KLRing AROUND THE WORLD

March 24, 2002

Dr. Gregory W. Frazier

Email: gregfrazier@yahoo.com

Exclusive to Dual-Star

     “Ride the hard road.”  That was the hypothesis behind building a KLR 650 for a series of articles for the magazine MOTORCYCLE CONSUMER NEWS (March-May, 2002). 

     Looking at a globe, I saw two “hard” places that could put the KLR to the test:  Africa and Russia.  Both had questionable to horrible roads, long stretches with the possibility of no gas, spare parts or dealers.  Temperatures could range from 120 degrees above to 40 degrees below zero, depending on the time of the year. It was with these hard places in mind we modified the Kawasaki KLR 650 to meet the challenges of a hypothetical hard ride.

     After the project was finished, the KLR was resting in my studio, ready to make the trip, but with no real plan to ever do so.  It was a magazine project, and the articles had been written.  At best, it might be slated for sale to someone who could appreciate the hours of preparation and numerous parts added for the long trip.

      One night, in October 2001, while I was working in my studio on another motorcycle, I looked at the silent KLR, and wondered if it had any feelings.  I thought, “If a motorcycle can have feelings, the KLR looks sad.”   Sad, like a race horse bred and trained to race, but never given a chance to enter or run on a race track.

     On the wall beside my bed in my sleeping room I have pinned a map of the world.  That night, before I turned out my reading light, I looked at the large empty expanse of Russia, where I had not adventured before.  I shut off the light, but between the map and the sadness I had felt when looking at the KLR hours before, I could not sleep.

     At 2:00 in the morning I found myself in my office, pouring over my fiancés, mapping out a route and marking lines through the weeks of late spring and summer of the coming year.  I estimated that if I sold some things, promised to write several articles for magazines and bought my airline tickets early and cheap enough, I might make a fourth ride around the world, using the KLR that was ready to go.  By 4:00 AM I had arrived at a decision point. “Why not do it?  With no wife, no kids, not even a dog, when in my life will I ever another opportunity to make a motorcycle ride around the world? When I ‘retire?’  I’ll be too old by then.”  So I started to make firm plans, put some things up for sale and talking to sponsors, hoping that possibly I could borrow the shortfall of funds needed to fill in the gap of my planned budget.

     My previous three rides around the world had taken me literally to the ends of the earth; the North Cape of Norway, Cape Agulhaus, South Africa, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, Ushuaia, Argentina, and Bluff, New Zealand.  On those rides I had most often used BMWs.  The idea of trying a Kawasaki was intriguing, especially because it was the motorcycle I had seen second most often as the rider’s choice for long rides, second after BMWs.

     I knew the BMWs were not perfect for long rides, having had just about everything that could go wrong with an older one go wrong on my long rides.  The Kawasaki globe riders I had met on the roads around the world nearly always said they had experienced little if any problems with their KLRs, other than the usual tires, batteries and chains.  This was a far different story than I had heard from the BMW riders who lamented on broken drive shafts, failed electrical systems and transmissions.  In comparison, the KLRs seemed nearly bulletproof, and with the modifications we had made to the MCN project bike, mine seemed even more so.

     In early March of 2002, the KLR 650 was loaded into a shipping container in Orlando, Florida after a week of cruising and making some last minute changes recommended by Dual-Star during Bike Week at Daytona.  Between March and May it will slowly make its way across the Atlantic to eventually end up in Heidelberg, Germany, where I will reunite with it and head to North Africa for some fun in the sands of the Sahara.

     I hope to return to Heidelberg towards mid-June, where I will re-shoe with a second set of Avon tyres, do a tune-up, then head north to Latvia where I will cross into Russia for a fast run to the eastern seaport town of Vladivostok. 

