I woke up in the morning and started hitting the phones, calling any motorcycle parts shop I could find online. We were in a remote area of northern California, but there is a lot of off road motorcycling and I was optimistic I would find a shop that had a replacement clutch cable. I phoned by buddy John for some advice on the part I would need and how to replace it. After calling around the closest place I could find was in Portland a full days ride away.
Being very discouraged I decided to try some of the local shops. Leggett was a small town, but had a number of mechanics and motorcycle shops. The first shop had no Kawasaki KLR parts, but said they could fabricate a clutch cable if I was out of luck. The guy at the next place I tried didn’t think they had any, but went into the back to dig around. He came back out with a fist full of clutch cables. “What model is yours?”, he asked. “2003 Kawasaki KLR 650”.
He digs around a and pulls one out “KLR 650, you’re in luck”. I was elated, the cable was around $10. Amazing how such an inexpensive part can stop you dead in your tracks. Lesson learned to carry an extra clutch cable next trip. We rip back to the gas station my bike was stored at and get to work.
A guy walked out who was in a band and we chatted for a while. His tour bus broke down at the gas station a few weeks ago and they were waiting for parts to come in before they continued their tour. Nice guy, helped me work on my bike, but I think he was bored as sin being stuck out here in the forest.
Once replaced we were on our way through the Redwood Forest.
Made it into Oregon (the picture was taken the day after on the way out, forgot to get one on the way in)
Our destination for the day was the Sand Dunes in Oregon. Its a vast expanse of powder soft sand that you can go offroading in. We rented quads and played in the sand all afternoon.
Back on the road we had killed much of the day by fixing my bike and playing in the giant sandbox. We wanted to see how far we could get in the day, but were making good time to be in Penticton for the wedding.
Back on the road we bumped into a father son group from Calgary. They were on a trip down to San Francisco and back – first father son trip for them, super nice guys. He was on the newer KLR and was curious how mine held up. Aside from gussling oil, eating batteries, and snapping clutch cables it was perfect!
We rolled into Newport in the early evening and grabbed a place to sleep for the night, finishing the night off with a great meal and beer.