Taking A Look At Motorcycle Journeys Through the Southwest

May 23rd, 2008

Motorcycle Journeys Through the SouthwestI picked up a copy of this book, Motorcycle Journeys Through the Southwest, on the recommendation of Steve Shards, the Kiwi rider whose pending trip to Colorado I discussed in several posts previously. It’s an interesting book and if you’re coming to the four-corners states (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona) there is a lot of good information about roads you may not know exist. I mean, let’s face it, there aren’t any websites comparable to motorcyclecolorado.com for any of those other states.

What caught my interest was when Steve included some roads in Utah on his trip plans that I had never heard of. I asked him how he (in New Zealand mind you) came to know about these roads, and he told me he read about them in this book. So I bought the book.

The author, Martin Berke, breaks the four-state area up into a number of geographically logical sections.

  • Grand Circle, which includes Utah and Arizona, takes in, as he says, “one continuous trail encompassing six national parks, two national monuments, two national recreation areas, four national forests, three major dams, and the two largest man-made lakes in the United States.”
  • West Slope Slalom, primarily taking in western Colorado, includes routes going over 25 passes.
  • Front Range covers just what it says, the first range of Colorado’s mountains.
  • Enchantment Land covers New Mexico.
  • 2 x Four Corners reaches into all four states, in that vicinity of each state.
  • Hanging on the Mogollon Rim basically covers northern Arizona. He describes the Mogollon Rim as “a geologic rift that marks the southern end of the Colorado Plateau, runs southeast to northwest across Arizona to the New Mexico border to just below Flagstaff.
  • Bloomin’ Desert covers southern Arizona, all the way down to Nogales and the Mexican border.

    • What I personally find most interesting about this book is that Berke covers a number of roads here in Colorado that I have ignored on the website primarily because they don’t go through to anywhere. That is, these are roads that dead-end or where the pavement runs out and you would need to either turn around or venture out on the gravel — or worse. He also suggests campgrounds up some of these roads as bases for day trips.

    Looking through this book pointed out to me that I’ve been a little short-sighted in this regard, both in what I’ve included on the site and in my own travels. Especially now that I’ve started including some of the better gravel roads, I’m going to let this book help me explore some parts of this state that I’m unfamiliar with. I’d say that’s a darn good recommendation.

    Biker Quote for Today

    Never hesitate to ride past the last street light at the edge of town.

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    Posted in Day Rides, Routes to Add to Website, Suggested Rides | No Comments »

    I Just Saw a Honda Valkyrie Rune

    May 21st, 2008

    I went to the gym this morning and there, parked in the motorcycle parking area, was a bike I did not recognize. And it was an amazing looking bike. What the heck is this? It says it’s a Honda, but what is it?

    Well, it wasn’t until I got home and did some internet searching that I discovered it was a Honda Valkyrie Rune. Here’s what it looks like.

    2004 Honda Valkyrie Rune

    Now, this photo really doesn’t do this thing justice. Yes, you can see that it has a shape and parts that are nothing like anything you’ve ever seen on any other motorcycle, but in the flesh this thing was amazing. For one thing, it’s huge. It sits really low to the ground but it is wide and solid. You don’t see through it the way you do a naked bike or even a lot of bikes with bodywork. And it has angles and metal everywhere.

    The one thing that struck me very negative about this bike was that I couldn’t see how you could ride it. The seat is way back, with the pegs way forward, and the handlebars are a lot further forward than the pegs. Obviously I wasn’t about to get on it and see what kind of body contortions are necessary but it looked to me like it would be hugely uncomfortable.

    That said, otherwise it was an incredible bike. My understanding is that it was overpriced and did not sell well and there are a lot of unsold new ones stored in warehouses. What I read said 2004 was the last year it was made, but this particular one said 2005 on it in several places, so I’m not sure about that. But despite the odd design and very unusual look, I have to tell you, up close and personal it was a beautiful motorcycle.

    I definitely give Honda credit for having the guts to make this bike, and I hope that the experience doesn’t stop them from taking other such risks in the future. And I hope whoever owns this bike rides it to the gym again. I’d like to take another look at it.

    Update
    OK, I don’t understand this, but I just found a web page that shows a 2007 Rune. Has Honda started making them again? Can anyone help me out?

    Biker Quote for Today

    People are like motorcycles: each is customized a bit differently.

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    Posted in Honda motorcycles, Motorcycles | No Comments »

    A Blog for You Fans of Italian Bikes; Contacting Me

    May 19th, 2008

    There was a comment on a previous post from Gianluca Pezzi, who is involved with Blogo.it. In case the name and the “it” at the end of that website name didn’t give it away, Gianluca is Italian. He mentioned two things that caught my interest.

    First, he was calling my attention to their Two Wheels Blog, which he describes as “for readers interested in what’s happening on the motorcycling scene in Italy.” If you click on these links you’ll see that the blog is in English, but the website is in Italian. Unless you read Italian I guess I’d stick with the blog.

