Passes & Canyons Blog

The Honda is sitting there charging as I write this.

Today is June 23 and I have not ridden either of my bikes yet this month. What the hey?

June has been extreme. We’ve had a lot of spring this year, and that means a lot of rain. Then, in between the rain storms, we have had blistering heat. Neither one makes you yearn to get out on the road. But today was going to be different.

Today is cool with rain forecast for the afternoon. Fine. I’m getting on the Honda to go for a ride in the morning. The Suzuki will take care of itself; I’m taking off tomorrow–regardless of the weather–with the RMMRC on an overnight trip up into the hills.

So what happens? I geared up, rolled the Honda out, swung my leg over, and hit the start button. And the motor turned but didn’t quite catch. I kept trying, and it kept trying, but eventually it wore down. This bike is going nowhere until it has more juice in the battery.

I put the charge unit to work, which is where it is now, and will try to get it going in about an hour.

The thing is, I thought about exactly this yesterday but didn’t do anything about it. I had the thought that because it had been a while since I’ve run this bike, maybe the battery would be low. I could have tried starting it yesterday, or I could have just put the charger on figuring there was no downside to that. But I didn’t. And now here I sit.

And it’s not like I can give it three or four hours if need be and then ride. I have a standing engagement on Mondays at 2:30 p.m. I intended to be on the road before 10 a.m. and then be back in plenty of time. I can still do that if it starts an hour from now. If not . . .

Oh, and I checked my records. I just bought this battery in August 2023, so it should still be good. That should not be the problem. Apparently it just sat too long. Dang.

Update:
Now 11:10 a.m. and I had a thought. It occurred to me that the mileage on the tripmeter was right at the point where I need to go to Reserve. Maybe it would have caught if it had been getting gas. So I flipped to Reserve before pushing the start button. The motor turned over strongly but still did not catch, like it needed gas but the line was dry. It takes a moment in this kind of case to get gas flowing again, so I’m hoping the next time I try it will catch. We’ll see.

Biker Quote for Today

If I was interested in dying, I wouldn’t dress up like a neon green clown before every ride.

The legislature is back in session and it is time once again to protect what is ours. In this case it’s rider safety training money we pay in.

And the 2025 legislative session begins. The first order of business of interest to motorcyclists is the bill calling for the Colorado MOST (Motorcycle Operator Safety Training) program to be sunset.

This bill will be discussed on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee. If you wish to contact any committee members here are their names and email addresses:
Sen. Winter (Chair)–faith.winter.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Cutter (Vice Chair)–lisa.cutter.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Catlin–marc.catlin.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Exum–tony.exum.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Hinrichsen–nick.hinrichsen.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Mullica–kyle.mullica.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. B. Pelton–byron.pelton.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Simpson–cleave.simpson.senate@coleg.gov
Sen. Sullivan–tom.sullivan.senate@coleg.gov

This bill would shut down the MOST program for nine years. Meanwhile, the money we–nobody but us motorcyclists–paid in would be dumped into the state’s general fund. No way, dude. That’s our money. I say go ahead and shut down MOST if you feel it out to be shut down, but before it goes spend that money as intended. And call a halt to the extra fees we pay each year with our motorcycle registrations and any time we renew our driver’s licenses.

Clearly the worst-case scenario would be that they take our money, end the program, but continue the fees. If you’re interested in seeing to it that that doesn’t happen maybe you ought to show up for this hearing. I’ll be there. And of course afterward I’ll let you know what happened, in case you’re not there.

Biker Quote for Today

No matter how slow you go you’re still lapping everyone on the couch.

OK, watch this video. Then come back.

Who are these jerks? What the hell do they think they’re doing? I mean, they planned this. They got together, removed their license plates, and then went on this spree. What kind of dips–t does something like that? And this is right here in Denver. That intersection is Colfax and York.

I guess I have nothing more to say.

Biker Quote for Today

What do you call a Harley Davidson with no tires? A groundhog.

One bike, that’s it. In so many other European cities there would be more motorbikes than cars in this picture but not here in Lisbon.

I’ve been to Europe several times and over that time I have developed what I considered a pretty good basic understanding of the reality over there in regard to motorcycles, or motorbikes as it were. But this recent trip has cast some doubt on what I had taken the case to be.

In short, my take had been that in cities–at least the bigger cities–many, many people ride motorbikes because traffic is dense, streets in many areas are very narrow, and really the best way to get around easily, with the minimum of aggravation, is to do so on two wheels. Sure, outside of the city you don’t tend to see so many bikes but in the cities it’s a given.

One caveat there, too. On a trip where we spent our time in the poorer, Eastern European countries, I expected to see lots of bikes but saw almost none. Inquiring, I was told that these people aspire to greater wealth and motorbikes were viewed as something only someone who had no money chose to use. It was a status thing.

My general take on the situation was formed from my experiences in places like Rome, Paris, Madrid, Rotterdam, and Barcelona. But on this trip we went to Portugal.

We got to Lisbon and the difference from Barcelona, where we had just been, was dramatic. Yes, there were a good many bikes, though nothing close to what you see in Barcelona, but a great many of those we did see were food delivery people. Like Uber Eats, which we did see, though the really big company seems to be Glovo.

But then, while there were some areas with narrow streets, Lisbon was different, not as medieval. This I learned is a direct result of a devastating earthquake that flattened most of Lisbon in 1755. And to top that off, the earthquake caused a huge tsunami that then wiped out much of what little remained. Lisbon was almost completely rebuilt after 1755, with broader, straighter streets. Still, the traffic is horrible so I don’t understand why motorbikes are not more favored.

Then we went north to Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city.

Porto definitely retains more of its medieval structure and it is extremely hilly. Narrow, winding streets, steep hills, streets jam-packed with traffic–this would seem a natural spot for motorbikes to be king. Nope. There were even fewer of them here than in Lisbon. What gives?

I have not been able to come up with a good answer to that question. And there’s really nothing more to say–I have no answer. But I sure an curious.

Biker Quote for Today

I just heard somebody say that “real women ride men with Harleys.” No way. Real women ride their own damn Harleys.

This CSP video actually shows a rider in the left lane passing with oncoming traffic on his left. But gosh, I haven’t seen many traffic lanes that were more than three times wider than the cars in the lane.

OK, right as I was finished writing this and about to schedule it to post in the morning my wife came to me and showed me a text she had just received from a friend saying she had just seen me on the news. As it says below, I had been told the piece with the interview I did would run on the 5 o’clock news but now it had run on the 9 o’clock news. I did not see it and have no idea what part of the interview they used. So much of what is below is out of date, but I have no idea what parts. If anyone saw the piece and can help me out I’d greatly appreciate it. Meanwhile, here’s what I had intended to post. Hey Channel 9, if you can enable me to see what you ran I’ll gladly take this post down and totally rewrite it.

I thought I really had a chance to set things right when a reporter from Denver’s Channel 9, contacted me to say he would like to talk to me about lane-filtering as it was about to go into effect. I welcomed the opportunity to speak to a larger audience to clear up the misconceptions being put out by the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) as to what lane-filtering is about. Oh silly me.

First the guy who contacted me failed to get back in touch when he said he would to set up an interview, and then about the time I figured he had just blown me off I got a text from another guy who he had apparently handed the thing to. I replied, we spoke, and we set a time for him to come to my house so we could speak.

Ethan turned out to be a super nice guy, a young kid doing an internship and just looking to get his career started. I told him I had been in the news business myself for many years and we had a nice chat about how things have changed.

I rolled one of my bikes out and he set up his gear and we basically chatted. I talked about how it’s mostly going to be the smaller bikes and scooters that do the majority of the filtering, not the big cruisers, and I also talked about how the information the Colorado State Patrol is putting out is just flat wrong. Other things, too.

In addition to the conversation, Ethan did a number of long still shots of my bike and gear, which I figured he would use with my voice playing over the image. When we were done he packed up and he promised to text me to tell me when the piece would run. Now he was heading back to the studio to do the editing and put the piece together. In the following text he said it would be on the 5 p.m. news.

Five o’clock came and I had the TV on set to Channel 9. The third or fourth item came on and it was about lane-filtering and I was nowhere to be seen. Or heard. All it was was another recital of what the CSP had put out, accompanied with a graphic video depicting the same thing as depicted on the CSP website. Which is to say, a motorcycle passing entirely within the same lane as the car it is passing.

If you ride you know this is absurd. As I told Ethan, and as any rider knows, lane-filtering or lane-sharing is done by going up the middle between two lines of cars. And you intentionally ride the lane divider line, you don’t stay entirely within the lane of the car you’re passing.

Now, if all drivers always kept their cars all the way to the right of their lane, then passing within the lane might be possible. Does that happen. Of course not. Drivers naturally try to stay pretty much in the center of their lane. But that opens up space to the right-hand car’s left side and the left-hand car’s right side. That’s where bikes go.

But apparently not according to CSP.

And I have read and re-read the legislation and nowhere in that bill does it say anything about the rider passing on the left. That would be stupid. If you were in the left lane, passing on the left would mean potentially encroaching on the oncoming traffic lane, and while you are allowed to filter only if the cars going your direction are completely stopped, those oncoming cars may not be stopped at all. Dangerous much?! No, you go up the middle between the two lanes of traffic going your direction, no matter whether that means you are passing on the left or right. People, let’s get some sanity going here!

So I texted Ethan and he said he had thought he would be doing the editing but then found that “some people at the desk had already done so.” They just wanted him to get the interview. Which they then totally ignored.

