Passes & Canyons Blog

I don’t travel for business a lot, but when I do I try to mix business with pleasure. If I can, I try to arrange it so I can be there over the weekend. Then I’ll arrange to rent a motorcycle. What better way to see a different part of the country than where you usually ride.

Here’s a tip I learned the hard way. I got sent to Nashville a few years ago, and it was only for a day, but I set it up for a Friday. I flew in Thursday night, went to work on Friday, and then, of course, I picked up the tab for my lodging on Friday and Saturday nights, rather than return to Denver.

Saturday morning I went to a nearby Harley dealership where I had reserved a bike and picked up my Road King. I had brought my leather jacket but they had told me when I made the reservation that they could provide me with a helmet and a rain suit. So I didn’t bring my own. Well, it turned out that the only helmets they had were open face. OK, no big deal, in fact, maybe nice. More open and airy, you know.

Well, not so nice. Unfortunately it was a rainy day. The open face helmet meant my face got very wet and my glasses were constantly covered with water droplets, making it hard to see. On top of that, when I pulled out the rain suit they had given me it turned out to be a one-size-big-enough-for-anyone unit. I could get into it, and it kept me dry, but you could have gotten two more of me in there as well.

Lesson learned: Take your own gear. It may be a bother on the airplane but you’ll be glad you did.

Biker Quote for Today

If you don’t ride in the rain, you don’t ride.

Another question I got from Steve in New Zealand, who is coming to Colorado to ride with some friends in 2009, was “Are there any other pure renters (as opposed to tour companies) of similar style bikes?” Steve and the group are planning to rent from www.tourbikes.com.

That was something I’d never really thought about so I did some research. First I checked to see what selection they have at tourbikes.com. It’s a pretty wide selection. They have a bunch of BMW touring bikes but they also have some Harleys, some Hondas, a Yamaha FJR 1300, and a mix of dual sport bikes. All in all, something that would probably suit anybody.

Then I started looking at the others. L2 Motorcycle Rentals has mostly Harleys, but they also have some Gold Wings. Mainly Harleys, though.

Not surprisingly, EagleRider of Denver has only Harleys. It also appears that Moturis also is exclusively Harley.

I list a number of other rental companies on the motorcycle rentals page but can’t check the rest of them out very easily because they don’t appear to have website. So in answer to Steve’s question, no it does not appear that there are other renters of similar style bikes in the area.

If I’m wrong, and someone tells me more than I know at this point I’ll be glad to post the info here and on the rentals page. Thanks in advance.

I got an email from Steve in New Zealand asking about early and late season road closures. He asked:

I found your website and it is REALLY great. Myself and 3 or 4 friends are coming over from New Zealand in 2009 for a 12 day bike ride. One thing which would really help overseas people is to know which roads are NOT passable during the “early” months (ie Apr/May/Jun). We are planning on being there the first 2 weeks of June, so it would be very handy to know which roads are NOT passable, given “normal” weather conditions. Obviously it is not possible to predict the exact weather in advance but knowing that certain roads are likely impassable means that detours can be pre-planned (where practical of course).

I did some checking and found six roads that the Colorado Department of Transportation says close for the winter:

US 34 over Trail Ridge Road

CO 82 over Independence Pass

CO 5 to the top of Mount Evans

COS 1 to the top of Pike’s Peak

GCR 12 over Kebler Pass

FR 209, 306 over Cottonwood Pass

For more info on this subject, check the What You Need page.

Here’s a good one. I just saw a news dispatch that a motorcyclist in Pennsylvania had an expensive custom helmet stolen off his bike. He went looking on Ebay for a replacement and what do you suppose he found? His stolen helmet for sale.

The seller was charged with theft and convicted. Now the owner is waiting to get his helmet back from the police. He may have a bit of a wait yet. The convicted thief has appealed and the helmet is still being held as evidence.

Do you ever visit online motorcycle forums? I have about seven or eight I like to visit periodically. Just recently, for example, I posted a question on a Kawasaki Concours forum asking if anyone had any experience with the speedometer housing issue I discussed in my last post. I also like to introduce people to this MotorcycleColorado site, so I go and search for people asking for touring ideas on upcoming Colorado trips. I try to help them in any way I can, from route planning, to what to wear, to whatever they need to know.

Here are some of the forums I’ve joined. There are a lot more out there. Check out a few.

Adventure Rider – http://www.advrider.com/forums/index.php
HondaBikes.net – http://www.hondabikes.net/forum/
KawasakiMotorcycle.org – http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/kawasaki-motorcycle-forums/
RiderInfo.com – http://www.riderinfo.com/forums/index.php
Motorcycle-usa.com – http://forum.motorcycle-usa.com/

That’ll get you started. Find an interesting thread and have fun.

Few things will put a damper on your riding plans as quickly as a flat front tire. I had ridden two weeks ago and had to put air in but today when I tried to roll the Concours out it would hardly move. Flat tires really don’t roll very well.

On inspection I found a sliver of metal poking out of the tread, something that looked like a wire from a wire brush–very small. OK, I put air in and took the bike to the dealer and they said it should be no problem to fix quickly. Meanwhile I availed myself of the proximity (next door) of the Piper Inn, southeast Denver’s favorite biker bar and hot wing concessionaire. The place was packed with black leather-dressed patrons enjoying one of the nicest days we’ve had in quite awhile. One beer and 10 Buffalo wings later I was back at Vickery expecting to get my bike and roll.

No such luck. First off, it wasn’t a puncture. That little sliver was nothing. Apparently the valve stem core was loose and letting air slip by. A bit of adjustment and everything was fine with that. However, when the mechanic was putting the tire back on, the speedometer housing split. Taking a closer look he found that it had split once before and been welded. Now it had split again. So that’s going to cost me another $70 plus labor when the part comes in. What in the heck makes a speedo housing split like that? Anyway, rather than weld it again just to get by until the new part comes in, he just put the wheel back on without hooking up the speedo, thereby saving me about $20. And by this time the coolness of the afternoon was coming on and all I did was ride back home.

I’ve got to tell you, I really love riding motorcycles but sometimes these get to be very expensive toys. At least this one won’t break the bank.