First ride of the season. Canyon make it?

         Hello all, It has been a while. But we have had snow all the way into May. I miss Arizona. Of course we snuck in a short ride here and there, but, we finally got out and made a day trip. I checked the ride map to see where we have been and where some of the places are that we would like to see. I had to be mindful that even though it was warm and dry here in the Flatland, the mountains were another story. 2000 feet in altitude brings an easy 10 degree drop in the temperature. And of course there is still snow in the mountains, which to me means ice spots on the road. I hate ice more than gravel! But we dressed warm and decided to go for it.
           In Colorado, for some reason, they take all the casinos, and put them into a few small towns. Two of these towns are Central City, and Black Hawk. Now, we are not gamblers, except for the powerball, but we do love old buildings and the great architecture that they have. Both Central City and Black Hawk were booming mining towns back in the hayday of gold and silver mining, and we had seen some photos. A lot of old buildings to look at, what fun.... Oh did I mention the twisties? So we left the house and rode over to Golden. A cute little town just west of Denver, with mostly tourist stores, and restaurants, and the Coors plant. We gassed up and began our trek.
            Leaving Golden, we headed up Route 6 on what is known as the Clear Creek Canyon Road. Let me tell you this, they know how to make canyons in Colorado. For the most part it is a nice little two lane road that meanders along a creek. As we went further along, the meandering became the twisties, and the sides of the road became sheer rock cliffs.
            Riding through the mountains in Colorado usually bring and occasional spotting of an elk, or long horn sheep climbing the mountainside. But today we saw a new breed of creature we have not seen before. The elusive Rock Climber. And from our untrained eye, all we saw were crazy people climbing sheer rock face with no safety rope. And they call motorcyclists crazy? Anyway, as we rode further into the canyon, we came across the first of 6 tunnels bored into the mountainside.

Stock web photo, Didn't want to stop  riding.

The tunnels were rather interesting, as they were blasted out, they didn't finish the inside with concrete like you normally see. It was just blasted out rock. Kinda cool, sorry no picture.  Here is another photo of the road.

   
           After what seemed to be an hour of great turns and scenery, but was in reality only 20 miles, and about 40 minutes, we pulled into Black Hawk. To my surprise, it wasn't the old buildings I had expected. Just a bunch of new buildings housing the casinos and hotels. Large tour buses everywhere and people walking from place to place in search of the elusive fortune. So, we rode on.
            In what seemed like a minute, in reality it was a minute, we were in the town of Central City. This was more like it. The old buildings, and the great architecture. I am going to shut up for a moment and let you look at a few photos. Yes we took these ones.

     
         OK, enough of the photos for a while, let's move along. We thought this would be a nice place to stop for a cup of tea. Low and behold, we found Harley Hippie's Coffee Cafe. Cool, a biker themed coffee shop. Well...... the shop was cool, the tea and smoothie, not so much. Moving on.
          It was still pretty early in the day and I didn't want to just turn around and head back to Golden and home again. I pulled out the trusty Google Maps and said to my wife, lets's head on up to Nederland and see what's there for lunch. We stepped outside from the Hippie and saw a bit more cloud cover than before. So we added another layer and headed up north.

           There is a very well known road in Colorado that goes from Central City to Estes Park (hello, the Shining) that's called the Peak to Peak Scenic and Historic Highway. It is a 55 mile road with altitudes of almost 10,000 feet and some of the most scenic views ever. Nederland is a small hippie town about halfway to Estes Park. We had been there before, but we had gone a different way, so we went for it.
           In direct contrast to the Clear Canyon road which took us up 2000 feet very gradually, When we left Central City, we were definitely going up, and the curves got sharper  and more challenging. I LIKE IT. And I notice a greater amount of motorcycles coming the other way. They were out for a great ride also. We finally crest over the first mountain top and stop for this beautiful photo.

