south dakota wind and the klr

[rappidtransit]

Cleaning out my basement and found the stock seat from 2001 KLR650. Excellent shape. I can e-mail pictures to anyone who's interested. $75 includes UPS shipping in continental US Ann

[revmaaatin]

I caught a break today. The helo went in for maintenance for a two day period--since I will not be needed tonight, I got to ride the KLR home 115 miles after the 12 hour night shift. (I have escaped for 36 hours--or so I thought.) hmmm. Wind advisory after the cold front pushed through last night. shrug. I am a budding 'adventure' rider, and the only difference between adventure and adversity is attitude. After 45 miles, I had to re-think my attitude. 1hr20m more, how bad can it be...I slow to a stop at an intersection-direct cross wind-- and the wind nearly 'flops me over'--must be that 'possible gust to 50' they were talking about. Whoa-this is going to be fun. This could really be more adventure than I anticipated. Some of the roads you travel for over an hour and never see another vehicle. and of course, the cell phone coverage is just 'marvelous'. Onward. A steady diet of 40 mph gust, headwinds and crosswinds will wear you out. It was good to finally get home. Oddly, I started at 55mph, speed creep sets in and it is 65mph, then 70, then 80 mph as you are just hanging on in the wind. I had started out on gravel, intended to ride the entire way on gravel, you can do that in the Dakota's--my county only has ~68 miles of paved roads, and only 4 curves. But after the first 15 miles of being pushed left to right on the gravel marbles (55/60mph), old age and cunning suggested macadam did not seem so bad--almost pleasant. or is it pheasants. Lots of them. For those that have not crossed the Dakota during a wind storm (=its going to blow today, thus sayeth the weather guesser), be sure you are wearing the gear (ATGATT), especially eye protection. I wear two layers of eye protection. The roads here are often chip sealed with oil and gravel that becomes deadly projectiles when kicked up by a passing car, or big truck. Many a car/truck here has a broken windshield because of it. The force that some have hit my car, would seem to nearly take off your head if you were not adequately protected. And the wind hammers the gas mileage--36.7mpg, of course, I helped. shrug. Usually this is the time of year that you don't see many deer during the daytime--somebody forgot to tell the deer! Q. Why did the deer cross the road? A. To fool the KLR rider into thinking they crossed the road-not really cross and stay put--they want to see many times they can cross before the bike rider nearly locks up the brakes. (3x for one deer). The wind has nearly blown through, and tomorrow I will head back for another block of night helo ops. Find another gravel road that heads north, then east, north and east until it is hard suface or glacial lakes that make you change direction. To travel by KLR and sleep in your own bed, smooches from the family-- What more could a guy ask? revmaaatin.