• Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Consulting
  • Contact Me
  • Guest Posts
  • Links
  • Photo Gallery
    • North America
      • Alaska
      • Rafting the Grand Canyon
      • Taos Timber Frame
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Mexico
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama

freewheelings.com

Life, Travel and Technology for the Unconventionalist

  • Life
  • Travel
  • Technology

The Great Guatemala Motorcycle Wreck – Part Numero Tres

By Brandon Edward

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

 

P1114603The 3:00 AM truck arrives promptly at 4:00 AM.  The store owner is up and about to watch the show make sure everything goes smoothly.  The driver parks the truck facing downhill on a 15 degree angle, further elevating its bed, and pulls out a 1”x8” 1” thick plank.  He places it wobbly, on an angle to the truck and sends his two minions over to push the bike up the ramp.  I promptly intervene.  I explain to the best of my ability that two guys are not going to push a 650 pound motorcycle up a crooked ramp on a 45 degree angle.  I advise that we should take advantage of the 3 foot elevation of the P1114604porch the bike is already parked on, set the plank between the porch and the truck.  I assume he saw the logic in what I was saying and moved the truck accordingly.  With everything in place to my satisfaction I fired up the bike and drove it up the ramp under its own power.  Reusing our ever faithful cam straps I secured it as best as possible.

P1114605

I feel a little better.

P1114608

The one cam strap on each side of the frame with one from the forks would have been fine on any regular road.  The giant sacks of cardamom help keep things in place.

P1114617

The truck was rocking so hard on the dirt road that I sat on the bike the entire 2+ hours applying the rear brake and playing safety in case one of the straps broke.

We decided looking at the road in the headlights along the way that the wreck was in fact divine intervention.  It had rained pretty hard on this side of the mountain and things were a mess.  Turn me loose on a dirt bike and that’s a different story, but this cruiser is best on a truck.

There’s something magical about this whole deal.  Riding through the mountain roads of Guatemala in the dark with your motorcycle strapped in the back of a truck full of villagers and goods heading to town for market day.  That’s the part that photos and words will never do justice.  It’s the idea that these things are indeed possible, that the inherent goodness of human beings will always lend itself to a solution to any problem.  It’s for these moments that I brave travel into places that most would say I have no business.  They are truly unique and inspiring.  Yeah, we went up there and we wrecked the motorcycle, but what kind of story would we have to tell if we hadn’t tried?  We wouldn’t have this kind, the against all odds triumph of people kind…

P1114634

Around dawn we arrived in the town.

P1114635

This time we have gravity and the manpower of a half dozen on our side.  I’m not going to lie, it was sketchy, but we got the bike off of the truck in one piece in the same amount of pieces it went on.  It literally slid down the ramp with the front brake locked to slow it down.

P1114639

We had the bike in the motorcycle shop by 9:00 being worked on.  By noon they had drilled out and replaced the broken bolts.  The shifter was back in proper working order.  I asked them to pull the crankcase cover so I could take it to be welded, but it was siesta time by then and Barcelona was playing Madrid.  Nothing was getting done until Monday.

We spent Sunday catching up on rest and swimming in the local cenote.

P1124682

P1124683

That concludes day four of our 90 mile trip from El Estor to Lanquin.

With any good luck when the shops open tomorrow we’ll be able to get the crankcase welded.  If everything goes well we could be mobile again as soon as tomorrow.  In the interim we’re holed up in a cozy $12 hotel with TV and internet spending our days exploring Cahabon.

Update: When the shop opened this morning (Monday) they had already had the crankcase cover welded and reinstalled.  All for 200Q ($25 US).  We’re back on the road! 

Catch the final leg of the journey to Lanquin, Guatemala here.

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

Filed Under: Guatemala, North America, Travel Tagged With: Guatemala, Motorcycle

About Brandon Edward

Greetings, I am the bar keep of this fine establishment. In the tradition of a good bar keep I want to know what you think about the article you've just read and the service we're providing here at freewheelings. Can't find your particular brand of scotch? Maybe we have it in the back, just ask. Use the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Charles C says

    January 12, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    Incredible story that could have gone so much worse. Thank god you are safe and that’s one hell of a story. $12 a night with TV and internet, all the luxuries :) Keep it coming my friend and both of you stay safe…

    Reply
    • Brandon Edward says

      January 12, 2014 at 10:31 pm

      Hey Charles, you’re so right. We’re very thankful things have gone as well as they have. I can say with all honesty, we’ve been smiling and laughing the whole time. What else can you do?

      Reply
  2. evolvegttrackdays says

    November 4, 2018 at 8:03 am

    Very informative.. Such a great post. You make so many great points here that I read your article a couple of times. Your views are in accordance with my own for the most part. This is great content for your readers. I would love to know about the ncbike track

    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

A Little Love?

Stalk Me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never Miss a Post


The Best of Freewheelings.com

  • Finding Into the Wild's Magic Bus
  • Motorcycle to South America
  • Alaska Highway by Volkswagen Bus
  • Salmon Fishing in Alaska
  • Hitchhiking Tales
  • Dog Sled Alaska
  • Tales From Mother India

You check out my sponsers and I get to eat, pretty neat right?

Popular Posts

By Tag

Alaska alaska highway alaska marine highway system ALCAN alternative energy Asia Beaches Belize biogas digesters blogsherpa Border C Border Crossings cordova Delhi Denali Digital Nomad Digital Nomad WordPress El Salvador fairbanks Fiji fishing Food and Drink freewheelings5 goldstream kennel Guatemala hitchhiking Honduras india into the wild Japan Languages magic bus Marine Highway Mayan Ruins Mexico Motorcycle New Zealand Nicaragua Panama prince william sound Rafting Sled Dogs usa volkswagen Working on the Road

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Contact

  • Email
  • Work With Us

  • Guest Posts
  • Advertising
  • Services

  • Consulting
  • Dive In

  • Life
  • Travel
  • Technology
  • Search Me

    © Copyright 2015 Freewheelings Enterprises, LLC · All Rights Reserved