Passes & Canyons Blog

OK, I admit, I’m just like you, I’m really busy this holiday season and I’m not averse to taking the easy way out: I’m putting up some Examiner Resurrection pieces. We’re going back here to 2010, but this is still relevant.

I spent four days on a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail recently, hoping to understand at last the reasons why so many people are so fanatically devoted to the brand. I recapped my thoughts the first couple days out but now I’m ready to speak about my total experience and the conclusions I’ve reached.

Hint: I’m not converted, but I think I understand more now.

Ease of riding
The No. 1 understanding I came to on the Harley is that this bike is just incredibly easy to ride. Let’s compare it to my primary bike, my 1999 Kawasaki Concours.

The Concours is a tall bike to begin with, and with my 30-inch inseam it took some getting used to. The Softail has a much lower seat height, making it very easy for me to plant my feet widely and firmly on the ground at a stop. The Connie also has a 7.5-gallon gas tank that sits way up high, making for a very high center of gravity. Center of gravity on the Softail is very low, which makes the handling much more stable at low speeds. I never once came anywhere close to dropping it, whereas I have dropped the Kawi a couple times.

The power delivery on the Softail is very different from what I’m accustomed to so that took some getting used to. My Kawi has a high-revving engine and it has a ton of power. It’s very fast and the gearing is such that you don’t have to shift constantly in situations where you’re frequently speeding up and slowing down. My first impression of the Softail was that I all too frequently needed to downshift from the upper gears. To a certain extent I think that is true, but what I found with experience is that mostly that’s just the low-rev, loping v-twin and it would go along fine at the slower speed but then pick right back up with the twist of the throttle.

The bottom line here is that, while it probably took me two years to become totally comfortable on my Concours, I was right at home on the Softail within an hour or two. Now, having gotten comfortable on the Connie, I’m extremely comfortable on it and like it very much. And with longer legs it wouldn’t have taken that long. But I don’t think most people are willing to be that patient, so I can see the attraction of the Harley.

Riding comfort
Having a broad, well-padded seat was a real joy for me on that Softail. My other bike, my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom, has a reasonably comfortable seat but after doing a ride to California and back on a trip that included numerous long-mileage days, I swore never to do that again. I went out and bought my Concours. The Connie is a much better touring bike but even its seat gets hard after awhile. The seat on the Softail was a huge improvement.

Another thing I liked was the floorboards. With the floorboards I could shift my foot position a little or a lot, and even stretch my legs out completely straight. The key here is the knees. None of my buddies likes trading bikes with me and I think that has a lot to do with their aging knees. I suspect that sitting with your knees always bent as you must when your pegs are below you is just not something that works for them any more.

I, on the other hand, prefer to have my pegs beneath me because I want to stand up when I go over a bump and let my legs absorb the shock. The first big bump I hit on the Softail threw me way up off the seat and back down hard. I did find, though, that with my feet on the back edges of the floorboards, and a good grip on the handgrips, I could raise myself off the seat for bumps and minimize the impact. I still prefer pegs below me, however, and my knees are still limber enough that I can ride that way comfortably. Besides, highway pegs allow you to stretch your legs out, too. That said, I do, again, see the attraction of the Harley for a lot of folks.

While the Softail’s seat was comfortable, and you can get custom seats with better lumbar support, I strongly prefer the riding position on my Connie. Stock, the Connie had an intolerable reach to the grips, so the very first thing I did when I bought it was install risers that brought the grips back and up three inches. That made all the difference in the world. Now I have just a slight forward reach that keeps me in an erect, upright position, which is a good posture for your back. Having the pegs underneath you also helps foster that good posture.

The Softail, on the other hand, encouraged me to slouch. And after four days I could tell. My back was hurting.

Details
One negative aspect of the Softail’s low profile is the potential for contact with hot exhaust pipes. I discovered this one rainy day when I noticed black marks on the pipes. Then I noticed a spot on my black rain pants that was clearly melted a bit. Apparently you have to be careful at a stop to set your right foot down away from the bike so as to avoid this sort of thing. I also apparently let the heel of my boot touch the pipes while riding with my feet back on the floorboards, and that got melted, too.

This has never been an issue with my Honda or my Kawasaki. Sitting up higher as they do, there is room for the pipes to go beneath the pegs, and I’ve never touched those pipes with anything.

Ground clearance is another issue. Riding the bikes I’ve owned, I had never scraped hard parts until just recently when I took a Harley Sportster for a demo ride. Both my bikes are shaped live a V when you view them from in front or behind, and you’d need to lean a long way over to touch anything on the ground. Not so with the Softail. Swooping through curves on the New Priest Grade Road I scraped the floorboards and I wasn’t even leaning all that far. I’m not saying that’s a problem, but it’s definitely a difference.

I liked the very clearly defined shifting on the Softail. It gave a loud thunk dropping into the next gear, so it was always clear whether you had or had not flicked that shift lever far enough. There have been times on my bikes, particularly between first and second, where I didn’t make it all the way into gear and didn’t realize it until I let the clutch out and twisted the throttle.

I wasn’t impressed with the Softail’s brakes. I’m generally heavy on the front brake and only use the rear brake when I need extra stopping power. With the Softail I had to use the rear brake almost as much as the front. The front just didn’t do the job. Surely Harley can do better than that.

It took some adjustment for me to look to the gas tank for the instrument cluster. And I didn’t like having to take my eyes off the road to do so. Both my bikes have the instruments up on top of the fork where I can still watch the road while checking the dials and gauges.

The Softail surprised me with how smooth it was. I’ve seen plenty of Harleys that, at idle, shake like a paint mixer but that was not the case here. I definitely prefer smooth. Also surprisingly, it was a bit rougher at highway speed.

Lastly, I liked the idea that the bike won’t start without the key fob in close proximity, so with our frequent stops I wasn’t constantly inserting and removing the key. I’d use the key in the morning, then all day long I’d just turn the bike off and walk away. Coming back to it I’d just turn the switch and push the Start button. Then use the key for complete shut-down at night.

Harley or cruiser?
While these riding impressions all have to do with the Softail I was on, I suspect most are applicable to any dressed out cruiser. In other words, I’m not certain whether I’ve gained a better understanding of the Harley mystique or simply a better understanding of the cruiser mystique.

Of course one thing many Harley owners point to with pride is the fact that their bikes are “American iron.” That’s as opposed to, say, Star’s Royal Star Venture, which is made in Japan, I presume. I’ll point out, however, that Kawasaki operates a plant in Lincoln, NE, which until recently produced motorcycles. I may be wrong but I believe that’s where my Concours was made, so how much more American-made is a Road King with Kiehin carbs and Brembo brakes than my Connie?

So no, I’m not converted, but at least I don’t find it such a mystery. The Softail is a comfortable bike that is easy to ride and feel at home on. Presumably that’s true for the whole Harley line-up, with the possible exception of the V-Rod. I think especially for aging riders, and there are a lot of those out there, cruisers are absolutely the way to go. Maybe that will even include me one day. But not yet.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycle adventures are the perfect antidote to middle age. — Alex Morritt

Have you ever watched the tread melt off your tire? I have. Not literally turning to liquid and dripping off, but being worn off in a matter of hours.

What you need to understand is that motorcycle tires are an entirely different critter than car tires. With car tires you have a broad, almost flat tread that the car rides on top off all the time. Motorcycle tires have a round profile because when you turn, you are leaning the bike. The round profile ensures that you always have tread in solid contact with the ground.

With only two tires, and those having very small contact areas, it is extremely important that you have good grip. Car tires have a hard rubber tread that will last 35,000 miles and more. In order to get a good grip, motorcycle tires use a very soft rubber. And guess what? That soft rubber wears away a whole lot quicker than hard rubber, generally not lasting much more than 10,000 miles.

Then there’s the effect of air pressure in the tires. It’s common knowledge that under-inflated tires wear out quicker, on cars as well as bikes. And while under-inflation can ruin a set of car tires in just a few thousand miles, that’s nothing compared to the soft rubber on motorcycle tires.

Which gets me back to my story.

In the early days of the OFMC, John and Bill and I went one year to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. While there I noticed that I was getting a bit thin on tread and mentioned it to the guys, who looked and agreed I would be needing new tires pretty soon after we got back home.

We only rode on to Page, AZ, the next day, which is about 100 miles. While unloading the bike I happened to glance at my rear tire and I was shocked. What little tread it had just a few hours ago was almost completely gone! I called Bill and John over and they gasped in amazement. Somebody had a tire gauge and when I checked my air pressure it was very, very low.

Of course I put air in, and it’s no surprise I was nervous the rest of the trip about the possibility of a blow-out. Realistically, I should have had a new tire put on right there in Page, but ever the optimist and a cheapskate to boot, I didn’t. And it did get me home safely.

But I tell you what, these days I have it on my calendar to check tire pressure on both my bikes and my car at the first of every month. And if I’m getting set to go on a trip I check the pressure before I leave.

This is really all just common sense, but it’s so easy sometimes to ignore common sense. It is far, far harder to ignore your own eyes when you see the tread vanish from a tire that quickly. We all learned a good lesson that day.

Biker Quote for Today

If you think it’s too dangerous, go home and cut your lawn, and leave us to it. — Guy Martin

We were doing some dual sport riding on a rough dirt road above Boulder, Ron, Jacque, and me, when Ron got to thinking something was wrong. He was in the lead, I was second, and he hadn’t seen Jacque in his mirror for too long. We stopped to let her catch up.

This was Jacque’s first time on dirt, so it was natural that she should take it easy, even possibly take a tumble. Taking a tumble is usually no big deal when you’re dirt-biking; I probably dumped the bike three times the first time I ever did it.

Ron didn’t wait too long to head back to find her. I sat there for maybe five minutes more and then I headed back, too. Along the way I encountered a mountain biker who called out to me that Ron had asked him to tell me to come on back.

Jacque didn’t just take a tumble, she was hurt. Thanks to target fixation, she had gone right into a deep rut she wanted to avoid, and then the skid plate on the underside of her bike caught on a protruding rock. She lost it and her momentum threw her against a boulder, with her knee taking the main force of the impact. Jacque was in serious pain.

Fortunately, we were on this particular road because it’s close to where Ron lives, so he headed to his place to get help. I stayed with Jacque to do whatever I could for her. Now, I’ve never had any first aid training, so I wasn’t the best guy to have there, but Jacque is a nurse, so she called the shots. First she swung around so she could lie back on the ground and elevate her injured leg on the boulder. I pulled out my sweatshirt to give her something under her head.

Figuring that a distraction from her pain would be a good thing, I started jabbering. I’m normally a pretty quiet guy but I just started telling her stories, not apropos of anything. After a few minutes she interrupted me.

“Do you know first aid?”

“No, not really.”

“OK, well, I’m going into shock and I may pass out. If I do, here’s what you need to do.”

And she gave me instructions. I listened carefully. There’s something about “I’m going into shock and I may pass out” that really gets your attention.

Then I went back to jabbering and telling stories.

It all ended well. Ron got back and he got Jacque to the hospital. It had seemed likely that there were broken bones, but the X-rays said no. And then, talk about getting right back on the horse after falling off, Ron told me a couple weeks later that Jacque was doing fine and had gone out and bought herself a new dual sport bike. It turns out that she was having the absolute time of her life, right up until she met Mr. Boulder.

As for me, I’m thinking first aid training might be a good idea.

Biker Quote for Today

Here’s to the women who make other women wish they could ride, too.

The U.S. Senate at least did one thing in a bipartisan fashion this week: they passed a resolution opposing motorcycle profiling.

Profiling, in case you somehow have never heard of it, is the situation where the law enforcement folks use the fact that you ride a bike as an excuse to check you out for unrelated possible illegalities. Or let’s take the wording from the resolution.

Whereas motorcycle profiling means the illegal use of the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears motorcycle related apparel as a factor in deciding to stop and question, take enforcement action, arrest, or search a person or vehicle with or without legal basis under the Constitution of the United States;

Often, in recent years, this has taken the form of stopping motorcyclists–and only motorcyclists–to do license and safety equipment checks. Go ahead and stop everyone for these checks and the rider community will not object. Single us out and we do object.

So the resolution does not bear the force of law, but it does make it clear where the U.S. Senate stands on the issue. And this resolution was passed not just on a bipartisan basis, but unanimously. That’s pretty unequivocal. Are you listening out there in law enforcement land?

Omitting all the “Whereas” statements that set the stage, the resolution was this:

Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) promotes increased public awareness on the issue of motorcycle profiling;
(2) encourages collaboration and communication with the motorcycle community and law enforcement to engage in efforts to end motorcycle profiling; and
(3) urges State law enforcement officials to include statements condemning motorcycle profiling in written policies and training materials.

Now we just have to keep pressing, probably forever, to get this idea across.

Biker Quote for Today

“I had a dream about a motorcycle,” said Harry, remembering suddenly. “It was flying.”
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: “MOTORCYCLES DON’T FLY!”
Dudley and Piers sniggered.
“I know they don’t,” said Harry. “It was only a dream.”
— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The thermometer on Sunday read 59 degrees, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and only the faintest breeze was blowing. To ride or not to ride was not an issue. The only choice I had was which bike to ride. I chose the Honda, mainly because getting it out was the least effort.

