Passes & Canyons Blog

OK, I’ve made up my mind and I really do want to buy this Yamaha FJ-09 sitting over at Vickery. But I have one big problem.

The problem is that I have the space to store three motorcycles, and I have three motorcycles. If I buy a new one I have got to get rid of one of the old ones. Which of the old ones to get rid of is not a problem, it would be the Concours. But how do I get rid of it?

They had told me at Vickery that they would do a trade-in but they also told me I would not like the price they would offer me. I understood that but I rode the Connie over there on Tuesday so Brent could look it over and give me a number that would at least enable me to process the whole matter further. Bill Vickery was there and the three of us went out to the bike. Bill expressed surprise at how clean it was and agreed that it was in very good shape.

Then he and Brent conferred and Brent came back with the number: $200. And they would put it on the floor with a $900 price tag. He urged me to put it on Craigslist or take it over to Steele’s to see what they would give me for it. Steele’s, of course, is a salvage yard, but they do sell used bikes, too. Maybe they would offer more than $200. Worth a shot.

The best thing, though, Brent said, would be to put it on the market asking about $700 and hope that some young guy who wants a nice bike but doesn’t have much money would fulfill his dream.

I looked on Craigslist nationally and found five of the old-style Connies. With one exception they were listed for prices well above $700, even one that’s older than mine. None of them have as many miles on them as mine does. The one exception had a price tag of $100 and the posting explained that it had an issue that the owner didn’t know how to fix so he was offering someone who could fix it a terrific deal. The post also was marked “Sold.”

Well, mine has an issue, a sticky throttle that Brent says is caused by an intake issue, which is a little different but related to what Mark at Rowdy Rocket Garage told me was a vacuum-related issue. No one is going to pay a lot for a bike they know they’ll have to turn around and spend more money on.

Sure I could pay to have the issue fixed and then ask more, but still, who at this time of year is going to be buying it? And sure, I can wait and sell it come spring but Vickery is not likely to still have that FJ-09 come May next year. And it’s a nice bike at a very nice price.

I went over there Tuesday in part to check out the seat height and although it is higher than my other bikes it still is no problem at all to get my feet down. Brent credited the bike’s narrowness for that. And the general riding position felt really good.

So how, in November, am I going to sell my Concours? I will take it to Steele’s and see what they offer. But if they offer $300 what then? Really, the bike has no financial value. But if I put, say, another $500 into it to get this issue fixed, it would then continue to give me years of riding. But at this point I have made up my mind that I would like a newer bike, with some of the newer features, lighter, and something I could take to a dealer if it needs work.

I want this Fj-09 and maybe the answer is to just accept that the Kawi has no value and take anything I can get for it and be done with it. Anybody want to buy a very nice 1999 Kawasaki Concours really cheap?

Biker Quote for Today

Buy a motorcycle because money returns and time doesn’t.

OK, thinking out loud again.

I took two bikes out back to back this weekend, the Concours and the CB750. On the Connie first I was constantly aware of how the throttle will not back off instantly as it should. It got better later in the ride, I don’t know why, in that when I would come to a stop it would back off right away. But while moving, whether up- or down-shifting, the engine would race as I pulled in the clutch. Plus, it was like cruise control in that I could release the throttle entirely and the bike would just cruise along.

Mark over at Rowdy Rocket Garage swears it has to do with the vacuum mechanism and I have no reason to doubt that. But until it’s fixed it is extremely annoying.

Then I took the Honda out and it was so much fun to ride. The bike just ran, doing everything it ought to do. It was so nice. And that made me think: I would not put up with issues like this on my car. If something isn’t working right on my car I take it in and have it fixed. Time was when I was poor and I would live with such issues for a long time, but those days are past.

And so, OK, yeah, I could just take the bike in except it isn’t that easy. I’ve gone through all this hassle I’ve been having trying to find a new mechanic and/or find a slot to get a bike in. So it’s not that easy.

Meanwhile, I haven’t forgotten that fully dressed Yamaha FJ-09 sitting on the floor over at Vickery. I went over and looked at it at one point and I was very tempted. Did they still have it?

I checked their website and yes, it’s still there, and the price is just $8,000. I had been thinking $10,000. Is my memory wrong or have they dropped the price? Thinking 10 and seeing 8 makes it just that much more appealing. Now I want to go back over and check it out some more ASAP, like probably Tuesday.

