Now, el Churro and I had such a good time on the Ruta de Mezcal, we both completely forgot about that problematic carb previously mentioned as Problem #5. But el Churro and I hate pavement, so as soon as we got on the highway he reminded me twice on the short trip over to Quiroga about the problem, bringing us to a halt on the side of the road each time. What the hell bro we are trying to go get some delicious carnitas. Ok, ok I get it you need some attention, better here than hours deep in the back of vigilante forest I guess. A quick draining of the carb each time and we were back on the road.
As we entered Quiroga we cruised down the main strip to get a lay of the city. There is a hotel right where the two main roads make a T, which is coincidently where the carnitas vendors setup shop, a block some have dubbed carnitas heaven. Quiroga is fairly small though, so we continued on to see where the other hotels were, so that I could walk around looking for a deal. There are a number of hotels in town, so as we got to the end of town I stopped where there were 2 next to each other. One was closed, so I popped into Hotel Quiroga which was only charging 280 pesos. This was a step up from the Morelia hotel, so at that price I took it, not wanting to walk all over town in my gear. That had secure parking, and prior to agreeing to stay I made sure they would let me work on Churro there which they did not object to. I later checked and the hotel by carnitas heaven was asking for 350 pesos, so while still reasonable, I made the correct choice this time.
Naturally, the 1st thing I did was head for carnitas heaven, Churro can wait a little longer. I told myself I would only get 1 taco at a time so I could try all the stands, but like a kid in a candy store I was overwhelmed by the awesome sight and couldn’t resist ordering up two once the guy engaged me, besides tacos are small in Mexico. Well, these things were huge, and two was just enough to leave me full. You can also order up a kilo of carnitas, which is shared between friends, or taken home, luckily I didn’t try to eat that on my own. I now have an idea of starting an illegal smuggling operation and being the king of the carnitas game, I bet the price in the US will go for 10x what it is here….I will have to give it some thought. I know it will be tough not to break rule number 1, how can I not eat my own supply? Anyway, they give it to me plain with a couple of pickled peppers of some sort, which add just the right amount of spiciness. I look around and no one else has any sort of toppings, so figure it would probably offend someone if I had asked for anything else anyway. Now, these were delicious, but I suspect that these guys are actually the best salesmen in the world, as I had definitely overhyped it in my head and was expecting something a bit more, but that is in no way a complaint, they were absolutely delicious.
Quiroga is normally a stopover for lunch for many people, though some definitely stay a night. I don’t think it is common for people to stay longer, since after 1 day you have seen it all, but it is a busy town with vendors selling all the normal crap for the Mexican tourists. But again, the carnitas was delicious, so I stayed for 4 nights. Originally I thought Carnitas Carmelo was a delicious caramelizing process of some sort, but it turns out it is the name of the family, and the have the monopoly on the carnitas game. They must have had 6 or 7 carts setup, which left the other families with 1 or two each. They all claim to make it in their own unique way, but I couldn’t really taste a difference between them. I do make sure to order up the gringo tacos after the vertebrae debacle in Morelia, as here they use every part of the pig and I am hoping to avoid most of the unknown parts, which are fatty and gross looking, though reportedly delicious. Every time they reach in and grab a clean juicy cut perfect for me, I am clearly not the 1st gringo to roll through this town.
Ok, you already know there were other delicious treats besides carnitas
As mentioned I had let the hotel know I would be working on Churro, so when I wasn’t in a food coma I headed out and stripped him down again. This is always a pain as you need to remove the side panels, seat, and tank to get to the main stuff. Problem is, while the dirt racks are good racks, and the mosko bags are solid as well, the two do not work together all that well on the KLR. This is no fault to the manufacturers, but it is impossible for me to get to the screws without 1st removing most of the Mosko screws so I can slide the panel back to the rear to then get to the KLR screws to remove the panel, which then gives me access to the seat and gas tank screws….not the end of the world but definitely a pain! These pics from Patzcuaro show what I mean.
