Wilsons Sandbox

Lister amigos, My day started with me not feeling well, fighting off a cold or something with lots of hot salsa and orange juice (last night, tequila screwdrivers with fresh O.J) but since I was going up to pick up my new Bandit 1200S I really wasn't feeling all that bad. So I washed the KLR, because I was going to put it in the living room for a while to make room in the yard for the new family member (dogs will piss on the tires, of course) and took it up the freeway a couple of miles to dry it off.....I was amazed at how it has run so flawlessly for it's first 20,000 miles. Thump Thump thump! Like a big noisy clock. Came home, put the green one in the lv rm, walked up to the BMW/Suzuki shop, and my bike was ready. I was out of there in a couple of minutes, a twelve mile blast up 101 to Healdsburg, where I got some super-spicy tacos with lots of the hottest salsa I could find (beating this cold down, before it gets me). I was pleased with my purchase so far, lots of juice in any gear, this bike could get by with a two-speed transmission. I won't bore you guys with the details since this is a KLR list, but I took Skagggs Springs Road out to the coast (famous motorcycle road here) and on the way back, while toodling along, some bikes came up beside me and went into passing mode. What can a guy do, but wick it up a little? I had to keep in mind that I wasn't supposed to be running the motor over about 6 grand, but on the Bandit, that is not a problem. The good part? The three bikes were all KLRs, ridden by "fast guys" (one was an old Tengai, he was the fastest one). I followed him on his tail for about twenty miles, really getting to find out how the Bandit corners in the rough stuff, the old part of Skaggs Springs....lots of broken pavement and patches, potholes, etc. I stayed right behind this fellow until the bike started to die from fuel starvation, I knew it was low on gas and I had to stop to find the petcock I had never bothered to yet look at. I got going again and met up with these guys down the road a ways, they were from San Francisco and I asked them if they were on the list. No, they said, how do we get on it, they asked. Maybe we'll hear from Kjell, I gave him the e-groups.com address. They all wanted to look at my new bike and I told them about my KLR. One guy had a nice 98 model with only 500 miles on it, he had just bought it. So I told them all about the skid plates, handguards, pegs, etc, that they could buy, and I made tracks to fill up with fuel. Bandit is somewhat thirsty, but worth it. It flat hauls ass, and handles good...I was keeping up with some quite fast guys in tight twisties on KLRs, and we all know how nimble they are! Now home, have a glass of XP Ale from Bear Republic Brewery (good stuff, eh, Mark?) with a shot of Cuervo 1800 for added flavor enhancement. Potato in the oven and a piece of sirloin for the barbie. Everybody happy. Backroad Bill Life is sure Grand Sometimes