Springtime Adventure (640)

[Bisbonian]

The plan started to come together at the end of the 2011 Roosevelt Dam ride as I
realized that not only am I horrible at riding on dirt but the Guzzi just exacerbates that
fact so if I'm going to insist on riding on dirt roads then I need something a little more
suitable. The easy answer would be to just come up with a used KLR or DR and go to
town but I wanted something a little less pedestrian. I decided on the KTM 640
Adventure as more of a do-it-all mount and started looking. I found a few that were in
my price range but narrowed it down to one in Olympia that seemed to be all I was
looking for.

Emails were sent and phone calls were made then April 11 I flew up to Sea-Tac where
Russ was to pick me up. I deplaned, made it out to the pick-up spot and proceeded to try
to call Russ on my cell only to find that the number I had stored for him wasn't going
through. This is lesson number 1, if you're meeting someone and are supposed to call
then make sure you have the correct phone number for them written down. A few more
calls and I figured out what I had written down wrong and Russ was on the way to me.

I knew that Russ was driving a red VW Westfalia and soon enough I saw him coming around the corner.

About an hour later we arrived at Russ' house and I got my first glimpse of my new
mount. My box of riding gear that I had mailed out the week previous was sitting
waiting for me and we went out to the garage to start loading stuff up. Lesson number 2
would be to get the measurement of panniers beforehand if you intend to stuff your bag
inside instead of strapping it on the back of the bike.

We went over to the license bureau which was just across the street and I picked up a
temporary Washington plate to get me home, of course I was pretty sure that 3 days
wasn't going to get me all the way home but I got to choose my own dates so I just left
them blank for now. As I got set to leave we went to start the bike and discovered a
massive gas leak which made my heart drop but quickly narrowed it down to a leaking
gas hose at the fuel pump. We clipped the end of the hose, refastened it and all was fine.

My next challenge was actually getting on the bike as I had never actually been next to
one in person. I tried to throw my leg over the seat and immediately kicked one of the
panniers as I couldn't get up that high. I finally realized that I needed to put the bike on
the side stand and just sort of lift my left over. I got moving and the first thing I noticed
was that my eyeballs were vibrating in their sockets. After awhile I got used to the
vibration and the discomfort stopped.

My friend Melissa lives in Seattle so I headed North before going back South so that I
could visit with her. I got rained on a little bit and then stopped at a rest area to take
stock of what I'd got myself into and take a few pictures.

The bike needs some TLC but runs great and everything seems to work fine.

Before too long I made it to Melissa's house and we piled into the car to go visit the
Fremont Troll. I always try to check out Roadside America before I go on a road trip
just to see what I should detour to go see, the Fremont Troll was only a few blocks away
so it was a no brainer.

The troll was built in 1990 as a wayto clean up the underpass which was becoming a haven for
drug dealers, it holds an actual VW beetle in its left hand.

We got back and then walked up to get some dinner. It was a near thing at the Pig N Whistle but
we decided on the Naked City Brewery.

Since I'd been up since 4 and Melissa had to work in the morning we made it an early
night and hit the sack.

I got up the next morning with the sun streaming through the windows, well maybe not
the sun as it was pretty overcast but at least there was daylight. I met at least one of
Melissa's roommates (Alicia?) and then spread my stuff over the yard so I could sort it
out while Melissa went to work. I made it a point to try to get my gear packed up the
way I wanted it.

First thing was to fasten Poo Bear to his new home, every good ride needs a mascot and Poo
Bear has been with me for a few years now and yes there is a story behind him.

It turns out that Melissa lives just around the corner from Moto International. This is where I
had bought my Moto Guzzi in 2009 and I had never seen the dealership let alone step foot in it
as my whole deal was done over the phone and via email with the bike shipped to my door. The
shop was smaller than I had imagined but I went in and met Dave (author of Guzziology) and got
some route suggestions from Jason. I picked up a Guzzi key chain and some chain lube
(never thought I'd need that again) and hit the road.

I spent most of the day getting used to the new bike, weather was variable with rain on and off. I found that
the rest areas in Oregon all seemed to have some sort of interesting display, this one had trees associated with
every state. I say every state but I don't know that I saw one for Pennsylvania and I was looking. Initially I
thought that the state trees would be in place for each state but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

Evidently trees in Arkansas aren't that impressive.

