Another great ride this past weekend. Rode south from Colorado Springs on CO-115 to Penrose, then west on US-50 through Salida and over Monarch Pass (11,312') to Gunnison. Then north on CO-135 to Crested Butte where we stopped for lunch. Rode west over Kebler Pass (10,007') over County Road 12, 29 miles of hard-packed dirt and gravel, to CO-133, then north over McClure Pass (8,755') to Carbondale. Then east on CO-82 through Aspen and over Independence Pass (12,095', the highest paved pass in the lower 48) to US-24 and back in to Colorado Springs. 460 miles in a little over 11 hours, including a long lunch break and 25-30 mph over Kebler Pass Road. Partly cloudy with temps mostly in the 70s, and although thunderstorms were forecast and threatened, we managed to avoid getting rained on. My little 883 ran great and ate up some big twins on the mountain twisties.

Here is a map and some pics:

West of Monarch Pass, US-50 runs through a beautiful valley watered by the Tomichi Creek.

The old mining town of Crested Butte has been reborn as a ski town in winter and a biking town in summer.

Ate lunch at Teocalli Tamale (http://teocallitamale.com/). Had a tamale plate with 2 tamales on a bed of rice and black beans smothered with green chili and sour cream. Reasonable prices and a good selection of beers.

Kebler Pass Road

The Kebler Pass Road runs through what's supposedly the largest aspen grove in the U.S. Seems like we were riding through aspens for at least half of the 29 mile route. Yours truly on the left with my brother-in-law and our bikes. He and another riding buddy taking the picture were both on Beemers.Looking down on the highway from McClure Pass.

The view at the top of Independence Pass.

Road Trip, May 13-16, 2010

I know it's been over two years since I posted last. My wife was seriously ill for most of 2009, so I probably didn't ride much more than 500 miles the entire year. But she's doing much better now and I'm back on the road again!

Last week, my riding buddy brother-in-law, Rolly, and I rode 1,785 miles through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah over four days. We completely avoided freeways and rode through some of the most beautiful country in the Southwest U.S. Here's the map:

Thursday, we rode US-50 west to Poncha Springs, then US-285/CO-17 south across Cumbres Pass into New Mexico. Rode through snow from Salida until we crossed Poncha Pass, maybe 20 miles or so. At Chama, we picked up US-84 south to NM-96 west. Near Abiquiu, we stopped to see Ghost Ranch where Georgia O'Keefe drew inspiration for many of her iconic paintings of the Southwest.

Then we headed southwest on NM-96, NM-197, and NM-509/605/122 to Grants, New Mexico where we spent the night.

Friday, we headed southwest on NM-53 through Navajo and Zuni country into Arizona, riding along AZ-260 through several national forests paralleling the Mogollon Rim. We stopped in Sedona for the night, surrounded by red stone rock formations.

Saturday, we left Sedona and rode north through Oak Creek Canyon on AZ-89A to Flagstaff, continuing north on US-89, then US-160 and US-163 to Monument Valley which crosses from Arizona into Utah. Monument Valley is where several classic Westerns have been filmed.

Riding north on US-191, we pulled into the eastern access to Canyonlands National Park after stopping briefly at Newspaper Rock to see petroglyphs carved into the rock hundreds of years ago.

We stayed in Moab Saturday night. Before heading home on Sunday, we rode a few miles north to Arches National Park.
We dropped back south to ride UT-46 back east into Colorado, then CO-141/62 through Placerville to Ridgway over the Dallas Divide. Colorado was not to be outdone with awesome scenery.
From Ridgway, we rode north on US-550 to Montrose where we picked up US-50 through Gunnison, Salida, and Canon City back home. It was a memorable ride; now to start planning the next one...

50th Anniversary Classic - Chapter 3

When I took the front fender and braces to get powdercoated, the guy took one look at the fender and said, "That paint looks pretty bad." He suggested that the best thing to do would be to sandblast the fender back to bare metal, mount the braces, and then powdercoat the whole thing. And he quoted a very reasonable price to do it. So that's what I did. He couldn't rivet the braces to the fender so he used cap screws with a cap nut on the outside so as to maximize clearance for the tire on the inside of the fender. When I picked up the fender from him, it was a vast improvement over the previous paint job.

