Passes & Canyons Blog

Well, OK, not quite. You might think that a rally for the folks who ride a bike that has been in production for nearly 20 years with only minor changes — very much like the old Volkswagen Beetle — would be a huge gathering.

In fact, approximately 250 Kawasaki Concours riders gathered this week in Frisco, CO, (no, Frisco is not short for San Francisco) for the Concours Owners Group 2008 National Rally. And unlike some rallies, nearly everyone rode their bikes to this event. No trailers for this group.

So, I have a Concours. I was there. I wasn’t there for very long, however. The rally started on Monday and I was starting a new job on Tuesday. Rats. So I cruised up on Monday just to say hi and shoot a few pictures.

Those Connie riders are an independent bunch, however, so efforts to get a lot of the bikes together in one place for a photo failed. Harry van der Laan, of Delfzijl, Netherlands, tried to set that up for me. Thanks just the same, Harry. Harry, by the way, is probably the Concours owner who came the farthest for the rally. He didn’t bring his bike all the way from Europe, though. He bought one here a couple years ago and stores it with Rick Hall, another local Connie rider, when he’s not here. He also makes it available to bikers from other countries who come here to ride. Nice guy.

So I had a nice ride in gorgeous weather while most folks were slaving at the office. And I did see more Connies in one place than I’ve ever seen before. And I met some nice folks.

Hey! That’s about got it covered. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Biker Quote for Today

There’s something ugly about a NEW bike on a trailer.

This may not be a big deal for most motorcyclists, but I just got highway pegs on my Kawasaki Concours. So why is it a big deal for me?

Because for many, many years there were none available. The fact that you can finally get highway pegs for a Concours is thanks to Murph, not Kawasaki. Who is Murph? Murph is a guy who has taken it upon himself to create and market a wide variety of accessories specifically for the Concours. With the first highway pegs he created for the bike you had to cut a hole through your body work, which a lot of guys did, but others were reluctant to do.

But Murph kept at it and now he has come out with a set that requires cutting through a bit of plastic underneath the body work (out of sight) but not the body work itself. You mount the main bolt to the spot where the radiator bolt normally resides, and then a bracket goes sideways from that spot and pokes out one of the vent slots on the fairing. That’s where you attach the pegs.

Now, I’m pretty handy with a wrench, but trying to get clear on what I needed to do to install these things had me bothered. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go it alone. The local chapter of the Concours Owners Group, which I recently rejoined, has a yearly tradition of meeting at Rick Hall’s place up the South St. Vrain Canyon for Wrench and Retch. Folks ride on up to Rick’s and help each other out with the work they need to do on their Connies. Steve, whose last name I didn’t get, has a 1999 Concours, same as mine, and has the same pegs, so he helped me install mine. Rick supplies the tools and the workshop. Rick also cooks up a big pot of chili each year for after the wrenching is all done.

So finally! Now I can go out on these long trips we take each year and I’ll have a way to reposition my legs. Heck, I used them on the way home. From Rick’s I went on up the St. Vrain to the Peak to Peak Highway and on home that way. It was about 75 miles and my legs were ready for some shifting long before I got home. And by gum, they work! Thanks Murph.

Biker Quote for Today

Always replace the cheapest parts first.

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.

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:

Oh boy, I’m excited about this one. I own a Kawasaki Concours and I just learned that the Concours Owners Group is holding their annual rally here in Colorado. It’s going to be in Frisco the week of June 2-6. I may have to rejoin the organization.

I joined COG as soon as I bought my Connie in 1999 and went for a few rides but at that point I had other buddies to ride with so I didn’t renew my membership. Now the guy who seems to have been the linch-pin in our group has moved over to the western slope and while we still go for our summer trips, the rest of us don’t get together as much to ride. I had been thinking for awhile of rejoining COG in order to find some new riding buddies.

So anyway, this rally looks like something you really have to make a commitment to. Most rallies take place over the weekend but this one is Monday to Friday. That could be the one thing that stops me from going. I’m a contractor, working on an hourly basis, and when I’m not working I’m not making money. But to be in one place with a couple thousand other folks on Connies is pretty tempting. Plus, they may be offering demo rides on the new Concours 14, the first makeover for this bike in about 18 years. All the moto-mags are calling it one of the best touring bikes you’ll find.

Don’t know at this point what I’ll do but I’m pretty buzzed!

When my parents moved into a well-to-do development in South Carolina about 18 years ago I remarked that perhaps I’d ride my bike down to visit them there. They informed me that motorcycles were not allowed in this gated community. Of course I was indignant. The reason was noise, but as usual the community had not attacked the actual problem — noise — they had attacked what their preconceived notions focused on. That is, motorcycles.

Never mind that plenty of cars, trucks, delivery vans, and lawnmowers make a lot more noise than my 1999 Kawasaki Concours or my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who found this offensive, and while change takes time, change does occur. A few years passed and my father, who was the editor of the homeowner’s association newsletter, sent me a copy of the latest issue featuring a story about half of dozen residents who had ridden their bikes on a 5,000 mile journey. No Hell’s Angels, these retired engineers, accountants, lawyers, etc. And the community was pleased to see their neighbors having such a good time.

We just got back from there — Keowee Key, on Lake Keowee, outside Clemson, SC — yesterday. We went down for Christmas with Mom and the rest of the family. As my wife and I walked around one day I was pleased to notice a motorcycle in an open garage. Then the best of all was as we were leaving yesterday for the airport. Just as we were passing through the exit gate four leather-clad riders came up on their big cruisers and passed unheeded through the entrance gate. Things do get better.

One of the big events in motorcycling recently has to do with one of the smallest bikes. Honda recently announced that it has sold more than 50 million of its 49 cc Super Cub bikes. This bike was introduced in 1958 and is still in production.

For me, the bike has meaning because it was the first bike I ever dreamed of owning. Back in the early 1960s I was living in Nebraska and in those days you could ride a motorcycle at the age of 15. I believe it was in 1963 that Honda came out with the advertising campaign that said “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” I still remember the brochure, with the shiny red and cream-colored bikes on a white seamless backdrop and young, happy people riding without helmets, without eye-protection–you know, the way it was back then. Up to then the biker image had been defined by Marlon Brando, James Dean, and the excessive partying that went on at Hollister, CA, and was then over-inflated by the media. Honda set out to turn that image around, showing that everyday, clean-cut folks rode bikes, too.

As I turned 14 I desperately wanted a bike, and the “Honda 50,” which was the only name I ever knew it by–none of this “Cub” business–was the least expensive and therefore most accessible bike around. It cost $300 new at the time. I had a paper route and I announced that over the next year I was going to save my money and when I was 15 I was going to buy a Honda 50. I saved scrupulously and by the time my 15th birthday rolled around I had $300 in the bank and I was ready. I announced my intentions and then, to my horror, my mother finally spoke.

“You’ll never own a motorcycle as long as you live in my house,” was what she said.

“But, but, but . . .” I protested, “I’ve been saying for the last year that I was going to get this bike when I turned 15 and I’ve saved my money. You never objected before!”

True enough, but the fact was that she would not budge. And all my dreams came crashing down. Years went by and I got sidetracked away from bikes so that even after I was no longer living in her house I didn’t get one. Finally, though, I did. And the way I did it at least balanced the scales a bit.

I was unemployed at the time. My reserves were running low and I didn’t know how I was going to make the mortgage payment. I finally decided I needed to ask my parents for a loan. They were happy to oblige but then I decided to take some of the loaned cash and buy a bike, instead of using it for the purposes stated when I borrowed it. So I paid $900 for a 10-year old Honda CB750 Custom with 19,500 miles on it. It wasn’t until years later that I told them where I got the money to buy that bike.

I still have that bike and I ride it plenty. Back in 1999 I also bought a new Kawasaki Concours so I split my time between the two. But it was that Honda 50, the Super Cub if you will, that I once craved more than anything in the world. And at 50 million sold, there must be a lot of other people out there who have found it appealing as well. Congratulations Honda.

I rode my Kawasaki today, its first trip for April. I own two bikes — a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom and a 1999 Kawasaki Conours — and I make it a point to ride both of them at least once a month every single month. I’ve had the Honda since 1989 and the Kawi since 1999 and haven’t missed a month with either. Of course there have been plenty of months when I’ve ridden each numerous times but even in the coldest part of winter I manage to get out on each of them at least once. I already rode the Honda about a week ago so today was the Kawi’s turn.

Of course this is one of the joys of living in Colorado. I read about how people in Wisconsin or Ohio or so many other places put their bikes up for the winter. You read articles about “do I drain the gas or should I just use stabilizer” and those things just don’t mean anything here. Sure there are plenty of days in winter when you couldn’t ride if you wanted to, thanks to deep snow, icy roads, etc., but it never lasts. You just have to be opportunistic. Maybe it’s only 30 degrees out but the roads are clear — let’s ride! Sure, tomorrow may be 40 but it may snow tonight. You never know, so don’t hesitate, do it now! You may not get a chance tomorrow. It’s a dirty job but you’re the one who gets to do it. How lucky can you get?