Passes & Canyons Blog

I made the very unpleasant decision to sell my 1999 Kawasaki Concours to Steele’s Cycle for a pittance because it made more sense than paying a pile of money to get some problems fixed and then turning around and selling for less than I just spent on it. When I took it over there I made the pitch to Rick, the honcho, that this was a bike that was worth fixing and selling rather than just parking it in the lot to be picked over by people needing parts.

He may have thought we were having a negotiation but we weren’t. I knew he would not offer me much and I was prepared to take whatever he offered. All I wanted was for the bike to continue to roll and to bring joy to someone. But “negotiating” as he was, he told me no, with 79,000 miles on it there was no market.

Well, he lied–sort of. A couple weeks afterward I went to the Steele’s website and looked at what they had for sale. What do you know? There’s my bike, listed as being “SALE PENDING” for about 10 times what I sold it to him for.

Now, I’m sure it’s not exactly the bike I took in there. The benefit you have from being a salvage lot is that you probably have a lot of parts off similar bikes that you can use to make a really cherry bike. The listing says the condition is “Excellent” and the descriptive text refers to it as “super clean.”

What has changed about it, as far as I can see just from the photo, is that they removed the top bag and reinstalled the passenger backrest, but left the rack itself. The top bag and the back rest are incompatible–if you have one installed the other cannot be mounted. It also appears they removed the Murph highway pegs. Maybe the idea is to then offer these accessories at an additional price to the buyer.

They also put on a tank bra and swapped out the right side bag from some other Concours to replace the damaged one I had. And of course they did the repair work I did not wish to spend the money for–another advantage because the cost for them was just the repair guy’s time.

The one other thing they did is the questionable one. The bike I took in had 79,000 on the odometer. Here it says mileage 37,986. Certainly it’s not hard to swap out one instrument cluster for another, putting on one that shows fewer miles. But that motor and everything else still has 79,000 miles on it. I would think to just do this would be fudging the law a bit, but maybe they got a salvage title for the bike. I’m sure that would be easy enough for them to do. You just say hey, it’s a frankenbike, put together with parts from various other bikes, and gosh, this odometer just says 38,000. We don’t claim that that goes for the whole bike.

Anyway, it’s really not a big deal. I knew when Rick was telling me it had too many miles on it that he was BSing me because these Connies are known to go many, many miles further. These motors are pretty bullet-proof. It’s not going to break down on this new owner anytime soon. I took really good care of that bike.

So it did not get consigned to the lot. That makes me very happy. I wish the best to whoever the new owner is, and particularly with those decals on that side bag I will recognize it if I ever see it somewhere. If I do I’m going to want to chat with the guy. He got a good bike.

Biker Quote for Today

You either love going for motorcycle rides, or you’re wrong.

For the first time ever a motorcycle I owned is no longer in my possession. I let go of my 1999 Kawasaki Concours for the measly sum of $300. What a sad day.

I went over to Rowdy Rocket Garage on Tuesday morning and walked in and told Mark I was there to pick up my Concours. He didn’t ask why. He had had it there for three months and had not worked on it. No explanation was necessary.

To his credit, when I asked if I owed him anything he said no, of course not. Well, he had told me in January that he had checked it out and found no evidence of a vacuum leak so it had to be the carbs. When I took it in he said he’d have to diagnose the problem and that would be about an hour at $90 an hour. Was that just more BS and he hadn’t really touched it? I’ve never know and at this point I don’t care. I just wanted to get it back from him. It had pained me every time I went by seeing it sitting there exposed to the elements in the dead of winter. I had taken extremely good care of this bike ever since I bought it new in August 1999. It had always been garaged except when I was traveling. To see snow and icicles hanging off it was painful.

Getting it over to Steele’s was not exactly all sunshine and roses either. I have AMA Roadside Service and I called them for a pick-up. After about an hour I got a call from the driver who had been dispatched and as we talked he became aware that I had a motorcycle needing towing. He was not equipped to handle motorcycles. He said I needed to call AMA and tell them to cancel the order and reissue an order with the correct information. Not his fault, I sure don’t blame him.

So I did, and they had to call a different company. Now the wait would be 60-90 more minutes. After about an hour I got a call from that driver and he was confirming I was at 30th and Colorado. No, I was at 3000 South Colorado. Oops. OK, he’d be there in about 10 minutes.

He got there and he was a really nice guy. Some tow truck drivers are jerks but some are nice and this guy was very nice. He rides. He knew where Steele’s is–that’s where he gets his motorcycle parts, he said. So we got the bike loaded and took off in our separate vehicles.

At Steele’s we had to wait for someone else to move so we could get in to that space to unload. I talked with the driver, who had twice commented on how nice my bike was, and asked if maybe he’d like to buy it, cheap. He was clearly tempted but had to say no.

So Rick, the owner at Steele’s, got back from lunch and we talked about the bike. Speaking with him previously he had said he could only offer $300 to $400 for it. Now with the bike there I pointed out all the extras and what a nice bike it was. I told him I hoped he would have his guys work on it and put it on their floor to sell as a whole bike. He cited the mileage (79,125) and said no it would just be salvage, parted out. That’s baloney. These Connies can easily go many, many more miles than any measly 79,000.

Now, he may have just been saying that to justify offering me so little–he only gave me the $300, not the $400–but I was committed to taking whatever he offered. I do think if I’m over that way in about a month or so I may drop in just to see if it’s in the yard or on the showroom floor. It will make my heart glad if it’s on the floor. It will break my heart if it’s in the yard.

So now I have two motorcycles. The CB750 will get a lot more miles on it this year. The V-Strom will be my main bike. Maybe at some point I’ll look for a good deal on a used Yamaha FJ-09 or Tracer. I’m not planning anything at this point. I’ll just see how I feel and whether I’m perfectly content with the two.

But it’s the end of an era. I had that Concours for just a few months shy of 25 years. I bought it on my birthday in August of 1999. And now it’s gone.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you run into the bros & they say hey let’s go here & you have to call home to check first.

We all know how many motorcycles die: they get crashed and that’s that. But what about those that don’t get crashed? If they don’t keep going, why not?

I know the answer to that now. It’s all about the Benjamins.

I bought my Kawasaki Concours new in 1999. I have ridden it something over 80,000 miles. In July of last year it overheated going up to the Eisenhower Tunnel and I had to have it hauled home. Then I took it to a shop to have that all put right. But when I got it back it was not all right. Now the throttle refused to back off properly, so I took it back to the shop. It has sat there for three months now not getting worked on.

In the meantime, the last time I went by, planning to take it for a short ride, it had developed an oil leak. After three months of not getting worked on I decided to take the bike to a different shop, so I started calling around. It appears that getting the work done that the bike needs would run me at least $1,000. Meanwhile, I had decided that the time has come to let go of this bike. It has always been a very heavy bike and I am getting older. I can still handle it OK but for how much longer? But it seems doubtful that I could find a buyer willing to pay even $1,000 for it.

The big no-brainer question: why would I pay more than $1,000 for repairs and turn around and sell it for less than $1,000?

One of the places I called about repairs was Steele’s Cycle. Yeah, they could definitely fix it; working on older bikes is their specialty. On the other hand, I could sell it to them either as salvage or, more likely in my opinion, in my hopes, so they could do the repair work and then put it on their used bike floor and sell it. Other than the throttle and the oil leak there’s not a thing wrong with it and it can easily run many, many more miles. And they will give me about $300 to $400 for it, according to Rick, the owner.

So let’s see. Pay more than $1,000 to have it running good again and then sell it for less than that, or sell it as-is with no additional costs and get a few hundred bucks. It’s really sad to say it but I’m planning to have the bike hauled over there–probably on Tuesday–and take whatever they’ll give me for it.

I have loved this bike. This bike has taken me so many places, and I have done so much on this bike. I really hate the idea of abandoning it. Walking away from it after all the good times it brought me. But what am I going to do? Keep pouring money into it? Especially when I’ve already made the decision to move on from it. This will be the first time I have let go of a motorcycle I owned.

And about that. My first ever bike was/is my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. I still own and ride that bike. And as my first bike I am deeply in love with it. It is in bad need of some work of its own and at some point this year I will pay whatever it costs to get this work done. This is how one bike dies, while another continues to live and continues to run. Sometimes it’s not about the Benjamins.

Biker Quote for Today

100 reasons not to date a biker: 17. We spend more on tires than we spend on you.

Steele’s is certainly still there. I’ve found a few things I needed for my 1980 Honda there. This early 2009 post is definitely still relevant.

Like elephants, motorcycles have their common burial grounds where they go to die. Unlike elephants, parts off these dead bikes come back to keep their compatriots alive.

In Denver, the motorcycle graveyard is located just west off Santa Fe Blvd. at Union. It is called Steele’s Cycles. The address is 2025 W. Union Ave.

Steele’s sells a bit of everything. Their showroom holds about 80 bikes of all sorts, from cruisers to dirt bikes with a good share of sport bikes. Accessories and other parts are stored inside as well, and then there is the outside.

Outside you’ll find the carcasses of hundreds of motorcycles of all makes and models. If you’re looking for a frame, or a fork, or a crankcase for a particular model you can probably find it here. Just be prepared to spend some time finding it. Bikes are grouped by make but it may not be easy to recognize your model with half its parts gone.

Steele’s bills itself at “Colorado’s oldest and largest new and used motorcycle parts source. They also perform service and they sell new parts as well as used ones.

Long-time Steele’s employee Bob Burkler observes that while the bad economy is hurting everyone, salvage is “probably a pretty good business to be in right now. Someone who might have just gone to a dealer for a new part might come here now to get that part for less.” He also notes that the demand for small bikes is up a lot. Steele’s sells used bikes of all sorts but does not have much in the way of scooters.

Burkler also says that Steele’s is a good place for anyone with an older bike. Dealerships will tell you right out that they do not want to do service on older bikes, but that is what Steele’s specializes in.

So. Looking for a headlight for that 1980 Honda CB? Need a front fender for that 1987 Virago? How about an entire motor kit for a 2002 Suzuki GSXR 600? Steele’s may very well have just what you need.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Call 303-781-5339.

I made a run over to Steele’s the other day. In case you’re unfamiliar with the place, Steele’s Salvage at 2025 W. Union, is a junk yard for dead motorcycles.

Mind you, Steele’s is a lot more than that. They sell used bikes of all kinds, they do service, and they sell both new and used parts. But it’s the salvage yard — to use the more PC term — that is totally fascinating.

There must be a couple thousand motorcycle carcasses parked row on row on the property. Many are just rusty hulks, others have clearly been consumed in flames, while many are in perfectly fine shape, ready to donate an organ to keep the brother you’re riding alive. All of them are in a greater or lesser state of disassembly.

I ride an old bike, a 1980 Honda CB750 Custom, so it’s no surprise that I have done business at Steele’s. At one point my saddle was so torn and ragged that I came to Steele’s for a replacement. It’s a pretty easy guess that dealers don’t carry replacement saddles for 20-year-old bikes, but that’s why God invented salvage yards.

Another time I needed a fusible link. In the case of the CB, this is just a small, slotted piece of copper that makes all the difference in the world as to whether the bike will run or not. You could probably put a box with a thousand of them in your pants pocket but you won’t find a single one at a Honda dealer these days. At least not one for a 1980 model bike.

At Steele’s I asked at the counter and they didn’t have any in stock, but they pointed me to the part of the yard where the Hondas reside and invited me to help myself to any I might find.

Not surprisingly, the spot in the wiring where the fusible link goes was empty on all the bikes I checked. But the factory sent the bikes out with spares. Inspecting the storage area on several bikes, I found half a dozen and laid claim to them all.

So I’m probably set with fusible links for the life of the bike. And when it finally dies it will probably end up at Steele’s or some place comparable, along with a few spares. They may some day serve to keep someone else’s old beast on the road.

I know there are plenty of folks who only want the latest, the hottest, and the fastest bike available, and for them, Steele’s is irrelevant. But for those of us who ride and love older bikes, Steele’s is the difference between the life and death of an old friend.

Plus, it’s just fun to wander around through all those old junkers.

Biker Quote for Today

It’s an old motorcycle. The wind is supposed to blow your head around, it’s supposed to leak oil, the brakes should suck, and every now and then, it should scare you so bad you piss your pants.