Motorcycle Forums I Like To Visit

February 4th, 2008

Do you ever visit online motorcycle forums? I have about seven or eight I like to visit periodically. Just recently, for example, I posted a question on a Kawasaki Concours forum asking if anyone had any experience with the speedometer housing issue I discussed in my last post. I also like to introduce people to this MotorcycleColorado site, so I go and search for people asking for touring ideas on upcoming Colorado trips. I try to help them in any way I can, from route planning, to what to wear, to whatever they need to know.

Here are some of the forums I’ve joined. There are a lot more out there. Check out a few.

Adventure Rider – http://www.advrider.com/forums/index.php
HondaBikes.net – http://www.hondabikes.net/forum/
KawasakiMotorcycle.org – http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/kawasaki-motorcycle-forums/
RiderInfo.com – http://www.riderinfo.com/forums/index.php
Motorcycle-usa.com – http://forum.motorcycle-usa.com/

That’ll get you started. Find an interesting thread and have fun.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Day Rides, Motorcycles, Suggested Rides | 1 Comment »

Flat Tires and Other Hindrances to Riding

January 26th, 2008

Few things will put a damper on your riding plans as quickly as a flat front tire. I had ridden two weeks ago and had to put air in but today when I tried to roll the Concours out it would hardly move. Flat tires really don’t roll very well.

On inspection I found a sliver of metal poking out of the tread, something that looked like a wire from a wire brush–very small. OK, I put air in and took the bike to the dealer and they said it should be no problem to fix quickly. Meanwhile I availed myself of the proximity (next door) of the Piper Inn, southeast Denver’s favorite biker bar and hot wing concessionaire. The place was packed with black leather-dressed patrons enjoying one of the nicest days we’ve had in quite awhile. One beer and 10 Buffalo wings later I was back at Vickery expecting to get my bike and roll.

No such luck. First off, it wasn’t a puncture. That little sliver was nothing. Apparently the valve stem core was loose and letting air slip by. A bit of adjustment and everything was fine with that. However, when the mechanic was putting the tire back on, the speedometer housing split. Taking a closer look he found that it had split once before and been welded. Now it had split again. So that’s going to cost me another $70 plus labor when the part comes in. What in the heck makes a speedo housing split like that? Anyway, rather than weld it again just to get by until the new part comes in, he just put the wheel back on without hooking up the speedo, thereby saving me about $20. And by this time the coolness of the afternoon was coming on and all I did was ride back home.

I’ve got to tell you, I really love riding motorcycles but sometimes these get to be very expensive toys. At least this one won’t break the bank.

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Posted in Biker Issues, Motorcycle Gear | No Comments »

A Colorado Road I Need To Ride

January 1st, 2008

I picked up the January 2008 issue of Rider magazine with interest as the covered touted a story about “Descending the Black Canyon in CO.” Of course I’ve been to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison many times. It’s steep and gorgeous and deep, and the first night out on one of our earliest summer motorcycle trips we camped there. But I’ve never been to the bottom. The only road I knew of going to the bottom was a very steep (7% grade) gravel road going down from the dam that forms the Blue Mesa Reservoir, and I couldn’t conceive of taking that on anything but a good dirt bike, with a lot more dirt biking experience than I can claim.

So of course I was very interested when I saw that the writer, Clement Salvadori, took some road to the bottom on a fully dressed Harley Ultra. What road is this? Why am I not aware of this?

Out comes the map, with the magazine open beside it. Where is this turn-off?

Aha! Now I see. Clem says to continue west on US 50 “a few miles west of Cimarron.” That would be about 12 miles west, and lo, there it is, CO 347, going off to the north. I have to wonder about this road. It’s right there on my new-for-2007 Colorado state map, but it doesn’t exist on the Microsoft Streets & Trips software that I use for the maps on this website. And Clem says it leads you up to an entrance to the park. I have to wonder how long that road has been paved.

Of course I’ve never been on this road so I’ll just share with you what Clem has to say:

. . . it is a well-paved road with a very, very steep descent; I heat up those three brake discs while having a high old time. Down by the river it is a few degrees warmer than at the top, with a small dam and a camping area. . . . I have a look around and then rush back up, which is equally fun and a little less adrenaline-inducing.

Who knew? I sure didn’t, but I’ll promise you right now that the first chance I get I’m going down that road and it will be up on the website soon afterward. Thanks for the heads-up, Clem!

