Passes & Canyons Blog

Do you ever spend an extended period of time away from home? And more importantly, from your bike(s)? For example, your job sends you somewhere for weeks or even months. Sure, that doesn’t happen to most of us but it does happen to some, and it did happen to me once.

So what do you do to feed your motorcycle need while away? I’ve mentioned this before in passing but want to spend a little more time on it today.

Certainly, if you are just gone for a week or a few days you ought to take advantage of the opportunity to ride somewhere new. That’s getting easier and easier thanks to there being more places that rent motorcycles. I did that when my company sent me to Nashville for a day, and I stayed over the weekend and rented a Harley.

But as we all know, motorcycle rentals don’t come cheap. You can pay that high price for a day or two, or even a week perhaps, but there gets to be a limit to how much you can justify spending.

Here’s a better alternative, and it’s what I did when my company sent me to Sacramento for a month. I bought a bike in Sacramento with the agreement that the dealer would buy it back from me for a specified price when it was time for me to go home.

Think about the options this opens up. Most rental companies have a fairly limited selection. But what if you walk into a dealership and make your selection from all the used bikes they have for sale? And if one dealer doesn’t have anything you’re interested in, move on to another. You ought to be able to find exactly the bike you want at a price you can manage.

So how does the repurchase arrangement work? First of all, both parties agree up front that if you drop the bike or bring it back in any condition different than when you took it, except with a few more miles on it, then the whole thing is up for reconsideration. You have to understand that there is a possibility that you will have acquired a new bike, or that the repurchase price will be less than you originally agreed upon.

The other key is finding a dealer to agree to this. Not all of them will. I got lucky that the first place I walked into, when I asked to speak with the manager and told him what I wanted to do, he was willing. He told me that not all dealerships would do this.

The key was, he rides and is a motorcycle lover himself. So when I presented myself as someone who just had to have a bike to ride while I was out there, he understood. Of course he wasn’t just being altruistic. I paid full price for the bike and if anything had happened to it he would have had a sale. As it was, he got a nice chunk of cash and put the bike back on the floor for the same price it was listed at before.

And my benefit was that I had a bike to ride for a month at a fraction of what I would have paid for a rental. As I recall, he made $400 off the bike for the four weeks I had it. I’d call that a bargain. And because I only had it for four weeks I could ride with just the dealer tag and didn’t have to get plates on it. Of course I contacted my insurance agent and had it insured.

As I said, I got lucky because the first place I tried I found someone who was willing to do this. If I was going to do it again I would call the local dealers in advance and see who might be willing. I’d be prepared to give all the reasons why it would benefit them, in case they were reluctant. And who knows, maybe you wouldn’t find anyone. But it doesn’t hurt to try it, and boy did I love having that bike for that month.

Biker Quote for Today

Every day is a good day to ride! Some are better than others.

How hardcore are you anyway? Hardcore enough to do the Big Dog?

First let me tell you what the Big Dog Ride is. OK, first of all it’s for BMW riders, so that lets a bunch of us out. What they say on their website is this:

The BIG DOG RIDE is a BMW “Invitational Ride” for owners of BMW G/S and GS model motorcycles. It is neither a race nor a rally. It is an annual gathering of a fraternity of BMW aficionados of G/S and GS styled motorcycles that mutually appreciate riding their motorcycles with like minded philosophers in the best environment for on and off-road riding in the world, the Rocky Mountains of North America.

Then there’s this:

Each year an entrant can expect to ride between 800-1,200 miles on the BIG DOG RIDE over some of the highest, toughest mountain passes in the Rocky Mountain range, sometimes reaching 14,000 feet above sea level. Rain, snow and sleet can be encountered in August, as well as 100-degree heat. The BIG DOG RIDE has been to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. Riders often make numerous crossings of the Continental Divide, sometimes fording swollen streams, and riding over snow fields and shale cliffs. It is not unusual for a rider to be in a single-track path no wider than 24 inches, with a drop-off of 1,000 feet on one side and a sheer rock cliff on the other.

And then this:

The BIG DOG RIDE is not for the meek, mild or poseur GS rider. It has rightfully earned the description as being the “highest, toughest BMW motorcycle event in the world.” It is dangerous, and fun. BIG DOG riders can be heard laughing from mountain tops at the start of the event to the finish, as well as from and to their homes, often as far away as Vermont, Florida, Canada and California.

Here’s where the name comes from:

On the second ride one of the errant participants found himself stuck on a snowfield. He had to disassemble his motorcycle to turn it around, then with the help of several others; they pushed, pulled and dragged both rider and BMW back up and over the pass he had come down. The “helpers” were likened to the big Saint Bernard dogs of the Alps famous for rendering assistance to stranded hikers and skiers. After several more mishaps where riders had to be helped by their fellow entrants as they pushed their personal riding envelopes past points of explosion, all the riders came to be known as “BIG DOGS.” The event in the third year was called the BMW GS BIG DOG RIDE, and that’s the name that has remained.

OK. I could go on quoting their website but you can go there yourself and read and see it all. This year’s event is Aug. 14-17. Any Big Dogs out there?

Biker Quote for Today

You start the game of life with a full pot of luck and an empty pot of experience. The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck.

