Day 6 Dec 24

On the road early, no hassles to Nogales. Its as close to an open border as I have experienced. On the Mex side the border leaches direct me to an insurance agent. I was told by others that have done this trip that its mandatory. I tried to comparison shop but came up with only one guy at the border that would sell M/C insurance.I planned on no more than 7 days in Mexico, it cost me 10 dollars a day, payable in USD cash, no haggling the price. I was never asked for proof at any of the stops by police or army. I wish I would have research this more. I did call Gieco and AIG for advice and they indicated mandatory and only available at border. I left the border and less than an hour south was a government roadside stop for passport stamp and tourist cards. Mandatory and not much of a problem. At this stop was an insurance agent that i did not check out but maybe he could have given me straighter answers than the border scum.
Nobody gave me advice about the fact that from the border to Guemos is a no hassle zone, that means they don't check vehicle registration or paper work. If you pass this zone and don't have the correct documents your bike can be confiscated! Normally you have to retrace your steps to the agent who is just south of Guemos and obtain papers (vehicular permisio)
It was not a big issue but I think I should have carried a bit more cash. Of course in different pockets in different places. I found that sometimes I needed strategically stashed 20$ bills. They would have eliminated the trip to an ATM and the exposure of the bike to an unguarded parking spot. On the occasions that I had to leave the bike it was handy to have a cable lock for the helmet, It also doubled for the sleeves of the jacket, and a tank bag that I could carry with me. Once I left the helmet and jacket cabled and on the way back I remembered there was a couple of wrenches in the pockets, they were there when I returned. On the other hand I had a flash light disappear from a zippered tank bag pocket while I was holding it, just distracted. I think security is a great topic for discussion and my Internet discussions with people did not prepare me for the reality.I survived, to this point.
On to Guemos, bureaucracy sated. The toll roads made it easier to eat miles. Here there called Carrillo Cuado, as apposed to Carrillo Libre. Aarrived with about 45 minutes of daylight left and I got a room and went for food, 600 miles on the odometer. in my search for food and drink I spotted a couple of bike outside a watering hole and stopped. There I met a couple of expats who started a conversation, nice guys. If it wasn't for them I would not have known about the vehicle permits and they gave me some good advice about some towns I should pass up. The towns to avoid can change on a whim and the current advice I think is the best. They had been here for a few years and said I made a mistake by not hanging out in San Carlos, I think they were right and would do that if in the area.