Tiger Lilly & The Plan?

When I landed in the US I was still under two minds as to which bike I was going to choose, the options for my travels were down to two bikes. A new KLR650 or a nearly new BMW650 GS. Both these bikes have been tried & tested by earlier adventurers who had completed such journeys. Whilst I was in Hong Kong I had kept an eye on a fully kitted out BMW which was going for a song in north Phoenix but I was a week too late in arriving to the US & lost out on it. She was tempting as the price was far too good to ignore inspite of the challenges associated with this bike. Also while reading some blogs on Horizons Unlimited I had come across a report where a fellow rider that had been in an accident & had to wait 3 weeks for parts to arrive from Germany & were $2500 lighter just for the front part of the bike. So other people were kind of making the choice for me.

Whatever one hears about American car/bike salesman is true. This one guy that I had some email contact with from Hong Kong cemented that opinion, he had mailed me a price of $5300 out the door price but when I went to visit him the price was now $2000 higher. What a twat! He thought that I had just landed from some hillbilly village & would just accept his price for it, basically told him to naff off. Made a call to a Kawasaki dealer on the outskirts of town in Awatukee & spoke to a chap called Bob who gave us a out of the door price of $5200 & no bullshit for a 2008 KLR650. Just jumped on it & asked him to get the bike ready & that we would come to pick it tomorrow.

The next day my brother & I drove out to the bike dealer & Big Bob was just as straight talking type of a guy that I like, no nonsense stuff. We sorted the paperwork out, ordered some extras & finally after a years planning I was on the bike. Only I can plan such things & time things perfectly, the minute I started the ride back home was the only day it ever rained in Phoenix the entire 3 months that I was there!! Lol. The ride back was a bit daunting for me as I had not ridden this type of a bike before & new tires on a just rained freeway was fun. The stark difference to the bike I rode back home was there to see, it made me realise that the bike was built for stamina not speed or handling, there would be no knees down to the tarmac on this one, well maybe not now but a bit later anyway.

Every bike car must have a name & in the past I have always done so, after posting a few shots of her (female for sure ) Ginger Stu came up with the suggestion Tiger which I have adopted to Tiger Lilly. A combination of my passion for my Rugby club back home & my favourite flowers. Sorry no reference to any famous celebrity daughter back home in the UK. I am sure she is as fascinating & simple maybe not but must ride just as good!

Farkles Farkles & more Farkles!! Every overland traveller needs as many of these so I am no different. You name it I have got it well I think anyway, if I haven't then too late now & I don't need then anyway.

• A gel seat to cushion my ample backside. A bitch to put one & my butt still hurts after a 6 day ride.
• Larger touring windscreen so that the wind just catches the lip of my helmet & throws my head back every time the wind blows.
• Metal off road pegs to stand on & replace the crappy rubber ones that came standard with the bike.
• Steel bash plate that has had plenty of use so far in the 3 months on the bike, nasty rocks better watch out!
• Engine guard with highway pegs to give me the easy rider feeling when on straight roads! The movie did not have a happy ending!
• A Garmin GPS 2720 to enable me to get lost listening to a cute British voice nicknamed my Lurvar. Unlike a wife or partner you can tell her to naff of & get away with it, even better mute the bitch!
• Barkbusters hand guards & lever protectors to drop the bike without a care for the levers. Damn I now have redundant spares.
• Hot grips man you have to have em, a total life saver as tried & tested whist been snowed on in Northern Arizona.
• An idiot proof battery from the modern times. The standard one needed topping up! Last seen the same time as the Dodo!
• A $5 cigarette lighter plug thingy from Ace hardware with some free wire. Tourtech price $50 & not in stock for weeks!
• A centre stand for necessary repair work & to be able to keep her up on tilted angled roads.
• Saddle bags in the front for more junk that I do not need but they look cool & put some weight back on the front & prevent unnecessary wheelies!
• A new set of Michelin Anakees after the standard Dunlop's were worn a fair bit after 3500 mile in the US.
• Spares, tubes, nuts & bolts you name it I think I got it. Kind of a moving spares department. One never has enough I guess.
• Last but not least the First set of Jesse Luggage on a 2008 KLR650. Al from Jesse a great guy, after I kept on badgering him for weeks he succumbed & sold me his demonstration set with a small boot & rack. What's even better he took time out on his day off to install them for me. Thanks Al.

The fun part for me was installing all this on the bike. As I had not done much mechanical work prior to this it was a refreshing challenge for me. Dave a friend back home in Phoenix was a bit baffled with me taking apart a brand new bike & putting it all back together though. One must know ones ride intimately to get the most pleasure I say!! How intimately well that is your choice, one night stands are fun to!

The route & plan is simple, make it up as I go along & go with the flow like a true Piscean. I do have a list of places that I want to see in each country but I am fairly flexible as to the specifics of it. I plan to meet other riders & even travellers & local people & listen to what they have to say. I left on the 2nd of May, see late as normal with any report! Hit Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, skirt Honduras, Fly through San Salvador & hit Nicaragua. I plan to do this in 10 weeks or so. 2nd week of July sorry I take a break & fly back to the US for a family vacation with My Mom, Sister, Nephew & brother for 2 weeks. Fly back to Nica & head down to Costa Rica & Panama.

South America has always fascinated me & I cannot wait to get there. The basic plan is to ride down the west coast of the continent with a mix of the Andes & the coast line. Head for Videma for the Horizons Unlimited meeting in early December & head down to Ushaha in Tierra del Fuego for Xmas & Maybe New Year. After that I plan to ride up the east Coast through Argentina & head for Rio in time for Carnivale 2009. Cannot miss it as it starts on my Birthday which is Feb 21st & if the whole country is celebrating it then it would be rude not to attend!!

The plan after that! Well there are no plans! I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Options Options??