Elephant Ride Shows Who Has the Guts — Adventure Riders

February 5th, 2009

I’d been hearing rumors about this but finally confirmed it just a few minutes ago. The Elephant Ride over Guanella Pass from Grant to Georgetown is on for this weekend.

Mind you, this is no ordinary ride. First off, Guanella Pass is covered in snow and has not been plowed. Second, most of these guys are going to be camping at Grant the night before. Is that tough enough for you?

And who are these crazies? Why the Adventure Riders. You may recall that I have mentioned this group on a number of occasions. They’re the ones who did a fund-raising ride to support a group the provides medical care to remote areas in Africa.

I doubt I’ll be able to make it up there on Sunday but if any of you guys reads this and wants to send me some photos and a report I’d love to hear from you and pass it all along.

Have a blast you guys.

Biker Quote for Today

I refuse to tiptoe thru life only to arrive safely at death.

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Posted in Day Rides, Rides and Rallies, Suggested Rides | No Comments »

Checkin’ Out the Swap Meet

February 2nd, 2009

So we enjoyed the motorcycle show and swap meet this weekend at the National Western Complex–once we were able to park and go in. Parking really was an issue, though.

custom motorcycleWe met up at a nearby restaurant and then cruised over to the show. First we tried to follow the seemingly obvious route, only to find ourselves stuck in a total traffic freeze. After sitting through several light cycles without moving we pulled out and turned into the neighborhood, knowing there was nowhere to park there, but at least it would give us a chance to rethink.

One of the guys said he was pretty sure that if we had taken the frontage road in front of the complex we’d come to motorcycle parking, so we tried that. Sure enough, there it was, but it was full. All the other parking lots in the area, of course, cost $8 and up per bike. That just didn’t sit well with us.

I knew that there was a huge parking lot over on the other side of the Coliseum so I led the way over there. That lot was $8, too, so I went on around to the back side of the Coliseum. There we stopped and conversed. Finally resolved that we were just going to have to bite the bullet and pay up, I led on around on a route I thought would take us back to the road. Instead, it took us . . . into the parking lot.

We looked around, thinking “Jeez, we’re in the parking lot.” So we parked. And no one came and asked us for money so we headed for the show.

A long line outside was daunting, but it moved quickly, so we were soon inside. Along with what seemed like every biker in a five-state area. There certainly were colors from groups from far and wide. And lots of people. A lot more than we remembered from other years we’ve gone.

So we wandered around and looked at a lot of bikes. On some the artwork was amazing. A few others you had to wonder why the owner thought this was cool. And then there were acres of booths selling everything from used engines to leather and chrome goods to just about anything in any way associated with motorcycles. I managed not to spend any money but we can’t all make that claim.

We didn’t stick around for the wet T-shirt contest this year. Friggs summed it up saying that the last time he went to a wet T-shirt contest they told him he was too old, too fat, and too short. He said he asked how tall you have to be to compete.

It was a good show and a great day to go for a ride. Then Sunday surprised us being warm and clear again so I got out again today. What a great weekend!

Biker Quote for Today

We, the few, the proud, the motorcyclists of the world, refuse to sit down in comfort, insulated from the environment, and run the gauntlet of life with a front row seat. And we wouldn’t want it any other way.

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Goin’ to the Bike Show

January 29th, 2009

Just what you need to get out of the winter doldrums. Saturday is supposed to be a good day to ride, and the 31st Annual Colorado Motorcycle Show and Swap is going on. I’ll be there.

Colorado Motorcycle Show and SwapThe OFMC has gone to this event a couple times now. Three of us will be making it this year. Here are some photos of the last one we attended, in 2006. Yes, this one you see here is from that bunch.

This show has a little of everything. Actually, a lot of some things. There are a lot of custom bikes with incredible paint jobs and plenty of chrome. There are used parts, primarily of the Harley variety. Plenty of new gear as well. Leather is in abundance, both on the folks in the crowd and in the vendor booths. If you’re looking for chaps or a jacket or vest or . . . whatever . . . you’ll probably find it here.

There will be a couple bands on Saturday afternoon, along with the traditional wet T-shirt contest. As equal time for those of the female persuasion, there is also an Iron Man Bare Chest Contest scheduled for around noon.

Of course, on a good day like Saturday is supposed to be, there will be a lot of good bike perusing going on out in the parking lot.

This thing runs Sunday, too, but with the Super Bowl happening I wonder how many people they’ll get. The weather is to turn bad on Sunday as well, so I’d say Saturday is the day to go.

Biker Quote for Today

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather, because it’s easier to harass rich women than bikers.

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Will We Pay by the Miles We Ride?

January 26th, 2009

Colorado is studying a proposal to charge a fee for every vehicle mile driven/ridden. How likely is this to happen?

odometerThe short answer is that it won’t happen any time soon. Republicans in the legislature are working to remove this particular option from the study, and Democrats don’t appear to be strongly committed to it.

The long answer is that some day, years in the future, it might.

Let’s face it, as hybrid and electric cars gain popularity, they will not be paying their fair share for upkeep of the roads solely from purchase of gasoline. Plus, even today we don’t have the money to maintain roads adequately. Obviously something has to give.

Clearly, if we go the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) route it must be set up so that Hummers, RVs, and semis pay more than motorcycles. That is an absolute. Our bikes don’t do anything near the damage to the road bed that the big boys do.

But why not just charge a fee determined by the weight of the vehicle. As with the gas tax, we’d pay less and the big boys would pay more. The inequity there, of course, is that it would be unfair to those who have big vehicles but don’t drive them much. Think of your grandmother. She’d pay as much as someone driving the same vehicle but putting 10 times as many miles on theirs. Still, I’m sure we could work something out to make it equitable.

VMT, on the other hand, would be a real issue. First, you’d have to put GPS units on every vehicle. That might not be hard with new ones but are we really going to retrofit ALL old vehicles? Unlikely. Second, I’m willing to bet that there are folks out there with the technical and mechanical ability to jimmy the GPS so it doesn’t report the actual miles driven. A new cottage industry just waiting to be born!

I don’t think VMT is the answer. Still, I’m not sure I go along with the guys trying to get it removed from the study. It may have merit down the road, some day.

Biker Quote for Today

Less talk, more riding.

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Look! Up in the Sky! More Flying Object Tales

January 22nd, 2009

And we’re back once again with tales of the things bikers have hit or barely avoided. Again, I give credit to this thread at Adventure Riders. Let’s do it.

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A huge owl when i was a teenager. It swooped down in front of me my little bro was on back. I ducked and it hit him right in the head busted his faceshield and gave him two black eyes.

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Was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone in early ’70s. Came around a corner and a very large buzzard took flight, hit me in the chest and knocked me right off the back of my Yamaha RD350. Fortunately I was only going about 20mph or so. Took three other guys to help me get the bike out of the jungle and back on the road. BTW buzzards really stink!

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Early in the morning 280 freeway out of san jose. fast lane coming up on a construction truck with your normal shovel, rakes and wheel barrel in the back. the latter decided to come out of the bed. changed lanes cause i saw it tumbling. but in its tumbling the wheel hit i think at an angle and sent it tumbling across the lanes. was able to avoid it though. didn’t need any coffee that morning when i got to work. wide awake.

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Last summer, I took the bike down CA-1 to the SocalSVRiders.org Gathering of the Masses. I spent Friday riding down the coast, and started out early from my hotel on Saturday morning to head through Ventura and on down. I was in a pack of traffic when there was a sudden huge cloud of dust ahead. Cars started swerving – out of my lane – yep, I was headed right for it! No room to swerve to another lane – hit the brakes as much as I could before I got to the dust cloud. Blew through it, and saw the remains of… a SHOP VACUUM, rolling along on its wheels next to me at 40 mph like R2-friggin-D2 joined the Hell’s Angels.

I giggled all the way to San Clemente.

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Got hit with an Egg McMuffin last year.
Almost ran over a roadkill porcupine coming out of a dusty corner, that would’ve stung.
Lost count of how many snappers I’ve seen.

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A rabbit- it had idly hopped out on the road when it saw my headlight ( 1 am) – it seemed frozen by the light. I was doing a little over 100mph and I did try to get around it- it would have worked but the rabbit decided to jump into the light. Took out the light and I found out that no light is a bad idea at this speed ….But nothing major happened, was already quite slow but still vertical when I left the road. The RG500Gamma did not like it.

A soccer ball coming from a garden – bounced off my head. I scored a goal! (The ball went directly through the glass of the door of the house… Talk about some explaining to do. (The owner of the house wasn’t too pleased)
Nothing happened to the bike, I had a sore neck.

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Hiway 154 Ca. Northbound. Windy Twisty road going by Lake Cachuma on my 92 K75s. 2 am in da morning. Riding into a long left sweeper going 75 to 80 leaning offf the bike to the left as I am half way into the sweeper that is blind due to a hillside on the left I miss a human head! The head is at my helmet height and we see each other EYE to EYE! Miss by inches!

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Couple weeks back dropped the Strom as I crested an uphill blind tight left hander. As the road came back into view all I have is a face full of Bicycles. Ran wide off the corner into the gravel and the front tire folded – Bamm hit the deck. Now this is a road 25 miles from where I live.

One of the bicyclist comes running over and helps me pick up my bike and says: “Sorry If I caused you to crash.”

I looked at him and said: Jay?

He looks back says: Chuck?

We know each other… What are the odds?
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So be careful out there! Here are the other flying object posts:
Motorcycles and Flying Objects
More Flying Object Tales
Latest Tales of Flying Object Encounters
Even More Tales of Flying Objects

Biker Quote for Today

Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt @ 70 mph can double your vocabulary.

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A Lot of Good Reading from the National Motorcycle Examiner

January 19th, 2009

I do a lot of motorcycle writing that you never see here on this blog. In addition to maintaining the Passes and Canyons website and writing this blog, I also write 3-4 times each week for Examiner.com, as the National Motorcycle Examiner.

army bikeWhile I do on occasion write about the same subject both here and there, for the most part I don’t. And even when I do, I generally do two different posts, rather than a copy and paste. The point is, the two have different audiences. I figure you folks reading this blog are confirmed biker types, whereas the folks reading my stuff on Examiner.com may be newbies or confirmed bikers, or they may not ride at all. What makes sense in one place doesn’t necessarily make sense in the other.

That said, there have been a number of pieces I’ve written for Examiner.com that you might find worth reading. Here then is a listing of articles and links to them. I hope you find something that piques your interest.

Only a biker knows . . .
You’ve no doubt noticed that I include a “Biker Quote for Today” at the end of each of these blog posts. I don’t do it on Examiner.com, but periodically I collect the quotes I’ve used here and present a bunch of them at once.

DNC riders: The best one-day motorcycle ride from Denver
In a group effort for the Democratic National Convention last summer, all Denver Examiners were asked to put together recommendations in their topic for the convention delegates and the press.

What cagers don’t know about motorcycling
This was an educational piece for the non-biker readership.

The ignorance we’re up against
A discussion of how clueless non-bikers are about what we do.

Best motorcycle bars in the Denver area
Another joint Examiner effort, this time a “best of” listing.

Underwater motorcycles, motorcycles that fly
Passing along some interesting items I ran across about a submarine motorcycle and one that sprouts wings and flies.

The new styles in helmets: fruit, pots, tires
An amusing report about the frantic efforts of Nigerian motorcycle taxi drivers when they realized the government was serious about enforcing a new helmet law.

If you love motorcycles you want to see Jay Leno’s Garage
Passing along a link to a terrific site, at least if you’re the kind of guy who is interested in motorcycles.

Who will fold first, Chrysler or Harley?
A disturbing analysis of Harley’s future.

So there you have it. Take a look. I certainly think there’s a lot worth reading there, but then I’m biased.

Biker Quote for Today

What does it mean to you? For me, it’s something I just do.

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