Passes & Canyons Blog

Kevin and I were on V-Stroms but Janet rode her Ninja.

Sometimes the best tool for the job is not the one designed for that purpose, but the one – the only one – you have.

Take dual-sport riding, this business of taking a motorcycle down the highway to get somewhere, and then taking that same bike onto the dirt when you reach your destination. Years ago, when motorcycles were less specialized than they are today, riders were far more ready to take their street bikes in the dirt. Nowadays we have dirt bikes and dual-sport bikes, and most street bikes never see more than a short stretch of gravel here and there. Many never see anything but pavement.

I went dual-sporting awhile back in the area around Gunnison. The two Suzuki V-Stroms we were on were provided by my friend Kevin, who used to rent V-Stroms out of Gunnison. And there was a third person with us, Kevin’s wife, Janet, and she was riding her Kawasaki Ninja 500R.

The Ninja is a sportbike, the antithesis of a dual-sport or dirt bike. Whereas the V-Strom has 6 inches of suspension travel in the rear, the Ninja is limited to 3.9 inches. On rough roads those 2 inches make a huge difference. And ground clearance on the Ninja is only 4.9 inches, compared to 6.5 inches on the V-Strom.

We headed out of Gunnison on the highway, went up and over North Cochetopa Pass, and then coming down the other side we turned off on an unpaved county road. It was pretty good gravel, hard packed and stable, and well maintained. The V-Stroms, like any good dual-sport bike, were right at home. And the Ninja just cruised along, too.

As we began to climb up to Carnero Pass things got a bit rougher. There was washboard, a few ruts, and some stretches of badly disturbed surface. The V-Stroms ate it up. The Ninja took it slowly, navigating around the bigger holes, following the smoothest path. Not a problem.

Over the top and down and we followed a ranching canyon to its outlet onto the prairie. The road was once again good hard-packed gravel. Then we turned onto an unpaved county road that was broad and flat . . . and deep in loose gravel.

“That sucked!,” Janet said when we stopped in town. “That mountain road was fine. I had no problem with it. On that flat road I didn’t feel comfortable going above 40. I knew that if I screwed up it would hurt.”

“Deep, loose gravel is hard, I don’t care what you’re riding,” Kevin replied in agreement.

So the rougher, less-maintained road was really better for the Ninja.

“The suspension on the Ninja was fine. I absolutely felt confident on it. I feel very maneuverable on that bike. I can move it anywhere I need it to move to avoid obstacles in the road,” Janet explained.

That said, she added, “I’d rather be on the (paved) road.”

Janet is a serious mountain bike rider, but has only started riding motorcycles in recent years. She chose the Ninja because it was one of the only bikes she could handle considering how short her legs are.

“Now I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I want a dirt bike because I want to start doing all these gnarly roads around in the mountains.’ I want to get up in there without having to be in a car. It just catches me off guard because I didn’t expect motorcycling to get under my skin. And when I ride it gets under my skin. When I’m not riding I’m like, ‘No I don’t want to do that, I want to ride my bicycle.’”

Janet has taken her Ninja over other mountain passes on gravel roads. “It’s the only bike I’ve ever had. If I want to go somewhere it’s the bike I ride.”

It’s just that simple. For Janet, it’s the best tool for the job.

Biker Quote for Today

I need men for some things; riding a motorcycle is not one of them.

This is the kind of flying I can get into.

I’ve read that pilots make better motorcyclists, or motorcyclists make better pilots – I can’t remember which. Probably the latter. Both go beyond the basic right, left, forward, backward movement that you get in a car. Both have to lean.

You do get some lean in a car when you turn sharply, but it is centrifugal force trying to throw you in the opposite direction of your turn, while the seat you’re sitting on essentially remains in the same plane. On a bike, as in an airplane, the entire vehicle rotates clockwise or counter-clockwise on an axis running from front to back. You remain firmly planted on your seat, which rotates with you, and you lean in the direction of the turn, not the opposite.

What this adds up to is fun. Anyone who rides, or who has spent much time with bikers, knows that bikers love “the twisties.” Whereas car tires are shaped like a bowl, with a flat bottom, motorcycle tires are more circular. You roll the bike to the left and to the right and the patch in contact with the road moves up the left side and up the right side and it’s all good because you’re supposed to use the sides of the tires, not just the bottom.

In the twisties, it all comes together into a dance. In a series of s-turns you go into a right-hander and you lean right and the bike rolls right, then, with a left-hander immediately following, you straighten the bike back up and keep going over on the left. Then it’s back up and over on the right and back up and over on the left. There’s no better feeling than rolling those tires all the way across their profile, side to side, and back again, again and again. You set up a rhythm, your body and the bike move gracefully to the music of the road, and the world is a wonderful place. It has to be the closest thing to what pilots feel that you can experience on the ground.

Of course, if you’re a dirtbike rider or a motocross rider you also get the ups and downs that pilots get, and you even catch a little air now and then. But I’m a bit leery of that business of going up in the air more than just over whoops. I like the fact that if a motorcycle’s engine stalls you just coast to a stop, as opposed to being in the air praying you can either restart it or find a place to land safely.

