon cell phones worked 80% of the ride and Nicaragua had the least amount of cell phone coverage. Much of the coverage was only 3G but there was some 4G LTE around the bigger cities. We never felt like we was out of communication. Many places we stopped also had Wi-Fi and we was able to send and receive large files as needed.

On the past two rides we used Cardo Bluetooth headsets and they worked well. On this years ride we will be using Cardo Edge Bluetooth headsets to communicate with each other. They work great and give us a good half mile range.

On the past two rides I used my Spot satellite tracking devices and was glad to have them to provides location updates for everyone and in the event of an emergency. I have a SPOT GEN4 and a SPOT X satellite tracking devices that worked great in sending our locations and providing tracking for others who were following us during our ride. On the 2023 ride I added a SPOT X as it has two way message capabilities and a built-in compass that can navigate to programed waypoints. I will be using the SPOT GEN4 and a SPOT X again on this years ride.

Bill and Mike have Garmin inReach that also has the ability to send two way messages like my SPOT X. Our tracking devices will show our tracking location every 5 minutes ( see Spotwalla map link below ) and when we stop for border crossings, hotels or gas stops we will mark the locations with a SPOT OK message. Both the SPOT X and SPOT GEN4 can be hired wired for power and that will keep them working without new batteries for the whole ride.

AUX Lights and AUX Tank

I have installed Erica lights from Clearwater Lights and R7's from Ruby Moto, Mike has D7's and D4's from Denali that will light up the night when ever we are riding through the night which we have done on both of the previous rides. The Clearwater, Denali and Ruby lights worked great last time and I am sure they will do the same on this ride. They also add a lot of conspicuity to be seen in the day time. Another benefit of the powerful aux lights is that people around us seem to think we are serious professional riders and they seem to treat us better.

On the April 2022 ride I rode my 2019 GSA and I had a 3.3 gallon aux tank that gave me 11.2 gallons of gas which gave me a 400+ mile range. During the September 2023 ride I was riding my 2023 BMW RT and I had a 4.4 gallon AUX tank mounted over the passenger seat that give me a total of 11 gallons of gas that also provided me a 400+ mile range. It may be hard to believe but the gas in Mexico and Central America is better than the gas we have in the US because they do not add ethanol to their gas so we got much better gas mileage than we do in the US. In fact there was one stretch where we rode 538 miles between gas stops.

On this years ride I will have the same 4.4 gallon aux tank as last years ride but since I am going to be riding my 2024 BMW GSA I will have 12.3 gallons of gas and should have a 500+ mile range. Mike has a 5 gallon AUX tank on his GSA so he has 12 gallons of fuel available and has a 500+ mile fuel range.

On both of the previous rides we had no problem finding gas as it seems like there are more gas stations than any other types of business. I have also identified gas stations that are open 24 hours in all of the countries we will be riding through along our planned route. There also is gas stations near most of the border crossings and we have stopped at some of them in the past.

Other Gear

I have Aerostich tank panniers that are mounted on the left passenger foot peg that I have tools and supplies stored in. On the right passenger foot peg I have a 1 gallon jug for water mounted with a Garauld hydration system mount. The 1 gallon jug usually last me about 20 hours and keeps the water cold for about the same 20 hours. This is a nice way to carry things low on the motorcycle to keep the center of gravity low.

I have a large tank bag by SW-Motech that I can carry things I need to get to while riding including snacks to keep me going. I also store some electronics in a box in the SW-Motech tank bag. I have a pretty elaborate audio mixer setup in the tank bag to mix the audio from multiple devices like my Garmin RV890 GPS and my radar detector.

I am carrying two First Aid kits with different items in each to be sure I can take care of pretty much any thing that comes up.

Riding Gear

The first thing I put on before anything else is my LDComfort underwear / base layer as this is what keeps me comfortable in all types of weather from damn hot to freezing cold. LDComfort really does a great job of transferring the moisture away and keeping me dry. I have been wearing LDComfort gear for over 15 years and I can't find anything better.

