Passes & Canyons Blog

I’ve read more than once how one of the things bikers love about their motorcycles is customizing them and making them uniquely their own. Sometimes this means practical things like a more comfortable seat and other times it’s basically just farkles.
What the heck is a farkle? In a 2017 article by that name in Rider magazine, Jenny Smith offered this definition:

Farkle (n): A modification to a motorcycle that satisfies the following criteria: creates “bling,” serves a purpose (the usefulness of which is in the eyes of the farkler) and is most likely expensive. Often used among touring riders to denote or convey status amongst their peers. Ex: “I picked up a new farkle for my ST today: a GPS-based burger joint locator!” (v): To farkle; to accessorize one’s motorcycle with farkles. Ex: “Boy, John really farkled out his K1300GT; it’s even got a cup holder!”

I got to thinking about this the other day when I spotted a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom at 1 Up Four Down while getting a new tire on my V-Strom. Asking about the Honda the guy told me there was a problem with an aftermarket exhaust system. He then asked me if I still had the stock system on my Honda. Yes I do.

One thought leads to another–the proverbial train of thought–and that’s how we got here: a discussion of my own practices regarding farkles and aftermarket equipment.

In short, I’m not much into farkles but I do modify my bikes to make better them fit me and my style of riding. When I bought my first bike, the Honda, I immediately added a windshield. I have never enjoyed the powerful blast of wind against my head and chest so I added that right away. Then Bill and John and I started going on longer rides and I discovered I needed highway pegs and a throttle lock. Plus I got a case guard to protect the motor in case of a get-off.

That’s it, that’s all I’ve ever done to the bike other than replacing the sissy bar pouch it came with when that rotted away.

Next came the Concours and another immediate purchase: risers. Stock, that bike had me leaning way forward and very uncomfortable. I got some Helibar risers that moved the grips up and back a couple inches and it was a night and day difference. I wouldn’t have been able to ride that bike without them.

Then of course I had to get a throttle lock. But adding highway pegs was a tougher project. There didn’t seem to be any good way to do it, and the not so good ways meant doing permanent damage to the body work. Then Murph save the day and came out with a cantilevered solution that allowed you to mount the pegs without cutting into your plastic. Done.

That was it for a long time, until last year I finally satisfied a desire and got a top bag with a good mount to hold it. And that’s all I’ve ever done with that bike.

Comes the V-Strom and it already had aftermarket Givi side bags so I didn’t need much. Of course I added a throttle lock but I also put on a case guard and highway pegs. Then a top bag and that bike is set. What more could I need?

Well, of course, I do have tank bags for all three bikes, just as I have saddle bags for the Honda but those are not added on as parts of the bikes, they readily come right off and would not go with the bike if I ever let go of one of my bikes.

Yeah, if the aftermarket depended on people like me there would be a much smaller aftermarket. But mostly that market depends on people like Dennis, who is now on his fifth or sixth bike in the 15 or so years I’ve been riding with him. Somebody has to keep the wheels of commerce turning and I figure better him than me.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when your biggest decision of the day is left or right.

I’ll be leaving soon on this year’s OFMC trip and I plan to ride the Concours. So I got a new tire put on the V-Strom.

You have to understand, one of the best things about having more than one motorcycle is that if you’re planning to ride and find at the last minute that the bike you planned on has an issue, you just take a different one. I’ve run into that situation more than once.

Most recently, I was loading my Concours the night before departure on the Great River Road ride and found that the valve stem on the rear tire was totally rotted out. I immediately unloaded and moved everything to the V-Strom. I don’t expect anything like that this time but I wanted to be prepared just in case.

And man was that front tire in need of replacement. It wasn’t down to the cords or anything like that, but ever since I’ve had that bike I’ve run 80-20 Shinko tires that have an 80 percent bias for street riding but a chunkier tread that provides the 20 percent bias toward dirt. The thing is, in reality I don’t get off on the dirt all that much, but this tire doesn’t seem to like the pavement very much so it had a really odd wear pattern.

In fact, the guy at One Up Four Down, where I had the work done, commented on what an odd wear pattern it had, how the cupping was very unusual. Basically, the chunky tread along the outside was still thick but sloped down to almost nothing diagonally at an angle, while the inner portion of the tread was almost down to the DOT lines. Weird.

So I decided OK, I’ll just go with street tires. The guys next door at Let It Ride, where I bought the tire, recommended a Metzeler so that’s what I got.

In the meantime, while the guys were putting the new tire on I looked around at all the bikes they had in the repair shop. In the front of the shop, in an area where I was told the bikes were either ready to be picked up or were waiting for parts to arrive I spotted something very startling: A 1980 Honda CB750 Custom exactly like mine, except looking a lot more shiny and polished than mine.

It seems this bike, though, has an aftermarket exhaust system that has gone to crap and now they’re having a hard time finding something to replace it with. I still have the stock exhaust on mine and it works fine so whoever took theirs off and replaced it might have made a bad decision.

But there it was, looking very pretty and otherwise probably in a lot better condition than mine. I’m glad to see there are still others out there loving this old bike.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 38. “Am I dating an adult or a 10 year old” you’ll wonder sometimes.

Bill texted asking if we would like to ride up to Black Hawk for lunch and Dennis and I both said yes so we met at the usual place. Bill said he was figuring on going up Golden Gate Canyon so I had a flash. Have you guys ever been on Douglas Mountain Drive, I asked. No, they hadn’t so I led them on this ride.

When I first rode this road, last year, there was a sign at the top that said “Pavement Ends.” That was the case then, but this spring some time they sort of paved almost all of it. The sign is still there but now it’s largely incorrect. I would never had considered taking Bill and Dennis on that road but this newer, more paved road seemed like something they would be OK with.

The thing is, Dennis is very short and it’s a challenge for him to reach down and plant his foot, so he hates gravel.

So we went up from Golden Gate Canyon and dropped down into Clear Creek Canyon on Douglas Mountain Drive. We got to Black Hawk and parked and I asked how they had liked that ride. Anyone else I’ve ever been with on a first ride of this road has raved about how fabulous it was or how totally cool it was or something like that.

Dennis’s response: “It was a bit rough in places.”

Bill’s response: “It was kind of challenging sometimes.”

That’s it. OK.

So just as we came into Black Hawk, as we approached our turn, my bike sputtered a little like it’s needing to go to reserve. The odometer said only 118 miles and this bike (CB750) goes to reserve generally around 140 miles. So I didn’t immediately flip the petcock. Sometimes the warning can be subtle and it was this time. But then it just died. So I flipped the petcock, fired it up again, and pulled into the parking area and shut it back off.

We had lunch and played the machines a bit, which, or course, is what people do in Black Hawk. We ended up leaving with more money than we came with but the cash was not distributed equally. Bill won as usual, but only a little. Dennis had what is for him an extremely good day. And as usual I lost. You just have to think about it as paying by the hour for this particular form of entertainment, with the small possibility you’ll actually get paid rather than be the one paying.

Bill figured to just head back down through Clear Creek Canyon but he warned us there was construction going on and we might have to stop. OK. Then, taking the lead, he pulled into the gas station just down from Black Hawk thinking I might like to fill up. I appreciated his thoughtfulness.

That worked out perfectly then. We came onto a line of traffic stopped in the canyon but had only been there about two minutes when the folks ahead of us started to move. Great. And as we passed the line waiting in the other direction I counted at least 45 cars waiting for us to get clear so they could go the other way. Meanwhile, there were only three cars behind us. Great timing.

And then back in the city, after riding in canyon/mountain comfort, the heat soared and my last 10 miles were scorched. I’m ready for this heat to go away again.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if Jack Daniels makes your list of “most admired people.”