After minor "explosions", some wrenching is required

I'm breaking my rule again of commuting with the bike. But wife signed off on it and its a little necessary at the moment. Some changes at work have temporarily doubled my commute time. Filling up the car once a week or more often isn't going to work. So spring is upon us and it was time to get Taquache out on the road. I went and cleared all the crap off of the shelf known as Taquache in the garage and hit the starter real quick to make sure there was still juice in the battery. Didn't have time to run it so I didn't start it all the way. As you can probably figure out she didn't start the next day. I was all dressed out and packed up for the ride in, got in the saddle and sat there like a chump with my head hung low as I listened to the clicks and twitches that come with a starter lacking the "umph" to turn that engine.

Taquache as . . . the shelf

So I promptly got in the car one more time and the next day gave Taquache a jump, rode her to the gas station, filled up the tank and the tires and got back on the road to work. It really was a beautiful day to start doing it. Afternoon highs in the 50's, mostly clear day with snow still covering the mountains. Got almost halfway to work when a loud *POW* sounded and all power was lost. Coasted to the side as I found shifting action was still happening but just no power. I was afraid the clutch was the problem but as my friend picked me up on his way to work he noticed there was a chain laying in the highway. Remembering how Police Detectives once told me something like that is called a "clue" I looked down to find it was most likely my chain.

I had to leave Taquache on the side of the road for the night, which was quite nerve racking. But once again I was humbled by the help I could get from fellow riders when in need. My buddy had the truck and the ramp and we took a suspenseful ride in wondering if anyone had taken a fancy to Taquache's rugged beauty over the night and swept her out of my life. But she was there and we got her whisked off to another friend's house for some tooling. I acquired a rather expensive new Renthal O-ring chain and we got it fitted and put on the bike which was enough to get me back on the road. New sprockets came in the next week and those are on now as well.

The damage from the chain being thrown off. Luckily only damage to the bike.

New tires are the next needed bit. Saw some scalloping on the front and some cracks on the rear knobs. Going to go with the Heidenau K60 Scout on the rear and the Continental TKC80 on the front. Since I'm still figuring out my riding style I figured the 50/50 use of the K60 would work well and overall the bike will be a little more dirt than 50/50 with the TKC 80 on the front. Been great to have the right mechanically inclined and tool endowed friends to work this stuff. Family has been great letting me get out and take care of it.

Such wrench, many grease

So after the chain and sprockets were on I took the beast out with a couple friends up the Hatcher's pass road on a beautiful day. Wonderfully windy road up a couple thousand feet to some of the last remnants of winter. Roads are definitely dry albeit sandy in spots (made for a particularly hairy corner or two). If you'd read my previous posts I noted a real "twitchy" or "jerky" feeling on the power delivery without fluctuation in throttle or rpm's. Especially at the low side of the gears. The chain was definitely the problem. Power delivery is smooth and responsive again.


Moral of the day, MAINTAIN YOUR CHAIN!! Not hard to do, super simple with very little toolage needed. Check out the video's below that I found explained things well.

Only a tad nippy out

Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where you would like me to ride for the first time up here. 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.

Revzilla - How to clean & Lube your motorcycle chain
MC Garage on Motorcyclist Magazine - How to lubricate your chain
                                                                     Replace your chain and sprockets
                                                                     Will WD-40 destroy your chain's O-rings?

It's hard to get out there, harder than I thought

Finally together again

I thought things would be easy to push aside to get some riding time. But now that I'm home and Taquache is in the driveway I feel I neglect her as much as a ropeswing that leads into the Bering Sea. She looks pretty good with the purpose built cover I now have for her but she looks better with it off. I wonder if deep in me I'm just scared to hit the dirt and the little trails along the roads here. Summer is a wastin' and the Sun isn't staying in the sky any longer than it did yesterday.

It's always exciting to unveil her for a ride

The drive back home from picking Taquache up was uneventful thankfully. Then my next ride was a trip to the store for ice cream, such LAME! I finally have a designated space for working on my ebay business and editing videos. My wife got me a pretty sweet workbench and it will make things a lot more organized, and organization means speed and efficiency. That basically translates into money for Taquache and for our gear.

I was talking with some buddies who formerly

Ah, the local grocer. Not an adventure but it's something

rode KLR's and now have moved on to other things like beemers. He recommended installing a 685cc kit. Taquache does have about 30K miles on her and I do have that odd knocking banging noise that I'm afraid to figure out what it is. I suppose I could figure that out and if it costs more to fix than to replace, well we know which direction to go in that circumstance. My buddy said he had someone to do the head work, in other words he's got a head guy. Would be nice to have that bit more power on the highway. I've heard the KLR performs pretty well with that kit.

