license_plate_pop_quiz_nklr

[revmaaatin]

I hope I don't need your help-- however, just in case, here is my request: Hello list- Things are falling into place rapidly. This excursion has been in work since mid march-- Tuesday, I leave via Volvo cage (1450 miles, = 24 hours according to Mapquest) as a grateful hitch-hiker, the Volvo my pack mule, from central SD to deposit my riding gear, tools, luggage, tubes and me, in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Yeah, I did something like this last May 08--except I rode the Greyhound for 26 hours to get to Dallas for a very nicely farkled 98 KLR 650. Waiting for me is a cream puff, 1997 KLR 250 with <1K smiles. Got an idea where this is going? Guess how it gets back to central SD? Monday 10 Aug I will turn the baby KLR westward--as it flows into a ceaseless wind of HD worshipers turned eastward. REally doesn't seem that hard. Just a smaller bike. Go 400 miles, rest, repeat. Previoulsy, fluids all changed. I will take a day to mount some luggage racks, check chain tension, engine bolts and valve clnc, tire pressure, etal. and then, perhaps shoot some long distance targets in the strip mines. Can't be all work. cough. Looking for anyone that would serve as a safety net: 1. along the I-80 corridor from central PA to Chicago, [w/RON Rockford, IL with m/c friend] then basically 2. central Iowa westward to Sioux City 3. Then to Pierre, SD I-80 may not be the exact route: but within 40 miles of it at the most. The unknown is the 12 y/o bike that is reported to be very nice by all that have seen it. This bike is added to the stable for my son, age 14 next Dec and licenseabale in South Dakota when he is 14. The thoughts are the GDR in Aug, 2010. This will be just the shakedown cruise. Judd Jones tells me that this excursion is known as 'minamilist' dual sports due to size of bike or amount of gear. It will still be sporting some gear. It will be sporting: 1. a custom rack with a 1 gal. Kolpin spare fuel cell, 2. Ortlieb dry bags 3. Garmin 76csx 4. perhaps 2 dry bags 5. paper map case. Leaning towards minimal camping stuff, etc. Please PM off line with address and phone number if you could be a support net in some way. I only have one excuse not to do this: One of the rodeo cowboys may come to Philly in Sept and might trailer it back in a horse trailer. Ah, Rodeo cowboys. God love um. Their schedule is as reliable as a 2 nylon-ply-tire. I am thinking, tuesday is L-day. revmaaatin

[roncriswell@sbcglobal.net]

The Lord does ride with you rev if you survived the Greyhound Bus terminal in Big D in '08. Criswell

On Aug 2, 2009, at 12:09 AM, revmaaatin wrote: > I hope I don't need your help-- > however, just in case, here is my request: > > Hello list- > > Things are falling into place rapidly. > This excursion has been in work since mid march-- > > Tuesday, I leave via Volvo cage > (1450 miles, = 24 hours according to Mapquest) > as a grateful hitch-hiker, the Volvo my pack mule, from central SD > to deposit my riding gear, tools, luggage, tubes and me, in Wilkes- > Barre, PA. > > Yeah, I did something like this last May 08--except I rode the > Greyhound for 26 hours to get to Dallas for a very nicely farkled > 98 KLR 650. > > Waiting for me is a cream puff, 1997 KLR 250 with Got an idea where this is going? > > Guess how it gets back to central SD? > > Monday 10 Aug I will turn the baby KLR westward--as it flows into a > ceaseless wind of HD worshipers turned eastward. > > REally doesn't seem that hard. > Just a smaller bike. > Go 400 miles, rest, repeat. > > > Previoulsy, fluids all changed. I will take a day to mount some > luggage racks, check chain tension, engine bolts and valve clnc, > tire pressure, etal. and then, > perhaps shoot some long distance targets in the strip mines. > Can't be all work. > cough. > > Looking for anyone that would serve as a safety net: > 1. along the I-80 corridor from central PA to Chicago, > [w/RON Rockford, IL with m/c friend] > then basically > 2. central Iowa westward to Sioux City > 3. Then to Pierre, SD > > I-80 may not be the exact route: but within 40 miles of it at the > most. > > The unknown is the 12 y/o bike that is reported to be very nice by > all that have seen it. > > This bike is added to the stable for my son, age 14 next Dec and > licenseabale in South Dakota when he is 14. The thoughts are the > GDR in Aug, 2010. This will be just the shakedown cruise. > > Judd Jones tells me that this excursion is known as 'minamilist' > dual sports due to size of bike or amount of gear. It will still be > sporting some gear. > It will be sporting: > > 1. a custom rack with a 1 gal. Kolpin spare fuel cell, > 2. Ortlieb dry bags > 3. Garmin 76csx > 4. perhaps 2 dry bags > 5. paper map case. > > Leaning towards minimal camping stuff, etc. > > Please PM off line with address and phone number if you could be a > support net in some way. > > I only have one excuse not to do this: > One of the rodeo cowboys may come to Philly in Sept and might > trailer it back in a horse trailer. > Ah, Rodeo cowboys. God love um. > Their schedule is as reliable as a 2 nylon-ply-tire. > I am thinking, tuesday is L-day. > > revmaaatin > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Fred Hink]

