Passes & Canyons Blog

I made a run over to Steele’s the other day. In case you’re unfamiliar with the place, Steele’s Salvage at 2025 W. Union, is a junk yard for dead motorcycles.

Mind you, Steele’s is a lot more than that. They sell used bikes of all kinds, they do service, and they sell both new and used parts. But it’s the salvage yard — to use the more PC term — that is totally fascinating.

There must be a couple thousand motorcycle carcasses parked row on row on the property. Many are just rusty hulks, others have clearly been consumed in flames, while many are in perfectly fine shape, ready to donate an organ to keep the brother you’re riding alive. All of them are in a greater or lesser state of disassembly.

I ride an old bike, a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom, so it’s no surprise that I have done business at Steele’s. At one point my saddle was so torn and ragged that I came to Steele’s for a replacement. It’s a pretty easy guess that dealers don’t carry replacement saddles for 20-year-old bikes, but that’s why God invented salvage yards.

Another time I needed a fusible link. In the case of the CB, this is just a small, slotted piece of copper that makes all the difference in the world as to whether the bike will run or not. You could probably put a box with a thousand of them in your pants pocket but you won’t find a single one at a Honda dealer these days. At least not one for a 1980 model bike.

At Steele’s I asked at the counter and they didn’t have any in stock, but they pointed me to the part of the yard where the Hondas reside and invited me to help myself to any I might find.

Not surprisingly, the spot in the wiring where the fusible link goes was empty on all the bikes I checked. But the factory sent the bikes out with spares. Inspecting the storage area on several bikes, I found half a dozen and laid claim to them all.

So I’m probably set with fusible links for the life of the bike. And when it finally dies it will probably end up at Steele’s or some place comparable, along with a few spares. They may some day serve to keep someone else’s old beast on the road.

I know there are plenty of folks who only want the latest, the hottest, and the fastest bike available, and for them, Steele’s is irrelevant. But for those of us who ride and love older bikes, Steele’s is the difference between the life and death of an old friend.

Plus, it’s just fun to wander around through all those old junkers.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s an old motorcycle. The wind is supposed to blow your head around, it’s supposed to leak oil, the brakes should suck, and every now and then, it should scare you so bad you piss your pants.

Does it make you smile really hard when you hear of some bike thief getting busted? Then boy, I’ve got just the thing for you. This isn’t a commercial for LoJack but it could be interpreted that way.

You know about LoJack, right? They hide a radio transmitter in your vehicle and if it gets stolen the cops can often locate it quickly and get it back to you. And it’s not incidental that the guys who took it often end up getting picked up, too.

Now, I’ve never used LoJack, and heck, I really don’t think anyone is going to be interested in stealing my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. It’s the Harleys these guys want. You guys with the bulls-eyes on your bikes know who you are.

Well, apparently LoJack releases an annual listing of the stolen motorcycle recoveries in the past year that they are most proud of. Straight from the press release, here’s this year’s list. Read it and smile.

“Most Arrests Made in Recoveries” – In less than 48 hours, LoJack For Motorcycles helped Las Vegas police and the Southern Nevada Auto Theft Task Force break up two theft rings, which led to the recovery of four Honda motorcycles, a Yamaha ATV and the arrest of 10 suspects.

“Fastest Motorcycle Recovery Leads to Big Chop Shop” – In this recovery, a Yamaha YZR was stolen and recovered in only eight minutes after the system was activated. Through this recovery, Los Angeles Police Department and LAPD Burglary Auto Division also found seven other stolen bikes and bike parts, valued at a total of more than $100,000!

“Best Bust Reflecting the Trend of Selling Stolen Bikes Online” – In this recovery, thieves advertised a bike online and, as soon as they got an interested buyer, stole a bike matching the one they had advertised. The thieves then delivered the stolen bike to the buyer, thus limiting the time they were in possession of the stolen item. Fortunately, the bike had LoJack For Motorcycles and its signal was picked up only 10 minutes after system activation – 75 miles away from where it was stolen.

“Bike Stolen – and Recovered – Four Times in Nine Months” – A Tucson resident discovered his 2007 Suzuki GSX-R 600 missing from his apartment, reported it stolen to police and just 14 minutes later, a police helicopter and ground vehicle tracked down the bike. This was the fourth time since August 2007 that the owner’s bike was stolen and recovered with LoJack For Motorcycles.

“Best LoJack Early Warning Recovery” – LoJack Early Warning notified the owner of a Yamaha YZF-R6 that his bike was moved without permission from the parking lot of his apartment. Police activated the system and within 20 minutes received the silent signal from the bike, which indicated it was on the move on a local interstate highway. Police then picked up a strong signal and did not see a bike, but rather a Chevrolet cargo van driving nearby. As the police passed the van, the signal’s directional arrow reversed, which indicated that the bike was inside the van. The police stopped the van, discovered the bike (plus two other stolen motorcycles) and arrested two suspects.

