[bulk] [dsn_klr650] ride report seattle to montana with my son

[Eddie]

I need to know where you all suggest that I go to get a new radiator for my 2003 KLR, or should I repair the one that I have, or buy a used one? Here are my questions, and the jest of the problem; 1. I am leaning towards having the radiator that is now on the bike repaired. Any reason why I should not do that? BTW, what happened is that the rock guard/screen in front of the radiator was rubbing against the the radiator (on the front just under the filler cap) and it wore/rubbed through a very small hole. It is a minor leak. I removed the rock guard/screen, and it stopped leaking. My guess is that the rock guard was pressing on the spot where it is leaking and that makes it worse. So, again, any reason why the radiator can not, or should not, be repaired considering how small the leak is. 2. Am I better off buying a new radiator? About how much do they cost? Where is the best outlet for a replacement radiator? 3. My last option is to buy a used one, but that always has some risks. So, repair, replace (if replace what is the best source), or buy used? Lastly, have you all ever seen or heard of the rock guard/screen in front of the radiator rubbing a small hole in the radiator? My guess is that I did not seat the rock guard well and it rubbed in the right place and angle. Also, I have an after market crash bar that protects the radiator and that might have caused the rock guard to rub in the just the right place. I thank you in advance for any input. Eddie M

[greg coyle]

John. Thank you for a wonderful Zen'ish blast from the past. I've ridden the North Cascades many times on 2 wheels and yes even in the rain, dah... and enjoyed it every time. I bought my KLR after riding my sons and he has put many more miles on his than I have on mine. Like 30k vs my 5k... and we have ridden together on 2 separate bikes once and that was a very short trip. Hopefully, that is soon to change. gregc

On 9/11/2012 1:21 PM, John Biccum wrote: > The North Cascades Highway was described by the late Charles Kuralt as the > most beautiful road in America. Kuralt may well have been right, but Kuralt > didn't ride. Not surprisingly his description neglected to mention that > Washington Route 20 is also one of the premier motorcycle roads in the > nation. The road features miles and miles of linked sweepers, half-dozen > mountain passes and as Kuralt noted, world-class spectacular scenery. The > road embraces the Canadian border at high elevations so the road slumbers > each winter beneath a mantle of a dozen feet of snow, immune from the > free-thaw cycles that begat potholes. So the pavement tends to be great > condition as well. > > So when my grad-school bound son and I decided to ride to our Montana > fly-fishing trip, we began our trip by droning north on Interstate 5, > working our way just north of Everett, WA - willing paying the slab-price to > pick up WA-20. I was on my WeeStrom with my son riding my 70K mile KLR, a > twin to the graduation present KLR waiting for him at grad school in NC. We > camped the first night near Kettle Falls, on Lake Roosevelt, a reservoir > created by a dam on the Columbia River. > > My son had just returned just two days earlier from Spain, surviving running > with the bulls in Pamplona but falling victim to food poisoning that had > kept him close to a bathroom for the final day of his Spanish trip. At 5AM, > in tent in Kettle Falls, WA his food poisoning symptoms returned with a > vengeance. > > After consulting the map, we decided to take the quickest route to Spokane, > the closest city with good access to health care. I asked the GPS to route > us to a hospital but the route took us right past another hospital so we > stopped at the first hospital we encountered. The ER physician diagnosed > food poisoning, prescribed prodigious quantities of Pedialyte and a > broad-spectrum antibiotic. The pharmacy across the street had both the > antibiotic and the Pedialyte in stock. My son spent two years in a > fraternity so was able to chug the first liter bottle of Pedialyte in one > long gulp. My tuition dollars at work! Our medical issues behind us, we > looked for an interesting route to get us to US-12. We settled on US-195 > which was anticlimactic after the spectacular WA-20 but not a bad road none > the less. > > At Lewiston ID we picked up US-12, a wonderful motorcycle road that > following the bank of Clearwater River as it ascends to the Continental > Divide at Lolo Pass, the border of Montana and Idaho. We stopped for the > obligatory photo (Sharp Curves Next 130 Miles) then began S-curving our way > up the gentle grade, never more than a fly-cast from the Clearwater. We > stopped for the night at one of my favorite overnight spots, the Lochsha > Lodge. We elected to stay in a "rustic" cabin, it had no running water but > the bathhouse was close. > > In the morning my son wanted to lead with me following and filming using the > Go Pro camera we just bought for the trip. I noted that I had never failed > to see big game in the 10 or so miles that separated us from Lolo Pass and > that he should be VERY cautious, covering the brake lever and riding MOST > conservatively. I mentioned that we had already visited the hospital once > on this trip and had no desire for a return engagement! > > Just a few miles short of Lolo Pass the Go Pro video camera on my WeeStrom > captured my son threshold braking to avoid a grizzly bear that decided that > NOW was the time to get to the other side of the road. The griz scrambled > up a steep talus slope, sending baby-head sized rocks tumbling down the > slope onto the road. We stopped at Lolo Summit to view the video and > congratulate ourselves for taking the time to have my son practice threshold > braking on the KLR before we began the trip. He had just a thousand miles > of riding experience with only 500 miles on the KLR. But his natural > athleticism, following instructions, and the threshold braking practice came > together just when we needed a break, or more correctly a brake. > > At the town of Lolo we turned south on US93 to Lost Trail Pass then took > Montana 49 east over Chief Joseph Pass toward the Big Hole National > Battlefield. We stopped at the National Battlefield and listened to a Park > Ranger, a full-blood Nez Pierce; recount the story of the massacre Nez > Pierce women and children at the hands of US Calvary and irregular > volunteers. I bought my son a "Passport to Your National Parks', a > passport-sized binder to record his visits to sites administered by the > National Park system. I have been using such a Passport to record a decade > worth of motorcycle-borne visits to Park sites and I hope that he will > continue the tradition. Big Hole National Battlefield is worth a stop; those > that fail to study history are truly condemned to repeat it. > > At Wisdom, MT after a stop for lunch we turned south on MT 278 and stayed on > 278 to Dillon. At Dillon I usually pick up the (dirt) Blacktail Road and > run that to Yellowstone National Park. But the weather was looking like > rain and I had experienced the Blacktail Road in deluge a couple of times > before and had no desire for a repeat engagement on a Tourance-shod > WeeStrom. Imagine axle-deep clay in the middle of nowhere with a gale > force wind blowing the pouring rain parallel to the ground and you are > close. Discretion being the better part of valor, we took MT287 into Ennis > where we stopped for pictures next to the many-times-life-size statue of a > fly fisherman in the center of town. Fly fishing is the economic lifeblood > of this part of Montana and our fly rods and wade shoes marked us as > valuable contributors to the local economy to all that saw us on the bikes. > We took US 287 south out of Dillon into Yellowstone National Park where a > pleasant Park Ranger confirmed what I had earlier predicted: all the park > campsites were full. We left the park and camped instead on Rainbow Point > on Hebgen Lake in the National Forest, ten or so miles back north from the > national park entrance. > > After breakfast in the morning we re-entered Yellowstone NP at West Glacier > and ran northeast to the Cooke City exit of the park picking up US 212 over > Beartooth Pass, reentering Montana. Yes the Tail of The Dragon in NC *is* > curvy but The Dragon is just a dozen miles long. Beartooth Pass is nearly a > hundred miles of equally tight twisties combined with top-of-the-world > scenery. > > Our friends were waiting on the Boulder River for us so at Columbus, MT we > reluctantly hit I-90 west into Big Timber where we picked up the Boulder > River Road and rode south to our fishing spot. After four days of > spectacular catch-and -release fishing we bid goodbye and headed for home. > My son had flight to catch to Durham, NC to begin his graduate school so we > really didn't have time to repeat our ramble on the homebound leg of the > trip. So we decided to grit it out and stay on I-90 westbound into > Ritzville, WA where we took US195 south to WA 26, WA26 west to WA24 and > WA24 west to US-12. US-12 took us north to WA-133 which we took north into > Mount Rainier National Park where we picked up WA-410. From WA-410 we took > a variety of country roads from farm country into suburbia and home. > > My son summed up the trip as follows: > > Gas for 2300 miles $212 > > New Front Tire: $107 > > Time spent on a motorcycle trip with your Dad: Priceless. > > GPS track here: > http://johnbiccum.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Montana-trip-with-B/25318657_KMF4J > 2#!i=2081297699 > http://johnbiccum.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Montana-trip-with-B/25318657_KMF4 > J2#!i=2081297699&k=5RkvbfB> &k=5RkvbfB > > Now that I have access to a minty KLR in Durham, NC it's time to start > planning a Blue Ridge Parkway trip the for the next time work takes me to > the east coast. The Dragon awaits! > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > >

[RobertWichert]

I have no helpful input, but I am worried that I may have caused a similar problem. Thanks for the hint! Robert Wichert P.Eng. LEED AP BD&C +1 916 966 9060 FAX +1 916 966 9068 ===============================================

On 9/11/2012 3:42 PM, eddie wrote: > > I need to know where you all suggest that I go to get a new radiator > for my 2003 KLR, or should I repair the one that I have, or buy a used > one? Here are my questions, and the jest of the problem; > > 1. I am leaning towards having the radiator that is now on the bike > repaired. Any reason why I should not do that? > > BTW, what happened is that the rock guard/screen in front of the > radiator was rubbing against the the radiator (on the front just under > the filler cap) and it wore/rubbed through a very small hole. It is a > minor leak. I removed the rock guard/screen, and it stopped leaking. > My guess is that the rock guard was pressing on the spot where it is > leaking and that makes it worse. > > So, again, any reason why the radiator can not, or should not, be > repaired considering how small the leak is. > > 2. Am I better off buying a new radiator? About how much do they cost? > Where is the best outlet for a replacement radiator? > > 3. My last option is to buy a used one, but that always has some risks. > > So, repair, replace (if replace what is the best source), or buy used? > > Lastly, have you all ever seen or heard of the rock guard/screen in > front of the radiator rubbing a small hole in the radiator? My guess > is that I did not seat the rock guard well and it rubbed in the right > place and angle. Also, I have an after market crash bar that protects > the radiator and that might have caused the rock guard to rub in the > just the right place. > > I thank you in advance for any input. > > Eddie M > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Eddie]

Gulp..... I see where a new radiator lists for about $333.00 !!! And I found a used one for about $200.00? I am seriously leaning towards repairing the one that I have. I know a local Radiator Shop, but have not contacted them as of yet. I am also waiting to hear from the dealership re cost. Eddie

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "eddie" wrote: > > I need to know where you all suggest that I go to get a new radiator for my 2003 KLR, or should I repair the one that I have, or buy a used one? Here are my questions, and the jest of the problem; > > 1. I am leaning towards having the radiator that is now on the bike repaired. Any reason why I should not do that? > > BTW, what happened is that the rock guard/screen in front of the radiator was rubbing against the the radiator (on the front just under the filler cap) and it wore/rubbed through a very small hole. It is a minor leak. I removed the rock guard/screen, and it stopped leaking. My guess is that the rock guard was pressing on the spot where it is leaking and that makes it worse. > > So, again, any reason why the radiator can not, or should not, be repaired considering how small the leak is. > > 2. Am I better off buying a new radiator? About how much do they cost? Where is the best outlet for a replacement radiator? > > 3. My last option is to buy a used one, but that always has some risks. > > So, repair, replace (if replace what is the best source), or buy used? > > Lastly, have you all ever seen or heard of the rock guard/screen in front of the radiator rubbing a small hole in the radiator? My guess is that I did not seat the rock guard well and it rubbed in the right place and angle. Also, I have an after market crash bar that protects the radiator and that might have caused the rock guard to rub in the just the right place. > > I thank you in advance for any input. > > Eddie M >