Archive for the ‘V-Strom’ Category

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Super Day For The Last Brass Monkey Run

Thursday, January 1st, 2026

You couldn’t ask for a nicer day for a December 31 ride.

Hey, this year (last year now) people actually got to ride to ABATE of Colorado‘s Last Brass Monkey Run. Always held on December 31 as the last ride of the year, it’s no surprise that many times riding is just not an option. But this year Denver came just one degree short of the record high and it was a warm, sunny day. Yahoo!

I headed west on the V-Strom and while it was warm and the streets were clear in east Denver, where I live, I wondered about out west by the foothills. Golden. But out there it was just as warm and the streets were just as clear. Considering we had a bit of snow just three days ago this had not been a certainty.

As always, it was good to see the folks. I used to attend my ABATE meetings each month but have not done so for a few years, so I only see folks at events like this. The Last Brass Monkey Run used to be an actual poker run but these days it is all held in one place so you get your sheet and then move from station to station picking up your cards. I did well. I got a full house, queens over nines. Could be good.

But no. It was best five of seven cards and both the first place winner and the second place winner had four of a kind. So much for my full house.

They also hand out door prizes. Last year my ticket was the absolute, very last one to be drawn. Think about it. Someone has to have the last ticket drawn, and last year that someone was me. You don’t get much to choose from when literally everyone else has already taken all the good stuff. This year I was still late in the draw but not the very last. I got a card game that we hope our seven-year-old grandson will like. That’s OK, you don’t go to these things looking to bring home a bounty. That’s just a bonus if you do.

Heading home I couldn’t help but notice as I pulled up at a red light that the guy to my left was on his phone. Illegal in Colorado these days. His lane moved faster than mine so I watched as he drifted out of his lane to the left. You dip. Hang up and drive!

But I got home safely and got out of 2025 alive. Obviously you did too. Congratulations to each of us. Here’s to an even better 2026.

Biker Quote for Today

Live Free and Ride

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Posted in ABATE, Biker Issues, Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | 1 Comment »

This Is Not Where I Was Going

Monday, December 15th, 2025

Blue sky, sunny day–a great day for a December ride.

Have you ever started out heading to a particular place and found yourself somewhere else, asking, “How the heck did I get here?”

That was me on Sunday.

Sunday was sunny and warm and there was no way I was not going out on the V-Strom. A lot of other people had the same idea. I saw you out there.

I was very uncertain which way to go other than I clearly was not heading into the hills. That’s over for this season.

So I concocted a route, a pretty standard route. I would go out Parker Road to Parker and the go west on Main Street. At Motsenbacher Road I would go south and follow it to Crowfoot Valley Road, to Castle Rock, and then get on US 85 (Santa Fe) going north until I reached Sedalia. Then some route home. Simple.

Except one thing. As many times as I’ve been on the Crowfoot Valley Road I still have trouble finding it on the Parker end. It’s easy on the Castle Rock end but trickier up in Parker. But I figured now I had finally got it clear in my head.

I did what I planned. I got to Parker, turned onto Main Street, and then turned south on Motsenbacher. Nothing to it.

But then Motsenbacher ran out at a T intersection at Todd Drive, a street I was not familiar with. I took the turn to the west and soon ended up on Jordan Road. Fine. I turned south again on Jordan Road.

And then Jordan ended at a T with Hess Road. I turned west again and found myself a bit later at Hess Road and I-25. What?

It’s only now, looking at the map, that I see where I went wrong. I knew I wanted Motsenbacher but that road is one of those that stops and then picks up again later. I needed to pick it up further south than Main Street. If I had it would have simply flowed into and become Crowfoot Valley Road. Or I could have gone east on Hess and gotten back to Motsenbacher that way.

Anyway, no matter. Once I got to I-25 I crossed it and was on Castle Pines Parkway, which I followed to Daniels Park, then I turned north to home. It was a really nice ride.