And Nevada isn't any great shakes either.

A little further down the road I came upon a rest area that was dedicated to WWII veterans.

These were the first panhandlers I'd seen on the trip. The guy on the right is a paralyzed
vet which seemed appropriate in a rest area dedicated to veterans, I felt sort of bad for
the woman on the right whose sign says that she's a homeless nursing student because she
is totally not going to be getting the notice of the other guy. Then I noticed that they were
quite chummy and I think they're here together. She kind of blew it for me when she whipped out her cell phone.

As I was leaving I noticed this sign for the sponsor of the rest area. I'm sort of hoping that their idea
of a job isn't a choice spot at a rest area.

I decided to stop around 6:30 in Grants Pass, OR so that I could determine my route for the next morning
and read through the manuals that had come with the bike.

 

[Bisbonian]

I stayed in the Motel 6 and while the room was perfectly adequate I found that they had the weakest water
pressure in the shower that I have ever dealt with.

I went out to start the bike; inserted the key, hit the button
and got only a click. What the...? I don't know how but my battery is mostly dead.
I vaguely remember Jason at Moto International going over kick starting with me so
I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad the parking lot was empty because I'm sure I made
a fool out of myself but I eventually got the bike started and could be on my way.

I decided to head for the coast and Hwy 101 and so took off in that direction. I stopped
for gas and the clerk made sure to warn me about those people in Arizona as they're all
criminals and it's sort of like Deliverance down there, especially if you're on I-10. She
made sure to warn me to not stop in any rest areas where there were other people as I'll
likely be abducted and ransomed.

It rained on and off for awhile until I got to sunny California where it started to snow.

I love traveling through the Redwood forest, big trees is something I really miss down in Southern AZ.

I made sure to stop at the scenic vistas to take some of it in.

I stopped to visit with Paul and Babe in Klamath.

I stopped at the Legend of Bigfoot to check out what they had. Mostly it was touristy stuff that I didn't feel
any need to own but it was fun to look at.

And I paid my $3 to go take my picture with the Chandelier Tree in Legget.

Somehow I got mixed up in my directions and ended up going inland through San Francisco.
This was cool becauseI got to go across the Golden Gate Bridge. What wasn't so
cool was that there's a toll bridge at the end where they collect their $6 and I wasn't prepared for that.
Luckily they had a little space where I could pull over and dig out my money so that I didn't hold up the traffic.

I had pulled over a bit earlier and checked my map to try to determine where I wanted to stop for the night.
Evidently I pulled out a different map than the one I've been using and grabbed my US map. I settled on
heading for Gilroy as it was just south of San Francisco and not that far away. Unfortunately on the US
map I wasn't ready for the change in scale and Gilroy was about 100 miles further than I was expecting.

I finally made it around 9 pm and pulled in to the Residence Inn to catch a room. The
woman told me that all she had left were smoking rooms but she'd give me a bargain on
one of those at $64. I told her I'd just head across the street and she made sure to warn
me that she was #1, the Best Western #2 and the rest were downhill from there. I tried to
explain that I'm only looking for a place to sleep not spend the rest of my life but she
didn't get it so I took my leave. I went over and had a choice between the Super 8 and
the Gilroy Inn, I've stayed in Super 8's before so I opted for the Gilroy Inn. The room
was very nice and other than a lack of hot water in the shower was everything I could
ask for.

 

[Bisbonian]

I got up the next morning and headed over to fill up with gas. When I went to put the key in to leave the little flap that seals the slot from the weather self destructed and jammed itself in the keyhole. I brought out the Gerber and proceeded to try pulling the piece of plastic out of the hole but only managed to get a portion of it out while letting apiece of it get away from me and lodge itself in the key slot. I worked at the slot for awhile trying to get the piece of plastic out but only managed to completely screw the whole thing up. I called Karen and she looked up both a locksmith and a KTM dealership for me in the area so that I could try to unscrew myself from this debacle. My first call was to the locksmith since he was just down the street but he said no wayand that I should call the dealer. I called the dealer next but they had no parts for me. By now I'm tired of sitting in the gas station parking lot so I pushed the bike back to the hotel so that I could spread out and think about what to do. I had purchased the roadside assistance with my insurance but wasn't sure what they'd do for me, tow me to a hotel? Boy, if I only had wiring diagram I could try to hotwire the ignition since I could see the wires down there. Wait a minute, I do have a wiring diagram; I remember seeing it when I was going through the manuals that were included with the bike. I pulled the manual out and found the wiring diagram, now if I only knew how to read one! Well I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night so the Gilroy Inn was going to have to do. After some careful study I determined that I knew exactly what I needed to do so I pulled out my Gerber and started cutting through the insulation covering the wire bundles. Hmm, I don't remember seeing that wire color mentioned in the diagram and why are there 2 that are the same color? A few minutes later and I was ready to try to start it up. A few cranks of the starter and the bike fires right up.

