Passes & Canyons Blog

On Saturday I headed over to the National Western Complex for the 2023 Colorado Motorcycle Expo. Some aspects of this show never change but then some of them do.

It was a cold, overcast day (at least by the time I got there) and one thing very different was that there were not hundreds of motorcycle parked out front. No surprise considering the weather. But there were some here and there so there were some hard-core folks in attendance.

An odd thing that I take to be just coincidence was that as I was coming in there were a surprising number of people leaving who were carrying handlebars. Do a lot of people come here for handlebars? Probably my timing was just right for this totally random situation.

Inside you would have thought it was the middle of summer. I haven’t seen that much black leather in one place since the last time I came to the Expo. Personally, I don’t wear my riding gear except when I’m riding but this sort of event seems to prompt people to dress the part, never mind that they drove there in their cars.

The biggest surprise of all was that somehow in the intervening years (since 2019) all of the so-called “outlaw” clubs have established a presence at the Expo. By which I mean, they have all taken booths and set up with banners and everything and are now selling their own branded merchandise. Want some Sons of Silence merch? Take your pick of four different booths (Eastern Colorado, Metro, Southwest, Southwestern Colorado). Hell’s Angels merch? Got that. Gringos merch? Yup.

And this is an amazing transformation because the last time I went to the Expo the clubs were pretty much banned. There had been an inter-club shooting a couple years before and the management was working to keep them away, at least insisting that they not come wearing their colors. Times have changed.

Another surprise was how many Christian motorcycle groups had booths. I’ve really only been familiar with the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) but there was a whole slew of them that I had never heard of: Tribe of Judah Motorcycle Ministry, Soldiers for Jesus MC, and Hellfighters, just to name a few. Who knew? Not me. And they all had booths.

Of course there were a bunch of show bikes–that never changes. What was different about that this year was how very many mega-trikes there were. These are the things that are basically cars with extended forks and a single front wheel and two car tires on the rear. There used to be three of these things you’d see at local events, and I know one of them got smashed pretty badly in a crash in Wolcott some years ago. But there were about seven of them on display at the Expo.

Also, and this was new, in the downstairs there was an area where they had a bunch of custom cars. Don’t think I’ve ever seen cars on display at the Colorado Motorcycle Expo before.

And of course there were the people. There is absolutely no better place for people watching because there is nowhere else you’ll see so many really odd and interesting looking people.

Of course I shot a lot of pictures and I’ll be following up here with a couple posts that are primarily just photographs. Check back in a few days.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride to work, ride to play. Ride tomorrow, ride today.

I’m the guy planning the OFMC ride these days and last week I sent out the route along with assignments as to who reserves motels in what town. It will definitely be the remaining three of us again this year, me and Bill and Dennis, plus we may have one or two others. We started at three, then ballooned to about 10 or 11, and have now shrunk back to three as guys hang up their helmets.

The two possibles include Bruce, who joined us for the first time last year, and Kevin, an old friend who it occurred to me that I ought to call. Neither of them can say for sure at this point but either or both may come along.

At Dennis’s suggestion, this year we will at least attempt to do the rest of the trip that got altered significantly a few years ago when Dennis inadvertently put diesel in his tank. We were headed for Missoula, Montana, that day, with intent of going over Lolo Pass. With fortune on our side we ought to get there this time.

We’ll be starting out this time headed for Meeker. We’ll take US 40 up to Craig and then CO 13 down to Meeker. If Kevin joins us he’ll probably meet us there; he lives in Gunnison.

Day two will be out of Colorado into Utah, north past the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and into Wyoming to Kemmerer. Our first stay in Kemmerer many years ago was memorable because we eventually realized that several of the rooms just down from ours were gutted and had no roofs. Apparently there had been a fire. We probably won’t be staying at that motel this time. If Bruce joins us he’ll probably join us in Kemmerer, having made our two-day ride into a longish one-day ride.

From Kemmerer we’ll continue north through the Star Valley and then into Idaho. We’ll pass through Idaho Falls and go on to Arco, another town with some amusing memories from long ago. But I won’t go into that here; that’s a great candidate for my Tales of the OFMC series.

The next day we’ll run up from Arco, through Challis, to Missoula. I know this is a really nice ride so I’m looking forward to it. We’ll spend the night in Missoula and the next day double back just a few miles to the turn-off to Lolo Pass. This is actually a ride that Kevin and I did several years ago, along with his buddy Jeff. Those guys are pretty spontaneous so I was amused when we suddenly stopped and they both stripped naked and jumped in the river. It was a hot day, you know?

We’ll take US 12 down to Kooskia, then head south on ID 13 to Grangeville and there pick up US 95. At New Meadows we’ll get off onto ID 55 to Cascade, our stop for the night. This stretch will be the only new highway for us on this trip and it looks like it could be spectacular. I’ll let you know.

From Cascade we’ll head south to Boise and there we have little choice but to get on I-84. We’ll take that all the way down to Twin Falls and there turn south for our regular gambling/golf stop in Jackpot, Nevada. Along the way we’ll pass through Mountain Home, which is where Kevin’s buddy Jeff now lives, so we may lose Kevin there, presuming he’s with us in the first place. If Bruce is with us we’ll definitely lose him in Jackpot because while we stay there two nights, he will ride on after one night to get home as quickly as possible.

The big slog of the trip will come when we leave Jackpot, running south on US 93 to Wells, Nevada, and then east on I-80 to Wendover, across the salt flats to Salt Lake City, and then down to our destination that day, Spanish Fork.

Leaving Spanish Fork in the morning we’ll be on US 6 and then US 191 down to I-70 at Green River, Utah, where we’ll take the super slab to Grand Junction for our final night. The next day we’ll head home, presumably on I-70.

Should be a good trip. It will be a couple more days than usual because that is necessary if you’re going to get to Lolo Pass and not also do several long days. If there is one thing the OFMC does not like these days it is long days.

Biker Quote for Today

It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels.

A bill calling for the Colorado Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Colorado State Patrol, to study the concept of allowing lane-splitting has been introduced in the Colorado House (HOUSE BILL 23-1059).

Rep. Ron Weinberg, of Fort Collins, is the bill’s sponsor. The summary of the bill reads as follows:

Under current law, the driver of a motorcycle is prohibited from overtaking or passing a motor vehicle by driving in the same lane as the motor vehicle or between rows of motor vehicles, a practice known as “lane splitting.”
The bill requires the Colorado department of transportation, in collaboration with the Colorado state patrol, to conduct a feasibility study
of permitting motorcycle lane splitting and report the results of the study to the transportation committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 31, 2023.

As yet there are no co-sponsors in the House and no one in the Senate has signed on to back it. It may go absolutely nowhere.

I don’t know about other motorcyclists and other motorcyclist organizations, but the thinking within ABATE of Colorado is decidedly mixed. ABATE’s legislative liaison, Stump, sent an email alerting us all to this bill and asking for our thoughts. I immediately replied that I back it strongly.

Running through responses that were sent “Reply All” we first had Larry saying “I do not like at all.”

Next, from Jim, was “This is a huge step toward eventually getting a bill to allow some form of lane filtering/splitting on Interstate highways in Colorado. Big thanks should go to Rep. Weinberg!!!”

Then, kind of in the middle but leaning against, was Mike: “I see nothing but bad PR for motorcyclist with the general driving population, because of the motorcyclist who abuse the privilege by not following the guide lines that allow them to perform lane splitting or filtering in a safe way. All motorcyclist represent all of us that ride, that is what has created profiling, because the general public lump us all together by the way we dress, the colors and patches we wear and the way we ride? I would love the opportunity to use lane splitting and or filtering, I just would not like the negative attitude toward motorcyclist that would be created by the abuse of the privilege.”

Dave entered the conversation pointing out that, “it’s a Study – no more than that at this point in time. This was going to come up in Colorado eventually and has been mentioned often over some years now; several other states have adopted lane splitting/filtering and more are likely considering it – it’s the trend. I suggest that ABATE not offer a formal position – pro or con – except to agree in principle to the study, state this organization’s concern for rider safety in the traffic patterns (keeping with our mission statement), and review/input on the study upon its’ completion. The State Patrol is likely to solicit ABATE’s point-of-view on the matter along the way, and should.”

There was more but you get the picture. But, as Dave said, it’s a study. So I agree, let’s at least have the study conducted. Then, as far as I’m concerned, I would be in favor of allowing lane-splitting or filtering. Riders who consider it too dangerous just don’t have to do it. But let those of us who are more comfortable with it do it. In ABATE especially we talk a lot about freedom to choose, in relation to wearing or not wearing a helmet. Well, how is this any different?

I don’t know about you but I’ve been in several countries in Europe where lane-splitting is absolutely the norm and you know what? It’s not mass slaughter on the roads. People do it all the time and everyone gets along fine. Sure there would be a period of adjustment while everyone in cars and on bikes gets familiar with it but then, just like so many other places in the world, it would become normal.

Biker Quote for Today

You will never suffer a punctured tire on the road until you leave the repair kit at home.

I got an email a while back from Anthony asking me for routes ideas. He said he was coming into Colorado to Durango and was heading on through to Wyoming. He wanted to do some dirt; did I have suggestions?

Of course I did so I mapped out a possible route and sent that to him. So much for that. Normally.

Then, a few days ago, I got another email. He had completed his trip and now had posted the video. Oh, I had no idea you were going to be doing that. So I had to go watch the video.

The fact of the matter was that I did not remember what we had discussed. I knew I could go reread out exchanges but I didn’t bother doing that before watching the video. I would do that afterward.

The video starts with some introductory footage that I suspect (haven’t checked it out yet) that he starts each video with, setting the scene. Then the riding begins out around Moab, and he quickly takes a fall on the Honda CB500X he’s riding. Not the last fall he’ll take along the way. Clearly Anthony is no quitter.

He reaches the Million Dollar Highway, US 550 running up to Ouray, and is not impressed. Mostly it was the traffic and the fact that it was raining pretty hard, but he called it “kind of boring” and said he really preferred the McKensie Highway, up in Oregon. I haven’t been on that so that could be something to check out some day.

After a stop to do laundry it was time to hit the dirt. He was still on US 550 and when he turned off to the right I immediately recognized that he was headed for Owl Creek Pass. It turned out when I did go back and read our emails that this was a route I suggested. I sure didn’t remember that, though. But I recognized that turn-off.

Through the course of the video you see all these nice views of the bike and while some shots are clearly from cameras mounted on the bike, others look like they were shot by someone else on another bike. On this stretch you really get a chance to see at least some of the cameras. Apparently enough people asked that he put up a video just showing his camera set-up. Very interesting but I wish he had explained why, when the camera is mounted on a selfie stick “the selfie stick disappears.” Really? How?

So he made it to Gunnison that day, which is where this episode (there are four of them, so far) ends, but as a teaser he includes a preview of crossing Wyoming . . . and another spill. This time it was tipping slowly sideways in a mud hole.

I totally identify with that. I did exactly the same thing once coming across northern Kansas. Your front wheel goes splooshing into the deep mud and you just fall over in slow motion. Then getting back up is super hard because you don’t have solid footing to lift the bike.

Anyway, it’s kind of a fun ride to go along on. And I’m glad I was able to contribute in a small way. Check it out if you’re interested.

Biker Quote for Today

Don’t know if it’s illegal to be handsome and ride a motorcycle at the same time but whatever, I live dangerously.

I make a point to ride each of my bikes at least once every calendar month, year-round. But so far here in January 2023 I had not been able to get out of the neighborhood because our street was covered in ice.

Last week we had a few warm days and I saw my opportunity approaching. There were patches of exposed asphalt but other big patches of impassable ice. But lanes of asphalt were starting to appear. So I went out with my shovel to give nature a helping hand.

I got out there and was surprised and pleased to see the neighbor three doors down out with an ice breaker busting up the ice in front of his house. We joined forces and after maybe an hour and a half we had carved a passageway most of the way down the block. All I needed was to get to the end of the block because the cross street down there was already clear.

Mick said he had other places he needed to go and I was tired so we weren’t going to do it all right then. He said he would leave his ice breaker leaning against his garage so I could use it. I rested for about an hour and then went back out to finish the job. I was following the path of least resistance so the last stretch I cleared had some curves in it. You can see that in the photo. But I figured I could handle that sort of maneuvering.

The next day, Saturday, was the day. Around noon I got on the V-Strom, fired it up, and headed down the street. It turned out that twisting path was not as easy on the bike as I had expected so I did end up clipping a bit of ice on the tightest corners but I got out and did a short ride. Coming home I took it really slow and managed the pathway but decided to come back with my shovel and clear some more.

That was when I noticed that nature had opened up much of a better route than mine and all I needed to do was scoop away some soft ice that separated that lane from mine. Now I had a good path. I went back and got on the Honda.

I got out on the Honda but didn’t go far. Something just didn’t feel right. It didn’t seem to be running properly. Not wanting to get too far from home in case I had problems, I just rode around a bit close by until the engine was fully warmed and then headed home. I still don’t know what’s going on; I’ll deal with that later.

Then it was time to take the Kawi out. And while it readily turned over, it just did not want to catch. I kept cranking and cranking and cranking and while it did catch at one point, it quickly died. Now what the heck? But I kept trying and it finally did start and keep running. And once I got out on the road it ran beautifully. It was just that trouble starting. I’ll just hope that it was because it hadn’t been run since early December.

So it was a beautiful day to ride, and I saw a bunch of other guys out on their bikes. Judging from the weather forecast this was going to be the last good day to ride for at least another week so lots of people took advantage of it while they had it.

It’s always iffy at this time of year; you take your opportunities when they knock. I may not get out again this month, who knows. But at least all three bikes got a January run, even if they were short.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.

On Tuesday morning I headed out early because I had a long way to go. By the following evening I needed to be at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to meet up with John and Bill. I had miles to burn.

My destination that first day was Durango. I had a friend, Donna, who lived there with her future husband, Neil. I figured I’d spend the night with them.

This was at the time the longest one-day ride I had ever done. And I hadn’t gone far when I felt the need to stretch out my legs so I went to put my feet up on my highway pegs . . . and discovered the left one wasn’t there. It was there when I took the bike in the shop but it wasn’t there now. More anger. Not to mention lack of comfort.

I got to Durango and found my way to Donna and Neil’s, exhausted. I know for a fact that she was not thrilled to have me show up in a foul mood complaining loudly and bitterly about these jerks who had shafted me so badly. I understand that. But I figured my anger was more than justified and surely they could understand that and would sympathize.

At least as far as the highway peg was concerned, Neil did me a big favor. He fished out an aluminum tube about seven inches long and used duct tape to attach it in the appropriate spot. Thank you so much, Neil. And I spent the night and headed out in the morning. That wasn’t where this part of the story ended, though. About a year later, when Donna and Neil were getting married, I only heard about the wedding indirectly. I thought there must be some mistake; surely I should have been invited. I called Donna and she told me that no, they didn’t want me at their wedding because I would bring too much negativity. I was stunned. Sometime later we did patch over this rift but that was just one more disservice those jerks at the shop did me.

I headed on to the North Rim. Another hard day’s ride and I was there, and with a little luck I found Bill and John’s campsite. But they weren’t there so I went looking for them. First I went to the lodge, which was nearby. I didn’t find them there so I speculated that they had gone out to view the sunset somewhere. Figuring that what I would have done was to go out to an area called Cape Royal, 23 miles from the lodge on a slow, twisty road. So I headed out there.

It was a long ride, probably at least 45 minutes. And they weren’t there. Nothing to do but head back. But before I got anywhere close to all the way back the bike started to sputter and then died. It was getting dark, I was very tired, I was out on a lonely road with nothing and nobody around, and my bike was dead. I broke. It was more than I could take. Standing beside the bike I pounded my fists savagely on the seat screaming “God damn it! God damn it! God damn it!”

Then I had a thought. Maybe I had just run out of gas. Maybe I could flip to Reserve and the bike would run. I did and it did. Hallelujah!!!

I headed back to camp as fast as I could and when I got there and saw Bill and John I had never in my life been so happy to see them. What a day!

In the morning we stopped at the gas station there by the lodge and it was then that I noticed how thin the rubber was on my front tire. I had looked at it just the day before and it had a lot more tread then. I showed it to Bill and John and that was when we all learned just how important it is to keep proper air pressure in your tires. Let the air pressure run too low and you can burn off thousands of miles of tread in just a few hundred miles.

The rest of the trip was good and as soon as we got home I headed over to the shop. I wanted my highway peg and, guess what, my bike was still leaking oil and my pant leg was still getting splattered with oil. That’s what this whole business had been about in the first place. Here’s where the guy at the counter showed what a total jerk he was. First off, he pointed to the job ticket and how all it said was do a ring job. There was nothing there about stopping an oil leak. The ticket that I’m certain he wrote up deliberately in precisely that manner. And no matter what I could say he just blew me off.

And then I brought up the highway peg. Oh no, he blustered, we’re not responsible for that. Fortunately, the mechanic who had done some or all of the work was right there and he said wait a minute. He ran in back and came out with the peg. Middle finger to you, counter guy.

There is some justice in this world, however. I learned about a month later that this shop had gone out of business. Closed their doors. Kaput. Gosh, I can’t imagine why.

Biker Quote for Today

Quick fixes are named for how long they stay fixed.

On that OFMC trip to the Grand Canyon where the communicators were useless I mentioned that Bill and John had to leave without me and we had to meet up later. Why was that?

For as long as I had owned this 1980 Honda CB750 Custom it had leaked oil. I would go for a ride and by the time I got home the lower portion of my right pant leg would be spattered with oil. Not a wonderful thing. So about six weeks before we were to leave on the trip I decided to do something about it.

I took the bike to a repair shop and told them I wanted the leak stopped. I didn’t really know what it would take to do that, but I trusted that they would. The guy at the counter had a much better idea of the situation, though, and he totally set me up. For what it’s worth, I figure what was needed was gaskets. At least, that’s my take on it now. But what he seemed to understand was that even a new set of gaskets was not a guarantee of no leaking.

So he told me, gosh, we’re going to have to tear the whole engine down to do that so while we’ve got it apart it might make good sense to give it a ring job, too. I was naive and trusting so I said OK, do that. Then he wrote up the ticket saying that the repair needed was the ring job. He made no mention of stopping an oil leak.

I made sure to tell him I was leaving on a trip in six weeks and the bike absolutely had to be ready by then. I didn’t see how that could be hard to do and he assured me that they would have it for me long before our departure date. So I left the bike in their hands.

What I learned later was that this shop was struggling financially. At this time of year they could make a lot more money doing quick jobs like new tires and oil changes, whereas tearing my bike down and doing my work was nowhere near as remunerative on an hourly basis. So they put their attention toward the cash flow jobs. Time went by and I didn’t get a call so I called them. No, it was not ready yet, but no problem, they would definitely have it for me in time. OK.

More time passed and I called again. Same answer. OK. And more time passed and now I was getting nervous. Same answer: they’d have it for me in time.

Finally, about three days before departure I called again and this time the jerk at the counter said no, there’s no way they’re going to have it ready for me in three days. That would be a Friday. The best they could do, he said, was have it for me on Monday. Can you say angry!? But what could I do? And what could Bill and John do? So they left without me, and we made plans to meet up in a few days.

I was livid. This was utterly inexcusable and clearly these guys didn’t give a rat’s patootie about me as a customer. And the thing was, this was a much bigger deal to me than it might have in other circumstances. But the thing was, when I bought this bike it was at the absolute lowest point of my life, before and since. I was at absolute bottom. And I bought the bike and it brought me unbridled joy! It literally gave me something to live for, at a time when I desperately needed something to live for. And in the nearly three years since I bought it it had been nothing but pure, absolute joy to me. And now, for the first time ever, there was anger and negativity connected with it. And I resented that bitterly! That they could introduce negativity into my relationship with the bike was beyond despicable. Unforgivable. The very worst blow they could strike. I hated the guy at the counter with the deepest passion.

And would they actually have the bike ready for me on Monday? Well, they did, though not until Monday afternoon, too late for me to even get started till Tuesday morning. So I picked it up Monday afternoon, took it home, packed, and got ready for an early Tuesday departure. Finally.

I’ll pick up the story next time; it’s far from over.

Biker Quote for Today

Sometimes I ride my motorcycle to nowhere to see nothing just so I can ride my motorcycle.

Every year after the first of January I look at my mileage for the year just ended. I did pretty well in 2022; rode the motorcycles more and put exactly 12 more miles on my car than I did in 2021.

First the car, because that’s my primary basis of comparison. I drove my car all of 2,506 miles. I wasn’t far off that with the Concours and well beyond it on the V-Strom. Nowhere close with the Honda, though.

The Honda only got ridden 729 in 2022. That’s down from 1,086 the year before. Which is a bit surprising to me considering that I thought I was trying to make a deliberate point of riding it regularly. Oh well, I’ll do better in 2023. And I’m also going to put some money into some work this good old bike is in need of.

The Concours had a better year than the CB750: 2,354 miles. That is up from 2,002 miles in 2021 and, as I said, almost as much as the car. Just 152 miles shy of the car. The Kawi got to go on the OFMC trip so it got a lot of miles off that one.

The champion this time around was the V-Strom. I rode that bike 3,866 miles in 2022. It got to go on the RMMRC Great River Road Ride and that was a good long jaunt. I hadn’t planned it that way. I was going to ride the Concours but had to make a last minute change when I discovered the valve stem on one of its tires was totally rotted away. It’s good to have more than one motorcycle.

Altogether that adds up 6,949 miles on motorcycles in 2022, versus 2,506 in my car. I may not put really big miles on any of my vehicles the way a lot of people do but by gosh, I do most of my getting around on the bikes. I kind of like it that way.

Biker Quote for Today

I love being on my bike, but I don’t consider that a sport: it’s too pleasant.