Passes & Canyons Blog

I’ve never been a Harley guy and I’ve never understood why so many people are so nuts about them. So I took the opportunity of being invited on this four-day EagleRider media tour to spend it all on a Harley, in hopes that I would finally understand.

I think I do understand now, at least sort of. Actually, it would be more accurate to say I understand the appeal of cruisers more than I did before. Harley vs. some other brand I’m still not sure I get.

First and foremost, the Heritage Softail I was on was easy to ride. (That’s it in the photo.) I say that in context of my Kawasaki Concours, which I love now but which took me a couple years to really get comfortable on. The thing is, the Kawi has a high seat level and a very high center of gravity, so for a long time I wouldn’t dare ride it without my highest boots on. Nowadays I’m perfectly comfortable riding it in just sneakers, but that took a couple years before I reached that point.

The Softail, on the other hand, was just get on and go. With a low center of gravity and low seat height, I never had the slightest fear of falling over. I can understand that appeal.

I also liked having floorboards. I’ve always preferred to have pegs underneath me so I can stand up on bumps, and the one hard bump I hit on the Softail definitely flipped me way up off the seat, and back down hard. But I found that if when approaching a bump I pull myself up with the grips and stand on the floorboards, I can lift myself up to minimize the jolt. In the meantime, I was able to stretch my legs out at whatever knee angle I chose. I can definitely understand how my aging friends would be uncomfortable with keeping their knees bent all the time. I suspect I’m more limber than they are, but even for me it was nice.

There were other details I won’t bore you with, but there was also one thing I really did not like about the Softail. Apparently, when they come from the factory, the exhaust pipes do not have any heat shield. This leads to two things. First, the pipes eventually turn blue, which I don’t like. Second, it makes it very easy to burn anything that touches them. One day we rode in the rain and at lunch I noticed some black on the pipes. Then I noticed a shiny spot on my rain pants. It seems that you have to be careful at a stop to hold your leg far enough away from the bike not to get burned. How absurd is that?

So I’m not sold on Harleys, but at least I feel like it’s not such a mystery why so many people are. Thank you EagleRider for the opportunity.

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Biker Quote for Today

If it’s too loud you’re too old.

Let’s see. If you had the chance to ride motorcycles through places like Big Sur and Yosemite, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and spend your nights in fancy hotels and eat in fancy restaurants, would you decline the offer? Me neither.

I got home last night from six days in California where I did all those things, courtesy of EagleRider, the largest motorcycle rental outfit in North America and purveyor of motorcycle tours. I was one of 18 writers and photographers invited on this media tour and I’ve got to tell you, we had a blast. Here’s a brief recap.

We arrived in Los Angeles and spent the night at Erwin’s in Venice Beach. Starting off the next morning, we rode up the coast and stopped for the night at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. The Madonna Inn, for those like I was who are totally unfamiliar, is a very ornate, totally unique place. Every one of their rooms is decorated differently and many are pretty darn exotic. You can get a feel for it from their website.

The next day we continued up the coast, riding through Big Sur to our stopping point in Carmel. The last time I had been to Big Sur was about 1969 or 1970 so this might as well have been my first time. As everyone who has ever ridden it can attest, it’s always a balance between trying to look around you and trying not to run off the road on the bike. Prudence prevailed and none of us suffered any mishaps. I do know I stopped a lot. A lot.

On Day Three we headed inland to Yosemite National Park. Whereas we had had overcast and drizzle the previous days, this was the day when we had actual rain. Cold rain. Now, I wrote an article a couple years ago telling people to take their own gear along when they’re renting a motorcycle, because what you get from the company may not be very adequate, but I disregarded my own advice here. I couldn’t see any way to get my full-face helmet in my gear so I didn’t take it. That left me riding in the rain with a half helmet. Did I mention it was cold rain?

Fortunately it really wasn’t as unpleasant as I recall my previous such experience being, but in the future I will find a way to take my own helmet.

Anyway, we rode on into the park and enjoyed the scenery a bit. It was cloudy and rainy but that made for some more dramatic photos than what you would have gotten on a sunny day. That photo above is of part of the group getting posed for a picture on an overlook, with El Capitan in the background.

The next day we headed for San Francisco, looping around the bay on the east so we could cross over to Marin County on the San Rafael bridge and enter the city across the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we turned in the bikes, rode limos to our hotel on Fisherman’s Wharf, had dinner, said farewells to some folks, had brunch the next morning and then all dispersed.

The People
So that’s the ride itself in brief. What that doesn’t address is the people, and the people were every bit as important in this being the great trip it was as the riding. I can’t talk about everyone here unless you want to read another 3,000 words, so I’ll skim.

John Campbell is editor of Canadian Biker Magazine, and a heck of a nice guy. Great sense of humor, very dry.

Donya Carlson is senior managing editor of Rider magazine. I have read her stuff for years so it was good to meet her. Super nice person.

Simon Weir is deputy editor for RiDe magazine in the UK. A lot of fun to hang around with.

Chris McIntyre is president of EagleRider. What an enthusiastic guy! He loves what he’s doing and it spreads easily to others on the staff.

Gunter Kykillus is EagleRider’s main man in the German-speaking countries of Europe. This guy never stops smiling. Big, big smile. He clearly loves what he’s doing, too.

I really feel like I ought to name a whole bunch of other people, so please don’t anyone be hurt that I didn’t mention you. I just know there are limits to how much people will read.

So anyway, we all understand that EagleRider put this whole thing together because they wanted to generate a whole lot of favorable publicity. Nevertheless, if it had been bungled badly I know we all would be saying so in our reports. But there was no bungling, the whole thing was well done, and we will all be writing very positive stories for the very simple reason that we all had a fabulous time. I consider that a pretty high recommendation. Thanks guys.

Biker Quote for Today

On a motorcycle, you’re penetrating distance right along with the machine. In a car, you’re just a spectator; the windshield’s like a TV. — Von Dutch

I mentioned previously that I had been invited to go on a four-day tour through the beauties of California with a group put together by EagleRider. Well, I flew to Los Angeles this morning and we hit the road tomorrow.

Tonight we’re in Venice Beach, at the Erwin Hotel. I don’t know a lot about this hotel but it’s supposed to be a classy joint. What I do know is that we’re on the sixth floor with balconies overlooking the boardwalk and the ocean. Too bad the fog hasn’t burned off today, as everyone was saying it would, because the sunset would probably be pretty spectacular but that doesn’t seem likely under the circumstances.

So anyway, I’ve ended up riding a Harley Heritage Softail, which seems to fit me pretty well. I had fears that the bike I ended up with might not be a good fit because I have short legs. Most of the Harleys I’ve ridden I’ve had an uncomfortable reach to the foot controls, but on this one it’s not a problem. It’s going to be very interesting to finally get some serious seat time on a Harley. I’ve never ridden any of them very much before.

So far I’ve met just a couple of the other writers on this ride, Natasha Dragun from Australia and Frederic Bagur (I think!) from Paris. The only person whose name I recognize is Donya Carlson, who writes for Rider magazine. Haven’t met her yet.

This is going to be an exotic few days, what with all the fancy places we’ll be staying and eating. I’m not normally a fancy-place sort of guy but I’ll do my best to make an exception this time. You can bet I’ll tell you all about it. Heck, maybe I’ll even try selling a story drawn from this trip to a travel magazine for a change, as opposed to a motorcycle magazine. We’ll see.

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Biker Quote for Today

Never look where you are going, always look where you want to go.

I keep saying it and I’m going to say it one more time: There are too many great roads in Colorado that I have never seen because I’ve only been riding a street bike all these years. I have got to get a dual-sport bike if I can just figure out a) where the money’s going to come from and b) where I’m going to store it.

I had the latest in a series of opportunities this past weekend to do some dual-sport riding. This time I went out with Ron Coleman, who runs Western Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventures out of Boulder, on one of his V-Stroms. The last time I went out with Ron we went up Fourmile Canyon and through the Wall Street area that later was the epicenter for that big fire they had up there. We then continued along the Switzerland Trail, which used to be a rail line many years ago.

This time we headed out of Boulder on the road up Sunshine Canyon, which took us through another area hit by the fire. What was really surprising about that part of the ride was seeing how selective the fire was. Some houses stood unscathed while others were ash heaps. In the trees there were paths visible where the fire burned some but left others green and growing. Pretty dang interesting.

We reached the Peak to Peak Highway and jogged south on it a short distance and then turned off on another gravel road that winds past Caribou Ranch. The days when this ranch was a premier recording studio are long over, and I’ve known for years where it was generally, but this was the first time I’d ever seen it.

We took another job off the Peak to Peak, and then a side-trip that took us up to the old Caribou townsite, now a ghost town. That’s Ron in the picture riding past the only remaining structures in what was once a gold mining town with a population of 3,000. And yes, that’s snow falling. Summer is definitely past.

Back again on the Peak to Peak, we turned off on the Coal Creek Canyon road and made a side-trip–gravel roads again–to the site of the Lincoln Hills resort that was a major draw for Blacks at a time when they were excluded from other, segregated facilities.

We returned to the canyon road, went up and over the ridge through Wondervu, and then turned off onto the gravel road that takes you past Gross Reservoir and eventually brings you out on the back side of Flagstaff Mountain. Then down Flagstaff Road into Boulder.

What a gorgeous ride! And sure, I’ve been on the Peak to Peak countless times, but I’ve never been on these other roads. Why? Because my Honda is barely tolerable on gravel and my Kawi detests gravel. In the meantime, the V-Strom is just every bit as comfortable on gravel as the Kawi is on the highway. But you know what? The V-Strom is also totally at home on the highway, and way more agile than the Kawi.

And there are a zillion more of those roads up there and all through the Colorado mountains. I don’t know how I’m going to make this work. I love my Honda. It’s the first bike I ever owned and I’ve been riding it for more than 20 years. I don’t want to part with it. And I love my Concours. I have to suspect that the V-Strom really is no match for it when it comes to serious touring. But I only have room in my garage for two motorcycles, not three. And I want a V-Strom in the worst way.

I’ve got to figure something out.

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Bounce like you’ve got hydraulics in your G-string.

This is a little bit of short notice but I finally paid attention to it myself. Jerry Pokorny, who is associated with the British Motorcycle Association of Colorado and who I’ve mentioned here before, is the featured speaker tonight at Erico Motorsports.

“Tales of Speed” is the title for his presentation, and it is about setting land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Jerry has set two such records, the most recent a little over a month ago on his 1954 BSA A-10 “Golden Flash.” He also set a record in 2008 on his 1945 Triumph 3HW.

Erico is located in downtown Denver at 2855 Walnut St. . The doors open at 6 p.m. and the presentation begins at 6:30. As an added attraction, after Jerry’s presentation, Erico will unveil the new Triumph Sprint GT.

The invitation I received said to RSVP to Tai at Tai@ericomotorsports.com. I’m not sure that’s totally necessary but it can’t hurt. I’m sure they’d like to know how many to expect.

Maybe I’ll see you there.

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Biker Quote for Today

You ain’t livin’ unless you’re livin’ on the edge.

Just in case you’re heading to the UK anytime soon, and you’ll have the time and inclination to visit some motorcycle museums, I’ve got just the guide for you: Motorcycle Museums of the United Kingdom, by Cheryl Probst.

Cheryl is the author of a variety of guidebooks, so she has the thing pretty well down. The book covers about 37 (if I counted correctly) different museums all across the UK and occasionally adds relevant info about the cities or regions they are in.

A typical listing includes a short bit about the collection plus the URL for its site, if it has one. Under “Logistics” she then tells how to get there, the admission fee, and describes the facilities. There is also telephone and email contact information.

In a general piece at the front of the book, “History of British motorcycles,” Cheryl offers recommendations for those whose time is limited and want to make the most of what time they have.

The following image show a single page in the book, so you can get a feel for what it’s like. Many pages have photos, although this one does not.

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Biker Quote for Today

Never mind the bollocks, where’s the apex?

Some guys have all the luck, and this time around I guess I’m one of them. I’ve been invited by EagleRider to come along on “The Tour of a Lifetime” that they are putting on for moto-journalists and, dirty jobs department, I said yes. Someone had to, you know.

EagleRider, by the way, in case you aren’t aware, is the biggest motorcycle rental outfit around, and they also do tours. You can bet they’re looking for some great publicity to come out of this and I have to tell you, unless they flub it pretty badly, which I don’t expect them to do, they’ll be getting plenty of that from me. I’ll be writing about the ride here, on Examiner.com, and on RumBum.com, so with me they’re getting three birds with one stone.

We’ll be flying into Los Angeles on Oct. 14 to get acquainted and set up, then on Oct. 15 we’ll take off on a four-day ride to San Francisco. Considering that you can do that trip in one day, that’s a pretty good indication that this is going to be a leisurely trip with “touring” being the operative word. We’ll visit the wine country, the Hearst Castle, Yosemite, and more. And yeah, you bet, I’m itching to go.

So this is just a teaser. I’ll have a LOT more to tell you once we get underway. Stay tuned.

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Biker Quote for Today

Dance like there’s no one watching, sing like no one is listening, love like you’ll never get hurt, and ride like there’s no tomorrow.

Every now and then I dip into this well. The original question posted on the Adventure Riders forum was “What is the strangest thing you hit/almost hit?” Here are some more of the replies.

After some of the stories here I hardly feel like my skunk kills are worth mentioning, but it is important to note that if you hit them square in the head with your front tire your bike hardly moves and they die before they can spray you.
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Hit a porcupine last weekend, was fun fixing 2 flat tires on the side of the road. Used every bit of my patch kit. 11 punctures in two tires. Spent most the time pulling quills out of the tires. Porcupine walked away.
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I cut a poodle in half. No BS. I was going through the gears on a sidestreet when a poodle ran out to attack me. I was clicking into 5th on my RD400. I thought I would run it over and crash, but it just split right in two. I must have hit it just right! I felt a little bad, but there was nothing I could do.
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A railroad tie… In the middle of I-30 coming out of Texas. Totaled a full dress HD and didn’t do wife and I any good either. Superslab at 75mph is more fun to ride than slide…
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Blastin’ the Mississippi back roads on a GSXR 1000, exiting a blind sweeper at about 110, only to find an old lady on a riding lawn mower leading a goat down the middle of the blacktop. No time to brake, made the pass with at least an inch to spare.
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Riding down a country road in Southern Maryland, a bird flies out of the bushes and right into my front (spoked) wheel while I’m doing about 60. Made a sound like shuffling cards and burst into a cloud of feathers.
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Great Words of Wisdom….Don’t follow closely to a full cattle truck…and pass way wide …came up on a slow one and just I went for the pass, I swear every cow in the upper deck took a piss…and they say that smells like money.
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A 1/2″ sheet of ice as wide and long as the trailer roof on a tractor trailer. Truck is in the on ramp, sumpin told me to move to the far left of three lanes. I see the ice lift up and glide/hoover down. It hit the center lane and broke up into three or four spinning sheets, which broke up into ten or twelve spinning sheets. By the time I rode through it in the far left lane it was about 100 spinning chunks of ice.
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A box of intravenous fluids flew off the back of a truck on the highway. A box of 12, each bag 1L = 12kg at speed. I ducked to let it pass over my right shoulder. How ironic would it be to get hit by an infusion bag!
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1992 kid shot a skateboard out into the street just as I went by. I hit it, and down I went. Man was I pissed.

OK, that’s all for now. I’ll end with this bit of wisdom offered on the thread: Rule of thumb is if it’s small enough to eat in one sitting you can pretty much hit it without worrying….haven’t tested that, heard it from an MSF dude.

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Biker Quote for Today

If you break your visor you know its a good crash — Danny Laporte