subject: what's with people not liking klr's?

[cbcurren1]

Anybody want to sell the plastic bodywork from any 1996-2000 KLR 650? Including fenders, tail, sides, radiator covers and fairing. I'm trying to avoid painting. - Chris Curren

[revmaaatin]

Message: 25 Date: Sun, 07 Nov 2004 01:02:00 -0000 From: "squasher_1" Subject: Re: What's with people not liking KLR's? This has probably already been said in another post. Your friends might be jealous of you because you have not fallen for the same image B.S. as they have. I never had a BMW person tell me I should get one of their bikes. All the BMWers I meet dont care what you ride unless its a Harley, then they just laugh. I have had a lot of Harley owners tell me to get a Harley, but I put more miles on my KLR in a year then they put on their Harley's in 10 years. same problem with "Some" Ducati owners. Dear Listers! I just finished my "first KLR anniversary" logging just under 10K in one year, and what a year it was, arriving in Central South Dakota on 1 January as a Methodist Circuit Rider. Just a couple of interesting momenents/comments via the KLR, but the most poignant has to be listening to two HD riders talking after church (in June) describe their previous years ride/mileage. "I only rode 700 miles last year (June-June)" which left me aghast. How could anyone tie up $20K in a motorcycle and only ride it to Sturgis? I responded, "Since arriving in January, I logged 5K miles, and I rode my dirt bike 1000 miles in Jan and a thousand miles in Feb (remember, this is South Dakota, not FL or Lower Alabama) and you only rode 700 miles?" They looked at me like I was on drugs...maybe Dr. C could quantify the mathematical/chemical formula for a KilLeR potion, which HD riders could then take before bedtime and then they could dream of what it looks like to ride.... Another feature that I was not completely cognizant of when I accepted an assignment here as a pastor is the quantity and quality of the roads in central South Dakota. My fellow listers, it is with great regret that I must report, that easily, 85% of the secondary roads here are dual sport roads, of which >25% are marginally maintained two tracks with mud, holes, rocks, wildlife and various water hazards. And they start only 3 blocks from where I live...Recently I did 92 miles of visitation after church and only road 8 miles on pavement...and if I had done a little better map study, it could have been less than 4, without adding more than 1 mile to the overall trip. The down side of all this KLRing, I spend more time cleaning my riding gear than I do spraying WD 40 on the chain. The armoured riding gear gets cleaned because the hospital staff frown at me when I show up for a hospital visit looking like the Michelin man doing off-road field trials. It just tickles the ranchers here when I showed up at their place to work cattle (my other KLR is a dun quarter horse named Polly) in January and Feb (but only days without ice or snow on the road, a man has to know his limitations) on the KLR. They know you are a regular fellow and well suited to the task. Cattle roundups using a MC is a hoot, but requires some extra dexterity when dealing with an "angry cow." Cowboys here seem to like it that their pastor is visiting/working on a dirt-bike and is something they like to tell their friends. I love the taste of dust in the morning. I got to go change the gas in the KLR. revmaaatin Martin Earl mjearl@...