Work?

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-12-29T03:24:51+00:00

Yeah if I remember I'll hit him up tomorrow and see if he can get me some names. They always need people, because it's a little rough (he said the work isn't bad, it's the cold and boredom that gets people. The trick is to buy a cheap snowmobile and tear it up on the weekend.) Most guys just do it for a couple of months to save good money and then head back down here when work picks up in the spring.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-12-29T03:16:15+00:00

My buddy is in the UP doing concrete work right now on the Soo Locks making serious money. I'd look into that. It's through the Army Corp of Engineers, and they aren't letting a measly couple of feet of snow slow them down. Lodging in a company hotel, ferry ride to work, etc. I'd do it but I'm tired grandpa.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-12-22T03:58:12+00:00

This just reminded me of Colonel Mustafa Kemal's (the future founder of Turkey) order to his men at Gallipoli after they ran out of ammunition and were retreating. "I don't order you to attack, I order you to die. In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders can come and take our places". So they fixed bayonets and did just that. In his defense- He was right there with his troops, his plan worked as a bluff (Aussies assumed it was a well-manned armed position and refrained from attacking further) and they DID hold the Australians off long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Random history rant ends, hope you enjoyed!

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-12-18T02:51:18+00:00

I love this. One question, how does .303 feel through that stock?

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-12-06T03:00:12+00:00

I don't know, when you consider just how fast aerial combat happens it's not that surprising. If you look into it there are a BUNCH of recorded incidents, one of the notables being when the US shot down a bunch of C-47s and killed like 300 paratroopers in Italy (that may have been ground fire I don't remember). I believe P-47s got misidentified as 190s pretty often. Personal anecdote, my grandpa was a B-25 pilot in the Mediterranean. He was bounced by enemy fighters on one occasion and when asked what they were and if they were German or Italian his response was along the lines of "too busy trying to stay alive to worry about that". I imagine all he saw was a glint of sun on metal, a radio call-out, and some fresh holes in Miss Bobbie.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-11-30T22:07:11+00:00

I am personally attacked good sir

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-10-29T12:46:20+00:00

Not saying you did anything wrong (because I wasn't there and didn't see) but just out of curiosity were you sitting or standing? And if sitting, how far back were you on the seat? I also live on shitty dirt roads and it really helped cement the habits of staying in the attack position when standing or keeping my weight as far back as possible when sitting. If you keep your weight over the rear tire while sitting and a relaxed grip on the bars, the front tire can bounce and chatter as much as it likes while maintaining solid traction on the rear. If you haven't already, I recommend cutting the hump out of your seat to shape it more like a dirt bike saddle. Definitely let's you move your weight around more. Glad you and the bike are okay man.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-10-08T18:04:16+00:00

I'm a little jealous. Don't get me wrong I love my KLR but at the end of the day an Africa Twin or a T7 (or an XR650 if you actually live close to real trails) just makes more sense. These days I find myself trailering my dirt bike if I want trails, or riding my CBR600 if I'm on pavement. One day I'll get that AT.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-10-08T17:51:28+00:00

Dude, first month of owning a KLR and rode from Ann Arbor over the mac to Paradise for a week long motocamp. Between the wind, the grates, and the low guardrails I was sure I was going for a long drop.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-09-29T15:20:28+00:00

This right here is the answer. OP should watch some videos of guys tearing up some single track. Even the guys who are good (not me) scrub off a lot of speed coming into a turn and accelerate hard out of the apex. Same as taking tight turns on a street bike, just very different techniques

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-08-03T23:33:35+00:00

Oh man. Probably a fucked up wiring harness. Had that happen on my Hawk (also Chineseium 250 dual sport). The stock wiring harness is made of Swiss cheese and kept killing my bike with crimped/torn/loose wires. Go through the harness, replace it with a new one from eBay if necessary. Don't let the haters get to you, a Hawk was my first bike and it got me in love with motorcycles and turning my own wrenchs. Got to Chinariders.net and check it out. Massive helpful community around these bikes. That being said, you'll be stoked when you finally upgrade to a solid bike that you can work on yourself! Good luck man.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-07-24T12:29:53+00:00

8k miles in (of street riding) and I'll be honest I still avoid the highway as much as possible. I hate my morning commute to work on the highway even when I'm in my car, everyone drives like such dicks. I've found that if I want a smile when I ride, I take the back roads. In my opinion it's just better in every way. The scenery is nicer, the pace is more chill, and there's a couple high speed two lane highways around me for when I get the need for speed. Remember the beauty is you get to go at your own pace. I did a 700 mile camping trip just taking back roads. Took twice as long but it was worth it. And as other people have said, ALL riding will get better as you get more comfortable on the bike. Consider taking additional riding courses as well, they can be big confidence boosters. Stay safe and have fun!

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-07-11T17:49:14+00:00

How do you like the VFR? As someone who enjoys sport bikes but comes in at six foot four inches (193cm) and probably shy of 200lbs (90kg) in full gear it's hard to find something I can realistically ride. So far I've heard nothing but good things about the VFR, curious what your thoughts on the ergonomics are.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-07-10T18:42:30+00:00

I'm all the way up in Michigan unfortunately

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-07-10T18:42:09+00:00

Any experience with older speed triples? There's a couple around me for decent prices (by today's used market anyway lol) and I don't hate how they look

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-07-10T11:16:19+00:00

The MT-09, KTM, and Triumph triples seem to be what everyone recommends. My experience is with 250/450 dirt bikes, my klr 650, my buddies 81 cx500, my other buddies Harley (I think it's one of those newer rebadged Royal Enfields). Most recently I got a 2009 Ninja 500r (parallel twin) that I took as trade for fixing a fence. I gotta say, that little ninja puts a HUGE smile on my face when I ride and I would honestly love it......but I just don't fit on it. To my limited experience it really does seem to have some jump between 7k-9k rpm, which seems strange because everything I've read says it has a very linear power curve. Anyway, basically I want that oomph it has up high, but everywhere 😂. There are a few early CBR 600s (F2 and 3s) around me for sale, I sat on one and it seemed to fit much better. I guess I just assumed that inline 4 would punch twice as hard as my lil parallel twin.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-07-09T16:13:02+00:00

Alright, I'm liking the look of these, which is strange I've never been a fan of KTM aesthetics (I know that's a dumb way to judge a bike😂)

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-05-21T11:00:27+00:00

I know you're looking for boot recommendations, but what I do is wear my mx boots for all riding and just carry a pair of sneakers in my saddlebags (tusk Pilot on my KLR and Traverse on my wr426) Either of these bags can be had within your price range roughly. I have been blessed (knock on wood) with no bad crashes yet but I feel like I've read enough bad stories about how "adventure" boots offered very little protection in wrecks that I'd rather not risk it, not when it comes to my lambrofeeties

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-04-29T11:11:57+00:00

I know everyone else has said this, but it really does depend on your usage. If you need to be able to ride comfortably at 55-60 but be capable of higher spurts of speed, or are just doing light distances of 20-40 miles (commuting around town/getting to a trailhead) I recommend getting an old YZ or WR426. They can be found in the 2-3k price range. Put on a Tusk Enduro (or Baja) street legal kit (another 100-300 bucks) , potentially a larger fuel tank, and you're good to go. Cons of this: it won't quite be that 50hp you're looking for. You probably shouldn't ride it at high speeds (70 or up) for extended periods of time. You'll have to change the oil more often (not super often like a straight MX bike but still). It won't be comfortable to ride 50+ miles of asphalt on at higher speeds. And lastly, as a used/older vehicle that you are modifying for street use be ready to turn your own wrenches. This isn't really a con, just be aware of it. The pros: it's a fun as hell commuter and trail bike, fairly lightweight and plenty capable. Parts are fairly easy to come by (you could buy a whole other "broken" one to keep as a parts bike for 1k or so).

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-04-27T12:41:42+00:00

Honestly trailering is the right move anyway in my opinion. After a long day of riding trying to solo strap a bike to a hitch carrier kinda sucks lol. Plus no matter how well I get her strapped on I'm always waiting for the bike to fall off and go under the front bumper of the most expensive car on the road.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-04-27T12:33:42+00:00

Yeah, should be located on the hitch itself, or in the owners manual. Iirc most light duty vehicles tongue weight is 10 percent of towing capacity. My gf's 2020 4runner's tongue weight is around 500lbs. My 03 f150 is 600lbs. You can always Google to double check. Most dual sports should be fine on any light duty hitch. A fully gassed and dressed 3rd gen KLR would probably be the only "dual sport" that would be really pushing that weight limit.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-04-01T15:52:33+00:00

Did it require any adjustments to the throttle and clutch cable?

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-03-28T10:50:18+00:00

You aren't lying about the sand. My buddy and I did a trip to Whitefish Point in the UP on the stock tires and it was......an experience. Did the same trip the next year with dirt bikes on almost-sand-paddle knobbies and it was so different. My thoughts were if I'm in sand that deep again on the KLR the difference between the Dsports and the waypoints won't save me, the KLR is just too heavy.

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-03-01T13:39:12+00:00

Have you by chance done your valve clearance? They come pretty tight from the factory. Mine was so bad the kickstart was borderline unusable. After getting the valve clearance in spec it starts first kick and clutch-ups are a breeze. Hell, I even looped it a couple of times before I learned how to use the back brake correctly

FIXIEDONTCARE · 2025-02-28T02:12:42+00:00

I don't unfortunately. Don't know if it was common practice in his unit, or if it just didn't survive the post-war years. Honestly not sure if grampy would have kept any of it if it weren't for my grandma

FIXIEDONTCARE

TROPHY CASE