Plus, Bill Vickery said they would take my Connie as a trade-in, so that’s good considering that it would probably be extremely hard to sell unless this throttle issue is fixed. And if it were fixed why would I want to sell the Connie anyway? Yes, I know they would give me peanuts for it but it would be off my hands. Talking with Bob at last week’s RMMRC meeting he told me he had a bike he just gave away because he couldn’t sell it. He tried to do a trade-in but the dealer said he would give him a better deal without the trade-in because they just didn’t want that bike he was getting rid of on their floor–they wouldn’t be able to sell it.

But if I would keep the Connie if the problem were fixed, why not just bite the bullet and get it fixed? For one thing, even if it cost a bundle it would still probably be a good bit less than $1,000, and that is versus $8,000 for this FJ-09. And that’s not even factoring in taxes or higher insurance rates.

I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m writing this, to try to figure out my own mind. It works much of the time; it does not work all the time.

I’m just going to have to go to Vickery and check out that FJ-09 again on Tuesday. For one thing, it has a higher seat height than any of my three current bikes. When I got the Kawi it took me a long time to get used to that high seat. Then I got the V-Strom and it was even higher and it was just no big deal because I was already used to the Kawi. But now we’re talking 32 inches and my inseam is 29.

I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. But at some point I will know and I’ll tell you all about it then.

Biker Quote for Today

A new bike can make you excited as well as emotional.

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.

I got the V-Strom back from the shop the day before the OFMC left on this year’s trip and then on the last day of that trip my Concours overheated going up to the tunnel in blazing hot weather. I managed to get it home finally but then I needed to get it into a shop. Some shop. Which shop? Ever since Joel got out of the business that’s a question I’ve been trying to resolve.

I had taken the V-Strom to Colorado Moto Service and they had done good, and for the most part timely, work on it. But their customer service needs some improvement and they are not close to home. It was a pretty obvious move to try again to get work done at Rowdy Rocket Garage, which is much closer to where I live. If once again the guy, Mark, couldn’t find time or space for me then I’d try CMS again.

So I called Rowdy and, as before, Mark told me to call again later. I did and this time, lo and behold, he said sure, bring it in tomorrow. Yahoo! That date was August 22. The bike had overheated on July 30 and it took me that long to get it at least semi-operational and then find a shop to get it in to. As I rode it over there that morning Nick and I were getting ready to take off on a three-day ride so we wanted to get it there as early as possible. That meant during commuter traffic–slow going, stop and start–and just as I expected, it started to overheat again. Fortunately we didn’t have far to go and I made it there.

Recognizing what a valuable resource Rowdy might prove to be, I didn’t want to risk annoying Mark by pressing him on getting the work done. But as time dragged on I did contact him now and then and very tactfully ask about the progress on the bike. These guys are super busy which means two things: One, it was definitely going to take some time, and two, they don’t need my business so don’t hack them off so they tell you to take your business elsewhere.

Long story short, I finally got the Kawi back on September 28. Almost five weeks. I didn’t care, it was done. One thing Mark noted in a text was that “It also has a tendency to be slow to lower the RPMs when releasing the throttle.” I came to understand that the instant I started it up to take it home. Mark had probably run it before I got there and so when I gave it total choke before starting it exploded to life and the revs went through the roof. I hastily shoved the choke lever all the way down. But still it raced a bit, only slowing down gradually. Hmmm.

I headed out and on the way home it was obvious there was an issue. Mark had said it had to involve the vacuum valves and that was a deeper internal issue that they had not had the time–or my prior authorization–to pursue. I was familiar with this sort of thing because I had had a similar issue about five years ago and Joel had replaced the vacuum slides on the carburetor. But it hadn’t been doing this before I took it in to Rowdy.

I spoke with Roy, my resident motorcycle mechanics guru, and he suggested that when the gas tank was lowered back into place that it was crimping the throttle cable. I figured that should be easy to check out. If I just lifted the tank an inch or so any crimping should be relieved but when I tried that, every time I lifted the tank the engine cut out. Roy also said if it had not been doing that before it was in the shop, go back there and insist that they fix it.

I did go back by the shop and spoke to Mark. He said he’s been doing this a long time and knows the proper routing of cables, plus, the throttle cable is encased in a rigid metal sheath that would not easily be crimped. No, he said, it has to do with the vacuum mechanism somewhere, and that’s a devilishly tricky problem to suss out. He said he currently had a Triumph in for which he was trying to find the leak but it was a slow process. Bring the bike back in and they would address the issue.

