digest number 5687

[Judy]

Well, reading digest #5687 is 5 minutes of my life that I'll never get back again. Good thing I'm at work. Judy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[dewarnecke]

Just got my license and have been looking at bikes for quite some time and finally decided on the KLR 650. I think our days of riding in OH are limited so I might as well wait until early spring to buy a new one. I thought in the meantime I'd start to pick up some of the gear I need. From what I can tell, it can get expensive. Is there any gear you can recommend that is good and matches the new KLR?

[Eric L. Green]

On Wed, 3 Nov 2004, dewarnecke wrote:

> > Just got my license and have been looking at bikes for quite some > time and finally decided on the KLR 650. I think our days of riding > in OH are limited so I might as well wait until early spring to buy a > new one.

You do NOT want to wait until spring in order to buy a new one. You want to buy a new one in the dead of winter -- January, preferably. That way when you go into the motorcycle shop, you will have the undivided attention of the salesman, and will be able to negotiate from a position of strength -- if he tries to rip you off, you can just give him your business card and say "Okay, whenever you're serious about selling me a KLR just give me a call" and walk out.

> I thought in the meantime I'd start to pick up some of the > gear I need. From what I can tell, it can get expensive. Is there > any gear you can recommend that is good and matches the new KLR?

How do you intend to ride the KLR, mostly offroad or mostly onroad? You will need: Mostly offroad: Motocross-style boots Motocross-style riding suit with built-in armor Motocross-style riding gloves Motocross-style helmet. Motocross-style eye protection (goggles) Mostly onroad: Dual-purpose boots (basically heavy duty touring boots with some extra ankle protection, but not as much as motocross boots) Touring-style jacket and pants, waterproof, with lightweight armor (it rains a lot where you are, right?). Good pair of gloves A good full-face or modular helmet