Wilsons Sandbox

Hi all- I've been a lurker off and on with this list for a while. I'm looking for a KLR for my S.O. who has decided to sell her Hawk and join me on the D/S path (YAY! she always got so pissed when I would take us on "detours"=dirt) She's ridden my Transalp, and an old XT I used to have, and she likes the 'Alp alot. (I have a KLR but it suffers from being scavanged from by a previous owner, so I don't have ridable one yet) She decided on the KLR because she commutes 90-mi. a day and doesn't like the seats on the XR/XT/DR. She also thinks the huge tank is a plus (the Hawk has a teeny one) and she thinks it looks better than any other D/S out there. So we are looking for a KLR that is mech. sound, but can be almost any shape cosmetically (she'll probably decorate it, e.g. flat black with bath-tub flowers and sparkly grips w/streamers). It needs to be turn-key ridable as it is her only transport. She is looking to spend 2-3k (or the equivalent of what her Hawk sells for) and the closer to the Northern Bay Area (CA) the better. Any help is always appreciated. Any advice on what to look for in a used KLR is especially helpful. Thanks -Scott PS: Anyone wanna buy a '89 Hawk 650?

Good report from the ST/KLR guys. I've got a KLR (5000 miles this year, since my last trip to Idaho) which is used mostly for trips but a fair amount of in-town work; A Bandit 12 (6000 mi. since Oct 00), which does work and a few weekends; and an R1100RS, which goes to work a lot but hasn't been on a long trip since Oct 99 (it has 36k miles on it and is going to Del Mar in a couple of weeks). They are all outstanding street bikes, great traffic tools, each. It is an awesome time we live in - the machinery is as good as it gets, the freedom is still there where you can get around some. Everybody's got to start paying attention......I've noticed people don't pay attention - whether it's the car pulling out on your right at the light, or the airport's minimum wage workers checking out who's packing what. Everybody's got to start paying attention. It's how you survive. Bill, from N. California (it's beautiful....been about 78 every day for the last month-and-a-half)