Communications breakdown ...

A couple of days ago, Dad tells me he wants to get a dirt bike and followed it up with "I'm serious about this". Knowing, that *he* is going to be unable to ride it, I selfishly try to persuade him into purchasing a Dual Sport instead since that would be more valuable (to me anyway).

I mean, wouldn't it be better to have something to ride TO the dirt instead of trailer it there so you can unload, ride, then RE-load after wearing yourself out? True, a dedicated dirt bike would be better once you get TO the dirt, but a DS would excel because you wouldn't have to trailer your bike to or from it.

I tend to ignore anything Dad says about wanting to do something until he repeats it. Dad talks the talk much more than he walks the walk. If I had a dollar for every time he said he wanted to do something (and we didn't do it) ... the Rockefeller namesake bear some credibility!

So he repeated it last night (Friday) and even suggested going to a Kwaki dealership to see what they had. I decided I would cut him off at the pass in case he was serious.

In the morning when I had woken up, I checked the local dealerships to see if they had any used KLRs in stock. Well they didn't, so upon checking their new inventory I found that MSRP is around $6-7K. I figured that would put an end to this talk. Surprisingly, he came back with that is in the ballpark I was thinking.

Really?!? Okay, then! I had found a few used KLRs on Craigslist and one in particular I had really liked, but had figured it was too high-priced. That is, until he said $6-7 thousand *wasn't* out of budget.

I found a really good looking '09 model with less than 9,000 miles listed for $4,200. The owner had purchased this to make a trip to Cabo San Lucas and was intending to sell it when the trip was over. Dad said give him a call, and I absent-mindedly didn't notice that the area code was a Nashville number.

Nashville area is 3 hours drive each way. Again, I figured this would put an end to this talk. Dad still didn't balk. The owner told me he would even knock $100 off the price for making such a drive. Hmmm ...

It's Saturday and now 11:30 AM and the bank closes at noon. We had to make a quick run to the bank to withdraw the cash or else we would be making a second trip if the bike had any appeal. We got to the bank 10 minutes prior to them closing. Sweet!

I managed to find the place without little difficulty thanks to the good directions I was given. I meet the guy and he starts going over the bike with me. Everything looks in order and he starts it up -- it hits on the second (audible) revolution.

This is where I shocked the poor fella. I asked him if we could wheel it over into the grass and gently lay her down on her side to see if I could lift it. I figure I'm going to use this bike mostly for off-road riding and she is going to fall at some point -- especially since I cannot quite flat-foot it -- it's TALL. I'm not on my tippy-toes, but the heels of my feet do not touch down.

Heh! you should have seen the shock and reluctance this guy had to the idea of purposely laying this bike down. He did *not* want to do this, but proceeded to do so, once I assured him we wouldn't hurt the bike.

I plan to do mostly off-roading with this bike, and since I cannot flat-foot it, I expect it will fall over. Additionally, I expect I will most likely be alone when this happens, so I need to be sure I can lift it up once it does.

I am sure if he had any Mrs Cravetz-nosy-type neighbors they were yelling "Abner! ABNER! come look at this!" As I went to right the bike, I found there were no places to grab it to man-handle it and that I would need to do the SKERT method to right it.

I guess the guy had no confidence in me as he grabbed the bars to "help" me. Surely not at all what I wanted, but I understand his side too. He then gave me a re-assuring the bike is only 350 lbs. Okay, that works.

My other request was to be able to run it through the gears and test the brakes. He told me he wouldn't mind so long as I were to show and let him hold the money in case anything happened. Not an unreasonable request, and I obliged him.

Everything seemed fine, but you sure have no risk of whiplash due to acceleration with this bike. Much more, it is too tall gearing-wise. The first order of business is to get the sprockets changed so that it has more low-end torque.

It damn near stalled as I turned around in the cul-de-sac in SECOND gear. YEESH!

Still, I cannot wait to get out and find some trouble with this bike. It's gonna be fun -- especially once geared to handle the terrain I intend to subject it to!

As we were on our way home, Dad said to me "I guess he will be partying tonight" Heh! you would think so.

However, whatever this guy is doing he seems to be living right (Maybe he is BRM's cousin). He told me while we were talking that he has 27 bikes. Two Runes (not cheap bikes), a harley softtail, a wing, a few sportbikes, some (other) cruisers, and some dirtbikes. Furthermore, when I told him we were pressed for time to make it to the bank today, he told me that we could do this on Monday as he had no job. I didn't ask him how he makes/made the money to afford all those bikes.   ; )

here are some pics

It has a Russel Day Long seat, a taller windshield, new rear tire, those large bags, and the barkbusters already equipped. This will be fun to play with.

On the way home Dad mentions that he still would like to have a couple 175cc thumpers to ride around the property. WHAT?!? a couple bikes? where did this come from? Apparently, I missed something in the translation!

I thought he was getting this for me to tool around on -- not so much -- he wants something for me and the kids to run around on the property. Well, he sure didn't communicate *that* point too well.