Freshly washed, and now drying, helmet innards. Those get funky quickly in this heat.
What do I do with no family at home and a day off work. I ride my motorcycle! After consulting some message board and Google maps I had this route fairly well planned out before I left.
According to the aforementioned Google map this route is 327 miles and should take 7 hours, 8 minutes. I have estimated my actual ride time to be right at 6 hours. Needless to say, I wasn’t stopping a lot nor was I taking many pictures. I do blame the lack of pictures on my lack of a point and shoot camera. Switching from a camera to my phone only is not as convenient as I had hoped.
This is a beautiful time of year to ride through this area. The grass is green and dotted with golden hay bales. When the sky is clear it’s a deep blue background to fluffily white clouds. Think of the most cliché rustic paintings … this is the inspiration for those.
Road surface on this route were surprisingly good with many of them having just been re-surfaced.
This type of bike, a sport bike with comfy ergonomics, is something that I wish were more prevalent in the market and under riders. Kawasaki really nailed the ergos on this bike. Rider’s sizes varied quite a bit and none of them looked uncomfortable. In fact, I could probably do with a slightly more aggressive stance to make the ride a bit more involving a trait that typically negatively impacts smaller riders, like me.
Low speed maneuverability is excellent. Bar input is light and there’s a lot of room to swing the bars between the fork stops. This easy low speed did not translate into high speed twitchiness. Smooth and stable were the major handling traits. The rear shock seems a little underdamped as the rear tended wallow over bumps while leaned over. Turn is was easy and holding a clean line was no problem as long as the aforementioned problem with bumps was avoided.
Power delivery from the engine was smooth and immediate but it did lack the low end punch that I was expecting based on reviews I had read. Not that there wasn’t power, it just didn’t smack you in the face.
It’s a shame that bikes like this are so often overlooked for more narrow use bikes. This big Ninja along with the Z1000 and the smaller Ninja 650R make great everyday bikes that can accommodate some sporting riding as well as a daily commute. They lack the sexiness and bragging rights of the super sports, sure but on the streets at any pace that might go unnoticed by the law, I would argue they are equally fun.
Dual sport motorcycles are an interesting hybrid of street and off-road capabilities. The bikes lumped in to this genre range from big dirt bikes to small tourers that look more at home on the interstate than on a gravel road. The Kawasaki KLR definitely leans toward the dirty side of this mix.
I was particularly interested in riding the KLR so I could compare it to my old BMW which follows is also a 650 cc single cylinder dual sport. Note that both the KLR and G650GS (ex F650GS) are now pretty old designs.
A 35 inch seat heigh make the KLR seem a bit much to handle (especially for someone with a 29 inch inseam) but the cushy rear suspension gives quite a bit of sag. I still had to pick a side and lean it over when stopped, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the spec sheet would make it appear.
Once started the big cylinder definitely lets you know that it’s acting alone. This is a thumper in every sense of the world. There’s always some power, never a lot and never in an unexpected manner. Revs build slow, and fall slow. Engine braking can be fairly severe and I never did find the nice balance between throttle and clutch to make a smooth downshift. Every attempt at gear changes led to some serious bucking on the soft suspension.
Soft is a good word to describe this bike. Soft shocks, soft power, soft seat. This isn’t always a negative though. Some parts of the road were fairly bumpy or had a washboard ripple where cars brake. The KLR just ate that up keeping me completely comfortable. I imagine off road riding would be a joy on this bike.
Rider comfort seems to have been a big factor in the design. The seating position is neutral, like sitting on a chair. The ride is floaty and smooth.
Now for the comparison to the BMW single. There really is none. These bikes are at totally different ends of the dual sport spectrum. The G650GS is a road bike that’s capable off road. It’s pretty smooth and precise. Long highway trips were without complaint. The KLR is clearly a dirt bike that can be ridden on the street. The motor’s a little brash and the whole package is much more bare bones.
Where the KLR really makes its stand is price. At just over $6k new (and much, much cheaper used) the KLR is a great bargain for someone venturing into dual sport or adventure riding.
Test rides are sometime hard to come by on motorcycles. Some dealers flat out refuse test rides (which means they also flat out refuse my business). These demo events can be a great way for manufacturers to get people on the bikes even if the local dealers aren’t accommodating. Another benefit is the lack of sales pressure, it’s really just about the bikes.
Read my reviews of the Ninja 1000 and KLR 650.
This event was really well organized and well run. Going with the “Ticket” theme you would receive a “ticket” for the bike of your choice at a given time. This was quite a blessing as my compatriots and I were able to take refuge from the 100+ degree heat index weather at a local diner while waiting for our ride time.
