My third motorcycle, second purchased new. Done done done with the Africa Twin. I’ve bitched enough about the issues I’ve had with it so will avoid retreading that ground. Suffice it to say it’ll be gone by the end of the month and the new KLR will be my sole moto focus.

After the Twin fucked up again I got on the lookout for a new ride, wasn’t going to go another season without a bike. Thought about a Tenere 700, but they’re hard to find and the only dealership in Oregon with them on the floor was charging $2000 over retail for the privilege. Fuck that.

Having ridden the shit out of my previous Gen 1 KLR it was an easy choice to grab a new one and the price was right, sooooooooo.

For all the Youtuber hand wringing about the same 5 niggling little “issues” with the bike, it’s much improved over the previous versions. Yeah, the footpegs suck, all new bike’s footpegs suck. It vibrates, no shit, it’s a thumper. Ever ride a Gen 1? I did an 11k mile trip on one and couldn’t feel my taint for 2 weeks after, the Gen 3 is so much smoother. Half the stuff I did to the old one to get it to preform how I like won’t be necessary, no ripping the carb out and doing the .22 mod, KLX needle, and re-jet just to get some snap out of the throttle. This thing cruises at 70-75 just fine while still handling the low speed chugga chugga off road.

Being one who goes on long rides in the middle of nowhere without letting anyone know, I need reliability. I fully appreciate new technologies of all types and if they suit the bill they’ll be incorporated. If they don’t, full pass. I figure with the mid sized ADV bike boom there’ll be more choices in couple years should I want another “modern” bike.

While I am a bit of a gear head, it’s not so much about the kit, but how it helps facilitate the adventure. Sometimes its’ the fancy wallet killers, most often it’s the solid mid level version. Technological trickle-down is fantastic!

Now that I have a dependable ride it won’t be long before posts with pretty pictures from the boonies start to show up here.

Should be a nice change from power bitching about the Twin.