Down Under on a KLR 650 ...second season

[MacDoc]

Got my 2005 KLR 650 yesterday here Cairns Australia. 30 degrees out and incredible roads.
Had no problem flat footing it even with running shoes on so no problem at all with boots.
Hopefully get out on it this evening after getting insurance sorted ( cheap here ). second riding season here I come.



http://www.bikingaustralia.com/ more http://www.motowhere.com/listpaths/c...on/3/city/3370 gallery http://www.bikingaustralia.com/photo_gallery.htm

Insurance was easy and did not even have to show my licence. Was covered under the registration for third party liability. No tax on a used bike sale and the liability insurance goes with the machine not the driver. So basically if you flew in you could buy a bike - ride it for a few months and flip it back with little cost. Much better system than Ontario.....and did I say NO TAX.
GST is only paid once when the bike is new and then never again.....as it should be.
Late in the day when it was done and I was still bagged from the flight and time shifted so waited to go out.

Fast forward a day.

Nothing like a ride on an ancient warrior to appreciate a modern bike. KLR is fun but damn the brakes.....err sort of brakes - thank heavens for engine braking on 10 degree slopes. NOt sure I could lock the suckers up if I wanted to. Shifting and clutching came back easily - even being on the opposite side of the road was not too bad tho the roundabouts take a bit of getting used to. Only one annoyance on a 40 minute first ride - at a stop sign and proceeded through cross traffic idjit was using the rather windy hilly road as a rally course and came up the hill across me at about double the speed limit - so just had to boot it a bit to get across......was clearly his little private route as he took the corner behind me hard and then slid into a nearby driveway. Left me muttering.

But weather is just gorgeous - brought the mesh with me but did not bother putting the additional armour in - so even 29 and very humid did not feel bad at all. Will be a bit different with the sun out. Good to get that initial jitters out of the way - tomorrow will be a quieter day and hope to get out of town a bit. Big single a bit hard on my hands but seating position is as I remember - nice and upright and suspension a treat.
Geometry a fair bit different than the low slung Burgman which corners on rails comparatively. Since work is late at night ( 14 hours time shift ) and GF works during the day from early on - I'll be riding most days for a couple/three hours in the mornings.

Looking forward to some early morning rides after GF goes to work. Nicest time of day as long as not raining - usually pours in the wee hours ( big time ) and would not want to be caught out in the heavy stuff. Did not bother with rain gear - it's too muggy and the rain is warm. Just get wet then dry off when it quits .

Looking forward to some of the legendary routes .check the links above ...

Gilles up the coastal range and the road along the coast to Port Douglas - 80k of lovely twists along the Pacific.

[DownUnder]

The weather here atm is making me wish I was back there right now LOL Looks like your having a ball mate.

[MacDoc]

Lovely ride this morning up The James Cook Highway. Put on 100k -did not get to Port Douglas as the weather turned ( the norm for here ) but a nice couple of hours. You get wet, dry off, repeat.





just after sun up north of Cairns.



great road with lots of warnings to mcyclists about high accident zone


looking south


looking north


no random swimming due to stinger risk

Starting to push the KLR a bit more - fun on the round-a-bouts and cruises very smoothly at 100k.
No problem with hands.
Will take a bit to get used to the seat after the Day-Long luxury of the Burgman seat.

[fearlessbob]

Looks like you're having a blast my friend! Enjoy and keep us posted!

I'm curious though, why the choice of a dual purpose bike as opposed to a road bike, or a scooter?

[MacDoc]

A Burgman 650 runs $9000 12,000 here as they only have the exec and that was way out of range for a 3 month machine.

I know the KLR650 and the price was right....there were only much older road bikes anywhere near the price point ( $3500 ) and for a 2005 that was a steal - plus just a few blocks from my GFs - he even dropped it off for me.
Had a top box already plus some over the pillion saddle bags.

The upright seating, cheap parts and the guy it came from were all positives.
( about my age and a mechanical engineer so did his own wrenching).

While I will ride hard in the twisties once I get the Burgman here...that will be in the dry season as every day is 60% chance of rain so the roads are wet a lot of the time. Basically if you go out for a few hours you WILL get wet. Sometimes a little and you ride through it - sometimes a lot and you find some shelter.

Also I don't mind dirt roads and the KLR is nicely set up for that with his tire choice.....decent on the pavement and enough grip for the side roads.
The upright riding position is good for gawking too....as well as staying aware of the being on the opposite side of the road.

The KLR gave me a late model, generally bullet proof bike I knew at the right price and location.
Huge tank helps as well.

[MacDoc]

Dry weight is only 337 lb - far below that of the Burgman and it holds 23 litres which adds a fair bit up top when full - but still that gives it a big riding range at 60-80 kph which is about the speed for interesting roads here. Also I've been told the cops are pretty strict.

Seat height is a bit daunting 35" and had to get used to slinging my leg over and with a top box and boots on that's a bit of effort to negotiate - once on tho the long travel suspension lets me be fully flat foot

An oil drum on stilts? As the following technical specifications indicate, the KLR650 is something odd: It is, overall, a fairly light (~ 400 pounds wet) motorcycle; but when its large gas tank is full, a noticeable percentage of that weight rides high. It has a 21 inch front wheel, and very long fork tubes. Its engine is said to produce roughly 40 horsepower, and significant vibration.

