Archive for the ‘Suzuki motorcycles’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

First Back-On-The-Bike Ride

Thursday, October 30th, 2025

How great it was to take off on my V-Strom on Monday after getting the all-clear from my neurosurgeon! I had wondered if I would feel unsteady or uncertain but it was just like they say about riding a bicycle–you never forget and it just comes back naturally.

 I wanted to get more of the bike in the picture but I’m no  expert at shooting selfies.

I didn’t have a whole lot of time because I have a piano lesson every Monday at 2:30 and it was nearly noon when we got home from the doc’s. I needed to have lunch and to put up that quick blog post announcing my return. I wanted to go somewhere where I could get a good photo to go with this post so I figured if I headed down to Daniels Park I could get the shot and get to Chad’s in time for my lesson.

The day was a little cooler, in the low 60s, so I dressed warmly and wore my electric vest. That was more than I needed as I headed south but I have found previously that Daniels is about 1,000 feet higher than home and that difference means several degrees cooler. I got near the park and there was a lot of road construction going on so I had to take a detour. No problem, I know my way around here quite well at this point.

Got to the park and stopped for a photo. Yeah, it was darn chilly. Up on this high point I could see to the west and there were storm clouds moving in and it looked like it might already be raining over the foothills. Not a problem, I had my rain suit with me. I also wondered if the chill might just be the cold front moving in.

Needing to get to Chad’s I now headed north and no, it’s not just the front, it still got warmer as I continued north. But I was darn glad to have my heated vest. Meanwhile, the bike was running great and I was feeling great. So good to be back on the bike!

Following my crash I had mentioned to Judy that I intended to spend some money on some new, really good (read: expensive) riding gear. Back in August, around my birthday, Judy asked me if I would like a new riding suit as a birthday gift. I told her let’s not do that just at this time. I really didn’t want her to ask why but she did so I told her how at that moment I was feeling some hesitation and uncertainty about getting back on the bike. I think that’s a fairly normal reaction after you go through what I did. That image of that car headed right at me sticks with me. Well, it occurred to me just recently that all that reluctance and hesitation had just vanished. When my neurosurgeon asked if I was giving up riding motorcycles I told him no way, as soon as I get home from here I’m taking off for a ride.

I got to Chad’s just a few minutes late but not much. After the lesson I came out to the bike and it was spitting rain. Now the front had made it all the way into town. I put on my rain jacket and took off. Even with the jacket stopping the wind it was chilly so I flipped on the vest again. I love that thing. I made it on home without really getting wet and that was my ride for Monday. Soon after I got home it poured. Now I’m going to be watching the weather closely and I plan to get out a lot in the next week or two. I missed the whole summer; I will not miss the fall.

Biker Quote for Today

“The man hunched over his motorcycle can focus only on the present instant of his flight; he is caught in a fragment of time cut off from both the past and the future; he is wrenched from the continuity of time; he is outside time; in other words he is in a state of ecstasy. In that state he is unaware of his age, his wife, his children, his worries, and so he has no fear, because the source of fear is in the future, and a person freed of the future has nothing to fear.” – Milan Kundera

Tags:,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Motorcycle Gear, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Got My Life Back

Monday, October 27th, 2025

Me on my only remaining bike, my V-Strom 650.

We just got back from the neurosurgeon’s and I am free to resume all activities. Yahoo!

Now I’m going riding. I’ll tell you all about it on Thursday.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if your jeans have a crease.

Tags:
Posted in Motorcycle Safety, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | 2 Comments »

Going Riding Today (Or Not)

Monday, June 23rd, 2025

The Honda is sitting there charging as I write this.

Today is June 23 and I have not ridden either of my bikes yet this month. What the hey?

June has been extreme. We’ve had a lot of spring this year, and that means a lot of rain. Then, in between the rain storms, we have had blistering heat. Neither one makes you yearn to get out on the road. But today was going to be different.

Today is cool with rain forecast for the afternoon. Fine. I’m getting on the Honda to go for a ride in the morning. The Suzuki will take care of itself; I’m taking off tomorrow–regardless of the weather–with the RMMRC on an overnight trip up into the hills.

So what happens? I geared up, rolled the Honda out, swung my leg over, and hit the start button. And the motor turned but didn’t quite catch. I kept trying, and it kept trying, but eventually it wore down. This bike is going nowhere until it has more juice in the battery.

I put the charge unit to work, which is where it is now, and will try to get it going in about an hour.

