My Dual Sport Adventures

Gas mileage

2009-07-02T09:58:00.003-05:00

I decided to check my gas mileage and range on my klr650. I filled my tank completely it held 5.7 gallons and began riding on the freeway at about 65- 70 mph. When i hit reserve i refilled my tank again it took 5 gallons. My range was 240 miles @ 48 mpg, if switch to reserve i could go about another 24 miles but that would be cutting it to close.

Chain guide

2009-06-22T09:46:00.002-05:00

On my klr650 it has a blade style chain guide, which doesn't do much for protection. I found an aftermarket chain guide on eBay that offers more protection.So i order it and it arrived today. It is much better than stock and offers full protection but because it still mounts to a bracket instead of the swing arm it flexs too much. I think for dual sporting it will be find though.

My tank bag arrived today.

2009-06-16T11:41:00.000-05:00

I have been waiting a few days now for my new tank bag it arrived today. My klr650 has an awkward shape tank, but i order a rapid transit s-5 tank bag. It is a very small tank bag, but it fits good enough for me. i am just glad to have a place to store some of my stuff and the price was right at $ 12.00.

Trip to Bridgeport Lake

2009-05-31T09:28:00.003-05:00

I woke up this sunday morning, and decided to take a trip to Lake Bridgeport. It is about 1 1/2 hours each way and gives me a chance to try my klr650 out on a little bit longer trip. It is a great drive between decatur TX. and lake bridgeport. over all i enjoyed myself and look foward to future trips.

A VERY RAINY SATURDAY!

2009-05-16T19:25:00.007-05:00

Hi everyone it was very rainy today so I decided to build my small tool kit to carry on my motorcycle. All the large tools, like for changing tires and stuff I will put in my large bag on the back of the bike (I will talk about that later). For my small tool bag I decided on trying to keep it small and versatile. Part of the tools I put in the stock tool location and the others I zip tied to the sub frame under the seat. I sure I will make changes over time, but for now at least I have a few tools at all times.

My Sunday Ride In The Country

2009-05-10T19:42:00.003-05:00

This afternoon after i stop by my mom's house to wish her a happy mother's day, i went riding my klr650 out in the country. I started by going north on highway 287 north until i got to Rhome TX, then i decided to turn left and go to Boyd Texas. I have not been out that direction in a long time it has not changed much. I rode for about 2 hours just trying every different rode i could find. I was very happy with how my klr650 preformed and was please with all the modification i have made over the past several weeks. I don't like the stock rubber foot pegs i really need to buy a pair of steel off road foot pegs. I am starting to build a little tool bag that i can carry with me, i will talk about more later. good bye have a great week.

Honda XRM 110

2009-05-03T09:45:00.004-05:00

Good morning, today I realized I never posted a picture of my xrm110. To give you a little history about the bike, it is a 2003 Honda xrm 110. My wife’s brother was using it for several years in which he completely destroyed it and then pawn it for money. I was so mad I had my wife buy the pawn back and take the bike away from her brother. So here I was the proud owner of a worthless piece of junk xrm 110, my wife’s brother-in-law Ebrah agree to take care of the bike for me because I live in Texas. The bike needed a lot of work only later would I realize it would have been cheaper to buy a new bike, but I am a very stubborn Texan. Well after several hundred US dollars and many trips to the motorcycle shop by Ebrah the bike was finally finished, was it worth it I’m not sure but I like anyway. Thanks Ebrah for the hard work.

My Garage

2009-05-02T22:50:00.003-05:00

I have talk about all the work I have done on my bike, but I thought today I would show you my garage. For the last several years I have been storing my bike lift over at my father’s house, now having a motorcycle again I needed it back. So my friend Dan and I moved it back to my house, it was really heavy (I think Dan regretted helping me by the time we were done). The lift is a little rusty but is still in good working order, my garage is very small so I tried to arrange everything so I could maximize the entire area. Welcome to my favorite room in the house.

Lubing The Rear Suspension

2009-04-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

Well I confess, I hate lubing the rear suspension on any motorcycle. It is a pain, but is very important because if left unlubed all the bearings in the rear suspension will rust and become very stiff. So I tore apart the entire rear suspension and lubed every bearing. I was careful when installing the nuts making sure the threads where clean and torqued with lock tight so they don’t come loose. Everything works really smooth now.

Installing New Handlebars

2009-04-25T22:26:00.003-05:00

I picked up my handlebars on Friday, so I am ready to install them today. I decided to buy Pro Taper SE handle bars with a cr high bend. I began by removing the old handlebars, and I decided I might as well lube the steering head bearings while everything is tore apart. Everything went well, I like my new aluminum bars compared to the old stock steel bars. The new bars are very comfortable and the acerbis hand guards are very practicable.

