New Kwakker Clucks

Fred
4 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 16 hours ago

Day five of owning my new Kwakker, code name Dark Duck, has dawned and I decided to take her for yet another levee run, this time joining said levee road after the two Bridges and going straight over the Highway 12 part that goes to highway five on the right going north to Scarymento.

We have been covered in a blanket of dense fog for two weeks now and it is getting so bad there was a major accident on Vasco road yesterday when I returned from a business lunch at Eureka in Santa Clara that caused me a 3 hour delay getting home.

Everywhere else the sun is shining but all the way from the Vasco road entry off the 580 into the Green Mile up to Elk grove is dense fog that has not shifted at all.

The airs, it must be said were still very frigidly foggy!

I once again decided to don my Shark helmet for this adventure in the hope it would be warmer than the Open Face O'Neil helmet was, and it was so...

It was only when I was on said Levee road that I once again fully appreciated what a smart selection this KLR 650 has been for me.

First off, it pootles along between 37-45 Mph, just perfect for said shoddy road surfaces and second it sucked up all the torrid terrains like a duck takes to water.

My face was once more adorned with an idiots grin well before the first mile of said levee road was under the wheels, again…..

The third point of wonder was the handling. Boy, it is surprisingly superb on this sort of terrains.

I dunno how they did it, but this ride is nothing like the ride that was a 1998 KLR 650 I recall making in South Africa back in the day.

The KLR 650 replaced the KLR 600 which was a real shit bike, it must be said.

The KLR 650 Adventure ABS does not even look like a KLR 650 trail bike with her fairing on and the fog lights all lit up by the way.

In fact it looks like a CHP bike in the review mirror!

I was driving with the fog lights on and getting noticed as I was being given a wide berth by car borne loon toons, which I heartily appreciated.

Dark Duck was in her element on these back roads and I will now explore the rest of them that all meander with the Sacramento river up to the Elk Grove Geo.

This is the kind of riding I had been dreaming about and desiring in a big way!

I just want to thank my good wife Julie for making it all happen, Ta Bunz!!

I will now be doing many forays down the varied levee roads near me and ranging up to Rio Vista and Lodi.

Stay tuned for more sanguine English language butchering as I attempt to articulate said adventures aboard the good ship Dark (Blue) Duck…

Today the odometer was reading 93 miles total........

This thing has a massive gas tank by the way, a whole 6.1 gallons worth and the warning light allegedly comes on when there is a gallon or so left sloshing around inside her.

Having such a large tank means you do not have to fill her up that whole six gallons every time, only when you are going long distancing.

This lets you play around with weight options.

So far, I am finding the bike suspension settings kind of perfect for me. I am 220 naked and I guess with full regalia on with boots and jacket and all that it must be in the 245 lbs ballpark.

Today I checked tire pressures as part of my pre ride checks and noted tire type and tire model. They were Dunlop K750's on the back and front both set to 22 PSI.

I immediately set it to 28.5 at the front and 34 at the rear as most of my driving will be asphalt. Piss poor asphalt to be sure but asphalt none the less!

This did make the road handling a lot sharper and I felt more bumps than last time around as a consequence.

I also used an Apple USB A to USB C Cable for my iPhone 16 Pro which I plugged directly into the USB A port it had on the left side of the fairing, as my phone was complaining it had the scant 20% of powers left.

The cable can be rolled up in the USB compartment and has a little groove at the bottom for the cable when you clip the rubber cover back on, which is real handy.

The right side fairing has a slot for a cigarette lighter power outlet which I already plugged another USB outlet into. That one has one USB C and one USB A Port....

I also RTFM as I was having mucho confuzzles as to water levels for the radiator coolant and my KLX 300 had the coolant at the back and this bike has it at the front.

This was when I noticed the bike needed to be upright to measure the coolant level. Not so easy solo….I need to devise a wood block of the right thickness for that job.

I was surprised at the tire choice Kawasaki have made on these but so far I like how they ride on the tar and on the bust-up ag roads the 160 side roads are festooned with.

I am pretty sure they will be rather dire in mud.

I also put some more tools in the side panniers along with my USB based tire pump.

I will dig out my Kawasaki rear wheel spanner set as well and put them in a baggie inside a golf bag accessory I had been given at an ePlus golf event a few months ago.

This kwakker motor also takes the worst lowest grade gas, so 87 rated octane will be all I put in her during her operational life span.

This will also lower the running costs quite a bit!