motorcycles

Cycle Cycle

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Motorcycles Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,round-arrow

Cycles.

Life usually uses them to pass our time.

I volunteered to help Marshall a pedal bike event and today’s cycle was cycles.

The event is called Little Red. It’s a Lady’s only series of bike courses in lengths of 27, 35, 50, 70, and 100 miles. They are not races but set courses with break stops, lunch, repair crews, SAG trucks, and course Marshalls.

The event numbered 3500 participants and their bikes.

I showed up for the fulfillment of my duties as a ride marshall and found my Yamaha and me surrounded by curious glares from the group of BMW riders.

I have a cruiser that might to the untrained eye be confused with a Harley Davidson. BMW and Harley guys are not the friendliest to each other. I was somewhat accepted once it became claimed that I rode a Non-Harley. Then a Harley showed. Harley riders generally don’t like “Metrics” either.

One BMW guy admitted that they had a Gold Winger in the group. A tone of charity on his voice. I can’t explain the Gold Wing thing even with a blog post of its own. Let’s just say they’re like your odd cousin that you only see every 3-4 years and have nothing in common but a relation that you’re not sure how to explain to someone outside of your family.

A couple of Ducati’s showed. Most riders are kind of cool with the Italian bikes. It’s hard for me to see how they’re so different from other bikes but I get the impression that their owners think they do. “Duck” owners I believe don’t think much of non-ducks, but they never express it.

Somehow the ragtag group of Motor-cycles got it together and marshalled the ride of the Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, and various other types of pedal bikes used today.

The event ended, I packed up my bike and headed home.

On the way home I stopped for gas. Waiting to pull out of the gas station, a trio of bikes passed. There was something different about them. Obviously Harley, the three rode in a tighter formation than typical weekend warrior riders. I set out to investigate.

As I neared from behind, I noticed the three part patchwork on the back of their jackets. MC members. A real MC. The bad asses. The real McCoy. The ones the weekend group tries to dress like. I neared enough to see the name of the club and followed at a distance for a few miles.

The group slowed and I quickly caught up to them. I’d like to think they wanted to know who tailed them. I maintain my speed and passed them from the right lane.

As I passed I nodded my head to say hello to the two on my side. We made eye contact and I got nods back. I could sense their disdain but I got an acknowledgement and that was cool.

Despite our differences, we share a commonality- the two wheels under our machines. That was enough for that moment.

From pedal bikes to Milwaukee to Europe to Japan to MC Bikers. I think I ran the Cycle Cycle today.

 

Day 103

Ride Safe and Ride On

mikemjensen Motorcycles Tags: , 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

This year there has been an inordinate number of motorcyclist killed on the roads of Utah (45 in 2014).

Safe is not a word you immediately associate with riding a motorcycle. In fact, if you want to be safe, buy a 5-Star rated Volvo with full airbags and drive it only during non-peak traffic hours. And as little as possible. It’s still not perfect but it’s pretty safe.

Motorcycles put you out there, unprotected. Riders need to remember and admit that we are one uneven lane, one gravel patch, one deer, one dog, one car driver with one text, one phone call, one run stop sign, or one erroneous left turn, away from a serious accident and possible death.1000028347491392339_2020125741

Motorcycles are not safe. All the “Start Seeing Motorcycles” window stickers are not going to change that. Has “Free Tibet”, a more likely scenario, worked?

Motorcyclists, however, can minimize the chance of kissing the pavement and taking that one last ride to the Motorcycle Only Heaven we hope exists. Here’s a few of my thoughts on the matter. It’s not all-inclusive or original; and just my humble opinions.

