Archive for the ‘Honda motorcycles’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Miles Down For 2019 But Bikes Still Rule

Thursday, January 9th, 2020
three motorcycles

From left to right, the Concours, the CB750, and the V-Strom.

I make note of my odometer readings on all three bikes and my car at the end of the year and once again I put more miles on my bikes than I did on my car. It has been quite awhile, actually, since the last time I put more miles on the car than on the bikes. I try to ensure that the bikes get the bulk of the miles.

That said, my mileage overall for the year was down. In 2018 my total mileage was 10,158 (7,230 motorcycle miles); in 2019 it was 8,011 (4,777 motorcycle miles). I guess I just don’t leave the house as much as I used to. Still, that was 4,777 miles on the bikes versus only 3,234 miles in the car. But there have been years when I’ve put more miles on the Kawi alone than I put on all my vehicles last year.

So which one got the most riding? Once again it was the V-Strom. This has totally to do with tires. I was getting set to go on the OFMC ride last year and looking at the tires on the Kawi I was not confident. I wanted to take the Kawi but the tread was getting thin. But it was not thin enough for me to want to get new tires yet. I briefly considered taking the CB750 but it has the least luggage capacity so I took the V-Strom.

All told, I put 3,494 miles on the V. That compares to 2,425 the year before.

The Concours was the one that really got short shrift last year. That wonderful highway bike was only ridden for 688 miles, versus 4,336 the previous year. That has got to be the least it has ever had. (Nope, I checked my records and I only rode it 666 miles in 2013.) I want to ride it on the OFMC trip this year so I’ll make sure to wear out those tires and get new ones before that trip comes around.

In last place as always is the CB750. I only put 595 miles on it last year. But that’s up from 469 miles the previous year. I made a special point of riding that bike more.

So what am I looking for in 2020? By golly, I will put more miles on all three bikes, I swear. And if I can put fewer miles on my car that will just be a bonus. In particular I want to put more than 1,000 miles on the Honda in one year, something I haven’t done since 2009. That used to be my only bike and it always got lots of miles.

And let’s see if I can exceed 10,000 motorcycle miles this year. You know what they say about a dirty job that someone has to do. Well, I’m more than willing to do the dirty work.

Biker Quote for Today

The cost of not following your heart is spending the rest of your life wishing you had.

Tags:
Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Suzuki motorcycles | 1 Comment »

My Targets For Riding This Year Yet

Thursday, October 10th, 2019
V-Strom, Concours, and CB750 Custom

Left to right, my V-Strom, Concours, and CB750 Custom.

Every year about this time I start thinking about the riding I hope to get in before the end of the year. It’s totally arbitrary but one thing I do is look at the odometers on each of the bikes and try to get each one to turn over one more thousand mile mark before the year is out. I usually fail.

Usually I seem to be more than 500 miles off the next thousand on all three bikes. Back when I only had one bike that was a possibility, to ride that much in the time remaining. Now with three bikes it’s much less possible, unless I just go crazy and ride and ride and ride every warm day we have.

This year is a little different. I’m only 24 miles from the next 1,000 on the Honda. For once I’m going to roll that one over, no doubt. And while this will depend on the weather, I may very well roll the Kawi over, too. That bike is only 257 miles away from its next 1,000. Heck, I’ve got more than two months to do that.

But then there’s the V-Strom. That’s a different story. I’m more than 600 miles shy of the next 1,000 on that bike and while that’s certainly possible, I know myself and I just don’t expect it to happen. Besides, that means all three together would be about 900 miles. Heck, I’m absolutely certain I won’t drive my car 900 miles in the time between now and December 31, and it goes places even when there’s snow on the ground.

Sure I could go out on a nice day and ride to Lamar and back but what would be the point of that? And the fact is, I’m one of the most environmentally conscious people I know and I have questioned myself more than once on the idea that for recreation I go out and burn dead dinosaurs. How much does that cancel out all the recycling and composting and public transit riding I do?

No, I’ll get out on each of these bikes several more times this year but only for a fun time, not to grind out miles just to meet some arbitrary objective. But who knows. If the weather permits the RMMRC to continue these every other weekly Wednesday rides those miles will add up. I’ll be choosing which bike to ride based on how close each is to that next 1,000.

Biker Quote for Today

Got a big bucket list, and before I kick it, gonna buy me a Harley and Route Sixty-Six it. — Billy Currington

Tags:
Posted in Day Rides, Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, V-Strom | No Comments »

Riding My Own Ride

Monday, September 23rd, 2019
motorcycle racers

No, I don’t lean that far.

I went out to ride with the Wednesday morning group from the RMMRC and it turned out to be just three of us this time. As we pulled out of the parking lot, me in the middle, it occurred to me I was with Robert and Dave, who I have come to think of as the “Go Fast Buddies.”

I’ve ridden with these guys before, but in larger groups. They’re always out in front, getting further and further ahead. The last time we were leaving Deckers and I inadvertently got between the two of them and it wasn’t long before Robert blasted past me and then the two of them took off.

