fireball update...alaska and back...part 2 (nklr)

[DawnRides@aol.com]

My dear friend Fireball rode his KLR from Florida to Moab for the rally. He stored his bike and gear in SLC before the second leg of this journey... Dawn - ----------------- Forwarded Message: Date: Thursday, July 6, 2000 6:00:38 PM From: heaslet@... (Stuart Heaslet) To: DawnRides@... (Dawn Rhodes) Dearest, When I arrived in Salt Lake City after the business trip, I discovered that my storage locker at the DIAMOND PARKING SERVICE had been robbed. The mangy curs took the Jesse panniers, tools, my riding suit and thermal gear, the Tech 8 booties, but not the boots themselves, and some other stuff. The bike was fine. Meanwhile, Motoport came through within 20 hours of the discovery of the theft with a FedEx'd new suit, and then I rode to Tim Bernard's in Boise and he set me up with new panniers. I bought tools from the Home Depot in Boise, and was up and running with everything except spare parts within 48 hours. Kurt was great and gave me a spot to crash, and so did Tim. Kurt let me use his house as a drop point for the FedEx stuff, and gave me some settle-down time. Tim gave me full access to his shop to rebuild, and was extremely gracious with his time and parts boxes. All I had to do was buy dinner for both of them. Cheap dates, both those guys. I'm in Anchorage now, after the four day run from Boise. I kind of racked on the miles (up to 700 miles each day) to meet Lin who arrived in Anchorage the other day, and will be here until July 21. My body feels like it has been in a microwave. Then I have another business obligation in the Caribbean and London, then will return to Anchorage on August 15 for a six week trip via Inuvik, Yellowknife and other places on the way to Michigan's upper peninsula, then on to Florida. There is a slop/clunk noise coming from the engine under full torque, and I'm guessing it's piston/rod related. The head is coming off next week for an inspection at the Kawasaki dealer in Anchorage (they're good), so I will take the opportunity to do a few preventative maintenance items - check integrity of balance chain tensioner, clutch wear, etc. It's all been fun, except for Salt Lake. But recovery was fast, and I'm happy as a clam. I'll be in touch via email (preferred contact is via stuart@...) Forward any of this you want to the list. Stuart