Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/146664
Great Motorcycle Adventures By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones ver wonder what it would be like to ride your dual sport bike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon? Careful! The mere thought might get you 10 to 20. Hey, forget the Grand Canyon. There's a place about 300 miles south of El Paso that blows the Grand Canyon away. And best of all, motorcycles are welcomed! The place is called Copper Canyon, or Barranca del Cobre, and it's hidden deep within the Sierra Madre Mountains in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Its deepest point, measured from top to bottom, is 5904 feet, 1230 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon and, overall, it is nearly four times wider. Its highest peak is more than 9000 feet high. It's also the home of the Sierra Tarahumara Indians, who made this beautiful and rugged country their home centuries ago. Up until just a few years ago, the only way to get to the bottom of Copper Canyon was by foot, mule or motorcycle. Now it is possible to get there by car or truck via recently cut two-track dirt roads, but traveling on a motorcycle is still the absolute best way. We found this out firsthand, thanks to Les French of Great Motorcycle Adventures (GMA). French hosts organized off-road/dual sport trail rides into Copper Canyon, as well as rides to Monterrey and the Yucatan Peninsula. His most popular event, though, is the Copper Canyon ride, which he puts on about four times a year. French considers Mexico his second home. A native of Texas, he first visited Mexico when he was 13 years old after running away from home with high hopes of becoming a professional bull fighter. But that dream quickly faded back to reality, as he returned home a few months later, though he was hooked on Mexico and has returned there at least once a month ever since, he says. The week before Easter, longtime friend/photographer Kinney Jones and I joined French on a Copper Canyon trip. Kinney and I loaded up our dual sport bikes - a 1991 Suzuki DR350S and a 1989 Honda CRM250R - and drove from Los Angeles to El Paso, where we met French and his GMA crew and the five other riders making the trip, including plastic fender legend Preston Petty; "Piro" Leroy Winters, who once won the Jack Pine Enduro on a HarleyDavidson; Works Performance's Gil Vaillancourt, and "professional" ISDE enthusiast Ted Schwartz. Also making the trip were Jerry and Betty O'Harrah, who were going to attempt the eventual 400-plus mile ride two-up on a Honda XR600! Our adventure began first-thing Sunday morning when we arrived at the border crossing. French warned us it would be a hassle and it was. One pickup truck, one van, one trailer, nine motorcycles and 13 gringos were almost too much for the Mexican authorities in Juarez to handle. After nearly two hours of paper shuffling and reshuffling, and just plain standing around waiting for something to happen, we were rolling down the four-lane highway. Six hours and one blown out tire later, we arrived in Cuahtemoc, a fairly large town named after the last Aztec Emperor. Cuahtemoc is the capitol of the Mennonite farmers and religious communities. Mennoites originally migrated from Germany during the 15th century and eventually landed in Mexico in the E This was the last stop before descending to the bottom of Copper Canyon, a highlight of the 400-mile ride. DUAL SPORT