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We Have All Run Out Of Gas At Some Point, Right?

Thursday, July 11th, 2024

Here’s a place I would hate to run out of gas. Anyone else coming by today?

Oh, gosh, it wasn’t so long ago since I dipped into this Adventure Riders thread. Back in February. No matter, I’m doing it again today. I’m short of subject matter.

The question posed in this thread is “When was the last time you ran out of gas?” Here are a few responses. What’s your story?

  • At age 40 (now 67), 2nd day of ownership of my very first bike, taking a ride, I ran out of gas about 1/2 mile from home. I was such a noob, I wasn’t sure what was wrong. Bike sputtered and died. Luckily most of it was downhill to my home. I call dealer and they asked if I flipped the petcock. What the **** is that was my reply? After he stopped laughing, he explained and all was well. Plus I learned something about motorcycles.
  • I equate the need to carry gasoline with the ice cream napkin postulate. The number of napkins you need is directly related to the number of napkins you do not have. Gas works the same. This past spring I got a new to me road cruiser. It isn’t exactly great on mileage, but I could go 200-250 on a tank full. But I realized that my butt and joints usually need a break before then. So typical I start looking for gas around 150 miles for a good stretch and fill up. This way I am never stressing about fuel and I am usually feeling pretty good.
  • It’s been a few years now, but I ran out of gas a couple times with the bike that had the largest gas capacity of any I’ve owned. My 2010 GSA supposedly had an 8.9 gallon tank, but it actually held just over 10.0 gallons. I filled it to 10 gallons several times, at different stations, as the distance to go was very accurate . . . until the fuel strip messed up. I planned to stop at a station on the way to work, but ran out about 100 yards short. It took 10.05 gallons.
  • The last out-of-gas moment was a planned event. I had two 2l Fuel Friend containers with me, you got to know what your range is, so go and do the test on each new bike! Interestingly enough a biker stopped and ask if I was ok. Thank you dude for checking!
  • About ten years ago, my daughter was suiting up to ride her KLX 250 to work, and remarked that she was getting great gas mileage all of a sudden. I told her to check the petcock and she laughed, assuring me that it wasn’t on reserve. I laughed too, to myself, and waited for her call. Sure enough, she ran out. I brought her the gas can, but she was a bit late for work that day. She hasn’t run out of gas since.
  • I just bought a low-mile ‘05 tiger to replace my high-mile ‘06 tiger, and have been swapping farkles (including gps and aux lights) from the old one to the new one. I learned the hard way that the trip meter gets reset when the battery is disconnected – I was passing a string of cars in a passing lane going up a hill when the bike started losing power. It took me a minute or two to deduce how I managed to run out when the trip meter read only 190 and I can get 260 to a tank.
  • I was coming North on route 9 after school one night and the bike sputtered…I was going about 60mph reached down to flip to reserve and it was already there. Hmm no traffic around it was well after midnight. I quickly pulled the choke and started swerving from side to side and leaning the bike to the left as far as I could. This got me to the crest of the hill I was on and then the bike died. I was still rolling at about 30 mph with the clutch pulled and headed slightly down hill. I knew the area well and that there was an all down hill run 1/4 mile to a exit ramp then down hill to a gas station. I also knew the gas station was closed at 10:00PM…but figured I could drain all the hoses at the pumps and be ok. Coasted into the station and drained all the hoses got the bike fired back up and made the 5 mile ride home.

OK, thanks for sharing guys. Of course I have plenty of my own running out of gas stories. The first time was when I was taking a woman I was interested in for her first motorcycle ride and I had forgotten the petcock was already set on Reserve. We walked a mile to a station and back with the gas. Things never took off between her and me.

Another time was with my wife when my Concours was new. We took a ride with the Concours Owners Group and when they all stopped to get gas in Florence I didn’t, figuring we’d make it home. We split off from the group and were heading up CO 83 toward Franktown and I was watching the gauge. Figured it would be good to stop in Franktown. We didn’t make it that far. Fortunately we rolled to a stop in front of a farm house and they sold me a gallon.

I was on my way to work one day on the Honda, heading west on Hampden, and ran out at Franklin Street. Fortunately I knew if I could push the bike about two blocks I could then coast down another three blocks to a station. Got off easy that time. That station is no longer there so I’ll try not to do that again.

