Archive for the ‘motorcycle touring’ Category

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15 Minutes of Fame Await Biker Going to Mazatlan

Thursday, March 14th, 2013
motorcycle along the Florida coast

This is the Florida coast, not the Mexican, but riding around Mazatlan would probably look something like this.

I’m passing this along from Jerry Pokorny.

In an email with the subject line, “Hispanic MC Rider needed for Viedo of Mazatlan Bike Week,” Jerry passed along this bit of info:

Looking for a Hispanic (and fluent Spanish speaking) motorcyclist who is going to the bike week at Mazatlan, Mexico in 2013. A Denver based Hispanic TV station is planning to do a story on a Colorado rider and his/her experience traveling to this event.

Photos/video would be taken at home in Colorado, upon arriving in Mazatlan, during the events there and would be ultimately aired on TV.

No pay or expenses are provided – this is completely voluntary for somebody who is willing to pay their own expenses but looking for that “15 minutes of fame.” For a rider who fits the description this would be this would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Respond direct to Vanessa at 303-968-4174 with your qualifications and tell her Jerry provided the contact. If you know someone who fits this description please pass this message along.

So there you go. If you’re interested, go for it. If you know someone, pass the word.

And just so you’ll know, bike week in Mazatlan is April 3-7. I read on one web forum where they’re talking about this how some people think Mazatlan is too dangerous. I’ve been there twice and danger was never something that even came up for conversation.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Only a biker knows . . .: Motorcycle wit and wisdom, #26

Biker Quote for Today

If you’re not living life on the edge you’re taking up too much space.

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Another Big Mileage Year On The Bikes

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013
Kawasaki Concours At Mackinac Bridge

My Connie at the Mackinac Bridge, one of the farther points I reached this year.

I thought for sure I had set a personal record in 2012 for miles on a motorcycle in a year but I was wrong. Not by much, but I guess I did a bit more riding in 2010 than I remembered.

My total on the Concours was 9,437. That compares to 6,875 in 2011, but in 2010 I rode that bike 10,004 miles. I know that’s nothing for you Iron Butt guys but I’m not an Iron Butt guy, so that’s a lot for me.

As seems my norm, I put a scant 504 miles on my CB750 Custom in 2012. That means that bike has just over 85,000 miles on it, though the odometer only shows 29,774. That’s because I had to replace the old one this year when it broke and the salvage item I picked up came with 29,375 on it.

This all still stands up well against my car. I only put 5,081 miles on my car in 2012, and that’s even with having started a job on the other side of town. And my motorcycle miles still came out almost double my car miles. I’m sure that car mileage will go up in 2013, but once the new west light rail line opens in April I plan to take the train to work, so that will have a counter effect.

In the meantime, I’m sure my motorcycle miles will be way down this year. Having a regular type office job will do that to you. Oh well, I do like the paycheck.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
A motorcycling year in pictures – 2012

Biker Quote for Today

Speed has never killed anyone – suddenly becoming stationary, that’s what gets you. — Jeremy Clarkson

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Wrapping Up Another Year of Riding and Writing

Thursday, December 27th, 2012
Bikes head out on a ride at the Overland Expo

Bikes head out on a ride at the Overland Expo, one of the many places I went this year.

In my fourth year as a freelance moto-journalist I went all out. This has been the year I’ve dreamed of. And frankly, the coming year isn’t going to be anything close.

In the year 2012 I had another article published in Rider magazine and a couple published in Kawasaki’s Accelerate magazine. I rode my bike in 16 states and set a new personal record for total miles. I don’t know what that number is yet, because the year is not over yet, but it’s already a record.

I had some very cool gear given to me in exchange for testing and writing it. A bluetooth helmet-to-helmet communicator has proven to be a welcome little gadget, and a bluetooth-communicator-equipped helmet may yet prove to be even nicer. I just need some reasonably decent weather to continue testing that one. I’ve also received some good books, as well as some crappy ones, and some killer motorcycle maps.

July found me crossing the country on my way to Vintage Motorcycle Days, in Ohio, and earlier in the year I headed down to Flagstaff for the Overland Expo. Of course the OFMC took its annual summer trip. And I checked out STAR 2012, the Motorcycle Sport-Touring Association’s shindig.

I stayed with a whole bunch of folks from the Motorcycle Travel Network and we had a bunch who stayed with us. This thing beats the heck out of staying in motels. Cheaper and a lot more fun.

As I try to do every year, I rode a bunch of different demo bikes. I also had my first-ever flat tire on a bike and I got my first-ever speeding ticket on a bike. Oh well, it’s all grist for the pen.

I doubt I’m going to be able to say half as much about 2013 come this time next year because this freelancer got a job. It was pretty necessary considering that my main staple income source, RumBum, shut down, and my number two, Examiner, jacked around with their pay so badly that my earnings from them dropped by 90 percent. If you have noticed that I hardly write for them anymore, that’s why.

Still, I’m working now at the National Park Service, and if the clowns in Washington don’t pull some rabbit out of a hat soon I figure it’s contractors like me who will be the first to take the hit if the government agency we work for has to start trimming costs. At least this job has allowed me to pay off all this expensive dental work I’ve had done recently, and if a lay-off comes in a couple months–rather than next week–I’ll have put aside enough cash that I could end up doing a lot of two-wheeled traveling once again this summer. I’m a winner either way.

So hey, I figure I’m pretty dang fortunate. I’ve had a terrific year and the future looks bright. What more is there?

Recent from the National Motorcycle Examiner
Nothing at all.