So here I was again, in between them. That got sorted out pretty quickly, however, in the heavy traffic on I-25. A truck pulled in between me and Dave, who was leading, and before I could see an opening to pass the truck Robert raced past us both using the exit lane. He caught up with Dave quickly enough but we were pretty far west on C-470 before I caught up with them.

All this time I was thinking about what was ahead on this ride. I just told myself I was going to ride my own ride, period.

We got off C-470 at Wadsworth, then turned west on the road up Deer Creek Canyon. I knew what was coming. It was going to get curvy and they were going to go fast. But I was also thinking about the fact that I’m not a half bad rider myself. And I have spent years deliberately practicing leaning off the bike so as to take a curve at higher speed with the bike not leaned over excessively. I decided that my own ride that I was going to ride was going to include seeing how close I could keep with them while still feeling secure and in control, that is to say, not scaring myself.

And I did pretty darn good. From Deer Creek Canyon to Turkey Creek Canyon the turns got tighter and while there were occasions when due to the curves I lost sight of them ahead of me, all it took was a little more straight and there they were, not that far ahead.

We did a bunch more twisty roads and I held my own. But I could never keep right up with them. And that got me thinking, too.

I can take curves kind of fast because I lean off the bike to provide counter weight to keep the bike upright, in the way that racers do when they lean off so far they drag their knee pucks on the ground. I never saw the Go Fast Buddies do any leaning of this sort. They were both on recent model Gold Wings, which appear to have very low centers of gravity. All my bikes have high centers of gravity, although on this day I was on my CB750, which is the lowest of the three.

Still, this is something I have observed many times with the OFMC, how these guys with their lower bikes can always go faster than me around curves. Without leaning off the bike.

Maybe some day I’ll have a bike with a low center of gravity. Then watch out. I just might become a member of the go-fast community.

Biker Quote for Today

Reasons not to date a motorcyclist: Our idea of dressing up is putting on a clean black t-shirt.

Tags:
Posted in Honda motorcycles | No Comments »

Clothes Make The Make

Monday, August 26th, 2019
Bikers near Yellowstone.

A quick look at our riding gear makes it really easy to figure out who is riding which bike.

In the early days of the OFMC we were a pretty homogeneous bunch. At first we had two Hondas and a Yamaha but John soon gave his Virago to his son and bought his own Honda Shadow, nearly identical to Bill’s. I, of course, was on my CB750 Custom.

And our clothes were pretty standard: blue jeans and whatever layers on top we could piece together. It was a while before any of us got around to buying an actual motorcycle jacket. When we did they were generic jackets, not trademarked with by motorcycle make.

A lot has changed in 30 years. While I still have the CB, I rarely ride it on the annual bike trip any more, and nobody else even owns a Honda now. We are also fully geared up now, and manufacturer brands show up a lot.

This really became evident when, on our recent trip, we stopped at a rest area in Utah. Others stopped at the rest area included a young couple from California. At one point the guy came directly to me and asked how I liked my V-Strom. He himself has a V-Strom that he got from his dad and he loves it.

We didn’t ask but he volunteered that it was pretty easy to know who rode what bikes. Dennis rides an Indian and he had his jacket off, revealing an Indian t-shirt. Bill rides a Harley and his leather jacket is emblazoned with the Harley logo on the back.

And there I was, with the only semi sportbike wearing a mesh jacket and motorcycle riding pants, not jeans. The kind of gear you’re not likely to see on someone on a Harley or an Indian. Not too hard to add one and one and come up with two.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Clothes make the man.” I offer this variation: “Clothes make the make.” If that dude is wearing a Harley jacket he’s probably riding that Harley.

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if you ride a Ducati. (OK, over time I’ve put up a lot of these “wannabe” quotes but have never found an appropriate place for this one. I guess it’s because it is just inappropriate. I love Ducatis. Rode a Monster once and what a bike!)

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Ducati motorcycles, Harley-Davidson, Honda motorcycles, Indian motorcycle | No Comments »

Dropping The Bike

Thursday, June 6th, 2019
motorcycle laying on its side

At times like this you kind of feel stupid.

If I remember correctly, the first time I dropped a motorcycle it wasn’t actually even me doing the dropping. I was still learning how to park a bike properly and this was a lesson. I rode over on my Honda CB750 Custom to where John was watching his son’s soccer game and I just parked in the lot. When I came back it was laying on its side. Wind, I guess? Beats me, I never really knew. But it bent the brake lever and when we tried to bend it back the thing snapped.

There was another time when I didn’t do the dropping, either. I parked my Kawasaki Concours in the only place I could find and I was nervous about the angle. The Connie stands up pretty straight even on level ground and this was not level. I came back and found it on its side. I hate that. Now in a situation like that I would use the center stand.

But what about when YOU actually drop the bike? It usually seems to happen in a parking lot. You’re padding along on the bike to park it and you let it get away from you. Who hasn’t done that? I don’t see any hands raised.

I’m sure I did it at least a couple times in the early days and it was just like I said, in a parking lot. Really glad to have the guys there to help me get it back up.