But are you super busy still? Do thinks slow down for you in the winter? Yes and no. When could you get it back in? Not any time in the next couple weeks. The same situation I had encountered before.

And that’s where the matter sits. Do I go through the rigamarole of calling every couple days until Mark has room to get me in? Do I just go ahead and take it CMS? Is there someone else I could turn to? Who? Where? Man, do I miss Joel.

Biker Quote for Today

F.E.A.R: Forget Everything And Ride.

The OFMC, at this point consisting of Bill, Dennis, and me, took off on our yearly trip two Fridays ago, planning a longer trip than usual and thus an extra day to do the extra miles.

We headed out from Golden up Clear Creek Canyon, got on I-70 near Idaho Springs, and continued west on the slab. I was on my Kawasaki Concours, Bill on his Harley, and Dennis on his BMW. An uneventful ride to Vail, where we stopped for lunch at McDonald’s. That raised a question: Why does a place like that send a guy to clean the bathrooms during the lunch rush? Wouldn’t his efforts be more useful on the line at that point, and you know of all those customers there have to be quite a few wishing to use the restroom. Do these people ever think about these things?

Glenwood Canyon seemed especially beautiful in this very green summer. At Rifle we got gas, then turned north to Meeker. We got behind a truck and at a clear spot with no oncoming traffic I figured Bill would pass but there was a double yellow line and he didn’t. Then there was a dense stream of oncoming traffic and I was sure we were coming to construction. We did, but got there just as the tail end of the line started moving, so we didn’t have to stop. It was quite a few miles of gravel and dirt, and slow going.

We got to Meeker and typically for Bill, he rolled right past the motel. Dennis and I did not. My mantra on these trips is “never let Bill lead” but on a straight shot like this he could hardly go wrong . . . until he did.

Bill has friends who now live in Meeker and they said there were “doin’s” in the town park, come on down for free food and music. So we did. Bill and Dagney seemed quite nice and agreed to ride with us the next day to breakfast in Rangeley. They showed up the next morning on their Harleys and we had a really nice early morning cruise.

The place we went for breakfast turned out to have one cook and one waitress/cashier/drink preparer and the place was packed. It was 45 minutes before she was able to bring us water and ask for our orders. Everyone knows at this point how hard it is to get people to hire. We finally rolled out of there about 11 a.m.

We picked up US 40 at Dinosaur and went west to Vernal, Utah. Hot as blazes. It got a bit cooler as we gained elevation heading north toward the Flaming Gorge. That’s always a nice ride. Got a late lunch at Mountainview, Wyoming, passed under I-80, and rode another 45 minutes to Kemmerer, our stop for the night.

We learned from our waitress at dinner that there was a bluegrass festival going on in town that whole weekend, including right at that moment, but we were at a place just south of town and none of us was inclined to ride into town. Too bad, it would have been fun. Instead we spent a long time talking with a guy from Texas who had ridden his Harley-Davidson Pan America up to the Arctic Circle in Canada, then did a circuit through Alaska, and was now headed back home. Some people are more hard-core than us.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you can identify bugs by taste.

This story just came to a close about 15 minutes ago, although the broader story is still ongoing.

Yesterday we were coming home from a 10-day ride, 2,400-mile through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah and back to Colorado. We left Grand Junction about 8:45 a.m., taking I-70 all the way, and I was looking forward to being home about 1 p.m. Ha! I finally made it home last night at 10 p.m.

We figured leaving Junction when we did we would beat the really bad traffic down the mountain that you always get on Sunday. Ha! We started getting into heavy traffic at about Vail. Still, we kept moving at good speed. We stopped for gas and lunch at Frisco, then got back on the highway and traffic was no longer clipping along. Down to Silverthorne and starting up toward the Eisenhower Tunnel it was traffic like you expect to see on a Sunday at maybe 3 p.m., and it was only 11:30.

Laboriously, clutch-hand-killingly, we inched our way toward the tunnel. There are three traffic lanes going up and there is an emergency vehicle lane on the right and I was eyeing that really wanting to do it. If any other bike had come along up that lane I would have gotten right in behind them, but none did.

Suddenly, about half a mile from the tunnel, vapor started rising from my engine and I could smell coolant. Oh crap. I pulled my Kawasaki Concours over into the emergency lane and parked. Getting off the bike I could see coolant dripping onto the ground. Damn!

I belong to the American Motorcyclist Association and am signed up for their roadside assistance program so I immediately called. Yes, the bike is off the road and yes I’m in a safe spot. Fine, they’ll text me when a tow truck is dispatched for me. Fortunately, after all this ungodly hot weather it was cool up there, and in fact while I waited I added an extra layer to stay warm. Vastly better than baking out somewhere with no shade.

While I sat there a few bikes passed in among the rest of the traffic but three bikes individually cruised by in the emergency vehicle lane. I knew I should have done that.

Nearly two hours later I hadn’t even received a text and a tow truck driver pulled up and asked if I wanted a ride. Probably, I told him, but let me check with my service provider. The lady at AMA roadside assistance said yes, do it, especially since it was now starting to rain and there was lightning all around. File for reimbursement later.

This guy was a total character. He was an “emergency vehicle” so he used that status to his advantage to the hilt. He took routes you and I don’t even know exist. When he needed to get back into regular traffic he informed the cars on the road that he was coming–he did not ask.

We talked about where to go. I had figured it just made the most sense to haul the bike all the way to my house. He told me that would cost more than $1,000. For $350 he could take me to Georgetown, to the visitor center right there by the exit. Fine, let’s do that. Then as we cruised along he suggested that for a tip he could take me on to the Evergreen Walmart. Why would I want to go there? That’s way out of the way. No, he said, it’s right off the interstate. It’s at the Chief Hosa exit. How much for a tip? $100. I don’t think fast on my feet and just said no, Georgetown will be fine. Wrong choice!

At Georgetown I again called AMA and put in a new service request. This time I got a text almost instantly that Scorpion Towing, out of Idaho Springs, had the order and would be there in 90-120 minutes. A not unexpected time frame.

At the stroke of 120 minutes I got a text from AMA asking if he had arrived or otherwise contacted me. I said no. I immediately got a call from an agent who said she would reassign the order. After sitting on hold for a long time she came back on and said she was having trouble finding someone to do the tow and we would hang up and I would receive a text when a provider was assigned.

At the stroke of three hours I got another text asking me if I was still waiting. I said yes. Call the tow company or call us back, was the directive. I called the tow company but all I got was a message saying “if you’re calling about arrival time just wait and we’ll let you know when someone is on their way.” Oh, that’s encouraging.

Another hour passed and I called AMA again. Now the woman (a different person each time I called) told me it was time to take a different approach. Quite simply, she said, they were not going to be able to get anyone out to me today. But they could schedule a pick-up for 8 a.m. the next morning. OK, I said, I’ll call my wife in Denver to come get me in Georgetown. As long as the fork was not locked and the bike could be put in neutral I would not have to be there. Fine. I called Judy, she drove up, and finally at 10 p.m. I was home. But the bike was still in Georgetown.

In the morning I tried calling AMA but they were stacked up so I didn’t wait. The visitor center opens at 9 a.m. so at 9:05 I called and asked if there was still a burgundy motorcycle in their lot. Recall, the pick-up was scheduled for 8 a.m. Yes, the woman told me, the bike was still there.

I called AMA again and this time got right through. The guy I spoke with checked the ticket and found that it had a pick-up set for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, tomorrow. Oops. He corrected that and then set about finding a tow company. After being on hold a very long time he came back on the line and told me they simply could not find anyone to help me out. Every tow company he contacted declined either because of the distance or because it was a motorcycle. I was on my own.

I had no idea what to do but then I thought of Joel, my mechanic. I called him and told him, Joel, I desperately need your help. His truck that he uses for towing is in North Dakota with his wife at the moment but maybe he could get his neighbor’s truck and his own trailer and do it. He’d let me know. A little later he called and it was a go. Whew!

Finally, about 45 minutes ago now, the Kawi was delivered. At this point I didn’t care what Joel asked in payment, I would have given him the moon. But he actually asked a very modest–by towing standards–amount and I gladly paid it.

And by the way, he told me, it’s probably not a coolant line rupture, just overheating and overflow. He said if a line breaks it dumps all the coolant immediately. My description of watching it drip tells him it was just overheating, despite the liquid cooling system. You’ve still got to have airflow through that radiator. If it had been him, he said, he would not have hesitated to take the emergency vehicle lane.

So the simple test, Joel said, is just to fill the coolant tank with water and run the bike up to operating temperature. If it was just a matter of overheating it will be fine and nothing will come out. If liquid still comes out it really is a problem. But if it doesn’t, no problem. Just refill it with coolant.

