Passes & Canyons Blog

All right, so I took the CB750 in to Colorado Moto Service to have them work on the problem with the oil seeping through the valves into the cylinders, leading to heavy smoking each time I start the bike up. Get this job done finally.

Well, I got a call from them to say they had checked the bike out and . . . there was no smoking when they fired it up. What?

They did say it was very low on oil–which kinda happens when you’re constantly burning it and you neglect to top it off frequently–and maybe that was why it was not seeping into the cylinders. As in, there was no oil there to leak through. Ken you are a bad owner. You are neglecting your motorcycle again. But who knows if that is the reason.

So they added oil and checked it out and said the carbs need to be synced, which I can easily accept, and there is an oil leak from one of the lower engine gaskets. Tell me about that. This bike has leaked from that gasket since the day I bought it. It used to be a lot worse. I would come home from a ride with oil on my pants where it had seeped out and the wind had blown it back onto my pant leg.

I said go ahead and work up an estimate of what these two fixes would cost. I’m very leery of having the gasket done because I know from experience that that can run into serious money.

And one more thing. There seems to be a switch problem. When they tried to shut the bike off it wouldn’t shut off. Again, what? I have never had that kind of issue. And I did have the ignition switch replaced some years ago. I need more info on this issue but if all it takes to get around the issue is to hit the kill switch I’m perfectly capable of hitting the kill switch. Heck, I’ve done it by accident some times.

So what the heck is the deal with it not smoking for them? I can’t count the number of times I’ve been standing there revving the engine to burn out that oil from the cylinders and pumping out huge clouds of blue smoke, hoping none of my neighbors were looking out their windows at me polluting the neighborhood air. I’m going to be very unhappy if I get it back after spending a bunch of money on other things and then it starts smoking again. It just doesn’t seem to make any sense.

Biker Quote for Today

It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels.

I have an appointment to get my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom in to the shop on Tuesday and it’s a good thing. I initially made the appointment to address the smoking that happens every time I start it up but now it seems to have another issue so that’s good timing.

The smoking is a no-brainer. While it sits parked oil seeps past the valves into the cylinders and has to be burned out when the engine is fired up. So on Sunday I wanted to take it for a ride and I started it and let that smoke blow. Then I took off but it didn’t seem to be running right. I went around the bend, down the hill, turned right up a small hill and as I was turning right again it died. Dang! What now?

It turned over and tried to start but just couldn’t. What now?

I rolled it back and turned around and coasted down the hill I had just come up and stopped at the bottom to try to figure things out. Not just “what’s the problem?” but also “how do I get back home up our big hill?” As I was sitting there a woman came along walking her dog and asked if I was out of gas. I said no, it’s some other problem, and she walked on.

Figuring I needed to get home no matter what I started pushing the bike along the level portion I needed to traverse. I figured I’d call Judy and ask her to come with her car and a tow rope I have, so she could then pull me up the hill. I called but just got her voicemail.

As I was pushing it occurred to me that the woman with the dog may have helped solve my problem. Checking my trip meter I saw that I was right at the point where I typically need to go to reserve. That would explain the not running right issue. I flipped to Reserve and tried to start it but by now the battery had been run down from trying so hard before, so I was still going to need to get up the hill to home so I could connect it to the charger.

I got to where there was nothing but uphill left in front of me and on a last hope tried starting it one more time. It started! I normally don’t ride without my helmet and jacket on and they were both off and hanging on the bike at this point but I wasn’t going to waste an opportunity, I left them hanging and jumped on, put it in gear, and roared on up the hill. Yahoo!

OK, so all is good again, right? Well, maybe not. I put the charger on and gave it something more than an hour to put a bit more juice in the battery and then got on to go for the ride that had been cut short before. It ran strongly and I headed immediately for a gas station. By the time I reached the gas station, however, it was clear it was still not actually running right. I didn’t want to risk have it crap out on me again, only much, much further from home, so I just rode on back home and parked it till Tuesday.

Maybe on Tuesday it will be running better. If not, it will just add to the total amount I end up paying the shop. Not wonderful but not the worst thing that could happen.

Biker Quote for Today

Imagine life without motorcycles. Now slap yourself and never do it again.

We all know how many motorcycles die: they get crashed and that’s that. But what about those that don’t get crashed? If they don’t keep going, why not?

I know the answer to that now. It’s all about the Benjamins.

I bought my Kawasaki Concours new in 1999. I have ridden it something over 80,000 miles. In July of last year it overheated going up to the Eisenhower Tunnel and I had to have it hauled home. Then I took it to a shop to have that all put right. But when I got it back it was not all right. Now the throttle refused to back off properly, so I took it back to the shop. It has sat there for three months now not getting worked on.

In the meantime, the last time I went by, planning to take it for a short ride, it had developed an oil leak. After three months of not getting worked on I decided to take the bike to a different shop, so I started calling around. It appears that getting the work done that the bike needs would run me at least $1,000. Meanwhile, I had decided that the time has come to let go of this bike. It has always been a very heavy bike and I am getting older. I can still handle it OK but for how much longer? But it seems doubtful that I could find a buyer willing to pay even $1,000 for it.

The big no-brainer question: why would I pay more than $1,000 for repairs and turn around and sell it for less than $1,000?

One of the places I called about repairs was Steele’s Cycle. Yeah, they could definitely fix it; working on older bikes is their specialty. On the other hand, I could sell it to them either as salvage or, more likely in my opinion, in my hopes, so they could do the repair work and then put it on their used bike floor and sell it. Other than the throttle and the oil leak there’s not a thing wrong with it and it can easily run many, many more miles. And they will give me about $300 to $400 for it, according to Rick, the owner.

So let’s see. Pay more than $1,000 to have it running good again and then sell it for less than that, or sell it as-is with no additional costs and get a few hundred bucks. It’s really sad to say it but I’m planning to have the bike hauled over there–probably on Tuesday–and take whatever they’ll give me for it.

I have loved this bike. This bike has taken me so many places, and I have done so much on this bike. I really hate the idea of abandoning it. Walking away from it after all the good times it brought me. But what am I going to do? Keep pouring money into it? Especially when I’ve already made the decision to move on from it. This will be the first time I have let go of a motorcycle I owned.

And about that. My first ever bike was/is my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. I still own and ride that bike. And as my first bike I am deeply in love with it. It is in bad need of some work of its own and at some point this year I will pay whatever it costs to get this work done. This is how one bike dies, while another continues to live and continues to run. Sometimes it’s not about the Benjamins.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 17. We spend more on tires than we spend on you.

I have three motorcycles and I was just reflecting on the numerous times that as worked to my benefit. Sure, I have to spend a bunch more money on maintenance and insurance–not to mention purchase–but it’s worth it in my opinion.

Right now offers a perfect example. After getting my 1999 Kawasaki Concours back from the shop following my misadventure getting home from the latest OFMC trip I now had a throttle issue. I took it back to the shop to have that addressed and it has now been 50 days since I dropped it off and I am still waiting to get it back. If I only had one bike that would have been 50 days of no riding. Not acceptable.

There have also been several instances when I was leaving on a trip, planning on riding a particular bike, and had issues with that bike at the point when I was leaving. One time the bike just wasn’t running right and I made a detour to the shop, where they worked on it a bit but couldn’t guarantee for me the issue would not reappear. Another time I was checking the air in the tires and discovered that one valve stem was totally rotted out, so badly I couldn’t understand why the tire wasn’t flat already.

In both cases I just pulled all my things off the one bike and loaded it all on another and off I went.

On at least another couple occasions I wanted to take one bike but checking the tread on the tires there clearly wasn’t enough rubber to go a couple thousand miles. At the same time, there was plenty of rubber to go another 1,000 miles or so and I didn’t want to junk that tire prematurely. Not with motorcycle tires generally getting only 10,000 miles or less as it is. And paying to have the old tire replaced and then put back on later would be absurd. No problem–take a different bike.

Early on in the rides of the OFMC, back when I only had one bike, I had an issue and did not have this option. I needed some work done on my CB750 and took it to a shop well in advance of departure date, telling them I absolutely had to have it by a certain date, but expecting to get it back well in advance of that date. They said oh yeah, we’ll have it done well before then. They didn’t. They didn’t have it done until three days after Bill and John had already left. I ended up riding really hard for two days solid to meet up with them a long way from here. How nice a second bike would have been at that point.

Having more than one bike has also worked to the advantage of other people a couple times, too. Once the OFMC was heading out and Johnathon had problems with his bike. I loaned him my CB750; he got to go on the trip. Another time a member of the RMMRC who has moved away from Denver was back in town. The RMMRC was going on a ride. I offered to let him ride my V-Strom. He did. You’re welcome.

So yeah, I like have three motorcycles. I strongly recommend it. You have room for another, don’t you?

Biker Quote for Today

A motorcycle ride melts away the frustration of life in less than a mile.

I’m not a New Year’s resolution type of guy generally but there are times when I do set goals for myself in the new year. It occurred to me that there are several I have in mind for this year so yeah, let’s just call them resolutions.

For one thing, I really, really intend to put at least 1,000 miles on the CB750 this year. I shoot for that every year but I usually fail. I did succeed in 2021 and 2022 but the last time before that was 2010 and that was before I had a third bike. I’m gonna do it this year! I swear!

Success in that area may well be aided by my next resolution. I really truly have made up my mind that I want to sell the Concours and replace it with a lighter, more modern bike. What I figure is to wait until riding season and put the Kawi up for sale–and hopefully find a buyer–but not be in too big a hurry to buy the replacement. Selling at peak season is good strategy; buying is not. The end of the season is better for that, though once I’ve sold the Concours I’ll start looking for a great deal and I won’t wait if I spot one early on. But that will mean that for awhile I will have only two bikes again and that should mean more road time for the Honda.

I’ve also decided I’m done with putting off getting some expensive work done on the Honda. This bike needs a valve job, or something of that sort. As it is, as it sits, oil seeps past the valves into the cylinders and every time I start it up the first thing it has to do is burn out all that oil. That leaves me sitting in the driveway with a huge cloud of blue smoke swirling around me, hoping none of my neighbors is looking out at that moment seeing this. I don’t know exactly what is needed but I’m sure it is a simple thing for any mechanic to diagnose. And I expect it will not be cheap to fix. So be it. I’m getting the work done in 2024. And maybe while I’m at it I’ll have the cheapo, cracked windshield replaced with something nice.

My final resolution is that I will go for some rides with Judy. I know she hasn’t been on any of the bikes with me in several years now. In fact, I have a vague recollection that she has remarked that she hasn’t been on a bike since we took that trip to Banff with Willie and Jungle and crew, and that was six years ago. Is that possible? I mean, she has full riding gear, we have communicators, and she likes to ride. But she doesn’t generally suggest it; she waits for me to invite her. And I have not done that. She especially likes to hike and we like to combine the two, riding a bike to a trailhead and going hiking. That’s going to happen this year.

Now I don’t think any of those plans is unrealistic. So maybe, just maybe, I’ll get them all done. Maybe spelling it all out here will light that fire under my butt.

Biker Quote for Today

In heaven, there’s no need to wear a helmet.

I noted down the odometer readings on my vehicles on December 31 once I knew I wasn’t going anywhere else that day. Once again, as has been the case every year for quite a few years, I put a lot more miles on my three motorcycles than I did on my car. In fact, once again, I put more miles on one particular bike than I did on the car.

My mileage on the car was up about 500 miles last year, all the way to 3,062. That compares to 2,506 in 2022. But I put 3,940 miles on the V-Strom, which was 74 miles more than the previous year. That’s the third time the Suzuki has gone more miles than the car.

It used to be that the Concours was the bike that out-distanced the car, often by a heck of a lot. For instance, in 2010 the Concours to Elantra numbers were 10,004 and 5,581. In 2011 they were 6,875 and 3,556. In 2012 they were 9,437 and 5,061. But now apparently I ride the V-Strom more.

In fact, my Concours number was only 1,849 in 2023, compared to 2,354 in 2022. Part of that had to do with it being out of commission after overheating up by the Eisenhower Tunnel coming home from the OFMC trip. It was nearly two months before that bike was rideable again.

I know I’m not going to get big numbers on my CB750 so my target each year is to put at least 1,000 miles on it. Once again I was unsuccessful. I only racked up 672 miles on that bike in 2023, which was down from the 729 miles in 2022. I try to favor that bike for that very reason but I guess I just don’t do it enough. A new year’s resolution I’ll try once again to keep.

Altogether in 2023 I put 6,461 miles on my bikes. This is down a bit from the previous year, when I rode them 6,949. My total mileage on all four vehicles for 2023 was 9,523 compared to 9,455 in 2022. Are most people as consistent as I am?

Biker Quote for Today

Distance is just a number when you ride a bike.

The early part of this week has been great riding weather, with bad weather coming soon, so of course I was out taking advantage of it.

On Monday I took the V-Strom out and ran the regular errands I carry out each month. Not a lot of miles so I’ve got to get back out on this one again this month if I want to turn over the next 1,000 on the odometer. I’m still about 70 miles away. Maybe today after I finish this post. The weather is supposed to hit tomorrow.

On Tuesday I went out on the Concours for a longer run. I’m still waiting to get the bike in to Rowdy Rocket Garage to get this vacuum issue fixed so I’m still contending with the fact that the engine races like crazy every time I pull the clutch in to shift. I’ve started figuring out how to adapt to the problem at other times. For instance, if I’m coming to a stop I just let the bike slow down a lot before I finally pull in the clutch and downshift. Normally you would be concerned about stalling but this bike is not going to stall. In fact, much of the time I can let go of the throttle just as if I had cruise control on and the bike just keeps going.

This ride just strengthened my resolve that yes, I am going to sell this bike at some point and replace it with something newer and lighter. It just isn’t all that much fun to ride when I’m constantly having to pay attention to this problem. And yes, once I am finally able to have the problem addressed it will eliminate this negative condition but I’m past that. My mind is made up to move on. I was talking to Bruce yesterday and he was saying just go ahead and sell the bike as it is and take whatever you can get. But I don’t think I could find any buyer at this time of year so I’d like to have it fixed so I can enjoy riding it in the next few months before I sell it. At least if it’s not going to cost too much.

Then on Wednesday the RMMRC took a ride out to Bennett for lunch. I rode the CB750.

There were eight of us on this beautiful, warm, sunny day. We headed out down Parker Road, then east on Quincy and out into the country. There are not a lot of options on roads to take going out where we were headed so we just rode the straight out to where we turned north on County Road 129, jogged east and then north under I-70, and reached our destination, the High Plains Diner. We had never been there before and I was favorably impressed. The food was good–nothing spectacular–at very reasonable prices. I would not hesitate to go there again.

Heading out after the meal we didn’t have a lot of choices. We could go back the way we came or we could go east about a mile and take the Kiowa-Bennett Road south. Heading west without going south didn’t offer any attractive options, although I guess we could have gone east on US 30 to Watkins and then south on Watkins Road. We took the Kiowa-Bennett Road.

Two of us were inclined to go on all the way to Kiowa and then turn west but the other six decided just to go south as far as Quincy and then retrace our route there. So we did, then home. But man, it was a great day to be out on a bike.

Biker Quote for Today

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.

Every year about this time I look at the odometers on my three bikes and set my goals for how many more miles I want to put on each of them before the end of the year. Which is to say, turning over the next thousand on the odos. As usual, it’s a mixed bag.

The easy one is going to be the V-Strom. That odometer currently sits at 45,880. If I can’t ride another 120 miles in 2023 I’m not trying. Not that riding prospects look all rosy at the moment. Writing this over the weekend I’m looking out the window at nearly a foot of fresh snow and temperatures in the 20s. Tomorrow is to be colder. Yikes! But this is Colorado and doubtful as it may look, we know it will get warm again and temps will reach at least into the 60s, if not higher. So it’s just a waiting game.

The other two are a lot more iffy.

The meter on the Concours is now sitting at 79,130. That’s a full 870 more miles I would need to put on that bike in the next two (cold) months. Probably not going to happen. I can try but I wouldn’t bet a plugged nickel on doing it. On the brighter side, I’ve put quite a few miles on this bike this year so not hitting another thousand this year is not a failure. I can live with that.

The one I’ll probably focus on will be the Honda CB750. That odometer currently rests at 37,365 so I’m probably not going to roll that over to 38,000 this year but the other measure I watch with this bike is that I try to put at least 1,000 miles on the bike each year. Because most of my riding is on the other two this does not always happen. But in this case, while I would need another 635 miles to roll the odo over to 38,000, I can hit the 1,000 for the year mark if I just put another 498 on it.

That’s still a lot at this time of year but I can at least try. The weather will have a lot to say about how likely I am to succeed. Speaking of which, we had some great weather this last couple weeks but I didn’t get in nearly as much riding as I would have liked. But I knew the weather was about to change and I have a lot of things to do to prep for winter each year. Things like shutting down the swamp cooler, covering the attic fan, getting the sprinkler system blown out, and getting the garden stripped and all the veggies stockpiled. For instance, I have about 30 pounds or more of tomatoes at this point, most of them green. All of that has kept me plenty busy. And now the weather has hit.

The flip side of that is that now, once the weather gets warmer, I don’t have a lot of other things crying for my attention, so I can ride when it’s possible. Don’t be surprised if you see me on the Honda.