It has been a minute

Well it's been a couple weeks now since I posted. I'm just posting this for anyone who looks at my page regularly. Been trying to get everything set up for the move back to Alaska. Stressful it is. Haven't been editing or working on the posts I want to, but I'll get back into it when I get home. Have some Vaca time planned to facilitate doing some of that. I think I've got enough content to start the YouTube channel once I get it edited up. So hang in there folks. Great trails and phenomenal views are on the way.

Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where else you would like me to ride. Whether they're scenic roads or trails I'm willing to go take a look and post it up because my bulletproof Taquache will take me there. Remember to like my facebook page or follow me on Google+ (link to the left) to get notifications of when I post up here. Thanks for stopping by and be safe out there.

I have survived . . . THE COMMUTE!

YAY! Traffic

One of the stipulations I made to myself about getting a motorcycle was that I was not going to use it for regular transportation needs. I want the thing to be a toy, I want every ride to be something entertaining and not a job. I was sorely disappointed to find that not even riding a bike can break up the redundancy of a commute. I was able to survive the traffic and the drowsiness for a WHOLE WEEK so far. Riding the super slab twice a day for 45 minutes is not my idea of fun times with Taquache but it must be done.

I found singing songs and making up lyrics to my surroundings can hold me for a while. I suppose I'll run out of songs and get tired of singing about lane changes pretty soon. I should just buckle down and get myself one of the bluetooth headsets for the helmet. I'll have to do some more research on that.

The wide angle lens does not do Mt Rainier justice

I do get to see some sights. Mt Rainier is always chipper and watching me throughout my rides. The weather has been totally gorgeous. Well except for those first couple days, rained quite a bit then. Got reminded that my boots aren't waterproof. But again my jacket, helmet, gloves and pants all held up in the steady pour.

The good news is I made my appointment to get Taquache shipped up to the big AK. In a few weeks I'll be back up there with good weather and some ride reports from the Last Frontier. I'm super stoked for that. I'm finally going to be able to put this bike to use how I intended to use it, in the muck, dirt, and beauty that is the State of Alaska.

Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where else you would like me to ride. Whether they're scenic roads or particular trails I'm willing to go take a look and post it up. Remember to like my facebook page to get notifications of when I post up here. Thanks for stopping by and be safe out there.

Motorcycle Maintenance Monday!

Unfortunately during this last trip I could hear some faint clanking or thumping sound on the bike. It wasn't constant and seemed to come around most often when I was accelerating at low rpm's. I'm afraid to find out what it is. I don't know if the doohickey has been replaced on the bike. I'm at least the third owner of it. Doesn't seem too hard to check it or to replace it entirely. Just need the special tools and parts to do it.

After some google research and calling around I couldn't find a shop in the Tacoma area that carries parts for the KLR. It's either just off road or harley and street bike shops. Amazon has the stuff but I was hoping to do some good maintenance right then.

I figured I could at least check the doohickey to see how it's hanging in there hoping it wasn't hanging at all and still in one piece. So I watched a bunch of youtube and determined they were all saying and showing the same thing so I should be safe to do the procedure.

Dirty, Dirty Taquache

Taking bolts out was time consuming. Had to remove the bash guard, front sprocket cover (that was NASTY inside), and the gear shift. While moving around the bike I noticed one of the stickers that was on the panniers was an eagle mike sticker. I got rather excited thinking maybe the doohickey had already been replaced.

When I lifted the alternator cover off I had two different parts fall into the crank case. This caused my stomach to fall as well. I saw the right thrust washer and bearing for one of the little gears came out. But they slipped along the starter gear and stayed on my side of the gear.
Once I got the deal exposed I was able to look down in there and was pleasantly surprised to see a big solid doohickey in place. It appeared to be an aftermarket one but couldn't be totally sure when all I could see was about 10% of the part. I started looking for the coil spring but it was nowhere over there. I could just barely make out over the top of the doohickey was a beautiful torsion spring seated around it.

Let All Rejoice! No Special Tools Needed!

So I gladly slapped it all back together while only needing to reference my Clymer's manual a couple times. Happy day it was to know I don't have to deal with that. The bad part is that the noise I was hearing is coming from somewhere else. Maybe I'll check the clutch next and see how that looks.

Pretty good indicator that's it's an Eagle Mike product.

There's plenty of other things that need to be taken apart and checked out for wear and given generous amounts of lube so plenty of material for Motorcycle Maintenance Mondays in the future. And yes, this was in fact all done on a Monday.









Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where else you would like me to ride. Whether they're scenic roads or particular trails I'm willing to go take a look and post it up. Remember to like my facebook page to get notifications of when I post up here. Thanks for stopping by and be safe out there.

 ADVhero, out here.