fly-n-ride trip report (renamed from 258hp-400ftlbs toruqe motorbik

[John Biccum]

Here is the route back: http://johnbiccum.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/KLR-Fly-n-ride/31168678_qrfPNR/1/2 696747259_2SLSwwD Looking at the route, one can be forgiven for thinking that I must have been totally lost starting about Billings, MT since the route became so circuitous. The truth was that I was anything but lost.once I hit Billings I was in very familiar territory. So west of Billings the route traced some of my favorite roads: Big Hole Pass and the Beartooth Highway in Montana (65 miles of sweepers, one spectacular mountain pass) and the North Cascades Highway in WA (~200 miles of linked sweepers, 5 mountain passes, amazing scenery). I even found time to ride a bit of easy dirt: Skalkaho Pass in Montana and Barlow Pass in WA. The showroom stock KLR had just a few minor problems on the way back, all easily corrected. One was a failure to start (bypassed the kickstand safety switch at roadside with a paperclip), the other presented symptoms similar to running out of gas (electrical contact cleaner treatment of the ignition coil low voltage wire, followed by potting the electrical contact plug in dielectric grease). Just as I was approaching home the clutch safety switch started acting up (I'll bypass that under the fairing this weekend). Then there were the two, off-the-bike, drops resulting from a lowered kickstand on a stock height bike. One time the bike fell off of the bit of 2x4 I was using to shim the lowered kickstand. I was crouched down looking at the oil sight glass, the bike fell away from me and into the gas pump, bending the glass face of the gas pump alarmingly but (thankfully!) not breaking the glass. The other was in a freshly paved parking lot when the foot of the kickstand tore a divot of asphalt out of the parking lot and the bike hit the ground bending the stock bar into a somewhat less than ergonomic Z-shape. That required a new set of bars but I needed those anyway since the stockers were too low and too close for my knuckle-dragging arms! From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of revmaaatin Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 09:22 To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] 258HP-400ftlbs toruqe motorbike John Biccum was here last week. Beat my own record of distance to travel after purchasing a KLR. My adventure was only 1750 miles; he reports 3032 miles. smile. Looking at his 'tracks', he didn't make a short ride home! While he was here-- We tweaked his new-to-him bike and had some interesting conversations. We spoke of converting his recently deceased KLR--still a viable KLR frame/components, to an electric bike. cough. Actually, he talked, I listened. I can't get this thought out of my head. Diesel KLR, 100mpg. Now, electric. Then, after drinking some more of the HD XR1200R Kool-Aid this morning, and while cruising the XRhOG 1200 boards, I find this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21ps0M77_H0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21ps0M77_H0&feature=player_embedded> &feature=player_embedded A bike so fast it was banned from racing against other electric bikes. But wait, there it more! enjoy. revmaaatin. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]