90 w oil for chain:

[aztecredklr650]

Hey Guys...looking for your opinions I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja 250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but frankly I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love at first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under my 180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of the time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok? Thanks in advance AztecRedKLR650 <- I'm dreaming

[klr250not]

Yes, Affirmitive. I hadnt ridden in 35 years and I got one last November. Great street bike for someone who wants to stretch out and not too much to handle for a newbie. Also a tough son-of-a-gun if you are ever unfortunate enough to drop it. The offroad capability is nice but I havent used it yet; will test it out once weathers warmer, at least on a fireroad or two, but I doubt it will ever be more than a tiny percentage of my overall riding. Others do a lot of offroading--kind of depends on where you're located too. ---------------------------------------- --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "aztecredklr650" wrote:

> > Hey Guys...looking for your opinions > > I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja > 250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but

frankly

> I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel > comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love

at

> first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under

my

> 180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of > control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). > > So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of

the

> time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok? > > Thanks in advance > AztecRedKLR650

[klr250not]

Also, 70-75 is no problem at all, although you might have to see 75 to 82 on your speedometer for a true 70-75. Altitude, load and mountainous grades matter of course, I'm at 200 ft above sea level with only modest hills. But with your 180 bs you should have no problem at that speed. You might want to take a safety course and drive a little slower, maybe stay clear of congested freeways for awhile if youre completely new to motorcycling but the KLR will be ready when you are. --------------------------------------------------------- --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "aztecredklr650" wrote:

> > Hey Guys...looking for your opinions > > I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja > 250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but

frankly

> I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel > comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love

at

> first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under

my

> 180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of > control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). > > So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of

the

> time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok? > > Thanks in advance > AztecRedKLR650

[kdxkawboy@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/11/2005 9:35:36 PM Pacific Standard Time, aztecredklr650@... writes: I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja 250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but frankly I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love at first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under my 180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of the time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok? To use the steel horse paradigm, your bike has just set up a good lope at the speed. You could run her at that speed from dawn to dusk and then dusk to dawn and she's be ready for another. Pat G'ville, NV [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[fasteddiecopeman]

Buy it - you'll love it!!! But what's with this ...Old Guy... sh*t? 38 - you're still a kid! You were BORN the year I started in the RCAF, and a lot of guys on this list were slogging thru the mud in 'Nam then. I got there in 1970 and again in 1973. Ed

[Chris]

Take the MSF course, take the MSF course, take the MSF course. Then go buy all your gear and never ride without it. Then run to go buy a KLR, a great bike to learn on if you are large enough to manage it so the height doesn't intimidate you. http://www.kingsqueak.org/archives/index.php?loc=klr

[matteeanne@yahoo.com]

Hell I have a couple pair of shoes older than you. Hell I've got grandkids older than you, Well, ok, maybe not the grand kids thing, but ..... --- fasteddiecopeman wrote:

> > > Buy it - you'll love it!!! But what's with this > ...Old Guy... sh*t? 38 - you're still a > kid! You were BORN the year I started in the RCAF, > and a lot of guys on this > list were slogging thru the mud in 'Nam then. I got > there in 1970 and again in > 1973. > Ed > > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: >

http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html

> List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: > www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: > www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > DSN_KLR650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > > > > > >

__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250

[Kip C. Anderson]

At 33, my first bike was a new 2002 VFR 800. Although Honda has labelled it a sport tourer, it iss much more sport than touring oriented, and I loved it. But what I frequently found was that while I could find these excellent twisty roads to ride, they often turned to gravel at some point. On the VFR it was time to turn around. On the KLR it's time for the real exploring to begin. I ended up selling the VFR for that reason. In terms of on-road performance and fun, I would put the KLR up around 85-90% of where the VFR was. Although the KLR can't compete with a bike that would do over 145 MPH and the quarter in nearly 11 seconds flat, it makes up for it bigtime in handling. It is just as much fun for me in the twisties, and it is far more tossable. And at sane cruising speeds unlikely to lose you your license, it's reasonably comfortable. The bottom line is that hardly anybody NEEDS a bike that will do 145 or more on the highway, and it pretty much scared the crap out of me when I did it anyway. Getting the KLR to even go 100MPH is much more challenging and more fun, and when I get to the gravel, I can keep on going. Usually not at 100. - Kip A8, 59,000 miles and counting

