Are You A LongRider?

February 1st, 2018

I’m not one for patches; I don’t have a riding vest covered with those things the way a lot of people do. And I don’t care about reaching artificial goals just for the bragging rights. Nevertheless, I do like events and programs of that sort for their ability to give me ideas about riding I might like to do.

AMA LongRider program logo

The AMA LongRider program logo.

In this case I’m thinking about the LongRider program organized by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

Here’s how they describe it:

The AMA LongRider program is your chance to show others that you’re serious about riding your motorcycle. AMA members are invited to earn patches for various mileage milestones.

Mileage awards are available at 10,000, 25,000 and 50,000 annual miles. In addition to the awards, AMA LongRiders will be recognized on the AMA website.

If you don’t get a chance to ride that often, let your miles accumulate for a Lifetime Mileage award at 25,000, 50,000, 100,000, 250,000, 500,000, 750,000 and 1 million miles. Riders who achieve 1 million miles will earn a special AMA LongRider plaque.

OK, so this thing doesn’t actually offer ideas about where to ride so much as an incentive to get in some extra miles. There have been a couple years when I could have earned a 10,000-mile patch, and certainly I would now be holding some of the lower lifetime mileage awards. Shooting for that 250,000-mile award would definitely demand that I get serious. Please don’t throw me in that briar patch!

The AMA has rules about participating, such as AMA membership, registering for the program, and abiding by their verification rules. All that info is on that page linked above. And heck, for me, I make note of my mileage every January 1 anyway. All I’d need to do is sign up and register my current mileage.

Maybe I will. As I said, I’m not big into patches and such but it’s still kind of a fun idea to do an I’ll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours thing. I know lots of riders will outdistance me by many miles but I don’t care. Just something to think about.

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if you carry a lap-top in your saddle bags. (Hey, I do carry a lap-top. I don’t always agree with these quotes, I just collect them and put them out there.)

Tags: ,
Posted in American Motorcyclist Association | No Comments »

Dueling Motorcycle Expos

January 29th, 2018
motorcycles in parking lot

Here you see nearly every single bike at the COC event. But the big Expo wasn’t exactly swamped with people, either.

I was surprised on Thursday last week to read in The Denver Post that there was to be a second, competing, motorcycle expo in the Denver area in the upcoming (now past) weekend.

The first, of course, was the now 40-year-old Colorado Motorcycle Expo, formerly the Colorado Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet, held at the National Western Center. But this show had trouble two years ago when members of two clubs–the Mongols and the Iron Order–had a fight that resulted in one death. Then last year, with issues on how to proceed still unresolved, the show was canceled. It was back this year, but the two clubs involved in the fight were both banned.

three-wheeled Sportster

One of the more interesting bikes at the COC event was this three-wheeled Sportster.

The second was held at Mile High Harley-Davidson of Parker, and was sponsored by the Colorado Confederation of Clubs (COC). The COC is just what the name suggests, and they have a reputation for solidarity with their members. If the Mongols were banned then the COC would have its own expo. Surprise: the Iron Order was banned.

So how did they both go?

First off, it doesn’t seem to me that the COC did a very good job getting the word out, although I’m sure all their member organizations knew about it. I pay attention to these things and the story in the Post was the first I heard of it.

I headed to the COC event Sunday about noon and when I got there there were no more than 50 bikes in the parking lot. Plus, there wasn’t a lot to see or do. An area for vendors held about 10-12 booths and that was it. I spent about half an hour there and had seen it all. One thing I did note, that I suspect you did not see at the Expo, was a booth for a gun dealer. I could be wrong but I’m guessing those folks don’t want weapons even as for sale items, whereas the COC event definitely did.

So I headed up to the other show. Mostly I wanted to see how many people were there. And that answer was pretty obvious as soon as I came down the exit off I-70. In the front, close-in parking area reserved for bikes there was gaping open space. Usually, if you want to park in this area you better get there early.

I cruised all around the complex and out in the extended parking area, where you usually find a lot of overflow parkers, the gate attendants were sitting looking totally bored. Inside their gates there were just a handful of vehicles in an area that can accommodate probably a few thousand cars. Still, there were easily a lot more people here than at Mile High Harley.

I didn’t go in. Frankly, I didn’t want to spend the $5 to park and $15 admission. I’m sure there were many, many more vendors set up inside than at expo 2, but the place must have been like a ghost-town with so much space and so few people spread around in all those acres. I suspect a lot of people lost a lot of money on this event.

This can’t bode well for the future of these events. Maybe next year the two clubs will no longer be banned and the second event will go away. Maybe the promoters of the big show will decide they don’t want to lost any more money and the new gig will become the only one.

But maybe the public just got broken of the habit of going to these things at all, and Denver just won’t have a show anymore.

It will be interesting to see what next year brings.

Biker Quote for Today

Does he have a motorcycle? Because if you’re going to throw your life away he better have a motorcycle.

Tags:
Posted in motorcycle events | No Comments »

Finding Riding Trails In Colorado

January 25th, 2018
www.trailtaker.com

The TrailTaker site could be a good tool to spark riding ideas.

I owe Mark Odette on this one. He sent me an email way back in September and I forgot about it, but was digging through old emails today and ran across it.

For those of us who like to get off the paved roads (I include myself generously; since getting my V-Strom I haven’t been off the pavement nearly as much as I wish I had), one topic of interest is where to go to do so. Sure, there are gravel roads all over, but which of them are worth riding, and pack the best bang for your time buck?

Maybe you should check out www.trailtaker.com. Click on that link and go to their trails map and then click on one of the markers. That enlarges the map to show an area of the state and if you give it some time the map starts filling in with all kinds of trails.

For instance, I clicked on an area that runs from Lake George on the east to Aspen on the west and Alma on the north to Salida on the south. There are more trails than I can count, colored red, green, and blue. Red is advanced, blue is intermediate, and green is beginner. The legend also shows grey as unknown and black as expert but I don’t see any of those here.

And what are these trails? Well, I clicked on one that runs off US 285 toward the Collegiate Peaks. I’ve been down that road many times and looked at a road going off into the hills and wondered about it. I’m thinking this is that road. The site tells me this is Clear Creek and that it’s 9.18 miles long. It’s blue. Clicking on the “Trail Details” link it doesn’t actually give me that much more information, other than that it’s a gravel road suitable for a passenger car. And there is a link to download a GPS file (.GPX) of the trail. It also notes that the information is not verified because it has been imported from public date provided by the U.S. Forest Service. Many of these trails are like this.

Over to the east of Fairplay, near Tarryall Reservoir, there is the Packer Gulch trail (7.8 miles). Here the blue of the trail actually refers to being intermediate for 4×4 vehicles. For motorcycles it is rated unknown. It calls for high-clearance vehicles and the road is not maintained for passenger cars.

Let’s get to something a bit gnarlier. A little west of Buena Vista, with a southern terminus near Tincup, is the Timberline trail (30.3 miles). This is rated advanced for both motorcycles and ATVs and 4x4s are not permitted. This is listed as Trail Class TC4, Highly Developed. This appears to be a Forest Service designation meaning “high standard trail with significant structures, tread hardening possible.”

So you get the idea. Is that just a gravel road going off to nowhere or is it actually a trail? This site might be just the answer.

Biker Quote for Today

Why bikes are better than women: If your Motorcycle is misaligned, you don’t have to discuss politics to correct it.

Tags:
Posted in Adventure bikes, Colorado motorcycle rides | No Comments »

Stick These In Your Pocket

January 22nd, 2018

Do thermometers lie? I was out riding on Saturday, a sunny 48 degrees and my fingers were turning into ice cubes. And I was wearing my non-electric winter gloves, with Thinsulate© lining. How could I be so cold on such a warm day?

I understand that the 60 degrees showing on our thermometer out front is not to be trusted because it is sheltered and has a southern exposure. But I trusted the 48 degrees the thermometer out back, in the shade, told me. Of course I wore my electric vest–I never ride without that at this time of year.

chemical hand warmers

Put some of these in your jacket pocket.

So I took off on the V-Strom and hadn’t gone three blocks when I realized I would have been happy to have had long underwear on. Sure I could have gone back but what the heck, I can live with it. So I won’t whine about my legs being cold, although they definitely were.

But then by the time I was gone about five miles my hands were really getting cold. And it was a sunny day! I don’t get it. This is Colorado.

Oh well, I was going for a ride. So I did.

I headed down Jordan Road to Arapahoe Road and turned east. I crossed Parker Road and decided to follow Arapahoe further and see where it went. I knew I’d been out that way before but just at the moment I couldn’t remember. And it did go on straight pretty far, until just before reaching C-470 it started wiggling. Then I remembered, it twists around and then heads north and intersects Smoky Hill Road.

Yep, that’s what it did, but then, where does it go beyond Smoky Hill? I guess I’ll have to find out.

Well, the answer is not very far. It winds around through a shopping area briefly and then dissolves into a housing development, becoming nothing more than a small collector street. And then it just ended where new development is still going on and there are more empty lots than new homes.

I turned south on Titus Way, which quickly brought me back to Smoky Hill. OK, my hands are cold enough, I’m turning right and heading home. It wasn’t as long a ride as I might have liked but at least I did get out. Friday would have been better–it was warmer–but we were just coming home from Grand Junction and I missed the better, warmer part of that day. So I rode on Saturday.

I had a realization though. There I was with freezing hands and while, sure, I could have worn my heated gloves but I didn’t, still, there is really no good reason why I didn’t have some of those chemical heat packs stuffed in my jacket pocket for just this sort of occasion. I have some, and once you buy those things there is no reason not to use them because if you keep them too long they lose potency. Why weren’t they in my pocket?

They are now.

Biker Quote for Today

Missing: Husband and motorcycle. Reward for motorcycle.

Tags:
Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Motorcycle Gear | No Comments »

More Possible Tweaks For Rider Training

January 18th, 2018
People at the meeting.

Others in attendance.

As I noted on Monday, Bruce Downs, ABATE of Colorado’s state coordinator, had a series of suggestions for fine-tuning the Motorcycle Operator Safety Training (MOST) program. The fact is, Bruce had printed out the program rules and flagged every spot in the document where he had changes to offer.

One of the bigger issues Bruce raised was one that ABATE has raised for quite some time now. The legislation the MOST program is based on seems to state clearly that of the funds raised through licensing fees, no more than 15 percent can be used for administration. But ever since an outside contractor has been brought in to administer the program, those costs have eaten up about 65 to 70 percent of the funding, he said. Can we come up with a compromise that falls somewhere in the middle.

While other suggestions at this meeting were met with discussion and an openness on all sides to work something out, this item got completely shot down. Glenn Davis, representing the Colorado Department of Transportation, replied that this issue was studied and a state attorney issued an opinion that the use of the funds in this manner is acceptable.

What my wife, an attorney, tells me about this is that basically this is saying, you can sue us if you like, and maybe you’ll win, but unless you do that we are going to keep doing what we’re doing. End of discussion.

And it did end that discussion.

Another significant issue Bruce brought up was the limitation of the MOST program to beginner rider training. In the past, MOST funds could be used to defray the costs of other rider training courses beyond the Beginning Rider Course (BRC). His initial proposal was simply to add a definition of Advanced Rider Course (ARC) into the rules.

Bruce’s point, however, which was echoed by several in the room, was that a large percentage of riders being killed are not the newbies, but experienced riders with years under their belts.

“If we don’t do advanced rider training are we shortchanging riders who are paying in for the program?” he asked.

While no action was called for or expected at this time, the idea was that the stakeholders involved with MOST ought to be considering this issue in the days ahead.

The rest of Bruce’s issues were small ones affecting primarily the training vendors, and often specifically ABATE. These included definitions of mobile training operations, clarifying what background check findings should render possible Rider Coaches unqualified, and making travel expense reimbursements conform to the reality of costs.

A second stakeholder engagement meeting will be held in the same location (15055 S. Golden Road, Building 100) on Friday, January 26, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Biker Quote for Today

Who needs a time machine when one twist of my wrist will leave you in the past!

Tags:
Posted in ABATE, Biker Issues | No Comments »

Rider Training Tweaks Proposed By Training Vendors

January 15th, 2018
CSP MOST meeting

The CSP’s first stakeholder engagement meeting.

The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) held its first stakeholder engagement meeting Friday, with about 20 people present, as it takes over control of the Colorado Motorcycle Operator Safety Training program (MOST) from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Essentially the meeting presented an opportunity for the organizations that provide rider training to propose tweaks to the program to help bring regulatory concepts into line with on-the-ground reality.

The first–and most extensive–discussion was on allowing larger bikes to be used in the Beginning Rider Course (BRC). Current limitations say no more than 350cc but it was argued that the limit should be raised to 500cc. The gist of the argument was that if most riders are going to actually get out on the road on larger bikes, why shouldn’t they be trained on the bikes they’re actually going to ride? It was agreed that the training vendors need to continue to have smaller training bikes on hand for those trainees who need them, but for those capable of handling larger bikes, why not make that an option?

As I understand it, there is also the consideration that the Harley-Davidson training programs all use larger bikes and thus are currently excluded from participation with MOST due to the 350cc limitation.

Also raised was the requirement that Rider Coaches be 21 years of age. The point made was that while there may not be a lot of 18-year-olds who you would want to trust as a Rider Coach, in the few cases where you would, why not allow it? This is especially important because there is currently a shortage of Rider Coaches in the Colorado and opening it up a little more could help. It was also suggested that the requirement that a Rider Coach training in Colorado must hold a Colorado driver’s license be amended.

This opened up the issue that some of the specifics vendors deal with are written in law while others are only regulatory in nature. CSP personnel at the meeting made it clear they want to get a solid year under their belts running MOST before they start talking about proposing legislative changes. The consensus at the meeting was that that was reasonable but that these sorts of issues ought to be presented as a package when the time comes.

Another suggestion was to try to have the law rewritten so as to reference the curriculum in use. That way, it would not be necessary to change the law every time the curriculum changes. Apparently, however, there are some limitations on citing outside sources “by reference” because there is the possibility that those sources might call for something contrary to state law. There do appear to be workarounds in this regard, though.

That brings us to the point in the meeting where Bruce Downs, state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado, took the floor to present a series of tweaks and revisions that his organization (of which I am a member) would like to see made. I’ll go over all that in my next post.

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if all your leathers match.

Tags:
Posted in Biker Issues, Motorcycle legislation, motorcycle training | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »