Passes & Canyons Blog

An earlier RMMRC ride.

There were about 10 guys but only 4 motorcycles showing up Wednesday morning for the RMMRC‘s regularly scheduled breakfast and ride. I was on my V-Strom while the other bikes were two Goldwings and one Shadow. It was definitely cool but if you wore the right gear it was a very nice day to ride.

I sure wore the right gear. I had my electric vest and my heated gloves, plus my Rev-It riding pants with long underwear underneath. I’ve got to tell you, the more I wear those pants the more I fall in love with them. This was a really, really good purchase.

One of the four of us riders was Don, who got connected to the group via the Meet-Up site. Don came all the way down from Louisville. It was his birthday and he had taken the day off from work, so he wanted to ride. Welcome Don, I hope we see you again.

Having Don join us was indicative of a shift in RMMRC thinking. The group for years had maintained a standalone website but the member who was supposed to be tending to it managed to let the hosting contract lapse. We had already added the Meet-Up page and that has the advantage of exposing other people to the fact of the club’s existence and, at times at least, bringing them to the rides. After some discussion it was decided not to reestablish the old web site, just use Meet-Up. So if you have any old bookmarks for www.rmmrc.org you might as well delete those.

The ride was no big deal; we didn’t have anything great in the way of ideas–just let’s go ride. We wound our way, avoiding highways, to the underpass under I-25 just north of the Castle Pines exit and then over to Daniels Park, down to US 85, up through Sedalia to pick up C-470 and then went our separate ways where that road intersected US 285. Robert and I headed east and home from there while Don continued north toward home. Bob had split off for home back at Daniels Park.

The thing is, the route was not important. It was just a great January day to be out on the bikes. It was windy, especially along the foothills, so I had chosen the V-Strom. I really wanted to ride the Concours but with all its body work it acts like a sail in high winds. I still got blown around on the V, just not as much.

So, we’ve had a lot of cool but clear days so far this January. You don’t have to have electrics, although I strongly recommend them. Just dress with all the warmth you can and get out there. There’s a lot of good riding to be done.

Biker Quote for Today

Why bikes are better than women: When riding, you and your Motorcycle both arrive at the same time.

From left to right, the Concours, the CB750, and the V-Strom.

I make note of my odometer readings on all three bikes and my car at the end of the year and once again I put more miles on my bikes than I did on my car. It has been quite awhile, actually, since the last time I put more miles on the car than on the bikes. I try to ensure that the bikes get the bulk of the miles.

That said, my mileage overall for the year was down. In 2018 my total mileage was 10,158 (7,230 motorcycle miles); in 2019 it was 8,011 (4,777 motorcycle miles). I guess I just don’t leave the house as much as I used to. Still, that was 4,777 miles on the bikes versus only 3,234 miles in the car. But there have been years when I’ve put more miles on the Kawi alone than I put on all my vehicles last year.

So which one got the most riding? Once again it was the V-Strom. This has totally to do with tires. I was getting set to go on the OFMC ride last year and looking at the tires on the Kawi I was not confident. I wanted to take the Kawi but the tread was getting thin. But it was not thin enough for me to want to get new tires yet. I briefly considered taking the CB750 but it has the least luggage capacity so I took the V-Strom.

All told, I put 3,494 miles on the V. That compares to 2,425 the year before.

The Concours was the one that really got short shrift last year. That wonderful highway bike was only ridden for 688 miles, versus 4,336 the previous year. That has got to be the least it has ever had. (Nope, I checked my records and I only rode it 666 miles in 2013.) I want to ride it on the OFMC trip this year so I’ll make sure to wear out those tires and get new ones before that trip comes around.

In last place as always is the CB750. I only put 595 miles on it last year. But that’s up from 469 miles the previous year. I made a special point of riding that bike more.

So what am I looking for in 2020? By golly, I will put more miles on all three bikes, I swear. And if I can put fewer miles on my car that will just be a bonus. In particular I want to put more than 1,000 miles on the Honda in one year, something I haven’t done since 2009. That used to be my only bike and it always got lots of miles.

