Passes & Canyons Blog

I picked up a flyer yesterday as I was dropping my Kawi Concours off at Mountain Thunder Motorsports for new tires. It tells me there will be a vintage motorcycle swap meet on Sunday, July 26, 2009.

Vintage Indian motorcycles

That’s cool. It’s free to buyers (or lookers) and I’m guessing there will be some interesting bikes to check out. Who knows, someone may even be selling that elusive left side panel I lost from my 1980 CB750 Custom all those years ago.

The thing starts at 8 a.m. and the flyer doesn’t give an actual address, just directions on how to get there: Take I-70 to the Ward Road exit, go north to 48th Ave. (the north service road), and go east on that to Van Gordon. Presumably you’ll recognize it when you get there.

The event is being put on by Legends Motorcycles, which is a bit of a story in itself. I used to live just off Federal Boulevard, up north, and Legends was a couple blocks south of me. It was a convenient place for me to take my CB in for work, and they were very accommodating. I haven’t lived up that way for 13 years now, however.

Recently I was collecting information for an article I was writing and figured I’d call them with some questions. Turns out, they don’t work on bikes at all anymore, they are strictly an online parts company for older models. And apparently they’ve moved now. I guess you have to adapt or die. Glad they were able to adapt.

So, sounds like fun, but it just occurred to me I won’t be able to go. The OFMC is leaving two days before that on our summer week on the road. Dang. Bad timing. Oh well, that shouldn’t stop you.

Recent from the National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle noise testing simplified, but will governments hear?

Biker Quote for Today

This one’s interesting because the crankshaft is the front axle, and the motor rotates around it. It’s interesting because if you stop, it stalls. So it says in the manual, when you come to a red light, you should “orbit,” and it shows someone riding around in circles.–Jay Leno on his 1920s Mergola

Have you ever seen a 1957 Aermacchi Chimera? How about a 1953 Moto Guzzi Galleto? Or a 1956 Moto Rumi Formichino Little Ant? Have you ever heard of those bikes?

If you want to see some cool motorcycles and get out of the heat of summer, I strongly recommend hitting the Arvada Center for their Summer of Cycles exhibit.

Rather than talk about them I’ll just show you some pictures. The exhibit runs through September 7, it’s free, and the Arvada Center is open 9-6 M-F, 9-5 Saturday, and 1-5 Sunday.

This next one is the 1956 Moto Rumi I mentioned above.

Here’s the 1957 Aermacchi Chimera (Dream)

This one is a 1958 Cushman Eagle.

There are a lot of others, too, including a 1998 Boss Hoss with a 350 cubic inch Chevrolet engine, 1999 Harley-Davidson MT500 built for the British military, and a 2006 Harley-Davidson VRXSE Screamin’ Eagel Destroyer, which is set up for drag-racing.

All in all, a pretty good show. Definitely worth more than the admission!

Biker Quote for Today

Park the latest Ducati, Harley, Honda, or BMW on a street corner in any city or town in the world and a crowd will gather. — Thomas Krens

I haven’t been over to see this yet, and won’t have a chance for a few more weeks, so rather than waiting I’m going to tell you about it now. That way you’ll probably get there before me and you can tell me about it.

The Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, at 6901 Wadsworth Blvd, is hosting a free exhibit entitled Summer of Cycles: Motorcycles from the Harry Mathews and Jim Dillard Collections. The exhibit runs through Sept. 7.

Here’s the blurb from the Center’s website:

As an unknown author philosophically remarked, “Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul.” Most motorcycle enthusiasts would say amen to that. Perhaps no other single object of industrial design better epitomizes 20th and now 21st century fascination with speed and power as well as more abstract notions of freedom (sometimes even rebellion), progress and danger. And as the exhibition further contends, motorcycles are art objects too, the aesthetic sum of technology and innovation, yet typically styled and adorned to communicate individual personality. Arvadan Harry Mathews and Jim Dillard have lent classic cycles from their considerable personal collections for this exhibition.

I’ll go when I get the chance, and then post some pictures and comments. But now you won’t miss it and complain that no one told you it was going on.

Biker Quote for Today

I like the mechanicalness of motorcycles. I have a ZX-14, and it’s a fantastic bike. But the thing is, it doesn’t need me. It’s the vintage stuff I like.–Jay Leno