Two friends loaded up their H-D Pan Americas and headed off for a 4700-mile round trip through Mexico
Jake Hobbs and Angel Fuentes have been best friends since they were teenagers. They bonded over music, skateboarding, cars, snowboarding, clothes and motorcycles, and now, a once in a lifetime ride.
KRIEGA: Start by telling us about you and Angel.
JAKE: We both grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and first crossed paths in our early teenage years. The first memory I have of us meeting was at an illegal street race on the outskirts of town. We have been on a similar path the last 30-ish years logging lots of amazing experiences. Angel still lives in Phoenix, running his trucking company. I'm based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and am a partner in a production company that specializes in automotive and motorcycle projects. I also run a passion project called Bolts Roadhouse, building custom two-stroke trail bikes while offering some trips and instruction as well.
Both of us value that work/life balance and have made it a priority to have time to say ‘Yes’ to more opportunities outside the norm.
The Pan America didn’t really catch on in the UK (where Kriega is based). How popular is it in the US?
When it was launched in 2021 it was an instant hit [in the USA]. At that time, the ADV market was seemingly wanting something different than the European offering, and the Pan America definitely was a ‘Freak out the squares’ type of product, which I thought was really cool.
It sold well for the first year or two, with most customers being new to Harley-Davidson. By H-D standards it was very advanced. The electronics and the Adaptive Ride Height suspension were a major selling point. Unfortunately, early bikes were plagued with issues that were small but very annoying, requiring owners to visit dealers monthly to have firmware updates just to keep them running. People started ditching them on the secondhand market.
Do you have experience with other big ADVs? How does it compare?
I have a decent amount of street time on the BMW GS platform, and the KTM 1290 Super Adventure, but I've never been a huge fan of the ADV segment. They do either style of riding at 50%. They are OK on the street, and OK on dirt. I want to rip the canyon roads when I'm on my street bike, and find the technical and flowy trails when I'm riding my dirtbike. I’m also 5ft8in and I couldn’t imagine taking any of those behemoths and tossing them around the dirt. But to each their own.
Ok, why did you buy one?
I grew up around Harleys, my stepfather was an H-D technician and I was around the Harley brand from a very young age. I became very interested in the FXR platform [cult H-D with chassis designed input by Erik Buell]. In 2021, H-D did a demo tour of the Pan America. I was really curious about the new Rev Max engine. The Evolution motor has like 50 horsepower stock, the Rev Max has 150HP!
I was blown away on the test ride. The bike ripped, it was nimble, and it looked totally different than anything I'd seen. I left that test ride thinking if they ever came down in price to be affordable, I'd throw street tyres on it to make it a sport touring machine.
Fast-forward to November 2024, my business partner and I were producing a shoot for Harley-Davidson. I’m normally in the role of production manager, and camera car driver. On this particular day, we were shooting the off-road portion of the Pan America. We had rented out the ranch that the American TV show Yellowstone films at. The area is beautiful and vast... and it snowed the night before. The rider they had slated for the off-road portion was one of their factory road racers and they were worried he might get hurt in those conditions. At the last minute they asked if I would take his place. H-D’s brand manager said, ‘Don't worry about the bike, just go do what you do.’ So I rode the piss out of it, and it absolutely blew me away. It was at that point that I knew I needed one [see the H-D film that Jake featured in here].
I was riding FXRs with Angel the following week and said, ‘If I can find us Pan Americas for less than $10K, will you buy one?’ The following week, both of us flew to California to pick up used bikes.
Did you buy base models?
Np, both of us have Specials because we wanted laced wheels, adaptive ride height suspension, and heated grips, those options are only available with that trim package.
There are three main gremlins with these bikes: charging system, fuel pump, right-hand control module. Any of these can leave you stranded. We updated all of them before leaving on this adventure to ensure a stress-free experience.
What was the idea behind this road trip?
In 2013 me and four friends rode air-cooled, street legal, Honda XR dirtbikes from Salt Lake City, UT to the border of Panama. 21 days, 4000 miles, seven countries. One hell of an experience. I learned a lot on that trip that I still carry with me today.
In a very unexpected twist, my father took his life the day before we were scheduled to depart for Costa Rica. He would have 100% wanted me to go, so I did. Those three weeks on the road allowed me to process his death and also made me realize how short of a time we have on this rock. It was from that point forward that I made sure to live every day with as much intention as possible.
In the 13 years that have passed since that adventure, I've been able to do many more trips, but none as grand as that Central America mission. When I bought the Pan America I got to thinking about another ‘once in a lifetime’ experience. Then I learned about a road in Mexico, Espinazo Del Diablo – The Devil's Backbone, 3000 curves in 100 miles. I called Angel and asked if he was in, not even a question. From that point forward I started building a loose itinerary. The Devil's Backbone was the catalyst, but Mexico City became the mission. Neither of us had been and we were looking to see what this amazing city had to offer.
Give us some numbers: mileage, days…
4770 miles in total. 17 Days. 32 gas stops. Probably $1000 in tolls. More than 100 tacos consumed between us. 5000+ photos. Visited eight of Mexico’s 32 states.
We broke the trip up into three pieces. First leg was seven days, starting in Phoenix, AZ and working our way down the eastern side of Mexico. Checking out amazing towns and immersing ourselves in the culture. Once we got to Mexico City, our partners flew in and met us for four days in the city. We walked almost 45 miles in that period. So much amazing food, architecture, and history. This city is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, and it was super clean.
From there, our final leg home was six days up the western side. This portion was way more about the roads we wanted to ride, and less about the cities we wanted to see. Such a different experience from the first leg of the trip, in all ways.
For those who are interested, the route and the cities in order: Phoenix > Agua Priete > Creel > Batopilas > Gomez Palacio > Monterrey > San Luis Potosí > San Miguel Allende > Mexico City > Guadalajara > Durango > Culiacan > Hermosillo > Phoenix > Salt Lake City.
What were the highs of the trip?
Honestly, too many to list. Going to Batopilas and seeing how the indigenous people of that region live. Check out the Tarahumara if you want to see the definition of simplistic happiness... How welcoming everyone was in all of Mexico. You could walk up to anyone on the street to ask a question and you'd be met with a smile and an answer. Parque Mexico, a beautiful park in the middle of Mexico City.
Any lows?
The only one that comes to mind was day one. We had ridden about four hours to get to the border crossing in Mexico. We got across the border, into Mexico, and went into the office to get our motorcycles permitted to travel in the country for more than a week when Angel realized he grabbed his expired passport, not his current one. That took the wind out of our sails. One of his employees had to grab the current one and drive four hours to meet us. So we lost a day/night there, but it's all part of the story, right?
Any tips for riding in Mexico?
Be prepared. Have pesos, common sense, and respect. Everything else will work itself out. Knowing Spanish is obviously a plus, but most everyone is willing to help you out even with a language barrier. I would go back tomorrow.
Any places you actively avoided?
Ironically, we ended up one of our nights in Culiacan. This is a city in the state of Sinaloa, that's known to be a drug cartel stronghold. We noticed increased police presence but that only made us feel safer. The misconception that Mexico is dangerous is absolutely mindblowing to me. Most of the time I felt safer than some spots in the United States.
What Kriega equipment did you end up using?
On Angel’s bike we mounted OS Platforms to the factory racks [Kriega designed special OS Platforms for H-D Pan Americas], then hung OS Soft Panniers from them: OS-22 on the exhaust side, and OS-32 on the other. He added a US-10 Drypack to the tail, and an OS-Bottle for easy water access.
For mine, I decided to run the OS-18 Adventure Packs. One on each side of the bike, mounted to my factory racks instead of using an OS-Base harness, which worked great. Mounted to the tail was a US-20 Drypack, with US-10s mounted on each side. Then topped off with the OS-Bottle that I kept all my small ‘need to access’ stuff in. [The US-Drypacks the pair used are the older design, from his 2013 trip].
What memory will stay with you the longest?
People weren't buried in their phones, and seeing how content people seemed everywhere we went. In the States everyone seems to be chasing something, and that didn’t seem the case when we were in Mexico. That was such a beautiful thing to see and and unexpected surprise. The sense of community everywhere. It made me think, Enjoy the things you have before they become the things you had.
Anything else you want to tell us
Life is short. Take the trip. Get out of your comfort zone. Say ‘Yes’ more.
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