Speaking of the weather, Kawasaki did provide an awning for shade, a big fan, chairs and an immensely popular water cooler.
Kawasaki picked a good, curvy route.
The bikes were organized in to 3 lines. One for the sport bikes: ZX-6R, ZX-10R, ZX-14, Ninja 1000, and Z1000. Line two was kind of a mix and match: Concours 14, Z1000, Ninja 1000, Ninja 650R, Versys and KLR 650. The third line was the cruisers of which I simply had no interest. It was interesting to see the trends of gear worn based on the line of bikes. The riders of sportier bikes tended to have mesh jackets, full face helmets, and substantial gloves. Moving towards the tourers and on to the cruisers the amount of safety gear worn was decreased. However, full face helmets remained the most popular configuration throughout the day. I only remember seeing one of the non-legal “skid-lid” that is popular with many cruiser riders.
Kawasaki did a good job picking a route. These are some of the more interesting roads within a close ride of the events center.
Demo events like this are a great chance to ride some new bikes in a low sales pressure environment. I recommend every motorcyclist take advantage of these events.
Ven and Nathan were able to hammer out drum tracks, scratch vocals and scratch guitar in a few hours. The12 pack of Schlafly Summer Lager surely helped us all along.
Make sure to go “Like” Dead Ven on Facebook.
I’m hunting for a new mixer. Specifically one with 12+ mic inputs (in case you know of a decent one for sale). I’ve come across two seemingly good deals on eBay.
First up was a Soundcraft EPM12. It’s pretty barebones, but cheap. It arrived packaged exceptionally well and was cosmetically pristine. Once lifted out of the box I heard a little piece of something tumbling around inside, never a good sign. I held on to hope and plugged it in any way. But it was clearly an ex-mixer. Thinking that it might be the fuse I turn my attention there and see that the fuse holder has be jimmied with quite a bit.
After returning the Soundcraft, I found an Allen & Heath Mixwizard 16:2 for a good price. I really like these boards: they have really good features and are very intuitive. It did power on … which was a good first step. I hooked it up to the rest of the PA and started checking all the functions. There was one important function not working. The right main output was dead.
I immediately contacted the seller and they offered to pay for repair or refund my money, my choice. I figured I might as well peek in and see if I can spot the problem. Within a few minutes I found the culprit. Someone had replaced one of the mounting screws for the right fader with a screw that was way too long. The screw contacted the circuit board of the fader and proceeded to break that end of the circuit board off. The real kick was the number of mismatched, rounded out screws that I found leading up to the actual problem. Just a sloppy ham fisted mess.
I’m opting for the refund and sending this thing back.
While it’s no Owle Bubo, this is a cheap and quick way to create a tripod mount for the iPhone.
Supplies and Tools
- A case to sacrifice. I used an inexpensive one from Skullcandy.
- 1 5×3″ piece of pre-drilled aluminum plate. Available at the hardware store.
- Nylon push fasteners. Also at the hardware store. Make sure they go through the holes in the aluminum plate.
- 1/4″-20 wingnut.
- Adhesive. I used 3M Super 77.
- Drill bit to make a 1/4″ hole. I used a Unibit which is great for this project.
For some reason, a subset of motorcyclists fight their bikes. They will take an innocent standard, roadster style motorcycle and adorn it with crap in an attempt to make it like a touring bike. For example, my old GS550 had a HUGE windshield and this crazy padded king and queen seat that made the bike nearly unrideable. The added drag of the windshield reduced the top speed by a good 10 MPH and the seat sacrificed rider room for the pillion. I’m a fairly compact guy and I was cramped with that big honking seat on there.
Nick’s recent SV650 was purchased in much the same state. Huge, ugly windshield; bar risers; low seat … and owned by a ridiculously tall guy! He even made mention that he might have liked it more if the bars were higher?! He clearly didn’t understand bike ergonomics.
The pictures below are before, mid-way, and after. This is a seriously cool bike that was nearly ruined by silly additions. Luckily, it’s been saved from a life that it was never meant to lead.
Sympathy weight is no joke!
Last year I lost 15 pounds and managed to maintain that until Jacey got pregnant. As her belly grew mine followed to the tune of 10 pounds. Somewhere in the 10 pounds is that crossover point between “hey, I don’t hate myself!” and “I HATE!” Jacey decided that she is ready to get back to our healthier pre-pregnancy diet and start working out again. That’s the motivation and support that I needed! We’re just 3 days back on and I already feel a million times better.