Another Cool Trike... Custom this time

Bobster Trike by Zeel Design - The Kneeslider

I'm not much into conventional trikes... yet. Maybe as I get older that will change. But here is one I love and would love to have here and now!

technorati tags:trike, custom

Huh, so that's what lane splitting is

Here's a video about the cons and mostly pros of lane splitting done by nbcsandiego.com.

Motorcycle Lane Splitters

The thing is, I have to admit up until seeing this, I had the wrong idea about what lane splitting even was. I thought it was two motorcycles riding side by side in the same lane. But now that I know better, I'm still not sure that I agree about lane splitting being safer. Particularly when space between lanes is as tight as it sometimes is. Of course, I don't deal with this sort of traffic while on my motorcycle either.

technorati tags:laws, safety, practices, riding

News Release about the M109R

News Releases

The Suzuki M109R was chosen the winner in this category for setting a new standard of performance at an affordable price. This bike could have easily been nominated in both the Engineering and Styling categories. The new 109-cubic-inch (1783cc) engine features the largest bore of any street legal, gasoline powered engine on the planet – bike or automobile. As such, it is also the only oversquare V-twin powerplant to be found on a maxi-cruiser type motorcycle with a 112.0 x 90.5mm bore and stroke arrangement. Suzuki is claiming 123 horsepower at the crankshaft! And the futuristic hot rod styling leaves no question about the machine’s performance aspirations. The look of this bike says “get the h--- out of my way.” But with a MSRP of $12,399 it is the only 100-cubic-inch class cruiser to be had for less than 13 grand, which earns the M109R our pick as the best value in big-bore cruiser land.

Its nice to see my bike of choice getting some love from the motorcycle press. Seems like most of what I've read is... "mixed" I guess would be the term for it. In part though I think its so because the M109R defies classification. Personally, I've started referring to it as a "muscle bike" because I see it as reminiscent of sixties and seventies muscle cars. I see the M109R as the ultimate "toy" motorcycle. Fast, stylish, responsive... capable of the occasional distance run though not dedicated to the task. Something I didn't think about in my selection process was "value." Frankly, I only thought about affordability in terms of my ability to make the payments. However, if my choice proves to be heralded as a shrewed purchase, who am I to argue?

Why not English or exotics?

Last time I talked about shopping for my return to motorcycling bike, I talked about the Moto Guzis of my dreams. Along with Guzis, I also have a fondness for any bike just a little off the beaten path. For instance, when Yamaha first released the 920 Virago as one of the first non-Harley cruisers, it became quite popular. However, my interests ran towards the sports styled version that was much more rare back in the day and I never see used today. I liked English bikes too with a particular fondness for Norton Commandos. I secretly lusted after a basket case Triumph Trident I helped work on with a couple friends but really didn't have much interest in the Gold Wings both of them bought afterwards. So why didn't I go for something a little more unusual or finicky like an English bike now? Simple. I'm not a wrench by any means and wanted something I could ride more than work on.

Fort Collins to Brush, Colorado Loop

More pictures and route map can be found here.

A sermon I heard once advised us not to “despise the trivial.” In other words, not to discount those little moments in life. Good advice I think. So it will be with most of the rides I talk about here. My time for epic rides like the ones we dream about is not now. Instead I content myself with an afternoon here, perhaps and overnight there. So it was with my ride yesterday. Made even more mundane as a result of the season and my being scared of ice and gravel and temperature extremes. I headed out towards the plains east of me instead of the mountains to the west. But if I apologize too much for my destination, I would be insincere. Truth is I like the empty hauntingness of our grasslands. I like it a lot. Not that its the only scenery I enjoy but it certainly is amongst them. The problem though with riding through it is there isn't much variation. Just vast empty stretches of (mostly good) roads.

Yesterday, I headed out a little after noon and took I25 to Highway 34 all the way to Brush, Colorado. Nothing too much to say about the actual road except to warn you to watch out for the interchanges. Seems maybe that Colorado seeks to make up for the monotony by breaking it up with weird interchanges every so often. The first one I ran across I know well. Its with highway 34, highway 85 and 8^th Avenue meet in Greeley. Next couple involve getting on and off interstate I76 for a brief stretch. Get through those and the rest is clear sailing.