Martin called me this morning for a few parts for his KLR and wanted you to know that he has left PA. on his 250. Anyone on his route be on the lookout for revmaaatin on his little KLR250. He may need some assistance and would greatly appreciate your encouragement. Ride like the wind revmaaatin. Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com http://s1.zetaboards.com/arrowhead

----- Original Message ----- From: revmaaatin To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 11:09 PM Subject: [DSN_KLR650] KLR 250 minimalist adventure I hope I don't need your help-- however, just in case, here is my request: Hello list- Things are falling into place rapidly. This excursion has been in work since mid march-- Tuesday, I leave via Volvo cage (1450 miles, = 24 hours according to Mapquest) as a grateful hitch-hiker, the Volvo my pack mule, from central SD to deposit my riding gear, tools, luggage, tubes and me, in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Yeah, I did something like this last May 08--except I rode the Greyhound for 26 hours to get to Dallas for a very nicely farkled 98 KLR 650. Waiting for me is a cream puff, 1997 KLR 250 with

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 1:38 PM -0600 8/10/09, Fred Hink wrote:

>Martin called me this morning for a few parts for his KLR and wanted >you to know that he has left PA. on his 250. Anyone on his route be >on the lookout for revmaaatin on his little KLR250. He may need >some assistance and would greatly appreciate your encouragement.

I guess he made it through my area OK. I hadn't heard from him. Mark

[Jeff Saline]

On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:52:20 -0400 Tengai Mark Van Horn writes:

> At 1:38 PM -0600 8/10/09, Fred Hink wrote: > >Martin called me this morning for a few parts for his KLR and > wanted > >you to know that he has left PA. on his 250. Anyone on his route > be > >on the lookout for revmaaatin on his little KLR250. He may need > >some assistance and would greatly appreciate your encouragement. > > > I guess he made it through my area OK. I hadn't heard from him. > Mark

<><><><><><><> <><><><><><><> Martin called me this morning shortly after he talked with Fred. He said the seat on the KLR250 is similar to the 650. I asked if he meant uncomfortable. : ) He kind of laughed but confirmed it was tough going. For whatever it's worth... the stock KLR seat is fine for me and I've done a 800+ mile day just fine with mine. He had gone 200 of his 400 mile day at about noon PA time. He plans on four 400 mile days to get home and is staying off major roads as much as possible. His new to him KLR250 is running well. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT . ____________________________________________________________ Need cash? Click to get a loan. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTFRc7zbWsiJxSrpiNGDWSsCQlCpAXxpw41I5GDT4cIbXqXgYaH8NC/

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Tengai Mark Van Horn wrote:

> > At 1:38 PM -0600 8/10/09, Fred Hink wrote: > >Martin called me this morning for a few parts for his KLR and wanted > >you to know that he has left PA. on his 250. Anyone on his route be > >on the lookout for revmaaatin on his little KLR250. He may need > >some assistance and would greatly appreciate your encouragement. > > > I guess he made it through my area OK. I hadn't heard from him. > Mark >

Mark, Thanks for 'standing-by' as I passed. No news = good news! smile. The going was much slower than I expected-- I had thought to call for 30-minute coffee/rest, (I was also some miles N. of your location) but the time of day was still during the working man's hours so I pressed on. Disappointed not to meet you. So much to see, so far to go, so little time. The first day +14.5 hours was some 439 mile, ~32mph/avg speed from start to finish. The last 4+ hours in the 'wet'. A lot of road repair delays. sigh. so, I did not much more than ride, gas, eat, ride. repeat The ride across US 6 was beautiful. and slow. The overall KLR250 ride? Wow. Both easier and harder than I expected. It still gets a big thumbs up for success. Doing this gives me much to consider if my son rides this bike with me next summer some 5-6K miles on the GDR. You only need the "650" to get you there, i.e. 70mph on the ingress/egress. The 250 is more than enough to do a true dual-sport ride that seldom sees more than 50 mph. More on that later. I was grateful that I knew I had a 'friend' in central PA if I needed one. You have one in central SD as well. Today is a cowboy day--Got to go chase cows/calves--its time for the fall shots.... revmaaatin. who will write more later.

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 1:22 PM +0000 8/15/09, revmaaatin wrote:

>Mark, >Thanks for 'standing-by' as I passed.... >I had thought to call for 30-minute coffee/rest, (I was also some >miles N. of your location) but the time of day was still during the >working man's hours so I pressed on.... >I was grateful that I knew I had a 'friend' in central PA if I >needed one. You have one in central SD as well.

Thanks. Did you take US 6 through PA? If so, that's a nice ride. Glad you had a good adventure. You inspired me and probably many others to take a long ride on a small bike! Mark

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote:

> > Things are falling into place rapidly. > This excursion has been in work since mid march--

End of ride report: 1997 KLR 250 from Tunkhannock, PA to central South Dakota. The short version: Departed Tunkhannock, near Wilkes-Barr, PA on 10 Aug 09 at 0650. Arrived safe and sound, Highmore, SD 1710, 14 Aug. 4+ hours in the wet, some torrential rains. Pin hole gas leak in the tank fixed with JB quick Gas leak on the old gas line. Prickly heat after about 6 hours every day. Ouch. 4.5 days of headwinds. Last ~100 miles was a tail wind. Finally. Looks like ~1800 miles/5 days on a KLR 250. Hours and hours of amazing scenery, and `quiet' time for reflection and meditation. The long version The beginning: Some where around the 5th of April, KLR owner `Mr. Matt" posted a FOR SALE sign on a 97 KLR 250 on the KLR650.net board. I learned about this bike in a `forward' from Jeff Saline, titled, Your next bike. Maybe he thought it was good for me, or just teasing . I called Mr. Matt, 97 KLR 250, 925 miles, minor blemishes, etc. = cream puff We agreed on his price, I sent him a check. The only difficult thing: it is 1450 miles from my house to Mt. Top, PA. Hmmm. Difficult or interesting? Several times over the years, folks mention: a Honda 90 cross country maybe even a coast to coast on a 200/350. Why not a KLR250? Why not, indeed. Just a tad slower than a 650 prep the bike, and head West. Don't sweat the mule going blind, just load the wagon. So, I started loading the wagon, at least in my mind. But first, how to get there: I had a few options to get it home. 1. Leo, A long time friend comes from nearby Tunkhannock/Wilkes-Barre, PA to hunt, and I would ride back with him. Did not pan out for this year. 2. Drive out and trailer it home. Only if it was a `gift'. Nope. Paid cash for this one. 3. Ship it. Cough. ~$600 4. Fly out: still over $300 5. Catch a military hop: doubtful at best 6. Catch an 18 wheeler possible but very unpredictable. Yet, It almost happened. 7. Ride out with a KLR friend that vacations in Maine: which is what happened. ~27 hours; 1450 miles in a cage. The ride back: Plan A. 1. Start early every day: Ride 400 miles a day, rest, repeat Knowing that I would get to PA eventually, I ordered a Turbo City luggage rack and had it shipped to my friend Leo's house. Added the optional Koplin 1-gallon fuel tank. Thanks to fellow poster Ross Lindbergh who found this. This is it here: http://www.turbocity.com/popup_image.php?pID=626 Home page: http://www.turbocity.com/ Here is a 2007 KLR 650 review of the same rack. http://www.klrworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=75&Itemid=119 The Bad: It shipped with two left braces which supports the aft quadrant of each side: which is difficult to install on the right side. The brace is most important if the bike is going to take a nap. Sigh. I called Turbo City on a Friday explaining my problem: just arrived in PA, installed rack on Thursday, leaving on a Monday, etc. Claimed that UPS overnight was not available in that area. Hmmm. They allowed that they would pay for a field repair. "Just cut if off and rotate it to fit and reweld." If only it was that easy . Nice and easy if the bike is not loaded, battery disconnected, and you do not have a date with a dun-colored quarter-hours named Polly on the other end of the trip. An un-necessary delay at this point is not part of the plan. I elected to load the right side Ortlieb bag very lightly and press on. I like horses that much. I also decided that I would not take a dirt nap. Turbo City did allow that they would ship the right side brace to my home. Should be here when I arrived back in South Dakota. Nope. Not yet. That settled, I loaded the lil' blue mule. Pictures: Pictures forth coming in a few days somewhere in the comedy of errors, I lost a camera, misplaced the butt wipes, left my antimonkey butt powder at home, and of course brought only one-season gloves. The rain gloves: I replaced with some high grade latex that worked really well. Note to self: just don't set yourself on fire (in the rain) while wearing the latex gloves and all should go well. 10 Aug: I stopped at Walgreens drug store and bought a disposable film camera which will require development, etal when I get to a store some 50 miles from here for development. I entered the store fully costumed in riding gear (ATGATT) and a SyMax helmet in the up position. Immediately, I scared some poor Alzheimer's lady nearly out of her socks. And I had fully shaved that morning. Shrug. I tried to assure her I was harmless which only made the situation worse. I am a head of the story . 