I do like to fly, but I’m happy to do my flying on the ground.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycle riding gives you a sense of freedom that you don’t get in a car. Your senses take on a different significance.

The road up Cumberland Pass is rough but no problem at all on a dirt bike.

Judy and I wanted to go camping and we had not been over Cottonwood Pass since they finally paved the whole thing last year. I discussed that in this post.

So we got up on the east side of Cottonwood and found a campsite. The next day we went over the top and down to Taylor Park Reservoir. The day was still early so what do we do now?

Looking at the map we could see that another road ran from the reservoir up to Tin Cup, a so-called ghost town that I thought I would never get to because I thought the only way there was over a really difficult four-wheel-drive or dirt bike pass. That’s Tin Cup Pass. But the drive from the reservoir is easy on a gravel road treated heavily with magnesium chloride. So we went.

There really wasn’t much at Tin Cup but there was a crossroads where you could go straight or else turn left. Left was over Tin Cup Pass, down to St. Elmo on the other side. We were in Judy’s Subaru Forester. We weren’t going over Tin Cup. Straight ahead, however, was Cumberland Pass and the map showed it to be in better condition than Tin Cup Pass. OK, we figured, we’ll go as far as we can and if it gets too rough that will be the time to turn around.

It’s needless to say that the drive was beautiful. Basically what you’re seeing is how this part of the world looked long before the white man ever came on the scene. Except for the road, of course.

We took it slow, and the Subaru was up to it. Along the way, however, numerous dirt bikes and ATVs went blasting past us as we pulled over to let them by. Those are definitely the kind of vehicles you want out here. We were generally going about 7 or 8 miles an hour and they must easily have been doing 20 mph or more. Of course, on the other hand, most of them were eating dust or wearing masks and goggles to keep the dust out. We enjoyed our closed windows and AC.

It was not a bad road. There were a couple times when it got rough enough I started having doubts but those stretches passed and all was fine. We got up on top of the pass and there were a slew of ATVs and dirt bikes. One of the ATVs was having problems, and this is not a place where you want to be calling AAA to. They finally got it running and that guy headed down with another behind him for security.

Up on top there were several roads going off to the surrounding hilltops and there was a group of bikes and ATVs up on one of them. Heading on down the other side the road went into a deep valley that looked like more nice riding. That goes on to Pitkin, over near Gunnison. We didn’t want to push our luck and we really didn’t have time anyway but I have no doubt it would be a great ride.

So, bottom line here, if you’re into dirt biking, and especially if you’re not an expert dirt biker, Cumberland Pass definitely gets my recommendation. Would I do it on my V-Strom? Yeah, I would. I’ve been on rougher roads than this on the V. I wouldn’t touch it on my other two bikes, though.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if every magazine you subscribe to has the word “Biker” on it somewhere.

Riding on gravel took me a while to get used to.

Motorcycles are inherently more unstable than cars. When a car comes to a stop it stops. Period. When a motorcycle comes to a stop you’d better put your foot down or you’re going to fall over. Something about two wheels versus four, you know?

Now magnify the instability by adding a curve in the rider’s trajectory. Motorcycles lean in order to go around curves, so you’re already cocked to one side. And then add gravel in the curve. There’s nothing quite as thrilling as feeling your rear tire break loose in gravel on a curve, and this is not the good kind of thrill such as what you get on a roller coaster.

Give credit to the people who design motorcycles and motorcycle tires that losing traction on gravel, or ice, or wet leaves doesn’t automatically mean you go down. All it takes is to hit a wee patch of pavement again and you’re back in control. You’ll probably want to take it easy for a while, though, and let your adrenaline subside.

Motorcyclists generally fall into two categories, those who learned to ride on dirt and those who didn’t. It’s a huge difference. Dirt riding is all about breaking traction, riding the slide, and keeping the bike up. Those who never rode in dirt are at a significant disadvantage.

I never rode in dirt. While I had the opportunity to ride several bikes from time to time over a lot of years, I never got good at it until I bought my first bike, my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. I learned to ride on the road and gravel was a particular nemesis. I hated gravel roads and gravel in a curve scared the bejeezus out of me.

The very first trip Bill and John and I took, before we even named our group the OFMC, we camped one night at Rifle Gap State Park, outside of Rifle, CO. It was probably 8 to 10 miles from the campground to town and we needed to ride in to have dinner. I had noticed when we first rode out to the park that there was a lot of gravel in some of the curves so I was already in high-caution mode. Heading into town the other guys left me way behind and I picked my way carefully along. Heading back to camp after dinner it was now dark, and thus even harder to pick out the hazards. They were back at camp long before I got there.

The difference, of course, was that they had had scooters and dirt bikes as kids.

“Didn’t you slide on some of that gravel in the curves?”

“Oh sure, but when you ride dirt bikes you learn how to stay in control.”

It took me a long time to get comfortable riding my street bikes on gravel roads, but I do it pretty well now. (Except for the Concours, which HATES gravel.) I still hate gravel in a curve. But I’ve been on the dirt more since I got my V-Strom. Maybe someday I’ll feel that rear wheel slide out and smile. But I’m not holding my breath.

Biker Quote for Today

I’m not the biggest motorcycle fan – they’re cool and a lot of fun, but they’re scary as well! — Taylor Lautner

Get off the pavement and have fun!

I hadn’t done any dirt-biking when my friend John offered me an opportunity. You can think of him as the pusher. “Try this, you’ll really like it,” he seems to say. Then you’re hooked. To maintain your habit, you can kiss your bank balance good-bye.

I didn’t get hooked but I got the craving. My V-Strom is a result of this.

John had a couple dirt bikes he and his son, Johnathon, would take up to the Rampart Range, an area in the hills outside of Denver given over to motorized fun on trails through the forest. They invited me along one day.

They were meeting up with other members of their extended family and this was the first time I ever saw how dirt-biking is such a family affair. It wasn’t just their own family. The campground area was packed with families and dirt bikes of all sizes, from pappa’s big bike, to momma’s mid-size bike, right down to baby’s little two-wheeler carrying young’uns who must have only learned to walk last year. And every one of them in full riding gear. Who even knew they made helmets and jackets and boots that small, not to mention motorcycles?

I have to tell you, I really envied these kids. I would have given anything I had to have had parents who took me dirt-biking as a kid. Instead, I had parents who wouldn’t even let me buy a bike with my own money.

So we went riding, and what a blast that was! First of all, being out in the woods and going up and down hills on these narrow trails is a kick. You never get going all that fast, but speed isn’t the point. That said, a bit of speed is the point when you’re going up and there’s a hump in the trail. “Whoops” as they’re called. You come up on that whoop and gun it and you’ll catch some air and that, I’m here to tell you, is fun. Catch several whoops in a row and you’re having serious fun. Did I mention that this can be addicting?

One big difference between riding in the dirt and riding on the street is that on the dirt you’re pretty much guaranteed to dump the bike from time to time. On the street that’s one of the biggest things you seek to avoid ever doing, but on the dirt it’s just part of the game. You don’t usually get hurt and neither does the bike.

Of course I dumped it more than once but I was right back up and on it and off down the trail. Talking about it at the end of the day I felt I had earned my wings when Johnathon told his dad, “Ken did pretty good. He even caught some air a few times.”

Not long afterward John sold the bikes and his trailer so I’ve never been back to the Rampart Range, and that was my only time to ride with them. But I got in some more dirt riding here and there and finally about four years ago got the V-Strom, which I consider a dual-sport bike, though some folks do not. But it has the suspension and it has the tires.

That day in the Rampart Range whetted my appetite as I started realizing how many, many unpaved roads there are through the Colorado mountains that I’ve never been on. I did finally pick the lock on my checkbook.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if your wife has ever asked you to move the bike so she could see the TV better.

One of the Beemers.

Judy and I just got back from a 10-day road trip (nope, by car) and we spent a lot of time in the boonies. The car has the serious dirt to confirm it.

And you know what? A lot of these way-out-there spots we were in we saw people on motorcycles.

For instance, we were up at the Gates of Lodore, which is in Dinosaur National Monument, up at the far northeast corner of the monument almost to Wyoming. The road to get there is not paved.

That didn’t discourage four guys from Colorado Springs who came rolling into the campground our second day there.

Leading the way was a guy on a KLR 650. Judy made note as he went by that he must be really tall because his knees were sticking way out to the side. The other three were on various Beemers, one of them so loaded you might have thought the guy was going around the world. They were a couple adventure-type bikes and what I took to be a GS 850.

So of course I had to go over and talk with them.

Judy was right. The guy on the KLR must have been 6-foot-4 at least and sitting on the bike with his feet on the ground he looked like I would look sitting on a scooter.

He told me that in the beginning they all had KLRs but one by one the other guys went to Beemers. He stuck with the KLR because it was light and he had no problem going lots of places where the other guys didn’t want to go. So he’ll sometimes take off and meet up with them again later, much as I like to do when I ride with the OFMC on my V-Strom and they don’t want to take their Harleys (and Indian) off pavement.

These guys had left Colorado Springs two days before and had spent one night at one guy’s condo in Frisco. The second night two of them got a motel in Meeker while the other two camped at Maybell. I’m guessing the heavily loaded guy was one of the campers.

The group was headed to the Flaming Gorge and I had not realized there were roads going through on up to Dutch John. Sort of. The road out of Maybell, CO 318, is paved to the state line and then Browns Park Road is gravel. You have to follow that all the way up into Wyoming to WY 373 coming down from Rock Springs along the east side of Flaming Gorge. Then go south to Dutch John on what becomes U.S. 191 once it gets into Utah. Probably about 30 miles on gravel.

And then they’d head home after a couple days at the gorge. Life is good when you and your buddies have motorcycles.

Biker Quote for Today

Never let your free spirit get trapped in a cage.