As I mentioned in my last post, here is the second trip report from Brian over the summer:
"Immediately following the BMW MOA Rally this past July, I had the opportunity to ride the Twisted KLR 650 “GS” from Gillette, WY to Dallas, TX. We had to get our bike to Dallas so it could be built into a booth for this year’s Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows. It’ll be on display at every show, in the Factory Showcase section. Come by and check it out and say hi!
All said and done, the ride ended up being a little more than 1500 miles. Here’s a shot of the bike in the hotel parking lot before it was loaded up
The first day I rode from Gillette to Estes Park, CO. Estes Park is one of my favorite places in the country and I have some friends that live there, so I stayed with them for the evening. Unfortunately, what started out as a simple couple hundred miles, turned a bit more eventful just north of Cheyenne. I saw a couple bikes on the side of the road that I recognized from the rally. One of them was being put on a flatbed so I swung around to see if I could help. They were riding together, so they were all set, but now we had a KLR that wouldn’t start. After trying to bump start it unsuccessfully on the side of the highway, I have to thank the tow truck driver for jumping the bike. He took off by the time I got it pointed in the right direction and wouldn’t take anything for payment.
Continuing into Colorado I wasn’t able to get state sign pictures because of significant construction at the state line. I got Colorado on the way out, but was unable to get a Wyoming sign picture. I guess I’ll just have to go back. 
By the time I got to Estes Park it was starting to rain, so I scrapped my plan to head up into Rocky Mountain National Park that evening and decided to go up first thing the next morning. Turned out to be a great idea as no one else was on the road on the way up, so I had a fun a ride and got some visits from the local wildlife. Here’s the KLR with some new friends:
And a few other pictures from the park:
The rest of the day was spent visiting some of our local dealers and I have to specially thank Roger at Rocky Mountain Kawasaki for taking the KLR in for service. They changed the oil, refilled the battery, and a few other items. The bike ran like a top for the rest of the trip.
After staying with my cousin outside of Denver; Wednesday was a long, hot day as I rode into Kansas. 
As soon as I crossed into Kansas the wind kicked up and, combined with 100 degree temperatures made for a really exhausting day. I couldn’t keep my camelback full and ended up the day in Wichita after about 600 miles.
The next morning I stopped into Mid America Powersports. Thanks to Steve for hooking me up with a sub-frame bolt that vibrated loose. From there I rode to Dallas, on schedule to drop the bike off early on Friday. 
I stayed "on the cheap" in Dallas, and the front desk was kind enough to give me a ground floor room. Maybe for my next career, I'll go into interior design!
I wrapped up the ride on Friday when I dropped the bike off and then flew back to Seattle. Here's one last look at the KLR GS washed and ready for display. It was so hot that even after washing the bike in the shade, I needed two cold showers to stop sweating. 
All in all it was a great trip. I would have liked to have a couple extra days so I didn’t have to sit on the highway all the way, but the KLR performed better than I expected (having not spent a lot of time on one previously). Our bolt-on’s also went a long way to helping with my comfort during the ride, so I’ll give a quick review of a couple of the products that worked for me.
MRA Vario-Touring Screen – This screen was perfect for me. I’m 5’8” and with the spoiler up on the highway it provided a very comfortable ride. When I got into town, I would drop the spoiler and get some additional airflow through my helmet for cooling.
SW-Motech 1” handlebar risers – Provided that "little extra" by moving the bars towards me. The first time I rode the bike it didn’t have the risers and I could feel it in my shoulder after about an hour and a half. With the risers I was able to ride all day. (note: Barbacks won’t work on the KLR because the bars will then hit the tank).
Rivco Footpegs on the Twisted Throttle Crashbars – The forward pegs provided a well needed alternative foot position, allowing me to stretch out during the ride.
Coocase V36 Wizard – I LOVE the remote entry on these cases. I always end up starting the bike and then forgetting something in the case (earplugs) or forgetting to put something back (camera). With the remote, I didn't have to turn the bike off to get back into the case. It also locks on it's own after 15 seconds if you use the remote, so I never had to worry that I forgot to lock it when I took off. The brake lights proved very nice for additional visibility as well. I liked it so much during the trip that I put one on my V-Strom.
If anyone has questions on any of the other products, let me know and I’ll give you a full review.
Don’t forget to stop and take a look at the bike and accessories at the Motorcycle Show near you."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
More Twisted Travels
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
VIBCO Inc. Vibration Products
I saw this van while out getting lunch today. I've got to say that I've never seen anything quite like it. I'm surprised their sales training guys don't symbolically ride Kawaski KLR650s. ;)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Twisted Travels
Brian sent in some reports and photos of his “Twisted Travels” this summer:
First up is our trip cross country. It was mostly uneventful. We did it kind of quick because we had to get to WA to close on our house. I did, however, convince Beth to pull the bike off the trailer in the Black Hills. If you’ve never ridden in South Dakota, I highly recommend it. The roads are nice and the scenery is beautiful. There is also a lot of history in the area. The weather wasn’t particularly accommodating for picture taking, so I only took a couple of the monuments.
First is Crazy Horse. Take a look at http://www.crazyhorse.org/. It’s pretty incredible what’s being done. Pay special attention to the size they’re carving this thing. From wikepidia “The sculpture's final dimensions will be 641 feet (195 m) wide and 563 feet (172 m) high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet (27 m) high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mt. Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) high.” Wow!
Here’s a picture of the current progress.
Then we went to Mt. Rushmore. Unfortunately, we were there on Wednesday, July 2nd, the day they were having the 4th of July fireworks at the monument, so it was packed! We saw a couple of mountain goats on the side of the road as we crawled our way toward the entrance, but I couldn’t get the camera out in time. Since the park was so crowded, we didn’t bother going in. I just pulled over in the blocked off turn lane so I could take some pictures. The cop directing traffic didn’t mind; however, his supervisor did and we both got yelled out when he drove by. Sorry I got you in trouble, officer!
After that we headed up through Sturgis. The town is very quiet outside of bike week so we did a quick run through the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum http://www.sturgismuseum.com/. Any two wheeled enthusiast should add the museum as a destination for when they’re in the Black Hills.
Since there aren’t a lot of pictures from the South Dakota ride, I’ll add some others that I took this morning. As Beth and I were on our way home last night, I made a comment about how awesome Mt. Rainier looked as the sun was setting. She said I should take her to the train in the morning and get a look at it as the sun comes up. I figured I’d do one better and head to Sunrise Pass to watch the sun come up over the mountain. It was a bit brisk as I made my way up the mountain (mid 40’s), but it was worth it when I got there. The pictures don’t do it justice, but it was absolutely breathtaking watching the sun come up in the shadow of the mountain. 30 miles of sweepers and 10 miles of tight twisties in each direction also made for a really nice ride.
See how many Twisted Farkles you can spot on my V-Strom!
Thanks for the update, Brian! Next week I’ll post the pictures from his trip on the Twisted KLR.