4 Aug Departed Homeplate, SD at 1000 on 4 Aug, arrived in Wilkes-Barre, PA ~1300 hrs on the 5th. Transferred my gear to Leo's car, had lunch, called Mr. Matt, set up an appointment for `valve-check' for Friday morning and took a nap. Thursday was not a good day for Matt he had a dental appointment for a cavity, which turned into a `routine' tooth extraction. Groan. Brother I feel your pain. Every time I go somewhere with someone that says, `Lets drive straight through' it's a mistake. You arrive tired, and not worth 2cents for the next two days. Same song, second verse; I am not worth a flip on Thursday, and Friday is not much better. 5,6 Aug I spent Wednesday evening, Thursday helping Leo finish moving into his home and a few moments admiring the bike. A secondary reason for going East was to help Leo; he is a USN nurse medically retired with MS and most of the house-keeping tasks, moving-in etc are difficult. Some, impossible for him to perform. Like changing the water filter as it turns out, 3 helpers can't do much better. Aug 7 I launch from rural Tunkhannock, Pa to Mt. Top, PA ~27 miles away, dropping my ball cap over the right mirror so I will have a hat when I get to Mr. Matt's. A quick stop for a coffee and a breakfast sandwich at Burger King and I will be on my way. I shut the bike down with the kill switch as I was on a slight slope and wanted to leave the bike in gear. 45 minutes later, I still can't start the bike. Kick, kick, kick. (The 97 is a kicker-start, only). Bruise the ankle Kick. Bruise the ankle. Sweat. Check for fuel. Tap the carb at the float needle. Vent the tank. Kick, bruise, sweat. Push the bike up the hill, push down hill, drop it into 3rd. Bump start. No. Push the bike up the hill. Repeat 2x. Bump start. No. Now I am drenched with sweat less than mile from Matts. And I got to take a DUMP! Remember: ATGATT. Sigh. Yes, Virginia, there are times when you can have on to much riding gear and now is one of those times. Finally, back to the bike. I call on the phone leaving a message: "Matt, I think I flooded the bike." Just as those words slipped across my lips, I move the hat and staring at me is the kill switch OFF. The phone message continues "But I think I am about to get it started." Put all the gear on, Switch to Run One kick its alive, and my ankle hurts. A lot. Good lesson to learn early. Bike will NOT run in the OFF position. Typical of problems of a new-to-you bike. While at the Burger King, there were a few nice moments: Two kind people allow, "I know a mechanic" but were not crazy about helping push start. Smile. I arrive at Matt's he looks like he has been punched in the face well, he had been. Routine filling turned into a tooth extraction plus a full wallet biopsy as well. We roll the bike into the nicely equipped shop and I pull the seat, tank, and upper engine mounts. Slide the valve cover off, break out the KLR250 suppliment manual. Previously, I thought this bike would be shim over bucket, like my KLR650 and KLX300, but is the screw and nut valve adjustment! That is a bonus. At 960 miles, the valves are at the top of spec, we button it up and take a few photo's. Matt suggested we should go eat breakfast. It lasted 2 hours and he picked up the tab. Thanks Matt. A tech day and breakfast! I had been stationed at the Naval Air Development Center, Warminster, PA from 88-90 and had forgotten how beautiful PA can be except for all the traffic! One thing that PA has that SD does not have out here on the prairie/plains and that is trees. Wow. Lots and lots of trees and lots of interesting, narrow paved and twisting roads; reminded me a lot of living in Sicily or Costal Spain. Most of these roads are fun to ride, but contain lots of blind corners and blind driveways, interspersed with deer. It could be some serious fun, with some serious risk as well. I left Mr. Matt's and headed home to Leo's; another friendship developed and bonded. Mr. Matt has sponsored tech days at his place, and if you are in that area, don't miss his tech day. I bet they are a real hoot. Each day, I would try to help Leo as much as possible, and each night, I would futz with the bike a couple of hours to prep the ride home. Thusday I installed the Turbo City Rack. The strap-style, Ortlieb dry-bags. The Wolfman explorer tank bag. The tank bag is over kill for size for the 250. You dance with what you got . The ball for the RAM mount, and the Garmin 76csx GPS Washed the chain with WD-40 Friday evening, after I got back from Mr. Matt's, I adjusted the tank bag attatchment staps--mo better now. I installed: mirror isolators, left mirror perch/choke reposition-er, a cramp buster for the throttle, I also will