The thing is, I thought about exactly this yesterday but didn’t do anything about it. I had the thought that because it had been a while since I’ve run this bike, maybe the battery would be low. I could have tried starting it yesterday, or I could have just put the charger on figuring there was no downside to that. But I didn’t. And now here I sit.

And it’s not like I can give it three or four hours if need be and then ride. I have a standing engagement on Mondays at 2:30 p.m. I intended to be on the road before 10 a.m. and then be back in plenty of time. I can still do that if it starts an hour from now. If not . . .

Oh, and I checked my records. I just bought this battery in August 2023, so it should still be good. That should not be the problem. Apparently it just sat too long. Dang.

Update:
Now 11:10 a.m. and I had a thought. It occurred to me that the mileage on the tripmeter was right at the point where I need to go to Reserve. Maybe it would have caught if it had been getting gas. So I flipped to Reserve before pushing the start button. The motor turned over strongly but still did not catch, like it needed gas but the line was dry. It takes a moment in this kind of case to get gas flowing again, so I’m hoping the next time I try it will catch. We’ll see.

Biker Quote for Today

If I was interested in dying, I wouldn’t dress up like a neon green clown before every ride.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Biker Issues, Honda motorcycles, motorcycle problems, Suzuki motorcycles | No Comments »

New Tire And Once-Over Means I’m Ready To Go

Thursday, April 17th, 2025

So I got that new front tire put on the V-Strom. And while I was at it I had them go ahead and do an oil change. Now I’m ready for a 3,200-mile trip.

Yep, this new tire sure has a lot more tread on it than the old one.

This was Fay Myers where I took it. I got there early on Friday and was able to go straight to the desk and get the whole thing arranged. The guy I dealt with was great and the whole thing took about an hour and a half.

As a plus, when I got the invoice and paid, I saw that they had basically done an overall check of the bike, which is a good thing to do before a trip. I know they do these things because if they find anything else they thing needs doing they want to bring this to your attention so you can presumably pay them to handle it.

So:
Inspect steering and suspension–check
Check battery and charging system voltage–check
Check operation of lights/switches/meters–check
Inspect/adjust control and cables–check
Inspect/top off cooling system–check
Inspect brake pads–check
Inspect brake fluid level/condition–check
Inspect/top off final drive oil–check
Inspect chain–check
Set tire pressure–check

Hey guys, thanks. I think I’m good to go here.

The funny thing was that then the next day I went for this ride with the RMMRC and mentioned to Bob that I had had the work done, and at Fay Myers. He asked me, “Do you trust them?” That took me by surprise, and as I told him, I had never heard anything to suggest that I shouldn’t. He didn’t elaborate but I thought that was odd. So yeah, I do trust them. Why shouldn’t I? Odd.

Now I need to start pulling things together and making a number of pre-trip decisions. And as departure day draws nearly the forecast keeps looking better and better. April can be tricky but it looks like we’re in luck. Oh boy.

Biker Quote for Today

How many motorcycles do you need? N-1, where N equals the number needed for divorce.

Tags:,
Posted in Dual sport bikes, motorcycle mechanics, Motorcycle repair, motorcycle touring, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Everyone Go Outside Now!

Monday, April 14th, 2025

The Phillips 66 in Morrison is a favorite gathering place for motorcycle groups.

To say that there were a lot of motorcycles out on Saturday would be a gross understatement. With temperatures in the 80s Denver set a new record high for the date. Meanwhile, not just motorcyclists but hikers, bicyclists, ATVers and everyone else was out in full force. This included the RMMRC.

Six of us gathered at the Phillips 66 in Morrison, along with about 30-40 other bikers in numerous groups. In an inauspicious start to the ride, Charley, who has recently had surgery and has trouble getting his leg over the saddle, ended up pushing the bike over and falling with it. With all these bikers around a swarm immediately gathered and got him and bike back up. He was unhurt and fortunately this was not a portent of ills to follow on the ride.

We headed north on CO 93 out of Golden, across Rocky Flats, to the south end of Boulder. Boulder is this huge blot on a rider’s route. There’s no good way to get through it and getting around it is limited by the fact of mountains on the west side. Fortunately what you can do at the El Dorado Springs intersection is go east a short distance and then turn north on Cherryvale Road. This takes you a good ways north up past Baseline Reservoir to where you go east on Baseline Road and then you follow a zig-zag pattern up through the less heavily developed portions of east Boulder.