Is that sweet or what?

Biker Quote for Today

Sleep with one arm through the spokes and keep your pants on.

Have you ever seen a 1957 Aermacchi Chimera? How about a 1953 Moto Guzzi Galleto? Or a 1956 Moto Rumi Formichino Little Ant? Have you ever heard of those bikes?

If you want to see some cool motorcycles and get out of the heat of summer, I strongly recommend hitting the Arvada Center for their Summer of Cycles exhibit.

Rather than talk about them I’ll just show you some pictures. The exhibit runs through September 7, it’s free, and the Arvada Center is open 9-6 M-F, 9-5 Saturday, and 1-5 Sunday.

This next one is the 1956 Moto Rumi I mentioned above.

Here’s the 1957 Aermacchi Chimera (Dream)

This one is a 1958 Cushman Eagle.

There are a lot of others, too, including a 1998 Boss Hoss with a 350 cubic inch Chevrolet engine, 1999 Harley-Davidson MT500 built for the British military, and a 2006 Harley-Davidson VRXSE Screamin’ Eagel Destroyer, which is set up for drag-racing.

All in all, a pretty good show. Definitely worth more than the admission!

Biker Quote for Today

Park the latest Ducati, Harley, Honda, or BMW on a street corner in any city or town in the world and a crowd will gather. — Thomas Krens

If you’ve been to Europe in the last 10 years you’ve probably seen these things, but if you haven’t you’re going to do a double-take.

This little baby, a BMW you will notice, is called the C1 CityScooter. It was first released in 2000 and was built by a specialty manufacturer in Italy. There were two models, one a little bigger than the other. Sales apparently didn’t hit BMW’s targets so 2002 was the last year they were produced, but you still see a lot of them on the streets. The stats are as follows:

• Dry Weight – 375 pounds
• Gas Mileage – 80 per gallon
• Engine Size – 125cc or 176cc

ABS, heated grips, and a lot more were available as accessories.

According to the article about this bike on Wikipedia, France has a helmet law but some countries consider it dangerous to have a seat belt and a helmet, C1 riders are exempt from the helmet law. That confirms my suspicion because in two weeks over there I never saw anyone on any kind of motorized two-wheeler not wearing a helmet, except one person in a C1. On the other hand, Sweden does require helmets but allows you not to use the seat belt.

The C1 never made it to the U.S., just another example of how when it comes to motorcycling, Europe is like another country. Or 12. I’ll have more to tell you about in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!

Biker Quote for Today

Two wheels? Lets ride!

Redlegs went down on his bike recently and came out in pretty good shape, with only a separated shoulder. He attributes it to ATGATT. That stands for All The Gear, All The Time.

I’ll back up just a moment to explain that Redlegs is a fellow motorcycle blogger who I have never met but have communicated with a number of times via email and comments we have posted on each others’ blogs. We may actually have literally rubbed shoulders recently at the Top Gun event but didn’t know it until we saw that we had each been there and written about it.

So in another overlap, we both went up to Frisco to the Concours Owners Group rally recently, though I went on Monday and he went on Friday. My trip was fine. For Redlegs, however, things were not so fine. Approaching the Eisenhower Tunnel, he hit some black ice and went down, at high speed. Ouch.

Redlegs says he always does the ATGATT thing, and right now he’s pretty darn happy about that. I have to admit, I don’t. Certainly I understand that if you go down you’re going to be extremely happy to have been wearing every bit of protective gear you own. And referring to another voice, Mark Tuttle Jr., editor of Rider magazine, says in his July 2008 column, “Take it from someone who has left his share of skin on the pavement–you don’t want to.”

I understand this. I believe these guys. So why don’t I do it? And obviously I’m not alone in not doing it. Why do so many of us ignore what we know is good advice?

I’ll be honest. A part of me has never gotten beyond my youthful conviction that I’m immortal and really bad things just won’t happen to me. For another thing, I’ve been riding for about 19 years now and the only time I ever went down on one of my bikes was going down a gravel road at about 5 miles per hour when a big dog walked out from between two parked cars, right into my path. In a slow motion split second I nailed my front brakes, realized they weren’t going to be enough, and touched the rears. Down instantly. But other than a bruised shoulder I was unhurt and my passenger was also unhurt. And we were not wearing helmets, but that was OK because our heads didn’t hit the ground.

The fact is, I like riding without a helmet. First of all, it’s extremely pleasant, and is a large part of what I find so enjoyable about riding. Secondly, when I do wear the helmet it gets very uncomfortable, even painful, when I wear it for a long time. Now, regarding this latter point, it may be that I just need a different helmet. But I’ve had a number of helmets over the years and the same has been true for all of them. They hurt my head. That said, I always wear a helmet in winter, I usually wear one when I’m riding on the interstate, and at other times it just depends on the weather and how I feel.

As for other gear, like leather jacket and chaps and gloves, I wear them depending on the ride and the weather. I wear the jacket and gloves the most, quite a lot of the time. The chaps I primarily wear in winter, when I judge that the possibility for a spill is greater and when the extra warmth they provide is welcome. I have a good pair of boots and I wear them on long rides but if I’m just hopping on the bike to go to the gym I don’t bother.

I’m pretty sure there are a lot of guys like me. ATGATT is a great concept but we just don’t see it as realistic. So I’ve worked out my compromise. In bad weather I wear it all. The odds are just more heavily weighted toward a mishap in bad weather. When I’m just trying to get somewhere and make time, I wear most of it, particularly the helmet and jacket. At times like that, the enjoyment is not the primary focus of the trip so I just hunker down and go. When it’s cold I wear all of it. That’s simple; it keeps me warm. The fact that it would protect me in a spill is secondary, though not unimportant.

But when it’s a beautiful summer day and we’re out on a lonely two-lane road just taking it easy and enjoying the ride, I’m sorry, I don’t want to wear a helmet. I judge that the danger is slight and it’s just worth it to me to take that small chance. And remember: Last year about 42 percent of motorcyclists killed in accidents were not wearing helmets. That means that 58 percent were wearing helmets and they were killed anyway. Sometimes you just play the odds. Yes, sometimes you lose. But I think this Biker Quote for Today sums it up for me pretty nicely.

Biker Quote for Today

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting HOLY CRAP!

Cold and rainy today, with patches of fog. What a great day to ride! Seriously.

Of course Bill had no idea what the weather would be a week ago when he proposed that we do one of our occasional rides up to Blackhawk for breakfast. It has been warm and sunny lately, so we assumed it would be a nice day. I rolled the bike out and looked at the sky and wondered if I should call to see if anyone would show up. But I figured surely someone would be there so we would join them.

Judy asked me what she needed to wear and I told her I was just putting on a flannel shirt over my t-shirt under my leather jacket, so she dressed similarly. We took off and hadn’t gone very far when I started to doubt my judgment. It was darn chilly! Oh well, it was morning and surely it would warm up as the day progressed.

We got to the meeting spot and found only Bill and Jason out for the ride today. Dennis is in Indianapolis for the Indy 500, Johnathon had a graduation he was going to, and John was using his same old excuse about being 250 miles away in Montrose. Wuss. Can’t remember why Friggs wasn’t there.

We headed on up Clear Creek Canyon and the sky was threatening but nothing else. Going a bit slower up the canyon it wasn’t as chilly but Judy and I both were wishing we had our electric vests. Judy was also wishing for long underwear. I was just glad to be on the Concours with its full fairing.

Leaving the canyon and getting onto the Peak to Peak Highway it started looking like it might clear up. That reminded me of when I lived in Golden and worked in Idaho Springs, and on some days I would drive out of a rain or snow storm up the mountain into the sunshine. Then after spending the day in the sun I would drive back down into the same storm I left behind. Not today.

We reached Blackhawk and cruised on to Central City to the Red Dolly, a small casino with good breakfast at very good prices–our standard stop. Had a great breakfast, warmed up, Bill and Jason gave the machines some money, and it was time to head back down. We stepped outside and it was raining. No big deal; we’ve got the gear. And this was Judy’s first opportunity to try out her new rain gear.

Suited up, we headed back down into Blackhawk, got back on the Peak to Peak, and continued north to the turn-off to Golden Gate Canyon. One of the nice things about this whole area is that there are multiple canyons and you can take your pick of which one to go up and which one to take down. They’re all beautiful and twisty.

Today they had a different kind of beauty than we normally see. Besides the rain, we were in and out of low-lying clouds, aka: fog. I know that Judy, having no responsibility for ensuring that we stayed on the road, was more able to appreciate the beauty than I was, but I was not unappreciative.

With the wet pavement, the on and off rain, and the on and off fog, we took it fairly slow. That, plus the rain gear, meant the ride down was quite a bit warmer than the ride up. And with the good rain gear we were perfectly dry and comfortable.

Then we were down out of the canyon, back on CO 93, and we headed over to Bill and Thais’s new house close by to see it for the first time. Some hot chocolate to warm us up again and we headed on home.

This was not the ride we anticipated but at least partially for that reason it was probably a more memorable ride. Despite being a little less well-prepared than we could have been, we have no regrets whatsoever. It was a great ride. What a great day for a ride!

Biker Quote for Today

It takes more love to share the saddle than it does to share the bed.