            From here, we began our up and down ride into Nederland. Stopping at a little general store for some batteries for the camera. Apparently, batteries don't last as long in colder weather.  Anyway.......
            Nederland as they say "is a town like no other". With an elevation of 8230 ft, it is always about 10 degrees cooler then Denver. It has some very unique shops and restaurants, and it has something called Frozen Dead Guy Days. Google it.  As we came into town, she saw a sign for a llama wool clothing store. We decided to take a look. In Nederland there are three roads in and a roundabout in the center. I am not sure how it happened, but, we got lost trying to find the store. We drove around for 15 minutes trying to figure out which road we came in on. Must have been the lack of oxygen and hunger. Finally found the llama store and while she was shopping, I was looking for a place to eat. And that's when I found nirvana. It came in a place called The Cosmic Cowboy Cafe. Kind of a fitting name for this town. It boasts the best home grown Mexican food around. In reference to the fact that pot (home grown) has been legal here for years. Go figure...

 In this little 4 table establishment, I had one of the best burritos with green chili I have ever eaten, and the owner/cook was so friendly, we all could have talked for hours. But hours we did not have. The clouds were starting to move in, as they do in the mountains and as I am not fond of riding in the rain, we decided to start for home.
               When I go out for day rides, unless it is absolutely necessary,  I try to make a loop of the ride. So instead of going back the way we came, we head for CO Rt 119 and Boulder Canyon. We had been on this road before, but going the other way. So the scenery would be fresh this way. Armed with fresh batteries in the camera, my wife decided to try taking pictures while riding. Thanks to her new contacts she could see now. So with out further ado, here are a few shots of the ride to Boulder.

            That was pretty much the ride. It was another hour into and through Boulder and then back down to Golden to where we started the ride. What started out as a short hop up a gorgeous canyon, ended up be a great first ride of the season. When it warms up a little more, we are planning to ride the entire Peak to Peak up to Estes Park, And a ride up to Mount Evans. The highest paved road in the US, 14,265 feet above sea level. So keep the rubber side down and enjoy the ride.
Namaste
Dave

The beginnings of a travelogue.

          Hi all... and welcome back to my place. Today we will learn how to make plutonium out of common household items. No wait, wrong blog. 
          Today we will venture into the world of writing articles about motorcycle trips. 
That is, after all, why I created this blog in the first place. I have been reading a wide variety of blogs and magazine articles about different riders' experiences and their adventures on their motorcycles. And I thought to myself, "Self, you can do this too". But why? Why would I want to write about my rides on the bike? Well, I really enjoy reading others' articles... and I figure... why not let others experience what I have? The roads, the scenery, and the fun of my rides can maybe get others to take the same rides. 
          But here is the problem, I have no experience in the writing arena. That is why I started this blog writing about the bike and the trailer. I wanted to see if I could figure out how to write and what to write about. A long time ago, I took a course on creative writing. It was an interesting experience. So I decided to try it again, since now I have actual things to write creatively about. 
           I have been thinking about doing this for some time, and have thought about some of the rides we (my wife and I) have taken. I would think in my head about how I would write up the ride and could only remember certain parts of the trip. I find myself enjoying the ride experience, which of course is why we ride, instead of paying attention to all the specific details of the trip. As I said before, I have been reading the "other" ride blogs, and have been noticing the detailed specifics in the articles. I am talking about mile by mile descriptions. I am not sure how they do it, I mean, how can a person remember every little bit of the journey. 
           So, now when we go for a ride, I will have to make a decision as to whether or not the ride is going to be 'just a ride' or the subject for a blog entry. I guess that after I do this for a while, I will get better at joining the two together; but for the time being, it will have to be one or the other. 
           There is another part of this project that I haven't mentioned yet. Photos. There has to be pictures in the article/blog. When we go out for rides, we do take some nice photos. But we usually don't stop to take a picture unless the view is very remarkable or it's a landmark. I really enjoy the actual ride itself; therefore, stopping all the time for photos is not on the top of my list. So, as well as, figuring out what to write about, I have to learn to be more aware of the surroundings and of which photos will paint the picture of a thousand words. 
           On a few of our rides, we have made some stops for pictures. I don't see taking pictures as much a problem as what to write about. I will have to be watching for that one perfect shot that says it all. I am going to have to rely on my wife to learn how to take pictures while we are riding. I also want to try a few staged shots where I leave her off, drive back up the road, and re-ride slowly by for a few action shots with great backgrounds.  With the invention of the digital camera, where there is basically an unlimited amount of shots, the sky is the limit. 
           So, that is about it for now. I have a big job ahead of me, and hopefully some great rides that all of you will get to experience through my eyes and creative mind.
I really am looking forward to this. Until next time...

