Passes & Canyons Blog

Beyond the bike airplanes are taxiing over, lining up for take-off.

How quickly we went from “Is it so cold that if I ride I’ll freeze my butt off” to “I might like to go for a ride but I really don’t want to roast.” But Sunday was very nicely cool so what better thing could I do?

I figured I’d ride the Honda but I was very interested to see what happened once I started it up. Would it smoke like crazy as it used to? That issue had just miraculously gone away by itself but that means it could come back in just the same manner. And yes, the exhaust did smoke some at first. Not the huge clouds it used to produce but there was definitely some smoke.

And of course that makes me think about how much oil I have. When you’re getting a lot of blue smoke you are, by definition, burning oil and if you burn enough you end up with none. I had almost done this before I took it in to get the smoking addressed. I headed out one day, knowing I needed gas, and by the time I got to the gas station I just felt like it wasn’t running right. So I gassed up and just went back home, where, as a caution, I added some oil.

The next time I rode it was to take it to the shop, and it ran OK with the little bit of oil I had added, but when the shop started giving it the once over they found it had almost no oil at all. I’ve said it before: I’m a bad bike owner. I really don’t give my bikes the care they need. Shame on me.

So now I’m on this Sunday ride and my oil level is on my mind. I will check the oil level before I ride it again.

I hadn’t gone far and I saw something I had never seen before: one of those Tesla pick-up trucks. I’ve seen pictures but I had never seen one in real life and there it was. OK, a first.

I cruised south, to just north of E-470, and looped around the south end of Arapahoe County Airport and stopped to watch the airplanes lined up for take-off. What a mixed bag. All the way from little Piper Cubs up to enormous corporate jets.

On south and a turn onto the road that eventually becomes Main Street in Parker. And to the south of me the southern edge of the city is going up in the form of condos and homes. Jeez, I remember when the south edge of the city was 10 miles north of here.

East on Main Street, then a turn north on Jordan Road. At the intersection of Jordan Road and Broncos Parkway, on the northeast corner–and I mean right on the corner–sits a new condo complex with balconies overlooking this busy, noisy intersection. Just what I would want for a relaxing place to live. Do people really live in places like that voluntarily? If you flicked a cigarette butt from your balcony it might go right in somebody’s car window.

About this time it dawned on me that my test of using safety pins to snug up my fluorescent orange safety vest was apparently working. All this time it had not blown up around my head and it was staying where I wanted it. It occurred to me that I could use a couple more safety pins and just attach it long-term to my mesh summer jacket. Pin it down around the bottom to hold it down securely. I guess I’ll do that. I’d still recommend if you’re in the market that you pay a bit more and get a real motorcycle safety vest from a motorcycle supplier.

Then on home again. It sure is nice to have some comfortable days in July. The OFMC trip is coming up in a little over two weeks and it sure would be nice not to get cooked on that ride the way we did last summer.

Biker Quote for Today

Speed is my language, and the wind translates it into joy.

Maybe you can make out where the black edging splits to form that loop that I’ve got a safety pin there to reduce the size of the armhole.

I’ve mentioned that some of the guys in the RMMRC, particularly Roy, have been putting peer pressure on me to raise my visibility level by use of lights or high-vis clothing. And that I finally gave in to that pressure by buying a safety vest.

Well, that hasn’t worked out quite as I planned. There is an Ace Hardware close to us that I shop at frequently so when I was in there a few weeks ago I picked up an orange vest they had for about $8. No big deal. What do you need? It’s fluorescent orange.

It turns out you need more than just something like this. This vest is presumably intended for outdoor construction workers who don’t want to add weight or warmth. It drapes loosely around you–one size fits all–is airy, and attaches in front by just one bit of Velcro. And if you wear it while riding a motorcycle it wants to climb right up you and would wrap itself around your head if your arms through the armholes didn’t keep it down at least a bit.

OK, let’s see if we can make some modifications. Simple first step: use a safety pin to close it in front a second time down low.

That’s what I did that day recently when I rode over Guanella Pass and you’ll see in that photo that I had it on. It helped, but not nearly enough. The thing still wanted to climb up me, like you’ve seen I’m sure with guys riding with no jacket and a loose T-shirt and the shirt is whipping out behind them and climbing up their back. Plus, the fabric rode right up under my chin so that the somewhat rough fabric was rubbing at my neck in a pretty irritating manner. OK, more is needed.

So now I added a couple more safety pins, this time on the sides. The two side are connected about mid-way down by a cord and I pulled them together and put on a safety pin just a bit above the cords. Maybe while I’m at it I ought to put on a couple more down low. I haven’t tried this out yet so I don’t know just how much good this is going to do.

The point is, why bother? I already have this thing so I’m trying to make it work but if you haven’t already bought something avoid my error. Just get something better right from the start. That will probably mean going to a motorcycle supply shop or ordering online. A quick search showed me a wide selection ranging in price from $19 up to $45. None of these is going to break the bank.

I’ll give this thing I have one more shot, maybe with a couple more pins, but if it’s just not going to do the job I’ll get something that will.

Biker Quote for Today

The road listens. It believes in you.

Getting this thing back up was not as easy as it should have been.

I was headed home from doing Guanella Pass and after I turned down Kerr Gulch Road I stopped to take off the sweatshirt I had put on before going up that pass. No big deal, right?

I pulled off at a driveway, put the kickstand down, and got off. And the bike just rolled forward, off the kickstand, and fell. What the hey? This was very much like a time years ago when I was crossing Idaho with Kevin and we stopped so I could clean my visor. I parked and got off and Kevin pulled in behind me and got off . . . and his bike rolled forward, bumped into mine, and they both went down.

OK, fine. I know how to pick a bike up. Crouch, backed into the seat, grab the handlebar with one hand and something on the body with the other and stand up, using your legs, not your back. But a funny thing happened.

I really don’t know what it was, but each time I tried to lift the bike, instead of coming up, it pivoted in a clockwise direction. Was it turning on the kickstand? On the case guard? On the highway peg? On the regular peg?

I don’t know, but after three attempts to lift it the bike had rotated about 90 degrees. What the hey?

Oh, and another thing. Apparently the seal on the gas tank is not particularly snug because gas was dribbling out of the tank at a pretty fast pace. If this thing lay there very long I’d lose half my gas at least.

I really didn’t know what I was going to do but just then I saw two guys coming from the house next door to the one whose driveway I was in. they climbed through and over a fence and hurried to me, calling out asking if I was OK. Yeah, I’m fine, I said, I didn’t go down. I parked the bike and it went down by itself.

So they helped me get it back up, with at least half a cup of gas spilling out of the brush guard on the handlebar which had been catching it as it ran out of the tank. OK, let’s get the heck out of here.

The bike fired right up and I put it in gear and was off, no problem. After thanking these guys profusely. And after assuring them for about the fifth time that I was not injured. Nice guys. Thank you so much!

Biker Quote for Today

Me and my bike, we’re like two best friends on a journey together.