Passes & Canyons Blog

Steel Horse Sisterhood logo.

I mentioned last week that the Steel Horse Sisterhood Women’s Motorcycle Summit is scheduled for June 11-14 in Loveland. Here are some additional details.

Full registration for this four-day event is $125, or if you are a supporter or male companion it is $100. Some events are for women only but there is also a guys only ride. My guess would be these things coincide–that would only make sense.

Three are also additional fees for several classes. For instance, the accident-scene management course is $75, and the Western Dual Sport Off-Road Riding Clinic will run you $25. There are poker runs, breakfasts, receptions, and all the usual things you expect at motorcycle rallies. A new rider course offered by Thunder Mountain Harley-Davidson is $249.

Here are a few of the items on the program and the presenters.

• Reduce the Odds presented by Laurie Latham
• Think like a Negotiator presented by Eldonna Lewis Fernandez
• A Woman’s Intuition presented by Brenda Simmons
• Alisa Clickenger – Life’s Journey & the Power of the Road
• Finding Opportunity in Adversity with Jocelyn Hastie
• Living Raw with Karen Fritz
• Let’s Talk About Gear – Brittany Morrow + Various Presenters
• Gentle Flow + Yoga Nidra Class presented by Marina Koyen
• Self Care for Bikers with Marina Koyen
• Weapons for Women presented by Laurie Latham
• Women Pushing The Curve of Adventure featuring Patricia Jacques
• Make Fat Cry Featuring Betty Rocker
• The Face of PTSD – A Spirited Panel Discussion
• Put On Your Big Girl Panties, Featuring Terri Collier of Thunder Roads OK/AR

Joan tells me she is expecting perhaps 1,000 people for the Saturday night shin-dig that will be the biggest of the social events. Overall conference attendance she expects to be approximately 300. At last year’s first-ever event the mistake was made to plan the conference for International Female Ride Day (May 5 this year). Apparently there was a bit too much competition on that particular weekend, so this year the event was planned for later. That plus better weather later in the season has hopes up for a good turn-out.

Biker Quote for Today

Dirt bike diva: mud for make-up, gasoline for perfume

The "I Am Sturgis" Kickstarter campaign.

Why We Ride burst on the motorcycling scene awhile ago and has been a very popular movie, and not just for those of us who ride. (And by the way, if you haven’t seen it, you can watch it for free until May 19 on Vimeo.)

“We’ve received thousands of letters from fans telling us that after seeing Why We Ride they decided to ‘throw their leg over two-wheels’ and become motorcyclists,” says James Walker, producer of Why We Ride. “We cannot stop with just one movie. This is now a movement, and we would love to have the community help us continue telling these inspiring stories about our motorcycle culture.”

So what’s next? Well, conveniently, the Sturgis rally will be celebrating its 75th year anniversary this year. It’s a natural fit.

Says the Why We Ride website, “The impetus for the new movie stems partly from this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally being the 75th Anniversary of that motorcycling institution. In recent years, the Sturgis rally has drawn half a million participants, but attendance estimates for this year’s anniversary rally exceed one million riders. There may never be a better time to capture the passion, dedication, and camaraderie of the motorcycling community, and there certainly is no better place than the iconic Sturgis gathering.”

So they’re doing a Kickstarter campaign to raise the money to make the film, I Am Sturgis. The filmmakers are looking for $350,000 and the last I looked they’re a long way from that total.

If you’ve seen Why We Ride and liked it, maybe you’ll want to chip in a few bucks. And if you haven’t seen it, it’s still available for a little while longer.

Biker Quote for Today

Murphy’s Motorcycle Laws: 4. Quick fixes are named for how long they stay fixed.

by Matt Wessels

The Vintage movement is in full force and old motorcycles are finding their way back to daylight and backroads in record numbers. This year will mark the 5th annual Vintage Motorcycle Show in Golden, Colorado.

Heritage Square will host the event one last time before they close their doors at the end of 2015, and all of their facilities will be operational for the show. Those facilities include bathrooms, restaurants, and a bar.

Erico Motorsports, GrandPrix Motorsports Indian and Foothills Triumph/BMW will be there showcasing some of the factory retro motos. Last year they had a half-million dollar Vincent show up, by the name of the Black Prince. It might make a re-appearance at this year’s show.