There’s a quote I’ve seen, I believe it’s from The Lord of the Rings, that says “All who wander are not lost.” Nope. But sometimes they’re sure as heck turned around.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding a motorcycle is an art; every twist and turn is a brushstroke.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Getting Aggressive On V-Stroms

Monday, December 1st, 2025

This trail is nothing compared to what some of these folks in this ADV thread have done.

I’m down to only one motorcycle these days, and that one is my 2006 Suzuki V-Strom. I keep telling myself I will buy a second bike, presumably some time in the next year, but I don’t actually feel very motivated because I really like the V and it can do just about anything.

Of course, there are a lot of things it could do that I won’t try to make it do, primarily at this point because I don’t have the right tires for that kind of thing. I’ve quit running those 80/20 Shinkos because they don’t hold up to highway travel all that well and I do a heck of a lot more highway riding than off-road riding.

However, may people who own V-Stroms do have knobbies and they do take their bikes all kinds of places. And there is a thread on Adventure Rider where the theme/title is “Let’s see your Vstrom OFFROAD.” I was looking at this recently and oh man, some of these folks are up for a lot more than I am. Or maybe they weren’t really up for what they encountered but they did encounter it.

Just to give you some idea, I started on page 80 of this thread (there are 91 pages at this point, with 20 posts per page) and I’ll describe a bit of what there is to see.

Right away, in the fourth post on the page, we encounter a couple standing amongst some bikes, giving a thumbs-up, with the caption “High spirits before.” If that is not foreboding nothing is. You scroll down and they’ve come down a steep, gravel hill that comes to a large pool of water at the bottom, with one bike coming through the pool. The next several shots are a bike on its side, having come through a smaller pool, and then a different bike up to the saddle in a deep pool and the rider trying to walk it through.

But they made it and I’m sure they were proud of themselves. I’m not sorry I missed that one.

Next come a bunch of shots of bikes in great-looking spots, people really pleased with where they have gotten to. Some real feel-good shots.

Page 81 opens with a shot of a guy splashing through a stream. Yeah, I’ve done that. Then more shots of cool places people have gotten to. And then it starts going a bit off. First a shot of a dirt road, followed by a path that is mainly marked by other people’s tires having passed this way, followed by a long stretch of muddy road. Then a V-Strom high-centered on a pile of rotting timbers that the guy thought he could get over but was wrong.

A little later (caption “Oops!) we see a V half-way on its side with the front on dirt and the rear in a mud puddle.

Next some more “look at the great place I got to” shots. Envy is what I’m feeling now.

Then there’s another high-centered bike, followed by another bike up to its axles in mud. And a bike on the ground, with a shot showing that they have come through a so-called trail that is nothing but water hole after water hole. Then more mud, more water holes.

It goes on and on. And this was just starting on page 80 of 91 pages. Worth a look for the entertainment value and to see some great shots of some of the great places a motorcycle will take you. If you have the right tires.

Biker Quote for Today

I’m not a thrill-seeker; I’m a thrill-giver to my soul.

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Posted in Dirt biking, Dual sport bikes, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

First Cold Ride Of The Season

Monday, November 24th, 2025

Not the nicest day to ride but a good day on the bike just the same.

I wanted to ride Sunday but by the time I got stuff done that needed doing I had missed the window of warmth. The sky had clouded over and the temperature was dropping. So I got on the V-Strom and headed out. I’m no fair-weather rider.

I didn’t turn on the electric vest immediately but by the time I’d gone about two miles I did. Yep, gonna be a chilly one. Hope I don’t regret not having my heated gloves.

I had no idea where I was going. I’ve been heading to the hills as often as I could knowing the weather had to change soon, but this day the clouds over the mountains were looking threatening and I figured that was not a good idea. Instead of west I went south.

I still had no idea where I was going, though. On an impulse, I turned east on Belleview, through the south end of Cherry Creek State Park and it bends south to become Peoria. I went around Centennial Airport and to regain Peoria but hadn’t gone far when I concluded that yeah, it’s darn chilly. Maybe I don’t want to go too far from home. I turned west on Liberty Boulevard, which runs around the south end of the airport and over into the Inverness area.

