Archive for the ‘Suzuki motorcycles’ Category

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Good Power Again On The V-Strom

Thursday, October 28th, 2021

This is just a section of the incredibly filthy air filter that came out of my V-Strom.

I got the V-Strom back from Joel and what a difference!

The chain and sprockets were badly worn and I guess that can contribute to a loss of power but the real factor seems to have been the air filter. You can see in that photo just how bad that was. When I started looking into when I had last had that replaced I was more than a little embarrassed to find the answer was, oh, maybe seven years ago.

I had been out on a four-day Colorado Cruise with the RMMRC about a month ago and really noticed that the bike had trouble going over the higher passes and also in keeping up with the rest of the group on their big, powerful bikes. One night on that trip I did some googling and ran across something that said a worn chain will reduce power, and that was what got me thinking about that.

But when I mentioned it to Joel he said yeah, that might have a tiny impact, but not all that much. That’s when I started thinking about other possibilities. When I hit on the air filter it all made a lot more sense. It’s really hard to give your all when you’re struggling just to breathe.

And did you look at that filter? All those bugs and other debris embedded in it? Not to mention the whole load of dirt! Man, if anyone ever wondered why you need an air filter, just imagine all that crap being sucked into your combustion chamber. Yikes!

So within an hour after Joel dropped the bike back at my place I was out on it seeing how it would run now. Night and day. Joel told me he figured it would have a lot more zip and boy was he right. Plus, with the new chain and sprockets all that slapping I had heard for so long was just gone. Yahoo!

I can’t say enough about having machines that work well. Not to mention having the money to keep them working well. Too well I remember my younger days driving crap cars because that was all I could afford. I don’t miss those days.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re a biker if it’s impossible to see out of your car or trucks rear window because of all the Harley stickers.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, motorcycle problems, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

The Wonderfulness Of Normal

Thursday, October 14th, 2021

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

I can’t even remember how long ago it was that my Concours started giving me trouble, but it seems like it’s been all summer. I packed it off to Joel before the OFMC bike trip but when he brought it back Joel said it still needed more work. But there wasn’t time to do that before the trip.

Once I got back from that trip I ordered the necessary parts and called Joel to let him know they were in hand and I was ready for him to come get the bike again, and this time bring it back really, truly fixed.

Well, Joel brought it back the other day and first I took it on a brief errand run to the wine store and then a few days later I rode it with the RMMRC to Daniels Park. And there was just one word for it: normal.

How wonderful it is for that bike to be operating normally again, finally. Normal is so great.

No more racing at a screaming pace when I pull up to a stop. No more dying as I coast to a stop. No more needing to ride around the neighborhood first to get the bike running halfway smoothly before getting out on the less forgiving main roads.

It was also nice once again to have the feeling of power. I had never noticed a lack of power in my other bikes before but lately I have. On the Colorado Cruise with the RMMRC I was on the V-Strom and for the first time it seemed like it was struggling for power going over the highest passes. That bike is currently with Joel and I hope it feels more back to normal when he brings it back. And then the other day I rode the Honda CB750 with the RMMRC up to Kremmling, and that bike was totally left in the dust by those other bigger bikes. The Connie has the power to keep up with any of these other guys.

Yeah, normal can often be boring. We crave some change, some variety. But when you’ve had a steady diet of not normal, and it hasn’t been fun, it’s amazing how wonderful normal can be. We all know that old Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Right now I’m really hoping to be living in some boring times.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 19. We “need” a bunch of expensive riding gear, usually 2 or 3 of each item.

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Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

New Rubber

Thursday, July 15th, 2021

I’m still counting on taking the Kawi on the OFMC trip very shortly but nothing has happened yet on the carburetor issue. For insurance I got a new rear tire on the V-Strom a couple days ago.

Nice to have new rubber on the V-Strom. That insures I’ll have something to ride when the OFMC takes off soon.

I got this recommendation from both Bill and Dennis, that I get the tire at Let It Ride, on 8425 W. Colfax, and then take it next door to 1 Down, Four Up Motorsports, at 8427 W. Colfax, to be mounted. That worked out great. I called ahead about the tire and they had it in stock. I asked them to hold it for me and made an appointment so I could have it mounted while I waited.

Mid-way through the job, the guy (whose name I can’t remember–I really should make note of these things) asked if I wanted new rear brake pads because with the old ones, “there’s almost nothing there.” That didn’t surprise me; I had been thinking about that possibility. So sure, put on new pads. He said the front pads are fine.

Then as I was paying he told me they had adjusted the chain as good as they could but there was some stretching and really, the chain and sprockets need to be replaced. That didn’t surprise me either.

The ride home proved interesting then. Of course I was doing some swerving to scuff up the edges of the new tire but I wasn’t so busy with that as not to notice something else. A noise I had wondered about for quite awhile was not there.

This noise is something I’ve always thought of as maybe the chain slapping. I’ve tried adjusting the tension but never made a difference. I take it now that the shop did a better job of adjusting it than I did and at least for now that slapping–which is apparently what it was–is gone. At the very least, the noise is gone. So OK, that’s something to take care of after the trip.

Biker Quote for Today

I was born intelligent, but my bike ruined me.

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Posted in Motorcycle Gear, Suzuki motorcycles | No Comments »

An Unlikely Contender For Offroad Fun

Monday, June 28th, 2021

Kevin and I were on V-Stroms but Janet rode her Ninja.

Sometimes the best tool for the job is not the one designed for that purpose, but the one – the only one – you have.

Take dual-sport riding, this business of taking a motorcycle down the highway to get somewhere, and then taking that same bike onto the dirt when you reach your destination. Years ago, when motorcycles were less specialized than they are today, riders were far more ready to take their street bikes in the dirt. Nowadays we have dirt bikes and dual-sport bikes, and most street bikes never see more than a short stretch of gravel here and there. Many never see anything but pavement.

I went dual-sporting awhile back in the area around Gunnison. The two Suzuki V-Stroms we were on were provided by my friend Kevin, who used to rent V-Stroms out of Gunnison. And there was a third person with us, Kevin’s wife, Janet, and she was riding her Kawasaki Ninja 500R.

The Ninja is a sportbike, the antithesis of a dual-sport or dirt bike. Whereas the V-Strom has 6 inches of suspension travel in the rear, the Ninja is limited to 3.9 inches. On rough roads those 2 inches make a huge difference. And ground clearance on the Ninja is only 4.9 inches, compared to 6.5 inches on the V-Strom.

We headed out of Gunnison on the highway, went up and over North Cochetopa Pass, and then coming down the other side we turned off on an unpaved county road. It was pretty good gravel, hard packed and stable, and well maintained. The V-Stroms, like any good dual-sport bike, were right at home. And the Ninja just cruised along, too.

As we began to climb up to Carnero Pass things got a bit rougher. There was washboard, a few ruts, and some stretches of badly disturbed surface. The V-Stroms ate it up. The Ninja took it slowly, navigating around the bigger holes, following the smoothest path. Not a problem.

Over the top and down and we followed a ranching canyon to its outlet onto the prairie. The road was once again good hard-packed gravel. Then we turned onto an unpaved county road that was broad and flat . . . and deep in loose gravel.

“That sucked!,” Janet said when we stopped in town. “That mountain road was fine. I had no problem with it. On that flat road I didn’t feel comfortable going above 40. I knew that if I screwed up it would hurt.”

“Deep, loose gravel is hard, I don’t care what you’re riding,” Kevin replied in agreement.

So the rougher, less-maintained road was really better for the Ninja.

“The suspension on the Ninja was fine. I absolutely felt confident on it. I feel very maneuverable on that bike. I can move it anywhere I need it to move to avoid obstacles in the road,” Janet explained.

That said, she added, “I’d rather be on the (paved) road.”

Janet is a serious mountain bike rider, but has only started riding motorcycles in recent years. She chose the Ninja because it was one of the only bikes she could handle considering how short her legs are.

“Now I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I want a dirt bike because I want to start doing all these gnarly roads around in the mountains.’ I want to get up in there without having to be in a car. It just catches me off guard because I didn’t expect motorcycling to get under my skin. And when I ride it gets under my skin. When I’m not riding I’m like, ‘No I don’t want to do that, I want to ride my bicycle.’”

Janet has taken her Ninja over other mountain passes on gravel roads. “It’s the only bike I’ve ever had. If I want to go somewhere it’s the bike I ride.”

It’s just that simple. For Janet, it’s the best tool for the job.

Biker Quote for Today

I need men for some things; riding a motorcycle is not one of them.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, Dirt biking, Dual sport bikes, Kawasaki, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Checking Out A New Tank Bag

Monday, May 3rd, 2021

My first–but possibly not my last–stab at setting up this Viking bag on my 1980 CB750.

I’ve had a tank bag for my Kawasaki Concours for years and it’s been great. More recently I got a tank bag for my Suzuki V-Strom and it’s a very welcome addition as well. But I’ve never had a tank bag for my Honda CB750 Custom. I’ve felt that lack. Well, now I have one.

I took the bag from the Kawi with me on the Honda one trip and utterly regretted that. Whereas on the Connie it sits–with magnetic attachment–on a broad gas tank with wind protection from the fairing. On the Honda the tank was probably OK, not great, but with no fairing the wind wanted to lift it up and throw it around and I spent that whole trip fighting to keep it in place. A real horror! Nope, I needed a tank bag that straps down securely for the Honda.

So, as I often do, I received an email from the folks at Viking Bags offering to give me some gear in exchange for my testing and reviewing it. Usually I ignore these emails because one person really only needs just so much gear. But this time I figured what the heck, it would be nice to have a tank bag for the Honda.

Of course, nobody makes bags today designed specifically for a motorcycle made in 1980. But Viking does offer bags designed to fit many specific makes and models so I looked at what they had for Honda and picked one that struck me as possibly working on my Honda. I chose to go with the Viking Dirtman Medium Black Dirt Bike/Enduro Tank Bag.

I received the bag Saturday and immediately took it out to put it on the bike. I knew this might be less than straightforward.

Securing the bag under the seat

The back strap was easily secured under the seat.

The first thing I knew I needed to do was to remove the seat and loop the back strap under the slot where the tongue on the seat slips in to be held in place. That was easy, although removing the seat on this bike is never easy. That particular design element is so much better these days than it was in 1980.

Attaching it in front was not so simple. On this old bike, the gas tank straddles the backbone of the bike’s frame and wraps around the steering post. I slipped the straps into that V and then brought them back up to the bag. I wasn’t sure this was going to work but when I tightened everything down it did seem to do the job. The real test will be when I take it for a ride and see how it does.

I also had to figure out just what to do with the rest of the straps and I kind of jerry-rigged that.

It appears secure. What I like about it is that, as the name implies, this bag is designed for a dirt bike so it sits back on the tank, pretty much in the space where the actual tank on my Concours is. This leaves me free access to my gas cap so unlike with the other two, I won’t need to remove the bag to put gas in the tank.

Right now the strap comes up the side of the tank and that is a bit unsightly so I will probably try setting it up differently but for now it looks like it will work. I’ll be following up this post with an actual description of the bag and discussion of its features. I’ll also explain there how I finally decide to handle all this set-up.

In the meantime, I think it’s going to be really nice to finally have a tank bag on this bike. Heck, I’ve had this motorcycle for 33 years.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 5. Bonus at work? We’ll buy shiny bits for our bike instead of taking you on a romantic vacation.

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Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Motorcycle Gear, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

‘Roads To Cripple Creek’ Added To Website

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021

A portion of the new Roads to Cripple Creek page on the Passes and Canyons website.

For the first time in quite a while I have added a new page to the Passes and Canyons: Motorcycle Touring in Colorado website. The new page focuses on the numerous good motorcycle roads that lead to Cripple Creek, and I have named it “Roads to Cripple Creek.”

I don’t add many pages to the site these days because I’ve basically got it built out. It’s not like the roads in Colorado change all that often. I did add a new page for Guanella Pass when they finally paved that road all the way. But that’s not a common occurrence.

I first started thinking about Cripple Creek when I read somewhere that the high point of the road coming into town from the north, from Divide, is considered Tenderfoot Pass. If it’s a pass, I figured, I ought to have it on the site. But it’s kind of iffy as a pass. There is some more or less official registry of geographic place names in the U.S. and Tenderfoot Pass is not included on this list. And as many times as I have been over that road I never thought of it as a pass.

But then I got to thinking. While the road out of the north does have some good twists and turns, and goes up and down, and has some terrific views in places, it’s really probably not the nicest motorcycle road to get to Cripple Creek. There are others I would rate higher. So how about a page focusing on all of them. That’s what I did.

The other paved road into town is generally considered the back way, coming up in a roundabout manner from U.S. 50 a bit to the west of the Royal Gorge. If you’ve never been on this road you really need to do it. It has some terrific twists and lots of changes in elevation. Definitely better than the main road.

Then there are two gravel roads, both along old railroad beds. One comes directly into Cripple Creek, and that’s the Shelf Road, which comes north out of Canon City. Then the Phantom Canyon Road comes north from U.S. 50 a little to the east of Canon City and runs up to Victor, which is just a few miles east of Cripple Creek. Both of these are really nice, scenic road and are ride-able on street bikes as long as your bike is OK on decent gravel. For instance, I would not hesitate to take my Honda CB750 on them, but I would never consider riding them on my Kawasaki Concours. And of course, my Suzuki V-Strom loves that kind of stuff.

The page is not yet complete; I still need to add photos of these four roads. I have some already and just need to add them. For the others I’m going to have to go ride these roads again and get some shots. Oh the horrible burdens I bear!

Biker Quote for Today

The ride keeps me sane. I would like to call it my church.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, motorcycle touring, Routes to Add to Website, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

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