stories!

[John Biccum]

I took a New Year s Day ride, just because I can and there are many in frozen climes that cannot. I know about those frozen climes; I lived in Manitoba, North Dakota, Alaska, Wisconsin, Illinois. It was high 30s with an expected high in the low 40s. I wore my Darien jacket and pants, an electric vest under a light 100 weight fleece sweater. I wore my Shoei dual sport helmet but wished that the I had chosen the warmer Shoei RF-1000 instead. My feet were surprisingly cold in Sidi Road boots, I should have worn heavier socks. The grip heaters and the electric vest both stayed on high for the entire trip. The Held Steve gloves had no insulation but my hands were warm enough, the KTM hand guards kept the gloves out of the wind and the grip heaters were able to keep up with the chilly ambient temperatures I encountered. The Wee Strom was at the back of the garage so I rode it, I should have dug the KLR since it was that bike s turn for a romp, hope it forgives me. I headed west from my home in Seattle s suburbia into Seattle then ran northward along the eastern edge of Puget Sound. At Mukilteo I took a Washington State Ferry west to Clinton, on Whidbey Island. I then ran northward, the length of Whidbey Island, taking the Deception Pass Bridge east back to the mainland. Washington 20 took me to I5 and I endured a few miles of slab southbound until Everett where I took US2 eastbound to Monroe then the pastoral WA203 south then WA202 west then a maze of farm-to-market roads gradually being swallowed up by subdivisions of trophy homes. About 200 miles in total. I saw only a few bikes on the road, all Japanese manufacture. I shared the ferry ride with a young man on an old Yamaha that he had turned into a caf racer. Nice job he made of it too but I told him to watch out for XS-650s and avoid the temptation to alter them from stock as the old Btit0bike clones are starting to have some collector interest in unmolested condition. From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Horton Oliphant Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2014 12:45 PM To: klr Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Stories! I would appreciate it if someone not living in Minnesota, where I am at the moment, would mind telling a story about taking a ride in relatively pleasant temperatures. Come on, some body has to have taken a nice ride recently. For all that matter tell an old story. Off road on road doesn't matter. Alan Henderson A13 Iowa temporarily in Mn where the Governor closed all public schools due the extreme cold forecast for Monday! ---------- ---------- ---------- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]