Barry from Alabama responded to that last post about hypothermia, asking about the weather in the fall when the aspens are turning color. Let’s talk about that.

The aspen trees in Colorado turn a brilliant gold in September, for the most part. It varies depending on elevation; the higher areas turn before the lower areas. As you can see in this photo, here there are some trees that have already shed their leaves, others are still golden, and yet, in the foreground, there are still green leaves.

September is a great time to be riding in Colorado, but you have to understand that the weather is unpredictable, especially in the high country. You can have the most gorgeous days imaginable or you can get caught in a snowstorm. It’s not at all uncommon to have both in the same day. An 11,000-foot pass is going to be cold even in July and August. You can get snowed on on top of Mount Evans any day of the year. Plus, at that time of year, even if the weather is sunny and warm during the day you have to count on it getting darn chilly as soon as the sun goes down. Therefore, it’s essential to be prepared.

Referring back to the hypothermia posting, you’ll want to be sure to bring any electrics you have: vest, heated grips, whatever. You’ll use them and be glad you have them. Dress in layers; you can always take something off but you can’t put it on if you don’t have it with you. If you’re getting cold, don’t be too macho to stop frequently and warm up.

Here’s an example of what you might encounter. Our OFMC group usually takes its trip in July or August but a few years ago we decided to go in September. We headed out of Denver the first day, up US 285, and then south on CO 126 and CO 67 toward Woodland Park. It turned cold and wet and we soon had our rain suits on. We got to Woodland Park and headed down US 24 toward Colorado Springs in sleet. From Colorado Springs we headed southwest down CO 115 to Penrose and then took US 50 on to Salida, where we stopped for the night. By the time we got to Penrose we had peeled off the rain suits and rode in warm sunshine the rest of the day. A typical day in Colorado.

I suppose I could ramble on, but what’s the point? You get the picture. I’ll address Barry’s other questions in the next couple posts.

Biker Quote for Today

Saddlebags can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need.

Continuing something of a theme I’ve been developing this week, I want to talk now about hypothermia. As in getting really, really cold in an unsafe manner.

Hypothermia: An abnormally low body temperature, often caused by prolonged exposure to cold.

I wrote a on Monday about my day riding Motorcycle Lead for a bicycle race. The wind started blowing and the temperature dropped and it started to snow. By the time I got off the bike I started to shake and shiver uncontrollably. That was the beginning of hypothermia. Then on Wednesday I wrote about fairings and how they do so much to keep you warm. This was not planned but I might as well round out the discussion.

The first time I got a taste of hypothermia was on one of the earliest rides I did with my buddies John and Bill in our group that we call the Old Farts Motorcycle Club. We had been down in New Mexico and were headed back into Colorado when we got caught in a cloudburst. We didn’t have rain suits back then, we just got wet. At the time it didn’t seem like such a big deal. In Colorado it is common to have brief rain showers, and then the sun comes out and all is fine. We didn’t get drenched or anything, and we just kept riding.

Awhile later we reached Alamosa and, stopping at the first traffic light in town, agreed unanimously that we really wanted to find a coffee shop before we did anything else. We were cold.

We got to a coffee shop and ordered a pot of coffee and started shivering and shaking. A lot. A whole lot. Over the course of the next hour or so we probably drank eight pots of coffee but just kept shivering. Somewhere along the line we realized that this was hypothermia. We had gotten wet, but the wind dried us out when the rain stopped, but with the moisture it also extracted a dangerous amount of our body heat.

Hypothermia can be dangerous. It can cause you to become mentally confused, which can lead to dangerous or deadly mistakes when riding a motorcycle. It’s not a good thing.

So what should a motorcyclist do to avoid hypothermia, and what do you do if it happens anyway? First off, don’t drink coffee. Hot coffee may seem like just the ticket but you would do a lot better to drink hot cocoa or have a bowl of hot soup. Something with calories. Of course, if coffee is the only warm thing around, as was the case for me at the bicycle races, do what you’ve got to do. Wrapping up in a blanket or sleeping bag is a very good thing, too. If the hypothermia is serious you should not hesitate to call for emergency medical care.

It’s better to avoid hypothermia in the first place. The first line of defense is the proper gear. Carry a good rain suit and don’t delay too long in putting it on. Use your electric vest if you have one. Heated grips would be good. I swear by the fairing on my Concours, and the windshield on the CB750. Wear plenty of layers. Stop frequently and get warm in a convenience store/gas station, cafe, or rest stop. Wear synthetics or wools that don’t hold the moisture in direct contact with you skin. Avoid alcohol if you’re going out somewhere where you’re likely to get cold.

Mostly it’s just common sense: stay warm in whatever way you can. Don’t be an idiot. It’s better to arrive late, or call off the ride, than never arrive again.

Biker Quote for Today

Never be afraid to slow down.