2002-01-20

Buying the motorcycle

It is late in the evening and I've just bought a used 1999 Kawasaki KLR 650 from a Frenchman in Portland, Oregon. Deb tells him we are going to tour France later this year and he gives us advice on what to see and how to avoid the crowds of people taking their summer vacation. I haven't decided which bike I'm going to ride and I'm glad to have the option of the KLR. It will be good to get some miles on it to evaluate it and have the time to get it equipped. There isn't much time as the bikes are travelling by sea and have to be loaded in a shipping crate by mid-April. That gives me about three months to make a decision and have the bike fully prepared. I can always fall back on my BMW R80ST if there isn't enough time.

Home is 180 miles away. Deb will drive the car and I will follow on the KLR. It's dark and if there is a moon it isn't visible through the thick clouds. It's chilly too, a bit under 40 degrees, and the KLR doesn't have heated grips but I am dressed for the weather. I tell Deb, "No problem. It's not raining." I should know better.

Thirty miles out it starts raining. Nothing heavy, just the usual Seattle winter drizzle that comes down lightly and hangs thick in the air. My face shield fogs over making it nearly impossible to see. I forgot to bring along my anti-fog lotion. It's getting hard to follow her. The highway isn't lit and the only lights are my headlight, which doesn't seem very bright, and the tail lights of the cars ahead. Every tail light has a little red circle around it on the fogged-up visor. Headlights from cars coming the other way are blinding. I mentally curse my forgetfullness and make a note to be more careful. My feet are starting to feel damp and I discover the boots are not watertight as I thought. The temperature drops further and now I'm getting cold. My muscles tense up. The trip back becomes unpleasant and I begin watching the odometer to count down the miles to home. Not a good sign. I catch myself focusing too much on the tail lights ahead of me. Cold makes you stupid. I'm reminded of the times when I used to drive to work every day in Dallas on a Kawasaki 550 almost twenty years ago. It was a cold winter and a friend loaned me his snowmobile suit out of sympathy. The drive to work took an hour and by the time I got to the office I would be shivering, caked in ice, gloves frozen to the handlebars and all feeling in my hands would be lost. I had to run hot water over them for a few minutes before I could go to work. I tell myself this isn't nearly as bad as those days and, besides, if this makes me uncomfortable perhaps I'm not cut out for the journey.

It's getting even more difficult to see and I flip on the high beam switch. A few moments later I notice that something isn't right. Everything is black except for the red taillights ahead of me. I can't see the road. The headlight is gone and the instrument lights are gone too. I'm driving in traffic, at night, in the rain without a headlight. Deb notices too and we both pull over to take the next exit. Soon we're off the highway and in the shelter of a gas station. I think it must be a blown fuse and we look in the manual for the location of the fuse box. It's under the seat on top of the battery. Ok, how do I remove the seat? I check but there doesn't seem to be a key or latch anywhere. The manual doesn't help either. I decide to take off the side panels for a better look. Ah, the seat is held down with screws under the side panels. Off it comes. I open the fuse box and, sure enough, there is a blown 10-amp fuse. Lucky, Kawasaki included a spare 10-amp fuse. Why isn't there a spare for the 20-amp fuse next to it, then? No time to worry about that. The headlight is working again and I resolve to make it the rest of the way without the high beam. I feel miserable and I'm wondering if I made a mistake buying this KLR.

We get back on the highway and by now the rain has let up. Soon it stops completely and the visor is no longer fogged over. I begin to feel warmer. I can't help but smile as the ride home becomes enjoyable. It seems strange but this tiny incident has given me more confidence and I find myself leaning towards taking the KLR.