And let’s see if I can exceed 10,000 motorcycle miles this year. You know what they say about a dirty job that someone has to do. Well, I’m more than willing to do the dirty work.

Biker Quote for Today

The cost of not following your heart is spending the rest of your life wishing you had.

So the tank on this bike is not bottomless. Who knew?

I told about riding home from Deckers on the V-Strom with the you-need-gas-now! icon flashing ominously, all the while nervously confident that I had enough to get home OK.

The next time I rode that bike I was going with the RMMRC on one of the regular Wednesday morning rides. I got a late start so I figured I would get over there, let them know I was coming along, and hurry off to fill the tank. But this was Wednesday last week and it was a cold, rainy morning. I also just threw my weather gear in the bags, intending to put that on once I had connected with the group.

I got to the gathering place just a couple minutes late, which should not have been an issue because they never get off exactly at the designated hour. But there were zero bikes in the parking lot. Now, some guys come just for the breakfast and camaraderie with no intention of going along on the ride. I figured there might be some folks inside but with no bikes it was clear none of them intended to ride, so that was irrelevant for me. I wanted to ride.

It was also possible I had missed them, that they had already left to ride. But I know where these guys park and there were cars in those parking spaces and if they left just two minutes before I got there those spaces would not yet have been filled.

Whatever the situation, there was not going to be an RMMRC ride for me this morning. So I headed toward home but thought about getting gas. Ultimately I decided I was cold and gas could wait for later. So now the tank was even lower than before.

Yesterday was a much warmer day and I figured I really needed to get gas in that bike. Plus, I wanted to go for a ride.

I wheeled the V-Strom out on the driveway, climbed on, turned the key, and pushed the start button. It cranked and cranked and cranked but would not start. It was facing downhill so I thought maybe if I leveled it out that would allow gas to reach the fuel intake. That didn’t work. Then I tried facing it uphill. That didn’t work either.

Obviously I was really, really low on gas. I know that while a low tank can cause problems starting, nevertheless if the bike is running it can keep running. The problem is getting the fuel flowing in the first place. We have several gas can around home and two were completely empty but the third had just a little in it, maybe two tablespoons. I dribbled that in and hoped it would do the trick.

It did not. So I did the only thing I could do. I got in my car and drove to a station and filled the gas can. Then I came back and poured just about half a pint in and now it started. Then I went and got gas.

Now I know this bike just a little better than I did before.

Biker Quote for Today

If driving a convertible is topless why can’t I ride my Harley in the nude? — Tom T. Hall

Strapping the bike down before driving to Idaho Falls.

Our experience on the recent OFMC trip where Dennis inadvertently put diesel in his Indian has led me to think about some things I hadn’t considered before. Primarily, the importance of being close to someone who can work on your motorcycle when need be.

It’s no secret that there are one heck of a lot more Hondas or Harleys on the road than there are Indians. First off, the modern-day Indians are a much newer brand than Harley, plus they cost a lot. So–so far at least–Indian is sort of a niche brand.

Thus, the economics of the situation dictate that there are a lot fewer Indian dealerships around and also not all that many independent shops with experience working on Indians. And when you paid something in the mid-20s or more for your Chieftain I’m guessing you aren’t comfortable letting just any wrench jockey tear into it.

But what do you do when you break down? In Dennis’s case, he rented a U-Haul truck and we loaded the bike in and drove more than 200 miles out of our way to get to the nearest dealer. That will disrupt your trip in a hurry.

If it had been Bill, on the other hand, who rides a Harley, we would only have needed to get the bike another 40 miles or so in the direction we were heading to find a Harley shop. Same thing for me on my Suzuki V-Strom. And there are plenty of all-makes shops that would have been fully competent to work on either of our bikes. Perhaps they would also have been fully competent to work on Dennis’s bike but as I say, he was not particularly willing to take that chance.