I wear Aerostich Darien Hi-Viz jacket and Aerostich AD1 pants that will keep me safe and dry throughout the ride. This setup works well and is comfortable enough that I may not take them off for 3 days at a time. I also wear TCX Gore-Tex boots that keep my feet dry and well protected.

I will be wearing a new boot from TCX called TCX-Clima-2-Surround-Gore-Tex with some new Gore-Tex technology that should keep my feet dry.

Bill and Mike wear Klim Badlands PRO jacket and pants and they provide them great protection from all of the elements just as my Aerostich gear does. Klim does a great job in keeping them dry in heavy downpours.

Central America Maps For Garmin GPS

I have multiple Garmin GPS's  ( Garmin Zumo XT and RV 890 ) mounted on the handlebar and the cross bar behind the windscreen. My Garmin GPS's are loaded with 2025 North America Maps that includes all of Mexico including POI's for Mexico. For the Central American countries I am using OpenMapChest maps that are Garmin GPS compatible. The maps are available for Basecamp and Garmin GPS's from a website that allows you to select what maps you need and download maps to use in Basecamp and on your GPS. For a small donation of $20 I was able to download a installation file for Basecamp and a map file ( em>OpenMapChest Central America.img ) to load on my Garmin GPS's ( Zumo XT and RV890 ). They work great and have many POI's for gas stations, hotels and other places you may be looking for. They are also routable and blend in with the maps I already have installed on my GPS. I used these maps during the 2022 and 2023 rides and they worked great. One thing I found was that I have to leave the OpenMapChest Central America map unchecked in settings until I enter Guatemala as it was causing routing issues in the US and Mexico.

Here is a link to the Central America map website. https://www.openmapchest.org/maps/central-america/

Once you download the map from OpenMapChest for use on Garmin GPS's ( OpenMapChest Central America.img, around 344 megabytes ) it goes in this folder on your GPS. "ZumoXT / RV 890"/Internal Storage/Garmin/Map.

This is how it looks on my computer showing where to copy the map file too

Once you have the map downloaded and installed on your GPS this is what it will look like on the GPS. Be sure to go to settings / mymaps and check the box for the OpenMapChest map, see the red box in the image below.

Here are a couple images of the Central American maps from OpenMapChest installed on my GPS

I will running Google maps and Waze maps on my iPhone mounted on the left handlebar. I also have a backup phone that is a Google Fi phone with service in Central America. With Google maps and my two Garmin GPS's I should not get lost.

One very useful thing we found out about using Waze is that it identified most of the upcoming topes ( speed bumps) and this was very useful especially at night.

OOn the past two rides I had a GoPro Hero 9 on the April 2022 ride and a GoPro Hero 11 on the September 2023 ride. On this upcoming ride I am going to be using a GoPro Hero 11 camera and a Insta360 X3 camera to take video of as much of this ride as possible as I did on the last two rides. I was able to record some good videos of the border crossings and the roads and towns we passed through on last two rides and I am hoping to add to those videos and get more videos of the border crossings to share for future riders making the trip.

Before you decide to head south to Panama or anywhere in Central America you should review the US State Department Travel Advisories/strong>, here is the link.Travel Advisories (state.gov)

• Passport - Valid for more than 6 months minimum

• Drivers License

• Vehicle Registration

• Vehicle Title - Some Countries

• Fire Extinguisher - Some Countries

• Reflective Safety Road Hazard Triangle - Some Countries

• Local Currency ( Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua )

All of the countries have some fees you have to pay to enter the country. They are not expensive but they do add up. I think the most expensive is Mexico when you add up all of the fees because Mexico has an expensive vehicle insurance cost around $100. The fees in the rest of the countries are less but expect something around $20 to $40 total for each country. Some are less but I think it is better to be prepared so I can shorten the time it takes to complete a border crossing.

It is a good idea to get local currency before you do this ride because this is a long distance endurance ride you don't want to take time stopping to exchange currency. It is pretty easy to get most of the countries currency fro your bank or local currency exchange. Here is how much local currency I recommend based on my ride last year. Mexico will be the most because of the tolls, there are a lot of them and some are not cheap. The dollar is used in Costa Rica and Panama so you don't need to get those currencies. Almost everywhere take credit cards but having local money for the border crossing fees really helps. Below is the amount in US dollars that you should exchange into the local currencies.

