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Yumbo 200 Dakar – Nicaragua Surfmoto Bike

14 Mar

 

Yumbo 200 Dakar

New Yumbo 200 parked outside Pili’s Restaurante in Hacienda Iguana

I’ve been looking for my Nicaragua surfmoto bike for awhile and finally pulled the trigger today, buying this new Yumbo 200 this afternoon.

A bit of background…I’ve been spending time in Central America for 20 years now, and have a condo on the beach in front of Panga Drops in Nicaragua. I visit Nicaragua a few times each year, and every time I end up renting expensive vehicles that can deal with the roads and accommodate my surfboards. Most of my driving is off-road, and whether off or on-road, the whole time I’m wishing I had a motorcycle.

I’ve wanted to ride my DR650e down and leave it here, but it’s a three week trip, at least, that would be followed by import tariffs that could cover the cost of buying a bike here in Nicaragua. I’ll make the ride eventually, but in the meantime, buying a bike here in Nicaragua seems the best plan.

Once that decision is made, the next fork in the road is whether to buy Japanese or Chinese (or Indian). Japanese bikes cost twice as much as Chinese, and more. They’re better, of course, both in reliability and handling, but that’s more hearsay than fact as reviews are scarce so you’re left to asking around.

Also, there are no dual sport bikes over 200cc, Japanese or otherwise. Most of the Japanese bikes are 125 or 150cc – about a fifth or less of what I’m used to riding.

I test rode a used Honda Bross 15o. It rode OK, but it had over 80,000 km on the odometer, so while it had been well-maintained, it just wasn’t a great idea. Besides, the guy wouldn’t go less than $1,600, and I could get a Yumbo 200 for $1,200.

Which I did, but not until I scoured Rivas for something that seemed more, well, better made. And what might be better handling. With these rock-strewn dirt roads, handling was most important. But you can’t test ride the new bikes, so handling would be a guess.

I looked at Dayun, Raybun and others, but mostly Serpento. Genesis was closed. They all seemed cheaply made, and I almost bought a Serpento, but the only 200 they had was a sort of supermoto, and I wanted an off-road/dual-purpose bike.

I bought the Yumbo 200 in Tola for $1,200. When I rode away two things were noticeable. First, the brakes totally sucked. Second, the forks were crooked. I returned to the shop and we straightened the forks. Maybe the brakes need breaking in.

On the ride back to Hacienda Iguana the speedometer cable detached itself, but that was the only mishap over the 14km ride.

More to come on this. Sorry for the bad photo above.

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UPDATE

Last November (2016) I sold the Yumbo back to the dealer I bought it from. It really was a spindly piece of junk, so I learned my lesson. I bought a low-kilometer, 2015 Yamaha 125XT from a friend in Hacienda Iguana and couldn’t be happier. It’s 75cc down on the Yumbo, but nothing breaks, it handles twice as well and will hold its value better, too. I sold the Yumbo for $400, a third of what I bought it for 2 years earlier, but that’s OK.

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It’s about time!

16 Oct
Cycle World Does SurfMoto

Cycle World boys try out a short surfmoto trip during the Baja 500.

I was really happy to open up my Cycle World magazine a couple of weeks ago to see their Baja surfmoto adventure. (Not so keen on the “surf and turf” theme, but whatever.) They headed down to Coyote Cal’s in Eredira and caught a bit of surf at Punta Cabra. They rode and tested new bikes – the poster boy of adventure travel bikes, the BMW R1200GS and it’s closest rival, the KTM 1100 Adventure R. No Carver racks for these boys. The BMW and KTM have enough going on that all they needed were some straps and padding – almost like strapping boards to your SUV. Go read the article here. It looks like SurfMoto is catching on.

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New Ducati Scrambler? Maybe a new SurfMoto machine?

9 Jun
Ducati Scrambler 2015

A secret shot of the secret new Ducati Scrambler.

Very much looking forward to checking out this new Ducati Scrambler. It seems like they’re going back to what the Monster started out as – the simplest interpretation of a motorcycle, Ducati style. I’m hoping this will be a good one to modify into a proper surfmoto machine. But even if it’s not, it looks to be a whole lotta fun!

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The Ultimate Western Hemisphere Surf Vehicle?

26 May
2005 Ford F150 surfmoto vehicle.

Is this the ultimate vehicle for a motorcycle-loving surf traveler?

 

Is this ultimate western hemisphere surf travel vehicle? In some ways, yes. Cheap, used, high-freeway-miles Ford F150.

Parts everywhere. Easy to work on, especially with 2wd and no power anything.

Only 3 people fit in the cab – 2, really. And we all know that the more people on the trip, the less surfing gets done.

Enough room in the cab for backpacks and today’s food and drink – the essentials that can’t get stolen. Enough room in the long bed for everything else, from a gaggle of mini-Simmonses to that Skip Frye 11-footer you’ve been dying to set free of the crowds. Not to mention that dirt bike. And a bicycle, too.

 

White never looks dirty, not that you care. Actually, the dirtier the better. 

Stock rims that no one will want to steal.

A chipped taillight lens, cracked windshield and 3 small dents awaiting many more.

Baja and Central America, here we come.

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What a Coincidence: Not Alone

29 Aug

Getting ready for a surf somewhere between Punta Canoas and the Seven Sisters.

As it turns out, I didn’t go alone on my May/June surfmoto trip to Baja. GaryUnguided went too. I just didn’t know it until now. He rode the same bike model – Suzuki DR650 – with many of the same mods. He did a much better job, though. Like mounting spare cables for a quick fix. Anyhow, check out his trip blog here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/baja-motosurf-2012-a-64360

Great stuff!

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Spot Satellite Messenger Warning

10 Jun

UPDATE – After a few conversations with Spot, they graciously decided to refund my service subscription fee. The Spot customer service people were very professional and helpful. They acknowledged there were software problems (app), and suggested I tried the latest version of the app. I declined, as I really don’t want to be testing this product. I want it to save my life. So all went well with Spot. That left me dealing with the hardware, which I had purchased at Best Buy. All I could get was store credit, which I suppose is better than nothing. So all is good. I may try the Spot Messenger. We’ll see.

 

When a product is advertised as something that could save your life, it had better work. The Spot Connect doesn’t.

Facebook Comments On Spot Messenger

I looked into Spot products on the advice of Surfline’s Sean Collins. In his article on Baja surf travel, Sean recommended the Spot Satellite GPS Messenger as a “don’t leave home without it” product. If stranded out of cell phone range, this satellite communications product would send a message to loved ones and help at the push of a button. “I need this” was my reaction.

The Spot Connect – Doesn’t work.

I went to the Spot website and learned of another product, the Spot Connect, a device that Bluetooth-links to your smartphone enabling texts and basically more functionality than the Spot Messenger. With all the testimonials and stories on their website about the rescues due to the Spot products, coupled with Surfline’s recommendation, this seemed like a no-brainer.

The Spot Messenger – Works

But I messed up. I should have researched more, in which case, I would have bought the basic product instead. The Connect doesn’t work. Whether it’s the app, the firmware, or whatever, it’s a waste of money that risks your safety. Stick with the basic product.

More on this story here at The Surfer’s Guides blog.

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AFX Helmet Review

5 Jun

AFX FX-39DS Helmet Review from SurfTravelGear on Vimeo.

The AFX Dual Purpose helmet is nice and bright, for high visibility, but has a few issues.

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Parking, Getting On and Getting Off

2 Jun

From this angle you can probably figure out the challenges of parking, mounting and dismounting.

You may recall that I shortened the kickstand about 1/2″ as the DR650 not only stands too straight up, but it has a soft suspension, so when weighted with the suspension compressed it stands even more straight. Shortening the kickstand increased the lean to the left, keeping the bike from teetering and making mounting and dismounting easier.

Easier may not be the right word. Possible is more like it.

In this shot you can start to see a few of the challenges – the narrow sitting space (not as big of a problem as it seems here), the rear luggage preventing me from mounting the bike by swinging a leg over the rear, and the surfboard further limiting mounting space. What you can’t see is that with the weight of the baggage, the bike is near teetering, so I always had to find parking that sloped slightly downhill to the left, to add lean.

Parked on the right ground, mounting and dismounting can begin. See that duct tape on the seat? That’s not a repair. It’s there to prevent scratching or tearing. To mount, I needed to lift my (heavily booted) right leg onto the seat, then slide it down into the space between the surfboard and the bike, aiming to plant my foot on the ground. I needed to do this in one smooth motion, because as I slipped onto the bike the bike would move more upright, the suspension would compress more, and momentum would push the lean to the right side, so my foot had to get planted quickly. So it was a 2-step deal: Lift right boot onto seat, then slip over and plant right foot solidly on the ground.

(One time I found myself without a landing place for my right foot. I was at the Oasis Motel in Loreto and had parked on the walkway in front of my room, which was narrow and raised, so there was a drop-off where my right foot was to land. Narrowly saved! Had I failed, everything would have toppled onto my surfboard and rack, and that’s for another post.)

Dismounting was just as strange, perhaps stranger. First, stand on pegs, weighting on the left. Second, lift right boot up and onto the seat, so I was now standing with one foot on the left peg and the other on the seat. Third, pull right boot up off the seat and onto the ground. Remove left foot. Why not one smooth motion? The distance between the pegs and the seat combined with the bulk of a solid off-road boot (Moose Racing M1 boot – great value for an excellent, heavy-duty boot) made it near impossible to complete that move in one step without dragging the boot across the seat, risking tears from the boot sole. Also, this was a good test of the stability of the parking spot.

Sounds like a lot of work, and it was at first, but you get the hang of it. The toughest part was the first time I did it, which was when I pulled the fully-loaded bike out of my garage into the alley and fired her up for the trip. No practice run, so I wasn’t even sure if I could get on and off the bike! I was already sweating as I pulled away. The adventure started right then and there.

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UPDATE to Board Support Up Front

1 Jun

Duct tape repair. (Have to look closely.) Temporary, and unnecessary, as it turns out.

It didn’t take long for the PVC contraption (see Board Support Up Front post) to fail, cracking after just 8 hours or so in the saddle. Here we are at the Old Mill in San Quintin applying a duct tape repair. As it turned out, it was never needed. In just another couple of hours the support broke off completely, slipping away from the duct tape. The event went unnoticed, though, as the problem solved itself.

The support was never meant to work on its own. It was there as much as an anchor for the bungie cord as anything else. When the contraption broke off, the hose-clamped piece stayed in place, which was all that was needed anyhow, as the Carver racks in the back fully supported the surfboard. All that was needed up front was the bungie cord to keep the nose in and out of the wind. This photo shows the remaining mess that worked great for the rest of that trip, another 2,000 miles, including hundreds of off-road riding, at speed.

All that was needed in the first place was an anchor for the lower bungie cord hook.

So what started as the biggest concern – keeping the front of the surfboard supported and out of the wind – turned out to be a non-issue. Very good news.

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Final weigh-in before the event

7 Mar

If you’ve been reading this you’ve seen that I’m keeping track of weight gains and losses on the bike. With all the extra parts for protection and lugging, I would like to net out at a zero weight gain to the bike by replacing parts with lighter versions (e.g., exhaust pipe) and just tossing unneeded parts, like passenger pegs. The big things I could weigh individually, but the little stuff just got thrown into a bag to weigh later, like today. So here’s the bag ‘o junk – old turn signals, bar-end weights, passenger pegs, upper chain roller, piece off the clutch lever, etc. – and the weight savings, 5 pounds. As of the February 23 post the bike had gained 1 pound. Not bad considering the tail rack, surf racks, skid plate, luggage rack, etc. But with this savings we were at a 4 pound loss, but.

The DBz Flat Top Duffle tail bag came in today; that’s another 2 pounds. (The DBz stuff is really light.) And I finally weighed the magnetic (heavy) tank bag I already had (and had never used because my Ducatis have either plastic or aluminum tanks); 5 pounds! So the 4 pound loss has turned into a 3 pound gain, and there’s not much more I can do without spending a lot of money, as in hundreds per pound. Better to lose some weight myself!

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