So obviously, if you’re like Dennis and you ride a bike where repair options are sparse you are going to make an extra careful point to be sure the bike is in top condition before you take off on a trip like this. But Dennis didn’t break down; he made a mistake at the pumps and grabbed the wrong pump.

I’m sure this is not an irrelevant issue for some people when they’re deciding which bike to buy. And it has to be a chicken and egg thing: how do you get the sales without the dealer networks, but how do you support the dealer networks before you have the sales? I guess in this case it helps to be a big corporation like Polaris that can afford to subsidize the new brand for awhile from sales of the established brand. But even they don’t have infinite resources.

I guess I’ll stick with my Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki bikes. There are a lot of them out there.

Meanwhile, I want to note that as I prepped to write this piece I googled Honda, Harley, and Indian dealerships in Colorado and was amazed–as I periodically am–at how many shops come and go. And then there are those who change their names. I try to keep my “Colorado Motorcycle Dealers and Repair Shops” page reasonably current but this is an ever-changing target. I ended up adding about eight new shops and revising the name on two. About once a year I try to go through and click each link to see who is no longer in business, and there are always a bunch of those. Ah, the joys of running a website.

Biker Quote for Today

Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: We never ask for directions. Getting lost is usually the point on a motorcycle.

Norvin took a spill but was unhurt and there were plenty of folks to help him get back upright.

OK, now, this is the kind of riding that I bought the V-Strom for. And finding people to do this with is a large part of why I joined the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club.

I met up on Saturday with three guys at Performance Cycle and we were joined by three others in Sedalia. This ride was billed as a non-technical dual-sport ride. You bet I clicked the button to say “count me in.”

Leaving Performance we headed south on I-25 to Happy Canyon Road, down to U.S. 85, where we turned north to Sedalia. Our bikes included two 650 V-Stroms, two Africa Twins, one GS 650, a Super Tenere, and a street bike that I guess I didn’t bother to look at to see what it was. Or else I don’t remember.

With everyone gathered, we headed west out of Sedalia on what I see is called Jarre Canyon Road for a ways before it seems to just become CO 67. Once it gets past the Rampart Range dirt-biking area the pavement ends and we were on our first stretch of gravel. It’s good gravel and while I was concerned it might be muddy due to all the rain we have had, it turned out only to be a bit wet. I only slid once going down this really steep grade (19% I’m told) when I downshifted thinking I was in third but was actually in second, so it was a bit of a jolt to hit first.

CO 67 brought us out to the Platte River onto pavement at the Platte and we wound our way on around to Deckers, where we stopped for a break. Then we turned north for a short distance on Douglas County Road 126, to Wigwam Creek Road, which heads over toward Tarryall Reservoir. This was our second stretch of gravel, and by far the longest of the two.

Now, I had had this stretch in mind for some time as a potential ride because a couple years ago Judy and I had driven this road in her Subaru. At the time, though, there were large stretches where it was deeply rutted and largely washed out, and would have been challenging on a bike. It has since been graded and was a good road all the way.

So we headed up the gravel, me in third position, and within less than a half mile I came around a bend to see Norvin, the group leader, on his side at the side of the road. Whoa, what happened?! He said he hit some sand with his front wheel and the whole thing just went right out from under him. Norvin was unhurt and the bike was pretty much undamaged, except the latch for his right side bag, which he reattached. This was a good example of why it’s nice to have friends along. He was back up and ready to go quickly.

But only a very short distance. That bag attachment was more badly damaged than he thought and in very short order the bag was just hanging loose. So we stopped again and someone produced a bungee cord. That did the trick and all was well.

The rest of the ride on this road was beautiful. This whole area got burned in one of the really big fires a few years ago but with all the rain it was deeply green everywhere. And the one very small upside of forest fires is that they open up the view and you can see rock formations and vistas that for decades had been blocked by trees.

