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New Horse in Stable

Oldschool

Oldschool

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Aug 12, 2009
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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After 26 days I have my "New Horse" in the stable. A 2010 KLR 650. I ended up getting a black one like I wanted in the first place. I have to say, of all the bikes that I have bought over the years, this was the worst buying experience to date! Blackfoot Motosports in Calgary has been a huge pain in the **s. Long story but I finally got the bike. I would not send anyone that I liked there to buy a bike.The sales staff are totally disinterested (maybe if I was buying a couple of $22,000 BMW's they might have shown some interest), don't return calls, and generally jerk you around. In fairness, the sales manager was slightly better, (after I got angry and left a nasty message, and nearly walked away from the deal). They are the biggest dealer in western Canada and have a great selection of accessories and a good parts department. The sales department leaves a lot to be desired!! If I, at some point buy another bike, or trade in the KLR, it won't be there. By contrast Walt Healey (where I bought the FZ) was GREAT! To bad they don't have any dual sport bikes (yet), or I would have bought it there. Anyway it's home, and a total blast! Totally different animal, but as a second, purpose bought bike, big smile factor!

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FZ1riderNY said:
Congrats! and sorry to hear about your less than stellar experience. And I thought that only happened here in NY. I guess it's universal! I wish you many great miles on your new Kawi.:Rockon:
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Thanks,

There is a lot of fantastic gravel backroads with amazing scenery that the FZ will never venture down. The Kawi is in the stable for that purpose alone. Anyone who thinks that the FZ 1 has vibration should jump onto a 650 single for 10 minutes, just to open their eyes. The Kawi is all about low end torque and huge fuel range, but low frequency vibration comes with the package. The wide bars and bolt upright seating position are great for playing around, and the bike feels light, even though for a "dirt" bike it's a porker. I will (if the snow we are getting now doesn't spoil the weekend) take her out for a good back country blast on Sunday. I will take pictures of what the FZ is missing in my beautiful part of the Rockies.
 
Congrats!!! Awesome for the dual purpose experience!

So... what's that over by the garage door? Is that your new bed after this purchase? ;)
 
FZ1inNH said:
Congrats!!! Awesome for the dual purpose experience!

So... what's that over by the garage door? Is that your new bed after this purchase? ;)
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No I had the wife's blessing for this purchase. Those are sheets of 10' wallboard for the ceiling (covered in a painting tarp) that I will be installing (with the aid of a mechanical drywall lift) tomorrow night and Saturday morning while the snow and rain falls outside. Did you notice the attic stairs in the one picture? I put them up right after taking these shots last night.

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Your new bike and garage are way to clean :)

Lots of KLR goodies at Dual Star.com


Here's my KLR in mule mode in Death Valley
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Local wildlife
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Just a view you will never get from a street bike
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Now get out there and throw some mud :rant:
Nice bike!
 
OneSizeFitsAll said:
Your new bike and garage are way to clean :)

Lots of KLR goodies at Dual Star.com

Now get out there and throw some mud :rant:
Nice bike!
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Thanks for the site tip. I very much intend to "get out and throw some mud" this weekend. It will be a rain or shine bike. The dealer was supposed to have the proper hand gaurds on it before I took it home but like the rest of the deal..... I have a set of engine/rad gaurds on order for when I inevitably fall down. They are coming from a different dealer and should be in next week. I hope to have 1000 km on it by middle of next week so I can get the first service done (all back roads in the foothills, between Calgary and Canmore Alberta). The dealer will never see it again after that.

The brown hairy wildlife out here has 4 legs (not 8) and weights a couple of tons. You hopefully won't see any pictures of one that close to the bike, or me.
 
Oldschool said:
The brown hairy wildlife out here has 4 legs (not 8) and weights a couple of tons. You hopefully won't see any pictures of one that close to the bike, or me.
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Actually I live Near Tahoe National National Forest and we have the Black Tail forest rats here. Hit one 5 years ago on this KLR. Didn't go down (dual sports are flexible) but I just hate them more.

How about a trip report to the Artic circle?
 
The Big trip

OneSizeFitsAll said:
How about a trip report to the Artic circle?
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One of the reasons I bought the bike is a planned trip to the Yukon and Northwest Territories next July on the "Canol Highway" Yukon Map; Yukon Territory | Yukon Wild Photography of Terry Danks-Canol Highway Very remote and "Highway" is a misnomer as it is all gravel and there will be river crossing so timing is important for water levels (too early and the levels are too high for the bike). This years road trip on the FZ in July is really a dry run to test out some new camping gear in preparation for the big Yukon trip.
 
I had a Suzuki V-Strom at one point. Hated the way it off roaded. Too heavy, to street oriented. I have been thinking about the KLR. Did I mention how much I hate you. :)

Steve
 
OneSizeFitsAll said:
Local wildlife
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Great Shot! Awesome spider for sure. That reminds me of a trip to the Dominican Republic back in the early 90's. It was September and also the migratory period for Tarantulas. I had a Yamaha DT175 for the day and was coming back after a day trip to my (wife at the time's) rural town. It was dusk and I was heading through these long tabacco fields on a dirt road when I noticed something on the road in the headlights. I stopped for a moment and hit the highbeam and almost crapped my pants! There was literally a carpet of huge Tarantulas, hundreds, crossing the road in front of me. I had never seen anything like it before or since. I was afraid to continue and afraid to keep my feet down while stationary. What a dilemma! I turned around and headed back to her uncle's house near the main road and slept there for the night. I had no camera with me back then but that would have been The Most awesome picture. The next day I road back to the town and they apologized for not warning me beforehand about it being the migration time of the year. That memory will always be imbedded in my mind!
 
Took the Long Way Home

Been Riding the other Haws' this week trying to get her broke in. The weather was nice last night so (in the words of Supertramp) I took the long way home. I took the PAS camera for some quick shots outside the stable.

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Saturday Morning I'm heading out of town on the FZ1 (the hotrod) to go to what is the biggest classic car show of the year in a little town about an hour northeast of Calgary, a place called Three Hills. For all you car and truck enthusiasts I'll be sure to take the good camera.
 
Rained out

The sky was unleashing its worst yesterday so the car show was a bust. So Instaed I took the KLR out in the rain and hail and headed for the gravel. I managed to get a few minutes of clear weather from time to time in the hills. The thumper was at 366km before I switched to reserve.

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The sky is blue so the FZ and I have a date, gotta go.
 
You've got the best of both worlds up there now. Glad to see you are getting a lot of enjoyment out of it! Thanks for the great photos!! :tup:
 
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