Once Again To Objects On The Road

February 24th, 2022

Hey, once I rode through water! Oh, that doesn’t count?

It has been almost a year since I last checked in on this Adventure Rider thread, so here are another batch of objects riders have encountered on (or above) the road.

  • Hit a river otter. Yes, they are big.
  • I was riding down by San Diego State University one day. The sights of the lovely coeds were so agreeable I almost hit a post.
  • Weiner dog, yellow bellied marmot, kid on a unlicensed mini-bike.
  • Groundhog, Squirrels, Seagull, Endangered parrot, Cinder block.
  • I barely registered the canoe perched atop an oncoming pickup initially, but some mental twig made me think that either the bearing or aspect of the boat did not exactly match the vehicle it was perched on as it got nearer. And sure as s—, that thing caught lift, cranked sideways, and levered into my lane, then proceeded to pull off the bed and landed skidding just behind me. Closing speed was probably 80ish, backroads and no other traffic, and luckily the poor blacktop and camber already had me near the fog line; otherwise, I’m guessing either a massive vector change (not good) or going down (maybe worse) would have been in my future.
  • I hit the ground because I was going too slow uphill watching girls do jumps.
  • A wombat went under my back wheel. Did not see it coming.
  • On a group ride and saw a brush turkey run out from the left of the road, didn’t feel a hit but couldn’t see it exit on the right either. An hour later we stopped and I asked the other riders if anyone could smell roast chicken? Looked down and there he was, stuck between the header pipes, gently roasting away.
  • A small owl,,,but I didn’t hit it, I was attacked by it. Was driving through the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and this owl flies across the road, levels off towards me and attacks my helmet with full talons out. I ducked but it still raked the top of the helmet.
  • A huge roll of wide steel banding that slid off the back of a flat bed 18 wheeler. I was far enough back that I could brake when I saw the dust cloud. As I passed there was nothing but a mass tangle of razor sharp edges.
  • A semi full of meat, at night in a construction zone. The trailer had flipped and torn open and there was meat everywhere, hams and like that. The cab went off the left side and plunged off the road on an overpass. heard later the driver did not survive.
  • Ride in N Carolina I could see ahead and thought it was a pipe laying across the road. As I got closer saw that it was moving, the biggest black indigo snake I have ever seen.
  • An old, full size, 6’x4′ freezer, laying lengthwise in the right lane. On the 416 going into Ottawa from the east. Couldn’t figure out why the traffic was slowing and swerving all over till it was right in front of me by about 80′.
  • A five foot rattle snake followed by several miles of random tarantulas crossing NM Hwy 104 out of Tucumcari, NM on my way to Las Vegas, NM.

OK, fun! (Not.) Be careful out there.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you carry a lap-top in your saddle bags.

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Other Good Motorcycle Sites

February 21st, 2022

One of the rides I did last year.

I periodically go through the links on the Passes & Canyons website, testing them all and removing any that are no longer good. Far less frequently I go through my bookmarks in my browser to see what is still functioning and what is not.

Here are a few sites you may find interesting, as well as a few you have missed.

  • Bikerpunks.com – Watch Motorcycle Videos, Sportbike Videos! — Gone. Yeah, there are plenty of videos out there, but it was nice to have a whole bunch in one place.
  • blindspotcycles.com — Sorry to see this is gone. This was a guy who made a business of converting old gas-driven bikes to electric. I did a couple pieces about him and his bikes but I guess he has moved on.
  • Colorado Front Range Tag-O-Rama — Not a site, but a thread on Adventure Rider. These guys go out and shoot photos of their bikes by some unique or odd building or natural feature or whatever, post them, and then the others have to figure out where this is and go shoot their bikes in the same place. Then the new winner posts another spot and it keeps going. I have participated in this but not recently so I’m glad to see they’re still going.
  • Motorcycle Escape and Top Ten favorite rides and getaways — Another page on a bigger site, in this case Motorcyclist magazine. The title here is self-explanatory and the rides recommended are still good ones.
  • Motorcycle Museums | Enginecycle® Motorcycle Directory—U.S. — Gone. Too bad. This was a directory to the motorcycle museums around the country. But I’m guessing others have stepped up to fill this niche. This site, Rumble On, looks good.
  • Tilting Motor Works — I’m glad to see this guy is making it. He designed a two-wheeled, tilting front end for a few Harleys, Indians, and Hondas. None of this drives-like-a-car business of most motorcycle trikes. They’re not inexpensive, however.
  • Motorcycle Travel in Hope, Whistler and the Sea to Sky Highway — Oh yeah, shameless plug. This is a link to a story I wrote for Rider magazine a few years back.
  • Twisted Road — This one is definitely worth bookmarking. Are you going to be away from home and would like a bike to ride but don’t want to pay the high price of the big guys? Twisted Road is a peer-to-peer network where I could rent you my V-Strom, saving you money and putting some cash in my pocket.
  • Byways — Subtitled “Exploring Our Nation’s Scenic Byways,” this site shows you some of the best roads in each state. Who knew there were 11 scenic byways in Kansas.
  • AllPoetry.com — This one’s a bit different. It’s a poetry site and they have a page for motorcycle poetry. Check it out, there’s some interesting stuff here.
  • Redleg (Dom Pacheco) is one of the most intrepid riders I know. He rides sidecar rigs and goes everywhere and almost totally ignores silly things like weather. And he chronicles it all here on his blog, A Redleg’s Rides.