Yet, the bike's large gas tank affords the motorcycle operator a safe 200 mile range between fillings - in most conditions. I hit the reserve at 235 miles. And the engine, coupled with the light body, provides 50-60 m.p.g. - while turning fairly smoothly between 2000 - 5000 revolutions per minute. (3900 r.p.m. seems to translate to about 60 m.p.h., on a fairly level surface, without too much wind.) It is an easy bike to work on. And, because the simple, reliable, durable design of the KLR650 has not changed significantly since its introduction in 1987, parts and service are readily available.

Year 2006, Model KL650A6F:
Engine: Four-stroke, four-valve, DOHC single
Displacement: 651cc - 39.7 cu in.
Bore x stroke: 100.0 x 83.0mm
Compression ratio: 9.5:1
Cooling: Liquid - 1.3 L coolant capacity
Carburetion: Keihin CVK40
Ignition: Electronic CDI
Transmission: Five-speed - constant mesh, return shift
Final drive: Chain
Frame: Semi-double cradle, high-tensile steel
Rake-trail: 28 degrees / 4.4 in.
Front suspension-wheel travel: 38mm leading axle, air-adjustable preload / 9.1 in.
Rear suspension-wheel travel: UNI-TRAK® single-shock system with 5-way preload and 4-way rebound damping / 9.1 in.
Front tire: 90/90x21 - 54S
Rear tire: 130/80x17 - 65S
Front brake-rear brake: Hydraulic disc / Disc
Overall length: 86.8 in. - 2,205 mm
Overall width: 37.0 in. - 940 mm
Overall height: 53.0 in. - 1,345 mm
Ground clearance: 9.4 in. - 240 mm
Turning radius: 94.5 in. - 2.4 m minimum
Seat height: 35.0 in.
Dry weight: 337 lbs.
Fuel capacity: 6.1 gal. - 23 L
Wheelbase: 58.9 in.
Body colors: Kawasaki Lime Green, Aztec Red

total bikes in the region for sale - it's not a big area and all else is a looooong way away...mix is usually either sport or dirt - not a lot in between.

http://cairns.gumtree.com.au/f-Cars-...0QQCatIdZ18322

I CAN tour the KLR, it's fine around town and I'll get my money back when I sell.

[kiwi]

Enjoy your rides. Got to love the insurance situation outside of Ontario !

[MacDoc]

This was fun actually being in the bed of the Barron River on this crossing which is a few 10's of KM up the road from our property. Lovely winding paved road to get to it with some serious grades and decent curves. Pavement is good for the likes of the KLR so a private little track of some 15-20 km with very little traffic ....cept roos



Looking upstream it's hard to imagine 25' or more of water coming down this channel.


Then downstream - as I said spooky to be in the bed considering what kind of water flows crashes through here


The bridge across the main channel of this branch - lots of well worn bolts and you can see from the lean of that tree gets up to some serious speed.



Just a few kilometers downstream it turns into a monster

This shot from the Skytrain car as we passed over it....


and this is nothing compared to when it's in full flood.

This was taken ( not by me ) after 50 hours of rain on the Tablelands



It's why the wet season is so treacherous in this region and even on main highways and roads - not just in the boonies. The amount of rain that can fall in a few short hours is astonishing.

Continued on across the bridge - slippy rocky grade up the other side hoping to cut through to another town but no luck - asked a guy who lived at road end and he said no way unless I wanted to take the railway line ( which in a pinch I would as it's never used ).

Took a break to dry out from the light showers that made for a bit of a soggy day



Bike has been just flawless tho I'm more frequently wishing it was geared lower for slow speed stuff.
The AirHawk has been helpful tho have not yet done a long run on it.

The extra inch is a bit annoying in the rougher stuff so making a habit of pulling it off ( I did after this pic was taken.)
Might still have too much air in it.

Talked to GF and might have an over night coming next weekend so plotting where to go. She has a one day conference in the South so there is a window for me to explore a bit further.

Options are Cookstown run ( mostly road ) or a dive to the south a bit and more mixed National Parks, coastal range.

[MacDoc]

Hmmph - got an invite to an area I've been interested in for Monday - Davies Creek and Tinaroo.

Trying to extract some info from the locals as the official version is it's a walking track where we are headed...



There may indeed be some walking across that....

They are riding Honda XR600 and 650 - a bit better for this kind of venture.....90 lbs lighter than the KLR and likely better geared and tired for off road.....we shall see....gonna go up tomorrow and check out the first section if the weather holds.

Had a nice short ride today up to the Copperlode Dam which supplies Cairns drinking water. Lovely 16 km windy road ( think slow ) right on the edge of the city - just a couple k start from me - winds up to a lake/dam - will post up pics tomorrow on high speed.

Saw a largish python dead beside the road - had a large something in it's stomach - either a bad case of indigestion or bad timing on a road that sees little traffic.

Only other rider was a girl on a little rental scooter.
I coasted about half the way down - much fun. Cooler than the city so nice place to read and there is tea and coffee gratis at a little patio up by the lake and damn. No swimming or fishing etc - just a nice place to take a break.

If you googlemap for directions

Cairns, 137 Woodward Street, Edge Hill, Queensland, Australia
to
Copperlode Falls Dam, Lamb Range, Queensland, Australia

click on Satellite and then hit the 3d button on the side you can "ride" up the range

Turn photos on as well.....quite a few posted on the route.
It's a popular mountain bike route and some runners....lots of hikers as well.

cool fun -