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aburruss
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Baja Off-Roading Bachelor Party!
For our friend Stan's bachelor party, we decided to take the UTVs to baja for a few days of fun. Everyone met at my house in Jamul on Thursday AM.
We combined a few vehicles and trailers, and headed to Tecate. There's a parking lot on the US side about 1/4 mile from the border where we paid
$10/day/truck to park.
We got in our UTVs -- two Polaris XP4 1000's, a two seat CamAM X3, and a 4 seat CanAM X3. We drove the 1/4 mile from the parking lot to the border
crossing. All of us got the "green light", no issues. We looped around and got our FMMs (those who needed to; I already had mine, we had a permanent
resident with us, as well. Easy peasy).
We headed east, out of Tecate. Took the free road for a couple miles, and connected to the dirt road which takes you south to Ojos Negros. This trip
was overall, uneventful... but we found a few issues on our rigs that needed attention and some extra time to investigate.
First, my rig had developed an oil leak. It started pretty minor, on my last trip down to BCS during Christmas. However it had now turned into a
much bigger leak. We investigated for a bit, found nothing major, and verified our "spares" of 3 quarts of oil... and decided to continue on. A bit
later, we had an issue with our other Polaris where the brakes were spongy. A quick bleed of the brakes, and we were back on our way.
We fueled up in Ojos, and continued down the highway a bit, before heading back north-east off-road again. This took us to the "goat trail" and
dumped us back off on highway 3, a few miles before Valle T.
Before we got to Valle T, one of our RZRs had a failed carrier bearing on the drive shaft, so we pulled that out and continued in 2WD.
We got into Valle T before dark, fueled up, and got some tacos. Our itinerary had us getting to Mike's Sky Ranch that night, so we continued on.
Unfortunately, our planning was a bit sub-par.. and we planned for San Diego and San Felipe weather... NOT the high-desert-in-between weather. Our
trip up to Mike's was COLD. When we arrived, the front door was locked... despite the fact that I had called a few days prior for our reservation of
8 people. I found a guy walking around, who let us in, scrambled to find us some rooms... spread out across the ENTIRE compound.. a butter knife was
the "key" to get us into the rooms.. Some didn't have heaters hooked up, some didn't have functional doors... it was kind of a mess.
The heaters in the room ended up workin well; the showers were hot. Breakfast was OK. Chorizo and eggs. The eggs were very rubbery, but everything
else was tasty.
Before we left, we found that one of our RZRs (the one with the failed carrier bearing) also had a failed wheel bearing. This failed wheel bearing had
caused the caliper to break in half (hence the reason for the spongy brakes!) The decision was made to "take it easy".. and we continued on our way.
The dirt between Valle T and El Diablo lake bed was nothing but whoops... FUN, but miserable at the same time. 
We dropped into the lake bed, and opened it up. My RZR has a tune that removed the rev limiter and all the other restrictions, so I going was 80MPH+.
Conditions were GREAT These crazy CanAMs though... the guy in the two seater blew past me at 95MPH. It's crazy how fast those cars are. Until...
they blow belts. HAHAH. The belt actually blew through the entire clutch housing! Then, we got word on the radio that the 4 seat CanAM actually blew
a belt too (and blew through the housing too!!).
After a bit, we were all back on the road. We headed into San Felipe, and got to one of our group's family compound in Bahia Santa Maria.
We spent the next two days using this as a "home base". A few trips into town. A few trips out and about to the southwest.
We went to the Chenowth Lodge in Percebu. Great museum, and a nice bar area to hang out. We didn't have dinner, but did meet Lynn Chenowth, who told
us we SHOULD stay for dinner since he has hired the BEST chef in San Felipe (unfortunately, we had previous plans). Anyone have any experience with
their restaurant???
Saturday, we took a trek out to the west and found the Cañon el Parral. This looped us around down towards Matomi Wash. It was a nice fun UTV ride!
Sunday morning we left Bahia Santa Maria, and had a GOAL of getting back to Rancho Santa Veronica, near Tecate. The trip back was MOSTLY
non-eventful. About 5 miles outside of our destination, I lost a tie-rod. It came unscrewed from the steering box. NOT fun at 50MPH when your tires
both just tow COMPLETELY out, and you're pitched sideways heading towards a barbed wire fence!
