Passes & Canyons Blog

It has been impressive to observe as Colorado Motorcycle Adventures has grown and branched out. Scott Lee first contacted me in late 2013 looking to put some ads on the Passes & Canyons site in order to get the word out that he was open for business. Of course I was happy to oblige and told him that if he’d like to take me on one of his rides I’d be happy to do a blog post about his business, as well.

After that one year Scott did not renew his ads. It seems he had plenty of business going so who needs to pay to get the word out. The word was out.

And I keep hearing more about Scott and the company. Expansion to a second location. Sponsoring a ride for injured vets to help them readjust to civilian life. And now he’s offering some free classes. (Thanks once again to Alan for tipping me off to this.)

Basic Motorcycle Maintenance, I assume, is pretty much what it says it is. This is on March 23 at the CMA location at 3458 Walnut Street in Denver.

Wolfman Luggage and Packing Class obviously is in conjunction with the Wolfman luggage people. This will address “different types of luggage systems as well as how to pack most efficiently for short weekend trips, week long trips, and around the world adventures that can take up to a year.” Wolfman is on May 4.

The Rever Class is “a free app and state of the art website route programming tool that connects you and a global community of motorcycle riders.” And hey, this one includes free beer! This one is on April 6.

You need to sign up for these. Each of these links I’ve given you has links to do so.

I know I’m particularly interested in the Rever class, but you just might see me at one or both of the others as well. And a tip of the hat to Scott for doing so well in this business.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride a motorcycle and let the wind blow away all the sad moments.

It must be several years ago that my wife gave me a balaclava to wear when riding in cold weather. Trouble is, I stuffed it in one of the pockets in the Concours fairing and have forgotten about it every time since then that I might have worn it. Until very recently.

OK, so first, what is a balaclava? Well, you can see it in the photo there, it’s a tight-fitting hood made of very thin but warm material. The best may be made of silk, but other materials are fine. Of course, it has to be thin in order to fit under your helmet.

I was heading out to the Last Brass Monkey Run on December 31 and it was very cold, so I decided to try the balaclava. I put it on in the house before zipping up my jacket. That meant the bottom of it was securely layered under the jacket collar. The result was that not only did it keep my face warm, it also stopped the breeze from blowing down through the collar and chilling my neck, in front and in back.

The fit was snug. As I slid the helmet on I was at first not even sure it would go on, but it did and was not uncomfortably tight.

Out on the bike the extra warmth was very noticeable. My chin, my throat, and my nose could tell the difference. And it surprised me that I also noticed on the back of my neck. I hadn’t thought about that. It was good.

Then when I was heading home I learned some more. I walked out of the Grizzly Rose and geared up at the bike. What I didn’t think about was making an effort to make sure the bottom of the balaclava was securely tucked into the jacket. In fact it was out a bit in the rear.

I noticed that right away when I started riding. I felt the breeze going down the back of my jacket. OK. Be sure to tuck the thing in.

So all in all, it was good. I definitely recommend it. The one thing that surprised me about this particular balaclava was that it was not as snug as I expected. I’m not sure if these are supposed to be one size fits all or if there are sizes, but a smaller one would have done me well. Being somewhat loose it shifted a bit as I put my helmet on and didn’t stay up over my mouth and nose the way I expected.

But you can bet I’ll be wearing it again the next time I’m out riding on a really cold day.

Biker Quote for today

Biker hair don’t care.

For the first time since I don’t know when, I have six good tires on my three bikes. I went up to Boulder on Wednesday where I was meeting Ron Coleman, of Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures, so he could put a new rear tire on my CB750 Custom. Get together at 9 and I should be home again by noon.

Wrong.

First off, Ron forgot. I was late but he was later, so at 9:30 I called him. Got voicemail and left a message. No big deal for me, it was a beautiful morning and I was sitting in the shade outside a coffee shop drinking a mocha and reading a book. I called again at 10 and this time he answered.

“Hey, where are you?”

“Oh my god! I forgot. I’m leaving now.”

So it was another half hour plus before he made it there from Lafayette. Again, no big deal for me.

We then headed over to Jeff’s, where Ron’s tire-changing machine lives. The wheel came off quickly and the tire came off with no problems and then it was time to put the new tire on. And it was on, though not inflated, when it occurred to me that we had forgotten the new valve stem.

There’s something you need to understand about valve stems on old Hondas, at least the CB750s. They’re almost completely inaccessible. Checking your air pressure is really hard and getting a pump head on is even worse. So we were planning to put on a valve with a 90-degree bend that would be easy to get to. We had put a new valve in on the front tire last fall but now it was time for the rear. And we had forgotten it before the tire was back on the rim.

No problem. Just shove the rubber out of the way and insert the valve. Then pull it through.

Did I say the valves are almost impossible to reach? Ron managed to grab this thing with some pliers but couldn’t get much leverage. And after a lot of trying and a lot of effort . . . it broke off. Now we had to go buy a new one.

Off we went to Mike’s Motorcycle, which was cool because I had never been there. I always like seeing a new shop. But the only 90-degree valve stem they had was the wrong size. So we figured just stop at a car tire place; they always have valve stems. Well, this one did but not anything we could use. Push on.

So we ended up at the Boulder store of G-Force Power Sports. I knew there was a G-Force in Denver but didn’t know they had a shop in Boulder, too. And they had what we wanted. Normally a valve stem costs about $2. For a 90-degree one, however, $10. I bought two just to ensure we didn’t need to make a return trip.

Back at Jeff’s, we took the tire off so as to get the valve stem in as easily as possible, and all went well. And then it all went back together easily and quickly. And presto, I had a new rear tire.

Of course, then between lunch and shooting the bull we ate up some more time. It wasn’t much after 4 by the time I got home. Nothing like spending your entire day getting a new tire. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Biker Quote for Today

We’ll stay up all night working on a bike to just go thrash on it tomorrow.

Some people simply won’t start out on a motorcycle trip without new tires. I know Willie and Jungle are like that. And then there are people like me who look at the tire and think, “Well, this trip will be about 1,500 miles and I’m sure I have that much left on this tire. And if not, I’ll get a new one along the way.”

That was the case on this recent OFMC trip. Literally. I had that conversation with myself and then every day at the end of the ride I inspected my front tire to answer one question: Is there enough rubber on it for tomorrow’s ride?

It’s not enough to only ask that question before you start out. I learned that a few years ago when I went down to Arizona Bike Week. I looked at my tires and concluded I had plenty of rubber to get there and get home, but by the time I got there it was evident I had been wrong. As soon as I got to Scottsdale I headed to a local dealership and got new tires.

The tires I was riding on on the Kawi this trip were not a pair. I had gotten two new tires out in Ohio a few years ago when I went out for Vintage Motorcycle Days, but barely 1,200 miles later my rear got ruined by a puncture. I was able to get to Eagle where Jungle set me up with a used rear tire he had taken off his Concours before they went on a trip sometime earlier. And that one was good enough that I only had to replace it finally last year. But now my Ohio front tire was wearing thin.

Each day I checked it, and each day I concluded it would be fine tomorrow. Until the last day, when the disappearance of the rubber was more pronounced than it had been the other days. Hmmmm. I figured it was still good for 250 miles. And it was.

So I was over to Mountain Thunder on Friday to have Joel put a new one on for me.

“Wouldn’t you agree I could have gotten another couple thousand miles out of this tire?” I asked him jokingly.

“I think you should have replaced it a couple thousand miles sooner,” he replied, not joking.

Joel’s probably right. And I probably won’t change my ways.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcyclist: A person willing to take a container of flammable liquid, place it on top of a hot moving engine, and then put the whole lot between their legs.

Steele’s is certainly still there. I’ve found a few things I needed for my 1980 Honda there. This early 2009 post is definitely still relevant.

Like elephants, motorcycles have their common burial grounds where they go to die. Unlike elephants, parts off these dead bikes come back to keep their compatriots alive.

In Denver, the motorcycle graveyard is located just west off Santa Fe Blvd. at Union. It is called Steele’s Cycles. The address is 2025 W. Union Ave.

Steele’s sells a bit of everything. Their showroom holds about 80 bikes of all sorts, from cruisers to dirt bikes with a good share of sport bikes. Accessories and other parts are stored inside as well, and then there is the outside.

Outside you’ll find the carcasses of hundreds of motorcycles of all makes and models. If you’re looking for a frame, or a fork, or a crankcase for a particular model you can probably find it here. Just be prepared to spend some time finding it. Bikes are grouped by make but it may not be easy to recognize your model with half its parts gone.

Steele’s bills itself at “Colorado’s oldest and largest new and used motorcycle parts source. They also perform service and they sell new parts as well as used ones.

Long-time Steele’s employee Bob Burkler observes that while the bad economy is hurting everyone, salvage is “probably a pretty good business to be in right now. Someone who might have just gone to a dealer for a new part might come here now to get that part for less.” He also notes that the demand for small bikes is up a lot. Steele’s sells used bikes of all sorts but does not have much in the way of scooters.

Burkler also says that Steele’s is a good place for anyone with an older bike. Dealerships will tell you right out that they do not want to do service on older bikes, but that is what Steele’s specializes in.

So. Looking for a headlight for that 1980 Honda CB? Need a front fender for that 1987 Virago? How about an entire motor kit for a 2002 Suzuki GSXR 600? Steele’s may very well have just what you need.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Call 303-781-5339.

As did many thousands of other motorcyclists–apparently–I received a card inviting me to the grand opening at the new location for Performance Cycle on Saturday. New location: 7375 S. Fulton, in Centennial. I figured I wanted to see the place, so I went.

The card had promised a schwag bag for the first 100 in the doors and while that wasn’t a big motivator I did think it might be cool if I got one and it had some cool stuff in it. Ha! Doors opened at 9 a.m. and I walked in around 9:45. By that time there must have been more than 100 people waiting in line to make their purchases. The place was packed, and that’s saying something because it is huge.

I don’t know if this is the biggest motorcycle shop in Denver but if it isn’t it has got to be one of the biggest. Completely new building with about anything you could want. Including a lounge with complimentary beverages and an air hockey table so you can while away the time while your bike is being worked on. A section for helmets that is bigger than some shops I’ve been in. A storage area for tires that looked like it must have a couple thousand tires on hand. And of course, pretty much any motorcycle gear or apparel you could possibly be looking for.

And apparently there were a lot of people looking for gear. I was just there for a look-see but most people seemed to be there as shoppers. I would not want to stand in line that long to buy but I guess the today-only 20 percent discount coupons they were handing out made a persuasive argument to a lot of people.

Will I shop here? Yeah, it’s in my part of town and I figure they will probably have anything I’m looking for. I might want to do some price comparisons, though. We’ll see.

And one other point in their favor: they’re open on Mondays.

Biker Quote for Today

Note to self: Never ride a motorcycle in stilettos and a miniskirt. — Maggie Grace

We all know the story. Your buddy riding behind you or in front of you has forgotten to cancel his turn signal and so you ride along mile after mile with that thing flashing. Maybe you hold out your hand and open and close your fingers, trying to give him the signal that his blinkers are on but he’s not paying attention to you, either. Why can’t motorcycle manufacturers come up with self-canceling turn signals?

Actually, they have. Yamaha has had self-canceling signals for years, but they’re only based on riding a certain distance and then they shut off. Which is not bad, all in all, and definitely better than nothing. And there are also after-market producers who offer relays you can wire into your bike that will shut the signal off after a certain amount of time. But nobody has ever come up with a signal that works like those in cars, where it continues blinking until you make your turn and then shuts off.

It’s not hard to understand why–the physics of it all are very, very different with a car vs. a bike. We don’t have steering wheels that rotate one way and then rotate back the other way.

Abcs Sistem Ltd., a company out of Slovenia, has announced that it has cracked this nut and is now offering its Smart Turn System (STS) for use on any bike.

According to the company’s release, “The STS is a device that analyzes more than 300 different types of data to automatically cancel turn signals if a rider has forgotten to turn them off after making a turn or lane change. . . . The Smart Turn System is a small device directly wired into a motorcycle’s existing turn signal system and its internal sensors capture and send data through a complex algorithm to help determine the bike’s lean angle, heading, vibrations, and acceleration to detect if the turn has been completed and if the turn signals need to be canceled. All of this is done automatically, allowing the rider to focus on the road and enjoy the ride.”

The STS is supposed to be available for pre-order right now, at a price of 140 euros. That works out to about $170 at today’s exchange rate. They say installation is easy and you can do it yourself. I don’t know about you but I think this is a very welcome development. That said, am I going to pay $170 times three to put these things on each of my bikes? Not likely. But if it really works I have to believe the manufacturers will soon all either develop their own systems or perhaps license this one and put it on all their bikes. And that element of motorcycling will finally enter the 20th century.

Biker Quote for Today

Just once I would like to wake up, turn on the news, and hear “Monday has been canceled. Get out and ride.”

Is there some kind of law that if you rent V-Stroms you have to have a buddy named Jeff who is big into motorcycle mechanics and can fix just about anything on the spot? My experience would suggest that.

I know two guys who either do or have rented V-Stroms and both have that very particular Jeff. Kevin rented bikes, mostly V-Stroms, out of Gunnison for a number of years through his company, Colorado Mountain Moto. Ron still rents V-Stroms but also other bikes now through his company, Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures.

I went on a 10-day ride this summer with Kevin and–you knew this was coming–his buddy Jeff. Jeff works as a motorcycle mechanic, which is a good thing because he rides a couple Moto Guzzis. From what I understand, Guzzis are “quirky” and if you’re going to ride them you’d better be able to work on them any time you need to.

Jeff needed to. And he did. And he had everything he needed to do whatever was needed. We ended up at his place outside of Boise later in the week and then we really got to see how into this he is. Besides a garage full of bikes and parts, he built his own very large shop that is full of more bikes that he is in the process of restoring. And any tool you might need was right there at hand.

Then more recently I was up in Boulder with Ron with the intent of replacing my worn out valve stem on my Honda. And where did we go to do this? To Ron’s friend Jeff’s house. Ron actually owns this tire changing machine but he keeps it at Jeff’s because Jeff gets a lot of use for it and Ron really doesn’t have a place for it at home.

Jeff is not a professional mechanic but he does race bikes and gets very much into working on them. While Ron and I were figuring we’d need to take the wheel off the bike and use the machine to break the bead so as to get to the valve stem, Jeff pulled out this handy little portable bead breaker and they were able to replace the valve stem in less than 10 minutes without taking the wheel off the bike.

But then the really amazing thing happened.

Ron and I were getting ready to leave and I got on the bike, kicked the side-stand up, and fired her up. Just then Jeff called out urgently to warn me that my side-stand was down. Funny, I thought for sure I had just put that up. So I nudged it up with my foot and it just swung freely. It wouldn’t stay up. There was definitely a problem of some kind.

I killed the bike, kicked the stand back out to hold the bike up, and got off. It didn’t take long to find the problem: the spring that holds the stand up out of the way was broken. One of the hooked ends had snapped off and it was just dangling from the other. This bike is a 1981 model so after 34 years the spring just gave out. And it gave out right here, at Jeff’s, of all places.

What happened? Jeff went rummaging through a drawer and in just a few seconds pulled out an identical spring that fit perfectly. He just happened to have it on hand and knew right where it was. It took longer for Ron and me to get the thing on than it took Jeff to find it. And there I was, all patched up, just that quickly.

I tell you what, I don’t care if you rent V-Stroms or not, everybody should have a buddy named Jeff.

Biker Quote for Today

Honda 919s are as reliable as an anvil, albeit faster. — Ray Nierlich