Mic's Adventure

The Adventures and Projects of Mic

Posts Tagged KLR650

A new hobby sure to bring on some new adventures

Apr 11

Posted by Mic in Adventure, Crossing County Lines | 1 Comment

Recently I’ve been busy with work, and doing a boat load of research on another project I am working on that I hope to be able to talk about a little in the coming months more openly.  So it is no surprise, that when I get the chance to finally just head somewhere, I take it.

A couple of weeks back, my buddy Jeff started talking about Gold Panning in our Live Chat session on PNW Riders.

I was actually interested in the discussion, as I grew up always wanting to try it, but living in the desert with no abundant water source, nor really in an area that was ever known for gold, it just wasn’t feasible.

So, with that, I started asking Jeff questions about it, and decided to drop some coin on a gold pan and the other needed essentials such as a snuffer bottle and gold vial.

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Hoe Hum, A Few Things

Jan 8

Posted by Mic in The Breeze | 2 Comments

I’ve went ahead and removed the “Motorcycle” from my original tag line of “The Motorcycle Adventures and Projects of Mic”.

I came to the conclusion late last year, that there are so many other things to write about that I do, and it all relates.

There are many things I do, and have prepared for, that people use in other hobbies, such as hiking and backpacking. I also like to hike and backpack, so I decided this would all work well together.

Moving forward, I’ve been working on the new “Review” layout.  I’m moving away from my “Need to read all of Mic’s ramblings to get an idea of what he thought of it” to a simple rating system with a quick comment at the very top of the review. This way, those who just like to see what exactly my overall impression of it is, can just figure it out with less than an minutes worth of viewing, instead of trying to read through the entire review.

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Remembering the Year, looking forward

Dec 21

Posted by Mic in Adventure | 1 Comment

It’s been awhile since I have taken the time to sit down to write anything on here, and now I actually have the time to do so.

Looking over this last year, I managed to do a lot more than I was expecting in some instances, but a lot less than I was expecting in others.

For example, while I made my trip up North, I missed out on a few area’s that I really wanted to spend more time with.  Such as the Columbia Ice Fields and more along the Cassiar Highway.

The Ice Fields was cause I was rushed to get back on time with my trip. I needed to either make up a day at the beginning of it, or make it up the day before the Dust to Dawson.

I’m very fortunate that I made the decisions that I did.

If I had waited, I’d never had met Doug in Dawson Creek, which would have played a part in me not meeting Geoff in Whitehorse.

The highlight of my trip, was meeting these two fine people, and I am very fortunate I did.

The second part of my trip that I missed out on, was Inuvik. This would not be terrible, as I instead spent more time with Geoff on our way up to Prudhoe Bay. This would not only be the highlight of my trip, but a part of the adventure that I will look back on for years to come. I don’t think I could have asked for a better outcome of changing plans.

The ride up to Prudhoe, stepping foot in the Arctic Ocean, and the ride back to Fairbanks would be a week that I remember the most about my trip.

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Weekend Wrap-Up: Zoom Zoom Edition

Jun 2

Posted by Mic in The Breeze | No Comments

This weekend was WMRRA Round 3 in Spokane Washington.

I decided that I was going to ride the KLR over and camp at the track for the round, and take the opportunity to pack up the KLR with everything I would take with me on the trip.

This proved to be a seriously great idea. It has given me even more insight into what I need to adjust for my packing.

The clock is ticking, and it is ticking fast. I have a lot to accomplish in the next 2 weeks.

For starters, I need to start making jerky and dried fruit.

I also need to start getting all of my breakfast and dinners made, which is going to require me to stop off at Healthy Harvest again at the end of this week on my way down to Oregon. One item I picked up when I first was down there was some compressed towels. These have proven to be very useful, and I plan on picking up several packs for the trip. They are perfect for cleaning up after meals, and washing up with.  I will pack a few in each meal bag, as well as carry a couple pouches of them.

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Weekend Wrap-Up: Speed Edition

May 13

Posted by Mic in The Breeze | No Comments

Although work has been getting the best of me lately, this weekend was another WMRRA round at Pacific Raceways.

I took on managing the PNW Riders Racing Team this year to help them around the pits, critique them, as well as work at getting better exposure for them.

I love going to the track, and I miss being out on it even more.  It is a feeling I can never really describe, except for 10 to 20 minutes of heart pumping adrenaline infused ecstasy.

The reason I stepped up from just doing Track Day’s, to racing is for one thing, and one thing only. That moment when the light goes out, and all hell breaks loose as a flock of bikes scream into turn 1 as fast as they can go.

I race for the starts.  It is by far, one of the most fun aspects of racing, and to this day I never grow tired of it.

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Happy Trails T2 Luggage Plate Platform Installation – 2008 KLR650

Mar 30

Posted by Mic in How-To | 4 Comments

I am posting this up, in hopes that it will save some aggravation for others who mount the T2 Luggage Platform on their 2008 and newer KLR650.

It also serves as a guide for you to double check your installation, if you have already performed it, especially if you used the included hardware.

I want to start off by saying that this write-up is partly motivated by my pet peeve of manufactures of products not providing sufficient installation material.  Regardless of how easy it may seem, sometimes simple tasks get the best of us.

Also, improper instruction can compound this confusion, resulting in some serious head scratching, as is what happened in this instance.

As a mechanic for several years, fabricator, road racer, crew chief, and team manager, I am no stranger when it comes to the workings of motorcycles.

This is not meant to take away from the quality of product that Happy Trails produces or the service that you receive. I am very happy with the quality of the panniers that came on my bike from the previous owner, and I am happy with the quality of the top box I purchased.

This is merely a individual’s take on an area they could use some help on, and hopefully they will improve upon it with the advice this consumer is providing.

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Weekend Wrap-Up: End of March Edition

Mar 29

Posted by Mic in The Breeze | 1 Comment

Heading out on an impromptu overnight camping trip.

Heading out on an impromptu overnight camping trip.

Well March sure came and went like a breeze.

Last week of course I ordered my new Adventure Riding Gear. I am super excited to start getting it in. The first of it should show up tomorrow (Jacket and Pants).

I also ordered a top box from Happy Trails. I am hoping (fingers crossed), that with this top box, I will be able to pack all the essential items I will need for my trip without having to purchase larger panniers.  I see no reason that it would not work out, as I have now successfully done 2 camping trips (more on that later) with what I have.

The one draw back is I ordered some Roto Pax jugs to originally mount to the rear of the new panniers I was going to buy. Because I was going to originally purchase the 10.5 inch Panniers from Happy Trails, they would have fit perfectly and protected on the very back of them, allowing me to keep an extra gallon of gas on one side, while using the other side for a gallon of water.

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Border Hopping: Destination – An Afternoon with Adventure Sidecar

Mar 23

Posted by Mic in Border Hopping | 1 Comment

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood

This last weekend, I was fortunate enough to take off a couple of extra days and enjoy the wonderful weather that they were having in the Columbia River Gorge.  With the highs in the mid 60′s and above, it was looking up to be a perfect weekend to spend riding the near by forest roads surrounding Hood River.

And while I did get to spend some amazing time exploring on my own, I’d like to take some time to first write about Adventure Sidecar, located in Odell, Oregon just south of Hood River.

While my original intentions were to meet-up with Vernon Wade, owner of Adventure Sidecar to do some riding up in the mountains earlier in the day, I was caught up in a visit from my Cousin, a large brisket being smoked for afternoon supper. And it is pretty hard to resist a slow cooked beef brisket.

So when the food was down, and everyone seemed to be in their lumbering after supper state, I decided it was best to see if Vernon was up for that ride.

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Crossing County Lines: Destination – Camping the Mountain Loop Highway

Mar 16

Posted by Mic in Crossing County Lines | No Comments

Sarah all packed up, ready to go camping!

Sarah all packed up, ready to go camping!

A few weeks ago in my articled titled “Weekend Wrap-up: High’s, Low’s, and Somewhere In Between” I had mentioned a ride up around the Mountain Loop Highway.

The main purpose of this ride, was to scout for a camping spot for us to pick out for a later date to come back to and camp at.

After we had all gotten home, later that week we all decided that we would head up to go camping on March 12th.

The main purpose of this camping trip, was a shake down trip. We all needed the time spent not only packing our bikes, but organizing them, deciding what could and couldn’t go, and give us all an idea of what was needed to actually do a camping trip on our bikes.

This trip was extremely important to me, as I knew it was going to finally give me a chance to not only learn how to pack my bike, but it was going to give me a chance to use all of my gear in the field, which would give me invaluable information on what I will need to eventually make changes to for my Arctic Expedition this summer.

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Suffering from MRD (Motorcycle Related Depression)

Mar 16

Posted by Mic in The Breeze | 1 Comment

It should come as no surprise to anyone, when something goes wrong, it kind of sets a mood that continues to cascade, bringing everything around it down to a level of misery that can’t be enjoyed at the value in which it is worth.

That kind of sums of the last few weeks for me.

As mentioned in “High’s, Low’s, and Somewhere In Between”, the KLR ended up with a leaky mechanical seal.  This in itself isn’t a huge problem. It is an easy fix, rather cheap (for the part itself), and the mechanical skill needed is somewhere around the 7 out of 10 range due to pressing seals out and back in. So nothing too entirely difficult for me.

So with the parts ordered, I waited patiently for them to show up.

And I waited

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