Stopping to get a quick photo with the airport and mountains in the background I did see the only other biker I would see on this day.

Inverness Parkway took me north to County Line Road and I went west on County Line. Just because I didn’t want to get much further from home didn’t mean I wanted to head home. By now I was used to the cold and finding it brisk but pleasant. Thank you to the electric vest for that. Without it I would have been pretty uncomfortable.

I followed County Line all the way to Broadway and then turned north. What a lot of construction there is at the moment on County Line Road. I guess they’re expanding from two lanes to four in a long stretch of it. That’s probably overdue. Then going north on Broadway I hit a bunch more construction. These guys must be rushing to finish the work before bad weather sets in.

From Broadway I turned east on Belleview and headed back home. Not the longest or most scenic ride ever but it was good to be out on the bike for about an hour and a half. I still have a lot of making up to do from having missed the whole summer and I want to get out as much as I can, even when the weather is not the best. Sunday was one of those days.

Biker Quote for Today

The road is my stage, and my bike is my dance partner.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

Last 2025 Ride In The Hills?

Monday, November 17th, 2025

One of the many rock formations along South Valley Road.

With a near-record high temperature and forecasts for snow–finally–in just a couple days I wanted to get into the hills for perhaps the last time this year. And gosh, I never have to decide what bike to ride anymore, it’s always the V-Strom.

The quickest, most direct route is to get on Hampden (also known as US 285) just a couple blocks north of home and heat straight west. But I’ve been that route a thousand times so I often look for something else. I didn’t really know just where I was headed so I went south on Yosemite to Arapahoe and then west. Yeah, I’ve been that route plenty, too, but not as much as Hampden. Then Arapahoe ends at Broadway so I turned south on Broadway.

My thought was to get onto C-470 and go west but when I got to Mineral I realized that if I have ever been on that particular stretch of Mineral it was only once and I have forgotten it. So great! A new road to ride. And no, it did not look at all familiar. With a metropolitan area as large as Denver’s, you can be surprised to find how many roads you’ve never been on. You get to explore in town.

I got past Santa Fe and crossed the Platte and it was all undeveloped and really pretty. I guess this must be floodplain and will never get built on. We can hope. By the time I reached Kipling I was back on a portion of Mineral I have been on. I pushed on west all the way over to C-470 as it comes north now and expected to have to take it north or south but found that Mineral feeds directly into the mouth of a small canyon. Great, I’ll keep going.

Then I recognized it. This is part of Ken Caryl Ranch and we have family living out here. I took the road going south a little past C-470–South Valley Road–and realized I had accidentally done a great job of navigating. As I had been cruising along Mineral I had figured out a tentative route and that included going up Deer Creek Canyon Road. Well, South Valley Road goes south through a beautiful valley with lots of gorgeous rock formations and open space and meets up with Deer Creek Canyon Road. Couldn’t have done better if I’d planned it that way.

I turned up Deer Creek Canyon Road and a lot of other bikers had chosen this same road. No matter whether they were going the same direction I was or the other direction, they all blasted past me. I was just not in a hurry. I was interested in savoring this gorgeous day. Unlike when I’d been up this way last week, this time I did not take the turn onto South Deer Creek Road but kept going on Deer Creek Canyon Road up and over the top and down to South Turkey Creek Road. I went east a short distance till I made the turn onto North Turkey Creek Road, headed toward Evergreen.

Then again, unlike my other ride last week, I did not turn up High Drive but stayed on the Turkey Creek road, all the way up to CR 73, which runs between Conifer and Evergreen. At this point in the day, deep in the canyon there were a lot of places with bright sunshine followed by deep shade. You can’t see a thing in the shaded area so as you approach it you hope there is no sharp turn as soon as you get into what you cannot now see. On top of that, on the right-handers there is a lot of gravel thrown up onto the road by cars that cut the corner a bit too tight. So the real nightmare is plunging into the shadows and finding yourself faced with a sharp right turn and a lot of gravel on the road.

