Passes & Canyons Blog

Yeah, I still have this old windshield on the bike, though it’s cracked from the one time I went down on it.

Thinking about my first days with a motorcycle made me think of other things. Like the D.U.M.P. As in Denver Used Motorcycle Parts.

This was an appropriately dumpy little place along Park Avenue West, at about Ogden or Emerson, where it was a parts and gear shop plus they had a small yard with old bikes being parted out. A lot like Steele’s today but much smaller.

I got all my early gear from the D.U.M.P. And I learned a lot.

For instance, I very quickly found that I did not like the blast of the wind at speed. I went to the D.U.M.P. and asked for a windshield. The guy showed me some and along the way I used the word “fairing” interchangeably. He asked me, did I want a windshield or a fairing? I didn’t understand the difference. I bought a windshield.

I already had a helmet, a half-helmet actually, from my days flying a hang-glider. But I wanted a face shield to block the wind. It had three snaps across the front so I looked for snap-on shields. The woman waiting on me at the D.U.M.P. showed me some simple, curved shields but I asked about this one that was like a half bubble. She told me scornfully that yeah, some people used those, but it was clear she did not think highly of them. I liked it and that’s the one I bought.

Later I bought a sissy bar and rack there.

I got my first leather jacket from the D.U.M.P. and my first gauntlet-style gloves and also a similar pair for winter lined with Thinsulate. And then my leather chaps. I was a regular customer at the D.U.M.P.

Of course the name of the place inevitably led to some amusing confusion. I remember a girlfriend asking me where I got something and when I told her I got it, in her hearing, “at the dump” she looked at me with a very weird expression.

And then one day I came by and they were closed. Gone. Now there’s probably some high-rise standing on that piece of land.

That’s something I’ve come to see as a constant: Motorcycle shops come and go. I try to keep my Colorado Motorcycle Dealers and Repair Shops page on the website up to date but at least once a year I go through and click on all the links and remove a bunch that are no longer in existence. Heck, the little shop on Federal where I bought my CB750 closed within a year or two of me buying that bike.

Fortunately, there always seems to be someone else willing to give it a shot. It’s probably not a bad idea if we all support our local motorcycle shops. That’s the only way they’ll be there when we need them.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: Motorcycles last longer.

Accommodations on one of the early OFMC trips.

The story continues as I continue to key in my journal. With a lot of really bad stuff going on in my life my motorcycle was the one thing that brought me pure, unadulterated joy. I was already becoming very attuned to just how great motorcycles are. From January 21, 1989: “Today is supposed to be the world’s most gorgeous day so I’ll be out on my bike.”

Then, in my journal entry for March 20, I remarked, “The motorcycle continues to be one of the few things I have to live for.” That tells you a lot about my state of mind at that time.

Bill was in a bad place at this point, too. His wife had thrown him out and he considered moving in with me. On April 11 I wrote, “Bill said he won’t be moving in. He should be getting his motorcycle Saturday. The weather better be nice because we’re going to want to ride.” Unlike the old, used bikes John and I bought, Bill got a brand new Honda Shadow.

Before I started riding motorcycles I flew hang-gliders. Between the two I chose the bikes. April 26: “Thought I’d sell my glider but the guy found another. Too bad. I need the money to cover the $250 my motorcycle is going to cost for a tune up and a tire.”

In May I told my parents about using money I borrowed from them to buy a bike: “I told them about the motorcycle. Mom was not happy. Dad was cool.”

Our first trip anywhere was over to visit a friend. June 7: “John & Bill & I are taking the bikes over to Fruita this weekend, weather permitting.”

July 12: “John & Bill & I had a wonderful three days on the bikes. Spent one night in Steamboat and the next at Rifle Falls up Rifle Gap. Very nice place. Loved being on the bikes.” This was the first of the annual OFMC trips, which are now in their 34th year.

Then this on July 21: “Our love affairs with our motorcycles continue to grow. Bill & John & I took a three-day trip through northwestern Colorado a couple weeks ago and we were in heaven. There are times when, cruising down the highway, I laugh out loud and throw my head back and scream ‘I love my motorcycle!'”