  1. No one sees you; act accordingly. Pretend you’re the “Invisible Bike”, fighting crime and protecting the citizenry. No one knows you’re there but still, you keep people safe from causing a fatality thanks to your cunning skills and preventative positioning and anticipation. You’re alive and they never knew it.
  2. Learn how to ride. Riding bikes is cool, it’s even cooler when you know what you’re doing and have control of your machine. Take a class and stick with bikes you can handle. Know your limits and stay inside of them. And the best part- Practice. Get as many drive hours as humanly possible. That’s homework we all can live with.
  3. Wear some gear. It doesn’t really make you safer, but if you thinking less of, or riding scared of going down, you can concentrate on riding upright.
    1. Helmets. Wearing one can keep you speaking in complete sentences if you do go head over heels. I’m against helmet laws because I think we as motorcyclist should be smarter than that and do it on our own. Half, ¾, or full; just put one one. I’m also a free-will kind of guy- so if you don’t wear one, you’ll never hear a peep from me. But I might wonder about you.
    2. Riding gear. Ask yourself, what do I want between me and the road if I go down? Answers will vary and being a motorcyclist, I really don’t care what your answer is, so long you don’t care about my mine. Like helmets- it’s a choice and what you wear might depend on how you ride. I’m not the poster child for MSF when it comes to gear. I don’t always wear my riding jacket but when I do, I look styling. Just saying. Boots are a great idea and keep you from rolling your heel and supporting the bike at stops. But then again, Jax Teller looked pretty cool in his white tennies.
    3. Gloves. These are mandatory for me. Rocks and bees at 70 MPH hurt like a mother when they smash into your knuckles and can greatly distract you from staying on the straight and narrow as it pertains to your lane. Stray not, brothers and sisters. Wear gloves.

I love riding. I will ride as long as this body allows me. I love the feel of the road, the sound of the engine, and the roar of the wind in my ears. I open it up when I can. I ride year round if the ice and snow are cleared and I’ve yet to experience a day too hot to ride.

I wave to other riders but I ride for me. I know it’s dangerous and I’m OK with that. I’m just not a Volvo guy.

Day 101

Birthday Week- Wednesday

mikemjensen Gratitude, Motorcycles, Vanity Tags: , 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

Birthday Week continues into Wednesday and instead of wishing, I’m listing the things I’m thankful for and the things that make getting older, worth it.

Wednesday- Motorcycles.

I’ve been blessed with not one but now two motorcycles. I know this sounds materialistic. It is. But motorcycles give me a joy that’s worth being honest about it and saying I’m proud to be a motorcyclist.

Suzuki Boulevard

Suzuki Boulevard

I bought the first one in April of 2011. My Boulevard. We’ve put many miles on the road together. It’s now approaching 46,000 miles on the bike, most of them mine. I’ve spent as long as 6 days on road. Just me and my sweetie, 1200 miles, and most of the National Parks in Southern Utah and the Grand Canyon. I road it to LA and back. The trip back, 700+ miles, straight shot, 12 hours, snow and rain most of the way. Ah, memories.

IMG_20141011_084232My Yamaha is a new comer, bought last fall. The 113 cid motor (1900cc) is all the power I need for now and it’ll be the long road tripper now. The Boulevard will maintain the daily work commute duties. The Stratoliner or “Strat” is a beautiful bike and its extra-long wheel base eats up the road with comfort. I can’t wait to see where we will go together.

I know that there are many people who look at me weird because I have two bikes and no operating four wheel vehicle, but it’s the choice I made. I may not be a “biker” but I bet I ride my bikes more than most. And I hope to stick around for a lot more miles and a few more bikes in the Garage.

Ride on, Brother. Ride on.

Day 79

Makes Sense to Me

mikemjensen Motorcycles Tags: , 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

Co-worker: “Did you ride your motorcycle in today?”

Me: “Did the sun rise?”

CW: “I don’t know it was raining.”

Me: “I’m pretty sure the sun still rose, but yes I rode in today.”

CW: “It’s raining now, are you going to ride home in it?”

Me: “As opposed to what?”

CW: You should’ve drove in today.”854333943380768_n

Me: “I did.”

CW: “I mean in your car.”

Me: “Ain’t got one.”

CW: “What do you do when it rains?”

Me: “Get wet.”

CW: “That’s horrible. Do you want a ride home?”

Me: “Do you?”

CW: “No! Why don’t you have a car?”

Me: “Don’t want one; besides, I have two bikes instead.”

CW: “But you get wet.”

Me: “At 240 pounds, I’m hoping it makes me shrink a little bit.”

Ride a Bike- Get Wet

 

Day 72

Saturday Blues?

mikemjensen Motorcycles, Worthless Observations Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Saturday. The day of fun. Right?IMG_20150502_110834_269-1

Well not exactly. It should’ve been fun but it hasn’t been so far.

Started bright and early this morning and went out to do a little maintenance on the Suzuki. Valve clearance adjustment, it’s called. A nasty little job unless you do it all the time. I don’t.

But I had done it before so it shouldn’t be too problematic. Right?

Well, I didn’t remember so well from last time and spent a lot of time figuring things out. But I did it. Figure it out that is. Got down to the rocker arms and did the adjusting as required. It was obvious that it was needed too. That’s always good. Except that it means that it’s been a while since it actually needed it and it was more a repair than maintenance. But I digress.

As I put it together, I took my time and cleaned as I went. Polished it all up right pretty.

Started it up.

It sounded worse than when I started the job, err, maintenance. Ran no better either. And now. the Fuel Injection Warning light is on. Which means I need to take another Saturday and do it all over.

This would be a sad story, but for once in my life I own another motorcycle I can ride instead. You see, in terms of bikes, I’m a Commodore. I’ve never had that flexibility before. The pressure has always been to get it all done quickly because it can’t sit. There’s places to get to, jobs waiting. What a relief.

AND, tonight, we are now heading out into the west desert for a little night under the stars, cook out in the morning and hopefully Kayaking in a remote Bird refuge with large open water ponds tomorrow. The desert is truly remarkable.

So I’m washed up, tools put away, and ready to pack the gear and head west.

Saturday may not have been as productive as I hope, but it’ll end with a bang and really, no harm done.

That is a good day on any day.

 

Day 68

For Me, A Big Dog

mikemjensen Motorcycles, Vanity Tags: , , 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

I’m not a shopper. Never have been. Never will be.

But today I wandered through a number of motorcycle shops looking at lots of bikes I cannot afford and had no intentions of buying.

This is not shopping. It was looking. It was dreaming.

I’m quite happy with my bikes. A 50cid bike for cruising to work and daily commuting and a 113cid bike for the wide open rode (Or when I want to bring in the thunder). But it doesn’t mean I’m done with adding motorcycles to my “collection”.

Dreaming is just that, dreaming. You don’t have to torture yourself, thinking that you have to achieve something as simple as acquiring things. But a rainy Saturday afternoon is easily worth the value of enjoying imagining yourself enjoying life just a little bit more.10405481_758488357597620_6943304890260374792_n

Dream on people. Dream Shiny and Loud.

 

Day 61

 

Sometimes They Do More Than Just Stare at the Screen

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Motorcycles, Vanity Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

You never know what sticks in your head from when you were a kid. Yesterday, I discovered one such sticky memory.

Not feeling too well the past few days, I stuck to the couch and relied on Amazon Prime Video to keep me company. I cruised through the vast array of items available and focused on motorcycle shows. I’m so predictable.maxresdefault

After watching the Fastest Indian, I saw a movie that sounded vaguely familiar, “C.C. and Company”. A 1970 film starring Broadway Joe Namath and Ann Margret.

For whatever reason, the opening scene of walking through the grocery store and fixing his own sandwich cracked me up and I thought, “Wait a minute, I think I’ve seen this.”

I continued to watch and the scenes hinted at recall but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. And then it happened.

CC gets in a fight over whether he deserves to keep any of his winnings from the motocross race he attempted. He loses the fight and the money but then steals the money back that night and takes off.

For some strange reason, that scene has played in my mind throughout my many years. I remembered it almost perfectly, except that I didn’t remember that it was Joe Namath. I had watched the movie on some week night TV movie, the ones they used to show at 7:00 like on a Tuesday.

The scene, I thought was so unfair. The fact that he couldn’t keep part of what he earned but had to give to others who hadn’t earned it really bothered me. He was willing to share with the gang but wanted to save a little for himself. Maybe buy another dirt bike and make more money. Maybe buy a new chopper. (Which the bikes in the movie all looked so small compared to today’s bikes; but that’s another subject).

I despised the gang leader for demanding it all. I was happy when he stole it back. Actually, as a kid, I didn’t remember exactly how he did steal it back: I must’ve been younger than I should’ve been to watch that movie (he he).

Before this post goes on forever, I believe that scene formed an idea in my head that I learned or had confirmed. You deserve the rewards when you do things beyond what everyone else is willing to do. You earn success and you owe no one for your efforts.

I have always been taught to work hard for what I seek and desire. And I think that learning comes a little beyond a 1970 “B” movie. It came from those around me, from my own experiences, and my own convictions. I just think it’s hilarious that a scene and a movie can stick with me all these years.

