(click photo to enlarge)

April, 23, 2011. Stephen Kirkendall of Indianapolis, Indiana, arriving in Cedaredge, Colorado, during a spring snow storm for a couple days break after a vicious desert sand storm prematurely ended what was intended to be a week-long camp-out at Muley point, UT. But Stephen's adventures alone are not why I call him a serious motorcycle traveler; in the past 24 years, Stephen has ridden one million and one-hundred eighty-seven thousand miles. As for Muley Point in Utah, this was Stephan's third visit from Indianapolis in less than a year. Earlier this year he attend Bike Week in Florida. Prior to heading towards Utah he toured several south-eastern and southern states while his wife and Mother-in-law followed in a car. That's just what I remember hearing about.

Stephan has two 2005 DL650 V-Stroms. The blue DL650 in the big pictures here had 149,502 miles on it when the pictures were taken. This DL650 got upper-end work under extended warranty at 117,000 miles when the valves could no longer be adjusted. Recently the clutch plates were replaced. The red DL650 in the smaller picture on the right had 118,000 miles on it when I took the photograph in June, 2010; it now has 136,000 miles on it and is using about a quart of oil every 1000 miles.

April, 25, 2011. Stephen calling a friend in Moab saying, "I'll be there for lunch." After a night in Moab, he will ride on south as far as it takes to miss 20 inches of fresh snow in the Rockies and high-wind dust storms in parts of New Mexico. He estimates a 2500 mile ride home. I can imagine that, while riding, Stephen will be thinking of his next trip.

—Verle Nelson, Cedaredge Colorado