New ride!

Last week I sold my KLR, and as luck would have it, the perfect bike came up for sale at a great price. Behold my new WR250R (not exactly as shown--mine's a 2009 and I never looked so stylish). This will be a wonderful wee beast for exploring the more technical trails out in Lanark County.

Initial ride impressions at the dealer were "wow". It's a major change from the fix-it-with-a-rock-and-screwdriver, tank-like feel of the KLR. EFI, about 60 bs lighter, supple suspension, and a much tighter cockpit make the bike feel more like a mountain bike with engine. I'm going to have to learn to ride all over again.

Lots of plans for this bike. First will be a larger tank to enable the typical back-country trek distances around here. I will fabricate a skid plate and some other doodads as well. ADVRider has an epic thread on mods to the bike, so no shortage of ideas. I'm also keen to try adapting some LED headlights to provide more flood. The lights I use for night riding on my mtn bike make it almost as good as riding in daytime.

Insurance proved a lot cheaper too. It comes in around $500 for all-in, which is about half the price of the KLR for comparable coverage.

My bro and I pick up the bike on Wednesday--can't wait to really ride it!