Fortunately that was not the case usually but in at least one spot that was exactly what I encountered, and this particular spot had more gravel than any other place I saw. It’s times like that when you really ought to be taking it easy. I was, but boy did I see a lot of guys–on sportbikes mostly–who were riding pretty aggressively. Not for me, thanks.

So I made it on up to Evergreen and turned down Bear Creek Canyon to Morrison. Then I cut over to US 285 and turned east for home. Wow, did I have a nice ride! And now the weather is already turning colder and we’ll see if this snow arrives as predicted.

Biker Quote for Today

Bikers don’t follow the crowd; they make their own path.

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

First Back-On-The-Bike Ride

Thursday, October 30th, 2025

How great it was to take off on my V-Strom on Monday after getting the all-clear from my neurosurgeon! I had wondered if I would feel unsteady or uncertain but it was just like they say about riding a bicycle–you never forget and it just comes back naturally.

 I wanted to get more of the bike in the picture but I’m no  expert at shooting selfies.

I didn’t have a whole lot of time because I have a piano lesson every Monday at 2:30 and it was nearly noon when we got home from the doc’s. I needed to have lunch and to put up that quick blog post announcing my return. I wanted to go somewhere where I could get a good photo to go with this post so I figured if I headed down to Daniels Park I could get the shot and get to Chad’s in time for my lesson.

The day was a little cooler, in the low 60s, so I dressed warmly and wore my electric vest. That was more than I needed as I headed south but I have found previously that Daniels is about 1,000 feet higher than home and that difference means several degrees cooler. I got near the park and there was a lot of road construction going on so I had to take a detour. No problem, I know my way around here quite well at this point.

Got to the park and stopped for a photo. Yeah, it was darn chilly. Up on this high point I could see to the west and there were storm clouds moving in and it looked like it might already be raining over the foothills. Not a problem, I had my rain suit with me. I also wondered if the chill might just be the cold front moving in.

Needing to get to Chad’s I now headed north and no, it’s not just the front, it still got warmer as I continued north. But I was darn glad to have my heated vest. Meanwhile, the bike was running great and I was feeling great. So good to be back on the bike!

Following my crash I had mentioned to Judy that I intended to spend some money on some new, really good (read: expensive) riding gear. Back in August, around my birthday, Judy asked me if I would like a new riding suit as a birthday gift. I told her let’s not do that just at this time. I really didn’t want her to ask why but she did so I told her how at that moment I was feeling some hesitation and uncertainty about getting back on the bike. I think that’s a fairly normal reaction after you go through what I did. That image of that car headed right at me sticks with me. Well, it occurred to me just recently that all that reluctance and hesitation had just vanished. When my neurosurgeon asked if I was giving up riding motorcycles I told him no way, as soon as I get home from here I’m taking off for a ride.

I got to Chad’s just a few minutes late but not much. After the lesson I came out to the bike and it was spitting rain. Now the front had made it all the way into town. I put on my rain jacket and took off. Even with the jacket stopping the wind it was chilly so I flipped on the vest again. I love that thing. I made it on home without really getting wet and that was my ride for Monday. Soon after I got home it poured. Now I’m going to be watching the weather closely and I plan to get out a lot in the next week or two. I missed the whole summer; I will not miss the fall.

Biker Quote for Today

“The man hunched over his motorcycle can focus only on the present instant of his flight; he is caught in a fragment of time cut off from both the past and the future; he is wrenched from the continuity of time; he is outside time; in other words he is in a state of ecstasy. In that state he is unaware of his age, his wife, his children, his worries, and so he has no fear, because the source of fear is in the future, and a person freed of the future has nothing to fear.” – Milan Kundera

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Posted in Colorado motorcycle rides, Motorcycle Gear, Suzuki motorcycles, V-Strom | No Comments »

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