Passes & Canyons Blog

Strapping the bike down before driving to Idaho Falls.

Our experience on the recent OFMC trip where Dennis inadvertently put diesel in his Indian has led me to think about some things I hadn’t considered before. Primarily, the importance of being close to someone who can work on your motorcycle when need be.

It’s no secret that there are one heck of a lot more Hondas or Harleys on the road than there are Indians. First off, the modern-day Indians are a much newer brand than Harley, plus they cost a lot. So–so far at least–Indian is sort of a niche brand.

Thus, the economics of the situation dictate that there are a lot fewer Indian dealerships around and also not all that many independent shops with experience working on Indians. And when you paid something in the mid-20s or more for your Chieftain I’m guessing you aren’t comfortable letting just any wrench jockey tear into it.

But what do you do when you break down? In Dennis’s case, he rented a U-Haul truck and we loaded the bike in and drove more than 200 miles out of our way to get to the nearest dealer. That will disrupt your trip in a hurry.

If it had been Bill, on the other hand, who rides a Harley, we would only have needed to get the bike another 40 miles or so in the direction we were heading to find a Harley shop. Same thing for me on my Suzuki V-Strom. And there are plenty of all-makes shops that would have been fully competent to work on either of our bikes. Perhaps they would also have been fully competent to work on Dennis’s bike but as I say, he was not particularly willing to take that chance.

So obviously, if you’re like Dennis and you ride a bike where repair options are sparse you are going to make an extra careful point to be sure the bike is in top condition before you take off on a trip like this. But Dennis didn’t break down; he made a mistake at the pumps and grabbed the wrong pump.

I’m sure this is not an irrelevant issue for some people when they’re deciding which bike to buy. And it has to be a chicken and egg thing: how do you get the sales without the dealer networks, but how do you support the dealer networks before you have the sales? I guess in this case it helps to be a big corporation like Polaris that can afford to subsidize the new brand for awhile from sales of the established brand. But even they don’t have infinite resources.

I guess I’ll stick with my Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki bikes. There are a lot of them out there.

Meanwhile, I want to note that as I prepped to write this piece I googled Honda, Harley, and Indian dealerships in Colorado and was amazed–as I periodically am–at how many shops come and go. And then there are those who change their names. I try to keep my “Colorado Motorcycle Dealers and Repair Shops” page reasonably current but this is an ever-changing target. I ended up adding about eight new shops and revising the name on two. About once a year I try to go through and click each link to see who is no longer in business, and there are always a bunch of those. Ah, the joys of running a website.

Biker Quote for Today

Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: We never ask for directions. Getting lost is usually the point on a motorcycle.

It took Jeff about a minute to whip this baby out.

Is there some kind of law that if you rent V-Stroms you have to have a buddy named Jeff who is big into motorcycle mechanics and can fix just about anything on the spot? My experience would suggest that.

I know two guys who either do or have rented V-Stroms and both have that very particular Jeff. Kevin rented bikes, mostly V-Stroms, out of Gunnison for a number of years through his company, Colorado Mountain Moto. Ron still rents V-Stroms but also other bikes now through his company, Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures.

I went on a 10-day ride this summer with Kevin and–you knew this was coming–his buddy Jeff. Jeff works as a motorcycle mechanic, which is a good thing because he rides a couple Moto Guzzis. From what I understand, Guzzis are “quirky” and if you’re going to ride them you’d better be able to work on them any time you need to.

Jeff needed to. And he did. And he had everything he needed to do whatever was needed. We ended up at his place outside of Boise later in the week and then we really got to see how into this he is. Besides a garage full of bikes and parts, he built his own very large shop that is full of more bikes that he is in the process of restoring. And any tool you might need was right there at hand.

Then more recently I was up in Boulder with Ron with the intent of replacing my worn out valve stem on my Honda. And where did we go to do this? To Ron’s friend Jeff’s house. Ron actually owns this tire changing machine but he keeps it at Jeff’s because Jeff gets a lot of use for it and Ron really doesn’t have a place for it at home.

Jeff is not a professional mechanic but he does race bikes and gets very much into working on them. While Ron and I were figuring we’d need to take the wheel off the bike and use the machine to break the bead so as to get to the valve stem, Jeff pulled out this handy little portable bead breaker and they were able to replace the valve stem in less than 10 minutes without taking the wheel off the bike.

But then the really amazing thing happened.

Ron and I were getting ready to leave and I got on the bike, kicked the side-stand up, and fired her up. Just then Jeff called out urgently to warn me that my side-stand was down. Funny, I thought for sure I had just put that up. So I nudged it up with my foot and it just swung freely. It wouldn’t stay up. There was definitely a problem of some kind.

I killed the bike, kicked the stand back out to hold the bike up, and got off. It didn’t take long to find the problem: the spring that holds the stand up out of the way was broken. One of the hooked ends had snapped off and it was just dangling from the other. This bike is a 1981 model so after 34 years the spring just gave out. And it gave out right here, at Jeff’s, of all places.

What happened? Jeff went rummaging through a drawer and in just a few seconds pulled out an identical spring that fit perfectly. He just happened to have it on hand and knew right where it was. It took longer for Ron and me to get the thing on than it took Jeff to find it. And there I was, all patched up, just that quickly.

I tell you what, I don’t care if you rent V-Stroms or not, everybody should have a buddy named Jeff.

Biker Quote for Today

Honda 919s are as reliable as an anvil, albeit faster. — Ray Nierlich

This diagram will help you understand this procedure.

When I went to work on it Saturday morning I was surprised how quickly and easily I resolved the various issues with replacing the handlebar end weight that got busted off when the bike fell over a couple weeks ago. Here’s how it went.

First I had to figure out how to put the whole assembly back in and have it stay. I had speculated that the nut on the very end (#9 in that diagram above) must screw into something inside the bar. Nope. I shone a flashlight up in there and there was nothing at all. Then it dawned on me: That rubber stopper (#8) is sandwiched between the nut and that washer (#7). Put the whole thing together but don’t tighten it down too much, slip the whole assembly inside the bar, and then tighten the screw such that it compresses the stopper, making it expand outward until it forms a seal with the inside of the bar. Presto! Solid and secure.

Then I turned to the other problem: how to get the broken bolt out of the damaged side.

Looking at the assembly from the undamaged side, I could see that flush with the broken end of the bolt was the rubber insert (#5). Maybe I could just grab that with some pliers and pull it out and that would make it easy to grasp the broken bolt.

I first used some needle-nose pliers to grip it and pull. It seemed to be coming but when I released it it drew back in almost completely. Almost. I worked at it on the other side and once again it came out and stayed out just the barest amount. Going back and forth I got it out enough that I was able to grab it with some regular pliers and then I really went to work on it. I got a bit more out on one side, then a bit more on the other, until the whole thing slipped out. Then it was easy to grip and twist the bolt and as soon as the pressure was reduced on the rubber stopper that whole assembly slid right out.

I then had an issue removing the broken bolt from that thin metal sleeve (#6). At the outside end it was right where the bolt broke, and it got damaged, too. Ideally I would have gotten a new sleeve, but I didn’t have one and wanted to get this resolved now, not later. I stuck the thing–with the bolt still in it–in the vise and did my best to bring it back close to round so the bolt could slide out. That worked.

Then putting the whole assembly back together with the new bolt was troublesome, too, because of the misshapen tube. I worked on it some more with the vise and got it reasonably OK, and then tapped the end of the bolt to get it to go through. Some more shaping in the vise and it seemed acceptably good. It went together and slipped into the bar.

The next issue was that the handguard had ripped off when all this happened, and the inside end of the guard that used to have a hole through the plastic/rubber/whatever now was an open notch. But the bottom side was designed as an open notch and the outer connector was, too. I figured that in all three cases if I could just get that bolt to cover and grip a piece of the guard it should hold sufficiently well. It did. More success.

Then finally, with the handguard in the position it naturally fell into, the little throttle lock I use no longer cleared the guard. I experimented with twisting it into less natural positions and found one where there was no interference. I tightened the bolts securely at that point.

And the job was done. Now all that remained was to take the bike out for a test ride. I know, this is one of those “it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it” kind of things, but hey, I’m up to the task. And I’m not one to leave a job uncompleted. So yeah, if you saw someone out of a blue V-Strom Saturday it might have been me.

Biker Quote for Today

My favorite ride is the one I’m about to start!

Right after the fall, the busted end, the hand guard, and the end weight: conspicuously, no spacer.

OK, this should have been easy but you know what they say, “When all else fails, read the instructions.” In my case I guess I should have done some research before picking up the tools.

I mentioned earlier that my V-Strom fell over and busted off the end weight that dampens handlebar vibration. What I guess I should have done was to go to the Stromtrooper forum first before fooling around with things.