There must be others but that’s all I can call to mind right now.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding is like writing stories, one road at a time, one adventure after another.

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Why Education Is Needed

Monday, April 22nd, 2024

As Senate Bill 24-065 (Mobile Electronic Devices & Motor Vehicle Driving) was coming up for its initial Colorado House hearing recently I was wondering–as I mentioned previously–if there would be opposition as there was two years ago claiming that it would be unfair to fine poor people who violated the law.

 Now if this guy’s insurance company said they  weren’t going to cover him I could understand  that a bit more.

Thinking about that got me thinking about a different issues from what must have been 25 years ago. The connector here is well-intentioned people reaching conclusions that overlook extremely relevant factors. In the case of outlawing use of handheld electronics while driving (SB24) it is the idea of trying to help people who did not have to break the law while ignoring the very real impact on other people who did nothing wrong. If it’s not clear what I’m referring to please read the other piece linked to above.

The situation 25 or so years ago had to do with insurance and wearing helmets. Specifically, there were health insurance companies that were writing policies that said if you were injured in a motorcycle crash and you were not wearing a helmet they would deny your claim. Does that still happen or were laws passed forbidding that? I’m not sure but I suspect it is no longer an issue because it’s been a long time since I’ve heard it mentioned.

So anyway, my family was gathered at some point and this whole thing came up and my father offered his opinion that he saw nothing wrong with that policy. After all, people should wear helmets and why should the insurance companies pay if they refuse to protect themselves?

I nearly exploded. This is the gist of what I told him.

OK, let’s say I’m legally riding my motorcycle without a helmet. I’m obeying the speed limit and all the traffic laws and I have a motorcycle endorsement on my drivers license. Then I get hit but a guy who a) is speeding, b) runs a red light, c) does not have a license because he lost it due to DUIs, and d) is drunk. He veers off and hits a telephone pole and is also injured.

So everything I have done is 100 percent legal, while everything he has done is 100 percent illegal. Oh, and by the way, while I am badly injured, I have not sustained any head injuries, despite not wearing a helmet.

After all this, my insurance company says it will not cover my medical expenses because I was not wearing a helmet (legally!) but his insurance company will cover his medical expenses.

Are you telling me that is somehow fair and appropriate? Really?? Are you telling me this makes any sense at all??

OK, my Dad was a rational guy and he acknowledged the error of his thinking once I educated him on the matter. And that’s my whole point. There are plenty of people out there who favor or oppose policies we might know are respectively bad or good simply because they are not personally connected to the issue and have not given it more than cursory consideration. But once they are presented with more facts, a deeper understanding, they see the error of their thinking.

That’s what the motorcycling community has to do, continually. That’s what organization such as the American Motorcyclist Association, the various state ABATEs, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation, and others work to do constantly. And it’s what each of us needs to do when talking with non-riding friends and family members. We need to educate them. I mean this was my own father and he thought it made sense to deny his son coverage until I educated him.

Let’s all be educators.

Biker Quote for Today

Every ride is a tiny holiday.

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Lane Filtering To Now Be Legal In Colorado

Monday, April 8th, 2024

Colorado’s streets and roads may take on a more European flavor starting August 7, when lane-filtering will become legal. This photo is from Rome.

Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 24-079 on April 4 and motorcycle lane filtering will now be legal in Colorado starting on August 7. Mind you, that doesn’t mean you can just go crazy with it the way I’ve seen many people do in cities in Europe. There are rules about what you can do and under what circumstances. Let’s go through the law.

As written, the bill first went through several examples of how filtering has been found safe and reasonable in other places. For instance:

A 2009 “Motorcycle Accidents In Depth Study” by the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers that was conducted in five European countries found that 0.45 percent of motorcycle crashes involved lane splitting and that motorcyclists were seven times more likely to be hit while stopped compared to crashing while lane splitting

This list ended saying:

Lane filtering is prohibited in Colorado and can result in various citations, including violations of motorcycle lane restrictions and careless driving laws. Therefore, the general assembly determines that the act of lane filtering by a driver of a motorcycle, when done at speeds at or below 15 miles per hour and when conditions permit, is in the best interests of motorist safety.

Aye, there’s the rub–below 15 miles per hour and when conditions permit. Here’s what the law says. I’ll clean up the sections and legalese a bit to make it read more smoothly.

The driver of a two-wheeled motorcycle may overtake or pass another motor vehicle in the same lane as the motorcycle if the overtaken or passed motor vehicle is stopped and if the motor vehicles in the adjacent lanes traveling in the same direction are stopped and the motorcycle is on a road with lanes wide enough to pass safely and if the passing motorcycle is driving at fifteen miles per hour or less and conditions permit prudent operation of the motorcycle while overtaking or passing.

OK, so traffic has to be stopped, you have to have room to pass safely, and you can’t be going more than 15 miles an hour. But there’s more. When traffic starts moving again you have got to get back in your lane and start moving with traffic again. Then:

A person overtaking or passing pursuant to this subsection shall not overtake or pass on the right shoulder or to the right of a vehicle in the farthest right-hand lane if the highway is not limited access or in a lane of traffic moving in the opposite direction.

OK this is the part that I’m not clear on. You can’t pass on the shoulder or to the right of the right-most lane of traffic. But: “if the highway is not limited access.” So does this mean that on a limited access highway, such as an interstate, you can legally pass on the shoulder? That sure seems to be what it says. So you are limited on city streets or most highways but not on the really big roads. Is that correct?

As for the city streets situation, it was my impression during the hearings that some of the legislators were thinking this behavior would not be allowed on city streets but I see nothing in the bill that rules that out. And let’s get real, it’s exactly that filtering that is so commonplace in other places. Heck, in California one time I did that myself at a traffic light on a city street along with a bunch of other riders. The lady in the front car was familiar enough with the practice that she stopped back from the intersection enough to provide room for us to pull in in front of her.

Another thing I’ll be watching for is that to my knowledge, this law does not apply to scooters. By that I mean those 50cc and smaller two-wheelers that are not counted as motorcycles. This was an issue brought up in the hearings. Small scooters like that are not allowed on big highways anyway but they are certainly allowed on city streets. And if you start seeing motorcycles filtering on city streets I’m betting the scooter folks will start doing it, too. Could get interesting.

Now, as is customary with something like this, the legalization of the practice is for now temporary. In four years the law will be nullified unless the legislature extends it. To that end, the Colorado Department of Transportation is mandated to keep records and produce a study of the effects and present that study to the legislature by January 1, 2027.

So happy riding out there. But remember, don’t do any filtering before August 7. Then for pete’s sake, do it safely. We don’t want the law repealed in four years.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you refer to your bike as your “toy.”

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How A Motorcycle Dies

Monday, March 25th, 2024

A Concours at Steele’s. This is the vision I hate to imagine for my Concours.

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.

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Filtering And Hands-Free Bills Continue To Advance

Thursday, March 21st, 2024

Motorcyclists filter through traffic in Bangkok, Thailand. Filtering is common practice in much of Asia and Europe. (Roland Dobbins via Wikimedia Commons)

A bill to permit lane filtering, after passing out of the Senate on March 13, went to the House and passed on third reading on March 18. Then it went back to the Senate for reconciliation and was repassed by the Senate as it had been amended. Unless I’m missing something I believe this means it is now headed to the governor. Holy smokes, is Colorado going to permit filtering? What’s the word Gov. Polis?

Meanwhile, a bill to prohibit use of electronic devices while driving (except for hands-free operation) was passed on third reading by the Colorado Senate on March 15 and sent to the House, where it has been scheduled for hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3. This is the big one. If you can make it down to support this bill please do so. In the last session a preceding bill made it through the Senate but died in the House. Let’s get it through the House this time.

Here’s the note sent out by Stump, legislative liaison for ABATE of Colorado:

SB24-065 (Use of Mobile Electronic Devices While Driving) passed the 3rd reading in the Senate on Friday, 3/15 and has been assigned to the House Transportation, Housing, and Local Government (H-THL) Committee. Below are the names and contact information for the members of the H-THL Committee. It hasn’t been scheduled yet (it has now–Ken), but I’ll let you know when it is. Please take a few minutes to urge your support for the bill and contact your Representative. It can be as simple as “vote yes on SB24-065” or you can elaborate as to why they should support the bill. D-5, D-13, and D-17 have members who are constituents of some of these committee members, so don’t forget to mention that if you see your Representative on the list.

