Helmet and Seat Belt Laws Defeated

May 9th, 2007

Common sense prevailed in the Colorado Legislature this season. Attempts to pass a helmet law and allow police to stop and ticket you for not wearing a seat belt were both defeated.

Make no mistake, the two are connected. The nannies who think government has some right to poke its nose into private matters were behind these bills. I won’t argue with people who say not wearing a seat belt is stupidity. It’s just that stupidity is not illegal. The same with helmets. The job of government is to protect us from foreign invaders and polluters poisoning the common air we breathe or water we drink, those sorts of things. Helmets and seat belts don’t fall into that category.

Congratulations to the Colorado Legislature for showing some sense.

New Rally In Southwestern Colorado

April 23rd, 2007

There was the old Iron Horse Rally, and lately a slew of others, but pulling off a motorcycle rally in southwestern Colorado has proven to be a difficult thing to do. Either the authorities decide they don’t want you, or who knows what.

Well, there are some determined people out there, and coming in late August there is going to be a rally just outside of Mancos. Where is Mancos? It’s west out of Durango on US 160, a bit more than half way to Cortez. It will be at the Sugar Pine Ranch and they’re calling it the Sugar Pine Ranch Rally. Here’s the website:

http://www.sugarpineranchrally.com/

They’re billing it as “~All New Rally~All new Promoters~Permits in place!” The dates are Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. Check it out. Could be a good one.

USA Biker Nation Having Growing Pains, I Guess

April 21st, 2007

OK, I forgot to tune in USA Biker Nation last week but I had it on my Palm to remind me this week. Well, I tuned in to KKZN-AM 760 at 10 am, just a few minutes ago, and it was just ending. So apparently they changed the time. Presumably it now starts at 8 am. I went to the web site and all they have is info for the show two weeks ago. This is not an auspicious beginning but we’ll give them time to work it all out. I hope this turns out to be a show worth listening to.

USA Biker Nation Radio Show Starts Out Slow

April 7th, 2007

Well, I had to listen to the first airing of Peter Boyles’s new radio show, USA Biker Nation. It was this morning at 10 am on KKZN-AM 760, which I didn’t even know existed. It’s local here in Colorado but they’re going national in two weeks, he said. They were broadcasting live from the Easyriders V-Twin Bike Show going on today at the Merchandise Mart.

Tuning in early I caught a bad infomercial–I didn’t even know they had those on radio. Then lots of commercials and the news and finally, to the strains of Arlo Guthrie singing “The Motorsickle Song,” followed by Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider agreeing to ride with Fonda and Hopper, and finally “Get your motor running . . .” the show began.

Boyles started with two guests, Pastor Gary Davis of Church of the Wind, and a guy named Nick who is a former member of Sons of Silence. They talked, there were more guests, and after two hours the show wrapped up.

How did it go? I really didn’t think it was all that interesting. Hey, it’s a first show so it takes time to start rolling and hit your stride, but I hope they do exactly that. It’s also supposed to be a call-in show but apparently they figure to get it started first and then let people start calling in. As it was, they didn’t even mention a phone number.

They did mention a website: www.usabikernation.com. There’s nothing much up there yet but I’m sure that will change.

So we’ll see. I’ll tune in again next week but they’re going to have to fire it up to keep me coming back.

(Comments are welcome, but the blog spammers forced me to turn off that function. Please send any comments to ken at motorcyclecolorado dot com.)

Damn Those Blog Spammers

April 4th, 2007

This posting is not about motorcycles. It is about the assholes who send tons of spam comments to blogs like this one. It started out small, just an occasional one, but then it grew. For a couple weeks I was getting about 5 per week. Then it was more like 5 per day. Then it hit about 100 per day.

At that point I had no choice. I turned off your ability to post comments to this blog. Now the spammers can’t post here but neither can you. I am truly sorry for this. If you ever find out someone you know is doing this stuff, do us all a favor–shoot the motherfucker.

In the meantime, I still welcome any comments you have. Just send them to me at ken at motorcyclecolorado.com. Thanks.

Why Isn’t Mount Evans On The Site?

March 25th, 2007

That’s the question I got from M Rockey. With all the motorcycle roads I have posted info about on the website, where is the road up Mount Evans. Actually, I’ll let him speak for himself:

Nice site, very enjoyable…but where is MT Evans? :) It’s the best ride of them all in my opinion….I couldn’t find it if it is there..:)

But thanks..this gets me all worked up for this summer’s CO trip!

He’s right, you know, and I had realized that last fall. I’ve spent so much time putting up info on routes that get you from A to B that I forgot about rides where you just go and come back. So I’ve had it on my list of things to do soon to add Mount Evans. The thing is, I can’t do it now because that road is closed for the winter, and is probably under six feet of snow at the moment. But check back in June or so and you’ll see Mount Evans. Thanks for the prodding.