I couldn’t get the broken bolt out so I removed it from the other side so I could take it over to Fay Myers and see about replacement parts. I had checked online parts places and could tell they didn’t have what I needed. The stock bolt is shorter than the one you need if you have the hand protectors, which I do. Plus, when I pulled the other one off I found that there was a spacer that apparently got lost in the confusion, so I needed that as well.

I worked with Barry at Fay Myers and he was terrifically helpful but ultimately unsuccessful in tracking down what I needed. He even emailed Suzuki asking about the parts and they said they aren’t sold separately. What should have been a five dollar repair was starting to look like a sixty dollar replace-the-whole-thing-because-you-need-one-small-part affair. Don’t you hate that kind of thing?

So I turned to Stromtroopers. Quickly and easily I found someone asking the exact same question and the answer was simple: My V-Strom is a DL650; if you buy the bolt for the DL1000 V-Strom, that’s the size you need, 6mm by 140mm. Plus, as I was looking at the schematic I saw that the DL1000 also uses the spacer I needed. Problem solved. I order one space but two bolts because I suspect this could happen again, though next time I’ll know to pick up the spacer. That thing doesn’t break.

Only the problem is not solved. I tried to put the good side back together and can’t get it to work. I unscrewed the bolt and the whole assembly pulled out, but now when I reinsert it there doesn’t seem to be anything for it to attach to. Examining it closely I found that the end piece is an open nut that I postulated must screw into something inside the handlebar and then you screw the 140mm bolt into the other side. I was going to shine a flashlight in there but checking on Stromtroopers I find that that’s exactly the case. And of course, they warn you about just this problem. Which only does you some good if you read the warning before you operate.

So I haven’t gotten back to it to see if I can get it to happen. And I still haven’t figured out how to get the broken bolt out. What protrudes is too short to get a grip on with vise-grips so I’m going to have to try something else. But at least I’ve got the parts on order.

Biker Quote for Today

“I’m always amazed at how smoothly a bike can idle while lying on it’s side.” Feo y Gordo

If you want to start a motorcycle repair operation, this space right next to Susie's could be the perfect spot.

On the very off chance that you are looking to set up a motorcycle service shop and are looking for the right location, here’s a possibility.

I got an email recently from Joe Dunn, of CRESCO Properties, Inc., saying he has “about 3200 SF 5 bay repair shop for lease at 17981 W. Colfax Avenue in Golden, CO directly east of Susie’s Bar And Grill. Might be a natural for someone looking to relocate a shop since Susie’s is motorcycle friendly.”

Then in a follow-up email when I requested a photo, Joe said, “Looks like it would be perfect for motorcycle repair, and customers can get lunch and a brew while they wait. Rent for 3,163 SF is $2800 per month including taxes. Maybe one or more of your readers is looking to relocate their business.”

Now, there’s no finder’s fee or anything involved here; I have nothing to gain. But I thought I’d pass this along just in case someone out there is looking for exactly this sort of thing. FWIW. You can reach Joe at c.properties@comcast.net.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Butler Maps goes east to the Ozarks

Biker Quote for Today

And the Moto Gods said “Let there be tinkering.” And the people said “yes we will tinker, and we will buy parts, and we will clean old parts, until such time that old parts and new parts become one, and she rumbles forth anew. Yea, I will tinker.”

The following is a guest post provided by ProTool Warehouse.

Man working on motorcycle. Image Source: http://images.wisegeek.com/man-working-on-motorcycle.jpg

Due to misleading claims made by motorcycle manufactures/distributors regarding warranty fulfillment requirements, you may be wondering if it is possible for you to do your own motorcycle repairs without voiding your warranty. Contrary to popular misconception, you are allowed to perform repairs using your own equipment and aftermarket parts, without having to worry about violating your manufacturer’s warranty.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975

Almost 4 decades ago, the U.S. Government enacted a warranty-governing statute, sponsored by Sen. Warren Magnuson and U.S. Representative John Moss, known as the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The “Tie-In Sales” provision within this act actually declares it illegal for a dealership or manufacturer to imply that a warranty will be voided if repairs are performed independently or with the use of aftermarket parts. In other words, a manufacturer is not allowed to require a consumer to purchase a part/service from a specific company in order for their warranty to remain valid, as this would create a conflict of interest in which manufacturers could force artificial monopolization by coercing people to buy from them only.

Federal Trade Commission Legislation

Furthermore, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) reiterates the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Act in an online report entitled “Auto Warranties, Routine Maintenance, and Repairs: Is Using the Dealer a Must?” which can be found on the FTC official website. In summary, the report states that you are not obligated to purchase your parts or repairs from the dealer whom you bought your motorcycle from, and that any dealer who tells you this is in direct violation of U.S. statutes.

Other Reasons to Repair Your Own Motorcycle

Now that you know your warranty won’t be voided if you decide to repair your motorcycle independently, consider the advantages of doing so:

Conducting your own motorcycle repairs will let you save money in two ways – you’ll be purchasing the necessary parts directly (instead of through a dealership/repair shop), and you won’t be paying for the labor involved. You’ll also gain knowledge about how your bike works, so if you ever need to perform emergency repairs in the future, you’ll be well prepared to do so. Also, once you’ve become knowledgeable about the mechanics of your motorcycle, the saying “if you want something done right, do it yourself” holds true, as you can be sure that repairs are performed to your specifications. If you’re going to be working on your bike independently, you may want to begin comparing specialty tool sets to ensure you’re equipped with the necessary hardware.

Notice anything funny about my speedometer in the photo above? Yeah, that’s weird. The top portion of the face of the speedometer just snapped off and slid down on the side, exposing the gears and inner workings. Anyone seen something like that before?

I was out on my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom on Friday, making a run for the Tag-O-Rama game being played on Adventure Riders, and getting annoyed at the howling coming from my speedometer. For as long as I’ve owned this bike, more than 20 years, the speedometer has periodically made this squealing sound, but it has only been occasionally. Recently, however, it has been doing it all the time, and it has been louder than before.

So I was watching it closely to see when the squealing starts (around 20 mph) and when it stops (around 15 mph). And then one time I looked down and . . . WTF?

I happened to be near Mountain Thunder Motorsports, at 2670 W. Hampden, where I take my bikes for service, so I swung on by to let Joel take a look. I figured he could see what parts were needed and get them on order. Even Joel was surprised by what he saw so I suspect this is not a very common problem. Joel did say, though, that the squealing is definitely an issue with the speedo, and that replacing it will solve both problems.

He also looked at my mileage, 84,549 when I got home later and shot this picture, and remarked that even with a used speedometer my bike is going to shed a lot of miles. Hey, someone want to buy this 32-year-old bike with only 27,000 miles on it? Ha! Not for sale.

I’ve often wondered if the speedometer was going to break some day, considering the squealing and all, but I never imagined this would be how it would break. You never know.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Kawasaki demo days coming to 30 towns

Biker Quote for Today

The faster it goes the faster it breaks. And high performance=high maintenance.

I know they were just letting me nibble at the bait, considering taking a big bite, when they’ll set the hook.

They, in this case, are the guys at the DOHC Customs forum, a web forum for owners–like me–of old Honda CBs, primarily of the Custom variety. That is, my bike is a CB750 Custom and there are also CB900 Customs, CB1000 Customs, as well as CB750K models and others.

A big part of the focus of this forum is helping owners keep their aging beasts alive. I had joined the forum in 2008 but had not been active.

I noticed recently that there was a good bit of oil collecting on the lower extremities of the bike, right around the centerstand area. Thinking I might be low on oil due to the leak, I checked it. Dang! It was way overfull! Did I top it off recently? Or did the shop overfill it the last time I had it in for work? I have no idea.

But the question I now had was, is all this leakage an indication of a blown seal? So I went to the forum to ask that question, and I also asked if it was something I could easily fix on my own. I’m not much of a mechanic but as broke as I am these days I wanted to avoid taking it to the shop if I could.

The answers from the forum were yes and yes. I was told it was most likely to be the shift shaft seal, which I have indicated in that photo above. That rod coming out right there is what the gear shift lever is attached to, which I had removed before the picture was taken. The seal is slipped over the shaft and pressed into place there in the engine body.

I plunged right in but quickly started catching all kinds of crap. It turns out I had not sufficiently boned up on forum etiquette and proceeded to annoy several of the guys, who didn’t hesitate to express their displeasure. The discussion was a little tense for awhile but I was properly contrite and we got past that.

The repair job was indeed pretty simple, although there were a few things I had to figure out on my own. And I did. I’ve worked as a tech writer and I know how people who know their subject really well can often skip over steps they take for granted, not realizing the uninitiated just don’t know these things, and therefore find a disconnect between steps.

So for the $6.43 the seal cost me I fixed my bike. And I learned a bunch, too. I wouldn’t object to learning how to work on my bike. I sure hate what I’ve had to pay over the years to keep this bike running. I know the guys on the forum are just waiting for me to take a bigger bite on this bait.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Allstate will install caution signs for motorists to look for motorcycles

Biker Quote for Today

It ain’t broke ’til you can’t fix it anymore.