Regime Change: KLR to DL

I'm not super detail oriented. Don't see value in "the finer things" most of the time. And I'm comfortable with being uncomfortable. So riding a KLR to and through South America and beyond sounded perfectly reasonable to me. The simplicity and "no frills" aspect of the KLR was a plus in my mind. Its single cylinder carbureted engine is about as low tech as you can buy new these days (the KLR has been in production without change for virtually 20 years). With what I was carrying and a bit of inginueity I was sure I could keep the bike running pretty much no matter what went wrong. And thats in the outside chance the bike would fail, you see the KLR is also legendary for its reliability. So with all that going for it, who really cares if the seat isn't the most comfortable, and the single cylinder thumper really does thump? Maria does.

All it took was one 350mile day and her mind was made up. The KLR will not work. It started with a sore butt at about 250 miles. Then it moved to numbness in the legs. Then, stopping every 30 minutes for a break, once near tears, she was feeling only what she could describe as "severe pain." The KLR was not going to work for us. So I guess on a trip centered around a motorcycle, comfort is important. Even more important however, I've learned is having the wife happy.

So the search for a new bike began. Reading on-line sites like advrider.com and various articles found by google the Suzuki DL650, or V-Strom, got my attention. Relatively new to the scene of "adventure bikes" the V-Strom was introduced in 2004. Seems there are skeptics and there are believers. The amount of believers is going through the roof. The V-Strom looks like all road bike. But don't underestimate it. No, its not going to keep up with the KTMS and XLs on single track trails, but you can take it on the single track. For us, thats all we need. See, the KLR is an excellent compromise between street and dirt capability. Not great at either, but can handle both reasonably well. Say 50/50% for arguments sake. The V-Strom is more like 80/20% street/dirt. And thats what we expect our trip to be. After our Q&A meeting with adam and valerie we found a "dirt bike" really isn't a requirement. The overwhelming majority of their trip from Santiago to Santa Cruz was paved.

So PROs: Check out the pick of the Corbin seat with backrest (thats all maria need to see).
V-Twin power is smooth as butter, and proven. Its the same engine as the SV650's with a few small modifications for lower end torque. It handles amazingly. It stops on a dime (large rotor dual discs up front). Its headlights melt the car in front of you. The 650cc engine has enough grunt to handle us and luggage. And there's more. Lots more. And boy is it comfy!

Cons: Its fancy. I can't fix fancy with tape and bubble gum. Its fuel injected, transistorized ignition, tubeless tires (modern, hard-to-find sizes), all could be problematic. Its flashy. The bike we found looks brand new and expensive. It was expensive. But still less than half a BMW GS! The adventure rider website has more info if you'd like...

So I get on craigslist and there are no V-Stroms for sale. Actually, there were just 2 want-ads, and a post that said an ad expired (sold the day after it was posted). Searching a further range, I found one in "Santa Rosa." Santa Rosa turned out to be Fort Bragg. To far to see a bike I thought. I called the guy anyway. Jim was the ideal guy to buy a used bike from. Meticulous. Not only was this bike in like new condition, Jim had bought himself all the goodies. The seat you see above (a $675 item), a fancy aftermarket german exhaust, knobbie tires and top of the line street tires, MoTech crash bars and skid plate, etc. All the things we would need to buy. "Maria, how do you feel about driving to Fort Bragg at 6:30am tomorrow?" "Not good."

We went to the Suzuki dealership and sat on a new one before we went. $7000 out the door is what a DL650 goes for. $5600 for a 2004 with all the extras (about $2000 worth) was worth a drive to Ft. Bragg we decided. El Guapo needed a lift to Ukaih anyway, so it began to feel like maybe it was meant to be. I like to think it was.