Wherever I May Roam - One Woman Livin' on a DR650

yes, sounds like a plugged pilot jet. next time it starts sputtering, put the choke on. if that improves the problem, there's your answer.

Kid's got guts. no wait.......woman's got guts.

fantastic read, eagerly awaiting the next report!

With your hiccupping maybe have the choke looked at, as I notticed a few pages back the choke knob seemed to be out a bit too far. Also, as already mention, have your kick stand switch bypassed so it won't affect anything electrical...........and also you clutch switch if it hasn't already.

It will be a process of elimination unfortunately. Another thing, it maybe the pickup coil or stator on its way out.. It can be checked with a multi meter.

Aren't you glad I narrowed it down for you.

good luck and a good read. Cya

So madam, ¿donde estas now? Still on the road or recuperating from the trip?

great report, the worst thing that has happened so far is still better than working anyday...

Hey guys, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet or anything, been busy here in Portland finishing some stuff so I can really leave this region. The place where I'm staying isn't any sort of permanent "home base" so I can't leave my stuff here - meaning it has to get sold. I just sold the Rebel yesterday after over a month of it being on craigslist!

I have some bike maintenance to do, a few odds and ends to get rid of, and I have to get a rack for my mermite panniers. Then I can mosey.

I have been very eager to get on the road!

Updates will be forthcoming, I have a video in the works but that will take some time to set up.

Thanks!

Thank you, glad you're enjoying it!

Yeah, I see cleaning the carb in my future before I head out in case it's a clogged jet, I'll look at the choke then. I'll probably bypass the kick stand switch when I do the electrical go-through, that stuff needs cleaned and inspected. It's tricky to narrow things down, especially when there's no rain to make it display the symptoms currently, I'll just do what I can and hope for the best. Thanks for the tips!

There is no recuperating, this is my life until I run out of money! I'm not in any real hurry though, so I can spend some time in various locations with no real consequence... helps keep my sanity.

I never regret being unemployed, even when in the distant past I've been scraping up change from the couch to buy gasoline. There is not a single time in my life where I've woken up and said "Damn, I really wish I'd spent the last few months staring at the inside of a cubicle, listening to coworkers complain about their personal drama, working hard for somebody else's profits and getting no respect for it."

Work is necessary sometimes, for sure, people gotta eat, bike's gotta eat, but I think if more people realized that the ideal situation is for work to serve times of idleness, instead of the other way around, we'd be a lot happier. I suggest everybody give it a try at some point in their lives.

One of my favorite essays is <a href="http://adamantine.wordpress.com/texts/quitting-the-paint-factory-by-mark-slouka/">Quitting the Paint Factory</a>.

John

Great ride report Feyala, ...I am enjoying your adventure for sure.

More pictures please...

As for the hic-cuping that your bike is experiencing; ..it seems to me that it is running lean on the low end, which is what most guys are tending towards with a cracked carb boot. Did you notice the problem was worse at low elevations, ..or does it occurr somewhat less at higher elevations?

I am not familiar from experience with this exact carb, however, most carbs these days have a sealed off from the factory, idle mixture screw which would be normally adjustable. In order to meet emmisiion requirements, most factories set the idle mixture very lean in order to pass the tests. Many motorcycles will run better at idle and low speeds if one removes the plug and turns out the idle mixture screw from 1/2 to 1 full turn, which inturn richens the idle and low speed air/fuel mixture. It could be that simple, ..when it rains, the air is at a different density which could worsen the already lean mixture relationship.

It seems to me that you have eliminated several possible problems, so this could be worth investigating. The fuel mixture screw is located on the underside of the carb, usually on the back side of the fuel bowl, if it is plugged it will look sealed off by a plug, which can be drilled out.

Most any motorcycle tech will know where to look.

Good luck and enjoy your adventure.

Cheers

i would completely agree if we eliminated all forms of gubment assistance for the idle/voluntarily jobless.

dont pay taxes? no problemo, you dont get any of them.

...and Subscribed!

But she has paid taxes, when she's worked.
I think what the lady is is pissed off at is not "work" but consumerism. You know, work your ass off to buy lots of cheap Chinese junk from Walmart, to cart home in your big, gas guzzling SUV, to fill up the "way too big for you" house you have a big mortgage on. I long ago decided that I would never; Work at a job that I hated, in order to buy "stuff" I didn't need, in order to impress people I didn't like.
That didn't mean that I didn't work...I did. But I also spent a lot of very enjoyable time goofing off.

Fetala,
You go girl!

I have no problem with the exertion of physical effort (or mental effort) in exchange for goods and services. I do have a problem with overconsumption, as you suggest, but I also have a problem with exchanging my soul for money. I would much rather dig a ditch all day for pay at the end of it, free to come and go as I please, than to yoke myself to a corporation who will want to control how I dress, with whom I spend my time, what substances I imbibe on my days off, what I think and say, etc. It's difficult for me to find non-corporate work, but I think when I next need money, I will probably go for either agricultural labor or work as a forest ranger. Other people have more responsibilities than I do, and are forced to work for these kinds of control freak companies out of necessity instead of joy. They have my sympathies.

My largest complaint with the system we've created is the sheer amount of time we spend doing things we don't like. The sheer percentage of our lives we trade in the quest for money.

From the essay: "You must empty your pockets, turn them inside out, and spill out your wife and your son, the pets you hardly knew, and the days you sim*ply missed altogether watching the sunlight fade on the bricks across the way. You must hand over the rainy afternoons, the light on the grass, the moments of play and of simply being. You must give it up, all of it, and by your example teach your children to do the same, and then – because even this is not enough – you must train yourself to believe that this outsourcing of your life is both natural and good. But even so, your soul will not be saved."

What's the value of a sunset? How many dollars is an afternoon spent lounging in a hammock, free from worry about the future, worth? Money can't buy happiness, and as a culture I think we've largely forgotten that fact. As a culture, even as our median income has gone up, our happiness has gone down, because the things that make us happy, time with friends and family, enjoying hobbies, are not things you can buy.

I am privileged to be able to follow my passions in this life. I'm definitely a better person for having the experiences I have had.

I pay my taxes when I work, same as anyone else. I just work less. As I mentioned before, I live off of savings, and get by on very little, which is how I'm able to afford this trip. But shy of work for it's own sake, or work for mere survival, what is the point of work if not to allow us unbounded leisure to figure out who we truly are, what we think, to be creative and explore and dream? To enjoy the fading pleasures of our short lives, the company of loved ones? Vacations are a hollow mimicry in comparison.

I should probably stop rambling, because people are here for the RR, not Fey's Philosophy.

The next update is written, the photos are resized. It's ready to go except for the video. I'm still new at video editing, so it's taking me a while, haha. I've also been quite busy fixing my bike, which is in pieces in the driveway.

And now, I go off for a hike!

I concur.

Yep! Agree with Fey!
Must have had more than 50 jobs in my lifetime, most ranging from 1 to 3 months, some a little longer, and the longest 2 years. Then I decided to work for myself, which was a tad better but really stressful and too long hours.
Now I am hoping that I can handle 10 days in a row once every two or so months.
Some folks have managed to make a living out of what they enjoy doing, those are very few, and I would be lying if I said I didn't envy them just a tad. Living on the road might give me some insight as to what it is that I might enjoy doing and that pays too. Meanwhile, like Fey, I am enjoying life, and not getting lost and buried in the drudgery of mind and soul numbing work every day, until somehow I find the answers to have the cake and eat it too!

Fey I just love these words:
"Vacations are a hollow mimicry in comparison."

"I should probably stop rambling, because people are here for the RR, not Fey's Philosophy"<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

I disagree, this is your RR and you write it as you see fit. If others do not like it they can read elsewhere. I for one enjoy reading other points of view even if I do not completely agree. That is what is cool about ADV we all are striving for some sort of freedom whatever form that might take.<o></o>
I could not to take it to the levels you do as my life and wants are different from yours but I do agree with your views on over consumption and corporate America. To quote Lostrider &#8220;Own less live more"<o></o>
Thanks for a very good read and I look forward to more. <o></o>
Be safe<o></o>
Michael<o></o>

Fey, I wish i had your attitude when I was young...would have saved me angst! anyway, you have a particular gift of gab 'on paper'. means you write good :) that is a very marketable skill, even from a laptop in a tent on the side of a mountain. unfortunately, i have no idea who you would send your reseme to to get that job. but i have read RR's from people on the road, Mex to be exact, and they did land jobs in the us while traveling in mexico. i'm old school (old) so i'm not versed in internet jobs and working from home, but these people i have in mind pulled it off. so good luck to you in avoiding THE MAN :) in the meantime, keep up the fun stuff!!!!

A forest ranger has a grand outdoors environment to work in, but also has an organizational structure that evolved from roots in the military. You are also subject to random drug testing, and must abide by a long list of laws, rules, and regulations on everything from appearance to acquisition, property, etc. National Forests are multiple-use, so a ranger is not only concerned with protection of resources, but production from resources like timber, grazing, water, and minerals. Lots of assessing, measuring, and reporting. Not much touchy-feely enviro-glamor in that stuff. You are still largely paid in sunsets.

Best of luck to you in your travels!

I concur with Fey, but I always seemed trapped.

I mean, I live cheaply and within my means - at the moment my only loan is a school loan, but somehow I keep choosing jobs that demand everything of me... never quite finding one that actually is worth living. I got over overconsumption and using a credit card years ago, so living cheaply isn't quite that tough.

I know I would have made a great farmer or rancher, but never had the chance beyond working them as a kid.

41 years old, now, and applying for new jobs - knowing some are out there that would make me happy even if I weren't the business owner, but damned if I'm creative enough to find 'em. I even thought of moving out west, to Idaho, as a teacher, but damned if they don't want me to have more training - in a second field - to be able to teach two subjects since one isn't enough in smaller areas. More expertise / certificates to teach for way lower pay, lol.

I'll find something eventually.

Hey Feyala,

Damn girl, you've been hiking for a loooooong time!

Still enjoying your RR. I particularly enjoy your candor, your outlook, and your willingness to share your experiences and observations. It's really nice. You've got a fun style of writing.

If you ever come back to Steamboat to do some more housekeeping at the Grand .............. get in touch. Lots of good riding back here in Routt County you know.

Keep on keeping on, and ride safe.

Regards, Rob