Passes & Canyons Blog

I’ve loved this bike but I’m ready to let it go.

The latest on this idea I’ve had to swap out my 1999 Kawasaki Concours for a 2015 Yamaha FJ-09 is that the status quo seems to be reclaiming the momentum.

I really have made up my mind that I would like to let go of the Connie and replace it with something more modern, but as I said, I have to get rid of the Connie before I can do anything else. And that has been complicated by the presence of a mechanical issue, making the sale of the Connie extremely questionable.

Well, I talked with Mark at Rowdy Rocket Garage about what it would cost to fix the Kawi. I just didn’t want to spend $500 or more only to turn around and sell the bike for something less than the repair cost. It turns out, Mark said diagnosing the problem would take less than an hour of shop time, at $90 per hour, and then that would clarify what the fix would cost. Probably not a lot, he said. So now I’m looking–maybe–at having the Connie running well again for maybe as little as $200. OK Mark, when can I get the bike in to you?

As usual, for Mark it’s a matter of having to get a bike out before he can take another in. Check back in a few days. I did. Check back in a few days. Here we go again.

But now I’m totally onto the idea of fixing the Kawi. That way, I can just keep riding it, and enjoying riding it, and during next year’s riding season I can put the bike up for sale and hopefully get a decent price for it. Then, and only then, I can start looking for a bike to buy, and just be patient, take my time, and wait until I find a really great deal.

Yes that means that I’ll miss out on this FJ-09 over at Vickery, which is really too bad because it already has all the extras and is at a good price now. But they won’t have that bike come June or whenever I might manage to sell the Kawi. And wherever I find another one it probably won’t be five miles from my house. Although that could be OK; if I have to fly to Seattle and ride the bike home, oh, please don’t throw me in that briar patch. (Do people today understand that reference? If not, see Br’er Fox and Br’er Rabbit.)

The flip side is that maybe sometime next year I’ll be able to find a newer bike of the same sort for the same price. That would suit me fine. One thing I’m good at is patience. And maybe by then I’ll be willing to spend even more and get something even newer than that. To quote Irma Thomas, via the Rolling Stones, “Time is on my side, yes it is.”

Biker Quote for Today

Life is short, so grip it and rip it.

I want this motorcycle. Anybody want to buy a 1999 Kawasaki Concours really cheap?

OK, I’ve made up my mind and I really do want to buy this Yamaha FJ-09 sitting over at Vickery. But I have one big problem.

The problem is that I have the space to store three motorcycles, and I have three motorcycles. If I buy a new one I have got to get rid of one of the old ones. Which of the old ones to get rid of is not a problem, it would be the Concours. But how do I get rid of it?

They had told me at Vickery that they would do a trade-in but they also told me I would not like the price they would offer me. I understood that but I rode the Connie over there on Tuesday so Brent could look it over and give me a number that would at least enable me to process the whole matter further. Bill Vickery was there and the three of us went out to the bike. Bill expressed surprise at how clean it was and agreed that it was in very good shape.

Then he and Brent conferred and Brent came back with the number: $200. And they would put it on the floor with a $900 price tag. He urged me to put it on Craigslist or take it over to Steele’s to see what they would give me for it. Steele’s, of course, is a salvage yard, but they do sell used bikes, too. Maybe they would offer more than $200. Worth a shot.

The best thing, though, Brent said, would be to put it on the market asking about $700 and hope that some young guy who wants a nice bike but doesn’t have much money would fulfill his dream.

I looked on Craigslist nationally and found five of the old-style Connies. With one exception they were listed for prices well above $700, even one that’s older than mine. None of them have as many miles on them as mine does. The one exception had a price tag of $100 and the posting explained that it had an issue that the owner didn’t know how to fix so he was offering someone who could fix it a terrific deal. The post also was marked “Sold.”

Well, mine has an issue, a sticky throttle that Brent says is caused by an intake issue, which is a little different but related to what Mark at Rowdy Rocket Garage told me was a vacuum-related issue. No one is going to pay a lot for a bike they know they’ll have to turn around and spend more money on.

Sure I could pay to have the issue fixed and then ask more, but still, who at this time of year is going to be buying it? And sure, I can wait and sell it come spring but Vickery is not likely to still have that FJ-09 come May next year. And it’s a nice bike at a very nice price.

I went over there Tuesday in part to check out the seat height and although it is higher than my other bikes it still is no problem at all to get my feet down. Brent credited the bike’s narrowness for that. And the general riding position felt really good.

So how, in November, am I going to sell my Concours? I will take it to Steele’s and see what they offer. But if they offer $300 what then? Really, the bike has no financial value. But if I put, say, another $500 into it to get this issue fixed, it would then continue to give me years of riding. But at this point I have made up my mind that I would like a newer bike, with some of the newer features, lighter, and something I could take to a dealer if it needs work.

I want this Fj-09 and maybe the answer is to just accept that the Kawi has no value and take anything I can get for it and be done with it. Anybody want to buy a very nice 1999 Kawasaki Concours really cheap?

Biker Quote for Today

Buy a motorcycle because money returns and time doesn’t.

One reason it just seems wrong to get rid of this Concours is that I finally have this top bag.

OK, thinking out loud again.

I took two bikes out back to back this weekend, the Concours and the CB750. On the Connie first I was constantly aware of how the throttle will not back off instantly as it should. It got better later in the ride, I don’t know why, in that when I would come to a stop it would back off right away. But while moving, whether up- or down-shifting, the engine would race as I pulled in the clutch. Plus, it was like cruise control in that I could release the throttle entirely and the bike would just cruise along.

Mark over at Rowdy Rocket Garage swears it has to do with the vacuum mechanism and I have no reason to doubt that. But until it’s fixed it is extremely annoying.

Then I took the Honda out and it was so much fun to ride. The bike just ran, doing everything it ought to do. It was so nice. And that made me think: I would not put up with issues like this on my car. If something isn’t working right on my car I take it in and have it fixed. Time was when I was poor and I would live with such issues for a long time, but those days are past.

And so, OK, yeah, I could just take the bike in except it isn’t that easy. I’ve gone through all this hassle I’ve been having trying to find a new mechanic and/or find a slot to get a bike in. So it’s not that easy.

Meanwhile, I haven’t forgotten that fully dressed Yamaha FJ-09 sitting on the floor over at Vickery. I went over and looked at it at one point and I was very tempted. Did they still have it?

I checked their website and yes, it’s still there, and the price is just $8,000. I had been thinking $10,000. Is my memory wrong or have they dropped the price? Thinking 10 and seeing 8 makes it just that much more appealing. Now I want to go back over and check it out some more ASAP, like probably Tuesday.

Plus, Bill Vickery said they would take my Connie as a trade-in, so that’s good considering that it would probably be extremely hard to sell unless this throttle issue is fixed. And if it were fixed why would I want to sell the Connie anyway? Yes, I know they would give me peanuts for it but it would be off my hands. Talking with Bob at last week’s RMMRC meeting he told me he had a bike he just gave away because he couldn’t sell it. He tried to do a trade-in but the dealer said he would give him a better deal without the trade-in because they just didn’t want that bike he was getting rid of on their floor–they wouldn’t be able to sell it.

But if I would keep the Connie if the problem were fixed, why not just bite the bullet and get it fixed? For one thing, even if it cost a bundle it would still probably be a good bit less than $1,000, and that is versus $8,000 for this FJ-09. And that’s not even factoring in taxes or higher insurance rates.

I don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m writing this, to try to figure out my own mind. It works much of the time; it does not work all the time.

I’m just going to have to go to Vickery and check out that FJ-09 again on Tuesday. For one thing, it has a higher seat height than any of my three current bikes. When I got the Kawi it took me a long time to get used to that high seat. Then I got the V-Strom and it was even higher and it was just no big deal because I was already used to the Kawi. But now we’re talking 32 inches and my inseam is 29.

I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. But at some point I will know and I’ll tell you all about it then.

Biker Quote for Today

A new bike can make you excited as well as emotional.

Motorado has a lot of bikes but not a lot of space.

It’s funny how you get an idea and if you let it it takes on a life of its own. I got this idea of swapping two of my motorcycles–the ’06 V-Strom 650 and the ’99 Concours–for something in between them that would fill both their niches. Then I mentioned it to the guys, who enthusiastically supported the idea. And now I’m looking at bikes.

Whoa. Hold on. Do I really want to do this? The more I think about it the more, when riding the old bikes, I find myself appreciating the things I have always liked about them. Why mess with what is already good?

