Day 24 Chilliwack, BC, CA

5961 miles on the road this trip and here we are still on the West coast in Chilliwack, British Columbia, CA.  A combination of miles, highway speeds of 75-80 MPH, and some extreme heat of air temps above 100 have tore into our rear tires. Wonder what temps the roads where. We could probably safely get another 1000 miles on them but we have a place here with all the tools and a man with the expertise to be able to use them.

 We ordered and had our tires shipped to Eric and Mike.  Fellow bike (KLR) riders just South of the Canadian border.  We loaded the tires on to our bikes and crossed the border.

Norm was awesome! Having never physically met us just conversing through emails, blogs, and Facebook, he rolled our bikes into his garage and changed our tires.

I think Liz would like to be adopted by Norm.

Norm & Rupert

Norm, Rupert, April, Brad

We really enjoyed meeting and hanging with Norm and his family. Thanks to him and his wife April for their great hospitality.  I hope we have the opportunity to repay them someday.

V Strom Progress

V Strom Maintenance and Upgrades

Engine
Service for Suzuki safety and emissions recall.  Tappet and camshaft excessive wear.

• Serviced, all was within specs. 

Suspension

1: Replace Shock & Spring with Ricor rear shock.

• Completed, seems to be a better fit for my riding style. Easy install.
• Hook-up on accelerations seems much better.

2: Change fluid in front shocks and add Intiminators.

• Completed, no real complications. As usual all came apart ok. 
• Only 16000 miles but not too soon for a fluid change.  Looked real grimy! We let springs and fork drain for about an hour then rinsed with fresh fluid.
•  Cut spacer to allow for new intiminators. 
• All went back together ok with just a couple of oops but recovered just fine.
• Less diving noticed on stops. 

Other Additions / Replacements

3: Install heated grips.

• Completed, Routing the wire was probably the most time consuming. 
• Was able to access the stock connector by removing left tank panel. 
• Grips went on pretty easily with baby powder and heat gun. Dowsed the inside of the grip with baby powder which allowed smooth handle bar insertion to about 3/4 then a little heat allowed remaining to be wiggled on.
• No very cold today (50ish). On hi with work type gloves & liner, hands where warm. I my regular leather riding gloves will take the warmth and retain much better.

4: Replace head lights with LEDs.

Before

After

• Completed, You can see the LEDs are a much whiter light. Haven't had an opportunity to see them in action at night yet.
• Installation was a little tricky. Just getting your hand in and out of the front without taking any piece of the bike off. But, doable. We cut our a bigger hole out of the rubber boot and neatly zip-tied the power modules with the wiring. 

5: Install separate switch for auxiliary lights.

• Completed, Had dealer do it while in for Suzuki recall. 
• Auxiliary lights can now be used with driving lights and or brights. 

6: New chain and sprockets.

• Completed. had some difficulties mushrooming the link pins. Ended up going with clip-ons.

7: New front and rear breaks.

• Decided they where not needed with the mileage currently on the bike. They will be good for the 8,0000 mile trip. 

8: New tires.

• Went with a new Shinko Trail Master E-705 Radial for the rear. Front practically still new. Decided I'll change the front out in St. Louis (about 6,500 miles into the trip)

9: New air filter

• Completed, Had dealer do it while in for Suzuki recall. 

10: Flush and replace coolant.

• Completed. Replaced stock blue coolant with green.

V Strom (WEE)

V Strom Maintenance and Upgrades

Engine
Service for Suzuki safety and emissions recall.  Tappet and camshaft excessive wear.

Suspension

1. Replace Shock & Spring with Ricor rear shock.
2. Change fluid in front shocks and add Intiminators.

Other Additions / Replacements

1. Install heated grips.
2. Replace head lights with LEDs.
3. Install separate switch for auxiliary lights.
4. New chain and sprockets.
5. New front and rear breaks.
6. New tires.
7. New air filter
8. Flush and replace coolant. 

The Mighty KLR

First bike into the shop. Snow is still on the ground but eager to get started on mods. Liz dives into her bike without hesitation!
 

KLR Maintenance and Upgrades

Engine

1. 685 piston upgrade kit
2. Head refurb
3. Valve adjustment
4. Clutch side oil screen cleaning
5. Replace leaking petcock with manual petcock
6. Add in-line fuel filter
7. Thermobob
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Suspension

1. Shock
1. Replace with Moab Adventure?
2. Revalve w/ RT gold valves?
3. Revalve w/ Top Gun’s shock internals?
2. Change fork oil/ check sag

Electrical

1. Inspect wiring harness for rubs
2. LED headlight upgrade
3. Replace distribution block with fused block
4. Aux light?
5. Replace grip heaters w/ Symtec?

Chassis/ Drive

1. Replace L fairing (aka 'Frankenfairing')
2. Reinforce R fairing crack
3. Replace fasteners as needed
4. Replace handguard plastics w/ Barkbuster Storm
5. Widen pegs
1. Replace 8mm peg bolts w/ 10mm?
6. Lube and adjust throttle and clutch cables
7. Run spare clutch and throttle cable next to existing cables
8. Madstad windshield
9. Sand and touch up paint on luggage rack
10. Wheel bearings F & R
11. Tires
1. 95% sure I will go with Shinko 700
2. 5% toward Heidenau K60’s
1. Just as good off road and will be smoother for high speed travel… but not sure that is worth the huge price difference
12. Replace front brake line w/ SS
13. Replace brakes
14. Replace chain?
15. Rear brake reservoir protector – from Ninja?