That’s what we did, got into Niwot intending to go west on Niwot Road, but got to the Longmont Diagonal and found the road closed for construction. This put us on the Diagonal headed toward Longmont. With some more bobbing and weaving we finally reached CO 66 and were able to turn west to Lyons, our lunch stop. At Smokin’ Dave’s we found two more folks waiting for us. We got seated and ordered and in walked Bruce. The group keeps growing.

After lunch we headed up to the Peak-to-Peak Highway via CO 7, the South Saint Vrain road. This road had been closed for a really long time, including the last time we had been up this way but it is now finally open to traffic again. Nice.

So we took that southwest to meet up with CO 72, the first stretch at the north end of the Peak-to-Peak. It was starting to cook in the city but up on the Peak-to-Peak it was actually a bit chilly. I had started with a couple layer I didn’t need, had removed them, and now would have welcomed at least one of those back. But it wasn’t bad.

Motorcycles were everywhere. Every trailhead we passed had cars overflowing the parking areas. Bicyclists were everywhere. This was a day to be outside!

We headed south, with intentions of going back down via Golden Gate Canyon. However, at Nederland, with Bob leading, he missed the correct turn off the Nederland roundabout and we found ourselves headed down Boulder Canyon, right into the heart of Boulder. I had considered making the right turn and splitting off from the group but I didn’t. I figured what the heck, I ride Golden Gate a lot and almost never take Boulder Canyon. It will be a change of pace.

Of course Boulder was its usual horrible mess. Some of us managed to stay together and head south on 93 but bit by bit we got separated so by the time I got back to Morrison I was alone and just headed on home. And I was roasting. Really glad I had not put another layer back on, and wishing I could remove another layer, but not wanting to stop.

So. Good ride. Great day for a ride. And as for scuffing up my new front tire on my V-Strom, mission accomplished. What more can you ask for?

Biker Quote for Today

“Cyclists see considerably more of this beautiful world than any other class of citizens.” – Dr. K.K. Doty

Tags:,
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, motorcycle clubs, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Riders Club, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Why Can’t Things Be Simple?

Thursday, April 10th, 2025

Yep, it’s definitely spring. These apple blossoms are opening up. Let’s ride!

Man, you think it’s going to be so simple and then it’s not.

I concluded I ought to get a new front tire put on my V-Strom before I leave on this California trip in a couple weeks, so I checked around.

Performance Cycle sells tires but they only mount them if you bring the wheel in off the bike. Of course I could get a tire there and take it to One Down Four Up to be mounted but that would require an appointment. I checked with Fay Myers and they sell tires and their website said you could come in and mounting would be first come, first served. So I decided I would do that on Tuesday.

Just to be sure I called on Tuesday morning. Following the phone tree I headed to service and . . . got disconnected. I called back, same phone tree, and . . . disconnected. Dang.

So I called again and this time I asked for parts. I got to parts and inquired about a tire, which they had, and the guy told me the price. Quite a bit higher than I expected but oh well. Then he took my name and number and said he would have service call me.

They called soon after and it turns out the website is technically correct but a bit incomplete. On Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday you need an appointment to have a tire mounted and you have to leave the bike there. No mount while you wait option. You can come in on Friday or Saturday and it’s first come first served, mount while you wait. OK, I’ll probably see you on Friday morning early.

Probably. If it’s going to be other than I expected let’s see if there is a better way, particularly since the price is unexpectedly high.

I called Performance to see what tires they had at what prices. I figured then to call One Down Four Up and see about getting the bike in to have the work done while I wait.

I called Performance, the phone rang and was picked up with a quick “Please hold.” I then sat there for 10 minutes or so listening to the list of things Performance offers and the assurance that “A fellow rider will be with you shortly.” Now and then that would be interrupted by ringing, which would only be replaced with the spiel again. I hung up.

I considered calling One Down Four Up and asking when they could get me in but I hesitated to make an appointment until I was sure I would want to get the tire from Performance. So I called Performance again.

This time I got right through. And despite what their promotional spiel says, the prices they were asking for all but one of the tires we discussed were higher than what Fay Myers had quoted me. The one cheaper one was a Shinko, which I have run before. Because this is an 80-20 street/offroad tire and I pretty much just ride on the street this tire has not worn well for me.

Bottom line, I decided I’ll just run over to Fay Myers Friday morning. I’ll need to adjust my schedule to make it work but oh well. Sure would have been nice if I could have done this Tuesday morning.

Biker Quote for Today

My motorcycle takes me places my car never will.

Tags:
Posted in Motorcycle Gear, Motorcycle repair, motorcycle touring, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »