Passes & Canyons Blog

Finally time for a new battery for the CB750.

I mentioned before that I couldn’t take my Honda CB750 Custom for a ride on Sunday because I couldn’t get it to start. I put in on the charger and today, Thursday, I came home from work figuring that just for insurance I would take it out tonight for a short spin. It’s supposed to get cold and possibly snow tomorrow.

Before I got all geared up, though, I went out to make sure it would start. It did not. Hmmm.

I figured it must need a new battery. But how long ago was it that I bought this one? I keep my records in triplicate. I keep the hard-copy receipts in one file. I keep a spreadsheet of all my expenses and earnings, for tax purposes. And I keep a list of vehicle expenses on my Palm. (Yes, my wife and I both still uses our Palms.) Somewhere in there I had to have the information I was looking for.

Well, I found it. Amazing as it sounds, it appears I bought that battery in April 2008. That’s nearly 5 years! No wonder it’s died now.

And so no, of course I didn’t get out on the Honda tonight. Now I’m just hoping we don’t have snow and cold and the roads stay frosted over for three weeks or more like what just happened. It’s supposed to be a high on Saturday of about 20 degrees, but I don’t care. If the road is clear I’m going for a ride–after I get a new battery. And what a great, REAL test for my new electric gloves.

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Biker Quote for Today

Sometimes it takes more than one tank of gas to chase the demons from my head.

If you want to start a motorcycle repair operation, this space right next to Susie's could be the perfect spot.

On the very off chance that you are looking to set up a motorcycle service shop and are looking for the right location, here’s a possibility.

I got an email recently from Joe Dunn, of CRESCO Properties, Inc., saying he has “about 3200 SF 5 bay repair shop for lease at 17981 W. Colfax Avenue in Golden, CO directly east of Susie’s Bar And Grill. Might be a natural for someone looking to relocate a shop since Susie’s is motorcycle friendly.”

Then in a follow-up email when I requested a photo, Joe said, “Looks like it would be perfect for motorcycle repair, and customers can get lunch and a brew while they wait. Rent for 3,163 SF is $2800 per month including taxes. Maybe one or more of your readers is looking to relocate their business.”

Now, there’s no finder’s fee or anything involved here; I have nothing to gain. But I thought I’d pass this along just in case someone out there is looking for exactly this sort of thing. FWIW. You can reach Joe at c.properties@comcast.net.

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Biker Quote for Today

And the Moto Gods said “Let there be tinkering.” And the people said “yes we will tinker, and we will buy parts, and we will clean old parts, until such time that old parts and new parts become one, and she rumbles forth anew. Yea, I will tinker.”

Loading my Connie onto the tow truck.

I’ve thought for a long time that I ought to learn how to replace a tire on my motorcycle. Having a flat on the first day out of the annual OFMC trip seemed to offer the perfect opportunity. I had the bike towed to Eagle, where my friend Jungle Fuhrman would help me get moving again. Let’s do this job.

My initial intention was to tell Jungle I wanted to do the work myself and just have him give me directions. But he dove right in and I stood and watched closely. The first thing he did was remove the cotter pin from the rear axle. Then he demonstrated to me that I will never change the tire on my bike because the next step was to remove the bolt that the cotter pin held in place. The problem is that the bolt is recessed and in order to get to it you have to have a wrench with a lip that reaches down into the recess. Count me out right there.

So I watched. In order to fully access the various bolts it was necessary to remove the mufflers. That was simple enough, just comprising two bolts per muffler. Then Jungle worked the axle loose and extracted it from the left side. Here he was faced with a problem. He knew from working on his own Concours that he was not going to be able to get the wheel out from under the fender without doing one of two things. What he had done on his own bike, and what he made it clear he was prepared to with mine if I consented, was to cut the lower six inches or so off the rear fender. I didn’t like that idea so I declined to say “Sure, go ahead,” as I knew he wanted me to say.

That meant he also needed to remove the shaft housing where the rotation of the drive shaft is converted 90 degrees to power the rear wheel. That was a matter of removing four bolts and I was pleased to find it wasn’t that much effort. Now the wheel could be pulled out and we could go to work on the tire.

Jungle’s tire-changing tools are over at a friend’s house so we went there for that part of the work. I had seen this done often enough that there was nothing new here. The tire was pulled off and Jungle applied a patch. He put the tire back on the wheel and aired it up and . . . it still leaked. Off came the tire once again and now we went to another friend’s shop to get a tool to truly prepare the inner tire surface to take good hold of the patch. With a patch applied in a way that had to be good enough, the tire was remounted, aired, and . . . it still leaked.

Now Jungle was thinking that there must be some damage to the plies allowing air to pass through and out. Which meant the tire could not be saved. A plug might work, or it might not. But it would be better to replace it.

Of course, this really hurt considering that I had just bought that tire six days earlier and had only put 1,500 miles on it, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Normally, getting a replacement tire in Eagle on a Saturday could have been simply out of the question, leaving me to get even further behind my friends and possibly ending my trip right there.

But this is where the amazing good fortune of having this occur just 55 miles from Eagle came into play. Jungle has a Concours just like mine so I figured he just might have a tire on hand. In fact he had two. One was a brand new tire that he had bought for another bike, but it was the right size. Only thing is it was bias ply and the Connie usually takes radials. Plus, that would mean mixing a radial front with a bias-ply rear. The other was an old tire off Jungle’s Concours. He and Willie do a lot of traveling and when the tires on the bike aren’t going to be good enough to last the entire trip he will put on new tires before the trip. Thus, he had a partially used, radial Avon tire of the right size. My tires were Dunlops so that meant mixing a Dunlop front with an Avon rear, but I figured that was the best bet.

So Jungle mounted up the Avon, got everything put back together, and I was in business! I was able to leave Eagle around 2 p.m. that afternoon and then had to do some hard riding to catch up with the guys, who had since gone on from Grand Junction to Marysvale, Utah. I arrived there around 9 p.m. and finally the OFMC was together and off on this year’s ride.

Just a word about Jungle. He’s a mechanic but doesn’t work out of a shop. He is an I-come-to-you mechanic, so if you’re in the Eagle area and need a motorcycle or auto mechanic, give him a call. He’s in the phone book.

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Biker Quote for Today

Before enlightenment, change oil and adjust valves; after enlightenment, change oil and adjust valves.

The following is a guest post provided by ProTool Warehouse.

Man working on motorcycle. Image Source: http://images.wisegeek.com/man-working-on-motorcycle.jpg

Due to misleading claims made by motorcycle manufactures/distributors regarding warranty fulfillment requirements, you may be wondering if it is possible for you to do your own motorcycle repairs without voiding your warranty. Contrary to popular misconception, you are allowed to perform repairs using your own equipment and aftermarket parts, without having to worry about violating your manufacturer’s warranty.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975

Almost 4 decades ago, the U.S. Government enacted a warranty-governing statute, sponsored by Sen. Warren Magnuson and U.S. Representative John Moss, known as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The “Tie-In Sales” provision within this act actually declares it illegal for a dealership or manufacturer to imply that a warranty will be voided if repairs are performed independently or with the use of aftermarket parts. In other words, a manufacturer is not allowed to require a consumer to purchase a part/service from a specific company in order for their warranty to remain valid, as this would create a conflict of interest in which manufacturers could force artificial monopolization by coercing people to buy from them only.

Federal Trade Commission Legislation

Furthermore, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) reiterates the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Act in an online report entitled “Auto Warranties, Routine Maintenance, and Repairs: Is Using the Dealer a Must?” which can be found on the FTC official website. In summary, the report states that you are not obligated to purchase your parts or repairs from the dealer whom you bought your motorcycle from, and that any dealer who tells you this is in direct violation of U.S. statutes.

Other Reasons to Repair Your Own Motorcycle

Now that you know your warranty won’t be voided if you decide to repair your motorcycle independently, consider the advantages of doing so:

Conducting your own motorcycle repairs will let you save money in two ways – you’ll be purchasing the necessary parts directly (instead of through a dealership/repair shop), and you won’t be paying for the labor involved. You’ll also gain knowledge about how your bike works, so if you ever need to perform emergency repairs in the future, you’ll be well prepared to do so. Also, once you’ve become knowledgeable about the mechanics of your motorcycle, the saying “if you want something done right, do it yourself” holds true, as you can be sure that repairs are performed to your specifications. If you’re going to be working on your bike independently, you may want to begin comparing specialty tool sets to ensure you’re equipped with the necessary hardware.

My Concours being winched onto the tow truck.

I had just had new tires put on my Concours on Sunday, in Columbus, Ohio, and I rode on home, arriving in Denver on Wednesday. And as I have mentioned previously, I got my first motorcycle speeding ticket less than 50 miles from home on that 17-day, 3,878-mile trip. On Friday I set out mid-afternoon with Brett and Randy, two of the OFMC, on our annual summer trip. We were to meet up with everyone else in Grand Junction. Jason was supposed to be riding with us but he was delayed so he would be along later.

Nearing Rifle, my bike started handling horribly. I was in the rear but I had to pull over immediately. It turned out my brand new rear tire was flat. Not a defect, as I later learned, but a puncture. I tried to put the bike on the side stand but with the tire flat the stand tipped it just past vertical, so it was inclined to topple over onto the right. To my consternation, it was totally impossible for me to rock the bike up onto the center stand. So I had no choice but to standd there holding the bike up until someone came along to help me.

Of course I figured the guys would notice I was not with them, would pull over to wait, and eventually they would come back to find me. But I just waited. Meanwhile, whenever a motorcycle came along on the highway I waved to them to help me. The first one went by without stopping and the second one did stop, though it was a tenth of a mile later before they could stop from 75 mph. As they walked back to me a guy in a pick-up stopped to help. He was a big, strong guy, but it was all the two of us could manage to get the bike onto the center stand. But we did, and I could finally do something else, like, oh, you know, call for assistance.

While I was standing there, though, I had thought about what to do and concluded my best bet was to try to reach my friends in Eagle, Willie and Jungle, to see if they could help me out. They have a Concours like mine and Jungle is a mechanic. This could be a good thing.

I called and spoke to Willie, who put me through to Jungle, and Jungle said sure, have the bike towed here and we’ll see what we can do. I called the AMA roadside assistance number and told them my situation and they said they’d check for tow services and call me back. While I was waiting, Jason came along. He was very surprised to find me standing there by the road, but by then all was taken care of and there was nothing he could do. What he did do was call Brett, who told him they were in Grand Junction. Where was he (Jason)?

“I’m here on the highway outside Rifle with Ken. He has a flat tire.” Oh. Brett said they had stopped and waited for me three times but I never caught up with them. Duh. Thanks guys.

So Jason went on and the tow truck took me back to Eagle. Jungle said it was too late to get started on the bike that night and Willie said I’d be staying with them. That was fine, and we had an enjoyable evening. The next morning Jungle and I got right on it, me watching him and asking questions so I could learn how to do this myself. Ha! Without theh proper tools I’m not doing this myself anytime.

First we tried patching the tire, but after two patches failed there were two options. Jungle had a new tire of the right size, but bias-ply. My Connie wants radials. He also had an old tire he had taken off his Concours when he was leaving on a trip that would have been too much for the tire. Rather than get new tires mid-trip, he started with new rubber. This tire was the right size and radial, but an Avon. My tires were Dunlops. No matter, the Avon went on.

I was finally on my way at 2 p.m. on Saturday, riding hard to meet up with the guys, who were now headed for Marysvale, Utah. I rolled in there around 9 p.m. and it was time for my vacation to begin. Oh, and although I had expected Brett and Randy to immediately come tell me something like, “Oh hey, we’re really sorry for being so stupid and not going back for you,” if fact, neither of them has ever said one word about it. Thanks guys. You’re real pals.

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Biker Quote for Today

“Remember that an enduro tests the endurance of three things: your machine, your body, and your wits. Only one has to fail to keep you from reaching the finish line.” — Cycle World March 1966

So is it a good thing or a bad thing when you have a 32-year-old motorcycle with only 29,000 miles on it? If you think in terms of using the bike for what it was intended, i.e., riding it, that would be a bad thing. And even if you were selling it, I’m not sure I, as a buyer, would consider low mileage necessarily good. That would raise questions about how gunked up the carbs might be and what else might be ailing from neglect.

Or it could just mean you replaced the speedometer. I mentioned awhile back how the dial on the speedometer on my 1980 CB750 Custom has broken (see photo above) and I needed to replace it. Also, the gears inside were making a high-pitched shrieking that made riding it very unpleasant. And you can’t fix a speedometer. They’re deliberately built so you can’t open them up and work on them; otherwise, anyone could just go in and roll back the odometer and sell the vehicle as having a lot fewer miles on it.

So that meant replacing it. Joel, my mechanic at Mountain Thunder Motorsports, picked up a replacement from Steele’s and on Friday I came by to have the work done. But when Joel brought out the new (for me) speedo it wasn’t the right one. So Joel sent me over to Steele’s to get the right one.

I did, and the new speedo shows only 29,375, compared to the 84,575 miles I had on the old one. Dang, that high number gave me a lot of cred; now it looks like I’m just a wannabe rider. That’s less than 1,000 miles a year. Oh well, I know how to fix that. Ride.

And I learned a couple things. First, Joel put the new speedo on so quickly it occurs to me I could have done it myself and saved what I paid him to do it. And I’m sure Joel wouldn’t have objected to that considering that he bought the wrong one from Steele’s and can’t return it. It’s his. So the whole thing probably comes out a wash for him. Meanwhile I paid for the right speedo and for installation. I guess I need to have more confidence in my mechanical abilities. I’m not averse to working on things, I guess I’m just reluctant to screw with something that might get expensive if I mess up. But how badly could I have messed up replacing a speedometer?

Whatever. At least now I can see how fast I’m going and I don’t have that horrible screech. And hey, it’s riding season! Hot dang!

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Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re becoming addicted to riding when you leave your car in the garage in favor of riding your bike to work on a 36 degree morning

Notice anything funny about my speedometer in the photo above? Yeah, that’s weird. The top portion of the face of the speedometer just snapped off and slid down on the side, exposing the gears and inner workings. Anyone seen something like that before?

I was out on my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom on Friday, making a run for the Tag-O-Rama game being played on Adventure Riders, and getting annoyed at the howling coming from my speedometer. For as long as I’ve owned this bike, more than 20 years, the speedometer has periodically made this squealing sound, but it has only been occasionally. Recently, however, it has been doing it all the time, and it has been louder than before.

So I was watching it closely to see when the squealing starts (around 20 mph) and when it stops (around 15 mph). And then one time I looked down and . . . WTF?

I happened to be near Mountain Thunder Motorsports, at 2670 W. Hampden, where I take my bikes for service, so I swung on by to let Joel take a look. I figured he could see what parts were needed and get them on order. Even Joel was surprised by what he saw so I suspect this is not a very common problem. Joel did say, though, that the squealing is definitely an issue with the speedo, and that replacing it will solve both problems.

He also looked at my mileage, 84,549 when I got home later and shot this picture, and remarked that even with a used speedometer my bike is going to shed a lot of miles. Hey, someone want to buy this 32-year-old bike with only 27,000 miles on it? Ha! Not for sale.

I’ve often wondered if the speedometer was going to break some day, considering the squealing and all, but I never imagined this would be how it would break. You never know.

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Biker Quote for Today

The faster it goes the faster it breaks. And high performance=high maintenance.

I’ve never been afraid to get my hands dirty, but that doesn’t mean I’ve ever been all that much of a mechanic. Granted, with the guidance of some experienced friends I did once drop a new engine into a 1964 Ford Fairlane, but that was long ago and far away.

When it comes to my motorcycles I have always been the guy paying someone else to do all but the most basic maintenance. Heck, I’ve never even replaced a tire. I generally replace oil and filters, and adjust the chain on my old Honda CB750, and that’s about it. I did replace the shift-shaft seal on the Honda recently.

I’m open to learning more. To that end, I plan to attend a basic motorcycle maintenance session the Erico Motorsports is offering on Saturday, Nov. 5. Here’s what they intend to cover:

1. Chain/chassis lubrication and adjustment
2. Oil level inspection and change along with coolant level checks
3. Brake pad and fluid inspection
4. Inspection of tires along with correct tire pressure settings
5. Frame and suspension inspection
6. General safety check
7. Benefits of a dynamometer and power commander
8. Set up for storage/winterization
9. Pre-ride inspection
10. Scheduled maintenance
11. Performance enhancement

Of course I have two interests in doing this. First, I’m hoping I might learn something. Second, I figure it will be an interesting session to write about.

In case you’re interested, you’ll need to contact Tai Beldock at Erico to RSVP at tai@ericomotorsports.com. There is no charge but they’ll be providing lunch and want to have an idea how many people to expect.

So stay tuned. Or maybe I’ll see you there. If you do come, please find me and introduce yourself. I’ll be the guy shooting pictures. I love meeting the folks who visit my website.

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Biker Quote for Today

Bikes are a ton easier to push through doorways when the guy on the bike isn’t holding the brake.