There were other things to be learned about riding a motorcycle. On August 20 I wrote, “One reason I have time today is that I have a flat on the bike.”

And of course I had to make the bike mine. September 4: “Put a case protector on my bike. Now I need to attach the highway pegs. Learned a bit of motorcycle mechanics in the process.”

Yeah, I’ve done a lot of work on my bikes over the years but mainly I let the pros handle it. I just do little stuff.

So by now I figured I was a real motorcyclist. A status sadly postponed by more than 20 years. But I was only getting started. Will I pass along more from the journal? Depends on what I find that I had to say, and when I get to those parts. Keying this journal in is a multi-year project.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you take your bike into the shop for oil changes.

I still have that bike, and I still have that jacket. I don’t still have all that hair.

I’m a writer, always have been, and so it should be no surprise that I have kept a journal most of my life. Of course, for the greater part of that time it was all on paper. Paper is nice, it’s durable and all that, but it’s a real pain to search through if you want to find something in particular but don’t know the date.

In the last couple years I have been keying my journal in on the computer. This will make it more searchable and it also has taken me on a trip down memory lane. Recently I got to the point where I bought my first motorcycle, my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. I figured I’d share a little of what I wrote about it back then.

The first mention is from June 22, 1988. My friend John had recently bought an old Yamaha Virago 750 and he would come pick me up and we’d go ride. At this time I noted, “I need to simultaneously finance a rollover of my 401(k) to my IRA, buy a motorcycle, and get a computer, although the computer will probably wait if I’m learning more on that at work.”

The next mention is July 16. “So how do I pay off the $3,000 I’m borrowing from Mom & Dad, how do I get a computer system, how do I get a motorcycle—how do I pay at all for any emergency like a new refrigerator or furnace or even some modest landscaping? I have got to find a better job.” Jumping ahead here I’ll note that I bought the bike with money from the $3,000 I borrowed from my parents, which I considered sweet justice because of how my mother quashed my dreams of getting a bike at 15. “You’ll never own a motorcycle as long as you’re living in my house,” she said, and now I was using their money to get one.

Then on July 24 I wrote, “Went out with John on his cycle the other night. I’m definitely going to get a motorcycle, sooner rather than later. After I get my next paycheck I’ll have enough money.”

September 11 it still hasn’t happened. “John & I had a good time Friday night. We rode his motorcycle up to Richard’s and the three of us sat & drank coffee and smoked dope. We stayed pretty late & then had a real nice ride back.”

Then September 21. “I finally did it. On Saturday I bought a Honda 750 motorcycle. It leaves me broke but I don’t care. Today I went to get a learner’s permit and tomorrow I’ll pick it up. Boy do I need something fun and exciting in my life.”

September 26. “And on top of that, I picked up my motorcycle that day. I was ecstatic. I was way up in the clouds. . . . After getting my bike Thursday I rode it about eight miles very cautiously and came home to get warm. Dressing warmer Friday, John & I went riding about 30 miles. Then Saturday we went about 120 miles, through Lyons, up the St. Vrain to the Peak to Peak highway to Nederland and down into Boulder. I got a windshield and we put that on and tonight I took it out and the difference is tremendous—so much warmer and much more comfortable. I like this. I can’t wait to ride it over to drop in on Dave. But between bills and the bike I’m broke. I’ve got about $50. Talk about scraping by. But Friday is payday.”

October 25. “I bought another helmet and Lynne & I went out on the bike Sunday. She loved it.”

And then November 4. “Got my motorcycle driver’s license yesterday. Flunked the test Wednesday & passed yesterday.”

So my riding career was launched. More to follow.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s Valentine’s Day in a few weeks. I wonder what to buy for my motorcycle this year.

One of my trips for 2021.

I always tally up the miles I’ve put on my bikes and car at the end of the year and for the seventh year in a row I put more miles on the bikes than on the car. Not that I put all that many miles on anything this past year.