install two Seattle Sport, side loading, kayak waterproof bags. One bag contains tent, sleeping bag. The other spare clothes. Usually, I would not bring this many clothes: but I am not just KLR'ing, I am in the pastor mode as well. Most folks don't respond well to you when you smell like a two-day-old, sweat-soaked`KLR'. Thought of forgoing the camping gear then chickened out so it has its own place as well. Didn't use the camping gear or the flat tire gear. Shrug. But would not leave home without it. In the tool roll, I have my full KLR650 travel tool kit, tire repair, talc, tire soap and electric air compressor. Sigh. Where are the side-cutter pliers? (In the surburban.) Install the sheep skin pad. Washed down the chain again, with WD-40. Matt said this bike had been ridden on coal-dust trails and the chain is nasty. I will continue a daily heavy treatment of the chain as the WD-40 cuts through the accumulated gunk the entire trip. In retrospect: the chain should have been cleaned better before I left. Shrug. It is not a perfect world .should have changed the fuel line as well. Shrug. Again. I have yet to ever install any of the furniture/luggage and get it right the first time. Will this trip be an exception? Nope. I will discover that, The tank bag sags left when placed on the kickstand, The aft tank bag straps will `spank' the under-side of my legs at about 8beats/sec, The sheepskin pad bunches up under my left leg, and The straps holding on the Seattle Sport dry bags need adjusting: 3x. All part of the adventure. Adjustments also eat up time. The first day will be 14.5 hours and only 439 miles. More on that later. 8 Aug Every where I have lived, I have left a trail of friends. Some I will never see again, some you go out of your way to see. Such will be the case today. Two additional friends Fred and Richard--acquired from my days in Warminster--come to Leo's for the day. WE do additional chores, `play' show and tell, have a lovely lunch in Tunkhannock. We return to Leo's to do one last 5-minute chore: change the water filter. Earlier, I suggested, never do a plumbing chore late in the day. 4 hours later, the 5-minute chore is still leaking or was it a flood of biblical proportions? Fred and Richard are both engineers MacGiivers in their own right but this is not Hollywood, and what looked like a final `fix' was just a leak that took longer to leak, again. Ah, No water for the rest of the night. The freaking water filter does not have a by-pass, so if the filter is broken, you are out of water. Nutz. Fred and Richard head back to Bucks County/NE Philly, and I go back to futz with the bike for a couple of hours. 9 Aug, 8am Down to Lowe's the plumbing dept. "Yes we have O-rings. You have to buy a packet of `four'." What is wrong with that? Only one in the packet fits. Leo freaks. We both deplore wanton wastefulness and this qualifies. We buy three more o-rings than we need and head for McDonalds for breakfast. Just for the sake of levity, I should tell you some of the chaos that swirls around us as we simply go about our business. Two days in a row, Leo and I will order two Egg McMuffins in two different McDonalds. Leo orders first, and then I order mine without the Canadian Bacon. Leo's previous order for a Egg McMuffin is changed by the waitress just because we are together. Leo freaks again. I give him a side look. It is just a sandwich. However, Seems the waitress is more interested in kibitzing with her coworkers than taking our order. During the second day. Today, we will do this different. It happens that I pay for Leo's standard order first, then place my order without the bacon. Same song, second verse. This waitress tries to fill both orders without bacon. Some of the chaos makes you want to just run and hide. Finally. Back home at Leo's, O-ring installed, with silicone grease (which is why the last o-ring failed on removal no grease) and the `filter-bowl' is installed. All of 5 minutes. No leaks. And I can brush my teeth . More moving in chores fill the rest of the day shelves installed, books put on the shelves, trash contained and the table saw is put together properly--and are wrapped up by 2200hrs. The bike is loaded, mostly. Set the alarm for a 0530 wakeup. Call the wife: she checks the NOAA sites for wx. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Pittsburgh&state=PA&site=PBZ&textField1=40.4392&textField2=-79.9767&e=0 This is not the link for the 10th, but you get the idea. Type in a city, and read the wx forecast. 400 miles is the goal and the forecast is 40% chance of rain in Western PA. Fortunately, my forecast is for 100% smiles. Should off-set each other. The ride home starts on the 10th reported later. And 40% chance of rain? = 4 hours of rain. revmaaatin.

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote: SNIP > > The ride home starts on the 10th reported later. > And 40% chance of rain? > = 4 hours of rain. > > revmaaatin. MINIMALIST ADVENTURE CONTINUES: 10 Aug. KLR 250 from Tunkhannock, PA to Wooster, Ohio Phone-Alarm announces that it is 0530 and the day lies before me. My `sponsor' continues his beauty sleep as I pack the final items in my two Seattle Sports Kayak bags. These are strapped to the bike using "Helen Two Wheels" type straps of my own manufacture, using Fasenx fasteners instead of d-rings that Helen uses. Of course, each final, final, final sweep of the area reveals some new item that I am supposed to be transporting and has to be refitted into the mix of kayak bags and Ortlieb dry bags. Believe it or not I left some mighty fine items behind that I will have to retrieve later. Shouldn't everybody be carrying some 300 pieces of re-loading brass on their cross country? As the bags filled, the lil' blue mule grunts, I abandoned the brass. Tumu/Zack/Mark V/ or Judd have suggested: load the bike. Take it for a 30 mile ride. Come back and unload 1/3 of the gear, then go. Sigh. So much reloading brass, so little space. Finally, 0650, the engine running, I push off. Starting the fully loaded beast is a little like juggling an ax. Maybe not that much fun. I have left myself a little gap to snuggle into between the tank bag and the Seattle Sport bag not to bad with the 650 electric start. But this is kick start . The trouble comes when you have to balance the bike, lift the leg, position the kick starter, and try not to foul the foot on a luggage strap, rear foot peg, or bang the ankle on the foot peg or take a dirt nap. Thankfully, not one nap the entire trip. The starting task will be unpleasant the entire trip. Easier as you figure it all out, but still, remains unpleasant when fully loaded. Before I can go very far, I will need gas. I had intended to fill with gas before loading the bike but the wx had a different idea. I went out around 1800 to make a 5-mile jaunt to the gas station (between the thunderstorms) I made it out of the driveway before I returned in a sudden deluge of water. Such is the luck of a knarly adventurer. It has been this way all afternoon, and will be this way, most of the night. All that rain on Sunday = Good for the rider. The previous 3-day forecast, 3 days earlier, promised to be more adventure than you really want. It had the portents of the entire, first 800 miles in the rain. Now, it will mostly be the daily 4pm thunderstorm activity that will be a concern. Leo's home is down a paved goat path, which connects to two more goat paths before it intersects PA #29 South of Tunkhannock/US #6. The only early morning competition on the road during the first 5 miles is road-kill and future road-kill. Yikes! Could that pin-cushion be a porcupine? Don't want to hit one of those . I caught a break, and the rains the following night are not manifesting themselves as killer-fog this morning which has been present 3 of the previous 5 days which can be especially true along the valleys/rivers. I cross the Susquehanna River at Tunkhannock and turn westward only to realize, there are no gas stations on that side of town. I am less that 6 miles into the journey, and I am already going backwards but for fuel, that is allowed. I have a complete aversion to pushing a motorcycle. Tried it once largely cured me of any desire to do it again. US #6, I am told, used to be THE road going west before there were super-highways. It certainly was beautiful. Much of it was up, down, up, down, with stretches of road that would follow the river/creek before repeating the up/down theme all over again. The KLR 250 was pretty good to hold 55mph/gps at 6200rpms rarely exceeding 6500, never more than 7,000. Redline is 9500, and I wanted to choose a number that moved me along, but gave you a `gut-feeling' that you were not over-exercising the machine. Nevertheless, at 6500 rpm, the tappets sound like a rattlesnake. An angry rattlesnake. Like most folks my age, life is not agreeable until you have some coffee. Looking at my receipt, I see I arrive at Towanda, PA McDonalds at 0817 and a distance traveled of 51 miles since 0650. Seems slow but will be the best average I have all day. As I am finishing my coffee/sandwich, I nearly bump into an great-great-grandmother while attempting to put on my riding costume. Actually, I think she snuck up on me hoping to get her favorite table, one that she sits at/near every morning for tea and a biscuit. After an appropriate apology, I remove my earplugs and listen to her story been here since 1964, raised 5 kids (3 girls, 2 boys), milked a lot of cows and is a great-great-grandmother. Living on her own, drives her own car though not very far. She will be one of the highlights of the day and I have only been at about 3 hours. It is why you ride a KLR ride to distant places, take a moment to be a friend, discover a friend that you did not know you had, and listen to their story. It changes you, it changes them if you take the time. Onward. I ride another 51 miles to Wellsboro and hit the CVS pharmacy for a disposable camera. Earlier I posted that it was a Walgreens but the receipt, $14.83 says its CVS. It is here that the Alzheimer's lady freaks out when she sees me in the Darth Vader ATGATT and the SyMax helmet. The poor store clerk gives the universal `disturbed' sign stirring her index finger around and around her ear. Apparently she is a known regular in the store. Mt Jewett is 98.2 miles on this tank of gas and I strike up a conversation with a guy with a van full of mountain bikes. Go figure PA mountains, mountain bikes and he is a long distance bike rider. Better he than me, I think until he sees I am on a 250, and `you are going where?!?!?!' So, signing each others, mutal-admiration-society guest book, I continued West, Westish, westward. US#6 never goes west for more than a few feet before it is wandering N/S along a West-ish vector. The good news I am not competing with may trucks, at least not yet and when I do, there is usually a slow lane that they can pass my 35mph ascending KLR250. I give Fred H. a call, order some KLR650 parts, and give Jeff Saline an update. Doing this on a KLR250: Harder than doing it on a KLR650, but not as hard as I thought it might be. At times, even more more than a 650 as the fully loaded bike is 440#, full fuel, as weighed in South Dakota at the Wheat Growers scale. 