Here's one of my early posts to WOTI (Wings On The Internet), which pretty much tells you
how I managed to buy a Wing in Texas and rode it back to Mexico...
Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 21:10:53 -0600
Subject: [Wings] My first Wing!!
Hello to everybody on the list!
My name is Masahiko Kamata. I'm
from Japan, married to my very understanding wife from Iowa, U.S.
We have lived in Queretaro, Mexico for almost a year (I work for a major
US cereal manufacturer, and I got transferred).
About two months ago, I purchased a 95 SE from a gentleman in Austin, TX.
I'd been wanting to report my experience, but never got around to it.
Well, I was just released from a local hospital after 1 week of intensive
treatment for Typhoid fever and Hepatitis A that I picked up from food (both at
the same time!), and I still need to rest at home for the next two weeks, so I
decided to write this. Hope you
won't be bored.
Well, 7 to 8 years ago when I was in high school in Japan (now I'm 25), I had
a moped. I often borrowed my
friend's Honda VT250F and Yamaha FZR 400, but never owned my own real
motorcycle. When I went to college
in Iowa, I could not afford a motorcycle. After
graduating from my college (University of Northern Iowa), I went back to Japan,
worked for 2 years, and got married. Then,
my company transferred us to Mexico. I'd
been without a motorcycle for 7 years. Because
the weather is always nice here, I said to myself, "why don't we buy a
motorcycle?"
I wanted to buy a motorcycle that is built for long distance trips and
two-ups.
There was no doubt in my mind that it was a Gold Wing I needed (although
I'd never ridden one before). It
took a while to convince my wife that it had to be a Gold Wing, and it had to be
an SE. First, I visited the only
one Honda dealership in town to see how much a Gold Wing would cost here in
Mexico. Their quote was 25,000 US
dollars for a 1995 SE! After
negotiation, they lowered the price to USD 23,000.
Forget it! The reason why
the price is so high is because of the steep import tax.
I learned that as a foreigner, I could bring in a car or motorcycle
without paying the tax. But you
have to cross the border yourself. Well,
why not buy a used GW in the States and ride it back to Mexico!
Queretaro is about 140 miles north of Mexico City.
About 700 miles from Laredo, TX. It
can be done. I placed a bunch of
"Want" ads on the Internet. On
February 26th, I placed one on this discussion list, and received a response
from "Jim" in Austin, TX. He
was selling his two-tone green 95SE (3,000 miles on it at the time) with
driver's backrest, passenger's armrests, aftermarket saddlebag lights, Kriss
Starbright kit, highway pegs, and Wind Wings for USD 14,300.
I immediately told him that I wanted his Wing.
From then, we communicated through e-mails, phone calls, and faxes to
work out the details.
On
Friday, March 15th, I took the day off and flew to Austin.
I was anxious to see Jim for the first time, who kindly came to the
airport to pick me up and took me to a motorcycle shop where I bought Shoei
RF700 metallic green, which matches the color of the Wing perfectly.
After shopping, Jim and I went to his house.
Finally, I got to see my dream bike.
The bike was just beautiful and HUGE (I'm about 5'7", 136lbs).
When Jim told me to take a ride in the neighborhood, I sort of hesitated
at first. Well, the bike looked so big
and it had been 7 years since I rode a MC.
My very first ride on a Gold Wing... I
was so surprised by the fact that once you are on the bike and get rolling, you
don't feel the size and weight of the bike.
So easy to control, thanks to the low center of gravity, etc. that they
always mention. In less than 5
minutes, I was feeling very comfortable with my new Wing. Later in the
day, I had dinner with Jim and his wife "Pam" at some pasta place.
Since, they were kind enough to offer their place to stay, I accepted
their offer and stay the night at their house.
Howver, because
I was so excited about the Wing and nervous about the trip next day, I could not
fall sleep till close to 2:00 am.
Saturday, March 16th. I woke up
around 5:20 am. I slept less than 4
hours, but I had to get going. I
took a quick shower, said good-by to Jim and took off.
It was still dark and there was hardly any traffic.
After about 10 minutes, I got lost.
I was 
trying
to get to I-35. As I stopped at
this intersection, looking around and trying to find a road sign, I
"dropped the bike" to my right. I
forgot about how heavy the Wing was and leaned the bike beyond the point where I
could not support it. Just after 10
minutes of my ownership! I sort of
freaked, but tried to remember how you are supposed to pick up a Wing that I
read on this list. There was
absolutely no one around. I
struggled unsuccessfully for about 2 minutes.
Then, a car came by and the lady in the car helped me to get the Wing up.
Sounded like she rides a MC. I
thanked her and pulled into a parking lot to see if there was any damage to the
bike. Absolutely none except minor
dents and scratches to the bottom part of the engine guard.
They are impossible to see unless you look underneath.
I was amazed! There seemed
to be no signs of fluid leakage either, so I hit the road again.
Once I was on the Interstate, everything went very smooth from Austin to
Laredo, TX. I was hoping to see
other Wingers on the road, but I did not see any.
Once, I stopped at a gas station and had my breakfast (a can of V8 and a
Nutrigrain Bar). As I was cruising
on the Interstate, I was wishing that more highways in Mexico were as nice as
the highways in US. They have very
nice toll-ways, but they don't cover all of the main routes.
Freeways normally have less than decent conditions.
Well, I came to the border around noon.
Crossed the Rio Grande, and I was back in Mexico.
The road conditions changed drastically once I crossed the border.
Crappy. I had to ride down
to the Aduana (customs) office to get a permit on my Wing.
It took about 45 min. to get a shiny sticker on my Wing's Windshield.
Now, I'm ready to go again. From
Nuevo Leon, I went to Saltillo (by-passed Monterrey)- Matejuara - San Luis Potosi -
Queretaro. Probably most of you
have no idea where they are located. Anyway,
between Nuevo Leon and Saltillo was no biggie.
Nice weather, nice toll-ways. Quite
nice ride. But after passing
Saltillo, I was caught in a dust storm for about 4 hours.
It was so bad that the sky looked like 8:00 at night.
You couldn't see the sun, visibility was down to 1/4 mile at times, and
my spotless shiny Wing turned into a dust-covered "thing" instantly.
There was nothing but some cacti.
The road was so bumpy.
On top of this, there were lots of tumbleweeds crossing the highway.
I tried to avoid them when I could.
The dust storm seemed to last forever and it was very depressing.
The last few hours was a nice toll-way.
I arrived home at 11:30 pm same day.
Trip meter was showing 853 miles. I
made it in 17.5 hours. I never
stopped except for gas and the custom thing at the border.
I was surprised that I was not incredibly tired after riding for
straight 17 and a half hours.
My plan was to make this trip back in 2 days, but I just kept going since
I was not very tired. What a great
motorcycle! By the way, when I got home, I dropped my Wing again on the
drive way...
Next day, when I was washing the Wing, I noticed that engine oil was leaking from one
of the six bolts on the engine cover on both
sides. They came loose from the
ride. I've put on around 2,600 miles during the last two months or so.
I just love my 95 SE!
I hope you didn't get bored. Here are more links to Mexico related
stories!
1st Day as a Winger