I stop in Brush for gas and food deliberately avoiding Fort Morgan as too big a metropolis for the scenery. The Crane Cafe there serves breakfast the whole time they're open. Its an excellent rendition of it at that. The only hitch is I've got to wait for the cook to get back from the bank but I guess that's what I get for coming during off peak hours. I cross the street to the Duckwalls (A hardware, five and dime sort of place from another age.) looking for a bungy cord and ear plugs. They have neither but the cashier is pleasant and very sorry. I miss the turn north on Highway 71 because its the block immediately after Crane's Cafe. Thirteen miles and a ways past Hillrose, I finally pull over to consult a map feeling as though I've finally arrived as a “real” tourer. Feeling sheepish because I'm within a hundred miles from home. I backtrack and head uneventfully up highway 71 until it tbones into highway 14. I won't lie, I found it impossible to keep it down to a reasonable facsimile of the 55 mile per hour speed limit. In my defense, I bet I didn't break it nearly as badly as I imagine some farm kid in an 80s muscle car before me. I pull off highway 14 to go into Briggsdale. Why Briggsdale? Probably because I have a connection to it through distant relatives and family stories. Barring that sort of rationale, there really isn't any reason for anyone else to follow suit. I pull up of the gravelled main street in front of what appears to be the only store. It appears to be closed. However, while I'm fumbling to dig into my pocket past my chaps for some coins to feed the pop machine, (Still only fifty cents.) a tall, thin, middle aged lady pokes her head out the door and asks if I want anything before she closes up. I try to engage her in conversation asking whether she knew my departed relatives. She replies to the negative but seems more intent on getting home than remembering. Can't say as I blame her. Now its back on highway 14 headed straight into the setting sun. Lesson learned here: If you have the option, plan your routes to avoid this. Between scratches, dust and road grime through two layers of plastic lens, its nearly impossible to see much of anything. The sun is too low now for lowering my head enough to block the direct sun with my helmet to be of any good. But mercifully, about the time I'm ready to pull over and wait out sunset, there is a turn in the road to the southwest for a brief stretch. Just enough for the sun to drop behind the mountains. Last road note I'd like to pass along is that highway 14 gets really rough going west between Ault and Fort Collins. Came as a surprise to me as I've been on it going the other way and its been fine. Anyway, watch out for that stretch... especially if you're on one of those retro hip custom hardtails.

So what can I say in summary of this particular trip? For me, it was a decent little loop that fit into the time available. It did for me what I hoped for... got me home both tired and refreshed. My weekend draws to a close with me at once sated from a decent amount of riding and whetted for rides to come.

Today's Ride, March 5, 2007

I woke up this morning determined to ride. Actually, that's not true: I've been wanting to ride ever since I heard we were finally going to have some decent weather this week. A little known fact about this area is that the typical winter is spotty with nice days spread throughout. I was counting on that when I traded bikes late in the season. But as fate would have it, this is one of the most continuous winters I can remember in my thirty six years living in the area. So anyway, even though I woke up fairly late after not getting home from work until around 6am, I was determined to ride to lest the weather turned temperamental and today was the only good opportunity all week.

My first intended stop was the Outlaw Saloon in Lyons. But guess what? They aren't open on Monday afternoons. Go figure. I backtracked a little to Highway 36 and took it south through Boulder. North Boulder has changed a lot since last time I was through there. They've built up a nice strip of storefronts that mimic a old midwestern main street. Gonna look nice once they get a little natural weathering going. Even so, I was glad to see that the Bustop strip joint and Candie's thrift store boutique had thus far survived urban renewel. Rode on crossing Boulder's Pearl Street Mall which seemed pretty much the same, past "The Hill" and CU campus and on to Highway 93 past Rocky Flats and into Golden. In Golden I stop at the Buffalo Rose Saloon fully expecting to relax a little. I park in line with a half dozen or so Harleys and before my eyes even adjust to the dim bar lighting am challenged with, "What kind of bike is that?" My mumbled "Suzuki M109R" meets with a snort so I pee and quickly retreat to the street side patio where I kick back, listen to some of the other bikers make plans and wait for a waitress that never comes. Oh well, back on the bike turning back towards home.

I wasn't smart enough to take the route indicated on the map and spent a little time in building rush hour traffic on Interstates 70 and 76 before turning off on Federal/North Highway 287. Even though the gas light begins to flicker, I press on through Broomfield and Lafeyette on into Longmont before stopping for gas, another pee (told you I was getting old) and a candy bar. Biggest thing I notice on this stretch is how much its built up since Marcus, Gale and I rode it years ago. The other thing of note was just how much the little town of Erie has annexed. Literally, it would have been miles away from my route when I used to commute to work in Boulder. Gale tried to explain to me why in the world a town would want to annex so much land but it didn't make much sense to me. Yes, I see that it would increase tax revenues, but it seems to me it would also add infrastructure costs not to mention changing the very nature of the town. Whatever, its not the type of thing I worry about for long.

All in all, the ride was a good start to the riding season. I'm still pleased with the Suzuki M109R as my motorcycle of choice. Of course, that doesn't preclude me from looking at or thinking about others...

Total Est. Time: 3 hours, 47 minutes Total Est. Distance: 140.88 miles

Love affair with an Italian Californian

No one will ever accuse me of being methodical or pragmatic either. But believe or not, I've gotten better over the years! So the motorcycle selection process was pretty much par for the course. Really, I had a pretty solid idea of what I wanted going in. I was looking for one of the bikes I lusted after when I last road... when I was a kid. So at the top of the list was a Moto Guzi. Preferably the Californian model but possibly an Ambassador model. I test drove one of the latter as a college kid and was totally hooked. I just loved everything about it... the look, the massiveness of it, the inside joke that constantly had me chuckling of how Italians viewed big Harley dressers. Ultimately though, I never got beyond looking at a few on eBay this time around. Why? A number of factors: There aren't very many around of course and I didn't happen to see a local one available at the time I was looking. The idea of buying and transporting one knowing so little on the topic in general just seemed too daunting. The scarcity while being attractive from a novelty aspect also played into my decision not to pursue a Guzi at this juncture. There isn't a Moto Guzi dealership in my town. As far as I know, there is only one in all of Colorado. At the time I was looking I only knew of a handful of folks who would be “willing” to work on one but weren't primarily Guzi mechanics by any means. I suspected that parts for an old Moto Guzi might be hard to come by. So instead of acting on the primary impulse, I shelved the idea for a later date. I still might get one as a second bike that I can fiddle with and restore. But what I wanted right then was something I could ride first and tinker with second.

Wild Hogs

Went and saw the movie “Wild Hogs” yesterday with my two boys. I thought it was a fun movie... especially being a biker. I'm not sure how much “regular” people would enjoy it but I suspect if you're into light comedy, you'd find this movie enjoyable. Rather than go into a movie review, what I wanted to say about it within this context is that the premise hit awfully close to home and made me squirm a little. I think I probably delayed getting a bike a little because I didn't want to be seen as one of those “pretend bikers” like the four heroes of the movie. But by the end I think they'd made a very good point: You don't have to be a 24/7 biker to derive some of the fun and exhilaration from motorcycling. Its perfectly valid for some of us to be weekend bikers... its what helps us make it through the more mundane part of our weeks.

The Motorcycle Thing

As I said last time, I got a motorcycle last spring based on the rationale that if I didn't do it soon, I might never do so. But there was another equally cliched reason that came into play: My wife and I weren't getting along. Getting a motorcycle seemed like a good way to state my independence/defiance. Together the two reasons could be looked at as a way to reassert manhood which seemed to be slipping away. Did it work? Yeah, I think so for the most part. But I'm not sure I can explain how it works. I could paraphrase Jeep and just leave it at, “Its a motorcycle thing.” I guess. There is just something therapeutic and validating about motorcycling and motorcycle ownership. What I've found interesting is that it takes active interaction with your bike to maintain the therapeutic and validating value. I can tell this winter has been hard on both and I can't wait to get back at it. I think this coming winter to better stave off those doldrums I want to be better situated to work on my bike. Not sure whether that will get me the same mojo but I figure it will be worth a try.

If not now, when?

My wive says doesn't need a groundhog to forecast spring. As soon as I started pining away for a motorcycle, she knows spring is in the air. All that is going to be different this spring however because last year I actually took the plunge and got a bike again after almost thirty years of longing. I'm perfectly comfortable calling it a mid-life crisis. I think the reasoning is sound and can be summarized succinctly with the question, "If not now, when?" So what I'm going to be writing about here is what its like to be returning to motorcycling after such a long absence.

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