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The not so great Fly N Buy

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veriest1 said:
Congrats on the new ride! There’s nothing like lifting a big bike up after one of its naps!

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Picking that beast up in the mud seems interesting! lol. One thing I like about the boxer motor the bile doesn't go as flat as a normal bike, might help a little! I've had to cut back on my exploring as I can't pick up the 850 anymore, sad. As much as I love the bike and I do, favorite bike I've ever had, got the most miles I've ever put a bike, I'd sell it and go way lighter if I could but for now not in the cards, so try to watch where I explore!
 
To reiterate Doug's comment. I have a '14 that's been de-catted (sp?) and never noticed any excessive heat when making the trip to Florida, or plugging away in traffic when I got there. I mean, there's heat for sure, but no more so than any other bike now.
 
Yep, got to temps in the 90s crossing western Texas and noticed none of the usual heat. I think starting with the the 2015 models also got some air deflection to help out but the decat really does it. The owner also included the BDCW Heat Deflector Kit that he didn't install as it needs some modification to work with the Touratech frame protectors, but he never felt it needed it. At some point I might look into installing them but am not sure it's necessary.
 
All I can say is wow you have the adventurous spirit. I hate dropping a bike more than going to the dentist for a root canal.
 
The Super Adventure had some heat issues but it is mainly due the catalytic converter behind the heel. Diana's is a 2016, we don't notice it much, but Mitch often complained about it and even wrapped parts of the pipe back there.
 
woodsguy said:
Picking that beast up in the mud seems interesting! lol. One thing I like about the boxer motor the bile doesn't go as flat as a normal bike, might help a little! I've had to cut back on my exploring as I can't pick up the 850 anymore, sad. As much as I love the bike and I do, favorite bike I've ever had, got the most miles I've ever put a bike, I'd sell it and go way lighter if I could but for now not in the cards, so try to watch where I explore!
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It definitely was. There are TKC-80s under that mud on the tires too. I had to push the whole bike to the side of the road and then lift it. Lifting it where it was just meant my feet sunk and slid around in the mud. I never saw that mud coming and you can see from the tracks I tried to go around it on what appeared to be firmer ground. Given the weight of the ol' girl I never could tell that the boxer engine and engine guards make much difference but I'm sure they did. :giveup:

Honestly, I can really relate to Jason's experience with his KTM on this trip because I had never dropped a bike on the street before I got the 1150GSA. I did a fly-and-ride to buy it in Utah. My first drop was in Lake City when I was pushing it back out of a parking area after some cars boxed me in and I hadn't thought about the size and weight of the bike before parking there (coming off of a CBR and a DRZ at the time). The second was coming out of an overlook just after leaving Lake City that was downhill and off-camber. I'd just topped up the tank and the top-heavy nature of these bikes caught me by surprise, again, and down it went.

Eventually, after having to extract the Bavarian Pig and other heavy bikes from odd, seemingly mild, offroad conditions so many times I bought a winch and that solved all my problems. I've never gotten a big bike stuck since I bought it. :lol2:
 
veriest1 said:
It definitely was. There are TKC-80s under that mud on the tires too. I had to push the whole bike to the side of the road and then lift it. Lifting it where it was just meant my feet sunk and slid around in the mud.
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I was wondering how you got enough traction to get her up, seeing as how my incident was hindered by boot traction as well. I have video with the horrid sounds of me dragging my bike around on the rocks. :( Nails on a chalkboard.

veriest1 said:
Eventually, after having to extract the Bavarian Pig and other heavy bikes from odd, seemingly mild, offroad conditions so many times I bought a winch and that solved all my problems. I've never gotten a big bike stuck since I bought it. :lol2:
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Oooh, a magic winch, I need one of those. I already have a magic rainsuit that whenever I put it on, the rain immediately stops so I can sweat in it for a while wondering if it'll start raining again. :D
 
Congrats on a really cool bike! I think a Katoom of the thumper variety is in my near future.

I have the opposite fitment problem. Tons of bikes and cars that are unrideably small for me.

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I think Jasen had issue with #1. I fell over on Mitch's brand new KTM 530 EX something doing #1 for the get off once. He laughed because it fell on me, I said I was protecting his bike.
 
What a story. The tension was terribly high just reading the tale.

Check these guys out. You'll never miss an inch or so of pre-load.

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Awesome! I didn't put together a ride report but I went the opposite way you did on the KLR. I only spent 2 days doing it though. It is a great ride. I'm kind of laughing inside though. I went 1 week ahead of you and there was no traffic anywhere for anything. I was actually concerned as there were very long sections where there was no traffic.

The KTM would be EASY! Hahaha!

Wilbur arrived to hang out with his new garage mate.
 

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Plane Dr said:
Awesome! I didn't put together a ride report but I went the opposite way you did on the KLR. I only spent 2 days doing it though. It is a great ride. I'm kind of laughing inside though. I went 1 week ahead of you and there was no traffic anywhere for anything.
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Now you know why I was posting very specific intel in your thread, I was doing all the same research, including reading what TexasT was posting in your thread, while planning my own ride. ;)

I rode right past the VLA but since I stopped there on a past ride and had a big day to do, I kept going, but I did snag some video with the 360 camera. It was interesting to see them all spread out this time (they move them depending on where they are looking) as last time they were all packed together.

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Jasen, that's the best trip report I've read in ages. I laughed until I cried - or cried until I laughed - not quite sure which. But it was a great story. As for dropping bikes, you may remember that the last time I saw you before moving north, my VStrom tipped over in the wind, barely missing your bike.

By the way, I share your short-inseam woes. I was never tall at 5'9", and that was before age got to me; I've grown my way down to about 5'7 1/2.

If the kickstand remains a challenge, here's an idea. I mounted a U-bolt on mine; it makes a much bigger target to kick at. I can't say it's pretty. But then, if "pretty" was of high concern, I wouldn't ride VStroms, would I?

Glad you made it home okay. You covered some territory I've thoroughly enjoyed crossing in the past. And the good news is that, with a little time, your inseam & the bike tend to figure each other out.
 

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tshelfer said:
And the good news is that, with a little time, your inseam & the bike tend to figure each other out.
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Except that with time...

tshelfer said:
that was before age got to me; I've grown my way down to about 5'7 1/2.
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Thanks for the reminder that I can look forward to being shorter!

tshelfer said:
But then, if "pretty" was of high concern, I wouldn't ride VStroms, would I?
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True, but if you really didn't care about pretty, you'd ride a KLR! :D
 
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