Namaste
Dave

As the trailer turns....

        First of all, we rode yesterday. It was in the lower 60's when the sun was out, So we rode up to Boulder. Put about 70 miles on the bike and don't feel nearly as couped up right now. Anyhow.......

         In the last episode of the continuing story of How am I going to pack that, we talked about why I wasn't about to pay $1500 for a trailer that I was maybe going to use only a handful of times a year. But I really want one. Not only can we use it for traveling, but why not hook it up to go to the grocery store. No more wondering if we can fit all this in the saddlebags. So what do I do, spend the big money for a fancy one, buy a used one from the internet that has who knows what problems? No... I will build one from scratch, sort off.

         Now I have to think about this. Yes, I am pretty handy with the socket set. I change the oil and brake pads on the car and bike. I even replaced a transmission once on our old Dodge minivan. But building a trailer for the bike, madness I tell you, Or is it?

         So back to the forums I go, of which I have now become a supporting member. 

(I felt bad squeezing them for free info, plus some new cool people to ride with.) Much to my surprise, I am not the first one to think about doing a project like this. As a matter of fact, it is the choice way of trailering for motorcyclists. Or, we are just a bunch of cheap people. Oh, I mean frugal.

         How does one go about building a trailer? With a kit of course. You didn't actually think I was going to get out the welder now did you? Especially since I have no clue how to weld. Well, there was this one time....... Oh never mind. Anyway, the place to go is the frugal mechanics friend, Harbor Freight. Now before you go all that's just Chinese junk tools, well, some of them are. But their trailer kits are made by a company called Haul Master. And yes I believe these are Chinese as well but for many years, Sears sold these trailers as well. And you have to trust Sears, the Brady Bunch goes there. So off to the website to see what they have to offer. 

        And much to my surprise, it is right there on the internet. In all it's glory......

That is what I want, simple, light and inexpensive with a fair amount of storage space. But They want me to spend $400 for it. Now I admit, $400 is a lot cheaper than $1500, but lets see if the frugal in me can make it for less.

        OK, so what is it made of? A trailer base and a car topper. Pretty sturdy, waterproof and rather nice looking. Let's see what else Harbor Freight has to offer. A few more pages in and I find this...

Same base as the above trailer only red. Hmm... red, easier to see than black,  and only $179 with a coupon. This is a keeper. Except it is still Chinese made. Well apparently the only bad thing about it are the wheel bearings. So I just repack the bearings and we are good to go. ow I have to figure out what to put on top. Everyone has seen these things go by on the cars.

That looks suspiciously like the one in the first picture as well. And look it's white. Easy to see and matches the bike. These go for a couple hundred dollars new, but lets get frugal again. I mentioned not wanting to buy a used trailer because you really don't know what your getting. How old is it? Has it been sitting outside in the weather for ever rusting away??? Well, apparently, these car toppers are a dime a dozen on craigslist. People are getting bigger cars, they don't need them anymore, for whatever reason, they are selling and they are in pretty good shape. 50 bucks. Sold.

          Now for the cool part. I am going to build the trailer, add a piece of treated plywood on the base to mount the car topper and wa la. A motorcycle pull behind trailer for 250 bucks. That's a good savings of 150 dollars. But wait there's more. The car topper will be able to be removed rather simply and now you have a flat bed cargo trailer. But wait that's not all. We will also be able to pull the trailer behind the car for those trips to Home Depot, when the station wagon is not quit big enough. It's a win win situation. 