Once I finally get the carb out I walk around town looking for the supplies I will need. I find a guy selling buckets 1st, then head off and find a lady with a towel so I don’t make a complete mess at the hotel, and later the Pinol which is Mexico’s version of Pine Sol, which should do the trick. I have trouble finding a ruler, which I would like in order to measure the float bowl in case there is an issue there, but don’t necessarily need it for the cleaning. I wanted a cheap plastic kids ruler so I could give it away later, but after a couple closed papelerias, which are stationary supply stores, I give up and head to a ferreteria, or hardware store to get a more expensive metal ruler. I take the carb apart removing and rubber bits, and find it is filthy with red crude. Now before the trip I did a rushed job of cleaning the carb while still on the bike, so I know it was clean, which means this is from the red gas I picked up near Los Mochis, when the problem 1st started. Of course while doing all this the last screw strips, which is common on these carbs. I head off to find some help, and after 3 different locations I finally find the guy who can get it out for me. He stops what he is currently ding, spends a few minutes with different tools trying tp break it loose, and finally has success. He then pulls out his bucket of spare screws, tries a few until he finds a replacement, and tells me it’s free. Yay, I love free.
Confident this is the issue I clean it out and let it soak for about 24hrs, which gives me an excuse to eat more carnitas. I then start to get the carb back together, measure the float bowl which is right where it should be, and get it reinstalled in Churro. Happy to have this problem most likely fixed, I put everything back together feeling great to have the problems behind me. Then, as I finish I look down at the racks and see this:
Some of a bitch, 1 step forward, 2 steps back. My heavy diva shit I have been carrying around has broke the rack, which is only a few months old, the surface rust is because I chose not to get t powder coated so it would look older, it is cosmetic and not why t cracked….the racks just couldn’t handle the adventures Churro and I threw at it. After asking around it doesn’t seem like there is a welder in town, which I find hard to believe, I am pretty sure all Mexicans can weld. I drive around a little hoping to stumble on someone welding, but give up and take a day trip heading an hour back to Morelia as I cannot load the bags on the broken racks. Google gives me a couple options, but I see a sign for a welder as I am entering the city, so go to turn around, only to find one right where I do the u-turn. I ask them to fix the rack, and show a picture of an additional support, but say I don’t “need” this, but it would be great if they could fabricate something like this up to make it stronger. Of course that is no problem they will do it…..but I am nervous that my Spanish may have them making something completely different. Of course we talk about the trip, and the boss mentioned he has been all over the Us for work, so we talk about all that as well.
They take the racks off to fix the cracks, but put them back on Churro before adding any support bar…which keeps me nervous that they didn’t understand. These guys don’t use any protection for the spot welds, or the main welds on the break, but do throw the welding masks on for the support bar. Since they put the racks on prior to the support bar, Churro is left with a few burn marks….I don’t mind though, he is tough. They finish up the job and it looks fantastic, they offer to paint it but I tell them no need I like the rust look and I don’t want to wait around for it to dry. They really want to paint it though, so I let them go ahead with it. In the end it looks great, so I ask what the cost is worrying I will get US prices from the bosses days back in the US. Nope, we are in Mexico, you get Mexican prices here amigo. I paid less than 12USD, for a bomb ass rack, thanks guys….if anyone needs a welder check out these guys in Morelia, it is probably worth the drive down from the US with the money you will save in the end, but don’t even think about selling carnitas in my turf.
Man, so many problems fixed these past few days, I think it is time for a carnitas celebration. I even throw on some salsa this time, but it was definitely not needed. I then head up the road behind Quiroga to explore a little. I get a couple nice views of the lake, as well as cruising through some farm land, until I get to a very small pueblo. The kids are excited at Churros arrival, but I am a bit disappointed as the road turns to dirt which is great, but it somewhat blocked by a large truck, and I am not entirely sure it is even the road I need to continue on as opposed to some guys driveway, so we turn around and return home since it is already past 5. I plan on taking this road the next day when I leave and continuing on to the main road North of Quiroga, but later decide I don’t want to break my new racks on the 1st day so ditch that plan. I had originally intended to head back to Morelia in order to check out this mil cumbres thing, but instead decide to continue West over to Uruapan, as there are some things over there I wanted to checkout too. So mil cumbres will have to wait a few days.
