"Dirt Biking!"

Having the afternoon off and feeling the need to ride, and wanting to ride somewhere I hadn't been before, I took the KLR up some back roads behind Pine Flat Lake. The road I took is called Big Creek road and it travels from Pine Flat to the top of the 4 lane on Hwy 168 just short of Shaver Lake. It is dirt and has a, well, "big creek" along side of it. It's a beautiful ride as you can see.The road heads up into the mountains. At the top I stopped and had a snack. There was a wonderful view of the surrounding hills back down toward Pine Flat Lake.

Soon the road turned from dirt to asphalt. But, as I got further up into the tree line, I hit snow. I tried to ride through the snow for a couple miles, staying in the ruts of the previous vehicles, but the snow just became deeper. I had only gone half of the 30 miles I need to travel on the road to get to my next turn off. I decided to turn around and go back the way I had came. On the way down I stopped at a nice shady spot along the road and enjoyed the view for a while. All in all, it was a nice ride even if I had only been able to ride up to the snow line.

The "Dirt Bike"

So, as I was waiting for the ACE to get finished, I got itchy fingers to ride. I've been wanting a small dual-sport so when I came across a KLR 250, well, I just couldn't help myself! She was a dirty thing when I got it. The previous owner had "ridden it hard and put it away wet" as they say. It was caked with mud, had broken levers and foot pegs, bent handlebars, broken tail light, and a rear fender held on by zip ties. But she ran great! So I bought her, cleaned her up and fixed the parts. And been loving it ever since. She's a blast on the mountain roads.

Updates

Been a while since I've posted anything, so I wanted to catch up on some things. First off, I've been giving the ACE a new look.

I've been working with my brother, Joel, (well, ok, he's been working, I've been supervising) to install some ACE TOURER exhausts on the ACE. I also bought a Mustang solo seat to replace the 2-up Corbin Tourer and give it a sleeker look. Joel also hard mounted the saddlebags down and back. The bike was looking good!

I planned to take it in February on a trip to Phoenix for a conference there. I got it as far as Palm Springs before I noticed that the exhaust mounts on the right side had broken. So, my dad and brother came and got it and I met up and went on with my wife and in-laws who were traveling by car. Very disappointing, I know.

Since the Joel's been reworking the mounts and finishing up the changes that were left off for the trip. The bike should be wrapped up by next week.