But the thing is in motion. After looking at some new bikes and test riding one, I turned my attention to used bikes. Two reasons: a used bike costs less than a new bike, plus a used bike–if you choose selectively–will come with a lot of the extras you would need to pay extra for on a new bike.

I had looked at web sites and seen some bikes of possible interest so last week I decided it was time to see some of these bikes in person. I headed first to Aces because it was reasonably close but also because this is where my now former mechanic, Joel, now works. What I found was very different from my expectations.

I had the mistaken idea that Joel was the head of the service department at Aces but in fact, Aces does not do service. Joel is the mechanic on site with the job of doing whatever is needed by any of the bikes on the premises. So my search for a new mechanic goes on.

Then, second, pretty much every bike they had in their spacious showroom was a late model bike, mostly 2019 and newer. Yes you would pay less for these than for new models but we’re still talking pretty big bucks.

I did, however, get an idea for one model to consider and that was the Yamaha Tracer 900. The sales guy Joel hooked me up with said it was one of his three all-time favorite bikes and it seemed to fit in the middle ground where I was hoping to find something. Unfortunately, the 2019 model they had on hand does not have cruise control. That was only added to that model in 2020.

Leaving Aces I figured I was already over on the west side of town so I might as well go on over to Motorado at 6th and Sheridan. This proved to be a very different place.

In contrast to the huge showroom at Aces, Motorado has a much smaller space with bikes crammed in every square inch. They had several bikes I had seen on their website and I could check them out but only within limits. For instance, one bike was on its sidestand and I couldn’t stand it upright because the bike on one side was literally leaning onto it, just as it was leaning onto the bike on the other side. I figure if you are really interested in a bike you better have a check or credit card in your hand before you ask them to pull one out so you can really check it out.

On another I was interested in the seat height but it was on its center stand and there was no way I could rock it down to see how my feet touched ground. But at least at Motorado they had plenty of bikes that were not just late model, and they were therefore at better price points.

I don’t know. I guess next I’ll look more into buying from private owners. The problem there is that it’s much more of a buyer beware situation. And while it’s easy to take a used car to a shop to have it inspected by a mechanic, try that with a motorcycle. I’m trying to find a new mechanic to even work on my bikes and I’m not having a lot of luck.

So that just sends me back to the question of whether or not I even want to do this. But as Judy pointed out, if I had a newer bike I could take it to a dealer and they’d be happy to work on it for me. At least until it got old enough that they fired me as a customer again.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: Motorcycles don’t get pregnant.

The MP3 I test rode several years ago.

February 1 and 2 were good days to ride so I did. I took my Honda out of what we call the workshop and when I came back I rolled the Kawi out so I could put the Honda in first. That put the Kawi in position to come out easily so I could ride it next time. The V-Strom lives in the garage so I end up moving cars to get it in and out.

While I was doing all this shuffling of bikes, pushing them around, rocking them back onto their center stands, it struck me that these are heavy machines. I realized that at some point, still quite a few years down the line, fortunately, there is likely to come a time when I won’t physically be able to do it anymore. I’m healthy as a horse now, but inevitably there will come a time when I’m old and frail. What am I going to do then?

It was interesting that the answer presented itself immediately. I’ll switch to a scooter.

That’s not the only possible answer to that question. For a lot of people the answer is a trike. I know a lot of people who ride trikes now, and several of my riding buddies have spoken from time to time of switching to a trike when it becomes an issue. But I don’t like trikes; they steer like cars. They don’t lean. About the only way that they’re like motorcycles is that you’re out in the open. But heck, I could get that with a convertible and it would be almost the same thing, and a lot more versatile.

One three-wheeler that I might consider would be a Piaggio MP3. Like the Can-Am Spyder, they have two wheels in front and one in the rear, but the front end is totally different, and unique to Piaggio. On an MP3 the two front wheels work like one and you do actually lean. Don’t ask me to explain it, it’s a sophisticated design, but I rode one once and it was very nice. Then of course there are several other newer bikes like the Yamaha Niken that I’ve read good things about, although the Niken is said to be pretty darn heavy itself, what with a double fork up front.

No, I figure a scooter will be the way to go. First off, they’re light, but they can be pretty powerful. During the week I scooted everywhere a few years ago I spoke with a scooterist who told me he could easily hit 90 mph on his 250cc ride. I doubt I’ll need more speed than that when I’m 85. Even now, the speedometer on my Honda CB750 –an old bike–tops out at 85 mph.