About 20 minutes of trail-fix later in 38 degree weather, and we were back on our way.
We made it to Rancho Santa Veronica after dark, and they were completely shut down. We finally found someone there, who told us that there was NO
food and NO heat. However, they would sell us firewood to use in the in-room fireplaces. And a local lady would make us some burritos. The showers
were hot. The rooms were COLD. The wood was SMOKEY. The burritos were decent. We weren't sure if we'd wake up in the morning with all the smoke in the
rooms!
We did get a night of sleep that was enough to hold us over.
The next morning, we hit the road, and took the next 30 minutes into Tecate. Found some great breakfast tacos at Tacos Mis Tios... and drive the next
1/2 mile to the border line. We spent about 40 minutes in line, and drove across into the states with no issues. (Except the person in the UTV behind
me informed me that every time I moved forward, my engine and transmission was moving 4" vertically... it turns out that at SOME point, I had lost my
rear motor mount bolts. So my transmission has been sitting on my skid plate for some UNKNOWN amount of miles! hahah)
660 miles over 5 days. I'm SO surprised that we all made it back without more carnage than we had!!
Great Trip overall.
Day 1: 186.4mi
Day 2: 135.5mi
Day 3: 129.2mi
Day 4: 212.1mi
Day 5: 25.7mi
FMM stop in Tecate
Something is going on here
The valuables are secured!
Trail fix
Because... why not?
Cold night driving!
Room heaters and inflatables?
Breakfast at Mikes:
Stan's Passenger at Mike's
The dry lakebed
Blown out CanAm belts
Blown out Can Am belts, part 2!
Driving fast
Punching bag at a San Felipe Chevron
San Felipe tacos
Leaving Bahia Santa Maria
Fueling up in Ojos
Tacos in Tecate
660+ miles!
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aburruss
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Also..
LOTS of closed gates.. opened, passed and re-secured.
We did find TWO locked gates. One we backtracked and went a different route, and one we met a rancher, who asked for 200 pesos PER UTV to pass. The
route to get to there was absolutely miserable, so 200 pesos per was an EASY decision rather than back track. he was very friendly, no issues.
Locked gate #1: 31.71752, -115.97668 - back tracked, found alternate route
Locked gate #2: 31.82490, -116.26330 - BEEFIEST gate I've ever seen in Baja. No way around.
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advrider
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Good report, thanks. Sounds like a typical Baja trip!
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AKgringo
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The bachelor should have saved that trip for his honeymoon!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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John Harper
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Wow, quite an adventure. Quite a variety of mechanical issues as well, glad you kept the rigs all mobile.
What was the current overnight fee for Mike's? Planning a short trip out there in early April. Trying out my new tent/cot car camping gear but one
or two nights at the hotel probably likely. That canyon gets cold at night for sure.
John
[Edited on 2-13-2022 by John Harper]
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David K
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Wowsers amigo! Great detailed trip report but oh so many mishaps both mechanical and with accommodations.
What would you do different next time?
Thanks for sharing the report and photos... A bad trip in Baja is still better than a good week at work!
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mtgoat666
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That’s a lot of mechanicals! Y’all need to do better maintenance so the UTVs are a bit more reliable!
Where were the strippers?
Is there a strip bar in San Felipe?
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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John M
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Mike's rates
We stayed at Mikes about 6 months ago - $80 per person per night - included breakfast (much better version than Aburruss had) plus we enjoyed a steak
or chicken dinner - pretty good dinner too. Bar was reasonably priced.
John M
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BornFisher
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Great adventure report and pics. So did you carry spare belts?
"When you catch a fish, you open the door of happiness."
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bajatrailrider
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Great adventure many break downs I travel with Razors and Can Ams . Most always they have break down our trip goes bad . I bought the YZX1000r so no
break downs . Except when fuel tank filled with Diesel I hope to hook up with you guys in future
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WestyWanderer
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The chef at the Legacy Lodge is from arguably the best restaurant I. San Felipe (I forget the name) according to my in-laws who have spent the last 20
winters living in Puertecitos. Most of their friends in town echo their opinion.
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4x4abc
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what I learned is that SXS are only good for a few miles and then they break down. In the middle of nowhere? Not a
good idea.