Unfortunately, as I started to mount the fender yesterday, I found that the cap nuts protruded too far on the outside of the fender to squeeze it between the fork legs. So I ended up disassembling the braces from the fender, bought new stainless cap screws and cap nuts, and reassembled the braces to the fender after positioning the fender between the forks.

So here's what she looks like with newly painted/powdercoated tins:

50th Anniversary Classic - Chapter 2

Since my last post I got the tins back from the painter. The paint job was OK but it just proves the adage "You get what you pay for." I went for cheap and that's basically what I got. Definitely not the high gloss that Harley paints bikes at the factory, but maybe with a high quality polish, it'll look almost as good. On the advice of the painter, I've waited about three weeks for the paint and clearcoat to cure. This afternoon I applied the '57 tank emblems and put a chrome license tag mount and frame on the rear fender to replace the original that got bent up last summer. Then I put the fuel pump back in the tank, and various wiring harness and hardware back on the fender. They're ready to put back on the bike tomorrow, minus the front fender. The painter recommended against trying to paint the chrome fender braces, so I'm going to see if I can get them powder coated next Friday and riveted to the fender. Then I'll mount it on the bike.

Here are the tins, ready to mount.

50th Anniversary Classic - Chapter 1

It's obviously been quite a while since I've posted. No, I didn't sell the bike and quit this foolishness after my mishap. I've healed and the bike was up and rideable within a month or so, which I did for several hundred more miles through late summer and fall.

On one ride in September, I rode up to Denver where my wife was attending a conference. While she was conferring, I rode up to Boulder along CO470 and CO93, then west and back south on CO119 through Nederland and Blackhawk (known as the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway), then headed back to Colorado Springs via CO83. On the way back I rode into a 25-30 mph headwind which, added to the 65-70 ground speed, about ripped me off the bike. It was literally all I could do to hang on and maintain control of the scoot. So my next purchase was a windshield (22" Slipstreamer), which has made a big difference in riding comfort, especially as it's gotten colder.

Another recent acquisition was a 19" laced front wheel and tire that I swapped the OEM 21" for. Not only does the fatter tire give me a little more road contact for turning and stopping, but I like the more "retro" look. Here's what the bike looks like today (more or less).

2007 was the 50th Anniversary of the Sportster line for Harley-Davidson, the longest running model line in their 105 year history. Since I bought my 2007 last spring, I've had in mind modifying it over time to create a modern replica of the original Sporty.

As I've googled around looking for ideas, I found a '57 replica that Billy Joel (the Piano Man) had built. I don't have the resources that he has but it's good to know that many of the parts for the '57 look are still available.

And I found this picture in American Iron of an original '57 Sporty and its owner who has owned it since it was new. I think this is the look I'm going to go for since it's all-black like my Custom and it has the 2-2 pipes with tapered mufflers which have continued to be the signature exhaust for Sportsters down through the years.

So since my bike needed some cosmetic work following my fall last summer, I removed the tank, fenders, and battery cover this weekend and took them to get repainted. While I'm keeping the gloss black color, I'm having them remove the Harley script logos on the tank which on the 883s is a decal under the clearcoat. I'll replace them with the round 1957 tank emblems.

I also bought a front fender from a later-model Ironhead Sportster that is the same shape as the original '57 but will mount to contemporary front forks (same as the Billy Joel bike). So that's also getting painted, and I have a small "50th Sportster" medallion that I'll mount on the front of it.

Already purchased but not yet applied are a chrome 8" round air cleaner cover with the "Bar and Shield" design etched into it like the original, and replica "nostalgic" hand grips. The grips I can apply right away, but I'll have to wait on the air cleaner cover until I buy an Arlen Ness "Big Sucker" free flow air cleaner in conjunction with 2-1/2" tapered performance mufflers from Khrome Werks. The air cleaner and mufflers should allow the 883 to breathe better and are good for about a 10 horsepower increase. Future acquisitions for both appearance and performance will include 12" covered Progressive shocks and a 7" headlight.

