Grand Lake Trip, Forest Fire, 1800 Miles

Did my first overnight trip with the Spyder. The route: Saturday, Longmont to Grand Lake. Sunday, Grand Lake to friends house in Idaho Sprints. Monday, return home. Packing for the trip we used the Can-Am luggage. These are very small inserts for the saddle bags and a wheeled carry-on type bag for the front trunk. All three pieces are smaller than the cavities in which they go. A very inefficient use of space. I took the front piece and my wife used the two saddle bags. For this trip there was adequate space but not nearly enough for a longer trip.

My long time riding companion, Bill, and his girlfriend arrived Friday night. We set out on a foggy drizzly Saturday morning for Estes Park. Around Pinewood Springs the sky opened up to a bueatiful cloudless blue. Breakfast in Estes Park then on to Rocky Mountain Park and up Trail Ridge Road. We decided not to go up Fall River Road as it is a single lane, one way dirt track. Heavy traffic would make this a “not fun” situation. However, after stopping at a scenic overlook we could see that traffic was light on Fall River Road. So with time to kill we headed back down Trail Ridge Road and then up Fall River instead. Bill's Caponord did fine given that this is its element. The Sypder was less than pleased although it did manage. Wash boards caused the rear wheel to become unweighted and spin. Plus I got high centered once when the right front dipped off the edge. Still we made it to the visitor center at the top stopping briefly along the way at a water fall. We arrived at our hotel in Grand Lake around 2:00 pm.

As we unloaded the bikes we saw emergency equipment rolling toward the park and assumed that some tourista drove off the side. In town we found lunch and browsed through the grotto shops. That evening we had appetizers on the deck and watched the sun go down. I smelled smoke as I got into bed and just assumed (there's that word again) it was a camp fire. Of greater concern was my back. I was in a lot of pain that was not responding to ibuprofen and I failed to bring any prescription pain killers. I was awoken in the middle of the night to stronger smoke smell so I had to close the door to the balcony.

The next morning my back was doing much better but we decided to return to Longmont via the park just be on the safe side. But the road was closed due to a forest fire. That explains the smoke and emergency trucks. So we were forced to proceed with the original plan. I was doing fine. We refueled in Frazer just outside of Winter Park and arrived at Bill's house around 11:30 without incident. From there we hopped in the car and went to the casinos in Central City/Black Hawk. But first a stop in Idaho Springs for Pizza. Marilyn exited $2.30 in the black. Everyone else in the red. I broke even as I chose not to participate. Unlucky at cards, lucky at love? We returned to Bill's house which we eventually left arriving back in Longmont at 8:00 pm.

If I had been thinking I would have kept track of total distance but I suspect it was something over 200 miles. This puts the total mileage at over 1800. For the most part my back has held up very well. Next summer I would like to try more days on the road. If this proves viable I would consider getting the matching trailer. First I would like to make some bag liners out of ballistic nylon that more closely form to the volume available.

The Wave and Who am I?

Motorcyclists can be grouped into subcultures based on what we ride. Each group has it’s own costumes, values and rituals. The groups are defined not by negotiation or even interaction but by how they perceive themselves and each other.

One ritual shared by all groups is the wave. And it is through this simple act that one can determine alliances. Again, these pairings are determined mostly by perception. Certain groups tend to wave to their own members and sympathetic groups. The major groups (there are subgroups) are cruisers, naked/standard, sport, dirt and touring. Exceptions to bike type grouping can also happen on brand boundaries. BMW and Harley are two main examples. The cruisers can be split at many levels, Harley vs metric, 1%er vs yuppie, etc. But for the purpose of this discussion they will be considered as a single group as they tend to share a common costume and approach to safety.

BMW riders often wave at touring riders because BMWs are often used as non-traditional touring bikes. The other groups often look down upon dirt riders as their bikes are perceived as “toys”. However, BMW GS riders see themselves as dirt riders so they will often wave anyway. How the individuals came to ride a given bike type can also play a part in who they will wave at. Almost no one starts out riding a BMW so they will tend to wave at members of their old groups.

Cruisers tend to be the most standoffish, or so I thought. Enter the Can-Am Spyder. Where does it fit? The RTS is intended as a touring bike. But my experience, so far, has not been as I expected. I am finding that cruisers, specifically Harleys, tend to wave the most. Meanwhile BMWs, my previous group, and tourers, the expected group, seem to ignore me. This bothers me because the cruiser is the one group I identify with the least. So why is that? It may come down to the trike thing. Most trikes are made from Harleys. And I have noticed that the most negative responses were from sport bike riders. So am I really a member of a group I dislike?

Fortunately the group designations fade, as the weather gets cold. At some temperature anyone on the road recognizes the few riders still out as members of the “hardcore” group. A collection that does not care about brand, bike type or social standing. Maybe this is my group, just harder to recognize.

Headsets

I took another three hour round trip back down RPM Motorsports to pick up a pair of J&M headsets. It would be another three weeks before they could make an opening to install the headsets in my helmets. So I will attempt to do this myself. It didn’t look too difficult for my new Shoei RF1100. There are spaces that look like the earpieces will just plop in. Closer examination has proven this to be completely wrong. I will need to hog out some of the foam to make room. This really scares me but those that have tried it claim it is not as bad as it seems. The key is to use a Dremel tool with the ball cutter bit. Maybe I’ll try it this weekend.

