Get the Buck Off the Road

April 16th, 2012
Deer on the road

One of motorcycling's deadliest foes. (Photo by Florian Boyd)

I had the opportunity last week to get acquainted with Lisa Price Waltman, of Colorado Springs, who told me of a fun ride she has organized and will be holding for the second time this year. She calls it the 2nd Annual Running of the Deer Ride – “Get the Buck Off the Road” and, as you might suspect, there is a story behind it.

Lisa had grown up riding dirt bikes but had never had a street bike of her own, so she rode pillion for a number of years. Then, in 2009, the bike she was a passenger on hit a deer, they went down, and Lisa was badly injured.

Not one to give up, however, Lisa was back on a bike six months later, and though she says the first 10 minutes were terrifying, after that all was good. So good, in fact, that soon afterward she bought her own bike, a 2010 Harley Softail Deluxe.

Taking lemons and making lemonade, Lisa decided to put together a run on the anniversary of her crash along much of the same route. There’s no sign-up fee, no beneficiary charity. It’s just a ride for fun, and to make a statement of defiance. I’ve listed her run on my Rides and Rallies page; it’s in October, currently the last event listed. You might want to mark it on your calendar.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Michigan governor signs helmet repeal

Biker Quote for Today

Tuck in behind me, I’ll show you where to crash.


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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Day Rides, motorcycle events | No Comments »

Track Day Opportunity at High Plains Raceway

April 12th, 2012

Racers at High Plains Raceway

Have you ever whined that you’d really like to see how fast your bike can go but you don’t want to risk the ticket? Stop your whining, here’s your chance.

Erico Motorsports just announced that they are sponsoring two track days at High Plains Raceway, out east near Byers. The dates are June 4 and August 6.

The charge to just go out on the track is $250. For an extra Benjamin Erico offers “a ton of coaching from Team Erico to include classroom time. Yeah, we’re not pros but I’ll bet we can get you going much faster, staying much safer, and having a blast riding your bike how it was intended.”

Of course, you’ve got to have all the gear, and you need to drain your coolant and replace it with water. They’ll be serving breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and the track will be ready to at 8:30.

If you’re interested, you’ll need to contact John at john@ericomotorsports.com. He’s also there to answer any questions you might have and provide complete information.

I did a track day once and I have to tell you, it was humbling. There were the folks who knew they belonged in the beginner group and then some of us who couldn’t conceive that we should be in that lowly position. I went out with the mid-level group and promptly found myself the slowest guy on the track, by a long shot. But I had fun and maybe I learned enough to get at least a bit better. It definitely made me a lot more respectful of the skill those guys have who go really, really fast.

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Clock ticks as Michigan’s Snyder weighs helmet repeal

Biker Quote for Today

Whoever said money can’t buy happiness has never owned a sportbike.


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Knocking 55,200 Miles Off My Honda

April 9th, 2012

broken speedometer

So is it a good thing or a bad thing when you have a 32-year-old motorcycle with only 29,000 miles on it? If you think in terms of using the bike for what it was intended, i.e., riding it, that would be a bad thing. And even if you were selling it, I’m not sure I, as a buyer, would consider low mileage necessarily good. That would raise questions about how gunked up the carbs might be and what else might be ailing from neglect.

Or it could just mean you replaced the speedometer. I mentioned awhile back how the dial on the speedometer on my 1980 CB750 Custom has broken (see photo above) and I needed to replace it. Also, the gears inside were making a high-pitched shrieking that made riding it very unpleasant. And you can’t fix a speedometer. They’re deliberately built so you can’t open them up and work on them; otherwise, anyone could just go in and roll back the odometer and sell the vehicle as having a lot fewer miles on it.

So that meant replacing it. Joel, my mechanic at Mountain Thunder Motorsports, picked up a replacement from Steele’s and on Friday I came by to have the work done. But when Joel brought out the new (for me) speedo it wasn’t the right one. So Joel sent me over to Steele’s to get the right one.

I did, and the new speedo shows only 29,375, compared to the 84,575 miles I had on the old one. Dang, that high number gave me a lot of cred; now it looks like I’m just a wannabe rider. That’s less than 1,000 miles a year. Oh well, I know how to fix that. Ride.

And I learned a couple things. First, Joel put the new speedo on so quickly it occurs to me I could have done it myself and saved what I paid him to do it. And I’m sure Joel wouldn’t have objected to that considering that he bought the wrong one from Steele’s and can’t return it. It’s his. So the whole thing probably comes out a wash for him. Meanwhile I paid for the right speedo and for installation. I guess I need to have more confidence in my mechanical abilities. I’m not averse to working on things, I guess I’m just reluctant to screw with something that might get expensive if I mess up. But how badly could I have messed up replacing a speedometer?

Whatever. At least now I can see how fast I’m going and I don’t have that horrible screech. And hey, it’s riding season! Hot dang!

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Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re becoming addicted to riding when you leave your car in the garage in favor of riding your bike to work on a 36 degree morning


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Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum To Celebrate 20 Years

April 5th, 2012

I’ve noticed a very surprising thing recently, which is that there is almost a total dearth of motorcycle events going on in Colorado in April. Ever since I put this website up more than 6 years ago I have listed upcoming events on my Rides and Rallies page and this is the first time that I have had to search and search and search to find anything at all to list for April.

Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum anniversary flyer

The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

I did finally find one event, and it’s a good one. It’s something that needs to get more publicity. The Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a big open house on Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They’ll have a small lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., they’ll be handing out door prizes, and there will be a bike show if the weather permits.

If you’ve never been to the museum you really do need to get down there. Actually, I need to get down there because I haven’t been back to it since they moved into larger quarters. They used to be in the small building just in front of Pikes Peak Harley-Davidson, but now they have moved inside the dealership and have more space.

The place was great before, so I have to assume it is even better now. Jerry Manka is the director and curator and trust me, Jerry is as much an attraction as the bikes. He’s a character.

And oh, the bikes! They definitely have some nice ones. A lot of Indians and old Harleys plus a bunch more.

Of course, the last part of the complete name is “and Hall of Fame.” I’m betting the Hall of Fame gets a bit more space now than was possible before.

So April 21 would be a good day to go, but if you don’t go then, go some other time. It’s worth it. You won’t be sorry.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
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Biker Quote for Today

I like my bike because I can overtake 4x4s down farm tracks with a week’s worth of shopping on the back.


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Colorado’s Mark Bruckner Nominated To Motorcycle Hall Of Fame

April 2nd, 2012

I have to admit to ignorance here, but in the last half hour I’ve been learning a lot about Mark Bruckner. That’s because the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) just released their list of this year’s nominees to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Bruckner is the first name on the list.

Mark Bruckner has been nominated to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Colorado's Mark Bruckner has been nominated to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Of course, what they said about him in the announcement was guaranteed to catch my eye: “National/international motorcycling rights advocate, past state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado, past board member/president/chairman of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation.”

Oh wow, and until I read that I’d never heard of him. So he’s a previous state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado. I know Terry Howard, the current state coordinator, very well, but I’ve never met Bruckner. Turns out he was in that position from 1991 to 1994. After that he went on to the MRF, as stated above.

Currently Bruckner is Executive Director of BIKEPAC of Colorado. I get to show my ignorance again here. I’m not familiar with BIKEPAC of Colorado. Turns out it is a political action committee (PAC). Here is what it says about its mission.

As the organization’s resources grow, BIKEPAC will contribute to candidates running for office in the State Senate and the State House of Representatives. BIKEPAC may also contribute to Gubernatorial candidates. BIKEPAC will not contribute to candidates for office at the federal and local government levels. BIKEPAC believes that the most effective way to protect motorcycling in Colorado – and to best utilize our resources – is to contribute to the campaigns of pro-motorcycling candidates at the State Senate and House level. BIKEPAC employs a full-time lobbyist. Unlike many lobbyist who represent multiple clients at the State Capitol, the lobbyist for BIKEPAC represents only one group – the motorcyclists of Colorado.

Except that maybe this info is outdated. The link I tried to follow to the website doesn’t go there, and on a lobbying site I found it listed the organization as being registered through 2006. I have more digging to do. I’ll put up more as I learn more.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Another terrific Motorcycle Travel Network experience

Biker Quote for Today

Bikes are better than women because you don’t have to talk to your motorcycle after you ride it.


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AMA Staff Put Heads Together, Offer Their Experience

March 29th, 2012

bikers at Yosemite

Most of us have learned a lot of lessons in motorcycling by doing things that make us say, “Oops, I guess I won’t do that again.” It’s called experience.

Well, the folks who work for the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) have between them an awful lot of experience. And somebody got the idea for them all to collect the tips they have picked up along the way and offer their wisdom to all riders. The result is the Rider Resources page on the AMA website. It’s worth a look.

The page has three sections, Riding, Wrenching, and Learning. Each section offers a variety of articles on different topics. For instance, under Riding they offer “33 Secrets for Smart Touring,” “Tips for Crossing the Border,” and “Keeping Warm.” Under Wrenching the topics include such as “Used-Bike Buying Checklist” and “The Bike Stopped. Now What?” “Books We Love to Read” and “Riding With Disabilities” are two of the topics under Learning.

A lot of the info is sure to be stuff most of us already know, though newbies will find it very helpful. A lot is not such common knowledge. For instance, among the 33 touring tips are some jewels like this: If you’re nearing the end of your riding day and want to set yourself up for a quick getaway in the morning, consider riding to the far side of the next city you reach before you stop for the night, eliminating urban traffic the next morning.

At the same time, I find it amusing that the piece on what to do if the bike stops on you doesn’t mention what is probably one of the biggest reasons for this sort of occurrence: the kill switch. Who among us hasn’t had the experience of the bike either dying or failing to start and after beating our heads against the wall for . . . how long? . . . realizing it was just the kill switch. It happened to me one time when I reached over to engage my throttle lock and inadvertently hit that switch. I was stopped there by the side of the road for 15 minutes before it dawned on me.

That shortcoming aside, however, a whole bunch of riders offering their best advice has to have something of value for just about any rider. Take a look and see what you can learn.

Biker Quote for Today

You know you’re becoming addicted to riding when you crash your bicycle when you lock up the tire because you were trying to use the brake as a clutch lever.


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Posted in American Motorcyclist Association, Motorcycle Safety, motorcycle touring, motorcycle training, New riders | No Comments »

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