Niagra Falls or bust?

My riding buddy Bruce was looking for a few days in the saddle and thinks a trip to Niagara Falls, Canada could work for us. He found a neat jet boat ride that starts in New York State some miles from the falls and then runs up to the falls at rather high speed. http://www.whirlpooljet.com. The boat looks wet to me but we always can air dry on the bikes.

The plan is to leave CT. on a Friday and reach the Finger Lakes, Rochester Area that evening. Next morning early into Canada and the falls, tour the town, dinner etc. Next day probably onto the jet boats.

Our return will be across northern NY (Route 104) and then a struggle to get into the Adirondack Mountains before dinner and hotel. Next day mountains in the am and home in the pm.

I hope to keep the total mileage under 1100 smiles in four days.

The bike will get a good checking over, but it is in great shape. Change of oil before and after...oil is cheap...maybe check oil screen before I go but I am not fixating on it.

Tire trade-offs

I have over 1000 miles on the Mefo's and they have taught me a lesson about tires. Tires are as much about an individual's riding style as they are about intrinsic performance. In other words, aggressive tires are a waste if they are being used by someone who is not in sync with the attributes of the tire.

Take me for instance. I am at best an older, overweight rider with dreams of twisting turns and scrambling over single tracks. My actual riding is somewhat aggressive for my ability, which scares me. The aggressive nature makes me want to "trick" out the bike to suit my dream...but in fact I have taken the bike further than I can ride it. The Mefo tires are better than the Dunlop 607's by a long shot...but far less than my dream said they would be. I still get stuck in mud and now I have a noise to deal with at speeds over 40 MPH. I also swear that they are a bit more squirrley in tight turns. I wandered over a double yellow painted line last week and felt the tail wag a bit. Sphincter time.

I wonder what my ego will make me to do next?

"Prying Mantis" with panniers

Mud ain't no friend of mine

I have discovered a new way to stop, shut off, and park my bike.

I was out in the woods yesterday...somewhere I should not have been...on a barely visible two track woods road, covered with last autumn's leaves. I had been having a better time then any almost 61 year old should have with a 400 lb. bike in the woods, and was feeling pretty good about some of the hills I climbed. Anyway, I was moving about 15 mph in 2nd. gear, along this nearly invisible track, and it turned left terracing the side of a hill, then it dipped and turned right up the hill. I was in the left track scoping out the uphill right, when I went through the dip, or I should say "nearly through the dip"..

All of a sudden "Praying Mantis" slowed to a stop, stalled and just stood there in the mud. The consistency was like thick oatmeal, and I was in it up to the chain. I restarted and spun the wheel, but "forgetaboutit", just deeper in the mud. I dismounted and the bike just stood there, I couldn't have parked it nicer. By now I was hot from horsing the bike back and forth but getting no where. I pulled off my helmet, gloves, jacket and sunglasses, and just studied the situation while I rested. After a few minutes, I tried to lift the tail out of the muck...no go. I finally dug out from behind the rear wheel and was able to horse the bike back about ten feet to where the mud hardened up a bit and the bike surfaced. Of course at this point the bike fell over and was belly laughing at me as it lay there. After a few minutes rest, I was able to lift the bike to 45 degrees, and almost had a coronary getting it up all the way. I rode it home and hosed at least ten pounds of mud from everywhere, even my right side hand grip was full of mud. You would have been very proud of me.

All that to say this: From experience, this bike "ain't no mudder". You guys out west must not be riding in very deep mud in the woods. The KLR is a hard surface bike that requires an experienced able bodied (read young) person to throw it around, and frankly I don't believe most of what you guys claim. I think you are all a bunch of lying SOB's.

Ok, I feel better

Ready...but for what?

The bike is pretty maxed out. I just received a Happy Trails skid plate and that does it for this year. I will have done everything that I wanted to do to the bike and am now just racking up miles. I have already put 600 miles on the bike in the last thirty days. The engine sounds great and I have even found my little annoying rattle. It is in the headlight assembly. When I touch the rubber dust cover over the rear of the bulb socket it stops. Now I have to figure out how to get to that area so I can isolate the noise and muffle it out with something soft.

New tires, new panniers, new crash bars!!!