Man, what a hassle. And if Joel is right, I could have just ridden on home after letting the bike cool off for a while. So now I need to run a test.

Biker Quote for Today

The path to enlightenment is not always straight and narrow.

The RMMRC is leaving in a few days on this New Mexico ride and at last week’s meeting someone asked me which bike I’ll be riding. Gosh, I hadn’t even thought about that. I guess I ought to.

The Honda CB750 was out right away because its tires are too thin and would not be enough for a 1,500-mile trip. That left the Concours and the V-Strom.

I figured what I really ought to do is take both of them out for runs and see which seems to be most ready, or else figure out what each of them might need.

I checked the tires on the V-Strom and the air was good. Check. Tires are good. Check. My top bag has suffered some damage in a couple times dropping the bike but I pulled out a strap that secures it well so no worries there. Check.

How is the oil? I just got the oil changed in my car the day before because I realized I had pretty much forgotten about paying it any attention. And I couldn’t remember the last time I changed the oil in the V.

I checked, which first meant figuring out how. That’s how bad an owner I am. So there’s a sight glass and you’re supposed to hold it level and check the level in the sight glass. Well, I didn’t see anything in the sight glass. I figured it would be good to take it for a ride over to Vickery to get some oil. That way I would also get a chance to see how it’s running.

It ran great. One thing I like about this bike is that it always runs great. I’ve had my troubles periodically with the Concours and the CB but the V-Strom, as they say, is bullet-proof.

I got home, put in some oil, checked the sight glass, put in some more, and it looked fine. So this bike is ready to go. I guess I’ll be riding the V-Strom. But now I really ought to check the air and oil in the Concours, just because they need to be checked. And if I do that before I leave, and I take it for a ride, maybe I’ll change my mind about which bike to ride. After all, the Concours is a really fine highway bike . . .

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker when you hate the fact that you were in front of your computer long enough to read this and not on your scoot.

February has been very compliant this year, offering us good riding days right away. Of course I took advantage.

Friday of last week was looking to be the best day so I got out on the Concours. There were plenty of other bikes out, too. People know a good thing when they see it.

Nothing eventful happened on that ride but I did notice that unlike its opposite number and its predecessor, my new left-hand mirror vibrates as if I were on a Harley. That’s never been the case before. Did I just not wrench the nuts down tight enough? Getting to them is way too complicated for me to just go in and see, so I guess I’ll be living with this for the foreseeable future.

It was a beautiful day and Saturday promised to be very nice, too, so I left the other two bikes for Saturday. But Saturday proved to be no way near as nice.

I took off first on the V-Strom. The temperature was about five degrees cooler than the day before but more importantly, there was a breeze, and it was a cold breeze. I immediately turned on the electric vest, which I had worn the day before but never turned on. That helped a lot.

Unlike the day before, there were not a lot of other bikes out; I only saw a couple. I did notice, though, going over Cherry Creek Dam, that there were ice fishermen all over the lake. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen ice fishermen out there before. I guess that is a testament to how much colder this winter has been than recent years past.

I kind of had a longer ride in mind but it wasn’t long before I was getting more than a little chilly. I altered my route and got in a good ride but a shorter one than planned. By the time I got home my hands were seriously cold and all of me was uncomfortable. Fine, I have warmer gear.

After lunch I headed out on the CB750, this time having added long underwear and my riding pants with liner, and my heated gloves. Absolute night and day. I took a much longer ride and could not have been more comfortable.

The other really nice thing, which I didn’t even think about for a while, was that whereas the Honda had seemed to run poorly the last time I rode it, now it ran absolutely beautifully. Not one thing wrong. I have no idea what that business was about last month but I’m quite pleased it didn’t turn out to be something I would have to contend with.

This time I headed west and then turned south down US 85 through Sedalia. Not surprisingly, I saw a lot more bikes out this time. You will never ride down by Sedalia on a decent day and not see lots of bikes, and this day was no exception. I turned north on the Daniels Park Road, stopped and took the obligatory ride photo, and worked my way on home. Now the weather can do its worst, I’ve ridden all three bikes in February.

Biker Quote for Today

I love the sensation of being out in the open air, far away from all the distractions of modern life. I will usually disappear for a couple of hours, and that time on my bike is quite sacred, as it’s when I do all my serious thinking.