I started off, as I so often do, across the dam to pick up Parker Road. On such a great day there were a lot of bikes on the road.

As I neared and then crossed over Arapahoe Road there were two bikes coming up on the on-ramp. As the traffic flowed one of them merged ahead of me and the other behind me. We cruised like that for a while and I was a little puzzled when the guy behind me did not take advantage of opportunities to pull ahead of me and rejoin his buddy. When we came to a traffic light I made sure to leave him plenty of room to pull past.

But he didn’t. He stopped behind and it dawned on me this was not his buddy ahead of me, we were just three solo riders who all happened to be in the same place at the same time.

I have often had the fantasy of getting mingled with some bikers who had been up to something nefarious and having all of us get scooped up the police. How to convince the cops that I really didn’t know these guys and I was not involved in whatever they had been doing. The obvious line of persuasion would be that hey, just because you see two people in cars you don’t assume they’re together. Well, just because we’re on bikes doesn’t mean we’re together either.

Judy summed it up pretty well, though, when I mentioned this to her: People in multiple cars generally do not travel together; people on multiple bikes frequently do. And if you see a bunch together it’s normal to assume they are in fact together. See, even I made that assumption.

So I peeled off from my “buds” in Parker, heading west on Main Street. This is a developing area so even though I had been on this road not that long ago there was new stuff to see. The southern suburbs keep creeping. Just before reaching I-25 I turned north on Peoria and was surprised to see, at Lincoln Avenue, the University of Colorado South Denver Campus. What? Really? This growth just amazes me at times.

Continuing north I passed under C-470 and ran up into the south end of Arapahoe County Airport. That required a jog over onto Potomac and from there I meandered my way on home. Not a long ride but very nice of a terrific day.

Biker Quote for Today

There are two kinds of people . . . motorcycle owners and sad people.

It has gotten fairly cold lately but that doesn’t stop me from riding. Only icy streets and snow stop me from riding. So it makes sense that I have gear to keep my legs warm.

My legs actually get short shrift compared to the rest of my body. I have boots on my feet and electric gloves for my hands. I have an electric vest for my torso, and a helmet for my head. And of all this, the stuff I wear least often is the stuff for my legs. I don’t know why; maybe this year I’ll make more of a point of using these things. Anyway, lately I’ve made a point of wearing everything just to do a comparison.

My earliest acquisition was leather chaps. These don’t have any insulating properties and there is no armor but they stop the wind. Often that’s all you need. But when it’s really cold, your butt is going to get a bit chilly. And your legs, too, after a long enough while. But they’re quick and easy to put on and do offer protection in case you go down.

Later on I got a pair of fleece-lined CORDURA®︎ chaps from Colorado Chaps and these were really meant for colder weather. They stop the wind, and they provide insulation, but there is no armor and they probably offer less protection than the leathers. They are chaps, however, so once again, your butt can feel the cold. And after awhile you’re going to get cold just the same. In fact, that’s the case with all three of these things and the only way to get around that is electrics. That’s something I don’t have yet, electric pants liners. Maybe that’s next on my list.

For overall (non-electric) warmth, my Vapor 2 riding pants by REV’IT! are the winner. They have armor, they cover my butt, and with the liner and long underwear they are the warmest of the three. They’re also the most awkward to get on. (The fleece-lined chaps are the easiest to get on.)

So what’s my preference? I guess for really cold weather I’ll choose the Vapor 2s. When it’s cold but not so much, I think I’ll start wearing the fleece-lined chaps more. And I will probably continue not to wear the leathers very much. I never have worn them much, even though they’re the ones I’ve had the longest.

On the other hand, I’m looking forward to the summer now when I’ll be able to really try out the Vapor 2s as summer riding gear. Without the liner and without jeans, and with vents, they should be very cool and comfortable to wear while still offering serious protection. And that will be another update, in maybe six or seven months.

Biker Quote for Today

Try to remember the reason you started riding a motorcycle in the first place. For me, it was a couple of things but mostly rebellion. — Sonny Barger

I mentioned previously that I bought a new pair of riding pants and now I’ve had more chance to try them out. This is an update.

As you may recall, the pants I bought were the REV’IT! Vapor 2s. Fact is, my primary interest was for some summertime pants that would offer protection and make packing easier because I would only need to pack pants to wear in the evening, after wearing the riding pants all day while on the bike. Nevertheless, I also wanted to see how they would do as winter pants, offering both warmth and protection. I actually see protection as a bigger issue in winter than in summer because in winter there is the possibility of ice or else sand laid down to counter the ice.

So it’s winter, or at least late fall if you go by the official season dates, so my testing has been to see how they do on cold days. First I rode with jeans on underneath and no liner, then with both jeans and the liner, and thirdly with the liner but no jeans, along with long underwear.

The first time, with jeans, I was comfortable but noticed some coolness on the backs of my legs. The fronts have armor so that does a great job of stopping the wind.

The second time, with jeans and the liner, my biggest problem was getting them on. It probably took me 10 minutes, and in order to snap the waist I had to remove my belt because the buckle was just too much. You might argue that I should have bought a size larger but if I had gone that route I probably would have needed to go to a different brand of pants. And who knows, maybe I should have. I went with a smaller size because the legs were so long and even then I had to special order the shorter legs option. If I had gone with a larger waist the legs would probably have been just too long. But with what I got, Judy made the very good point that I better not gain weight or the pants won’t fit.

Anyway, riding with both jeans and liner was totally warm. Really nice. Along with my heated gear it was just as comfortable as riding in much warmer weather.

The third time seems to have been the charm, though. Thermal long underwear made up for the lack of jeans and they fit better in the pants with liner.

I’m still getting used to the pants in that they restrict my movement a bit, but I just step onto the peg and raise myself up before swinging my leg over. On the Honda I don’t even need to do that because the seat height on that bike is so low. Once I settle onto the seat all is fine.

Overlooked in all this is the fact that I already had other things to wear on my legs for warmth. For many, many years I have had a pair of leather chaps and for a somewhat shorter period of time I have had some fleece-lined chaps. The leathers are meant for all-year riding while the fleece ones are specifically winter oriented. Just for a comparison I have been wearing them lately, too, and will discuss how they all compare in my next post.

Biker Quote for Today

Animals travel on all fours. Mankind on two. Motorcycling is not a means of transport but an ideology, a nomadic way of life. — Amit Reddy

If you ride a motorcycle you need accreditation on your driver’s license, right? Oh dude, that’s so last century!

Or at least that is apparently how some young hotshots on sportbikes see it.

This was an interesting discussion we had at the ABATE District 17 meeting last month. ABATE of Colorado is one of a number of outfits offering rider training courses, and the best way to get your initial accreditation is to take a Beginning Rider Course (BRC). At the end, presuming you pass the riding part of the test, all you then need to do is go to Motor Vehicle and take the written test. Boom, you’re licensed.

What one D-17 member brought up, however, is that he is a member of a few Facebook motorcycle groups, and among those who are active in that group, the general opinion is that hey, we don’t need no stinkin’ license. If a member posts that he/she got busted for riding without a license the common response is, “You should have outrun the cops!” Truth is, if you are a skilled rider of a high-powered sportbike, you probably can outrun the cops pretty easily. Unlike you, they are not going to risk the public safety trying to chase you down.

But sometimes they get nailed. And often that means, in order to get their bike back–which is often impounded–they have to get licensed. And as I said, there’s no better way to get licensed than taking a BRC. So rider coaches are accustomed to having students in their classes moaning that they have to take this course. They don’t want to, but they want their bike back.

I don’t know about you, but I consider this attitude a problem. For one thing, people die because of it. Just because you buy a sportbike and learn to ride it reasonably well does not make you Valentino Rossi. Unfortunately, that’s the last lesson some people learn just before they shuffle off this mortal coil.

So, ABATE offers rider training, and the discussion was on the question, how do we persuade more people to get training? Obviously, the more students, the more ABATE makes in fees, but the fees were not the focus of the conversation. We all just really believe people should get trained. It makes you a better rider. But how do you reach people?

One obvious thought is to try to engage them on the Facebook groups, but doesn’t seem particularly promising. Nobody responds well to a public scolding. Meanwhile cultivating relationships and gradually trying to point people in a certain direction is very time-consuming, with no guarantees even then.

It’s hard. And no, we didn’t come up with any silver bullets. If you’ve got one, or even just a copper .BB, fire it my way. In the meantime, if you know anyone riding without a license, do them a favor and try to talk some sense to them. The life you save may be theirs.

Biker Quote for Today

I learned one thing from jumping motorcycles that was of great value on the golf course, the putting green especially: Whatever you do, don’t come up short. — Evel Knievel