Passes & Canyons Blog

It was recently brought to my attention that the low beam on my Honda CB750 Custom was burned out. So I flipped it to high beam but on the last RMMRC ride the guy in front of me complained that my headlight was annoying to him in his mirror. OK, I’ll fix the headlight.

I have a Clymer shop manual for this bike but the explanation for replacing the light was not exactly crystal clear. In fact, once I successfully got the job done I had to wonder if maybe the light I replaced was of a newer design than that detailed in the book. But, figuring it couldn’t be too hard, I just had at it.

The first part was easy: remove two screws and pull the assembly out of the casing. Unplug the bulb. Now, with the unit separate from the bike I set it on the table and looked it over, with the manual open next to it. The instructions say to remove the ring that holds the bulb in the unit but I also had to remove another, inner ring. So now I had three separate rings and a bunch of screws and nuts and one spring. I was hoping I would remember how to put it all back together.

I also had to remove a rubber covering that the three prongs of the bulb came through. When I did that I noticed there was a wire clip that appeared to be holding a bulb in the center of the unit. I had been expecting to replace the entire assembly but now I wondered if all I needed to do was remove that clip and pull out the bulb, then put in a new bulb. In which case all this disassembly was totally unnecessary. I knew this was a standard automotive headlight so I took it over to an auto parts shop.

At the shop the guy at the counter looked it over, removed the clip, pulled out the old bulb and got me a replacement off the rack. So all that disassembly had been unnecessary. But when I got home and re-read the manual this did not fit what they described. Which is why I wonder if this was a newer design. Regardless, I had to put it all back together now.

Fortunately, the Japanese were well ahead of the U.S. in terms of ergonomic and intuitive design. So even back in 1980, when this bike was built, the design was logical. The ring the whole headlight itself went into would only accommodate the thing in one specific way, and there were two screws obviously needed to hold them together. Next, the second ring would only attach to the first in one specific way, again with a couple obvious screws.

Then there was one odd screw and spring that, had I not been the one to dismantle it, I would have had a really hard time figuring out. But now there was only one place these could go. Of course there was no question where the rubber piece needed to go.

Mounting the unit back into the casing was a bit uncertain because there were three points for screws but only two screw holes. I knew the two on the sides were mandatory and that I had pulled screws out of there. But there was one at the top with nowhere to attach it. But the screw that had been in that slot also did not have a nut. Maybe this, too, was just a factor of the headlight not being the original or the original design. I just ignored that top screw.

The casing for this whole unit has always been in rough shape ever since I bought the bike used, some 30+ years ago. It has never sealed tightly and I had wrapped it with electrical tape to keep out moisture. I retaped it and voila, done.

Now I just hope that if I ever, say in 20 years, need to replace the headlight again, that I remember and do not dismantle the whole thing again. This whole thing could have been a 20 minute job. Maybe a 10 minute job. Hopefully I live and learn.

Biker Quote for Today

Last night, the police stopped by to tell me that my dog was chasing people on a motorcycle. That couldn’t be my dog. He doesn’t ride motorcycles.

Every year about this time I start looking at what I want to get done before the end of the year. Usually that includes making an effort to turn over one more 1,000-mile point on each bike’s odometer and then any other odd objective I can identify.

Turning over 1,000-mile points is especially easy–or irrelevant–this year. On the Honda CB750 the meter is sitting now at 35,940. Can I put another 60 miles on that bike yet this year. Is the sky blue?

It’s even more of a no-brainer on the Kawasaki Concours. That meter now sits at 73,986. We’re looking at 14 miles. Yeah, I think I’ll manage that.

And then there’s the Suzuki V-Strom. That meter is now reading 38,181. You can either say that one is totally out of reach or you can look at it that I already passed that 1,000-mile mark 181 miles ago. I’ve put a lot of miles on that bike this year so I’m going with the latter interpretation.

This year I do have a different goal for the Honda, however. In the beginning this was my only bike and all the miles I rode were on it. Then I got the Kawi and didn’t ride the Honda as much, and then I got the V-Strom and the time on the Honda went way down. For a whole bunch of years I didn’t even put 1,000 miles a year on that bike. So now that in itself has become an objective.

At the start of this year that bike had 35,048 on the dial. So instead of just putting 60 miles on it yet this year I really want to go at least 108. Still totally doable, I just have to get out and do it. And if this great weather continues that will be easy.

So what else do I want to get done before January 1? Well, often as we head into winter I’m looking at my tires and figuring I need better rubber for the winter. Not this year. Already this year I’ve gotten two new back tires and one new front. All the other rubber is good, lots of deep tread. Tires are no issue.

Plus, they’ve all had oil changes and the Honda and Kawi had overall tune-ups. I guess I’d have to say all three are in pretty darn good shape at this point. That’s kind of a nice way to end the year.

Biker Quote for Today

Biker new year’s resolutions: 1. Ride bikes. 2. Look at bikes. 3. Talk about bikes. 4. Repeat.

I can’t even remember how long ago it was that my Concours started giving me trouble, but it seems like it’s been all summer. I packed it off to Joel before the OFMC bike trip but when he brought it back Joel said it still needed more work. But there wasn’t time to do that before the trip.

Once I got back from that trip I ordered the necessary parts and called Joel to let him know they were in hand and I was ready for him to come get the bike again, and this time bring it back really, truly fixed.

Well, Joel brought it back the other day and first I took it on a brief errand run to the wine store and then a few days later I rode it with the RMMRC to Daniels Park. And there was just one word for it: normal.

How wonderful it is for that bike to be operating normally again, finally. Normal is so great.

No more racing at a screaming pace when I pull up to a stop. No more dying as I coast to a stop. No more needing to ride around the neighborhood first to get the bike running halfway smoothly before getting out on the less forgiving main roads.

It was also nice once again to have the feeling of power. I had never noticed a lack of power in my other bikes before but lately I have. On the Colorado Cruise with the RMMRC I was on the V-Strom and for the first time it seemed like it was struggling for power going over the highest passes. That bike is currently with Joel and I hope it feels more back to normal when he brings it back. And then the other day I rode the Honda CB750 with the RMMRC up to Kremmling, and that bike was totally left in the dust by those other bigger bikes. The Connie has the power to keep up with any of these other guys.

Yeah, normal can often be boring. We crave some change, some variety. But when you’ve had a steady diet of not normal, and it hasn’t been fun, it’s amazing how wonderful normal can be. We all know that old Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Right now I’m really hoping to be living in some boring times.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 19. We “need” a bunch of expensive riding gear, usually 2 or 3 of each item.

If anyone pays attention to the time of day when these posts generally go up you’ll be aware that this is much later in the day than usual. That’s because I only just got back from an all-day ride with the RMMRC. Roy called last night and told me to be at his place just before 8, so I was. So were Charley and Tim. We headed on out to Morrison to meet up with the rest, and there were a bunch today, about 12 of us.

Essentially this was a fall color ride. This is the time of year when the mountainsides are covered in yellow and gold and it’s always the sort of thing you want to take pictures of. Happily for us, it was also one of these incredibly beautiful October days that Colorado is know for. Let’s ride!

We headed up past Red Rocks to US 40 where it runs alongside I-70 going up Mount Vernon Canyon. Right away we lost Roy, who rides sweep. No one had any idea what happened to him and we hoped he didn’t break down but the plan from the start was that if we got separated just regather at the Subway in Granby.

We took US 40 and then US 6 as much as possible, just getting onto I-70 briefly when we had to, and then followed 40 up over Berthoud Pass. Bob, who I consider one of the fast guys, suggested that the guys like Mike, who Bob considers a fast guy, might want to blast on ahead. Mike said he would stay with the group until we hit the pass but then look out, he’d be gone.

So we were totally splintered by the time we got to Granby, and who should I see first but Roy. Seems as sweep, he saw two bikes behind him so he waved them ahead and then followed them. They were not part of our group. Oops. So he went up Lookout Mountain and caught US 40 that way and ended up ahead of us.

The Subway in Granby was not going to open for another 15 minutes so some elected to stay and wait while the others went on to the Subway in Kremmling, with the others to catch up with us there. The idea was to get lunch to go and then go have a picnic down by Green Mountain Reservoir south of Kremmling.

I took off with the group heading to the Kremmling Subway and what happened then was like much of the day. Everyone else was on newer, powerful bikes. I was on my very old, decidedly less powerful Honda CB750 and I just can’t keep up with these guys. No matter, we all knew where we were headed.

Food in hand, we turned south. CO 9 runs along the east edge of the reservoir but we turned onto the road that runs along the west shore and finally found the only campground still open. Time for lunch.

I wrote last week about differences in the OFMC and the RMMRC and here’s another one. The road down into the campground was gravel and none of us were on dual-sport bikes, but we all went down it anyway. The OFMC–other than me–flat out refuses to do any gravel. They would not have done this.

After lunch we continued south on CO 9 with the plan to get gas at Silverthorne. Some people were more antsy to ride so even while a few were not ready to roll yet, a bunch took off. I was the tail end of that group. We were going to go over Loveland Pass rather than through the tunnel. Once again, they left me in the dust.

I was not unhappy with that. I like to ride at my own pace and blasting over a high mountain pass at excessive speed is not my thing. I figured at this point we were all totally scattered and that was really the end of the group ride but to my surprise, as I got down to I-70 they were waiting. And not just for me. Did I know where the others were? No, I hadn’t seen them since the gas station but in less than a minute there they were and they passed us and we pulled in behind them.

Bob, in the lead, was still following the practice of avoiding the slab so we got off at Bakerville and onto US 6 again, down to Silver Plume. This old road running alongside but away from the interstate is such a nicer ride than the slab. We had to get back on I-70 at Silver Plume, just to get down to Georgetown, and then we were off again, although we lost one rider who didn’t realize we would do this and was stuck in the left lane going past the exit.

So it was US 6 on down to Idaho Springs and two people, I’m not sure who, headed up Squaw Pass. For the rest of us, once we were back on the interstate this time it was all over. I quickly found myself riding just with Roy. But I didn’t figure I wanted to do the slab all the way home so I got off at El Rancho and turned down Kerr Gulch Road, angling down to CO 74 at Kittredge. Much nicer ride.

And there I was, heading east on US 285/Hampden when who pulls up alongside me but Tim. He had been way out in front of me. How the heck did I get ahead of him? Was my shortcut that much faster? Or was Tim one of the ones who took Squaw Pass, and he did it so fast that he barely ended up behind me? I have no idea.

Whatever. Bottom line was, this was a terrific day of riding. The weather was great, the colors were good, most especially down CO 9 from Kremmling to Silverthorne. Of course it totally disrupted everything else I had had in mind to do today but that’s the price you pay when you’re (deep, rumbling voice) a biker.

Extra: In my earlier post comparing the OFMC and the RMMRC I forgot one really big thing, which I have since added into that post. But rather than make you go look for it I’ll paste it in here.
In the OFMC, if we get cold, we’ll stop and put on more gear. If our legs are getting stiff, we’ll stop and take a break. With the RMMRC it seems that once we get rolling we are going to continue rolling. These guys like to ride, not stop. Of course, with a group of any size, stopping requires time. One or two people can stop quickly and get going again, but with eight people it takes about four times as long. And you don’t cover lots of miles in a day if you’re stopping all the time.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if taking your wife on a cruise means a putt down the interstate.

Bill and I decided to run up to Black Hawk on Friday for lunch and some gambling so I got on the CB750 and headed west on Hampden. I soon had one of those encounters that remind you to stay on your toes.

I was in the inside lane and first at the light, stopped at Colorado Boulevard. The east-bound traffic got the green and the turn arrow and I got ready. The light changed and the car in the turn lane seemed to be stopping for the red. I started to pull forward and the car didn’t stop and was going to run full on through the red and turn in front of me. Then she saw me, a very startled look on her face, and she slammed on the brakes.

Yeah. Be careful out there. You never know when some driver is going to do something.

I got to Bill’s and he was figuring to just run up Clear Creek Canyon and come back down Golden Gate Canyon–like he always does. I like variety so I said let’s go up Coal Creek Canyon and then come down Golden Gate. So we did.

Oh man, it’s been a very long time since I’ve gone up Coal Creek Canyon and I had forgotten how nice it is. I mean, I’ve been down it from time to time but going the other direction is like an entirely different road. It was sweet! And it was a beautiful day to ride. Bill agreed enthusiastically.

We got to Black Hawk and ate and then played some machines and both walked out with tidy sums more than we came in with. Nice day!

I knew when we parked in Black Hawk that I was going to be going to Reserve before I got home, and I was right at the mileage where I generally have to shift to Reserve. So I just went ahead and flipped the lever. When we were leaving the bike coughed when starting at first, reminding me I had made the switch. Then it ran fine.

We ran down the canyon and turned our different ways and I headed home, down 93, and C-470, onto US 85, which becomes Hampden. I figured I would do the usual and stop at Costco off Santa Fe for gas. But I got to Costco and I’ve never seen such a long line of people waiting to get gas. What the heck?

I got back on what was now Hampden and pulled in the next gas station, only to find all those pumps busy and people waiting. Really, what the heck? Is something going on that I don’t know about?

No matter. My tripmeter was reading 185 and I know I can get 225 miles out of a full tank of gas on this bike. I would just go home and get gas the next time I take the bike out.

I got to Hampden and Tamarac–exactly one mile from home–and I ran out of gas. ???? How could that be? Did I not fully fill the tank last time? I have no idea. But at this point the tripmeter was still only reading 190.

I rolled off to the side of the road and kept trying to start the bike and this guy in this pick-up behind me starts honking. Like, dude, do you not see that my bike won’t run? I waved him around and then pushed the bike up onto the sidewalk. Thank goodness for those ramps now to accommodate people in wheelchairs.

I was jockeying it around and lost it and the bike fell on the left side. Not all the way down; it came to rest on the peg and the case guard. I know how you’re supposed to pick up a bike but I figured I could just grab it and wrestle it back upright. And I did. Three days later there are no ill effects, like in my back or something. I guess that wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done but apparently neither was it the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.

Being just one mile from home, I called Judy and she brought me gas. Problem totally solved. But why the heck did it run dry at 190? That tank holds 5-1/2 gallons and I get about 45 miles to the gallon. That’s almost 250 miles if you run it totally dry. Now, at least for a while, I’m going to be really paranoid about running out of gas once I get into Reserve. Motorcycles: they’re so wonderful but they sure can be a pain at times, too.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles are like women: Even though they are dangerous we need them in our lives.

I’ve had a tank bag for my Kawasaki Concours for years and it’s been great. More recently I got a tank bag for my Suzuki V-Strom and it’s a very welcome addition as well. But I’ve never had a tank bag for my Honda CB750 Custom. I’ve felt that lack. Well, now I have one.

I took the bag from the Kawi with me on the Honda one trip and utterly regretted that. Whereas on the Connie it sits–with magnetic attachment–on a broad gas tank with wind protection from the fairing. On the Honda the tank was probably OK, not great, but with no fairing the wind wanted to lift it up and throw it around and I spent that whole trip fighting to keep it in place. A real horror! Nope, I needed a tank bag that straps down securely for the Honda.

So, as I often do, I received an email from the folks at Viking Bags offering to give me some gear in exchange for my testing and reviewing it. Usually I ignore these emails because one person really only needs just so much gear. But this time I figured what the heck, it would be nice to have a tank bag for the Honda.

Of course, nobody makes bags today designed specifically for a motorcycle made in 1980. But Viking does offer bags designed to fit many specific makes and models so I looked at what they had for Honda and picked one that struck me as possibly working on my Honda. I chose to go with the Viking Dirtman Medium Black Dirt Bike/Enduro Tank Bag.

I received the bag Saturday and immediately took it out to put it on the bike. I knew this might be less than straightforward.

The first thing I knew I needed to do was to remove the seat and loop the back strap under the slot where the tongue on the seat slips in to be held in place. That was easy, although removing the seat on this bike is never easy. That particular design element is so much better these days than it was in 1980.

Attaching it in front was not so simple. On this old bike, the gas tank straddles the backbone of the bike’s frame and wraps around the steering post. I slipped the straps into that V and then brought them back up to the bag. I wasn’t sure this was going to work but when I tightened everything down it did seem to do the job. The real test will be when I take it for a ride and see how it does.

I also had to figure out just what to do with the rest of the straps and I kind of jerry-rigged that.

It appears secure. What I like about it is that, as the name implies, this bag is designed for a dirt bike so it sits back on the tank, pretty much in the space where the actual tank on my Concours is. This leaves me free access to my gas cap so unlike with the other two, I won’t need to remove the bag to put gas in the tank.

Right now the strap comes up the side of the tank and that is a bit unsightly so I will probably try setting it up differently but for now it looks like it will work. I’ll be following up this post with an actual description of the bag and discussion of its features. I’ll also explain there how I finally decide to handle all this set-up.

In the meantime, I think it’s going to be really nice to finally have a tank bag on this bike. Heck, I’ve had this motorcycle for 33 years.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 5. Bonus at work? We’ll buy shiny bits for our bike instead of taking you on a romantic vacation.

For the first time in quite a while I have added a new page to the Passes and Canyons: Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website. The new page focuses on the numerous good motorcycle roads that lead to Cripple Creek, and I have named it “Roads to Cripple Creek.”

I don’t add many pages to the site these days because I’ve basically got it built out. It’s not like the roads in Colorado change all that often. I did add a new page for Guanella Pass when they finally paved that road all the way. But that’s not a common occurrence.

I first started thinking about Cripple Creek when I read somewhere that the high point of the road coming into town from the north, from Divide, is considered Tenderfoot Pass. If it’s a pass, I figured, I ought to have it on the site. But it’s kind of iffy as a pass. There is some more or less official registry of geographic place names in the U.S. and Tenderfoot Pass is not included on this list. And as many times as I have been over that road I never thought of it as a pass.

But then I got to thinking. While the road out of the north does have some good twists and turns, and goes up and down, and has some terrific views in places, it’s really probably not the nicest motorcycle road to get to Cripple Creek. There are others I would rate higher. So how about a page focusing on all of them. That’s what I did.

The other paved road into town is generally considered the back way, coming up in a roundabout manner from U.S. 50 a bit to the west of the Royal Gorge. If you’ve never been on this road you really need to do it. It has some terrific twists and lots of changes in elevation. Definitely better than the main road.

Then there are two gravel roads, both along old railroad beds. One comes directly into Cripple Creek, and that’s the Shelf Road, which comes north out of Canon City. Then the Phantom Canyon Road comes north from U.S. 50 a little to the east of Canon City and runs up to Victor, which is just a few miles east of Cripple Creek. Both of these are really nice, scenic road and are ride-able on street bikes as long as your bike is OK on decent gravel. For instance, I would not hesitate to take my Honda CB750 on them, but I would never consider riding them on my Kawasaki Concours. And of course, my Suzuki V-Strom loves that kind of stuff.

The page is not yet complete; I still need to add photos of these four roads. I have some already and just need to add them. For the others I’m going to have to go ride these roads again and get some shots. Oh the horrible burdens I bear!

Biker Quote for Today

The ride keeps me sane. I would like to call it my church.

The RMMRC rode up to Bruce’s in Severance a few weeks ago and while there we got in a conversation with our waitress.

It turns out she and her guy ride motorcycles and they were planning a trip in a couple weeks, going to Florida to visit family. While there they planned to rent a bike and cruise over to Daytona for Daytona Bike Week. But, oh man, the regular rental places were in full mercenary mode.

In addition to the usual high price of about $175 a day, they wanted more because it was Bike Week and they knew they could get it. As in an extra $500. It was kind of like when I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. We got there a week before the official start to the event and ate every morning inexpensively at this particular restaurant. One morning we showed up and there was a new menu with all the same items but double the price. We asked why and the waitress told us, “Oh, that’s our carnival menu.”

No surprise then that these folks were not inclined to pay that much. She’s working in a restaurant in Severance, for Pete’s sake, they’re not wealthy. But they found an alternative: Riders Share.

I’ve written recently about Riders Share but I have never used the service or known anyone who has. But there she was. And presumably it worked out well for them. They had some nice cruiser bike lined up and as I recall it was going to cost them just around $100 a day for five days, with insurance included. You can’t beat that with a stick.

I’ve always found this concept interesting and seductive. I have three motorcycles. Why not make a little extra cash by renting them out on occasion? But that’s where you get into issues.

For instance, I have a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. It’s an old bike, and not worth a whole lot. But hey! It’s the first motorcycle I ever bought. It was a dream come true, and I still love that bike. Sure, insurance would cover the financial loss if something happened to it but this bike is irreplaceable. It has so much emotion tied up in it. Exactly how horrible would I feel if someone else smashed it beyond redemption?

Well, what about my 1999 Kawasaki Concours? I don’t have the emotional attachment to this bike that I do with the Honda. And from time to time I have seen basically identical bikes in excellent condition for sale for essentially peanuts. The same is true for my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650. I love the bike but it could be replaced.

So for me it now gets to the question of what’s the point? There were a lot of years when I was scraping by and a bit of extra cash now and then would have been extremely helpful. But I’m retired now, and I’m doing fine financially. As I have said many times, if I needed more money I would not have retired. So no, I don’t think I’ll be listing my bikes for rent.

On the other hand, I do like having a bike to ride when I go somewhere, but I really don’t like the high prices the big companies charge. Something like Riders Share seems to me to be the perfect way to go. By the way, there is another company doing the same thing, called Twisted Road. If you’re planning a trip and want a bike to ride you might think seriously about checking out what is available on both these sites. I sure would.

Biker Quote for Today

Motorcycles are not all about speed. It is a feeling, and emotion, but also my therapy.