Harald Pietschmann
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bajatrailrider
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Ok Harald Education time Razors and CanAm the fastest over the desert. They also do break down quickly as you say? Do not throw Yam Hon Kaw in that
mess . Super reliable as tested by me and others .
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John Harper
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Quote: Originally posted by John M  | We stayed at Mikes about 6 months ago - $80 per person per night - included breakfast (much better version than Aburruss had) plus we enjoyed a steak
or chicken dinner - pretty good dinner too. Bar was reasonably priced.
John M |
Sounds good! Have not been out there in almost three years.
John
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aburruss
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$80/person/night. Quite steep, IMO. Especially when ONE of the rooms they gave us had 3 twin beds in it. $240 for the night? Hmm.. Oh well, we
had a good time (unfortunately, we missed dinner and the bar due to our "late" 730PM arrival).
Yep. I actually always bring WAY too many belts for my rig. A couple summers ago, I got "gouged" in La Paz for a belt for $280 (USD). But hey..
supply and demand! I carry 3 spares. The CanAM guys carried ONE spare each...
so once we were in San Felipe, we contacted my amigo Cesar, and he pointed us to a local UTV guy, and they replenished their spares. The UTV guy
also had a SUPER crappy, used wheel bearing for the Polaris. $150 installed! My friend opted OUT of that, just on principle alone. ahahah. Luckily
for us, his crappy bearing was sufficient to go another 400 miles.
| Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666 | That’s a lot of mechanicals! Y’all need to do better maintenance so the UTVs are a bit more reliable!
Where were the strippers?
Is there a strip bar in San Felipe? |
We all actually do a LOT of maintenance, normally! The failed wheel bearing had all of 50 miles on it. It was brand new! Seems to be a defective
Chinese knock-off part that didn't have proper QC on it.
In my defense, I JUST bought this RZR. It's a 2016, and has 4000+ miles on it already. I tried to give it a good once-over before we left... but
there's only so much you can see and anticipate when you have someone else's stuff. My wife's RZR is the one that we typically use, and maintain, but
it's in the middle of an overhaul right now.. so the new car got the call for this trip!
And yes, there is a strip bar in San Felipe. Strip bars aren't my thing, so I got a nice nap sitting on the Malecon, while the others in the crew
went to check things out. In very short order, more and more of our group began to join me on the malecon. It seems that things were not "so great"
inside the club. hahahah
| Quote: Originally posted by 4x4abc | what I learned is that SXS are only good for a few miles and then they break down. In the middle of nowhere? Not a
good idea. |
Naw... I've got 4000+ miles on my SxS, and it's never left me in a bind. Some head scratching, sure... but i've never been broken down in a bind.
I've been more "broken" in my jeep, and the drive was a WHOLE lot slower.
| Quote: Originally posted by David K |
What would you do different next time?
Thanks for sharing the report and photos... A bad trip in Baja is still better than a good week at work! |
The section SOUTH of hwy 3, coming back up towards Ojos is horrible. Super rocky and miserable. I'd not do that again. We avoided the Laguna Hansen
area, due to reports from others saying there's some odd cartel/fentenal stuff going on in that area.... I'd have given us an EXTRA day for the San
Felipe to Tecate leg. The for SURE thing I'd have done differently is to stay at a place with a hot tub to soak one night. Maybe El Dorado, mountain
side? Would be nice to rest our chilled bones one night after we were running all night!
[Edited on 2-14-2022 by aburruss]
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4x4abc
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| Quote: Originally posted by bajatrailrider | | Ok Harald Education time Razors and CanAm the fastest over the desert. They also do break down quickly as you say? Do not throw Yam Hon Kaw in that
mess . Super reliable as tested by me and others . |
just reacting to the report
Harald Pietschmann
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chuckie
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pee poor poor planning and preparation !
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aburruss
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Those Can Am guys...
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bajatrailrider
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I have had 4 overnight trips i canceled . As broken razor or can am needed towed . I hope my yxz not getting beat up towing them back home . No matter
hope to hook up w you guys next time your in Baja
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Hook
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I concur with Harald. All the owners of SXSs I know have had lots of problems. Especially overheating and apparently vapor locking while crawling in
"hot" weather, if 80F can be considered hot.
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