Wilsons Sandbox

On 8/27/2010 3:37 PM, Jim Tegler wrote: > Reading Revmaatin s stories and laughing at > his adventures has inspired me to tap the keys into a ride story. Here goes . > > > > On July 17th I flew from the Yukon down to Missoula, > Montana. I stayed with my friend > Alan, wife River, daughter Hannah, yappy dog and 6 > chickens in an urban idyll. My bike was stored there after a 5,000 mile ride from > an Albuquerque, New Mexico > to the Yucatan Peninsula and back last November. On that ride the bike s chain + cogs became > worn to the point of dysfunction. It > just made it to ~ 60 miles south of San > Antonio. I was > glad to have made it to the U.S. Felt like home. I knew services in the U.S. In Mexico getting repairs often > involves dealings and processes that are less familiar to me. Things get done, but differently. > > > > Anyhow, my plan was to make repairs to the bike > and ride it back to the Yukon. First was rebuilding the forks. I really blew > a seal in Mexico > and it made the handling on stopping pretty squirrelly. I got the forks apart > with some DSN Listers help. I had tried > doing it by force and was in the process of stripping nuts. Straining to separate the upper and lower > portions saw the corners rounding and I very wisely stopped. A quick email to > DSN resulted in more wisdom. I was advised by DSN that an impact wrench is the > tool to get forks separated. It was a slick > move and I felt good getting that done. I bolted on a fork brace at the same > time. I managed to find a DSN-Lister > selling a tall windshield and put that on as well. I was having some difficulty installing it > due to the fact that the guy who sold me his KLR had done some surgery to the > fairing he neglected to mention. The > fairing was cut down by an inch and I never noticed until the tall windshield > holes failed to line up with the holes in the fairing. A drill rectified that quickly. The originally existing mounting holes were now > above the level of the plastic cowl and I wondered if they would not act to > equalize the air pressure. > > > > Three days of this maintenance and I was > ready for the road. Friends Alan + Steve > would join me for the first half of the ride (both from the Mexico ride.) Alan lived there and Steve > was flying over from England > for a ride. They would be respectively > riding a Harley Davidson and a Suzuki 650 V-Strom. As we left my battery was refusing to take a > charge and so we went to Battery Mart for a sealed replacement on the way out > of town. Seems like one s lucky to get > two years out of a battery here in the north. Perhaps it s my lack of care and > leaving them out in the cold overwinter? > > > > > We headed up #93 into British Columbia. Warm weather. > Good for riding. Riding up to the > border I explained the complexities of where my bike was from, why it was > there, the ride to Mexico and how I had moved from Alberta to the Yukon in > Canada the border guard just waved a hand to silence me and asked who the > other guys were. I started another > diatribe and he interrupted with, Are they your friends? I nodded and he passed me through. Probably glad to get rid of another > windbag. I m sure border guards get > tired of hearing the traveller s particulars. Across the border with my bike I > felt some relief. I don t know why being > in one s own country brings peace, but it does. I like the U.S. It sure felt more comfortable than Mexico, but Canada felt like home. Anyone else feel the same about arriving in > their home country? > > > > Onward. > We rode up to the #3 Hwy and then east to enter Alberta > and shortly the town of Coleman. > We stopped at a tavern there for > dinner. The guys I was with would not > have a beer. They did not drink a beer and then ride. Hmph .That s something to > think about. We had 30 miles more to go that night. Leaving the bar I became aware that we were > being eyed by 3 women. They liked our rides. In Canada I ve heard those types of > people referred to as tire-biters. The term applies to getting appraised > approvingly on the basis of your steed rather than any personal characteristic. From Coleman we headed up a forestry trunk > road. It was dirt and I needed to > convince Alan that it wasn t too gnarly for a Harley. > > > > We camped that night and the next day > headed up the beautiful Kananaskis Country to Banff, Alberta. > We passed a grizzly bear on the roadside > eating grass. At first glance I thought > it was a bison. I don t know when I ve > ever seen a bear that size. We rode past > Banff on the #1 > Hwy and then south on #93Hwy down to Radium Hot Springs for a soak. That relaxed us such that we only went > another 45 miles before we tossed up our tents and found unconsciousness in Wasa Lake > Provincial Park. The park was full but, the park operator was > a biker and found us a site that was occupied only by an empty tent. Bikers are buds. A friend from Kelowna on a 2008 KLR > joined us onsite. > > > > Next day saw us head off onto another > gravel road. Alan was getting annoyed > with me, but he was having no troubles on his Harley. He calls it the Black Pearl and loves that > bike. Different strokes for different > folks. I can t argue about it being a pretty bike though. We rode west from