And you thought I was just a dumb kid who was trying to avoid his homework.

 

Day 56

Sporting Bikes Day

mikemjensen Motorcycles Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

A little odd for a Sunday activity but today a local motorcycle shop had a re-grand opening event and I had to attend.11150319_843203779085992_5920618616640748375_n

There were at last count I heard 187 bikes that showed up for the 4 hours of activities, raffles and ride along. I stayed for the entire event. Well almost.

On most rides I have attended, cruisers make up the majority of the bikes. This day it was a Sport Bike day and the only thing numbering less than non-Sport bikes was Harley Davidson’s.

At the end of the 4 hour event, we prepared to head out for a parade of the town. Instructions given reminded us all of the hand signals and the one they stressed and seem to illicit the most reaction was the “Cop nearby” signal. We passed several on our trip through the Sunday-quiet little town and the signal was loud and proud.

We “lined” up for the start of the ride and despite the instructions to proceed in a staggered formation, the line up looked and sounded more like of a swarm of wasps.

The short parade was pure chaos. Bikes swarmed in and out of the lanes. Bikes slowed and raced back forward to fill the gap. Following distances were flaunted, traffic lights ignored and old men cursed us from the sidewalk. One old man actually made a gesture as if he was shooting us all down which actually drew more smiles than offences.

We met back up at the shop to regroup and head out on our target, open road ride. This is where my involvement ended. My brother and I chose our own ride and headed out before the rest of them left.

I’m not complaining. No, I firmly believe to each their own and when it comes to MC’s, everyone should do what they want to do. But the Sport Bike guys are crazy and I’m too old for that kind of crazy. I enjoyed the hell out of the day but when it comes to riding together, we’re a water and oil thing; two things great at what they are intended to do, but not really at the same time.

Sport Bike guys, I love ya. I love your machines. I love your passion. I love the pure joy you all have on two wheels, sometime one. But my CBR600 days are my past and my cruiser days are my today. I’ll just wave at you as you speed along and cheer you on your wicked curve handling. Just give me a nod as you buzz by and cheers to us all.FB_IMG_1428887469933-1

It’s ok to be different and it’s ok to play on different playgrounds every once in a while. Just don’t try to change those playgrounds because you’re not used to the way they play. There’s plenty of time to do it all.

 

Day 48

Just Wave, Or Not

mikemjensen Motorcycles Tags: , , 1 Comment

Hey kids,

I ride a motorcycle. In fact, right now, I have two motorcycles and they constitute the only means of working transportation that I own.

I really enjoy it. I love the fact that I do what few people do. Not only do I ride a bike, I ride it most everyday. I experience the seasons like few others do.

If you ride too, you know that motorcyclists wave at each other. It’s a way of saying, “Hey! You’re out here too!” I love doing it. It’s an nonintrusive connection. It never fails to feel good.

But there are riders out there who don’t wave back. Why? I don’t know.

A rider today rode past me and ignored my friendly gesture. A hard looking guy, his jacket bore a patch with the unmistakable emblem of the US Marines. He’s earned the right to snub the likes of me, I figure.

Sportbikes sometime ignore me on my cruiser. Harley riders ignore me when they recognize the Japanese design. Mopeds seem too surprised to wave back before I’m past them. Maybe they wave, but I miss it.

BMW vs. Harley. Dirt vs. Road. Two wheel vs Trike. Victory vs Gold Wing. I guess there’s some divisions among the bike groups. Sometimes they wave at each other, sometimes they don’t.

The only thing I see as a commonality in all the bikes is that there’s a person sitting on top. A person who has already decided to do something a large percentage of humans do not. They have exposed themselves to the elements, the dangers, and the hope no one hits them; and they have ventured out for whatever reason. Bike riders are generally nonconformist at heart.bikerwave

As a nonconformist, a few may feel the resistance to be expected to wave because “that’s what people on bikes do.” Let them be.

Some may want to wave over hand, some under. Some like a head nod up, others down.

It really doesn’t matter. I posted on Facebook today: “Nothing annoys the nonconformist more than another nonconformist who does not adhere to his idea on nonconformity.”

Wave if you want to. Don’t worry if you get a wave back. Don’t wave when others wave to you if you don’t want to. Nonconform however you wish.

You can even ignore my urge to nonconform if you want to; you’re the rebel.

Day 24