I made my way back over to the gas station to look for some electrical tape but all they had was duct tape so I made do. Don't give me too had a time for the mess I made of the key switch, I was overzealous I admit.

Finally I was on my way delayed only an hour and a half. Evidently garlic is the product of Gilroy as the whole area smelled like an Italian restaurant. I had originally intended to stop and have some garlic ice cream but with my late start and because any delay more than a couple of minutes would require untwisting wires to turn the lights off kept that plan at bay.

As luck would have it I stopped for lunch later and while trying to twist the wires back
together on my way out I managed to short the hot wire against the triple clamp and
blow the only fuse on the bike.

I was able to swap out the fuse in my electric jacket wire for that but more importantly this led to further modifications in the form of another piece of duct tape to protect the wire from contacting bare metal, especially since I had no more extra fuses. While I was at it I figured I'd better cover up the torn up key slot since I was running with license plates that were almost a year out of date. Sure I had my temporary plate in my pocket but if I got pulled over I didn't want to give the police any reason to look at me sideways.

The weather was nice going across the Mojave and I took some pictures of the wind farm around Tehachapi. There were hundreds of them, all different sizes.

As the sun started to go down it got a bit chilly. I stopped to put the rest of my clothes back on but was glad it didn't get too cold as I never replaced the fuse for my electric jacket. I had decided to stop in Needles tonight and then decide on my way forward in the morning.

I stopped at the first hotel I came to in Needles and got a nice room, but the bed had no blanket. I don't know if this is on purpose or not but I decided to not worry about it and slept very well.

 

[Bisbonian]

I got up the next morning and after looking over my maps decided to forgo the Flagstaff route and headed South down Hwy 95. The scenery was pretty typical southern Arizona from what I've experienced and very relaxing. It was also hot.

As I worked my way south there started to be some green, I have no idea where they get the water.

There were also canals running across the landscape.

I zig-zagged across the state and avoided Phoenix by taking Hwy 85 from I-10 to I-8. The Palo Verde are in bloom and paint a nice picture. Soon enough I came back to I-10 just above Tucson. I stopped at a few rest areas carefully watching for any criminal element as the woman in Grants Pass had warned me about but all I saw were retirees. They offer their own sort of danger but I didn't feel threatened.

Just before reaching Tucson I stopped at Picacho Peak. Karen and I had climbed this a few years ago and it holds a special place in my heart. A place full of sweat and sore muscles.

And I had to stop at Rooster Cogburn's ostrich ranch. I had never noticed before that you could see over the fence, these things happen on a tall motorcycle.

You can buy an ostrich egg to eat while you're there. I passed on it as I figured the vibration would scramble it before I got home.

I stopped in Benson for one last rest before the final push. I didn't eat here, Karen and I went here once and were subjected to one of the worst meals ever. Consider yourself warned.

The moon was up as the sun went down and I finally made it home. 4 days and around 2000 miles after I begun.

 

[Daniel Kalal]

the KTM Adventure makes a surprisingly good road bike. I assume yours is a 2000 model (as is mine).

 

[Bisbonian]

the KTM Adventure makes a surprisingly good road bike. I assume yours is a 2000 model (as is mine).

Mine's a '99 model but I have to agree the ride wasn't too bad.

Right now it's in a hundred pieces spread around my garage, I just want to make sure everything's in good condition.

I'm rebuilding the water pump as it looked a bit crusty and am waiting for the new ignition switch to come in.

I need to find a seat that actually fits the bike as the PO modified one from another model and it doesn't fit all that well. I have a few other things to do but hope to have it back on the road in the next couple of weeks.