Waiting for me to finish work…
My KLR adventures are mostly commutes to work these days, but I’d rather be riding the moto to work than not riding it at all. =)
Archive for the ‘Vancouver Island’ Category
Getting errands done around town…
It’s been a bit of a boring summer KLR-wise. I’ve been riding around town a bunch, but no dirt exploring. I’m hoping that will change this fall. I need to check out some mountain bike touring routes up on the north part of Vancouver Island
I’ve also got a 50km round trip commute starting this fall that I will be doing with my pedal bike when I have time and my KLR when I need to make tracks.
My KLR on the way to Lake Nitnaht…
My KLR sees a lot of logging road action to get me to Lake Nitnaht so I can kiteboard as well as drink beer and camp 😉
Ortlieb panniers…
I try and keep my load as light/compact and low as possible. Ortlieb panniers work great and aren’t big enough to let me pack a stupid amount of gear.
The back end…
Still clean on the road to Lake Nitnaht…
One of the reasons for buying a KLR was to give me a low cost way to get to our local kiteboarding spots without beating up a truck on rough logging roads for a day trip.
Route Map – click for larger…
Each way it’s about 150kms from my house to the lake. 100kms are paved and 50kms of rough dirt/gravel logging roads. The last 50kms takes abut as long as the first 100kms of paved roads!
Just the essentials…
I recently installed some Michelin T63 knobby tires so it was time to get up to the our favourite kiteboarding spot – Lake Nitnaht. Once I aired them down a bit [28psi was too high even on the highway] they performed great.
Muddy from the ride…
I left 2 kites and 2 boards up at the lake with a friend so I could ride there with less gear. I just carried my wetsuit and harness + accessories in a duffel on the rear rack.
Loving the T63’s…
It’s obviously easier to ride with less gear and I wanted to get a feel for the road conditions with the T63’s mounted. So far so good. They are working well on dirt, gravel, mud and pavement.
My reward for a fun day on the bike…
DMS is closing....
I was sad to hear on ADVrider.com that Duncan Motorsports is closing. Besides SG Power DMS was my closest Kawasaki dealer and they supported the dualsport adventure market really well. I stopped in yesterday to say goodbye to a cool motorcycle shop. They were in the process of liquidating their inventory. They had a great price on a new KLR650. I’m sorry I never got a chance to get to know DMS well. I hear that Don [owner] runs local DS/ADV motorcycle training courses and that will keep on going. I’ll probably take one of his 2 day courses next time he is running them and report back on what it was like.
My Previous KLR650 Life…
Posted: June 10, 2011 in Baja, KLR Culture, KLR650 2008+, Vancouver IslandTags: baja
Salt flats south of Guerro Nergo, Baja Mexico...
I had a 1997 KLR650 that I loved. It was versatile and inexpensive. It took me all over Canada, USA and Mexico without complaint. Then a bunch of changes happened in my life and I got away from motorcycles so I sold my KLR to a friend. Now that I am settled in Victoria, British Columbia on the beautiful and underpopulated Vancouver Island it seems like the right time to get a KLR650 and get back on the road…=-)
Why not spend Y2K in Baja on my KLR?
These photos are from my Y2K KLR tour of Baja Mexico. Not only did I have a blast riding my bike around Baja, but I discovered a ton of cool spots that I have continued to visit just about every winter since then. It seems only fitting that I come full circle and get back on a KLR for more adventures in Mexico.
Why I love Baja..so many unpaved roads...
I was a bit torn between the KLR and my dream bike, a BMW F800GS, but once I got down to the nitty gritty it became obvious that the KLR was a better choice for me. I’ll explain why that was in future posts and I’ll also explain why decided on a new 2011 KLR rather than a used pre-’07 KLR.
The KLR650 Blog 