OK, I’ve gone through about a third of my motorcycle bookmarks, and two things are evident. First, an awful lot of sites and blogs come and go. Second, considering I’ve been posting this blog regularly for 16 years I guess I must be one of the real old-timers. Dom is, too. We’ve both been blogging since 2006. Thanks for reading.

Biker Quote for Today

An engineering student is walking on campus one day when another engineer rides up on a shiny new motorcycle.
“Where did you get such a rocking bike?” asked the first.
The second engineer replied “Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, ‘Take what you want.'”
The first engineer nodded approvingly “Good choice, the clothes probably wouldn’t have fit!”

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Posted in motorcycle talk, Motorcycles | No Comments »

Ride To Eat, Eat To Ride

February 17th, 2022

Our OFMC logo.

Judy and I had a candlelight dinner the other night and she wondered aloud if eating a baloney sandwich by candlelight would make it special.

That brought to mind a meal John and Bill and I had years ago on one of the early OFMC trips. We were in Utah, planning to spend the night camped at Hall’s Crossing, across from the Bullfrog Marina, on the north shore. In the morning we would take the ferry across and be on our way.

We knew better than to count on food at the marina so we stopped in Blanding at a grocery store and picked up a few things.

We cruised on then to Hall’s Crossing but upon arrival we encountered a problem we hadn’t anticipated. There was a campground and we had no trouble getting a campsite. There was a little store there but by the time we got there it was closed for the day–good for us for foresight. But there was no wood for a fire. None, as in no trees. And no firewood to be bought because the store was closed.

I don’t remember what else we bought but we had hot dogs. How are we going to cook these things?

One thing on hand was sagebrush. But green, growing things don’t generally burn well. So we scrounged around and found just a few dead twigs and some dry grass. We put it all together and had enough to make a fire about the size of your palm.

There were no sticks to impale the hot dogs on so we took turns, holding each end of the dog in our fingers, passing them back and forth over the tiny flame, turning it to cook all sides, and then there was dinner.

Maybe it was cooking over burning sage. Maybe it was just the situation. I mean, everyone knows food cooked over a campfire tastes better than the same thing cooked at home.

Whatever it was, those hot dogs were absolutely delicious. Those were unquestionably the best dogs I have ever eaten.

Thanks for calling that memory to mind, Judy.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 14. If the weather is nice, we’re not home.

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Posted in motorcycle touring, OFMC | No Comments »

Remember The D.U.M.P.?

February 14th, 2022


Yeah, I still have this old windshield on the bike, though it’s cracked from the one time I went down on it.

Thinking about my first days with a motorcycle made me think of other things. Like the D.U.M.P. As in Denver Used Motorcycle Parts.

This was an appropriately dumpy little place along Park Avenue West, at about Ogden or Emerson, where it was a parts and gear shop plus they had a small yard with old bikes being parted out. A lot like Steele’s today but much smaller.

I got all my early gear from the D.U.M.P. And I learned a lot.

For instance, I very quickly found that I did not like the blast of the wind at speed. I went to the D.U.M.P. and asked for a windshield. The guy showed me some and along the way I used the word “fairing” interchangeably. He asked me, did I want a windshield or a fairing? I didn’t understand the difference. I bought a windshield.

I already had a helmet, a half-helmet actually, from my days flying a hang-glider. But I wanted a face shield to block the wind. It had three snaps across the front so I looked for snap-on shields. The woman waiting on me at the D.U.M.P. showed me some simple, curved shields but I asked about this one that was like a half bubble. She told me scornfully that yeah, some people used those, but it was clear she did not think highly of them. I liked it and that’s the one I bought.

Later I bought a sissy bar and rack there.

I got my first leather jacket from the D.U.M.P. and my first gauntlet-style gloves and also a similar pair for winter lined with Thinsulate. And then my leather chaps. I was a regular customer at the D.U.M.P.

Of course the name of the place inevitably led to some amusing confusion. I remember a girlfriend asking me where I got something and when I told her I got it, in her hearing, “at the dump” she looked at me with a very weird expression.

And then one day I came by and they were closed. Gone. Now there’s probably some high-rise standing on that piece of land.

That’s something I’ve come to see as a constant: Motorcycle shops come and go. I try to keep my Colorado Motorcycle Dealers and Repair Shops page on the website up to date but at least once a year I go through and click on all the links and remove a bunch that are no longer in existence. Heck, the little shop on Federal where I bought my CB750 closed within a year or two of me buying that bike.

Fortunately, there always seems to be someone else willing to give it a shot. It’s probably not a bad idea if we all support our local motorcycle shops. That’s the only way they’ll be there when we need them.

Biker Quote for Today

Why motorcycles are better than women: Motorcycles last longer.

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Posted in Honda motorcycles, Motorcycle Gear | 1 Comment »

Laws Are For Thee, Not For Me

February 10th, 2022
Bike In Snow

Things looked like this out there just a few days ago but most of the roads are clear now.

What is it with people just flagrantly violating traffic laws and everyday rules of the road? In the last week I have been witness to three such incidents.

On Friday last week I was coming south on Havana, right where it bends west and becomes Hampden. I was in my car but that’s not really relevant here. This guy in a car came zooming across three lanes of traffic and got in the turn lane and was passing everyone in sight. He came up to the signaled intersection at Dartmouth and just blasted on through, still in the turn lane. And then he was gone around the bend.

Yesterday I was on my V-Strom on that same stretch of road and some guy on a sportbike came along going fast. He came to the first intersection after you make the bend onto Hampden and stopped for the red light. He looked both ways and saw there was no one coming from either direction so he just blasted on through the red light. He came up to the next lighted intersection and did the exact same thing.

And today I was out on the CB750, taking it for its first ride of the month. I was headed west on Quincy and had just crossed over I-25 and was planning a right turn onto Happy Canyon Road. Approaching the intersection there was a guy in a car behind me super, super close–not something anyone appreciates. I made the turn and so did he. Happy Canyon is a collector street so it’s bigger than a residential street but not as big as Havana or Hampden. It does have a turn lane in the middle. You guessed it. This guy just blasted on past me, and the person in front of me, using the turn lane. Dude, really? We were already going the speed limit. But I guess the laws don’t apply to these people.

So it’s a new month–February–and I had to get out on each of my three bikes. As I frequently do, I rode up to Cherry Creek to the Vineyard wine shop. Parking is terrible in Cherry Creek but the Vineyard has a small parking lot behind the store. You enter on the alley.

Well, at the north end of the alley the buildings provide enough shade that it was still all iced in. There was no way to get in without crossing the ice. I’m not crazy about doing that but I goosed the throttle a little for momentum and then rolled off and coasted across. No problem, but not something I want to make a regular habit of doing.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you leave your garage door open just so people can see your bike.

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The First Bike Trip

February 7th, 2022

Accommodations on one of the early OFMC trips.

The story continues as I continue to key in my journal. With a lot of really bad stuff going on in my life my motorcycle was the one thing that brought me pure, unadulterated joy. I was already becoming very attuned to just how great motorcycles are. From January 21, 1989: “Today is supposed to be the world’s most gorgeous day so I’ll be out on my bike.”

Then, in my journal entry for March 20, I remarked, “The motorcycle continues to be one of the few things I have to live for.” That tells you a lot about my state of mind at that time.

Bill was in a bad place at this point, too. His wife had thrown him out and he considered moving in with me. On April 11 I wrote, “Bill said he won’t be moving in. He should be getting his motorcycle Saturday. The weather better be nice because we’re going to want to ride.” Unlike the old, used bikes John and I bought, Bill got a brand new Honda Shadow.

Before I started riding motorcycles I flew hang-gliders. Between the two I chose the bikes. April 26: “Thought I’d sell my glider but the guy found another. Too bad. I need the money to cover the $250 my motorcycle is going to cost for a tune up and a tire.”

In May I told my parents about using money I borrowed from them to buy a bike: “I told them about the motorcycle. Mom was not happy. Dad was cool.”

Our first trip anywhere was over to visit a friend. June 7: “John & Bill & I are taking the bikes over to Fruita this weekend, weather permitting.”

July 12: “John & Bill & I had a wonderful three days on the bikes. Spent one night in Steamboat and the next at Rifle Falls up Rifle Gap. Very nice place. Loved being on the bikes.” This was the first of the annual OFMC trips, which are now in their 34th year.

Then this on July 21: “Our love affairs with our motorcycles continue to grow. Bill & John & I took a three-day trip through northwestern Colorado a couple weeks ago and we were in heaven. There are times when, cruising down the highway, I laugh out loud and throw my head back and scream ‘I love my motorcycle!'”

There were other things to be learned about riding a motorcycle. On August 20 I wrote, “One reason I have time today is that I have a flat on the bike.”

And of course I had to make the bike mine. September 4: “Put a case protector on my bike. Now I need to attach the highway pegs. Learned a bit of motorcycle mechanics in the process.”

Yeah, I’ve done a lot of work on my bikes over the years but mainly I let the pros handle it. I just do little stuff.

So by now I figured I was a real motorcyclist. A status sadly postponed by more than 20 years. But I was only getting started. Will I pass along more from the journal? Depends on what I find that I had to say, and when I get to those parts. Keying this journal in is a multi-year project.

Biker Quote for Today

We know you’re a poser if you take your bike into the shop for oil changes.

Tags:
Posted in Honda motorcycles | No Comments »

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