Or at least that's what they told me in Tecate on thursday night.... I was taking my plated KTM to San Felipe, and the new young 'by-the-book' Aduana people wouldn't let me into Mexico because my CA registration was expired end of September. Had the registration with me, and ID, but not good enough...I got the Green light in Calexico an hour later, though:p

So make sure your Paperz are in Order!

We got harrassed at Otay at 4:30am on Saturday for not having originals of the title. I told the guy that I will not carry the original, and that a color photocopy should suffice.

He then told me that the vin numbers did not match. He was reading the model number sticker, not the vin number.

I had to get in the bed of the truck and read him the vin number. Once he was straight with the numbers we were rolling.

Then off to another great weekend in Baja!!:thumbsup:

You missed the point. I had a similar experience. Brought the wrong registration. What the final result was after a discussion with the supervisor in charge of the Tecate check point was they seek any income opprootunity they can find, and then hard a-- you over it so you will pay them to over look your papers not being in order. Your papers don't even have to be out of order. They can fain ignorance of our systems and hard a-- you over what may seem like a misunderstanding when all it is is a way to get bribed ( La Mordida). Good suggestion, but sometimes it is worth your time and gas money to play their game. Some times not. Your choice, just understand what is going on. Be advised, last time we checked those federal fiscal policia jobs cost about $ 10,000.00. Most have family pay, then they have to repay or they get a loan from a local money man or drug lord and have to pay him back with big interest in either cash or service. Baja is a no problem place if you just know how the game is played. Have fun and be safe. RB

Yeah, I tried the old '20 peaking out of the papers' trick, but no dice...Ever since Calderon replaced the entire customs staff with young D.F. college kids about a month ago, the south bound lines into TJ have been LONG every afternoon...so maybe things really are changing down there...

Still a great place to:ride:

el-jefe said:

I know Mexico is a little easy on technicalities normally(at least you can usually pay to fix what you are wrong with) but I always have everything in order when going down there. I don't think you should head down there expecting to get away with what you can't here...OK...nevermind.

RottenRob said:

I don't know...I can't remember the last time I rode my bike right into a bar barefoot and no helmet up here...

but they didn't care at all at the Miramar!

Actually, you're right-I'm a total slacker:banghead:

motomanx said:

You have to carry a Title AND registration??

I carry copies of both but never any originals.

mtz

Dust_Devil said:

No, no. All you need is the title OR registration. If a bank is the lien holder, you obviously won't have the title. Hell, I've been through Tijuana and Tecate half a dozen times in the past two months with just the little temporary registration stub they give you when you buy a new bike - DMV hadn't sent the originals yet. You don't need originals, copies are just fine. If someone insists on something out of the oridinary just say, "donde esta el jefe." Problem solved.

Mexico is cracking down on things and most overweight vehicles will get called into secondary... you should expect this. If you want to make things easy on yourself, bring up-to-date papers and assist the officials in validating your bike(s). I get out of the truck, walk over to which motorcycle is mine and help them find the VIN number. This generally eliminates any potential for funny business. Help them help you.

BTW: I really don't think anyone should be bribing officials, especially these days. It's simply not necessary. Maybe if you have a gun to your head. :foul:
On the topic of papers - did you know it's also possible (and painless) to get back across the border into the US without a physical passport? As long as you have a valid passport, the US border patrol agent can verify this in their computer. Just make sure you have a driver's license or some other form of valid identification. I'm not suggesting this as standard practice, but if you happen to forget or lose your passport, just know that it's not the end of the world.

Here's what I bring with me each and every time I cross the border. A zip-loc bag containing the following:

Real passport
Real passport card
Copy of my driver's license
Copy of my birth certificate
Copy of bike registration and title

Never once had a single problem crossing Tijuana, Otay, Tecate or Mexicali in 10 years.

I have gotten hassled by Policia check point driving back into Ensenada at the last 500. They wanted to see vehicle and bike registration, showed original vehicle but photo copy registration of bike. Said photo copy was not acceptable, got hassled for awhile but our chase driver lives in Ensenada and talked his way out of it. Probably better to bring original registration (you can always order another if lost) so no questions are asked.

In my limited exp I have just carried the original of my registration, licence,passport. Seems like that might be the easiest way to not get hassled.

Dust_Devil said:

+1 Oh yea and don't forget insurance!

Thanks to Justin for some very insightful comments.

el-jefe said:

It helps to point out that an expired registration is being used for proof of ownership only.

I was once asked for the "original" registration. My answer was that in California, a copy will suffice (at least at the time the back of my original CA registration said so). That said, I carry originals.