We met the pavement again at Park County Road 77, Tarryall Road, and turned south to U.S. 24 at Lake George. Lunch time, at the Bla Bla Blah Cafe. Yes, that is its name. After lunch I believe the plan had been to head back north past Tarryall to U.S. 285 at Jefferson and home via that route, but the sky up that way was black and threatening so the decision was made to head east on U.S. 24. Three members of the group turned north at Woodland Park on CO 67 but I stayed with the others on U.S. 24 down into Colorado Springs.

Cindy, who lives in the Springs, peeled off there and Norvin and Kevin and I got on I-25 up to Monument. We turned east on CO 105 over to CO 83 and then north. Coming along past Castlewood Canyon State Park I could see over in the foothills how black and wet it looked and was very glad I had opted for this route. I came up CO 83 to I-225 and got into some rain going past Kennedy Golf Course but then I was home and dry.

This was a terrific day. I really, really want to do more of this.

Biker Quote for Today

While the big GS is a competent street mount, and great on back roads, don’t even think about riding it fast off road. This would be as absurd as a fat transvestite running in high heels.

I love having three bikes, partly because they’re so different and each has its own strength.

For a little more than two weeks Judy and I were on a ride to British Columbia on my 1999 Kawasaki Concours. We got home on a Thursday and on Friday I took off with the OFMC for another week, this time on my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom 650. After basically living on the Connie for two weeks, was it an adjustment to be on the V-Strom, alone? You better believe it.

First off, Judy and I have helmet-to-helmet communicators, and I was totally accustomed to just talking with someone (her) as I rode along. Heading off on the OFMC trip, several of the guys had left earlier but I headed out with Brett. I can’t tell you how often I started to just talk to him, only to be reminded that, oh yeah, he can’t hear me. It’s silly how many times I did that.

As for being on a different bike, that played out in a variety of ways. For one thing, wow, what a change to go from a 670-pound bike with a 110-pound passenger to a 420-pound bike and no passenger. Can you say “light” and “agile”? I thought you could. This was like night and day. Smaller, lighter bikes are just fun to ride. I love my Connie as a highway, let’s-do-some-traveling sort of bike, but the Wee Strom is made for other pleasures, although it does fine on the highway.

Now, the seat is less comfortable than the Connie. I know most people think the first thing you should do is get an aftermarket seat, but I’ve never found that necessary or even desirable. I like the seat, and it is definitely better than the one on the V-Strom.

A different consideration is that the V has chain drive, while the Connie has a shaft. Not a big deal, but I did pay attention to the chain on this trip, even stopping to buy some W-D 40 because I forget to bring chain lube along.

The other significant thing about the V is that it has a digital read-out, not dials the way all older bikes do. One option on this digital read-out is the odometer and two trip meters that you have to punch a button to select. Also, a fuel gauge with five bars: full is five and when you get to only one it starts flashing to warn you that you are low.

These controls may be simple but it took me a while to figure out how they worked. As long as I’ve had the V-Strom I have had it just set to the odometer. That means that if you want to know what kind of gas mileage you’re getting you have to remember what the mileage was when you last filled up. I usually didn’t.

So on this trip I started using the trip meter for the first time. I wanted to understand how many miles each of those five bars represented. I quickly found that the first one did not go away until I had ridden at least 100 miles. The second one would generally disappear about 40 miles later. But I was riding with the guys, and none of their bikes can go as far on a tank of gas as my V-Strom so we were always stopping for gas before I got far into the third bar. I’ll have to figure out what the others represent sometime when I’ve riding alone.

But even the little I do know now has come in useful. As long as I’ve had the bike I’ve noticed that when I start it up after it’s been sitting for a while I smell gas. Once I saw gas dripping and I took it in for work that seems to have addressed the issue for the most part. But after I got home, with about 50 miles on the tank, I let the bike sit for a few weeks. Next time I got on it I was already down to the third bar. Whoa! Clearly I have a leak. Something is wrong. I’m hoping it will just require replacement of some rubber fuel lines. That’s going to be up to Joel to figure out.

Biker Quote for Today

If you need me I’ll be riding.