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What To Do? A KLR Quandary.

I do. And so do several others it seems.

Yes I realize that. You edited my entire response, which was simply my outlook on why I ride, and not worrying about being limited by treating a toy purchase that is a personal decision as a business decision. It wasn't an indictment on your decision-making process.:thumb:
 
Motorcycles are supposed to be fun. They are basically toys for most of us. If I was in the unfortunate situation of using the above logic, I'd probably end up on a chinese bike. Then there is always the old ...it'll do everything that other bike does. So will an ugly woman, but having to use a paper sack takes the fun out of it.

Resale, purchase price, etc. Who cares. Buy what makes you smile. That's why we ride, at least that is why I do.

You must be one of those Obama says ain't payin' his fair share. Me, bikes have always been utilitarian transportation as well as fun and they're way more necessary as gas prices go up.

Oh, and my 2004 chinese bike still gets it done, too. :nana:

BMWs work for those that wanna spend that much on their "toy" I suppose. I ain't Mitt Romney, though. My friends don't own NASCAR teams, TMGP endurance, maybe. :rofl:
 
Riding my KLR for the fun of it. That's it!


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...Nope, not even close. I drive a 15 year old truck, live in a house I can afford, and spend every extra penny I have on my toys. Can't take it with you.

No, but it sure came in handy when I retired. :mrgreen: Now, I'm livin' on it and don't have to work. My toys are cheaper, but I've always lived below my means for financial security. I learned from my mom and step dad who were always "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in my mom's words. Probably, for the rest of my life, I'll buy USED motorcycles. I'm not really into the latest and greatest and most up to datest. I don't even DESIRE such anymore. Age, I guess, wears one down. I have owned new motorcycles, first one a 1967 CT90 Honda. But, I just don't have that craving anymore. I have two bikes, the KLR and the SV650 (2001, bought new) and the Diamo if you wanna count that. :lol2: My bases are covered with those. You might beat me to the next stop, but I'll get there, eventually, and I don't have to clock in Monday so I don't have a strict time schedule. :lol2:
 
No, but it sure came in handy when I retired. :mrgreen: Now, I'm livin' on it and don't have to work. My toys are cheaper, but I've always lived below my means for financial security. I learned from my mom and step dad who were always "robbing Peter to pay Paul" in my mom's words. Probably, for the rest of my life, I'll buy USED motorcycles. I'm not really into the latest and greatest and most up to datest. I don't even DESIRE such anymore. Age, I guess, wears one down. I have owned new motorcycles, first one a 1967 CT90 Honda. But, I just don't have that craving anymore. I have two bikes, the KLR and the SV650 (2001, bought new) and the Diamo if you wanna count that. :lol2: My bases are covered with those. You might beat me to the next stop, but I'll get there, eventually, and I don't have to clock in Monday so I don't have a strict time schedule. :lol2:

Right, "every penny" means after I dutifully contribute to my 401K, pay my son's college tuition (while saving for the next one coming up), yada, yada.

I have bought most of my bikes used too, or at least non-current left overs. My question "who cares about resale" was meant to be a rhetorical one, mixed in with a bit of hyperbole to further further emphasize my opinion. Truth is I'll ride with most anyone at any time, on anything, as long as we are like-minded enough in what we are trying to accomplish during that particular ride.

I still owe you big time for mentioning Obama in conjunction with one of my posts. Look out for some muddy roost on down the trail sometime.:mrgreen:

I think I've sufficiently highjacked phillipbarrett's post long enough. Back to how to re-style a KLR.
 
Ha... the never-ending question, which is why each one goes multiple-pages. Fun to think about though! Since I got back on bikes in 2006 I've dropped ~100 lbs on each bike I bought (KLR - DR - 450 EXC) because I was willing to sacrifice road performance for dirt performance. The permanent grin I have from riding my lightweight bike off road is much bigger than the occasional grin from riding the KLR. With your parameters set at Class I or Class II + longer-ish distance road, it seems like you're limited to heavier 650+ Japanese bikes with 5 speed trannys or much more expensive Austrian & German bikes with 6 speed boxes. The WR 250 is a bit of an outlier... with the rest of us waiting for Yamaha to do a WR 450 dualsport. I'll be curious to see what your final decision is. If I won the lottery I'd have a KTM990 + KTM 350 EXC :)
 
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It's relevant to consider personal economics with the "fix up the KLR vs buy a 15K replacement motorcycle" theme, though. The economics of it all keeps me away from BMW or KTM even if I thought it was that much better a motorcycle for what I want the bike for. Economics does play a role for some of us.

I wasted a lot of money on racing over the years. Was it worth it? I'm still trying to figure THAT out, but I did have fun and met a lot of fine people I'm proud to call friends, not that I see 'em anymore since I haven't been to the track in a few years, but hey, it was fun. Whatever hangs your hooter, 'tis your money. :mrgreen: I mean not many people would call dumping 2500 bucks into an XR100 motor very wise. :rofl: I spent lots of cash in racing. Had to have the hardware since the software was limited. :lol2:
 
Why "never consider" trailering? It's the best of both worlds. Weather turns bad? Break your bike a long way from home? Hotter than Hades or colder than a witch's tit, with miles to cover getting to where you want to ride or to get home? Just admit it. SOMETIMES (only sometimes) it is better to be behind the wheel of that F-150 or Silverado. Yes. I said it.
 
I know, I know...but trailering means I can answer the phone and e-mails and texts. Back to that rotton boss.
 
I know, I know...but trailering means I can answer the phone and e-mails and texts. Back to that rotton boss.

You don't have to answer those....in many areas your phone may not work :trust:

EXACTLY. Most phones (okay ALL phones) have a power button if those using them have the will power to actually use them. I do it all the time, it's not that hard really. I ride because it's fun. I don't ride when it isn't fun. Riding back 600 miles after a crash doesn't sound like fun so I don't want to leave myself that as an only option. So I just turn my phone off and trailer.

All this being said, this is a complete lie. I don't actually turn my phone off when I travel. I like cruising in the truck while streaming Pandora so I usually do that.:lol2:
 
I ran into a problem with my KLR recently. It intermittently wouldn't start, would have to jump the relay. Next stop started fine. Didn't think TOO much of it, figured maybe the button or the relay were getting corroded. Well, then, I put rear brake pads on it the other day and fired it up to test them, friggin' lights weren't working. Pulled the seat off to get at the fuse box, fuses corroded, got hot enough to melt the cheesy OEM fuse box.

Went to Radio Shack, or "The Shack", whatever they're calling it now and got two spade type inline fuse holders of rubber with caps that claim to be "water proof" and cut out the old, soldered in the new and insulated. Now, it's fixed. After all this, I find out on another board that this happens to be yet another KLR "upgrade" that is common. Hmm, thought I was "thinkin' out of the box", guess not. :lol2:

Anyway, there's a lot of these "common upgrades" with the KLR it seems. The cheap ones and the dohickey, well, they're easy and in many cases necessary eventually. Still, the KLR does what I wanted it to do. I am NOT the type to EVER own a BMW unless I win the lotto or find a used one in good shape for $1700....:rofl: YMMV

In the words of one of my racing buddies when I told him his suspension sucked, "I just ride the thing and don't worry about it". It was unreal fast, too, not sure how he did it with that pogo stick of a shock. Dennie, if you read this, this was Bill Cotton. :lol2: But, that's my attitude with all this "miles better suspension" stuff vs the BMW. I mean, I ain't even RACING this thing, why should I care? I guess I learned a little from Bill. I always listen to the fast guys.
 
I ran into a problem with my KLR recently. It intermittently wouldn't start, would have to jump the relay. Next stop started fine. Didn't think TOO much of it, figured maybe the button or the relay were getting corroded. Well, then, I put rear brake pads on it the other day and fired it up to test them, friggin' lights weren't working. Pulled the seat off to get at the fuse box, fuses corroded, got hot enough to melt the cheesy OEM fuse box.

Went to Radio Shack, or "The Shack", whatever they're calling it now and got two spade type inline fuse holders of rubber with caps that claim to be "water proof" and cut out the old, soldered in the new and insulated. Now, it's fixed. After all this, I find out on another board that this happens to be yet another KLR "upgrade" that is common. Hmm, thought I was "thinkin' out of the box", guess not. :lol2:

Anyway, there's a lot of these "common upgrades" with the KLR it seems. The cheap ones and the dohickey, well, they're easy and in many cases necessary eventually. Still, the KLR does what I wanted it to do. I am NOT the type to EVER own a BMW unless I win the lotto or find a used one in good shape for $1700....:rofl: YMMV

Wow. Booger did something similar to that when she was mine a few times when the kickstand bypass wires weren't properly crimped. I would have to tap on the starter relay cover to get her to fire up but I think I fixed that.
 
Wow. Booger did something similar to that when she was mine a few times when the kickstand bypass wires weren't properly crimped. I would have to tap on the starter relay cover to get her to fire up but I think I fixed that.

Well, if it does that again, I'll mess with the kick stand switch, but I think it's fixed, now. That fuse box was toast. :rofl: Weren't much to fix it and it's way better than new, now.
 
Ya know, Drum, I was thinkin', if you tapped on the relay and it worked, probably wasn't anything to do with the stand interlock. It was probably the crusty fuse, not getting enough current to the relay. Tapping on it allowed it to move up and contact with a weaker current. If it were the interlock not contacting or getting current to the relay, seems like tapping on the relay wouldn't do squat because it wouldn't be getting ANY current.

Just hit me thinkin' about it. Anyway, it hasn't given me a problem since I did the spade type fuse connectors, situation solved.:mrgreen:
 
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