Not a lot to say today, I just decided I wanted to post this photo. It’s available elsewhere on the website, but it’s a page that I don’t think many people visit, so it’s likely that not many people have seen it. I just think it’s cool, and I shot it, so here it is.

Biker Quote for Today

Always back your bike into the curb, and sit where you can see it.

Now this is kind of amusing. I periodically surf through some online motorcycle forums, reading posts of interest, responding when I have something to add, and sometimes searching for people asking something along the lines of “We’re coming to Colorado. Anyone got suggestions as to what roads we should ride?” When I find those, of course I make some suggestions and I post links to the appropriate pages on my own website.

Well, recently I logged in to one forum I visit and got a message telling me I was banned until March 29. What in the world? I wasn’t aware of having violated any rules or anything. Being banned I couldn’t get in to check for messages, to see why I was banned. So I clicked on a “Contact us” link and sent the guy an email asking what it was all about. Sometime later, receiving no reply, I sent another query. Still no response.

So March 29 arrived and I logged in and, sure enough, there was a private message waiting for me. Here’s what it said:

You have received an infraction at Motorcycle Rider Info.

Reason: Spam
——-
A signature link is cool. Even mentioning site is nice if done right. But a post full of self serving links is plain old spam.
——-

This infraction is worth 50 point(s) and may result in restricted access until it expires. Serious infractions will never expire.

I was a bit annoyed. The message included the text of the so-called spam. Here’s what I had posted:

The intro to this thread is “Recommend places in your area that others would want to see and ride their motorcycles to” so that’s just what I’ll do.

In a word: Colorado.

Make that “Colorado!!!”

OK, I’ll be more specific.

Trail Ridge Road
http://www.motorcyclecolorado.com/trail_ridge_road.htm

Mount Evans
http://www.motorcyclecolorado.com/mount_evans.htm

Red Mountain Pass
http://www.motorcyclecolorado.com/red_mountain_pass.htm

Glenwood Canyon
http://www.motorcyclecolorado.com/glenwood_canyon.htm

Monarch Pass
http://www.motorcyclecolorado.com/monarch_pass.htm

That should get you going.

Now, you’ll notice that, as I said in the post, the theme of the thread was “Recommend places in your area that others would want to see and ride their motorcycles to.” Funny, I thought that was exactly what I did. I guess maybe if I had added a sentence or two about each of those rides he might not have been so offended, but I figured that all you had to do was follow the link and get the full scoop.

Obviously I like to invite people to come to this site. I didn’t do all the work and take all the time I have just to look at it myself and admire my handiwork. I set out to make something really useful for people who are planning trips to Colorado on their bikes. And many of you have thanked me for my efforts, which I truly appreciate.

I’m guessing that the guy running the forum thinks I’m just trying to get people to visit so I can make money. I do, after all, have Google ads on the site. But I’ve got news for anyone who thinks I’m getting rich off Google. In the 2-1/2 half years this site has been up, I have not even made enough off the ads to pay for my web hosting. If I was in this thing to make money I would have moved on to greener pastures long ago.

And it’s not as if this guy isn’t out to make some money. He has all sorts of ads all over his site. He even has a message posted urging people to direct others to his site, although he does take care to ask that they not get carried away and cross the line into spam. The really funny thing is that, without having seen this message previously, I had already posted a link to his site on this blog. Back in February I made this post, pointing out a few forums I like to visit. His is the fourth one on the list.

So when I finally found out what my offense was I wrote him a note saying I was sorry if I offended him but that I disagreed about my post being spam. Again, I’ve heard nothing back from him.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he’s a bad guy. A little overzealous perhaps, may have shot from the hip without really analyzing the situation, who knows. I just thought it was a bit ironic, and I thought you might find it an interesting story.

Biker Quote for Today

Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit.

Note

The spam bastards are hitting this post so I’m turning comments off here only for awhile.

It’s getting toward that time again, so as I always do, I’m cluing you in to this year’s Ride Your Motorcycle to Work day.

This year the date is July 16. As always, that’s a Wednesday, the third Wednesday in July. This is a day to get as many bikes out on the streets and highways as possible, to make an impression on the non-riders as to just how many of us there are. Not for intimidation or anything negative, just to let them know we’re here and that they need to be mindful of us as they drive. I mean, have you ever been on the highway when someone in the next lane pulled into your lane without looking over their shoulder to see if perhaps someone might be there? No, it’s never happened to me either. Right!

So the point is to get out in force and impress upon them that they MUST look, MUST be aware, and MUST share the road. Maybe their lives don’t depend on it, but ours do!

If you really want to get into this, you can go to the website at www.ridetowork.org and download logos and artwork, public service announcements, and various other things to pass along to the local media or put up in public places. Here’s the logo.

Who knows, maybe this year I’ll be able to take part. The funny thing is that each year as I’ve promoted this thing, I’ve not been able to participate. Last year I was working a job that had me working at home. The year before that I was on vacation. This year I may be unemployed on that day, but if so I’ll at least get out and ride a bit just for the heck of it.

Anyway, I’ll bring this up again just before the date. In the meantime, take today’s quote with a grain of salt. Maybe.

Biker Quote for Today

If the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the window and locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them.