The show (Sunday, June 7) is open to anybody with a vintage motorcycle following the structure of a controlled open floor. To enter, respond to the evite and drop a comment so that Bob can get an idea of how many bikes there will be. Being a part of the show is just as free as attending it. They are taking donations for Hospice care, so bring some stray bills to support a good cause!

Much like the show being a celebration of all that was good and right in the motorcycle world, the Hospice donations are a celebration of good people who make it their life’s work to increase the quality of life for those who can not completely provide it for themselves. The idea was started when a friend was immensely impressed with the Hospice workers who take care of his mom, and wanted to give back.

The VJMC is also giving back by footing the bill for the event and wants all motorcycles from all backgrounds, manufacturers, and styles to attend. This isn’t a profitable endeavor, this is simply two enthusiasts who want to bring like-minded people together and celebrate good bikes, good food, good talk, and good experiences.

If you missed the link up above, go HERE to register for attendance. IT’S FREE!

For any other questions or comments, please reach out to Bob @ superhawk65@gmail.com

Many of the same folks meet at the GB Fish and Chips on the first Thursday of every month for Old Bike Night. There are a few other Old Bike Night meetups around the front range area, but not all necessarily connected with this one.

Can you tell there's some kind of motorcycle event going on here?

I was updating the Rides and Rallies page the other day and was interested to see that there are several events coming up this summer that are beyond your everyday poker runs and charity rides. So I figured I’d bring them to your attention.

Taking things chronologically, from May 7 to 10, there is the National Coalition of Motorcyclists 30th Annual Convention, which will be held at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, 4900 S. Syracuse.

The first thing I asked myself was “What is the National Coalition of Motorcyclists?” And I’m still wondering a bit. Going to that site I found that this is something connected with that motorcycle lawyer you’ve probably heard of or seen advertising for, Richard Lester. OK, for me that immediately ignites skepticism. Is this just some self-promotional thing? But this is supposed to be the 30th such convention, and presumably they wouldn’t keep holding them if there wasn’t good attendance, so what is this really? If anyone has information they could provide to me I’d appreciate it. I’m very curious.

Next up is the Old Bike Ride 13, which takes off from downtown Golden, on May 17. This is something I do know about. I rode it a few years ago. It’s a ride for old bikes and/or old bikers put on through Colorado’s Brit bike folks and it’s a great chance to see a lot of really different old bikes out on the road. And hey, this year my old 1980 CB750 Custom is actually old enough to qualify, though I didn’t hesitate to ride it a few years ago. It’s not like they run you off the road if your bike isn’t old enough.

Then, June 11 to 14, we have the Steel Horse Sisterhood Summit going on in Loveland, at the Embassy Suites there by the events center just off I-25. I had never heard of the Steel Horse Sisterhood before but as you might guess, it’s an organization for women riders. Guys can attend, however, just as men were welcome a few years ago in Keystone at the International Women and Motorcycling Conference put on by the American Motorcyclist Association.

And then, near and dear to my heart, the Concours Owners Group (COG) is having its national rally June 15 to 19 in Cortez at the Baymont Inn and Suites. I guess this group likes to come to Colorado because they had this annual event up in Frisco just a few years ago. You’ll never see more Concours-s (what the heck is plural for Concours?) than you will at this event. And by definition, this is a group of long-distance riders. I went to that last one in Frisco and I’m going to try to make it to this one, too. I do ride a Concours, after all.

Then one last thing, and this is for you hard-core dirt bike guys. On July 26, what is now apparently called the Colorado Trail Race, but which I believe used to be the Colorado 500, will run on the dirt or gravel all the way from Denver to Durango. No, I’m not good enough yet on my V-Strom to even consider doing this one, but maybe some day. But it sounds like a heckuva ride. And they do tell you what the route is. Maybe what I ought to do is start exploring particular stretches of this route bit by bit.

(Oops. I had put this thing up about the Colorado Trail Race but was informed that that was a mountain bike event, not a motorcycle event. Gosh, maybe someone could come up with a motorcycle event that would be similar. That would be a kick. And whatever did happen to the Colorado 500? Oh well, moving on, back to the original post.)

Now, what’s really nice is that I do know for a fact that there are several other equally interesting events going on here in the state. I just haven’t had time to track them down and get them onto the listing yet. There’s going to be a whole slew of good riding to be done. Ain’t it grand to live in Colorado?!

Biker Quote for Today

Murphy’s Motorcycle Laws: 1. A motorcycle cannot/will not fall over without an audience.

Did you ride to work on Monday?

I guess I’m just one lonely voice in the wilderness. Every year I plug Ride to Work Day and never do I see those hordes of bikes out there that I hope for. Did you see them Monday? Neither did I.

I did ride to work on Monday and out of curiosity I counted the number of bikes I saw. I counted 16 besides myself going, and 12 coming home. I rode again today (Thursday) and on this totally non-special day I saw 21 bikes on the way in and 19 on the way home. So much for let’s all go ride to work on one particular day.

And by the way, I won’t be keeping a running count because it’s way too distracting. I had to keep telling myself to forget about the dang bikes, watch where you’re going and watch out for other traffic. Also by the way, I am pleased to say that on neither day did some other driver try to occupy the lane I was already occupying. That happened to me three times the previous two days I rode to work.

What was really odd, I thought, was that whereas there are four BMW riders who ride to work at the National Park Service nearly every day, on Monday of all days not a single one of them rode in. Of the seven or eight bikes that are typically parked in the lot there, only two Harleys came in. Plus me.

So yeah, apparently almost nobody pays attention to Ride to Work Day. That puzzles me. I mean, why wouldn’t you? I suspect the biggest part of it is that most riders have never heard of it. It needs better promotion. What can I do, other than what I’ve been doing for years? I’ll have to think about that. I don’t know about you, but I’d just love to see the streets of this town filled with motorcycles some day, making all the drivers’ eyes pop out wondering what the heck is going on. There’s got to be a way.

Biker Quote for Today

Ride to coffee, coffee to ride.

Vetter challenge participants at Vintage Motorcycle Days in 2012.

I may be working a full-time job lately but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up my freelancing. I’m pleased to be able to tell you that Rider magazine has published my latest article on its website and the piece will presumably be in the next issue. Now you get to read the story behind the story.

The piece is about motorcycle fairing designer Craig Vetter and what he’s up to these days. It started out when I went to Ohio in 2012 for the AMA’s Vintage Motorcycle Days (VMD).

Craig was the grand marshal for that event that year, and one piece of the event was the Craig Vetter Fuel Economy Challenge. I took a lot of pictures and spoke with several participants in that event. I also attended three presentations Craig gave, two about the challenge and one about his many years in motorcycling and design of motorcycle gear. I then wrote about all this for several publications.

After I got home I sent a query to Rider magazine editor Mark Tuttle, Jr., asking if he would be interested in a piece on Vetter and this whole business. Mark replied that sure, he’d be interested to read my submission. That is to say, no guarantees he would accept and publish it, but if I would write the piece he’d be happy to look at and consider it.

Then nothing happened. I got busy with my new job and months passed with me doing nothing to pursue this. About the time I was despairing of ever getting off my butt and doing it I got a fortuitous email. Craig Vetter had seen one of the articles I published elsewhere and sent me a note saying he liked it and thanks.

I knew I needed to jump right on things at that point. I emailed Craig back and thanked him for his note and told him I had gotten the go-ahead from Mark to do a piece. Could we speak? Craig said sure and so we did.

My thoughts initially had been to do something about the previous year’s event (this was the middle of 2013 by now) but at this point we were drawing near to the 2013 event, so it made more sense to make it a forward-looking piece rather than dwelling on something that was past. And Craig was totally focused on what was upcoming. In the interim he had gotten seriously amped up on the idea of electric streamlined motorcycles. As you’ll see if you read the article, Craig had gotten hooked up with Terry Hershner, who was planning–and by the time we spoke, had completed–a cross-country run on his Zero electric motorcycle. Craig’s streamlining had enabled Terry to get double the mileage out of his batteries and helped make the whole thing possible.

At this point Craig was looking forward to the 2013 VMD and expecting Terry to run away with the championship on his electric bike. I wrote the piece and sent it to Mark at Rider with the main pitch being the electric bike angle. Mark replied that he had no recollection of us discussing this piece (it had been nine months) but he liked what I sent him and he wanted to run it. I thought it would be a good piece to use coming up to VMD, setting the stage and then demanding a follow-up, but Mark said he wanted to let the 2013 challenge take place and add a follow-up note at the bottom of the piece.

So that’s what we planned. And then it fell apart. Terry was on his way to VMD and the bike broke down. The extra weight from all the extra battery packs and charging units he had added were finally too much for the stock wheel bearings. Terry would not be competing in the VMD. OK, Mark said let’s wait for the later Vetter event in October.

October came, however, and there was no fuel economy challenge at the annual Vegas to Barstow event because Craig had had surgery and was not feeling sufficiently recovered to take on that load. Push it back even further.

At this point Mark was telling me it didn’t have to be tied to one of the Vetter events, he’d just run it in an issue in summer 2014 when he had space in the magazine. But then I got a note from him not long ago saying he would have space for it sooner. And now, by golly, it’s up there. And I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next issue in my mail. Gosh, only 16 months from when I first pitched the idea to Mark to when it ends up in print.

Biker Quote for Today

I’ve done it myself in the past, ground the bike so far all the oil was gone, got up and walked to work without a scratch.

Erico is showing "Why We Ride"

There’s a lot of discussion on the Web lately about “Why We Ride,” a film that is basically explained by the title. Or we can go with the synopsis: Why We Ride is a story about who we are. Individuals with a desire to dream, discover and explore. Seeking a life outside our daily confinements and sharing those moments together. It’s a story about the journey, not the destination. Motorcycles represent the milestones of our lives. From a kid’s dream come true, to a retiree’s return to freedom. From a family riding together on the sand dunes, to hundreds of choppers carving through the canyons – the bond is the same. It’s about the passion of the riders and the soul of their machines. Your senses will heighten as the world rushes in, your heart will beat to the pulse of the engine, your mind will race and set you free. Once you let a motorcycle into your life, it will change you forever.”

Anyway, this film has been getting shown in a lot of places and usually with an admission fee. I figured you might appreciate it if I passed along a note that just came to me, where you can see the film (in Denver) at no charge.

The place to be is Erico Motorsports on January 9 (Thursday) at 6 p.m. I wasn’t aware of this but apparently Erico builds custom bikes and they’re having the unveiling of their latest. As an extra attraction they just happen to be screening “Why We Ride,” and at least from the email they sent there does not seem to be an admission fee.

If you’re interested they would like you to RSVP so they’ll know how many to plan for. RSVP at tai@ericomotorsports.com. Plans also include “sharing a few beers and a few laughs.”

This film has been getting a lot of buzz, at least in the motorcycling community, so it’s apparently pretty good. I can’t say personally because I haven’t seen it yet. And unfortunately, making it to downtown Denver at 6 p.m. on a weekday is not very likely in my agenda. But maybe for you it does. Now you know.

Biker Quote for Today

… grease, grit, and mud are runnin’ in my blood.

The Civilian Top Gun competition a couple years ago.

There are a couple things coming up very soon that I want to direct your attention to.

First is the 5th annual Civilian Top Gun Rider Competition. The non-civilian Top Gun competition is for motorcycle cops. That’s an annual exhibition that is really good, with those guys putting their big cruiser bikes through tight turns that most people can’t even do on a small bike.

So this other event is for the rest of us, but don’t think for a minute that that means the riding you’ll see is second-rate. You don’t have to be a cop to know how to ride really, really well.

This thing will be taking place this coming weekend, Sept. 20-21, at Fay Myers Motorcycle World, 9700 E. Arapahoe. And it’s free–no admission charge. Apparently it will be going on both days so cruise on down, and prepare to feel like you really aren’t that good a rider after all, no matter what your ego would like you to believe.

The other event is a week later, Saturday, Sept. 28. This is the Small Bike Ride.

Todd Wallis is the organizer of this event, which is in its fourth year. Todd is a guy who likes to restore old bikes, and he particularly likes the smaller ones. So he put together this event–it’s just a ride; go have fun–for old bikes with engines 250cc or smaller. Or, if you ride a pre-WWII bike of any size you’re welcome, too.

Riders will be starting out from a spot in Deer Creek Canyon, 9880 West Deer Creek Canyon Road, to be exact. The ride starts at 9 a.m. and will be cruising–rather slowly–through the hills, for about 100 miles.

So go have fun.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom, #28

Biker Quote for Today

Think of your thumper as a big pump, happily sucking and blowing down the road.