Froelich, Meg – 303-866-2921 – meg.froelich.house@coleg.gov
Lindsay, Mandy – 303-866-3911 – mandy.lindsay.house@coleg.gov
Boesenecker, Andrew – 303-866-2917 – andrew.boesenecker.house@coleg.gov
Catlin, Marc – 303-866-2955 – marc.catlin.house@coleg.gov
Frizell, Lisa – 303-866-2948 – lisa.frizell.house@coleg.gov
Jodeh, Iman – 303-866-2919 – Iman.Jodeh.house@coleg.gov
Mauro, Tisha – 303-866-2968 – tisha.mauro.house@coleg.gov
Parenti, Jennifer – 303-866-2924 – jennifer.parenti.house@coleg.gov
Valdez, Alex – 303-866-2925 – alex.valdez.house@coleg.gov
Vigil, Stephanie – 303-866-2937 – stephanie.vigil.house@coleg.gov
Wilson, Don – 303-866-2191 – don.wilson.house@coleg.gov

This is all pretty amazing. Are we going to get both of these bills passed this year, finally? I’m not counting any chickens before they hatch because eggs do get broken unexpectedly. But it actually looks possible. Keep those fingers crossed. And contact your rep telling them how you want them to vote. They really do pay attention when people take the trouble to contact them.

Biker Quote for Today

God didn’t create metal so that man could make paper clips!

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Senate Hearing For Filtering Bill Set Tuesday

Monday, March 11th, 2024

A hearing is set for Tuesday on motorcycle lane filtering.

If you want to support–or oppose–the bill currently in Colorado’s legislature that would legalize motorcycles filtering through traffic when traffic stopped, then get down to the Capitol on Tuesday at about 1:30 pm. I know I’ll be there.

Stump, the ABATE of Colorado legislative liaison, sent out the following action alert that I’ll just copy and paste in.

SB24-079 (Motorcycle Lane Filtering & Passing) has just been scheduled for a hearing with the House Transportation, Housing, and Local Government (H-THL) Committee for Tuesday, March 12th. It will be at 1:30 pm in room LSB-A (1st floor in the building across 14th St., south of the Capitol – you must enter through the basement). Below are the names and contact information for the members of the H-THL Committee. Please take a few minutes to voice your concerns about the bill. The latest version (reengrossed) of the bill can be read at http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-079.

Attendance at the hearing would show that ABATE is concerned with legislation affecting motorcyclists whether you personally are for or against the bill. If you plan on testifying, either in person or remotely, you must register on line before the hearing. Here is the link to register: https://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2024A/commsumm.nsf/signIn.xsp. If this doesn’t work or for future reference, you can find this link at www.leg.colorado.gov. On the home page, cursor to “Committees”, then “Public Testimony Options” in the drop-down box. Easy-Peasy! The sign-up list is already available.

Froelich, Meg – 303-866-2921 – meg.froelich.house@coleg.gov
Lindsay, Mandy – 303-866-3911 – mandy.lindsay.house@coleg.gov
Boesenecker, Andrew – 303-866-2917 – andrew.boesenecker.house@coleg.gov
Catlin, Marc – 303-866-2955 – marc.catlin.house@coleg.gov
Frizell, Lisa – 303-866-2948 – lisa.frizell.house@coleg.gov
Jodeh, Iman – 303-866-2919 – Iman.Jodeh.house@coleg.gov
Mauro, Tisha – 303-866-2968 – tisha.mauro.house@coleg.gov
Parenti, Jennifer – 303-866-2924 – jennifer.parenti.house@coleg.gov
Valdez, Alex – 303-866-2925 – alex.valdez.house@coleg.gov
Vigil, Stephanie – 303-866-2937 – stephanie.vigil.house@coleg.gov
Wilson, Don – 303-866-2191 – don.wilson.house@coleg.gov

Thanks in advance for your participation in the legislative process.
Stump

As of today no hearing date has been set for SB24-065 (Mobile Electronic Devices While Driving). I’ll be putting that date up here when it has been set.

Biker Quote for Today

You might be a Yuppie biker if you have never kick started a bike before.

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