Howdy back at ya Nate, and welcome to the community!> Howdy all. New lister here, new to the dualsport world in general, > and I've got a few questions post-FAQ and post-archive. But perhaps > a brief introduction is in order first.
Yup, I recently did 1400 miles in two days - from home in western Massachusetts to Hubbard, Ohio. (It should have been about 1200, but I was GPS-free and navigationally challenged.) A Corbin no-dip saddle and a sheepskin saved me, I had NO monkey butt whatsoever.> came across this in the (excellent) FAQ: "But, if you want to ride a > thousand or more miles, go offroading, and ride home, the KLR is a > great choice." Hmm, sounds like someone read my mind!!
It's probably a little bit of everything you mentioned. It's a single cylinder engine being required to haul itself and its rider over some often pretty nasty terrain, and haul itself and its rider down the highway at 80+ mph - even the best of oil takes a beating under those conditions. Kind of along those same lines, the dust and dirt of off-roading necessitates more frequent oil changes. (Check just about ANY vehicle manual, and it will always give the oil change interval, to be reduced in time / miles if the vehicle is used in dusty conditions.) Finally, at least in my case, the bike only take 2.5L of oil. Considering the important function of oil, why not change often - it costs almost nothing to do it... I use Golden Spectro Synthetic 20-50, and try to run no longer than 2500 miles between changes.> Oil changes: It seems that many listers cycle their oil changes on a > much more frequent basis than I am accustomed to on my street bike > (many on the order of 1k - 2k mi). Wondering if this is a factor of > the off road environment, a large displacement thumper, or just anal > retentive owners
Technically, it may be, although I'm not sure. The stock exhaust has the required spark arrestor, so that may upgrade its class from "trail" bike...? Around here, there either is no sign, or it will say no motorized vehicles. There are a couple trails in the Mt. Greylock area that used to be quite popular, especially since the restriction sign had No Snowmobiles, No Bicycles and No ATV symbols on it. I guess the state figured out the loophole, and added No Motorized Vehicles.> 4wd truck (provided it's adequately bash-guarded). Anyone know if > the KLR is classified as a 'trail bike' (and thus restricted from > such roads), even though it would be registered as a road-going
Here are a few that I can think of: http://www.cycoactive.com/obdr/obdr2.html http://www.adport.com/backroads/gallery.htm http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/DSN_klr650/lst http://groups.yahoo.com/group/American_Dualsport_Riders/files/Mines/> Any listers have pics or links to pictures of 'technical' trails that > the KLR is capable of traversing (in the hands of an experienced > rider, of course). Having no dirt experience, it's a bit hard for me > to envision what the 'maximum' capabilities of such a machine are.
You name the time and place, and I'm there! Really. I'm doing contract work for some of the local hospitals, so my schedule is pretty much my own. Just give me really good directions! (Laughing) Shameless Plug Time: http://klr6500.tripod.com/ Mark Glitter is coined to meet the moment's rage; Genuine lives on from age to age. - Goethe's "Faust" KLR650 Motorcycle Pages: http://klr6500.tripod.com/ HomePage: http://home.adelphia.net/~msaint/index.html My Adelphia Email can be "iffy." If you don't get a response, please try: KLR6500@...> Any listers in Northern New England open to the idea of meeting with > a VFR rider so that I could check out one of these babies in person > sometime? (I saw a pair in Lincoln, NH last week, but they took off > before I could assault them with questions!!)