The Old Girl – Rocinante
This area is to be devoted, shrine-like, to my trusty 1987 KLR 650. I picked her up in Toronto back in 2007 for $1400 as a summer run around. However I took her with me to Nigeria in the back of a container in 2007 and so she’s seen some African roads as well. Since late 2009 she has been resident in the Netherlands and in the fall of 2009 she carried me across Europe through 16 countries (well 15 plus Kosovo) from Rotterdam to Istanbul and back. In the 3 weeks and one day through 7300km this old bike never once had any mechanical problems. The only time she struggled was at 1800 metres in the freezing snow, slush and cold when we nearly got stuck in the mountains of eastern Montenegro. Typical female, she prefers the warmth by the beach! As a reward she had a complete makeover in 2010 in Ireland as you can see from the image on the left.
Trips and modifications that I have done to/with her are listed below. I’m going to try and keep her alive as long as possible, truly a super bike.
Modifications List
1.) T-Mod
2.) Doohickey replaced
3.) Trailtech Vapor instrument cluster installed
4.) Temp sensor installed on water inflow tube
5.) 17″ front brake disk
6.) 38 tooth back sprocket installed
7.) 16 tooth drive sprocket installed
8.) Eagle Manufacturing Fork Brace
9.) OEM Fuse box Replaced
10) Sump Plate added
11.) Replaced Ignition & Fuel Tank Cap
And finally, here’s an old pic from 1987 – just setting out on my 1st ever road trip from Nairobi in Kenya to the Uganda border. The ride is a mint condition Yamaha XT500, 1979 vintage. Only kick start and decompression lever for help. Have to kick her to top dead centre using the decompression lever before you try to start her, if you don’t, the recoil will send you into orbit with a sprained ankle.