Then when the Concours was new I had the most unnerving drop I’ve ever had. The Connie is tall and I was still learning to be comfortable on a bike that high. Judy and I had ridden out to Eldorado Springs to hike a bit in the park there. The parking lot was gravel so when we were leaving I told her to wait until I got it turned around–I was not at all confident on this bike in this situation.

So I fired it up and started to try to ride a tight 180 . . . and failed miserably. Down went the bike. Fortunately several guys rushed over to help me get it back up but I was really shaken. My low confidence was down to zero. But we had to get home so with my heart pounding and butterflies in my stomach I got back on and told Judy to get on. And I was never so glad to get home.

And there are other stories, such as the time last year when the OFMC came into Ruidoso and at a sharply angled intersection on a downhill slope I was turning my head far to the left to look for traffic and just put the Suzuki V-Strom down. Or the time I was parking the Kawi at work at the National Park Service and just totally failed as I tried to rock it up onto its center stand (that photo above).

What can you say? Stuff happens, and usually when it does you feel more than a little bit stupid. But we all do it. I’ve helped the other guys pick up their bikes more than once. Heck, Bill and I helped John pick his Shadow up twice in one day. I’m just glad the only time I’ve ever gone down on the bike while in motion we were only going about 5 miles per hour. And that was the fault of that dang dog. And yeah, it took a little courage to get back on the bike after that one, too. But again, we were way out there and had to get home. You’ve just gotta do it.

Biker Quote for Today

There are worse ways to die than on a motorcycle. All the better ways are boring.

Tags:,
Posted in Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, V-Strom | No Comments »

Chicks Dig Bikes

Thursday, March 7th, 2019
couples on motorcycles

The idea that women are drawn to men on motorcycles has never discouraged any guy from riding.

Chicks. Dig. Bikes. Those three words succinctly sum up one of the big reasons some guys are attracted to motorcycles at a young age. That was not the main reason I fell in love with motorcycles when I was a teenager, but I’d be lying if I said it was not something I thought about.

For the most part, it didn’t much matter though, because my mother would not permit me to buy a motorcycle “as long as you live in my house.” Thus, I was limited to occasionally snagging a ride on someone else’s bike, but I didn’t know many other guys who had bikes either.

That changed in the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. I got a summer job working at a family camp on an island in a lake in Minnesota. There were several of us kids who were basically the gofers for the adults running the camp. We provided manual labor when necessary, took the big camp boat in to the marina to pick up supplies, and did anything else we were told to do. Mainly we got to spend the summer at camp on the island and that was something we would have done for free, although they did pay us $25 a week.

One of the other kids was my friend Terry. Terry showed up at the beginning of summer on a brand new Honda 305 Scrambler. And he told me that any time I wanted I was free to ride it. How many different ways can you say “heaven”?

Terry and I shared quarters at camp. We lived in a big, canvas army tent draped over a custom-built wooden, screened frame that fitted it perfectly. Terry always left the key to the bike hanging on a nail near the head of his bed. The bike was parked at the marina and any time I was headed to the marina and would have some time to ride I’d grab the key.

Adding Girls to the Mix
Of course one of the nice things about our jobs was that families would come to camp with their teenage daughters. As the guys working at camp, we were seen as very cool, and summer romances were inevitable. On one particular week, a family from North Dakota arrived with their two gorgeous daughters, Randy and Sherri.

Everybody knew about Terry’s bike, and they also knew I was allowed to ride it, so one day when I needed to run into town I told Randy and Sherri if they’d like to come along I’d take them for a ride on the motorcycle. Of course they said yes.

As I was getting ready to go I went to get the bike key. Terry was there and he told me he didn’t want me taking the girls on the bike. My memory is not clear so I’m not sure if he told me it was a safety issue with my relative inexperience or whether I just assumed that. Either way he said not to do exactly what I was intending to do.

So the girls and I headed in to the marina and I told them what Terry had said. I told them I’d still take them for a ride, just don’t tell Terry I did it. We got to the marina and Randy and I got on the bike and rode into town on whatever errand I was on. Having completed it, we got on the bike just as a couple local guys came walking along. One of them called out, “Look at the girl on the bike!” Yes, she was a beauty and I felt proud to be the guy on the bike with her.

Now, the 305 Scrambler was a torquey bike and I was still having trouble smoothly releasing the clutch and easing on the throttle. In this instance, pulling away from the curb, I inadvertently popped a wheelie, thus making the whole scene that much cooler.

Randy and I headed back to the marina, where she got off and Sherri got on, and Sherri and I went for a ride out of town for a bit. Then we all got in the boat and headed back to camp.

Back at camp, when I saw Terry, he asked me if I’d taken the girls for a ride. I hated the thought of lying so I told him yes, I had. Terry could have chewed my butt, and I was prepared for him to do so, but he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t say a word. But that motorcycle key was never hanging from that nail again, and I never rode that bike again.

Regrets? Yes, I’ve had a few. But I’ll never forget popping that wheelie while those other guys stood watching, thinking (in my mind at least) that I must be just about the luckiest guy in the world.

Biker Quote for Today

I saw you have a motorcycle and tattoos . . . excuse me while I take my clothes off.

Tags:
Posted in Honda motorcycles | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »