Well after months of radio silence I should start doing my share of the work and put some input into the blog. As Terry has pointed out this project started over a year ago with a conversation while out road biking. Terry was telling me about the trans Labrador highway and his wish to ride it before they totally ruined it with asphalt. I was intrigued and quickly said ill get a bike and do it with you. Since that fateful ride I have purchased an 07 KLR 650 affectionately known as el diablo. Not sure why el diablo after all a 39 hp single is anything but a devil but I guess the red colour scheme lends to the name and as they point out on the KLR forums red is the fastest colour.
Back to the story. So after that fascinating preamble, Terry and I just completed our shakedown ride and camping trip this past week. I officially quadrupled my total lifetime motorcycle miles with out incident , so all is good it the word of crank shafts and clutches. I have to say Terry is a great ridding partner. His skill level, he has been riding since he was filling his pampers and the fact that the V Strom has buckets more HP than the diablo, he could have left me in Saint John. I am not sure if he was being patient or was so interested in his Spielberg calling that I benefitted from his reduced speed.
Anyway we had a really great ride with lots of stops to check out and photograph/video our beautiful Province. I had worked up in Perth/Plaster Rock area years ago selling an ED product(boner pills), yeah that one, but I had forgotten how beautiful the area is. We even had an offer from an old friend, Carter Kennedy to stop at his camp for a beer en route, unfortunately we didn't stop due to time constraints. I think Carter's camp is pictured on the blog.
When we arrived at Mt. Carleton campground it could have been a zombie apocalypse scenario. We passed a total of 1 car on out last hour of riding. The park had a whopping total of 5 human souls, 2 staff, us and 1 loan camper ( witness protection program anyone). Not real population dense for a 42,000 acre plus park in the middle of millions of acres of woods. Even the bunnies were lonely, as Terry found out while being stalked all night by a killer bunny.
When we finally arrived home I was a little road buzzy from the constant whine of el diablo and the wind noise ( forgot my ear plugs half the time). My shoulders were sore from death gripping the bars but I felt great and had a new found confidence that I can tackle the trans Labrador and I would be remiss if I didn't thank Kevin at Olympia Motor Sports for the awesome kit. The riding suits were exceptionally comfortable, dry and cool looking. At least I looked hard core.
The next challenge is the attach my new crash bars and skid plate from a vicious cycle.
Pete
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