Visiting Eric Today

2009-04-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

My wife was having a party today, so I decided to sneak out and ride my bike over to Eric’s house. Eric suggested I should try to fit on my bike all of his tank and tail bags to see which one fits best. I really liked the tail bag he had it was made by Cargo; it fit perfect and had a lot of room. The tank bag is going to be harder to buy because my tank is a strange shape. I am sure I will find something.

Radiator mod.

2009-04-18T21:42:00.000-05:00

I went out riding my bike today. It ran very well, I rode up to Justin TX, and back home. I did notice it ran a little hot, so I preformed a radiator mod on my bike. The mod consisted of filling in the gap between the radiator and the shroud. I filled this gap by taking 2 pieces of garden hose and putting one inside the other and putting them both in a piece of bicycle tube and tie wrapping them in place. The mod worked very well the bike ran much cooler.

Brakes suck

2009-04-12T21:41:00.000-05:00

Hello, I went riding my dual sport bike today. I did not stay out very long because my brakes sucked bad. I pulled the bike back in the garage to look it over good. I found the brake pads still have plenty of meat left, but I found air in the rear brake line and the front brake line was contaminated. So I bleed both the front and the rear brake lines and the brakes work much better now. I also noticed that my bike has a lot of bolts that are too short. So I made several trips to ace hardware to buy bolts that where the proper length. I think I will start putting lock tight on all the bolts because, I found some bolts where loose.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T11:00:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone has a good Friday. My friend Eric and some of his friends are going dual sporting this weekend. They are going to Big Bend, it sounds really fun. I wish I could go but this time I cant, so maybe next time I can.

I`ve finished My Bike!

2009-04-09T13:22:00.007-05:00

I installed a new air filter on my bike today and it fits so much better. I also changed the oil and filter on my bike, I decided to use Castrol 10w40 motor oil. I am ready to go riding tomorrow finally….tell you what, I am so excited to able to ride again on a motorcycle!

Got A New Battery !

2009-04-08T13:17:00.003-05:00

I went down to batteries plus today and pick up a new battery for my toy. I decided to buy the more expensive sealed battery. It fits well and did not take that long to install it. One plus to this battery is I could remove the battery overflow tube as it is not need. I also pickup a new moose air filter on the way to work. So tomorrow morning I will be able to finish working on it.

My Helmet Is Here

2009-04-07T13:14:00.004-05:00

Today my helmet finally arrived! How exciting to get in the road again riding my motorcycle. I bought a SHOEI DS HORNET, it is a popular dual sport helmet these days. I have not worn a helmet in a while, so I will have to get use to idea of wearing one. If I could only get my bike finished I could go riding pretty soon. And hopefully I could ride with my buddies on the weekend!

Setting Up My New Bike

2009-04-05T13:04:00.004-05:00

I didn’t have any plans this Sunday, so I decided to start working on my bike. I found a website with a lots of information about free mods you can do. Today I did a carb vent mod so my bike wont die when going through a deep creek. I also discovered that, that the previous owner had 35psi in both tires, that’s way too much, so I decided to lowered it to 22psi. My battery appears to be low on fluid I think I might go check out prices on the Internet. Good bye ya'll.

New Jacket Arrived

2009-04-02T12:59:00.005-05:00

Yeah, my new dual sport jacket finally arrived today. I am glad it fits pretty well, i will have to get use to all the padding though. I like the fact it is waterproof and has a removable liner. Now all I need is a helmet so I can ride. I have already ordered it, but it is taking way too long to arrive.

My Dual Sport Bike

2009-03-28T19:25:00.001-05:00

After spending weeks studying which dual sport bike would be best for me, i finally decided on a klr650. But i found out the hard way that you snooze you lose, every bike i call on was already sold. This morning i found the perfect dual sport weapon for me, it's a 2007 klr650 with 1100 miles on it. I found it down the rode at lake Whitney, i purchased it today and haul it home on in my truck. I can't wait to start riding it, but first i have to get a helmet and jacket for protection.

Welcome to my new blog!

2009-03-27T13:29:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone, I decided to start a blog to share my new found excitement for dual sporting. I have rode dirt bikes all my life, which lead me into racing my dirt bike on the Texas cross country racing series. But I found out the hard way all the injuries and punishment on my body was to much, so in 2005 I sold my dirt bike and quit riding altogether.

As time went on deep down I always missed having a motorcycle. I started a new job in august 2008, which I enjoy so much better than the old job. In the new job I am working around with many friends I have known for years. In march of this year I started working along side one friend from my cross country days named " ERIC " . From day one he shared his passion for dual sporting and I have become obsessed with dual sporting ( and driving my wife loco as well ).

So in ending this will be my adventures as I enter the world of dual sporting.