This whole thing has me a bit cheesed off but I’m not sure whom to blame. I understand that BRP has sold more bikes than they expected. I understand that the dealer in Durango sells a lot of different bike so they may not know everything about every bike. I understand that the dealer in Denver is busy and cannot always fit me in. But I have spent in excess of $25K for a motorcycle. There are cars that do not cost this much. Is it too much to expect a premium experience? The level of service I have received would have been great if I was buying a $5000 dirt bike. But at what will become $30K by the time I am done, this hardly seems acceptable. The question is who is to blame? I’m not sure I have the answer. Maybe everyone.

Communication Package and More

I had the communication package installed last week. At first glance this looks like $2000 for a CB radio and an intercom. Not a very good value. So why do it? The cost aside, the whole system cleanly integrates with the bike. A second antennal and two discrete plugs are the only outward indication that anything was added. The radio itself is buried in the bodywork somewhere in the back. A new CB menu is available with controls for channel, squelch and the like. The real thing you get with this package is the headsets. Or rather the ability to communicate with the passenger and hear any audio. This includes the radios, iPod and GPS.

Is the cost worth it? Certainly you can duplicate the same functionality much cheaper but there is value to having everything cleanly integrated. No messy wires to manage. Plus you don’t have to worry about parts getting stolen. Still the cost is quite high.

Installation is another issue. I made an appointment with RPM Motorsports two weeks ahead of time as I was taking that week off from work. The Spyder does not trailer well because of clearances with the front end. So I rode the bike down and arranged for a rental car. The plan was to do the 600 mile service at the same time. Total work time, eight hours. It appears that they did not work on the bike as planed and took an extra day. This added to the expense of the car rental.

To add injury to insult they did not have the headsets. They were on back order for another six months. So now I have added $1500 worth of communication gear and no way to use it. The alternative was to use a headset made by J&M. Some initial confusion indicated that they wanted to modify the bike to accommodate the headset. Clearly this was stupid. If it was really compatible, all you would need to do, at most, was to change the plug on the headset. Changing the bike seems like rotating the house to change a light bulb. It all turned to out to be a miscommunication and the headsets are plug-and-play compatible. Great I’ll take those. Oops, out of those as well. I got a call last Saturday and they have the headsets in. Now all I need to do is get them installed or do it myself.

Hell, Black Forest and a Milestone

Last weekend I rode from Longmont to Black Forest, Colorado. This should have been a two hour ride but I decided to ride down CO83. This meant starting in southern Denver and riding through Parker. Thirty years ago I lived in this area so I figured it would be nice to see my old stomping grounds. As one might guess, lots of development has happened in that time. I can honestly say it now looks like California. And not the good parts. Heavy traffic, worse than the rest of Denver, complete with self absorbed drivers out to kill those that dare to share the road. The first ten miles of CO83 is a multi-lane divided affair with stop lights every quarter mile. Stop light are timed such that I was forced to stop for every single one in stifling 95 degree heat. The Spyder coped with the heat, much better than I although the electric radiator fan came on several times. Not much air gets past the front fairing and windshield to the rider. I can only assume that this sort of arrangement pays off after long days in the saddle. Once past Parker the rest of the trip was pleasant. I circumvented a rainstorm that brought cooler air. That combined with the elevation change made for nice riding. Total time from Longmont, three hours.

I did not leave Black forest until after 9:30pm. This time I chose to go up I-25 but first I had to ride through some dark back roads. Lighting on the Spyder is good if a little short. Even with the high beams I could easily “out ride” the light. Once on I-25 there was sufficient light to travel at 75mph. I was a little sore from the trip down so I planed to stop. The first time was to get gas in Castle Rock. Later I stopped north of Denver around 120th. I arrived back in Longmont a round midnight. Total time, less than 2 hours.

Total time in the saddle was almost five hours. The next day I was sore but there was no sharp back pains. I had survived. I suspect that if I had paced myself better, rested more frequently, I would have survived better. Either way I still see the Spyder as a success. I now have as many miles on the Spyder as are on my '05 DRZ400.

Meltdown, Tandoori and Breakfast

This Sunday was the first long ride on the Spyder with both of us on the bike. It went well. That is until the bike lost all power, dash turned orange and displayed the message limp home mode. I pulled over and shut it off for 20 seconds. Restart and all was fine. Throwing caution to the wind we continued to Ft. Collins. Got the anniversary pearl necklace and three jars of Tandoori mix. The return trip was uneventful and my back was in good shape. Then on Sunday we decided to press our luck even further and rode to Estes Park with the neighbors for brunch buffet. I've been looking for a good buffet for a couple years. Again things went well until the trip back. A single idiot light indicated it was unhappy but all the gauges show everything is within tolerance. Now I am trying to figure out how to get the bike to Denver to have someone look at it. But first I need to stop for gas. When I pull in under the awning I can now see the idiot light is indicating low fuel. What do you know? I burned up an entire tank in a single weekend. It has been so long since I have gone that far that I just didn't expect it. My back has survived the weekend. Any short comings the Spyder has are forgiven.

I have discovered that the passenger has as much effect on the Spyder as on a two wheeled motorcycle. I would get my weight positioned for a corner then Marilyn thought she would help and shift her weight. This unsettled things and I had to readjust. Seeing me struggle she would lean even farther which in turn would make things even worse. I explained the situation at the next stop. Once she stopped trying to help me and just sat still I was able to corner much better. It still feels weird that the bike does not lean into a corner but I suspect that once I get used to it I should be able to corner quite quickly.

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