Here's my ride, bereft of its sheet metal, waiting for the painters to finish their magic.

Went Down

Years ago when I was in the Army, I had an old, crusty First Sergeant who rode a dresser. One morning he came in all skinned up and he related how he had laid down his ride to avoid someone who turned right in front of him. Then he said, "Lieutenant, there's two kinds of motorcycle riders. . . those that have been down and those that are going down." I had hoped that I might remain in the latter group for a long time, but this past weekend I joined the former.

My brother-in-law Rolly's church organized a ride last Saturday to benefit a crisis pregnancy center. There were probably 30 bikes and the plan was to ride country roads between Colorado Springs and Castlerock, stopping at various points for refreshment and instructions for the next leg. We would finish up back at the church and then have lunch together. It was a nice day, not too hot, the bugs weren't too bad, and we were putting along at fairly low speeds due to the narrow country roads and the fact that most of the bikes were Harley Big Twins which aren't particularly fast through curves.

We had completed about three-fourths of the ride and were entering a tight S-curve just outside Palmer Lake. As we entered a curve to the left, I grabbed the front brake lever to keep from riding up the tailpipe of the Hog in front of me. I think my thumb must have inadvertently rolled on some throttle as I grabbed the brake, so rather than slowing down, I sped up, the back end broke away, and down I went.

I was up before the dust settled, more or less in one piece, although I could tell that my left elbow was skinned up, my left knee had a big lump on the inside, and my right ankle was sore. The bike was lying on it's left side just off the narrow shoulder, point back the way we had come. By this time, several other riders were gathering, and a couple of them helped me get the bike up on the road. At first look, the shifter lever was broken, the left handlebar appeared to be bent, the left rear view mirror was cracked, the left side of the tank was scraped, the left rear turn signal was snapped off, and the license tag was mangled. But since we were in the middle of a narrow road in the middle of a blind curve, I thought I'd best move the bike. It started right up, and once I cleaned some dirt out of the clutch lever, I rode it down to a wider place on a straightaway where I could check it more closely. I found that I could still shift gears by hooking the edge of my boot sole under the stub of the shift lever. So I thought I'd give a try at riding it home. Rolly followed me and it ran fine the 20 or so miles to my house.

Once at home, I took the following pictures of the damage to the bike.

I finally took off my leather jacket to look at my elbow and found that, although my jacket sleeve wasn't penetrated, my elbow was split open pretty badly. It was definitely going to need some stitches. My wife took me to the emergency room downtown where they checked me over and X-rayed my elbow. Mostly bumps, bruises, and sprains except for my elbow. The elbow bone (whatever it's called) was chipped, and the wound over it was pretty ragged. Somehow, some dirt and gravel had gotten up my jacket sleeve and into the wound. So the doctor had to trim the wound and pick out the junk that he could get to. Finally, he sewed it up, leaving a drain tube to prevent infection. A week later, this is what it looks like.

I've replaced or repaired most of the mechanical issues on the bike but will have to wait on the cosmetics such as the tank and rear fender scrapes. I'll have it rideable hopefully by the Fourth. The ironic thing in all of this is that the Friday before this happened, I started coming down with a toothache. So in and amongst the various medical appointments that I had this past week to repair the damage to my person there were also a couple of dental appointments including a root canal. At the worst of all of this, my tooth hurt worse than my other booboos.

I'm a true believer in the value of protective gear. The leather jacket protected my torso and arms from direct scrapes and scratches, my helmet had a couple of skobs and scratches that would otherwise have been to my head and face, both gloves had scuffs on the palms and knuckles, and the old jump boots that I was wearing potentially kept my ankle sprains from being breaks. A lot of the other riders were wearing tee shirts and bandanas. I wouldn't have walked away from this if I had been dressed like that.

First Road Trip

My wife's sister lives nearby and her husband Rolly is a rider. The girls planned to go back east to the wedding of a third sister's daughter over the weekend a couple of weeks ago. Rolly and I started talking about riding while they were going to be away and that discussion quickly expanded into planning a three day road trip through southwest Colorado. So both of us arranged to take Friday off and Rolly reserved a cabin south of Montrose for Friday and Saturday night.

