The KLR600 was made in 1984-1986. The only change during the three year production period was the addition of the electric starter in 1985 and 1986. However, the 1984 model had the Kawasaki Automatic Compression Release (KACR), thus eliminating the need for a manual decompression lever that was found on many large-bore thumpers at the time.
Unfortunately for the KLX250, it missed out on the three-day Smokey Mountain 500 Adventure Ride that I did instead on my 1985 KLR650. Perhaps unfortunate for me, as well, considering I lost out on one whole day when the clutch cable snapped!
However, the days I was able to ride provided quite a bit of technical challenge including some fairly long river crossings. Here's a video of our group...then down from eight to six...tackling one of the river crossings:
Standing, sitting, fast, slow....technique is whatever works for the rider. However, I always liked the "textbook" technique as written by Robert Wicks and Greg Baker in their book, "Adventure Riding Techniques...The essential guide to all the skills you need for off-road adventure riding." It goes like this...
We kicked off our ride of the Smokey Mountain 500 Sunday Morning (August 25, 2019). The Smokey Mountain 500 runs between three points:
Two Wheels of Suches
Suches, Georgia
Cherohala Mountain Trails Campgrounds
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge
Stechoah, North Carolina
Our track ran from Two Wheels of Suches to Tellico Plains to Stechoah and then back to Suches.
DAY 1 (Green Track)
Here's a quick video at the starting point.
...and a few photos.
I drove up to Georgia on Saturday, but stayed at a hotel in Dawson. I would have liked to stay in one of the 2WS cabins, but they have a weekend requirement that two nights need to be reserved. I took my camping gear, but the weather was really rough...a condition that continued throughout the ride. Some of the riders had breakfast at 2WS over our preride meeting. Kickstands were supposed to be up by 8:30 but we weren't rolling until around 9:30. We started off with eight riders. Only two riders, including me, had the track on our GPSs.
This dog was just a pup two years ago when I rode the Hooch.
Right out of the gate, a rider encountered suspension problems resulting from the improper installation of lowering links. Fortunately they were adjustable dog bones so we were able to lift the rear of the bike back up. That cost us the better part of an hour.
It wasn't too much longer before one of the riders lost control and went down the steep embankment of the Chatahoochee Forest, just before crossing from Georgia into Tennessee. He had a leg injury, but we were able to get the bike up and out and we rushed to Tellico Plains on the highway so he could have it attended to.
I was first at the crash site and turned my video on...and left it on until we got the bike out. Following are the three video pieces showing the initial minutes after the wreck through when we got it out.
That was pretty much the whole story behind day one of the SM500. The rider that crashed had his wife come pick him up at the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground. He suffered some fairly significant leg injuries but is going to be fine.
That brings us to the Campground. I've spent a lot of time in the area, but usually stay in Robbinsville so I've never been there before. Nice place. Here's a quick video on the Cherohala Mountain Trails:
DAY 2 (Yellow Track)
Day 2 was the Yellow Track from CMTC over to Ironhorse. Unfortunately, I snapped my clutch cable six miles into the track. Snap!
Here is a quick video leading up to my decision to leave the track and ride back to Tellico Plains to find a new cable.
While there were motorcycle shops in Tellico Plains, they were all closed on Monday. Even the Kawasaki dealer that was 20 miles out from Tellico was closed.
Fortunately, I found a shop in Robbinsville called Wheelers Performance that was open. That was over 50 from Tellico, although much of that was on the enjoyable Cherohala Skyway. By the time I got there, I'd clocked over 70 miles...without a clutch! They only had a cable for a KLR650, but we were able to fit it fine.
At that point, there was no way I would find the other riders so I spent the rest of the day riding some of the local tracks including the Tail of the Dragon and part of Moonshiner 28.
Ultimately, I met back up with the mates at Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge.
Day 3 (Red Track)
We had rain every single day on this ride, but Day 3 (Robbinsville to Suches) was by far the wettest. Good grief!
This is a photo of two KLRs that rode...a 2016 and my 1985...also the only guys who loaded the track in their GPS.
This was my first trip using a chest pack. It was a little over $20 on Amazon and worked great! I got it because none of my tank bag fit that well on the KLR. You don't even know it's there!
Here is some video of one of the longer water crossings:
Here is some video of some rocky forest road:
We ended the day back at Two Wheels of Suches.
Being a weekday I was able to have a single-night cabin reserved for me when I rolled in. That was nice. I had the first one in the picture and it was right next to the bath house, so I took a shower and went straight to bed.
Unfortunately, the crash situation on Sunday and my cable problemo on Monday left me a little unsatisfied about the ride. The other KLR rider felt the same and we had preliminary planned to actually just start it over Wednesday morning....but going the other way. That didn't work out because, when I called my wife to tell the plan, she advised that we had a hurricane bearing down on us and the family would prefer if I came home and got to work on our hurricane plan. So much for that plan.
However, the KLR Forum Group is running the Smokey Mountain 500 next month so I'm now thinking that I could join their group.
On the recent Smokey Mountain 500 Adventure Ride, I was able to get over to Robbinsville, North Carolina and ride the Tail of the Dragon. The Tail of the Dragon is an 11 mile stretch of US129 in North Carolina and Tennessee that has 318 curves.
The Killboy photographers took a lot of pictures, but they charge six bucks for each so I only got four:
Got my stickers too!
I'm trying to get more blue into the overall look of the old KLR due to the blue seat. I have a set of new blue fork boots that'll help.
The first organized ride for the 1985 Kawasaki KLR600 is upon us. We'll be riding the Smoky Mountain 500 starting this weekend.
The SM500 starts Sunday morning in the North Georgia Mountains at Two Wheels of Suches and then tracks 160 miles to Telico Plains, Tennessee where we'll stay at the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campgrounds. On Monday, we'll get up and roll 136 miles through many of the back roads and trails along the Cherohala Skyway over to Robbinsville, North Carolina where we'll spend the evening at the Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge. On Tuesday, we'll finish off the SM500 with a 165 mile ride back to Suches.
The Trip North...
My trip up to Suches will be about 550 miles. As I sit here on Tuesday, I have still not decided whether I will ride the KLR to Suches or trailer it...and if I trailer it, use my toy hauler or my flatbed.
Riding would take two days, starting Friday, and avoid Interstates. On day one, I'd ride to Waycross, Georgia (250 miles and stay in a hotel. From Waycross, I would ride to Gainsville, Georgia (262 miles, 36 miles south of Suches) and also stay in a hotel. Staying in hotels prevents me from lugging camping gear that far on the motorcycle. Staying in the hotel short of Suches, rather than riding the remaining short distance, is because they require two-night reservations on weekends for their cabins.
Trailering would take one day on mostly Interstates; eight hours straight through to Two Wheels. The ride north would be on a weekend so traffic would [hopefully] be better. If I trailer I have several options to camp at Two Wheels...since I can't have a single night cabin. I can set up my toy hauler, take tent and camping gear, or just sleep the one night in the back of my truck. Trailering would require me to have a place to put my truck/trailer over the three day ride. Fortunately, Two Wheels has confirmed that I can park it there since, as you'll see below, I've reserved a room for when we get back.
Decisions, decisions...I've got a few days. Stay tuned and I'll update.
Accommodations...
Same as my trip north, I really don't want to lug camping gear. I know some folks pack their adventure bikes up with everything including the kitchen since, but that gear along with my trail supplies, clothing, etc. would take away from the ride for me. Our stop overs all have rooms or cabins to rent, so that's the plan.
I have a cabin reserved at Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground on Sunday night and a semi-private room reserved at Iron Horse on Monday night. I also have a cabin reserved at Two Wheels of Suches when we get back on Tuesday. Being a weekday, I could book a single night at Two Wheels.
This is the way to go for me.
The Ride....
There are eight signed up in our group; I think only one has done the SM500. I've never ridden the SM500 and am really looking forward to it. More on the ride when I ultimately get to the ride report!
Over the years of new motorcycle I had a ritual of looping the lake (Lake Okeechobee) as a means to both get acquainted to the new model and a jump on the running in. This week I did the loop on my 1985 Kawasaki KLR600...350 miles. With 27,000 miles on the odometer, it's well beyond it's running in, but I still thought the loop would be helpful to get a good feel for how the bike operates on longer rides and, perhaps, road trips.
While on this loop, I typically make a stop on the Lake at the Port Mayaca Locks which are located on the east side north of Pahokee. There are several scenic drives and/or parking areas around the Lake where you can drive up onto the dike and look at the lake. With a dual sport you can ride down to the shoreline as I do.
The following video is a brief tour of the Port Mayaca Lock:
But how did the motorcycle do?
In advance, I should note that it was a very wet day. I would estimate that about half of the trip was under a typical Florid deluge. That doesn't keep me off the road; lightning is a different story.
I'm running 50/50 dual sport tire on the front and rear. I have a Dunlop D605 on the front and a Kenda K784 Big Block on the rear. These tires did as well as I can ask of them on wet roads. Overall, the rainfall didn't interfere with either the bike's performance or handling.
Ergos for a long ride were definitely improved by the addition of the higher Tusk T-10 Handle Bar (ATV Sport Bend). In addition, the higher (8.10 kg/mm vs 5.0 kg/mm stock) rear spring rate RaceTech Shock Spring was as much an improvement out on the highway as it's been on the trails. The seat is very mushy that sort of led me to the advance conclusion that it might be comfortable, but it really wasn't; not terrible, but really more of what one would expect in a thin dual sport seat. I have one of the MadDog Seat Cushion that I might give a try. Those seat cushions are cheap (like $20) but they would provide a little more stiffness in the stock seat.
As I've discussed in several places in this blog, I am less than happy with the SuperTrapp E.A.R. Muffler. I have repacked the muffler and removed three of the eight disks in an effort to quiet it down. For purposes of packing, I used a ceramic packing material, rather than the typical fiberglass mats. When done I was right on the fence of it being okay.
On this loop, the decibel seemed to increase. I wasn't wearing ear plugs and it literally became annoying by about the halfway point. Did the decibel level actually increase or is it just my sensitivity being next to it for so long? Not sure. This is something that I need to get to a conclusion on. I just do not like loud motorcycles.
The engine ran perfectly fine. Consistent, no weird noises. This is not a top end motorcycle. I was on good paved roads all day, and my GPS trip meter reflected a top speed for the day of 77 mph. The motorcycle ran okay at 75 mph, but it was definitely working. I'm not sure that I want to take in on the Interstates.
One of my modifications was to change the gearing to the stock 15/43 (from 13/43). I'm going to think about possibly going to a 16t countershaft sprocket or some other combo to settle it down at highway speed. However, I really don't want to give up too much of that excellent bottom end that the 600 offers.
The temp gauge has the typical KLR weirdness about it, but pretty much stayed at mid-temp level and did not go into the red in city traffic. I felt no excessive heat coming off the engine.
Fuel usage was interesting. The first time that I had to go to reserve on the tank was 110 miles and I rolled into a station and put 2.3 gallons in; the tank's total capacity is 3.0 gallons. That's about 47 mpg. The next two times, it went to reserve at about 90 miles and each of those times I put about 1.8 gallons for 50 mpg. So the mpg was fairly consistent, but the reserve was off 20 miles, which I find interesting. I'll be thinking about that, because one thing about the bike is someone in it's long history coated the inside of the tank. It looks like a good job, but some of that coating may have gobbed up the petcock and/or it may be flaking away and causing blockage.
The brakes aren't getting any better. I have not yet found a rebuild kit for the front caliper, but can resort to the OE parts. The rear drum is really just plain confusing. It's just a simple drum brake...fresh shoes, burnished drum, screwed down to the max. I should be able to lock them up with a touch and they don't. Obviously, I'm not done with the brakes on this motorcycle.
Somehow the high-beam light on the dash, which I've assumed was blown, seems to now be working. The signals feel a little on the slow side, which is not a new observation. When I had it all apart I declined to stick a new relay in there (right under the tank). It's only a $10; not sure what I was thinking. I'm currently waiting on a new brake switch spring for the rear brake pedal that's on back pedal. My fault as I don't think I put that on right when I had that area apart. Cheap part though, but I had to keep that in mind.
Overall, it was a good day (wish the weather was better), I came away with confidence in the 35 year old motorcycle and a list of points that will help make a road trip on the KLR600 more pleasant both involving the motorcycle and my gear situation. I am currently thinking about riding it to the Smoky Mountain 500 ride that starts in Suches, Georgia in a couple weeks. At this point, it's not the motorcycle that's an issue; rather, there are some logistical issues about this trip and I'm really not sure that I can physically handle a 550 mile road trip without splitting it up, which is certainly a possibility. Stay tuned because that ride may very well be the next feature in this blog.
Bonus Video
Pull off at Jackass Crossing to put my rain coat on.