          Well, that's the plan. It is not quite happening yet, but for sure before late summer. I am hoping for a nice trip to South Dakota and the trailer would work perfectly. But after I build it, I have to spend a little time pulling it to get the feel of a trailer behind the bike. I hope you enjoyed my little saga and will continue to read what I have to write. As the weather gets warmer, the rides will begin and I will be posting some trips and photos. I am really looking forward to that.

Until next time,

Namaste

Dave

         

Trunk or Trailer

Chapter 3.
         Well, It's January 9th. Still snow on the ground, and still not able to take the bike out of the shed due to all the snow and ice in the back yard, I continue to dream and make plans for the upcoming riding season. As you can see at the top of my blog, I have added a new picture. Thanks to my son Geoff and his many talents with Photoshop. It is a picture of Zoey. Oh yea, we decided to name her. Anyhow, you see two bikes up there. They are indeed the same bike. Yamaha calls our bike a Touring/Cruiser. When you go for the long rides you have the windscreen and backrest for comfort ability and in just a few seconds, the windscreen and backrest can come off making it a cool cruiser for around town. We keep the backrest on but the windscreen comes off on the warm evenings. In the last episode, I mentioned that our Tour Deluxe had a sister bike.

             The Venture, with all the bells and whistles one needs for total comfort on long trips. Well not necessarily. Other than the fairing and trunk it is the same bike. And again, I don't like the fairing in front. I mean, it comes with a cassette deck. I would have to transfer all my mp3's to cassette. LOL. But herein lies the small problem. Our RSTD is very comfortable to ride even though we haven't had the long trip yet. The issue is storage. As you can see above, the saddlebags on the side are the same on both bikes, but there is a rather large trunk on the back that we don't have. On a 1 or 2 day trip, the 3 bags are a decent enough size to pretty much put everything you need in it. I thought about looking on ebay for a used trunk and bracket from someone who was parting out a bike. There were a few out there for WAY more than I wanted to pay. So I began reading the motorcycle forums for other ideas.
        I have seen numerous bikes on the road pulling trailers and thought a little about it. But with the Suzuki being only an 800cc there was no way I was pulling anything. But now I have the luxury of driving a 1300cc V4 with power to spare and an overdrive. I began to search the motorcycle trailer websites. There are a ton of cool bike trailers out there if you have the money.
       Motorcycle trailers come in 2 forms, a 2 wheel traditional style trailer and a single wheel style.

          I did some research on both styles. I really liked the single wheel style. Very cool looking and a few companies made a very retro style to match the retro of our bike. One brand even boasted removing the trailer from the bike and pushing it right into the hotel room. No need to unpack in the parking lot. But after talking to many riders who have towed pretty much everything, I found that the single wheel had issues. 

          You see, there is this thing called tongue weight. the heavier the weight, the lighter the front end of the bike, hence bad steering. And that's bad. With the wheel in the back like in the photo, all the weight in the trailer will add to the tongue weight. But with the traditional 2 wheel trailer, you can balance the load across the axle to make for a much lighter tongue. Hence, better control of the bike. So reluctantly, I decided to go with the 2 wheel version. 

            I began to narrow my search a bit, kind off like the cars.com commercial, picking the different things I liked abut this trailer and that trailer. Until I came to the conclusion that no matter which one I picked, 1500 dollars was just a bit too much to spend on a storage device that was to replace the trunk that I could get for 800 dollars. 

            So, what did I decide to do? Tune in next time to read the exciting conclusion of to trailer or not to trailer....... or something like that.