I was coming up on my 1,000 mile service for my Sporty so Rolly helped me with that and put new tires on his Yamaha FZ750. We did a shakedown ride the weekend prior with about 60 riders from my church to Breckenridge, about 260 miles by a circuitous route. And I ordered a tail bag and tank bag to have something to carry enough stuff for a three-day trip.

Friday morning, I was loaded up, gassed up and ready to roll by 8:00.

Our route for the first day was south on CO 115 from Colorado Springs to Penrose, then west on US 50 all the way to Montrose, about 240 miles.

We stopped in Gunnison for gas and lunch then visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

We checked into our cabin in an RV park about 10 miles south of Montrose, rode back into town for dinner, then back to the RV park to soak in a hot tub and relax with a cold brew.

The route for Saturday was to ride south from Montrose on US 550, CO 62, and CO 145 to Cortez, stop at Mesa Verde National Park just east of there on US 160, continue east to Durango, and then head back north to Montrose by way of Silverton and Ouray on US 550, about 287 highway miles.

After breakfast at Denny's in Montrose (I highly recommend two fried eggs over biscuits and gravy!), we headed down into the San Juans. In my mind, this is some of the most beautiful country in Colorado and therefore in the world. Back in the Seventies, I backpacked and climbed in this area and have loved it ever since. Rolly had never been to Telluride so we stopped at Maggie's Bakery for coffee and apple struedel while soaking up the mountain sun and admiring Bridal Veil Falls above the town.

Just a few miles south of Telluride, we stopped to gaze at the mountains I had climbed 35 years ago. In the picture immediately below, looking southwest, Sunshine Peak (14,001') is on the left and Wilson Peak(14,017') is the peak on the right. In the summer of 1973, I climbed Wilson Peak, Mt. Wilson (14,246'), and El Diente (14,159') in one backpacking week.

The next picture is looking east, with the San Juans behind the bikes and Rolly.

From Telluride we rode south to Cortez over Lizardhead Pass (10,222'). Gassed up there and continued on to Mesa Verde National Park. It was in the low 90s there but we walked down to check out the cliff dwellings.

From Mesa Verde we rode through a thunderstorm to Durango and pulled in there to dry out and eat dinner at Serious Texas Bar-B-Q. We couldn't resist calling our third brother-in-law, the father of the bride, to ask him the day before the wedding if he was having as much fun as we were - riding motorcycles through the Colorado Rockies, eating Texas barbeque, and drinking Lone Star beer! After eating, drinking, and gloating, we rode on to Montrose through some great twisties all the way to Silverton and Ouray, crossing Coalbank Pass (10,640'), Molas Divide (10,910'), and Red Mountain Pass (11,018').

Finally back to the cabin just as it was getting dark to dry out our raingear, soak in the hot tub, and drink a couple of cold ones.The route planned for the ride home on Sunday was to go north from Montrose on US 50/550 to Delta, then CO 92/133 northeast to Carbondale, CO 82 east through Aspen to US 24, and US 24 east back to Colorado Springs, 291 miles altogether.

We started out after another hearty breakfast at Denny's, crossed McClure Pass (8,755') near Capitol Peak (14,130'), and got to Aspen around lunchtime. Aspen was a highbrow circus so we continued on, past Twin Lakes to Buena Vista, passing along the Collegiate Range through the upper Arkansas River valley. We crossed Independence Pass along the way, the highest paved pass in Colorado and one of the highest in North America at 12,095.

In Buena Vista, we stopped at K's Drive In for one of the best double cheeseburgers and chocolate malts you'll find anywhere. Then we stopped again in Hartsel and bought two dozen frozen tamales at Dorothy's to take home. Dorothy's tamales are some of the best in Colorado.

Rolly split off north in Old Colorado City toward his home and I rolled back up my driveway about 4:00, just in time to take my car to bail out my dog from doggie day care. 935 gorgeous miles! The bike ran great, no mishaps, great weather (except for the one brief thunderstorm - hey, this is Colorado in the summer after all!), and great brother-in-law time with Rolly.

Unfortunately, a ride the following weekend wasn't so wonderful. But that's another post.