----- Original Message ----- From: "aztecredklr650" To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 9:34 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] First Bike...Tall Old Guy > > > Hey Guys...looking for your opinions > > I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja > 250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but frankly > I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel > comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love at > first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under my > 180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of > control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). > > So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of the > time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok? > > Thanks in advance > AztecRedKLR650

[Eric L. Green]

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, aztecredklr650 wrote:

> Hey Guys...looking for your opinions > > I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja > 250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but frankly > I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel > comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love at > first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under my > 180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of > control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). > > So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of the > time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok?

It'll run all day at 70-75mph (well, you'll have to fill it with gas every 250 miles or so, but you knew that). It's a great newbie bike if you're big enough to handle its height (which you are), because it is light (by street bike standards), has a mild power curve, is comfortable, and has a relaxed seating position. The only real issue you'll face at 70-75mph is comfort -- the upright seating position, at your height, will result in a lot of wind blast slamming you in the chest. That is easily fixed with an aftermarket windshield to move the wind blast upwards. If you're going to do 100% road stuff, you might want to look at the Suzuki SV-650 and V-Strom 650, they are excellent small V-twin bikes (Naked and pseudo-dual-sport styling) that similarly have a pleasant power curve, but more high end umph than the KLR so that they don't run out of gas at around 80mph like the KLR does (the KLR will top out around 90, but that last 15mph is hard to eke out of the KLR), street-oriented tires that stick a teensy bit better than the KLR's skinny shoes, and MUCH better brakes (hell, a skateboard has better brakes than a KLR). They are very popular with (relatively) beginner motorcyclists, for good reason -- unlike the buzzy 4-cylinder 500's they have a fairly wide power curve, the seating position is relaxed rather than crouched over like a constipated monkey, and it's a power curve that doesn't have the "oh shit!" factor where it just kicks in suddenly and you see death rearing its ugly head. Not to mention that the SV's have a bit less vibration. What nobody here will mention to you, because it's something they've become accustomed to, is just how much vibration the big KLR thumper puts out. If you squeeze the gas tank with your knees as you might do at high speed to help deal with the wind blast, you'll get a good buzz with the KLR. Your hands will get numbed by the vibration unless put in a Bar Snake, gel grips, gel gloves, and even then it's merely tolerable. Luckily the throttle tube takes some of the vibration off of your right hand and wrist, else it would be absolutely intolerable (since you can't remove your right hand from the bars occasionally to wring the buzzing out of them, because it has to hold the throttle open!). So: If you think you'll hit some dirt from time to time, the KLR is an excellent choice. If you're going 100% street, though, those small Suzuki SV and DL 650 are excellent choices that have some of the traits of the KLR (relative simplicity by street bike standards, pleasant power curve, relatively relaxed seating position) without some of the liabilities (vibration, lack of high end umph). -E

[D Critchley]

I bought a 99 KLR in 2000 because I wanted a big single road bike. I average about 9500 miles per year, and my next bike will be a KLR. You are about 6 inches taller than me but I've got 26 years on you. One size really does fit all. DC aztecredklr650 wrote:

>Hey Guys...looking for your opinions > >I'm 38, 6'1", and have the mc bug. I looked at the ninja >250/500...nice bikes, have heard good things about them, but frankly >I look a little silly on them. Cruisers? Well I just don't feel >comfortable on them. Then I saw the KLR 650! Wow! It was love at >first sight. It's up there no doubt, but compresses nicely under my >180 or so lbs. Seating position...comfortable, lending a sense of >control. Reliability ...seems industructable (doohickey aside). > >So heres the question...should a newbie like me buy one? 99% of the >time I'll be on blacktop, commuting 35 each way. 70-75 mph ok? > >Thanks in advance >AztecRedKLR650 > > > > > >Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html >List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com >List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > >

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]