Biker Quote for Today

“Whenever my mood turns foul and I find myself wandering beyond control, I pull out my motorbike and hurl it top speed down these unfit roads for hour after hour.” – T.E. Lawrence

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Riding Motorcycles And Visiting National Parks

Thursday, November 29th, 2012
OFMC at Zion 2012

The OFMC at Zion earlier this year.

I took a contract job recently at the National Park Service–my first regular job in 3-1/2 years–and my friend Dan very quickly emailed me to say he would be calling on my newly gained expertise. Seems he is working on earning the Iron Butt Association’s National Parks Tour Master Traveler Award. To do so you have to “Visit at least 50 National Parks, National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Recreation Areas or any other site or park listed in the Passport book or other sources, such as those listed by the National Parks Travelers Club http://www.parkstamps.org in at least 25 states within 1 year.”

What many people may not realize, but what I’ve learned in my brief time on this job, is that there are nearly 400 park units around the country. Everybody knows about Yellowstone or Yosemite but how many of us have heard of some of these places I’ve been working on this past few weeks: William Howard Taft National Historic Site; Ocmulgee National Monument; Catoctin Mountain National Park; Cumberland Island National Seashore. There are a lot of them.

As the Iron Butt site explains, too, you don’t have to go to 2 per state in 25 states. They suggest you could visit 21 parks in California, 6 parks in Arizona, and then 23 parks in 23 different states. Whatever it takes.

As for that Passport book mentioned above, that’s something the National Park Service (I’m already inculcated. I would have abbreviated that but the organizational style is always to spell it out unless it’s used as a modifier.) offers. I’m sure it’s a way to generate money but it sounds cool and kind of fun. You buy the book and then at each park unit you visit you get it stamped. Each unit has its own distinctive stamp. Just something as a momento of your visit.

So anyway, you’ve got some hard riding to do Dan, but I know you’re an Iron Butt guy and you’ll have a great time. And I’ll let you know if I come across any especially interesting park units to give you a heads-up on.

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

Biker Quote for Today

Life is a Game. Play to win.

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A Parallel Route to Taylor Canyon

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

Completing our recent weekend on the Western Slope, Judy and I were coming home via Gunnison and figured that rather than go over Monarch Pass again, as we had just a couple weeks before, that we would take Cottonwood Pass. Of course that means going north from Gunnison to Almont and then east up Taylor Canyon.

Heading up Spring Creek Canyon

Heading up Spring Creek Canyon.

But Judy had been looking at the map and had spotted an alternative. If you start up Taylor Canyon, there is a spot where a road forks off to the left that goes up through Spring Creek Canyon. It’s all gravel whereas Taylor is paved up through Taylor Reservoir, but hey, we’re into exploring the unpaved roads these days. Let’s do it.

Spring Creek Road is comparable to the gravel part of Cottonwood Pass. I’ve seen plenty of Harley cruisers doing Cottonwood so it’s not a question of could you do it, it’s a question of would you want to. It’s a beautiful canyon. Of course, when was the last time you saw an ugly canyon? And if this is your first time in the area, Taylor Canyon is probably prettier. But if you’ve done Taylor Canyon before, Spring Creek is a nice change of pace.

The one issue, of course, is that you would end up doing a lot more gravel. You might be fine with doing the little bit of gravel coming down Cottonwood. This extra 25 miles or so might not be something you’re interested in. (Update: Cottonwood Pass was paved all the way a few years ago. It’s a great road for all bikes now.)

Unless you’re on a dual-sport bike. Then it’s a no-brainer. It’s a nice road, it’s a place you’ve never been before–what else matters?

After cruising up the canyon you come over and down to where you hit the road coming down to Taylor Reservoir from the north. The Taylor Canyon road comes up along the reservoir on the south. At the east end of the reservoir you meet up with that road, and turn left to go up Cottonwood.

So it’s an option. We enjoyed it.

Biker Quote for Today

“Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius” — William Blake 1757-1827

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Dual sport bikes, motorcycle touring | No Comments »

Land’s End Road A Great Ride If You’re OK With Gravel

Thursday, October 11th, 2012
The Lands End Road running off Grand Mesa

The Lands End Road running off Grand Mesa.

Utterly, utterly spectacular. I’m talking about the Land’s End Road running off Grand Mesa down toward Whitewater. A week ago I had no idea this road existed. Now I’ve been on it.

I have to acknowledge that this is another instance of Judy and me going on roads that would be fabulous on a dual-sport bike but doing so in her Subaru Forester. Because I still don’t have a dual-sport bike. I’m really, really hoping that by next summer that situation is going to have changed. But in the meantime, we drive these roads and I view them from the motorcyclist’s perspective. And oh man, what a perspective this road offers.

You can go either way on the Land’s End Road but I strongly recommend down. I suspect that climbing you just wouldn’t see it the way you do descending. So to do that, you take CO 65 onto Grand Mesa, either coming from I-70 on the north or from Cedaredge on the south, and catch the well-marked turn-off at about the 31 mile marker. That road heads west to the edge of the mesa, runs along the rim a ways, and then reaches the point where it plunges downward. Oh. My. Gosh.

Up to this point the road alternates between good gravel and pavement. Starting down it is all gravel until you get down off the mesa and get near U.S. 50. But it’s good gravel and I would probably be willing to take my Honda CB750 Custom on it. No way would I take my Kawasaki Concours on it. The Connie hates gravel. On a dual-sport or a dirt bike I’d be in heaven.

If you’ve never seen this road you really owe it to yourself. Heck, go there in your car if nothing else. I just can’t believe I’d never even heard of it till now.

Recent from National Motorcycle Examiner
Motorcycle thefts decline 6 percent in 2011

Biker Quote for Today

You know the sign that says ‘Pavement ends’? I want to see more of those.

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