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Routes to Add to Website, Suggested Rides | No Comments »

How Much Did I Ride in 2007?

December 31st, 2007

About this time last year I wrote about the miles I wanted to put on my bikes in 2007. These were largely shots in the dark, but I’m still interested to see how close I came. Here’s the scoop.

I was hoping to put 2,000 miles on my Honda CB750 Custom; 2,500 miles on my Kawasaki Concours; and I hoped to limit my car mileage to 12,000 miles.

I started out 2007 with 79,230 miles on the clock of my CB750, and ended it with 79,691, for a not so grand total of only 461 miles. Darn.

I did better on the Kawi. I started with 19,011 miles and ended with 21,888. That’s 2,877, so it’s better than I hoped.

Not surprisingly, it has a lot to do with which bike I take on our annual bike trip. I took the Kawi this year, but in 2006 I took the Honda and I only put 496 miles on the Kawi that year.

Then for reference, I did manage to only clock 12,211 miles on my cars. I started the year with a Honda Civic and murdered it (don’t ask) in February, and then got a Hyundai Elantra. So my driving was not excessive.

What about 2008? OK, I don’t feel like I’m going out on a limb here because I have some benchmark data. For 2008 I’m going to shoot for 2,500 again on the Kawi, I’ll really push and try to also log 1,000 miles on the Honda, and I will try this time to keep the car to under 11,000. All I need to do is ride the Honda to work more often, right?

OK, that’s my plan and I’m sticking with it. Have a good ride!

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New Indian Not Ready As Soon As Projected

December 7th, 2007

I subscribe to the MotorcycleUSA email newsletter and was just glancing at an issue from May of this year (2007). They had an article about the latest resurrection of the Indian marque, saying that you should “expect to see the Indian Chief rolling down a roadway near you late in the Fall of 2007.”

Well, I haven’t. So I decided to do a reality check and see what’s happening with Indian.

For starters, they have a pretty nice website:
http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/

But you can’t ride a website. What about the bikes?

The answer to the obvious question, “When will the new bike go on sale?”, is posted on their FAQ page, and here’s the answer.

As soon as they’re worthy to carry the Indian name and logo down the road and not a moment before. We expect the 2009 Chief to be introduced in time to be stuffed into some very, very large 2008 Christmas stockings, if not sooner.

The other obvious question is how the project is progressing. Here’s what they say:

Fabulous. We’re currently testing prototypes of the 2009 Chief, building our flagship dealership just outside Charlotte, North Carolina, franchising Indian dealers throughout the country and partnering with some of the most respected, creative leather and fashion designers in the world to create a premium line of official Indian riding gear and apparel.

So who knows. There has been so much money spent on trying to resurrect this brand. Will these guys succeed where so many others have failed? I don’t have a clue. But I’ll be curious to see, won’t you.

Oh, and by the way, if you want to become an Indian dealer this is your chance. Just go to the website to learn how. Opportunities like this don’t come along often. The only question is, is this a good opportunity or a bad one?

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Check Out the New Concours 14

November 30th, 2007

After 21 years Kawasaki has totally redesigned the Concours, a bike near and dear to me because I ride one. You’ve probably heard about it–it’s been in all the moto mags. All the reviews have been strongly positive, and the one thing absolutely everyone is saying is that this thing has serious power.

Now Rider magazine has published a shoot-out between four big sport tourers, the Connie, BMW K1200GT, Honda ST1300, and Yamaha FJR1300A. A side-by-side comparison strikes me as the best way to judge something like this. The bottom line is, they unanimously prefer the Honda, with the Connie coming in third. When I bought my Connie I was also interested in the ST but the price differential was too big to swallow. The ST is still more expensive than the new Connie but the difference is enough smaller that, doing it again today, I’d probably pay a little more for the ST.

Here are a few notes about the Concours 14:
Base price is about $13,000, compared to the $8,000 I paid for my 1999 in 1999.
Fuel capacity is 5.8 gallons, compared with the 7.5 gallons in my ’99.
Gas mileage is 36 mpg. I get about 45 mpg on the ’99.
Displacement is 1,352 cc vs. 996 cc on the ’99.

Plus it has all kinds of cool extras that the older models don’t have. So there is good and bad. One thing for sure, it still looks like a Concours. Here’s a shot of a ’99 model like mine and another of the Concours 14:

1999 Kawasaki Concours

2008 Concours 14

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