BIKES: MotoCaribe Dominican Republic Motorcycle Tour

Motorcycling Destinations

BIKES: MotoCaribe Dominican Republic Motorcycle Tour

Exploring the Caribbean Island’s Spectacular Mountains and Beaches

Eric Putter | Posted November 27, 2012 Charlotte, NC

MotoCaribe’s well-maintained, low-mileage V-Strom adventure bikes are perfect for their intended mission on the island. (Photo: Eric Putter)

Leaving base camp, our bikes skated along the slippery, pockmarked dirt road. Bisecting a bustling city district teeming with new cars, banks and supermercados, we escaped urbania on a smooth, gently sweeping mountain pass, kamikaze kids on smoking motos buzzing by us with inches to spare, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic.

Beyond the shock of impending calamity, we rolled past shanties, modest housing, a country club and run-down motels. The road is alive with locals outside their houses, most of which--all around the country--are a few feet off the tarmac, allowing us to literally peer into their lives.

The adults we pass happily socialize, play dominos, dance in the street or at rancheta clubs, and watch life whiz by. Kids, being kids, run wild and help work their families’ roadside businesses and wave at us and improvise baseball games on makeshift diamonds in the rough. Everything from spit-smoked pork to vegetables to homemade baked goods are sold inches away from the roads in tiny shops, out the back of pickup trucks and in brightly painted, wooden stands.

On day one it’s apparent that the Dominican Republic is a developing nation of contrasts: Citizenry of various origins and socio-economic classes; big cities and sleepy villages, grand estates and thatch-roofed huts; from coffee production to tourism. This was merely a prelude of things to come during a six-day riding and cultural experience with MotoCaribe Adventure Tours

This island-based motorcycle travel operation is quarterbacked by American ex-pat Robert Cooper and his bi-lingual wife, Alida, a native Dominican well versed in the country’s tourism industry. Built like a linebacker, Cooper, a former pro football player, has lived many lives--competitive yachtsman, corporate bigwig, in-home healthcare company CEO, owner of airplane hangers, flight schools and a sports bar. He founded MotoCaribe in 2007 after visiting this diverse land of friendly people and natural wonders numerous times in the prior two decades.

To evoke the feeling of riding with a group of friends, MotoCaribe tour groups are relatively intimate, accommodating up to 11 riders on its fleet of Suzuki V-Strom 650s. Our New Year’s tour was scheduled to include five riders, but at the last minute, a two-up couple from California postponed due to a family emergency. The lone customer was Clemens Mandell, a Ducati-riding real-estate agent from Los Angeles. Robert led. We followed. Alida was just minutes behind, driving the company’s 15-passenger Ford van, handling logistics, hauling luggage and being our mobile caterer.

The Dominican Republic is situated between Cuba and Puerto Rico, on the eastern side of Hispaniola, where Christopher Columbus first staked his claim in the New World. It’s

the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined, about on par with Denmark’s landmass.

The Caribbean’s second-largest island, Hispaniola is 240 miles long and 162 miles wide, with wildly divergent topography. In addition to 900 miles of coastline, it has fertile valleys in the east; rugged highlands, desert-like conditions and arid savannas in the southwest and mountains rising up to 10,000 feet in the middle. The northeast coast and Caribbean Alps were the focus of this Motocaribe tour, mostly on scenic byways and challenging mountain passes, with a few dirt roads thrown in the mix.

Soon into our first balmy, 70-some-degree day, we veered off the mountain road and visited our first of many cascadas, or waterfalls. Accessed by hiking along shifty, steel-cable suspension bridges, Jimenoa Falls plunges 100 feet, fueling a hydroelectric plant, which is guarded by the Army.

MotoCaribe tours start and end in Jarabacoa (say it: Hah-Dah-Bah-Co-Ah), set in the elegantly named Cordillera Central (Central Mountain Range), at 1700 feet above sea level. In the distance, four of the Caribbean’s highest peaks can be seen, including the tallest, 10,417-foot Pico Duarte. Known as Land of the Eternal Spring, this mountain town of 60,000 is a summer destination for wealthy Dominicans and hub of the country’s adventure-sports tourism industry. River rafting, kayaking, hiking, climbing, paragliding and horseback riding are easily accessible. All this, just 45 minutes from a small, charming, modern airport in Santiago.

Mi Vista Mountain Resort Mi-Vista.com, just outside Jarabacoa, hosted the first of many outrageous lunch stops. The property is has five bungalows and a swimming pool featuring inlaid tile lounges in the water. It is owned and operated by another ex-pat character. Angel is a retired U.S. Navy diver from New York who built the place himself. True to its name, Mi Vista offers scenic views of mountains punctuated by palm and fruit trees. We dined on a typically simple meal of rice, beans, goat and chicken prepared by Angel’s wife, Magaly. Similar to the population, Dominican cuisine is a mix of Spanish and African influences. Neither spicy nor bland, it usually consists of simple meat and vegetable dishes, with the odd fruit thrown in to inject a contrasting taste and add some color.

Sampling some more tasty roads, another small cascada and the Balneario La Cortina swimming area after lunch, the final treat of the day was touring the Monte Alto coffee-processing plant, which is owned by Alida’s cousin. Other than sugar cane, coffee is the DR’s biggest cash crop. We were led through the entire process by an official guide--from seedlings to burlap sacks stacked and ready for shipment. Aside from what went on in the hulking steel-roofed factory, we learned that the bigger the bean, the better the coffee and that the best coffee is grown at high altitudes. Besides coffee, sugar and professional baseball players, the Dominican Republic’s best-known export is cigars. At smoke shops around the country, crusty craftsmen rolling stogies fill boxes on the stores’ shelves.

Before dark, we returned to base camp at Hotel Gran Jimenoa. Set above the Jimenoa River, which provides a soothing soundtrack as it roars past, the resort has 65 modern, tastefully decorated rooms, a pool and a spectacular al fresco dining area high above the water. It is one of the two places we stayed throughout the tour. Similar to the Edelweiss Bike Travel Touring Center concept, day rides commence from these centrally located digs.

We experienced the DR’s moving-picture show on Suzukis that locals call Harley-Davidsons. Actually, they think any bike bigger than 125cc is a Harley. Being that police ride similar-looking Honda Transalps, many thought we were The Fuzz.

MotoCaribe’s well-maintained, low-mileage V-Strom adventure bikes are perfect for their intended mission on the island. To better accommodate a 30-inch inseam, mine was lowered almost and inch with aftermarket rear linkage dogbones, bringing the perch down to about 31 inches. This do-it-all steed puts out decent power, provides pothole-avoiding handlebar leverage, a reasonable amount of wind protection and a comfy seat. Super-stable on their fresh Michelin Anakee 2 tires, we occasionally pressed the big enduro into sportbike lite mode on some of the DR’s pristinely paved roads and challenged it with some light-duty off-roading.

Click the photo below to see more photos from the tour