Now, Judy raised the valid point about, who are they going to believe, the official governmental source or some blogger? My reply was that if there is differing information it is their job to dig in and find out what the truth is. That’s what I would do when I was a reporter.

Anyway, not being the type of person to just let this die, my next move will be to contact the public information officer at CSP and talk directly to that person and see what comes of it. I also sent emails to the two main sponsors of the bill in the legislature pointing out to them the erroneous nature of the info the CSP is putting out. I had hoped to hear back from them by now but Judy pointed out that they’re not in session so who knows when they’ll see my emails. But I’ll try again to reach both of them.

Next update when there’s something new to tell you.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding my motorcycle is like painting memories on the road’s canvas.

Here’s a place I would hate to run out of gas. Anyone else coming by today?

Oh, gosh, it wasn’t so long ago since I dipped into this Adventure Riders thread. Back in February. No matter, I’m doing it again today. I’m short of subject matter.

The question posed in this thread is “When was the last time you ran out of gas?” Here are a few responses. What’s your story?

• At age 40 (now 67), 2nd day of ownership of my very first bike, taking a ride, I ran out of gas about 1/2 mile from home. I was such a noob, I wasn’t sure what was wrong. Bike sputtered and died. Luckily most of it was downhill to my home. I call dealer and they asked if I flipped the petcock. What the **** is that was my reply? After he stopped laughing, he explained and all was well. Plus I learned something about motorcycles.
• I equate the need to carry gasoline with the ice cream napkin postulate. The number of napkins you need is directly related to the number of napkins you do not have. Gas works the same. This past spring I got a new to me road cruiser. It isn’t exactly great on mileage, but I could go 200-250 on a tank full. But I realized that my butt and joints usually need a break before then. So typical I start looking for gas around 150 miles for a good stretch and fill up. This way I am never stressing about fuel and I am usually feeling pretty good.
• It’s been a few years now, but I ran out of gas a couple times with the bike that had the largest gas capacity of any I’ve owned. My 2010 GSA supposedly had an 8.9 gallon tank, but it actually held just over 10.0 gallons. I filled it to 10 gallons several times, at different stations, as the distance to go was very accurate . . . until the fuel strip messed up. I planned to stop at a station on the way to work, but ran out about 100 yards short. It took 10.05 gallons.
• The last out-of-gas moment was a planned event. I had two 2l Fuel Friend containers with me, you got to know what your range is, so go and do the test on each new bike! Interestingly enough a biker stopped and ask if I was ok. Thank you dude for checking!
• About ten years ago, my daughter was suiting up to ride her KLX 250 to work, and remarked that she was getting great gas mileage all of a sudden. I told her to check the petcock and she laughed, assuring me that it wasn’t on reserve. I laughed too, to myself, and waited for her call. Sure enough, she ran out. I brought her the gas can, but she was a bit late for work that day. She hasn’t run out of gas since.
• I just bought a low-mile ‘05 tiger to replace my high-mile ‘06 tiger, and have been swapping farkles (including gps and aux lights) from the old one to the new one. I learned the hard way that the trip meter gets reset when the battery is disconnected – I was passing a string of cars in a passing lane going up a hill when the bike started losing power. It took me a minute or two to deduce how I managed to run out when the trip meter read only 190 and I can get 260 to a tank.
• I was coming North on route 9 after school one night and the bike sputtered…I was going about 60mph reached down to flip to reserve and it was already there. Hmm no traffic around it was well after midnight. I quickly pulled the choke and started swerving from side to side and leaning the bike to the left as far as I could. This got me to the crest of the hill I was on and then the bike died. I was still rolling at about 30 mph with the clutch pulled and headed slightly down hill. I knew the area well and that there was an all down hill run 1/4 mile to a exit ramp then down hill to a gas station. I also knew the gas station was closed at 10:00PM…but figured I could drain all the hoses at the pumps and be ok. Coasted into the station and drained all the hoses got the bike fired back up and made the 5 mile ride home.

OK, thanks for sharing guys. Of course I have plenty of my own running out of gas stories. The first time was when I was taking a woman I was interested in for her first motorcycle ride and I had forgotten the petcock was already set on Reserve. We walked a mile to a station and back with the gas. Things never took off between her and me.

Another time was with my wife when my Concours was new. We took a ride with the Concours Owners Group and when they all stopped to get gas in Florence I didn’t, figuring we’d make it home. We split off from the group and were heading up CO 83 toward Franktown and I was watching the gauge. Figured it would be good to stop in Franktown. We didn’t make it that far. Fortunately we rolled to a stop in front of a farm house and they sold me a gallon.

I was on my way to work one day on the Honda, heading west on Hampden, and ran out at Franklin Street. Fortunately I knew if I could push the bike about two blocks I could then coast down another three blocks to a station. Got off easy that time. That station is no longer there so I’ll try not to do that again.

There must be others but that’s all I can call to mind right now.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding is like writing stories, one road at a time, one adventure after another.