I have gone a little crazy here getting set for spring. Spent about $600 for various "farkels" for the KLR. I am happy with them all. I built my own panniers from army surplus Mermite cans, which had been used for carrying food to forward line troops. The cans are good sized and double walled. I had heard rumors of how difficult it was to pry out the inner aluminum skin, but I had no problem using a 90 degree angle grinder with a cut off blade. The toughest part of the whole job was breaking out the foam insulation that filled the space between the double walls. I used a Happy Trail SU rack (built like a tank) to mount the cans and they are solidly attached.

Another upgrade was to replace the highway tires (Dunlop 607's) with a more 50/50 tire. I did my research and decided on Mefo Explorer 99 tires which are like a 60/40 tire. They whine just a little up to about 40-45 MPH and then the rest of the noise from the engine and from wind just drowns it out. I ventured into mud over these last few days, somewhere I would never have gone before, and I made it through...bearly. The tires did the trick but this is no "mudder".

After 7000 miles...

So far I have found a nirvana. The bike is liberating. I enjoy riding with friends, and I enjoy doing my own thing as well. I ride and think at the same time. I have a couple of favorite local rides and I never tire of the route. I am not tearing around town, I am touring the country, noticing houses and their architecture,looking at gardens, and just noticing much more than I do when I am in a gage. My riding has become a way to be alone and just enjoy life. I am never bored. I am often thrilled with the mere twist of the right grip. I am glad that the KLR has no more power than it does, or I would be in real trouble. It is the perfect bike for me and I am starting to think very seriously about a week or more solo trip come spring. I am waiting to hear from a couple for guys that want to circumnavigate the state of Maine. I love Maine and think that would be really neat.
My wife is showing concern when I talk of solo trips. I need to understand her fear is really love for me. That's a neat thing. I need to be safe...safer then I am now. I took the safety course offered beginning riders in CT. and would like to take the intermediate course next spring. Gotta think...

Valve Adjustment...fear of failure

KLR 650's have valves which need checking fairly regularly, and adjustment if the clearances are off. I was told that a "wrench" or a dealer could do it in about 2-3 hours. It took me a bit longer, about 5 hours but at no time was I in the panic that is associated with screwing something up. There is about an hour of bike disassembly to get down to the valve cover bolts. Once the bolts were off, the valve cover and gasket came off easily. The measurement was tough to accomplish because I had to find Top Dead Center (TDC) and it's hard to do with tri-focal glasses. VBG. I found that the valves were out of adjustment, so had to order new shims to fit in the buckets in the valve train. Thanks Fred at Arrowhead Motor Sports for fast service over the holiday weekend. The biggest fear I had was that I was going to drop a metal object down the timing chain case and really get into a mess. Having been forewarned by the information on Mark's KLR website, I stuffed the case with shop rags and effectively blocked the way for any errant nuts, bolts or shims. It went back together easily, the shims did their job, and I can't believe how proud I was of myself for doing that job. I was also becoming more attached to the bike. She has been good to me.

Praying Mantis

Well I have been riding my KLR 650 since May and have put about 5000 miles on it myself. I bought it with 2350 on the odometer. Somewhere I read that in order to stay current you need to ride at least 4000 miles per year...so I am ok for this year.

It took me a while to feel comfortable on a bike after all these years. I was lucky a few times when I misjudged turns on the road. On one particular turn, it was a good thing there was grass alongside the road, because I was mowing the lawn for a bit.

The KLR has been awesome for me. I am 300 lbs and 6'4". I was 6'6" at one time in my life but have shrunk a bit with age. Anyway the KLR was my choice because it was big and the price was right. I also wanted to go off-road. I have found limitations with a KLR off-road. It is very heavy for an off-road bike. In really tough stuff where I come to a stop on single track because of fear, I sometimes have fallen over because even my long legs were dangling up in the air on a steep downhill that I straddled. I do better on uphill sections but have modified my riding so that I don't go single tracking with this bike. I wish the bucks were available for me to get a smaller, lighter bike for real off-road stuff...the problem is that at this age (60 years old) I am not sure that I am athlete enough to do most of what I took for granted when I was 18.

Riding back roads is the best with this bike. I have explored many neighborhoods and have found places that I didn't know existed within 20 miles of my home. When I see a dead end street I now follow it to the end to see if there is any dirt at the end of it. So far I have found two dirt roads that continue as town roads but are not on maps.