OK, watch this video. Then come back.
Who are these jerks? What the hell do they think they’re doing? I mean, they planned this. They got together, removed their license plates, and then went on this spree. What kind of dips–t does something like that? And this is right here in Denver. That intersection is Colfax and York.
I guess I have nothing more to say.
What do you call a Harley Davidson with no tires? A groundhog.
When people and vehicles share the very narrow street like this you better believe everyone is careful and nobody drives recklessly.
We just spent five days in Barcelona (Spain) and as always, I observed the traffic scene–i.e., the two-wheeled type–closely. I’ll tell you two things: No non-California city in the US is ready for this scene, and it is then a good thing that no such city will soon be experiencing this.
Barcelona streets are packed with traffic so vehicles frequently move slowly and even when they move fast they are slow by our norms. And because traffic moves so slowly, the filtering and lane-splitting are constant.
We took a cab one day. The right-hand curb lanes on busy streets are reserved for buses and taxis so those types of vehicles can make better time. Of course motorcycles use that lane a lot. And apparently they’re allowed to, either officially or unofficially.
Let me make a side note here. In Europe they tend to use the word “motorbike” and that’s actually probably a better word for them. The highly dominant two-wheeler is the step-through scooter, like the Vespas of old. There are also real motorcycles but anything over 500cc is rare. Baggers are non-existent.
But you also have plenthy of the stand-up scooters that have become popular, plus lots of power-assisted bicycles–ebikes. And of course plain old people-powered bicycles and skateboards. All of these, for our purposes, can be grouped under the term “motorbikes.”
OK, back to the narrative. I was saying we took a cab.
The one problem with taking the right-hand cab and bus lane is that both of these conveyances are prone to making stops. And when they do you can end up sitting a while before they move again.
The obvious thing to do is go around them but that means merging into the next lane and on our cab ride, as the cab would start to insinuate its way in, the motorbikes behind the cab would dart into the opening and block the cab out of the space it had created. We missed getting through red light cycles a couple times for exactly that reason.
Our cab driver stayed totally cool, showing no frustration or aggravation. I’m sure because he deals with this all day every day. And he was vigilantly watchful for these scooters and all.
How do you suppose a typical American driver is likely to respond to something like this? Rhetorical question. We know the answer.
So no, no non-California city in the US is ready for this but it’s not going to happen anywhere any time soon. In Europe motorbikes are everywhere by the thousands. Until Americans take up two-wheeled travel in those kinds of numbers that kind of scene cannot develop. And hopefully, as it will happen gradually–if it ever does–we’ll all have time to adapt to it just as gradually. Until it feels normal.
How crazy would that be?
Why did the motorcycle stay at home? It was two-tired.
Those scuff marks show you exactly where Friggs’s face would have been ripped open.
The OFMC has never been as thoroughly safety-minded as the RMMRC but we’re human, we’re interested in preserving our own skins. So for 35 years we have ridden safely, with the worst crash being the one Friggs had in 2018 down in New Mexico. Very uncharacteristically, he had chosen that day to ride without his jacket but after going down his jeans were torn, his shirt was torn, and otherwise he was barely bruised. Amazingly.
The one thing that was badly damaged was his helmet. If you ever think a helmet is unneeded, just take a look at a helmet that has been through a serious crash. Then think about what that head underneath would have been like without it.
Now sure, everyone has dropped their bike in a parking lot or that sort of thing. Nobody’s gotten hurt. In all these years no one other than Friggs has ever gone down, which probably makes us one heck of a fortunate bunch. But we have had some close calls.
Probably the closest, the one that most likely could have led to death, was Dennis up in the Black Hills in 2014. We were staying several days in Hill City, doing day rides, and we were out on one of the many great roads up there and stopped at an intersection of two highways. We did whatever needed doing and were getting geared up and back on the bikes.
We were on one side of the road but needed to go the other way so I pulled out across the road onto the shoulder on the other side, facing the other direction. Dennis was the next to get ready. Now, you have to understand, Dennis is short. He had all the other guys between him and the road so he couldn’t really see up the road. There were also all these Harleys making a heck of a racket so he couldn’t hear anything either. He started across the road to join me.
What Dennis could not see, but all the rest of us did, was the semi coming right toward him. I know I was screaming but what good does that do? He couldn’t hear me. The others were screaming, too, and then there was the screeching of the brakes on that big truck. Did I mention that Dennis is also hard of hearing?
He got about halfway across the road and looked to his left and saw this truck screeching up toward him. His heart must have stopped for a moment. Fortunately the trucker was able to stop in time but for a moment it looked like the worst was about to happen. We didn’t ever want to see something like that again.
But then apparently it happened again, and this time it was me. I say “apparently” because I was totally oblivious to it all. I knew nothing until the guys told me later.
This was in 2023 up in the far northwest corner of Wyoming. I was leading and we were looking for a place for lunch. We came up on a restaurant but I couldn’t tell if it was open until I was past it. The other guys pulled over. I pulled over to turn around and go back. What they tell me is that as I pulled back onto the highway there was a car coming fast that I pulled right in front of. And that guy braked really hard. Yikes! I don’t see how that could have happened. It’s not like I don’t look both ways before pulling out, you know. But I got to the parking lot and Bill and Dennis both started yelling wildly and I had to ask what they were so excited about. Really? That happened? Big oops.
Then later on this same trip Bill had his moment but it was not of his doing. We were now in Idaho cruising down this highway with me in the lead, then Bill, then Dennis. A car passed me going the other way and then turned left right in front of Bill. You know the story. Fortunately, Bill avoided crashing into the guy. I’m convinced that it had to do with Dennis’s lights.
Dennis wants to be seen, so he has super bright lights that I say can be seen from space. Well, Bill’s stock headlight is really not very bright at all. I ride in front of him a lot and I know this. My suspicion is that the guy in the car absolutely saw Dennis’s lights but did not see Bill’s weak beam at all. He had plenty of time to turn in front of Dennis. Only problem is that Bill was there. I told Bill he needs brighter lights but he pooh-poohed that. Fine, it’s your life.
Other than that we’ve had the usual close calls. Like this year when we were heading into Buena Vista and a car going the other way decided to pass someone on a blind curve–just as I was coming around the curve from the other direction. Bill and I both pulled onto the shoulder to get out of that idiot’s way.
That kind of stuff is routine, unfortunately. But all in all it’s pretty amazing how well we’ve done over the years. We do care about our own skin.
You might be a Yuppie biker if you wear a full-face helmet; you wear a helmet; you wear earplugs. (Who the heck compiled this list? I’m sorry I have to take exception.)
Whoever wrote this piece just doesn’t understand.
I’ll take a break from recounting the latest OFMC trip today because this is timely and really flagrant.
Lane filtering becomes legal in Colorado this week, on August 7. As a surprise to no one, I picked up several articles addressing this change and “informing” the readers of what it means. I put “informing” in quotes because all three pieces I saw, including one from the Colorado State Patrol (CSP), were clearly written by someone who does not ride motorcycles and who fails to understand the entire procedure. More importantly, they were just flat wrong.
Because the other articles seem to have been written based on what CSP put out I’ll go right to the source.
“The rider must pass on the left and not enter the oncoming traffic lane.”
What’s wrong here? Picture this. You have two lanes of traffic going each way and you are a rider in the left lane. You “must pass on the left”? I don’t think so. That would have you partially encroaching on the oncoming lane of traffic, which is strictly prohibited. Your only choice is to pass between the two lanes of traffic going your direction, which in this case would mean passing on the right. Either that or else if you’re in the left lane you are not permitted to filter. I’m pretty sure that’s not what is intended.
What the law actually says is this: A PERSON OVERTAKING OR PASSING PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION (3)(b) SHALL NOT OVERTAKE OR PASS:
(A) ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER;
(B) To THE RIGHT OF A VEHICLE IN THE FARTHEST RIGHT-HAND LANE IF THE HIGHWAY IS NOT LIMITED ACCESS
(C) IN A LANE OF TRAFFIC MOVING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.
So that pretty much stipulates that you have to filter between lanes going your direction.
The CSP piece also said this: “The lane must be wide enough to fit the vehicle and motorcycle while passing.”
Now, not very many lanes anywhere are wide enough to allow a car and a motorcycle to fit comfortably side by side. The motorcycle needs to ride down the stripe separating the lanes. The law states filtering is permitted if “THE DRIVER OF THE TWO-WHEELED MOTORCYCLE IS ON A ROAD WITH LANES WIDE ENOUGH TO PASS SAFELY.”
Notes the plural there: “lanes.” And nothing about staying in the same lane as the car you’re passing.
I think part of the confusion may come from the wording of the law where it says “THE DRIVER OF A TWO-WHEELED MOTORCYCLE MAY OVERTAKE OR
PASS ANOTHER MOTOR VEHICLE IN THE SAME LANE AS THE MOTORCYCLE IF . . .” Maybe whoever wrote this piece read it to mean you can pass another vehicle only if you stay in the same lane that it is in, when in fact it should be read that you can pass another vehicle THAT IS in the lane you are in but you don’t have to stay completely in that one lane in doing so. A significant difference of meaning. So the law could have been written a bit more clearly.
So anyway, reading through the law again I spotted one thing this time that I did not notice previously. This is item B in the list above. “SHALL NOT OVERTAKE OR PASS: (B) To THE RIGHT OF A VEHICLE IN THE FARTHEST RIGHT-HAND LANE IF THE HIGHWAY IS NOT LIMITED ACCESS.”
“If the highway is not limited access.” Does this mean that they are specifically allowing you to overtake or pass on the right of the vehicle in the farthest right lane if the highway IS limited access? As in, if you’re on the interstate you can pass on the shoulder? It had not been my understanding that that was the intention of the Legislature but that does seem to be the logical reading of that rule.
At the same time, it also says this: “(III) A PERSON OVERTAKING OR PASSING PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION (3)(b) SHALL NOT OVERTAKE OR PASS: (A) ON THE RIGHT SHOULDER;”
This seems contradictory. If anyone can clarify this for me I would appreciate it.
I think there are some kinks here. I suspect that there are going to be some amendments needed. But get ready because filtering will be here this week.
I don’t love the people driving fast, that’s the reason why I overtake them.
Beyond the bike airplanes are taxiing over, lining up for take-off.
How quickly we went from “Is it so cold that if I ride I’ll freeze my butt off” to “I might like to go for a ride but I really don’t want to roast.” But Sunday was very nicely cool so what better thing could I do?
I figured I’d ride the Honda but I was very interested to see what happened once I started it up. Would it smoke like crazy as it used to? That issue had just miraculously gone away by itself but that means it could come back in just the same manner. And yes, the exhaust did smoke some at first. Not the huge clouds it used to produce but there was definitely some smoke.
And of course that makes me think about how much oil I have. When you’re getting a lot of blue smoke you are, by definition, burning oil and if you burn enough you end up with none. I had almost done this before I took it in to get the smoking addressed. I headed out one day, knowing I needed gas, and by the time I got to the gas station I just felt like it wasn’t running right. So I gassed up and just went back home, where, as a caution, I added some oil.
The next time I rode it was to take it to the shop, and it ran OK with the little bit of oil I had added, but when the shop started giving it the once over they found it had almost no oil at all. I’ve said it before: I’m a bad bike owner. I really don’t give my bikes the care they need. Shame on me.
So now I’m on this Sunday ride and my oil level is on my mind. I will check the oil level before I ride it again.
I hadn’t gone far and I saw something I had never seen before: one of those Tesla pick-up trucks. I’ve seen pictures but I had never seen one in real life and there it was. OK, a first.
I cruised south, to just north of E-470, and looped around the south end of Arapahoe County Airport and stopped to watch the airplanes lined up for take-off. What a mixed bag. All the way from little Piper Cubs up to enormous corporate jets.
On south and a turn onto the road that eventually becomes Main Street in Parker. And to the south of me the southern edge of the city is going up in the form of condos and homes. Jeez, I remember when the south edge of the city was 10 miles north of here.
East on Main Street, then a turn north on Jordan Road. At the intersection of Jordan Road and Broncos Parkway, on the northeast corner–and I mean right on the corner–sits a new condo complex with balconies overlooking this busy, noisy intersection. Just what I would want for a relaxing place to live. Do people really live in places like that voluntarily? If you flicked a cigarette butt from your balcony it might go right in somebody’s car window.
About this time it dawned on me that my test of using safety pins to snug up my fluorescent orange safety vest was apparently working. All this time it had not blown up around my head and it was staying where I wanted it. It occurred to me that I could use a couple more safety pins and just attach it long-term to my mesh summer jacket. Pin it down around the bottom to hold it down securely. I guess I’ll do that. I’d still recommend if you’re in the market that you pay a bit more and get a real motorcycle safety vest from a motorcycle supplier.
Then on home again. It sure is nice to have some comfortable days in July. The OFMC trip is coming up in a little over two weeks and it sure would be nice not to get cooked on that ride the way we did last summer.
Speed is my language, and the wind translates it into joy.
Maybe you can make out where the black edging splits to form that loop that I’ve got a safety pin there to reduce the size of the armhole.
I’ve mentioned that some of the guys in the RMMRC, particularly Roy, have been putting peer pressure on me to raise my visibility level by use of lights or high-vis clothing. And that I finally gave in to that pressure by buying a safety vest.
Well, that hasn’t worked out quite as I planned. There is an Ace Hardware close to us that I shop at frequently so when I was in there a few weeks ago I picked up an orange vest they had for about $8. No big deal. What do you need? It’s fluorescent orange.
It turns out you need more than just something like this. This vest is presumably intended for outdoor construction workers who don’t want to add weight or warmth. It drapes loosely around you–one size fits all–is airy, and attaches in front by just one bit of Velcro. And if you wear it while riding a motorcycle it wants to climb right up you and would wrap itself around your head if your arms through the armholes didn’t keep it down at least a bit.
OK, let’s see if we can make some modifications. Simple first step: use a safety pin to close it in front a second time down low.
That’s what I did that day recently when I rode over Guanella Pass and you’ll see in that photo that I had it on. It helped, but not nearly enough. The thing still wanted to climb up me, like you’ve seen I’m sure with guys riding with no jacket and a loose T-shirt and the shirt is whipping out behind them and climbing up their back. Plus, the fabric rode right up under my chin so that the somewhat rough fabric was rubbing at my neck in a pretty irritating manner. OK, more is needed.
So now I added a couple more safety pins, this time on the sides. The two side are connected about mid-way down by a cord and I pulled them together and put on a safety pin just a bit above the cords. Maybe while I’m at it I ought to put on a couple more down low. I haven’t tried this out yet so I don’t know just how much good this is going to do.
The point is, why bother? I already have this thing so I’m trying to make it work but if you haven’t already bought something avoid my error. Just get something better right from the start. That will probably mean going to a motorcycle supply shop or ordering online. A quick search showed me a wide selection ranging in price from $19 up to $45. None of these is going to break the bank.
I’ll give this thing I have one more shot, maybe with a couple more pins, but if it’s just not going to do the job I’ll get something that will.
The road listens. It believes in you.
A few of the Tech-Air product line at Alpinestars.
I got a heads-up recently from Greg Drevenstedt editor’s column in Rider magazine that told me there have been significant advances in rider safety equipment of late. Figured I ought to look into it.
This “First Gear” column in the May 2024 issue was talking about inflatable vests made by Alpinestars. Said Greg in his column, “Recently we’ve added a new piece of protective gear to our arsenal that I’ve required all staffers to wear any time they are on a test bike or at a press launch: an airbag vest.”
The two vests he discussed are the Alpinestars Tech-Air 5 and the Tech-Air 3, priced at $789.95 and $599.95 respectively. But it turns out that Alpinestars has a much larger line of such gear. Mostly it’s jackets or vests but they do have one, the Tech-Air® 10 Airbag System, that also protects your hips. That baby will run you $1,099.95.
That ain’t cheap, and with good insurance you might pay less than that in hospital bills, but I think I’d rather skip the injuries altogether. The pain from my wallet is a lot more bearable than the pain from my body. Nevertheless, the Tech-Air 10 appears to be targeted for sale to racers so let’s go back to the vests.
First off, in terms of advances in technology, whereas old-style inflatable vests were triggered by a cord connected to your bike that activated when that connection was broken, these new units have gyroscopes with all kinds of computer programming to tell them when to deploy. Also of interest, they deactivate below a certain speed. As the material on the website explains without such deactivation you could have a situation where some buddy comes along and slaps you soundly on the back . . . only to have your vest do its thing. Not something you really desire.
When the vests do go off they pump air instantly into a series of tubes throughout the vest. It’s literally an airbag kind of thing. I don’t think it takes any imagination to see how that would provide you a lot more protection than just armored riding gear. Plus, you would wear the vest either under or over your regular riding gear so you’re not choosing one or the other, you’ve got both.
And the thing with under your other gear is that these things are remarkably slim. Uninflated it looks pretty much like another vest.
Not to make this simply an Alpinestars commercial, I searched for inflatable motorcycle vests and found that there are a variety of others on the market, too. The first one I looked at was Helite Moto. It turns out they also have inflatable jeans. Helite has both cord-activated models and electronically activated model vests. The latter run around $800.
And then on Amazon I found more, often at much lower prices, but all with the cord tech, not the gyros.
So first we had cars with airbags and they have saved many thousands of lives. Now the idea of an airbag for a motorcycle is a real thing.
When I was a lot younger I was poor and the question of whether to get something like this would never have come up because that’s just way more than I could have considered spending. Now I’m intrigued. Of course if I ever do get something like this you’ll read about it right here.
A motorcycle is an artist’s brush on the canvas of the open road.
On the coast road in the Pacific Northwest.
OK, what happened in 2023 might seem like old news but you have to understand that pulling all these statistics together and analyzing them is time consuming and reports on highway fatalities and such are always released well into the following year. It’s the best information we’ve got so we just have to go with it.
So anyway, it seems like pretty good news that the Colorado State Patrol has released 2023 data showing that drunk- or drugged-riding fatalities went down a whopping 36 percent in 2023. That correlates very nicely with the latest overall traffic fatality data just released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) that shows traffic fatalities in Colorado decreased by by 5.8 percent in 2023, 764 down to 720.
According to NHTSA, about 14 percent of all US traffic deaths are of motorcyclists so if that percentage is carried through on the Colorado figures that would mean about 101 motorcyclists were killed here in 2023. A lower number is good but that still means 101 of your friends or my friends or somebody’s friends and family members died. Better is better but it’s not good.
Restating what we all know, Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, said “Experienced riders don’t take unnecessary risks. Whether consuming alcohol, marijuana or another substance, intoxicated riders are more likely to lose control of their vehicles and crash.”
At the same time, better truly is better, and a 36 percent drop is amazing. Maybe people really are changing their thinking. I know it used to be a common thing with the OFMC that soon into the day’s ride John was sure to pull off somewhere and pull out his pipe. And stopping somewhere along the way to have a beer was totally normal. It has been years since we’ve done either of those things so if our thinking has changed it makes sense that many other peoples’ thinking has done so as well.
Let’s all keep up the good work. I wonder if a year from now the 2024 numbers will show a similar improvement.
<3>Biker Quote for Today
A motorcycle is like a drug but it doesn’t clog your arteries, impair your brain function, or send you to a rehabilitation center. Plus, it’s completely legal – if you have a license.
I
ride and I write. This is where I bring it all together.
Visit
www.motorcyclecolorado.com
Email
me at kenbingenheimer@
yahoo.com
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