Kimberley, BC > through a gorgeous mountain pass. To the astonishment of the other riders, who > thought I was dirt savvy, I did a brief visit into a ditch when my front tire > rolled on a rock. This seemingly minor slide had later consequences for my > shift lever. We rode down to Kootenay Bay on #3A and took the ferry across Kootenay Lake to Balfour. Our ride from there was north on #31 to Kaslo > then #31A to New Denver. From there we > headed west on #6 and down to another ferry > at Needles. Once across the Lower Arrow Lake > we rode west to #97 and south to Kelowna > for the night. These lakes are the headwaters of the Columbia > River. I wrote about this portion of our trip in detail as it was some > of the nicest riding you ll find in this area. The traffic was nonexistent. The roads were fabulous in terms of clean, > twisty, cop-free pavement. If you are > looking for a ride. Do it. Once near Kelowna you come into a > major retirement/holiday zone. It was > suddenly very developed and busy. > Frankly, I was glad to head further north. > > > > The following morning we quickly bolted my > rear rack directly through the subframe. That seems to have stopped that from > loosening! We rode up to Salmon Arm. We > were invited to a potluck and decided to go for some local colour. The scene was great and so was the food. Only thing was one had to exert some > monstrous self-control not to be gagged by the numerous flies on all the food! I reined in my horror and tried the various home-made > casseroles, dips and BBQ d meats. Still, > the flies remain in my mind. > > > > North from Salmon Arm, BC we rode #5 and > #16 to Jasper, Alberta. > The next morning we hit the road at 8:30 > to ride 35 miles to Miette Hot Springs. In the cool of the morning the scenery was > stellar. The road from Hwy #16 was 10 > miles up to the Hot Springs. > Another lovely road. Twisty, hilly and > amidst mountains. Our speeds were held > in check as it was quite brushy by the shoulders and an animal leaping out > seemed very likely. > > The riding north from here was fast > going. No traffic and few towns as we buzzed > through Grande Cache on #40 and past Grande Praire on #43. We camped and then made south for Prince George down #97 after Dawson Creek. > Steve and Alan were off to Calgary, Alberta and I was headed north to my home in Whitehorse, Yukon. I felt conflicted as we parted. Part of me just wanted to forget my > responsibilities and ride. The other > half wanted to get home, back to good work and pay checks. I rode west from Prince George on #16 thinking I could go up the Cassier Hwy towards > Whitehorse. I thought that for the first 500 miles and > then realized that the Cassier was closed due to forest fires. Adding to the fact that I had now added 1,000 > miles to my trip was the additional delight that began with an earlier and > seemingly inconsequential slide. Initially > my shifter just seemed a bit stuck. I > tried to rectify the situation by bending it outwards with my hand and neigh > tore it in half!?! That precipitated a > quick trip to a couple of shops in Smithers, BC. Fortunately the shop owner > found a shift lever on a rotting dirt bike laying in back of the shop that sort > of fit the KLR. I wasn t feeling > picky. I was 3 days and 1500 miles from > needing to be at the construction site. My ride back to Prince > George and up the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse was largely uneventful. Notables were the herds of wood bison laying > on the road verges lazily chewing their cud. > Stopping at roadwork that was underway I was amazed at the way 2 inch Long > Horned Pine Bark beetles would buzz up and land on you. The locals casually picked up by the antenna, > tossed them on the ground and crunched them into a gritty paste with their > boot. Their sage advice was that the > bugs can give you a mean bite, but their slow. > Other excitement was my hitting a pothole so hard that it bent my rim. Thankfully no flat. Otherwise, my carburetor developed a > seemingly endless flow of fuel that dropped the mileage down to 20 mpg. That s serious when the gas stations are 150+ > miles apart. I was able to rotate the > carb body to take off the bottom. Seemed like the clip that holds the float needle > to control the flow of gas into the carb was dislodged. Whatever was the problem. When I reassembled the carb, it was fixed. I > happily buzzed the last 4 hours across the Alaska > from Watson Lake > to Whitehorse. Stopped for gas and had to look for the > proprietor to pay. He was in having > breakfast. Got a love that sort of > trust. The last mechanical insult was a > speedo that started indicating lower and lower speed until it just gave up the > ghost totally. What s with that? Oh well, I ve still got a tach to give me a > rough idea. Home turned out to be 4,000 > miles from Missoula. After a loaded 9,000 miles my back tire is > looking right worn. My front looks like > it has another season! > > > > Time to do some work on the bike and think > about another journey for next season. > > > > Over to you Rev. You do it better anyhow. > Jim A5 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > Member Map at: http://www.frappr.com/dsnklr650Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > >