Cottage Coffee Run

I needed to go for a ride.

Actually let me re-phrase. I needed a great excuse to go to the cottage and take "The Test Run" but time and circumstance were attempting to foil me. Time being work and circumstance being home/toddler/newborn on the way and all that that entails. It was getting increasingly late in the season to get a run to the cottage as our new family addition is due to join the fun come mid September.

Why so important?

Every road worthy and plated bike I've owned has to make the run as it pits one against the other and those roads are the constant. I get a real feel for the bikes as I know the roads and how they conspire to assualt the bikes in their usual demented way. Pot holes, sand strewn corners, washboard and loose gravel.

The R never had a chance to get "The Treatment" and I was itching to see her response. So I hatched a plan. Ask a work mate to come in early and I can squeeze 4 perhaps 5 hours out of the morning to cobble the test ride.

So on a cool dark 5 am Saturday morn after my night shift, I suited up and hit the gas bar. I was free to roam until 11 am.

To make everything copasetic I decided I needed a hook. 1 lb of coffee to be delivered as a sampler. Should keep everyone happy.

Foolish thoughts!

Ill cut to the chase as I have ran excepts of past rides here. How'd the bike do? Well I love the seating as it is perfect for a nice sporty tour (as the NY and VT ride report will attest) up until I got to Kilmar road (and no, I went nowhere near the Scotch road as that would have been too far removed for the scope of this bike). Thats when the shit hit the fan. The gas tank on this bike sits on 2 rubber ribs on the frame. The rear of the tank is screwed into place with a bolt. The front however has a sideways"C" like cup that snugs up against a dowel welded to the frame. It has some play and medicre bumps will have it clunk around. A lot. The fairing is rigidly mounted but rattled away with all the undulations and the instrument cluster was dancing the Romba.

The suspension bottomed out once in awhile but was more compliant than other bikes. The rear suspension was set at it's softest setting and supported only my weight and the empty panniers (needed to see how the boxes reacted to the roads as well). They worked quite well. I had to work the brakes hard the whole ride as I desperatly tried to deaden the impact of any road imperfections. I actually focused more on keeping the bike from bouncing and pinging around than focusing on the ride itself. The ride made me feel like I was tearing apart a 33 year old machine that did not deserve such treatment.

Well this bike is solid as nails. It took the treatment and relayed back to me a portion of what it felt. However I noticed no loose bolts, no loss of fluids and nary a hiccup from the perfectly matched motor. I felt a little more bruised but that was more mental than physical. My back was fine (but felt better with other bikes- KLR), hands didnt buzz (Triumph) and neck was a wee bit stiff (same as CBR and NINJA), but I felt like I was abusing a statley elder.. Poppycock!

Two additions that helped- Fork boots as this bike's front end likes to fling junk all over itself and engine guards... Ohhh engine guards! I want to throw a shout out to fellow Relic Jake as he figured that I could use those weirdly shaped Krauser bash bars from his booty of R65 treasure. I figured they'd look too homely on my elegant R. But when I lined them up for a trial peek they really looked the business. So I took em, and gave 'em the wirebrush treatment to erase years of hard neglect. Glad I did as the bike took a slow tumble whilst on it's center stand. It was comfortably laid on it's right side as soft sand is not a good support for a 450 lb peice of metal. Hmm that seems to have happened before!

All in all the ride showed that the king of the cottage hill is still the KLR. It ate bumps for lunch and had me willingly flogging the gears out of it, all with a smile on my face. However it's didnt shine anywhere near the R does on 80% of the roads I ride! So what does that mean.. A bike that is as comfortable and cool on the road and handles the shit with aplomb... GelandeStrasse?

Oh the humanity!