My total mileage for 2021 on the bikes was 5,419. That breaks down to 1,086 for the Honda CB750, 2,002 for the Kawasaki Concours, and 2,331 for the Suzuki V-Strom. My Hyundai Elantra only got driven a total of 2,494 miles in the year. Can you say “home body”?

I know most of this is due to Covid but it’s funny because I don’t feel like I’ve been all that restricted. Life has really been pretty much normal, with the exception that Judy and I haven’t taken a lot of trips.

Not that we haven’t traveled. We did fly to Kansas City, where we rented a car and drove around in the Midwest. That was a really nice trip. But we didn’t go camping once all year, and we usually go several times. With everyone suffering cabin fever the campgrounds have been swarming and getting a campsite reservation is tough.

And while that was Judy’s only trip for the year, I went on two motorcycle trips, with the OFMC and the RMMRC, and I also went yurt camping with the guys out at Ridgway State Park. It used to be you could go somewhere and rent a cabin but I guess now the big thing is yurts. They have to be cheaper to build so I’m guessing that’s why, but it’s pretty much the same thing.

The main point is that I haven’t exactly been stuck at home. And I did put more miles on the Honda this year than last, and more miles on the car, too. More than twice as many miles on the Suzuki, but fewer on the Kawasaki. And more miles overall on the bikes than the previous year.

So I’d largely call it a good year. Still, I’m hoping 2022 will be better. And I hope it is for you, too.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if there are no wrinkled, faded, creased, or scratched areas on your leathers.

The RMMRC takes a lunch break south of Kremmling.

I’ve written before about riding with go-fast guys. As I’ve said, I choose to ride my own ride and am not concerned with keeping up with people going faster than I am comfortable with.

That said, I wanted to make note of the one ally that frequently makes the issue of speed moot: traffic. Traffic can be an ally in two ways.

First off, if the guys ahead of you are racing ahead and you’re starting to lose sight of them, there’s nothing like a bunch of cars lined up behind a big RV to get the group back together again. If, like me, you like to cruise at a comfortable speed and enjoy the scenery then poking along in traffic can be a good thing.

Only to an extent, though. I’m just as eager to get past someone going way too slowly as the next guy and getting stuck going super slow with no escape in sight is torture for me just as much as for you. Fortunately my temperament is such that I just accept it, I don’t get all road-ragey. It is what it is and it’s best if you can just accept it. And I am not going to risk my life to pass someone no matter how long I’ve been stuck behind them.

But some people will. And that’s where traffic can again be an ally. If the go-fast guys ahead of you see their opening and blast off–safely or otherwise–but the opening is gone before it’s your turn, then you totally have no concern about losing the other guys ahead in the distance. I’ll see you again when I see you.

This was definitely something I encountered on an RMMRC ride this summer. I was on the Honda and let’s face it, that bike just doesn’t go that fast. It could, but in 1980 when it was built Harley-Davidson was lobbying Congress to ban the hot new bikes coming over from Japan as being dangerously fast. Too dangerously fast. Japan responded by putting rev limiters on bigger bikes to deliberately cripple them. My CB750 Custom has a speedometer that tops out at 85 mph. With 750cc of power it surely would go faster than 85 except for that rev limiter.

So we left Granby headed to Kremmling and the go-fast boys in front of me took off. I tried with some success to keep up but then we got into the canyon just west of Hot Sulphur Springs. We were behind a couple cars but one turned off and there was an opening and they blasted by the remaining one. No way could I get past at that point and then there was no place to pass for quite a while. By then there was nobody to be seen up ahead. I just didn’t worry about it. I poked along at my own speed.

You know what? We all got there. I do like speed at times but it’s just not high on my list of priorities.

Biker Quote for Today

An undertaker always rides his motorcycle slowly and never speeds it. Because he is not an overtaker.

Everything disassembled. All I really needed to do was remove that rubber backing, undo the wire clip, and replace the bulb.

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.

From left, the V-Strom, the CB750, and the Concours.

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.

It’s so nice to see my Concours out with the gang again, and running well, which is to say, normally.

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.