640# with me on it.... At Kane, PA, I have elected to head towards Pittsburgh on PA#66. It is here that US#6 turns NW and is going a long ways out of my way. By going down #66 through a series of by-ways, I will intersect US 30 on the East side of Ohio. What I did not know is that lots of trucks on going to be on this road as well. Not many choices of N/S roads in this area that will go `quickly' to where you think you want to be. All part of the ride. Just get to where there are fewer trucks as soon as possible. I stopped in Leeper, PA at the Sawmill Restaurant, and was sitting at a booth ~15 minutes before I realized the waitress does not take your order you order at the `window' and they will bring it to you. Sigh. Placed an order--with the misfortune to now be behind ~15 people that have come in since I have sat down. Sigh. Add 20 minutes more, and still no grilled chicken sandwich . we are burning daylight. I probably needed the rest but prefer to do it on my conditions. There have been numerous delays/one lane travel to this point due to road construction and adding a 50 minute break for lunch is not getting me towards my 400 mile goad by dark. I press on, until I need gas where I discover: Never buy gas at a grocery store. Spit. Kick. Spit. Burn more daylight. See. I feel better already. Emlenton, PA IGA has the Sunoco gas, and a card-scan that will not read my credit card. I get the dreaded gas pump message: SEE THE ATTENDANT Scan again. Same song, second verse. See the Attendant. Off course, it is the one time I would really, really like to gas and go .so I go inside. Cute girl gives me the `DRAGNET' interview: Did you: 1. 2. 3. 4.? Ma'aM!!!,---!! Yes, Ma'am. She doesn't believe me. Why should she? She is cute, I am old, and I smell like a KLR. She smiles widely, walks me to the gas pump, and makes sure that I am paying full attention to how the scan machine works: it is my turn to smile. See how easy this is her smile is saying-- The gas pump has not changed its mind: SEE THE ATTENDANT "Well, you will have to pay in advance ." Look lady, I got a credit card, could you turn on the pump. Please? OK. I pump my 1.259 gallons of gas and go inside the IGA to pay. `You will have to get in line to pay." I am now #8 in line. My face must have flushed, as the manager said, "Here, let me help you" .or, might because the first woman at the counter was holding her nose by now .shrug. Maybe she did not like the color of red? I paid, and shuffled on. Shuffled. The prickly heat is taking its toll even while deploying all the secret recipes known only to grannies and nurse maids plus a the wool seat, I am still working towards a royal case of monkey butt. The receipt says: time, 15:52, I have gone about 200 miles, and the OAT is still rising. The monkey butt is not going to getter better any time soon. The good news: I cross the river at Emlenton and shortly after, cross I-80, leaving all the truck traffic behind. The bad news: I have unknowingly entered `sign-age hell'. I am following along on an official PA travel map (which by the way is one of the worst in the country; I am not just saying this from this experience I lived here from 88-90 and thought so then as well. The only thing worse is the AAA maps of PA) and my Garmin 76csx. How could you possibly need any thing else except maybe road signs? Seems the Garmin map-o-teers used the PA road map to process their guidance and this is where I got lost or advancing without a clue-I would estimate some 20 miles off the trail I really wanted to be. Nice country just not where I want to be. Earlier during my map study, I had noted some roads to take me around New Castle, dumping me into Ohio near Palestine except someone removed/displaced the signs needed to connect the dots. And wouldn't you know it, the 4pm Cumulus Nimbus are building, and wind is starting to blow a lot harder from the West. I use the GPS to find the Moraine State Park, using it as a limiting feature, and start the navigation towards that as the wind accelerates defoliating trees of leaves and branches. No lightning yet so I press on. No good place to stop that I can tell. I have noticed a few farm sheds that I would return to if necessary but for now, press on towards the SW. It begins to lightly rain the kind that feels like needles when they hit your face. The dark face shield is now `up' as the clouds have become very black. I cross I-79, GPS find and follow a parallel service road South as the rain begins to really pummel me from the towering thunderstorm just North of my position. I pass another KLR rider on a Frog-Green KLR and signal to him, GO SOUTH as he appears to be trying to go North, pausing to put on his rain gear. About 3 more miles and I see a gas station with a cover and next to it is a bank with 3 covered teller lanes. Perfect. I get under cover, drop my riding pants (I've got on hospital surgical pants underneath) and put on my Frog Toggs under the riding pants. My jacket is a Kilamanjaro, so I am satisfied that it will keep me dry. I suppose it would if you get all the Velcro in the right place. Which I did not. Later, I would have a dry seat, but a very wet top. Ain't that a switch. Back at the bank lanes: A nice, chain-smoking lady asked me if I would like to get in the car with her . Ah, no. smile. I am doing just fine even if the wx resembled an artillery bombardment. Finally, all the rain gear is on, To include some form fitting latex gauntlets I bought in Dallas, PA And the squeegee (to wipe the visor) I acquired from Aerostitch candy store. I LOVE that finger-squeegee. This is a top-notch, piece of gear that works! All dressed up, and studying the map/GPS: should I ride or punt (hotel)? Less than 300 miles at this point. Mileage is a relentless, heartless goal if you got to make some miles and I need to do so. Check the rain-- As it is now a slow, toad strangling rain, instead of a cow killing rain: As I contemplate my next move, two cars pull up into the bank lanes to be out of the rain to do a luggage switch, and `Larry' asked me "Where do you want to go?" Follow me! Says Larry. So I do. So for the next 40 miles, I don't have to navigate, just follow Larry, I just have to: Avoid the downed limbs, And not get drowned by the cars pushing puddles over their hoods when they hit the standing water located in the low spots. And finger squeegee my face shield every 5 seconds. (RainX would seem appropriate about now!) Some 40 miles later, I shake Larry's hand under the cover of another gas station, grateful for his humanity towards a wet-dog on a dark afternoon. He directs me to Beaver Falls, and the roads that will lead me to US#30 in Ohio. Thanks Larry you were a God send. If only the signage supported his directions as well. Sigh. Through no help of the PA state signs, I make two/three more wrong turns attempting to reason my way through the odd signage in Beaver Falls area, managing to finally GPS my way to the PA 251 and head west, crossing into Ohio and into more rain. All right already. I give up. I'll take the NEXT hotel. Except for the next 100 miles, not a single hotel. No, not one. I got the camping gear, but I know, I really need to get as dry as possible or I am going to be sick and nearly was so . Jeff Saline later posted my progress when I called him from LaFayette, IN on Wednesday while doing the leaking gas tank repair and described my adventure; Mark V.H. correctly suggested using a park shelter in one of his post: believe me, Mark, I was looking. Not an open shed, barn, garage door, or city park. Nothing that I noticed for 100 miles! One thing that did happen I had been averaging only about 51-60 mpg with 15-20-25mph headwinds. Riding in the rain, I accidentally went to 128 miles before hitting reserve. Total fuel is 11 liters, going to reserve at about 2 gallons used as best I can tell right now. So mileage during this short portion is now close to 70 mpg at ~50mph/gps with minimal headwinds. The bad in this, I was paying so much attention to the rain, I was not watching the trip odometer. Victim of fatigue thinking I am in the zone but really approaching the o-zone. Admittedly, I should have stopped sooner. Never any extreme danger here just adverse. Adverse is worse when you are tired and I need to land somewhere. And it is raining. Again. Hard. And I am soaked through the jacket. The good news, the bike is running good, the OEM tires are deflecting the water. Yep, 40% chance of rain = 4+ hours in the wet. I did stop for gas at East Canton, Dripping, no, streaming water every where I stood, I asked a lady, "Where is a motel?" "None here that I would stay in" was the reply. Great. Move on. Perhaps I can make Mansfield I know where there are motels. Pass through Canton not a single sign for a motel on US#30 and I don't like to have to hunt for them . Press on westward into the dark and it is now really raining again. Finally, Wooster, OH; and signage for an Econolodge. Requires 3 tricky turns its dark and raining yeah, I can only figure out two of them. Miss the final turn poor signage again. Add another few miles because the next exit is some 5 miles South. Sigh. Finally Econolodge. Sandi and Cathy quickly checked me in. Gave me a room that had a covered walk in front of my room and favored the prevailing winds allowing me to unload the bike out of the rain. It continued to rain enough to drown standing cattle far into the night as I slumbered off to KLR-land. Summary: 0650 departure rural Tunkhannock, PA 2103 check in, Wooster, OH 439 gps miles. On a KLR 250. It was all good. Incredible scenery. Incredible experiences with the bike/people. The roads less traveled are just waiting for you and your KLR. Stop thinking about it: Load the bike and go. Now, all I have to do is just do this four more times/days. 0745 wake up will come soon enough. revmaaatin.

[Jud Jones]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote:

> > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote: > SNIP > > > > The ride home starts on the 10th reported later. > > And 40% chance of rain? > > = 4 hours of rain. > > > > revmaaatin. > > MINIMALIST ADVENTURE CONTINUES: > > 10 Aug. > > KLR 250 from Tunkhannock, PA to Wooster, Ohio >

Hmmm, Wooster, OH. They pronounce it Ahia. My folks were from that part of the country, the Twin Cities of Dover and New Philadelphia, not far at all from Wooster, Zoar, Goshen and Gnadenhutten. Amish country. Ohio Swiss cheese from Yaggi bros., fierce and pungent. If a kid ate too much in the car, it tasted the same coming up as it did going down. The tavern in Sugar Creek has the best pickled tongue sandwich in Tuscarawas County. Larry Dinolfo's pizza and Ike the dishwasher, who would not lay a finger on my date, Inflatable Annie.