     The Heidelberg to Vladivostok leg of the trip will be my first non-solo long ride.  I will be joined by AMA motorcyclist of the Year (1996) and BMW sage Robert Higdon and “Mr. Ironbutt” Michael Kneebone.  Higdon will be on an older, but completely rebuilt, BMW R80 G/S, while Kneebone will be using a 2002 BMW F650 GS Dakar.   These two BMWs are the most popular choice for riders making global rides.   Our “Battle of the Titans” will find us having to traversing eight time zones in less than three weeks as we cross Russia within the time limitations of our visas.  Once we leave Germany we can expect to find no BMW or Kawasaki dealers for parts or service, so any breakdown may result in having to abandon the motorcycle, with the pilot finishing their adventure on a train or airplane.

      Once we reach Vladivostok, we will have less than four days to arrange for crating and shipping our motorcycles out of Russia and back to the USA, where our paths will separate and each rider will make their way back to their respective starting point.

     I expect to cover at least 18,000 ground miles on this fourth ride around the world; the mileage being what the Guinness people say is required for a circumnavigation of the globe.  However, I will not be pursuing a Guinness record, because I will not ravel to global antipodal points from my start point due to time and money limitations.  I am also not interested in a Guinness record, nor have I been on my three previous rides around the world.  That does not mean I pay little respect to those other motorcyclists who have gone to the considerable expense and time to get their names in this record book.  Some of my very good friends hold honest Guinness Records and I respect them for their achievements.  What it does mean is that I have seen the Guinness Record TV show often enough to know that with a record and $10.00 I can get a cup of coffee at the Park Central Hotel in New York.  Maybe at some time in the future I will pursue a Guinness record as the motorcyclist who rode around the world most often, or be the first to do so with a dozen nails shoved up his nose while bouncing a basketball and wearing a red shirt.

     Besides covering the 18,000 miles, I will ride on four of the seven continents, and do so within three months, thereby averaging 6,000 miles per month, not difficult when using the Interstates of the USA or the Autobahns of Europe, but a bit more of a test when crossing parts of the former Soviet Union or deep sand in Africa.  I also hope to keep my budget for ground costs (not counting crossing water) at $1,000.00 per month, and make the entire ride around the globe on less than  $8,000.00.  I will carry a tent, sleeping bag and meager cooking equipment to minimize my eating and sleeping costs.

     This fourth global ride will be chronicled on my website at www.horizonsunlimited.com/gregfrazier under “What’s New.”  However, here at the Dual-Star site I will post KLR specific reports.  These will be of a more technical nature specific to modifications that were made to the KLR 650, as well as what add-ons did and did not work.  I have also chosen Dual-Star to serve as my “safety net” for technical support and supplying of parts if needed along my route.  I want to make it clear that while Dual-Star has supplied some of the parts that were used on the project bike for the MCN articles, this was not the reason for me selecting them as my support center. I am no shill for Dual-Star, nor do they need any.  It was after I analyzed the Dual-Star track record, in-house inventory, technical expertise and logistical and management capabilities that I made the decision to use them over other supply and shipping distributors.

     I do not plan on carrying a laptop computer, so will have to depend upon Internet access through cyber cafes or other public access points along my route, thus postings may be sporadic.  Nor will I be carrying a satellite telephone or GPS.  I have managed three previous motorcycle rides around the world without any of these electronic devices, so feel confident and comfortable without them on this fourth global loop.  Some say I am old fashioned, but to me these are just items that are excess weight subject to theft, damage and the consumption of time.  Sadly, I must also say I do not carry a compass or water purifier, other paraphernalia and gizmos I find unnecessary, and possibly the subject of future articles on the topic of global motorcycle travel.  I generally operate on the assumption that the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west, and water can be purchased along the way or substitutes can be found, thereby saving space and weight. 

     If there are any KLR riders along my route, I would be happy to connect with them, or other global riders for that matter.  Please understand that due to time and monetary considerations I may not be able to respond to email received while moving.  Upon my return to the USA in early August I hope to be able to answer any questions followers may have.

Letting the Good Times Roll,

Dr. Gregory W. Frazier, from the road, around the world on a Kawasaki KLR 650

www.horizonsunlimited.com/gregfrazier

Copyright 2002 By Dr. Gregory W. Frazier