New addition to the stable: 2006 KLR650 (keep it or sell it?)

UPDATE (10/5/2013): I listed it for sale locally and it sold within 20 minutes! Maybe I didn't ask enough? Regardless, a local Marine nabbed himself a great deal on this great running/looking bike. He plans to use it as a commuter.

Well, that was fun. So, on to my next project...

OK, it's done. Because it's a strong Baja bike, I give you....MexCalibur!

YouTube video here: http://youtu.be/IzF7spu7WYA

And some photos of the finished product:









It'll likely go up for sale this weekend...there's already local interest.

Fun project!








I found this bike on craigslist locally and let all of my fellow riders know about it in hopes that someone could get a deal. Likely, you all have as many bikes as I do!

Anyhow, I went ahead and bought it last night as a possible second bike or quick turnaround investment. I got a great deal, though it looks rough at 37K miles. And it has way too many farkles. Started it up and it runs like a champ. The seller is a bike mechanic and this was his dad's bike. *

The plastics parts (fenders, cowling) are faded (I may bed-liner spray them) but has a lot of aftermarket goodies. The motor looks new (sans a light oil coating). It has a clean (not salvage) title and is currently registered.

Among the goodies included:

•Upgraded 320mm front brake.
•Corbin (possibly) seat.
•Upgraded front and rear susepension (appears to be Progressive).
•Fork brace.
•Bar risers.
•K&N air filter.
•Russell Stainless brake lines.
•Formotion timer.
•Highway pegs.
•Touring windscreen.
•IMS wide footpegs.
•Touring windscreen.
•Tail light "back off" flasher.
•Jardine exhaust.
•Centerstand.

But it has some issues:

•Short in the radiator wiring. Owner claims it stays on all the time. Seller told me is has a "loose radiator fan wire."
•Fork oil all over the place.
•Front tire cupped and about dead.
•No battery installed.
•Some oil on motor but seller claims it doesn't leak at all.
•It's dropped (both sides); nothing too bad.
•Faded plastics.

So, I have over a month to get this thing in tip top shape before I decide to keep it as a spare (I'd really like to) or sell it. Ideas? It's a blank slate right now.

I put a new Odyssey battery in it and it runs fine. A quick wipe-down made it look much better. I can see the potential...

I plan to paint it a cool color (tan/green/quasi-military/camo?).


* The green and tan version is an idea I have now...

I have been having a good time riding and working on this bike the past 3 days. Mechanically it's fine. Cosmetically? Not so much. No worries...I have plans...

Today I:

Pressure washed it to remove road grime.
Removed the plastics and scubbed them down for painting.
Replaced existing seat (a fake Corbin?) with an extra Gen 1 saddle I had.
Installed some new grips (the existing set were worn and sticky).
Swapped old front tire with new Shinko 244.
Cleaned the (K&N) air filter.
Changed oil and filter.

Then I took it for a spin around the neighborhood.

I may not sell this bike! (To my wife's chagrin...)

Riding San Diego's eastern backcountry with my brother -- on KLRs!

MapLink

This is a brief ride report of two KLRs riding the east San Diego area. It's mostly a paved, easy ride (approx. 125 mile loop).

I rode this most excellent route through some great East County backcountry with my brother today. It was a a fairly easy loop, about 125 miles roundtrip, from La Mesa, CA. Although it was kind of hot and stuffy--and the route was mostly paved--it was a special ride because I don't ever recall riding motorcycles with my brother. And we were both on KLRs!

This big loop through San Diego's east county backcountry started and finished in La Mesa, CA. We topped off the gas tanks at about 9 am and headed east for about 2o miles on the I-8.

This route included the very cool if somewhat uneventful Viejas Grade ascent, a gravel and dirt road which is a wonderful alternate to riding on I-8 to the south. The Viejas Grade starts behind the Viejas Casino and climbs to the top of the mountains immediately west of Descanso. It's a gradual climb with some sharp turns and well-graded gravel (not too deep). The route then goes through Descanso, Guatay and Pine Valley, continuing to the little known and truly EPIC Pine Creek Road.

Made for cars but most often used by cyclists and hikers, Pine Creek Road is a one-lane trail that climbs into the Laguna Mountains offering fantastic scenic views. If you enjoy seeing Manzanita like I do, then you're in luck as there's plenty of it. The sights and smells just added to the beauty as we sped along the narrow trail (really just 2nd and 3rd gear stuff) . I kept an eye out, but we encountered no oncoming traffic (we did pass one car moving slowing and saw 3 or 4 others camping along the route)). Even though it was a bit hot and humid for most of the ride, it really cooled off when we hit 5,000' elevation.



We reached Sunrise Highway (S-1) at the top after about 6 miles. We took a left and headed north toward Julian. Again, we were treated to some nice views to the east--this time of the desert floor, all the way to Borrego.

Once we reached the 78/79, we took a left and headed toward Cuyamaca (instead of turning right which would've brought us into Julian).

Reaching Lake Cuyamaca 3 miles later, we turned right and headed up into the hills on the infamous Engineers Road-- a real "get to know your bike" kind of road. Engineers Road winds in and out of some picturesque countryside, ascending and descending along the sides of the mountains. We passed several cyclists but no cars.

Eventually, we arrived to the 79 and went left toward Ramona. There were quite a few bikers out and everyone was waving and smiling...hot day or not.
We passed through Ramona, went back up through the hills making quick work of the 67, passed through Lakeside and Santee as we made our way south toward the I-8.

We arrived back in La Mesa where we started 3 hours earlier after about 125 miles.
This was a really great ride and I highly recommend it for a not-too-challenging but very fun "mostly" on-road ride (we rode through less than 7 miles of non-paved roads).

Pro tip: The Viejas Grade is fairly easy to find. Exit the I-8 in Alpine at Willows, then continue east on the north side of the freeway. Veer left shortly thereafter into the Indian Reservation. Follow that road until it becomes Viejas Grade and turns to gravel - head uphill toward the summit (gravel for about 6 miles).

10 Common Motorcycle Accidents And How To Avoid Them

Used with the gracious and explicit permission of Wes Siler at www.rideapart.com.

10 Common Motorcycle Accidents And How To Avoid Them
August 12, 2013 by Wes Siler


Riding a motorcycle is dangerous. Luckily, bikes also give you the best possible tools to avoid crashing — incredibly powerful brakes, obstruction-free vision, excellent handling and very gripy tires. Here’s how to use those tools, and your very own brain, to avoid an accident.


10. A Car Turns Left In Front Of You
9. You Hit Gravel In A Blind Corner
8. You Entered A Corner Too Fast
7. A Car Changes Lane Into You
6. A Car Hits You From Behind
5. Your Riding Buddies Are Idiots
4..You Locked The Front Brake
3. A Car Opened Its Door
2. It’s Slippery!
1. The Most Common Bike Accident Don’t drink and ride.


See the complete article here: http://rideapart.com/2013/08/10-common-motorcycle-accidents-and-how-to-avoid-them/) or this LINK

KLR on the Anderson Truck Trail (and the dreaded Wall of Bofus).

This is a short ride report about how things can go wrong, and fast.



Go easy on me, folks...




I took the Big Girl out for a little exploring today. I "meant" to stay mostly on road or hard pack and take the Viejas Grade and Pine Creek Trail....but I got sidetracked and that didn't happen.


I started riding on the Anderson Truck Trail east of San Diego. It looked great at first. Wonderful views of El Capitan Reservoir. As many of you know--and if you don't, I'm here to tell you--the road quickly goes from passenger car to 4-wheel drive to mountain bike to a walking trail. Then it just peters out to a deer path. With some impressive drop-offs (sheer cliffs, really).




Did I mention the nice views of El Cap?


Fast forward 2 hours later:

(I called a fellow rider who knows the area.)

Me: Hey, Bob, it's Dan. Riding today?


Him: Nah. Doing the work thing.


Me: Oh, OK. Hey, got a second to chat?


Him: Uh, sure. What's up?


Me: Hey, let's say a rider gets to the bottom of the Anderson Truck Trail and meets up with the dreaded Wall of BOFUS. What are his options?


Him: Oh, boy.


Me: Yeah...


Him: There's a hill about 100 yards back that goes around. It's tricky, though.


Me: Yeah, I tried that. I'm on my ass as we speak. The KLR's tires are pointing upwards.


Him: Yeah, that'll happen. Well, get on the gas. Get a running start and hit it hard.


Me: OK, thanks.


(15minutes later)


Him: Just calling to make sure you made it out OK.


Me: Nope, second try. On my ass again; the KLR is, too. Gonna take a break and consider my options. It's friggin' really hot right now.


Him: You could turn around and ride back up.


Me: Yeah, I'm not feeling that. I'll give the hill another try.


Him (and I quote): It's all about commitment... or heat stroke.


OK, time to get out of here before I end up like the last guy who died right in this spot in 2011. A quick but heartfelt prayer and off I went.


Long story short, 3rd time was a charm.


I tore up my brand new Ortlieb saddlebags. And my Wolfman tank bags. Let's see....tore off the left footpeg and left a turn signal on the trail. Added some beauty marks to the bike.


I tell ya, solo riding ain't always what's it's cracked up to be.


Lessons learned: None. I'm a knucklehead in every sense of the word.


I'm going back, though. And this time it's personal.


I'm coming for you, BOFUS!



In retrospect: I'm sore as heck from picking up that Big Pig "a few" times. Looking back, I wish I'd taken more photos of the bike on it's side and bars/wheels up, as well as the hill I finally conquered to get out of that situation. I was too hot and feeling exhausted at the time and didn't have the energy to even snap a photo. I'm just glad I was able to take a photo of the Wall of Bofus before I went wheels up!

(Feel free to research the Anderson Truck Trail or the Wall of Bofus for more info on a very devious ride.)

Intro to Baja (Part II): The KLR Ride Report: June 29-30, 2013

The SPOT satellite GPS Tracker message stated, “Well, it appears I'm experiencing a bit of trouble. I'm OK, but my bike is not. Here's my location: 32.51614 latitude, -117.10866 longitude.” *

But I’m getting ahead of myself. You want to hear how our ride down the Baja coast went.


As you might know, I have been conducting a series of weekend rides to explore the off-road trails along the Pacific coast of the Baja peninsula and thought I’d ask others to join me in some "Baja lite" riding, mainly limited off-road riding (80/20) with beach camping and challenging but not extremely difficult terrain.


I threw down the gauntlet and there was some interest from other KLRistas. Alan drove down on Friday from Mojave, about 200 miles away. Now THAT is dedication! We linked up with Shane in El Cajon, who couldn’t make the ride due to conflicts with his work schedule. You know, protecting America’s liberty and all that. Thanks for your service, brother.

Alan and I set off on Saturday morning with a rough schedule planned. Our main goal was to locate and ride a somewhat hidden route from Santo Tomas to the old lighthouse at Punta San Jose. The reason it’s hidden is that surfers want to keep the spot “off the map” from non-locals. I understand that.


By 8am, we had arrived to Tecate, California; by 8:05, we were in Tecate, Mexico. How was I to know that in a few short minutes I would be taking the first of two dirt naps? Ah, but Baja dirt is softer than US dirt.



In short, I leaned over to pick up something I’d dropped and a 400+ pound bike toppled over. After I picked it up, I looked over my shoulder to see if Alan had witnessed by fall. I guess I leaned too much because I fell over again, to the amusement of everyone at the Pemex gas station. No worries, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…


Temperatures hit 105 but traffic was light on Mexico Highway 3 and we were in Ensenada by 10:15 to meet with fellow KLRista Damaso (and his daughter) at the Starbucks.



We swapped stories and were back on the road by 11am. After gassing up, we stopped by Tacos Poblano in Maneadero for some pretty tasty carne asada tacos and were back fighting the crazy traffic by noon.

Driving along the coast was a lot cooler than inland and we saw a 20 degree temperature drop.

In no time flat we were at the Santo Tomas cut-off. I said to Alan, “Now it gets interesting.” I was fairly confident that I could locate the secret turn-off, allegedly 12.6 miles down a dirt road from Highway 1. At 12.7 miles I’d seen nothing resembling a road so I spoke with a local who advised me to “go back to the highway and take the ‘easy’ road…like the rest of the turistas.” Oh, the humanity! After I explained that I really was going to ride my loaded-down motorbike up those hills and to Punta San Jose, the local man pointed to a cow trail partially covered by bamboo that led up into the mountains. “Vaya por alli,” he said. And we did. For those interested, the GPS coordinates to that turn-off are: Latitude: 31.55337, Longitude: -116.59511 (N31 33.202 W116 35.707).

The rocky trail zigzagged up into the hills and through ranchlands. Some of the trails were best traversed by 4-wheel drives or goats, but our trusty KLRs did fine. At the bottom of one steep trail, Alan told me that skill—not luck—got him through unscathed. Yes, skill…

At the top of a hill, we finally saw the beautiful coast—we made it! We finally came out to the coast road about two miles from the lighthouse and rode up to take a look.


It was a popular surf spot and other than a few shacks, there was nothing there but an old lighthouse. After a quick break, we continued south toward the fishing/farming village of Ejido Erendira.



A few miles later, we hit some deep sand as we approached La Calavera fish camp. Looking back, I saw Alan was standing over his napping KLR.

I should mention that we’d seen no vehicles in the past two hours. Then, in the middle of nowhere, a truckload of surfers drives up to witness Alan’s dirt nap.



The marine layer was so thick we couldn’t see the big religious complex near San Juan de las Pulgas. We snapped photos at Rancho Tampico’s infamous chupacabra warning sign then pushed on to Punta Cabras and Castro's fish camp.


You can see the thick fog of the marine layer settling on everything.

Ironically, a coyote ran out in front of me just before we reached Coyote Cal’s. We stopped in for a well-earned beer and spoke with the surfers we’d seen on the road. They mentioned the seafood restaurant was closing soon so we saddled up and rode off to eat. That ice-cold Pacifico went down so well that another would’ve been great. But dinner called.

We sat overlooking crashing waves and ate a fish dinner at the small fishing village. Good stuff.
l


We rode along the coast looking for camp sites before it got dark. We found a few good spots and selected a nice one near the volcano at the southern end of Erendira. While out looking for driftwood for the bonfire, I looked back to see…Alan standing over his napping KLR! What? That was four dirt naps between us in one day.

Here are some photos of us beach camping at the south end of Erendira.



We set up our tents and brought our bikes down to the sand…hoping we were above the high tide line. I enjoyed some cigars and whisky I’d brought along as I listened to Alan tell of his Alaska via KLR adventure. We hit the sack at about 9:30 to the sound of crashing waves.


We were up before 7am and packed up before 7:30. We explored the area a bit and rode through the volcano a bit before riding into town for breakfast and coffee at Gloria’s restaurant. Eggs, coffee, homemade tortillas and a juice concocted on pineapple, cactus and cucumber. Take that, Denny’s!



We left Erendira at about 9:30 and filled up at the Santo Tomas Pemex.

We arrived to Ensenada by 11am after witnessing some interesting driving in Maneadero. We had a couple fish tacos at El Fenix and kept rolling to Tijuana on the toll road. At the first toll booth/military checkpoint, I watched as Alan carried on an animated conversation with the soldier. I’ll have to let him tell you about that.



We bypassed the Mirador (overlook) because the marine layer was so thick that we could only see the tops of the Coronado Islands. There usually is an incredible ocean view.



At about 1pm, somewhere between the second and third toll plaza, my front end started wobbling, a little at first then uncomfortably so. We were moving between 65-75 MPH, so I let off on the throttle and guided my KLR to the side.


Yup, that front tire was about as flat as they get. We had it changed in about 20 minutes and were back on the road, but not before two helpful locals—both motorcycle enthusiasts—stopped to render assistance. One guy ahd owned two KLRs and was thinking about buying another one. Nice folks.



We arrived to the Tijuana border crossing at about 2pm, and it was busy! The lines told me that it was a 3-4 hour wait. For cars. Not us.



By the way, I’ve gotta mention this: Alan rides his bike like a true Mexican. I was impressed with his offensive driving technique. Perfect riding skills for that environment. Way to go, amigo. Anyhow, he was a champ as we negotiated the lines of traffic. In less than 10 minutes we were at the front of the line, through immigration and b-b-b-b-back in the USA. Piece of cake.

We stopped somewhere just across the border to gas up and grab a bite to eat before Alan headed home. He made it home a little after 5:30 that afternoon…not too shabby.



So, getting back to the “I'm experiencing a bit of trouble” message: I realized when I got home that the “help” message my SPOT device had sent was repeated every 10 minutes for the past hour or so. My wife had organized the cavalry and was en route to Mexico to get me. Luckily I caught my brother before he went to rescue me in his pick-up. I subsequently learned that I need to re-set the device after using the “help” feature. I was never in danger or in need of help; I just botched the whole situation by not knowing how to use the SPOT GPS Tracking device. I thought I did! I didn't realize I had to cancel the SPOT help request. I had pressed the "I have a mechanical issue but I'm OK" button when I realized I had a flat tire. When I was back on the road about 25 minutes later, I pressed the "I'm OK and on the road" button but it didn't work as I had not canceled the help message or reset the device. Well, it was a good test, anyhow.



* To Cancel a HELP Message: Press and hold the HELP button for 5 seconds. The Help light will blink RED to indicate that you are cancelling the Help message. Then, the light will stay RED for 5 seconds, indicating the message has been sent. The following message will appear on the SPOT Shared Page.



All’s well that ends well…



Quick stats:



· Total ride miles for me: 360

· Total miles in Mexico: 325

· Dirt naps: 4 (but they were little ones!)

· Flat tires: 1

· Distance from shoreline to tent: 64 feet.

· Fish tacos consumed (each): 5

· Mexican police officers/soldiers interested in “acquiring” Alan’s KLR: 2

· Happy KLRistas: 2



We'll be back, Baja!



Here is the link to view the Spot Adventures track: http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=323559