An abbreviated report for an abbreviated ride...

I didn't get any feedback about desired street routes to ride so I tried another option -- a dual sport ride (that's still "sport touring," right?).  Eager to test out his brand new (no plates), shiny KLR650, Mike Sleeman joined me in Santa Clarita for a ride up Bouquet Canyon road to the start of our off-road adventure.

We started out taking Forest Road 6N04 (Leona Divide) northwest to San Francisquito Canyon Road - about 10 miles of dual-track dirt road that was perfect for Mike to figure out the dirt handling characteristics of his mount.  After crossing San Francisquito we took 6N04.2 (still Leona Divide) to 7N01 (Tule Divide/Burns Canyon Rd.) through to 7N05 (Lake Hughes Truck Trail) and down to Lake Hughes itself.  While there were several unmarked trails and intersections, maps and GPS came in handy to get us to Lake Hughes Road.

After crossing Lake Hughes Road we headed up 7N08 (Maxwell Road) intending to head to Gorman via dirt roads and trails as much as possible.  Unfortunately, an unruly rut had something different in mind and about mile 10 miles up Maxwell it conspired to spit Mike off his shiny new ride.  We picked the bike up, dusted it off, and were about to go off on our merry way when we discovered the bent radiator (did I mention how much I like my air-cooled XR?).  Uh oh.  After bending, and prying, and generally getting frustrated with our tools (those little tool kits that come with the bike suck), we came to the realization that the dripping radiator wasn't likely to heal itself, so we'd better call it a day and get back to civilization...

We backtracked to Lake Hughes Road and headed down to Castaic, leaking coolant all over Mike's left boot all the way.  The overflow bottle said the KLR still had fluid so after a bite to eat we headed back to Santa Clarita to figure out what to do (load my truck and take it home?  Call a tow truck?  Tough it out?).  Oddly, the drip slowed to near nothing and even after a bath, the bike seemed to be holding it's fluids.  Mike decided to chance it and head home to Ontario (long ride when you're worried your radiator is going to start spewing again), which turned out to be a good choice as the radiator held its guts together long enough to get him home safely.

So, with his radiator fixed (found a good shop and a reasonable price) and his bike now properly "broken in" (who rides a perfectly clean, shiny bike anyway?), we're gonna have to schedule a re-match with that rut...