# Riding an older motorcycle thru Mex/Cen. Am, Gas Quality good, or...?



## [email protected] (9 mo ago)

I have two cycles, both older models. 79 Yamaha XS400 and an 86 Honda CMX250C Rebel, both on the smallish side. Might help in smaller roads or rougher terrain, maybe?
My concern is gas quality... I have no idea what gas is available there compared to Midwest US... here we have unleaded 87, 89, 91, sometimes 93 octane, mostly have alcohol added. My 86 will do okay on that, but my 79 will prob. need some modification for the ethanol. To the Carb float, likely...?

Any ideas what to look for down there when re-fueling? Or what is normal types of gasoline in those areas?
Thanks in advance... any helpful info appreciated


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## WileyRTW (8 mo ago)

[email protected] said:


> I have two cycles, both older models. 79 Yamaha XS400 and an 86 Honda CMX250C Rebel, both on the smallish side. Might help in smaller roads or rougher terrain, maybe?
> My concern is gas quality... I have no idea what gas is available there compared to Midwest US... here we have unleaded 87, 89, 91, sometimes 93 octane, mostly have alcohol added. My 86 will do okay on that, but my 79 will prob. need some modification for the ethanol. To the Carb float, likely...?
> 
> Any ideas what to look for down there when re-fueling? Or what is normal types of gasoline in those areas?
> Thanks in advance... any helpful info appreciated


You will typically see 2 types of gasoline, magna (green) is 87 octane, or premium (red) which is 92-93 octane. Generally the gas is fine, I have been all over Mexico for a couple years now and only had gas issues one time due to some reddish gas I picked up around Los Mochis. When you are out in the middle of nowhere you can ask around and find someone selling gas from barrels at a bit higher cost as well. 

To clean my carb and fix the red gas issue I had I picked up some pinol (which you can find in any store), which is the equivalent to pine sol. 

1 thing to pay attention to is the bill swap scam that is done at gas stations. To be fair I feel it happens much less often now a days, but basically if you hand them a 500 peso bill they will swap it quickly while distracting you and then show you a 100 pesos bill saying you didn't give them enough money. This is rare, just pay attention, 99% of the guys are great.

Always tip the gas attendant a couple pesos, I believe most give 5 or 10 pesos.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

it is common is Escarcega, Campeche, they pulled that scam while a Mexican friend of mine and I were watching and we still got scammed.. Some of them are really good.


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## [email protected] (9 mo ago)

Can anyone tell me how this subject may be, riding on through Central America to Nicaragua?
Or is that a subject for another section here?
Thanks


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## WileyRTW (8 mo ago)

Piece of cake, just bring your Passport, Registration and Title. 1st you get your permission papers so you can enter the country whatever they may be (example, FMM-tourist pass for Mexico), then you import your bike (example TIP-Vehicle importation for Mexico). Then you do the reverse (Mexico may or may not have you cancel your FMM/put a stamp in your passport when driving, but you absolutely must stop and cancel your TIP when you leave).....then pick up the equivalent papers in the next country, rinse and repeat. Nothing to worry about until leaving Costa Rica which doesn't seem to be your plan, but I believe when you enter Panama you need 30 or 90 days before returning to Costa Rica. Most of the countries will require vehicular insurance, each country most likely sells their own, you can't just buy 1 policy. Everything can be done at the border, but insurance may be a better deal when done online ahead of time when possible.

I haven't entered Central America in over a decade so I may be wrong with all of that, but when I drove to Colombia I pretty much winged it. Some borders have "helpers" which are often con men, so do as much as you can yourself. The guys at Belize back then wore official-ish uniforms and would try and trick you into thinking you needed to do things through them, so check a few blogs to get an idea on what you need to do at each border.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Make sure your name on your passport exactly consistently matches your name on the title, including middle name. Don't have an initial one place and no middle name the other, etc. You want all paperwork to have your full first, middle and last names. Driver's license, insurance, passport, title and TIP. All exactly the same.


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## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

There is a woman from Holland who has a YouTube channel called itchy boots (also a website WWW.ITCHYBOOTS.COM). She is riding a motorcycle (alone) to Alaska - but I think she is working her way around the world. She went through Africa and I know she came up South America. At the moment I believe she is in Mexico. I have seen a couple of the Mexican videos - kind of interesting stuff. She is a brave woman. Might be worth checking out. Perhaps you can even write her some of your questions.


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