I’d like to share a book with my Mexico News Report readers:
Mexico by Motorcyle: An Adventure Story and Guide was written by William B. “Bill” Kaliher, an American who has spent much time in Mexico and has written much about it.
I have corresponded with Bill for years. We both share an interest in Mexico and travel in Mexico, and he sent me a copy of his book, which I have read.
The book was published in 2015. The publisher is Sombrero Books of Canada and it was printed in Mexico. You can read its reviews on Amazon and order it here if you like.
The book is about touring Mexico by motorcycle. It gives you advice on how to do that. It talks about the right motorcycle, supplies you should bring, budgeting, the climate, clothing, health, camping, Mexican culture and customs. And, of course, he recommends that you bring his book along!
But it’s not just a how-to book, although it is that. The book relates Bill’s experiences in Mexico, his observations and reflections on the country and the people he met there.
Personally, I’m not a motorcycle rider, but I can see the appeal it has for some people. And obviously, driving around Mexico on a motorcycle is an adventure. Plus, I’ve been to many (but not all) of the places Bill visited so that’s interesting.
The book is also about the many Mexican people Bill encountered, and the help and hospitality they provided. I can also report that in all my time in Mexico, every time I had a problem there was always someone who showed up to help!
Allow me to let Bill describe his trips to Mexico (page xviii) : “I’ve traveled Mexico by virtually all-possible methods since 1964. A tour by motorcycle can be exciting, rewarding and challenging. In 1971, I rode from Columbia, South Carolina, to Yucatán, Mexico, on a SL Honda 175. I spent more than two months touring the country. The total trip exceeded ten thousand miles.” [Bill later explains, on page 55, that he got 12 hours college credit for this trip!]
“In 1993, at age forty-eight, I again ventured south by motorcycle. From El Paso, Texas, I cycled as far south as Oaxaca. That trip, on a Honda Nighthawk 250, was over 4,000 miles. Both trips were solo. Those grand tours and other shorter bike rides taught me many aspects of motorcycling and visiting south of the border that should be useful to anyone. ”
Bill’s description of his 1971 trip is fascinating because it shows how different things were back then, 55 years ago. The extensive tourist infrastructure that Mexico now has didn’t exist. Many now-crowded tourist attractions were empty, but accessible to a man on a motorcycle.
The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, for example, now one of Mexico’s most-visited archaeological sites. But here’s how Bill describes how it was in 1971: “Chichén Itzá was different than can be easily imagined by today’s visitors. The highway cut directly through the ruin. Beyond a single Maya worker, not a person – tourist or otherwise – visited the archeological zone the entire day. A tiny fruit stand just past the ruin was the only business to serve the few passing motorists. I rode the bike from structure to structure, marveling at the work and history…Today, it takes a long, hard day to tour Chichén Itzá but that wasn’t the case in 1971. I motorcycled from structure to structure and was able to climb and study each structure individually.” (pages 179-180).
Wow, that sounds great!
Think about how the Cancun and Riviera Maya area is now. Here’s Bill Kaliher reminiscing about 1971: “Today it’s about an hour’s ride from Cancún to Tulum. In 1971 the road was so pockmarked and broken it took six hours on a combination bike…The only vehicle I encountered was a broken-down Mercedes bus. A group of complaining German and French tourists…huddled in a foot wide patch of shade next to the vehicle…The driver said a truck was coming to tow them.” (pages 183,184)
When Bill arrives to the Palenque ruins, he once again rides his bike through the site:
“The few workers at the site hadn’t seen a tourist for weeks. I rode from edifice to edifice and even up some of the less steep slopes.” (pages 194,195)
In his 1971 trip, Bill Kaliher didn’t always have a hotel to stay in. Here are some of his interesting sleeping venues: 1) a construction site(178-179), 2) a beach (p. 183), 3) a hammock in a hut in some Mayan ruins (pages 186-188), 4) next to a closed PEMEX station (p. 192), 5) the Palenque archaeological site (p. 195).
Nowadays, 55 years later, there is much more tourist infrastructure in this region. But as you can see, for Bill Kaliher in 1971, it was a great adventure.
In the 2000s, Bill has attended motorcycle rallies in Mexico. The photo above on the book cover is of Bill a rally at Catemaco.
Bill relates how he was proudly inducted into a Mexican motorcycle club, the Forasteros de Coahuila at a motorcycle rally in Queretaro in the 2000s. (pages 221-227)
William Kaliher has written for a number of publications through the years and even for the Mexican Tourism Ministry. Here’s Bill’s bio and his article file on the Mexconnect website. His Facebook page is here and his Twitter X account is here.
If you’d like to obtain Bill’s book, click here.
Allow me to close with a quotation from Bill Kaliher’s Acknowledgements page in Mexico by Motorcycle (page vii): “I’ve enjoyed the adventure and experience of motorcycling Mexico. The Mexican people have my love and appreciation for the kindness, warmth, knowledge and smiles they’ve bestowed on me during many visits.”