Namaste

Dave

             

Picking out the new bike

       Until the snow melts, or at least the ice on the road, I am stuck dreaming about riding. Reading the motorcycle forums to see what others of like mind are talking about. Reading about rides we would like to do in the near future. Planning summer trips. But there is another activity that can busy a riders mind. Accessories. There are always thing to buy, things to build and things to add to ones motorcycle. Now don't get me wrong, I truly love our Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe. It is in fact, the best bike I have ever owned or ridden. But, there are always changes that can be made.
       Our bike, the RSTD, has a sister bike. It is called the Royal Star Venture. It is a true touring bike. Kind of like the Honda Gold Wing every one is so familiar with. They call them full dressers. Big fairing in the front with radio and CB, large saddlebags and a trunk in the back. BIG comfort. Not only big comfort, but a big bike as well.
        A little history please...... Our last motorcycle was a Suzuki Boulevard C50. The C50 means approx an 800 cc engine. It was a nice small bike that we did a bit of touring in Arizona a couple of years ago. It weighed 542 pounds. Not a bad size for a little guy like me. My 5'8" 175 lbs frame sat very nicely on it. But with two of us riding, 2up, it was a bit of a struggle. So we looked around for a new bike that would suit us a little better. Especially for the new challenges of mountain riding that the Rockies will be bringing us.
        I had been leaning toward the Yamaha Royal Star Venture. A full dresser that looked a bit retro and cruiser style like the Boulevard, but still had all the features of the Goldwing. We found a few on craigslist and went to see them and take a test ride. They were nice bikes. Really nice bikes. But they were a bit on the top heavy side for me. I read a few forums about people who rode them and they said that indeed they were top heavy and a little hard to control at slow speeds, but once you got out onto the open highway they were a dream.
       So, we still needed a bigger bike for the rides here and I found a Suzuki Boulevard C90 at a bike shop in Colorado Springs. We took a ride down to take a test ride and buy the Suzuki. Once in the showroom, we saw this cool white bike and she said, that looks cool, lets check it out. It was the RSTD. A very comfortable bike with the look of the cruiser that we both liked. I then found out it was the cruiser version of the Venture. Without all the full dress options.
       I thought to myself, we would not need the radio or CB, and it was the fairing that was making the Venture tough for me to handle. This bike had a nice windshield and big hard saddlebags, but none of the extras. On the test ride, it was love at first shift. Needless to say, we left with that bike.
       So, where do the accessories fit in? I thought it was the perfect bike? Like anything you own, car, computer, or motorcycle, there are always things you want to do to improve what you have. So, now we have the bike we love with the engine size we want, with the weight I can handle, but we still want to tour without all the touring crap on the Venture. Now comes the fun part. I have started reading the motorcycle forums ( a great source of info about this specific bike style) and seeing what others have done or are planing to do with the rides. I have some good ideas, but of course, everything costs.
       Well, this post didn't go where I thought it was going. Cool. It let's you get to know me a bit more and also gives me more things to write about.
Until next time remember, 4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels moves the soul.
Namaste
Dave

       

Here I am !

      Well, here we are in the middle of my second winter in Denver. Snow on the ground and a chill in the air. Did I say chill, I meant, man is it cold out. For the last 4 years previous to moving here, we lived in Phoenix. The winter there meant great rides in the desert and low lying mountains. I really miss it. There was not an off season for riding there. In the summer you rode the mountains. In the winter, the lowlands. And you got used to the 100+ temps in the summer. Well, most people did.
    
      But now we live in the Great Rocky Mountains. Where right now my girl is in the shed staying out of the snow. I go in every couple of days to start her up. I say it is to charge up the battery a bit, but in reality, I just want to hear her running. Feel the power in the throttle, and just dream a bit of the great rides we have coming up.
    
      So, I decided to start a blog about motorcycling and how it is good for the soul. My soul. I want to start writing about trips that we will be taking, and maybe get a few published. Which means, she is going to have to learn how to take pictures from the back seat. And I thought this blog will help me learn how to write. They say if you write about something you like, it should come easy. Well we will see about that.
    
      In the mean time, I am going to be putting down my thoughts, my dreams of future rides, and see where this whole thing takes me.