Of course, there could be another alternative by that time. Electric motorcycles are getting better all the time and the ones that are out there now are light. They have to be in order to get any good distance on today’s batteries, but I’m betting that in 20 or 30 years you’ll be able to buy a great electric bike that is comparable to an 800cc motorcycle of today and it will weigh half of what my 750cc Honda weighs.

Nope. I can see me possibly owning a number of different bikes sooner or later, but I just don’t see a trike in my future. And I do hope to be riding in my 90s.

Biker Quote for Today

Why bikes are better than women: Wearing two fresh rubbers makes riding a bike MORE enjoyable.

Kevin Smith of Colorado Mountain Moto was one of the first rental folks I ever went riding with.

I’ve been in touch recently with Ron Coleman, who runs Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures, and I asked how business is doing in the motorcycle rental field here in Colorado considering that so many more companies have gotten started in the last few years. I said I hoped there was enough business that people don’t start folding left and right.

Ron’s reply was that business is good and he just figures that the market is growing and there’s room for everyone, at least everyone who is out there now.

That is so great. Before I ever bought my first bike my roommate and I decided one day to rent a bike just to see how much we might get into riding. We naively went to a nearby shop and found that there was nothing. No one rented bikes back then. What were we thinking?

Times have changed a little, haven’t they?

So I thought I’d do a run-down here of the rental places I know of here in Colorado. I’ll make note that I’m not going to go into the list of Harley dealerships because I think pretty nearly all of them do rentals. Just add them to the list of the others.

Of course there’s Ron with WDSMA. He used to run strictly Suzuki V-Stroms but now also has Suzuki DR 650s and a Yamaha Super Tenere. He used to have a BMW GS800 but I don’t see that mentioned on his site so maybe he got rid of that one.

Kevin Smith, with Colorado Mountain Moto, runs V-Stroms out of Gunnison and he also now has at least one Honda XR650L.

One of the newcomers is Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Adventures, owned by Paul and Marsha Minock. Unlike many of these folks, I don’t know them. Their website says they offer BMW F800GS and F700GS.

Colorado Motorcycle Adventures (do you start to see a theme in the names and the types of bikes rented?) is run by Scott Lee. I rode with him earlier this summer and had every intention of doing so again sometime soon but boy the summer is flying by in a hurry. Scott has a whole herd of bikes, from KTMs to BMWs to Triumphs and Kawasakis.

Ben Kriederman has been operating House of Motorrad for a few years now. He specializes in BMWs, as the name suggests, and recently opened a store in Boulder. I haven’t ridden with Ben but he did fix me up with some good gear for my V-Strom.

Colorado Sports Rent is run by Brad Pester. Brad rents a lot of recreation gear and dirt bikes are just a small part of his offering but they’re the only bikes he has. I spoke with one of his employees recently who told me they were considering getting a couple street bikes as well.

Another outfit that has a whole stable of different bikes is Colorado Tour Bike Rentals and Sales. They have a lot more road bikes than the others I’ve mentioned so far. I don’t know much else about these folks; I’ve never met or talked with them.

Of course along with all the Harley dealerships there is also EagleRider. EagleRider rents mostly Harleys but they do have other bikes as well. I’ve met the manager of the Denver location several times but can’t remember his name just now. I’ve also rented from EagleRider and was on a media tour with them once. Recently another EagleRider location opened Grand Junction.

Another one I really don’t know anything about is Extreme Rentals. They appear to have a number of Honda dirt bikes.

MountainADV.com is out in Durango and they rent KTM and BMW dual sport bikes.

The folks at San Juan Backcountry rent some dirt bikes plus ATVs and Jeeps.

And finally, there is ScooTours, a scooter rental outfit in Denver. This is run by David Howard. David and I went out scooting one day. I keep intending to touch in with him to see how business is going. Scooters are fun, you know. One of these days I’m going to buy one.

So those are the ones I know of. If you are aware of any rental outfits I haven’t listed please send me a note. It’s just amazing to me that all these companies have gotten going and they’re all staying in business. That’s just great.

Biker Quote for Today

A ride on a summer afternoon can border on the rapturous. The sheer volume and variety of stimuli is like a bath for my nervous system, an electrical massage for my brain, a systems check for my soul.