    Anyway, the blog is a variety of information, including a lot of videos of bikes and such. Interesting to check out if you’re a big fan of Italian bikes. Says Gianluca:

    Two Wheels Blog is a new initiative from Blogo.it, and is dedicated to the motorcycling sector in Italy: with everything from championships, to new models released, our favourite brands, photos and videos, we’re hoping to give voice to the dedicated motorcycling community around these parts.

    So far we’ve written about our testing of the new Beta Urban 200 pre-series, included a video on a new BMW, written about the new Halley, and reviewed all the style of the Italian scootering tradition. We have a photo of the day spot, where readers can send their best pics from around the world, and you can point us to news or make comments.

    The other thing Gianluca mentioned was that he couldn’t find any way to contact me directly on the blog. Now, on the main motorcyclecolorado.com website there are a number of places where I have placed javascript no-spam email links so people can contact me directly, but I had not thought to do the same here on the blog. I’ll need to do something about that right away but in the meantime, if you want to email me just send to either ken at motorcyclecolorado.com or to webmaster at motorcyclecolorado.com. Thanks. I always love to hear from you.

    Biker Quote for Today

    Tomorrow is uncertain, so today I ride.

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    Posted in Info to Add to Website, Motorcycles | No Comments »

    Welcome to Anyone Coming Here Via Mile High Harley-Davidson

    May 17th, 2008

    I had a pleasing email in my inbox this morning. It seems the folks at Mile High Harley-Davidson discovered this site and liked it enough to feature it in a post on their blog. They sent me a bunch of rides to add to my Rides and Rallies page and mentioned, oh by the way, we recommended your site on our blog. Boy, did they ever! They didn’t just link to the home page, they gave their readers links to all of the great roads pages on the whole website.

    If you are one of the folks coming here via those links, this “Welcome” is for you! Go ahead and explore the site. Then, if there’s something you particularly like I’m always happy to hear that. And if there’s something you’d like to see added I’m even more interested to hear that.

    Of course, if you have any events you’d like added to the Rides and Rallies page just send them along and I’ll get them up right away. Thanks.

    Biker Quote for Today

    Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

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    Posted in Motorcycles, Routes to Add to Website, Suggested Rides, Updates Made to Website | No Comments »

    I Love What I Learn From You

    May 14th, 2008

    One thing I really love about running this website and publishing this blog is the way I learn about new places to ride from the folks who visit the site. I’m not always able to go check them out right away but they definitely go on my list to get to as soon as I can.

    The most recent road to add to my list is the Kebler Pass road coming over from Crested Butte to CO 133 coming down off McClure Pass toward Hotchkiss. I’ve mentioned Andy Simons several times recently and Andy gets credit for this one, too. He sent me some photos from the road and described it as “dirt road but suitable for all bikes (well graded and packed).” Here’s one of his photos that confirms his description.

    Kebler Pass

    Now, I have never taken this road, not even in a car. In fact, I didn’t know it was there and that you could go anywhere on a good road from Crested Butte other than back down the road you came in on. So I did some checking to find out more about this road. I found one site with a lot of photos where they had this to say:

    This is a beautiful drive, forest road 12, that connects Crested Butte highway 135 with Paonia Reservoir and highway 133. Suitable for any vehicles. If you like aspens, mountains, and many photos ops this is the road for you.

    Then there is this site where people can post their comments on various roads and such, where one person says:

    i lived in colorado for about five years, traveled as many back roads as i could in that time, and Kebler Pass was by far my favorite…for one, it’s a little out of the way so it tends to not be crowded…it is also breathtakingly beautiful…the aspens in this area are huge, and the aspen stand is enormous, mile after mile of aspens…

    I will note that another person on this same site had this cautionary remark:

    The road is heavily washboarded in places and was very muddy after several days of rain, but was easily passable with our Subaru and wouldn’t present much of a problem to any vehicles if the driver is paying attention. I wouldn’t recommend towing over this pass however. Big snows at high elevation would be a problem – something to consider if weather is severe. Take your time as some of the curves are tight and the road drops a lot of elevation on the west side of the pass. We saw plenty of deer, but no other large mammals this trip.

    So it sounds like it should be no problem as long as it’s dry. If it has rained recently don’t even try it. Fair enough. You probably won’t want to try it in May or June but by July or August it sounds like a go. I know I’m going.

    Biker Quote for Today

    The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rearview mirror.

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    Posted in Day Rides, Routes to Add to Website, Suggested Rides | 1 Comment »

    A Quick Note Before I Go Ride

    May 12th, 2008

    Great weather today–got to get out in it. Just a note:

    Five years ago I could fill the tank on my Honda Civic for under $10. Today I can’t fill the tank on my Honda CB750 Custom for under $15.

    What more is there to say?

    Biker Quote for Today

    A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith, and use up a lot of fuel.

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    Posted in Day Rides, Motorcycles | No Comments »

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