Passes & Canyons Blog

OK, you can’t really see the smoke, as I hoped you could, but there is definitely something burning here.

One thing after another. I’m feeling now like my Concours is not even my bike any more and all I want is to be done with it. Anyone want a free motorcycle?

The bike has been over at Rowdy Rocket Garage since December 29. Every time I call and talk to Mark over there he tells me he’s hoping to get to it today or tomorrow. Every time. At the end of January I went over and took it out for a short ride just to get a January ride in on it. It’s now the end of February and I went over there on Wednesday to do the same thing. No dice.

First off, I pressed the starter button and nothing. The battery–a new battery–was dead from sitting there for two months. So Mark hooked a charger up to it and it started up but now it started emitting smoke. Not from the exhaust, from the engine. Mark said he could tell by the odor that it was oil, that there must be an oil leak dripping down onto the exhaust and burning. It should all burn off shortly.

After several minutes it was smoking just as much as ever. Looking in through the slots on the body work I could see where it was coming from, with big plumes of smoke rising up and dispersing and coming out everywhere. What the heck?

I’m not blaming Mark for this–the fact is he hasn’t worked on the bike. But it wasn’t doing this before. How does an oil leak just spontaneously happen?

So I did not take the Connie for a ride, so no February ride. So much for never missing a month over 25 years (other than two months off for heart surgery). At this point I just don’t care, I just want to be rid of the bike.

Of course now it’s up to Mark to finally get to it for the throttle issue I took it in for but now also to see what’s up with the oil leak. Presumably throwing good money after bad. Whatever I spend, if it finally gets the bike running well again, I’ll only turn around and put it up for sale for perhaps as much as I will have just spent.

Right now the $200 Vickery offered me for it back when I was lusting for that FJ-09 they had is looking pretty nice. How good hindsight is. I wish I’d taken them up on that.

Oh, and then, as if all this wasn’t enough to make my day less than wonderful, I got home and sat down to put all this into this blog post and could not get to the blog. All I got was a page with an error message, and I couldn’t even get it to see what the problem might be. I did get to Google Analytics, however, where I learned the blog and the mobile side of the site had both been down for two days. Great.

Nor, for some reason, could I get to my web host online, so I called. After working with three different techs they found the issues and got it all fixed and here I am writing this. What a freaking hassle!

Biker Quote for Today

I’d rather be splitting lanes.

The OFMC on the road in 2016.

I was late getting the plans for this year’s OFMC trip set but finally did. It’s actually harder to plan a trip with shorter days than with longer ones. We’ll be staying almost entirely in Colorado this year.

The mandate from the guys–primarily Bill–was no long hard days of riding. Dennis suggested we play tourist a bit more than we generally have. I came up with a plan.

First off, following last year’s hellacious trip home on I-70 on Sunday with all the horrendous traffic that always entails, I suggested that hey, we don’t need to leave and come home on weekends. We can go and return in the middle of the week. Everyone agreed to that.

So we’ll be leaving on a Wednesday and going up over Berthoud Pass, through Winter Park and Granby just on to Hot Sulphur Springs. And there we’ll partake of the hot springs for a good hot soak. Just in case we’re a bit sore from the first day’s ride.

Next we’ll hit Kremmling and turn south, catch I-70 briefly to Copper Mountain, and then take Fremont Pass over to Buena Vista. We’ll make sure to get there early enough for this day’s activity: zip-lining. I had looked at doing some river rafting but we have all done that before and none of us has done a zip line. I’m hoping it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Originally I planned it out that we would backtrack to Twin Lakes and take Independence Pass over to Aspen and Carbondale and then turn south toward McClure Pass to spend a night at the Redstone Inn in Redstone. Calling for reservations, though, it turned out they have a big wedding going on that weekend and there is not an available room in town. Searching further and further afield it finally worked out that the best alternative was Montrose, and if we’re heading to Montrose from Buena Vista it made sense to take an entirely different route. So we’ll go over Cottonwood Pass down to Almont, to Gunnison, and then take US 50 to Montrose.

The next day we’ll just head straight down US 550 to Durango, going over Red Mountain and Molas Passes on the way. Durango will be a two-day stop because the next day instead of riding we’ll play golf. Golf is an always kind of thing on the OFMC trips these days.

We’ll have a pretty short ride the day we leave Durango as we are just going to Mesa Verde National Park. More playing tourist. In the early days of the OFMC we always found the cheapest place to stay we could. Nowadays we all have more money and we’re spending it. We’ll be staying at the grand lodge–the Far View Lodge–in the park. That should be really nice.

We’ll ride around and see the park the day we get there but the next day’s ride is not a long one either: it’s time for the mandatory gambling stop. We’re heading on to Ignacio, to the Sky Ute Casino Resort. We’ve stayed at the Sky Ute before but they used to be in a much smaller place and it was inexpensive. The new place is fancy and the price reflects that. And that’s before you give them money at the tables and machines. But we like a little gambling.

The next day of this trip is the longest one. We’re heading for Fort Garland and there were two possible routes to get there. One would be to just get on US 160 all the way, over Wolf Creek Pass. That’s a little shorter, but only a little, than what we’re going to do. We’ll take 160 to Pagosa Springs but then turn south into New Mexico, to Chama, and then turn northeast over Cumbres and La Manga Passes to Antonito. Then some mostly straight roads to Fort Garland.

Our final day, coming home, we have choices. The direct shots would be either to go east on US 160 to I-25 and take it all the way home, or jog west and pick up US 285 north all the way home. If we feel like a more scenic route I was thinking go east to Walsenburg and then turn northwest on CO 69 to Westcliffe, and then a series of roads up to Penrose, to Colorado Springs, and then pick a route home from there. This would be an equally long day as the previous one, so we’ll see what we all fell like at that point.

And that will do it. I’m thinking it’s going to be a good trip.

Biker Quote for Today

“I’m a decent sprinter and I can gun a motorcycle from zero to suicidal in less than ten seconds.” ? Mira Grant

This map (courtesy of Google) shows Bayou Gulch Road running west to Pradera Parkway and on to Crowfoot Valley Road. Bayou Gulch continues north from that junction and meets Crowfoot further to the north.

The Tuesday forecast was for highs in the 60s so I had to ride. You don’t get better February riding days than that. And this time, unlike so many times when I take off, I had an idea where I was going. Kind of.

I was thinking about Parker and Castle Rock and the road that runs directly from one to the other, Crowfoot Valley Road. I was inclined to go clockwise, home to Parker to Castle Rock, but even after all this time I was not clear on where I would turn in Parker to get on Crowfoot. So I figured I’d go counter-clockwise because I know where to pick up this road in Castle Rock. Fine. Let’s go.

I was still uncertain, though, how I wanted to get to Castle Rock. I knew I wanted to come in on US 85 but did I really want to make my way all the way out to Santa Fe and C-470 to pick up 85? Preferably not. So I headed south on Quebec, knowing that would take me to Daniels Park. From Daniels Park I would take Daniels Park Road on south to 85, then left to Castle Rock.

But as I drew near to Daniels Park and Castle Pines Parkway I realized this was another situation just like Crowfoot Valley Road: I knew how to get on the road going north but was not sure where to pick up that same road going south. Maybe I could recognize the intersection. If not, I knew the road (Monarch Boulevard) would take me to Castle Pines Parkway and then I would just go west to Daniels Park Road.

That’s what happened. I passed two intersections that I thought might be what I wanted but I couldn’t be sure. So I stayed on Monarch. Then as I came up to the southern terminus of the road I wanted I decided I would turn onto it and ride it back to where it meets Monarch and then I would take note of landmarks so I would know in the future. Also, probably most importantly, I saw that this was Buffalo Trail. Just remember that name.

So I did Buffalo Trail, noted the landmarks, retraced my steps and then went back to Castle Pines Parkway and did the jog over onto Daniels Park Road. Down to 85 and east to Castle Rock.

I crossed I-25 and went up Founders Parkway and then left onto Crowfoot. Now the question was, where was I going to come out when I got to Parker? But here’s where it got really interesting. As I got close to Parker I saw a sign for Bayou Gulch Road. What? I know Bayou Gulch Road. I’ve ridden it many times with the RMMRC, as one route to get out to Kiowa to Patty Ann’s for breakfast or lunch. Does Bayou Gulch come all the way over to Crowfoot? Something to check out in the future.

But as I got into Parker I came first to Stroh Road–and here Crowfoot became Motsenbocker Road, going north instead of northeast–and a little further on I hit Hess Road. And I knew Motsenbocker heads back west from there. So that’s why I didn’t know where in the central part of Parker you pick up Crowfoot–you don’t. You have to first go west on Hess or Stroh. So that question was answered.

Only now I had a bigger question and there was no time like the present. I went east on Hess to pick up Parker Road and turned south. Bayou Gulch Road runs east from Parker Road along the southern boundary of The Pinery. Does it go east from there, and does it run all the way through to Crowfoot? I had to find out.

Yes it does run west from Parker Road. And yes it does run all the way through to Crowfoot–only not at the moment. Not far from Crowfoot it is currently closed due to construction and they detour you onto Pradera Parkway, a road I had never heard of. And Pradera does go through to Crowfoot.

So now I was retracing my course northeast on Crowfoot and I spotted something else of interest. There was an intersection marked North Pinery Parkway. Does that go all the way through, too? Oh my gosh, there are a bunch of through roads here I never knew existed. Well, no. I didn’t ride it to see but Google Maps shows me now that Pinery Parkway does not go through. So I was not wrong to wonder if Bayou Gulch did.

Anyway, from there I just made my way home after a really nice day out riding and some fun exploring. I love exploring.

Biker Quote for Today

If you never owned a motorcycle you’ll never understand.

I love this old bike but I’m really glad it’s not my only motorcycle.

I have three motorcycles and I was just reflecting on the numerous times that as worked to my benefit. Sure, I have to spend a bunch more money on maintenance and insurance–not to mention purchase–but it’s worth it in my opinion.

Right now offers a perfect example. After getting my 1999 Kawasaki Concours back from the shop following my misadventure getting home from the latest OFMC trip I now had a throttle issue. I took it back to the shop to have that addressed and it has now been 50 days since I dropped it off and I am still waiting to get it back. If I only had one bike that would have been 50 days of no riding. Not acceptable.

There have also been several instances when I was leaving on a trip, planning on riding a particular bike, and had issues with that bike at the point when I was leaving. One time the bike just wasn’t running right and I made a detour to the shop, where they worked on it a bit but couldn’t guarantee for me the issue would not reappear. Another time I was checking the air in the tires and discovered that one valve stem was totally rotted out, so badly I couldn’t understand why the tire wasn’t flat already.

In both cases I just pulled all my things off the one bike and loaded it all on another and off I went.

On at least another couple occasions I wanted to take one bike but checking the tread on the tires there clearly wasn’t enough rubber to go a couple thousand miles. At the same time, there was plenty of rubber to go another 1,000 miles or so and I didn’t want to junk that tire prematurely. Not with motorcycle tires generally getting only 10,000 miles or less as it is. And paying to have the old tire replaced and then put back on later would be absurd. No problem–take a different bike.

Early on in the rides of the OFMC, back when I only had one bike, I had an issue and did not have this option. I needed some work done on my CB750 and took it to a shop well in advance of departure date, telling them I absolutely had to have it by a certain date, but expecting to get it back well in advance of that date. They said oh yeah, we’ll have it done well before then. They didn’t. They didn’t have it done until three days after Bill and John had already left. I ended up riding really hard for two days solid to meet up with them a long way from here. How nice a second bike would have been at that point.

Having more than one bike has also worked to the advantage of other people a couple times, too. Once the OFMC was heading out and Johnathon had problems with his bike. I loaned him my CB750; he got to go on the trip. Another time a member of the RMMRC who has moved away from Denver was back in town. The RMMRC was going on a ride. I offered to let him ride my V-Strom. He did. You’re welcome.

So yeah, I like have three motorcycles. I strongly recommend it. You have room for another, don’t you?

Biker Quote for Today

A motorcycle ride melts away the frustration of life in less than a mile.

Twenty-two people testified in favor of this bill, while there were zero speaking in opposition.

Something has changed. I don’t know what, but a switch has been thrown.

I’ve been going down to the Capitol in support of bills to outlaw using cell phones while driving for years and they have never passed. This week at the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee hearing on SB24-065 (Mobile Electronic Devices & Motor Vehicle Driving) there was a palpable difference. There were 22 people who signed up to speak and all of them were in favor of the bill, with none opposed. And when it came to a vote the measure passed unanimously.

Not only that, the mood seemed to be one of “Well of course we need to pass this law. Why in the world would we not?”

Perhaps it is because–finally–everyone involved has seen all too many times the dangerous, sometimes deadly, aftermath of idiots driving with their attention on their cell phones rather than on the road. There is simply no denying any more that this is a scourge every bit as horrendous as drunk driving used to be. In fact, studies have shown that the driving ability of someone using their phone is almost indistinguishable from the driving ability of someone who is completely drunk. Who among us defends drunk driving? Who among us would defend using your phone while driving? Are you an idiot?

The battle is nowhere near won yet but it’s looking better than ever before. In the last session the bill was finally passed by the Senate but died in the House. This session it still needs to be passed by the Senate and then we’ll see what the House does.

In the past I have attributed the refusal of legislators to move forward on this because they themselves were guilty of exactly the behavior that would be outlawed. But as I said, a switch seems to have been thrown. The mood is very different. And that’s all the more reason why, when the bill comes up in the House, we all need to put extreme pressure on our representatives to get this bill passed. Finally!

You can bet I’ll be keeping you updated as this proceeds. Meanwhile, I’ll be sending a letter to the editor of The Denver Post recapping a lot of what I’m saying here, at a time appropriate to the issue. If you did, too, and we inundate them with them maybe we can get the newspaper to come out strongly behind this, too. Stay tuned.

Biker Quote for Today

Life may not be about your bike, but it sure helps you get through it.

Having Reserve on a motorcycle does you no good if you don’t set the petcock (upper left) back to Main once you fill the tank.

Have you ever run out of gas on your bike? Does the sun rise in the east?

I sure have. Probably the first time was early on and I was taking a young lady I had an interest in for a ride. We were just out cruising when the engine died. I figured I just needed to go to Reserve but when I reached for the petcock I found that it was already in the Reserve position and I had forgotten to turn it back the last time I filled up. Oops. Fortunately I knew there was a station about a mile away and we walked up there, rented (that’s how it worked back then–rent was the price of the can in case you didn’t bring it back) a gas can and filled it, then walked back to the bike. She didn’t complain but she and I never became a couple.

Years later when I was married and my Concours was new my wife and I went for a ride with the local Concours Owners Group chapter. Most everyone filled up in Florence but I figured I had plenty of gas to get home. Wrong. We were coming up CO 83, just south of Franktown, when we sputtered to a stop. Fortunately we were right in front of a farm house and when we knocked they said yes they had a gas tank to supply their farm equipment and yes, they would sell us some gas. Lucky us.

Anyway, this is leading to my main focus here, that I’ve been reading a thread on Adventure Rider where the question is “When was the last time you ran out of gas? Tell your story.” Here are a few other people’s stories.

• I ran out on the way home from work on my NX650 years ago. No cell service… Within 5 minutes a state trooper came by, a wildlife trooper, pickup truck hauling a quad, had extra gas. He gave me enough gas to make it the eight miles home, but not before running my license. I was grateful and a little miffed at the same time.
• My last time was on a two-up day ride with my wife. We were having a great time just knocking around forest roads and backwoods byways at speeds that allowed us to actually have a conversation. Well, my Scramster only holds 3.3 gallons of fuel and I rode it until the trip meter read 176 miles, as we did our best to make it to a gas station that was 176.5 miles away.
• In 2015 I was on my XR650L in Baja. I was deep offroad and completely lost. All the deep sand had used up my gas reserves. I poured in my last gallon of extra gas rode for 35 miles then found pavement. Took a guess on which way to go so made a left turn and started riding. After roughly 10 miles I could see a town I kept riding and when I arrived at the town the engine started sputtering I pulled a wheelie to get the remaining gas to the rear of the Clarke tank. It ran for about a mile then sputtered again but this time could see a Pem Mex station. I pulled another wheelie and rode towards the station, as I stopped at the pump the engine died. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.
• A cautionary tale; forgot to put gas in my Triyumph Bonneville T100 and ran out of gas near home. I had read that you could shake gas over to the left side, and so i tried to do that. I straddled the bike and laid it all the way to the left hanging the weight of the bike on my left arm and shaking it. Without realizing it I severely strained and damaged my left shoulder and had to go to first care for pain pills and muscle relaxers. Don’t do that. It didn’t even work and I could have really messed my shoulder up. As it turned out I recovered without any more medical intervention, but I will never try that again.
• I’m on my CRF230L which does not have a gauge. Was headed to Rutland State Park on I190 when it started sputtering at 120mi. Switched to reserve. Got off the highway, was looking for a gas station on my way to the park when I ran out of gas after 30 miles on reserve. Pushed my bike 3.1 miles to the nearest gas station on a busy road. No one stopped and asked if I needed help.

Yeah, I’ve probably run out other times but just don’t remember, but not recently. I had a fuel-line issue with Reserve on my CB750 a couple years ago while riding with the RMMRC and Roy pulled out a can of gas he carries everywhere. He told me you can get these leak-proof cans are available at the army surplus store so I bought one. Not a bad thing to have at hand.

Biker Quote for Today

My first love, my motorcycle.

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a proposal to legalize lane filtering.

On Wednesday this week lane filtering took one step closer to reality in Colorado, though whether it makes it all the way is not at all a certainty. The bill was passed out of committee on a 6-1 vote.

The primary sponsor of SB24-079, Motorcycle Lane Filtering & Passing, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, speaking to the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee, compared the reluctance of many people to buy into the idea of allowing filtering to the initial uncertainty when roundabouts were first becoming common. That reluctance faded as the public became familiar with roundabouts. He also noted that some motorcyclists will disregard the laws whether this particular one passes or not, and stressed that with his proposal, “we seek no protection for those individuals.”

Among those speaking in opposition were Pueblo Police Department Chief Steven Noeller, representing the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police. He questioned the law enforcement ability to enforce and safely implement the law and argued that while lane filtering is commonly practiced in Europe, “we are not in Europe” and American driving habits are different (i.e., more aggressive) than over there.

Another speaker in opposition, Ed Shoenhite, a rider and RiderCoach, argued that this law would not make young riders safer, “it’s gonna get them killed.”

Jeff Jensen, with the Colorado Springs Police Department, said the issues addressed by this bill offer a “solution to a problem that does not exist. . . . The risks simply outweigh the rewards.”

ABATE of Colorado weighed in saying the group is neutral on the proposal, seeing pros and cons. The Colorado State Patrol did likewise.

The American Motorcyclist Association, represented by regional representative Nick Sands, took a position in favor of the bill arguing that it should be the motorcyclist’s choice. Others spoke in favor, both in person and online.

Hinrichsen summed up after testimony concluded noting that while road rage is a real issue, with the potential for some drivers to feel that motorcyclists were cheating, public policy should follow the data. He cited the example of roads where a lane is ending and the need for drivers to merge. Many feel that drivers who drive all the way up to the merge point before moving over are cheating, but studies have shown that that is the best and most efficient way for the two lanes of traffic to become one.

He argued that that same sort of data shows his proposal to be a positive change.

When called for a vote, Senators Lisa Cutter, Nick Hinrichsen, Cleave Simpson, Chris Hansen, Tony Exum, and Kevin Priola were in favor. Sen. Byron Pelton voted no.

Biker Quote for Today

Life is too short for traffic.

As long as the roads aren’t like this you always have back-up transportation if you have a motorcycle.

For obvious reasons, transportation was an issue for me after this idiot totaled my car a couple weeks ago. The issue was quickly resolved for a while when my insurance company got me a rental car, with them paying $30 a day and me picking up the remainder, about $10 a day. But then I bought a new car and before Judy gave me a ride over to pick it up we took my rental back.

Before I could pick up the new car my insurance company called to tell me the one I was buying–a used car–had a recall on it and until I could get that warranty issue handled they could cover me for liability but not for comprehensive and collision. OK, that’s a real issue and a couple quick calls later I had an appointment to get the new car in for the warranty work just a few days later. But still, driving at all without comp and collision made me extremely uncomfortable.

Judy said I was welcome to use hers any time I wanted but as we looked at our schedules we quickly saw there would be some conflicts where she needed her car and I needed to get somewhere. Not a problem, I told her, I can ride one of my bikes.

Of course this ability is always contingent at this time of year on the weather. But at this time we were having some beautiful, warm weather. So one day I needed to run up to the salvage yard in Commerce City where my old car now resided because I wanted to get my old plates to put on my new car. I rode the V-Strom.

Later that day I needed to run some paperwork to my insurance agent so they could process my claim and cut me a check. They’re way down south but it was a beautiful day so of course I’m happy to run down there on the bike. Motorcycles ARE transportation. They just happen to also be fun.

The next day I had a dental appointment. Again, the V-Strom got me there and as long as I was out I made about three other stops.

Eventually we did get over to pick up the new car but even just driving it home and parking it and then driving it to get the warranty work done without coverage had me very uneasy. But the sales guy told me the law requires that in a situation like this the insurance company has to extend your previous coverage to your new vehicle for a minimum number of days, not sure how many. I checked with my agent and he confirmed this is correct. So why didn’t they tell me that when they said I had to get the warranty work done before I’d be covered?

Anyway, I got the car, the weather turned nasty, and I was able to use the car without worrying. And now probably by the time you read this the warranty work will be done and all will be back to normal. But it sure was great to have the bikes to turn to when I didn’t have a car to use.

Biker Quote for Today

I’m not afraid to go fast, it’s crashing and burning that sucks.