Chores get in the way all too often

Well I'm thinking of taking Hatchers Pass as my first real ride up here. To me, it's only second to Pioneer Peak as the mascot of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Should be great views and a nice short afternoon ride. A great start. Been having problems with my microphone and I'm hoping it's just a dying battery and not the fact that I've ridden in the rain while the condenser for the microphone sits outside the helmet. Either way pictures will come just fine cause the camera is doing fantastical.

Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where you would like me to ride for the first time up here. 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.

Nothing finishes a ride like a cold Yoo-Hoo!

Still no bike for me (Sad face panda clown), but at least it's in ANCHORAGE!

Finally it moved! I've been tracking Taquache online at the transport company's website and for the longest time it was just ready for transport in Auburn. Well it got shipped and it's sitting at the Port of Anchorage waiting to be inspected. I'm a little worried something happened to it or something degraded during the trip. It is a KLR so maybe I shouldn't worry so much. This isn't some pansy show bike. Thing was meant to be destroyed and put back together and ridden all over again. I need to work on that noise I was hearing as soon as I get it. The thing that makes the most sense to me is the clutch is slipping and not fully engaging or something but the bike doesn't lurch and the RPM's don't fluctuate when I hear the sound. Might be difficult but it'll be good experience. My wife got me a purpose built workbench/toolchest which I'm excited to use in the garage.

Been linking up all over with riders back home here. Some I knew were riders and some I never heard of riding. Most of em are adventure riders cause it's a great place for it so I would imagine a lot of people get drawn to it up here. I haven't been able to pick what my first ride will be. Ride out to Girdwood? up to Talkeetna or Cantwell? Over to Glennallen? Over Hatcher's pass and on to Willow? So many possibilities. And those are just the shorter touring trips I can think of. There's trails galore out here I'm sure. I've never really been out looking for em but people are riding somewhere.

I've been doing some thinking about my prospective Youtube channel as well. I subscribed to Tim Schmoyer's channel called Video Creators. He's got great tips and strategies to consider about putting your message out over the internet using videos. I need to figure out the value of my videos and I was thinking there would probably be a large demand for someone to give prospective moto-visitors a chance to see what things look like around here before they make the trip. Some will just go hardcore adventure and just come up here just not knowing on purpose but I'll bet there's quite a few who would like a sneak peek for reassurance or to get them off the fence and just get up here.

What have I been doing since I got here though? Two weeks of time off to try and get the house back up to snuff. Not that my wife didn't take care of it. Just some things that need a man's touch to get done. I'm realizing more and more how small that list is cause there's not much my wife doesn't do. We started a couple home projects, I went back to work, we went to the Kasilof River down on the Kenai Peninsula this last weekend. That was good to just relax with a fire and a beer for a few days. It was awesome to see so many motorcyclisistisist on the roads and campgrounds getting their fill of the great weather we were having. I keep wanting to wave at them but I stop myself just before. Don't think a wave from the daddyo in the suburban assault vehicle would really be taken seriously.

Man I can't wait to get back on that bike and ride it into the ground! Well, maybe I should just stick to riding over the ground. This state is just as beautiful as I remember it and I can't wait to show it to you in technicolor moving pictures on the boob tube.

Please leave a comment down below or send me an email about where you would like me to ride for the first time up here. 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.

Family Ride

Can you believe this is after 9:00 pm?

So Taquache is still not here. One of the guys at the shipping place said it would be about a week. but it's been over a week and the bike hasn't even been shipped yet. Taquache is just sitting in a dark crate all by her lonesome. And she's WASHED. I had to clean her off for the customs people. I feel like I was defiling all that she stood for as I not only sprayed her down with water but took a bristle brush to her in the real dirty spots. After a good 15 minutes I stood back and she just didn't look right. But it's the way it had to be. So I got her shipped off and have been back home for about a week and a half and still no sign of her moving.

Post the flag and pledge some allegiance

ADVsidekick

Spill 1 of 5

So while I'm waiting for the real thing my family and I took a bicycle ride around a neighborhood just for funsies. My older boy who's 6 is starting to get the hang of riding on two wheels but still has a few crashes. It was a beautiful day for the ride. Just a humdrum regular ol neighborhood but the partially cloudy skies and shady trees made for wonderful views. Left the house at about 9:00pm and the Sun was still high in the sky like it was 5 down in Washington. It's gonna be fun to show you guys what you can get into just outside of Anchorage here. The wife and I talked about houses and the kid wanted to show off for the camera. Nothing really exciting happened. My kind of family outing I'll tell ya.

ADVheroine

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.

Spill 3 of 5. And he keeps getting back up. Such a trooper

Go Canada!

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.