• Mexico - $700

• Guatemala - $50

• Honduras - $50

• Nicaragua - $50

All of the Central American countries require you to obtain a temporary vehicle import permit ( TVIP / TIP ) and normally they require you to cancel the TVIP when you exit the country. We have been able to keep our Mexico TIP open on all four expeditions to Central America and close the TIP when we exited Mexico going back into the USA. We ahve also been able to keep the Guatemal TIP open on the 2025 ride and closed it on the way back north. This saved us some time at each of the borders on the ride south to the Darien Gap Panama. Some of the countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica will let me keep the TVIP until I return on your ride back north. At each border crossing you may have to ask and or insist that you want to keep the TVIP open until you return. It may turn out to be just the luck of the draw if they agree to allow you to keep the TVIP open. I am going to have my wife write a letter in Spanish explaining why I want to do this and maybe that will help.

I always arrange to have local currency for each country so I can pay the fees at border crossings. Many banks will do this for you if you give them about a weeks notice. Also there are some online companies that sell foreign currency and mail it to your house.

Mike and I did NOT use any border helpers on April 2022 ride but we did on the September 2023 ride. It turned out to be a mistake to use the helpers. We did give a child at the Nicaragua border a few dollars to watch our motorcycles but mostly just to be nice.

Here are the current border crossings I plan to use and the times they are open but always verify before your departure. I need to plan my ride to arrive at each border when they are open. I do not want to be hanging around for long periods of time while waiting for the border to open.

Below is specific information for each country. Each country has there own specific requirements and they may change at any time.

Mexico

What you need at a minimum to cross into Mexico.

Route in Mexico Is In Central Time Zone - The Mexican government has voted to eliminate daylight saving time in 2023.

Below is some specific information I found for each country. Each country has there own specific requirements and they may change at any time.

Requirements: If fully Vaccinated no test required.

Border Operations - Banjército Allende/Piedras Negras: 24 Hours

Google Map Link To Mexico Customs:Banjército Allende/Piedras Negras KM. 53.4 - Google Maps

Keep TVIP / TIP Open: Yes - We dit it on the ride south

• Passport - Valid For More Than 6 Months Minimum

• Drivers License

• Vehicle Registration / Vehicle Title In Your Name

• The Leasing / Loan Contract - if you're leasing our have a loan on the car with a letter saying you have permission to drive to Mexico

• A Major Credit Card In Your Name

• Tourist Card - Obtained Prior Or At The Border

• Vehicle Insurance - Obtained Prior Or At The Border

• Entry Fee = Mexico Tourist Card = $18.00

• Vehicle Insurance = Depends on what coverage you want and how many days coverage. - $50 and up.

• Vehicle Import Fee = $44.00

• Vehicle Deposit = Depends on value of Vehicle - Mine was $400.00, Yes, it is returned when exiting Mexico.

• Vehicle Fumigation = N/A

• Exit Fee = N/A

The route through Mexico on this ride is 1,180 miles and should take around 20 hours. On the previous two rides we had a different starting location so the route was 1,405 miles and took around 23 hours. I now have some good experience from ridding in Mexico and using the toll roads.

Mexico requires a bond on your motorcycle that you get back once you check out of Mexico. It is around $400 and can be done before going to Mexico ( see information below ) or at the entry point in Banjército in Nuevo Laredo. You will get the bond back the day after checking out of Mexico, it is best to use a credit card to pay it.

Roads In Mexico On My Route

• HWY 85 / 857D

• HWY 80 & 81

• HWY 180

• HWY 150

• HWY 145D

• HWY 180D / 180

• HWY 186

• HWY 203

• Carr Ceibo - El Ceibo

• El Ceibo Border Port

I have ridden into Mexico a few times over the years while attempting IBA certified rides and I have always wanted to ride farther south but never had the opportunity. Last years ride was no different, we mostly rode the toll roads and we did ride at night with no issues. Crossing the border paper work in Mexico is done 40 miles south of the border at Banjército Allende/Piedras Negras. It is opened 24 hours and was pretty easy to get the paper work completed.