It’s All About the Bike

Adventure On A 1930s Vintage Harley Davidson

03 Jan 2012, written by Moto 2 Comments

This was supposed to be a 2012 New Year’s Resolution post, all about looking forward to riding more, drinking less, being helpful to fellow mankind, all that altruistic looking forward type of stuff. I’ll be honest. After how 2011 closed down for me, it’s hard to muster any sort of goodwill and cheer. I lost my father to cancer in the darkest days of December, and I still haven’t come to terms with what that means in the long haul. I miss him, and yet it hasn’t sunk in that he’s gone.

While back at my mother’s house, my childhood home, we were going through some old photos my mom had been given by her mother and her aunt. In this age where everything is digital, like images, we sometimes forget where certain terms in our language came from, for example “thumbing through old photos.” There we were, putting our thumbs on the corners of these little pieces of history, many of which I had never laid my eyes on before. One photo stood out, of my grandfather on an old vintage motorcycle. I wish I knew more about him, his motorcycling habits. You see, my mother never knew him. He died in Europe in World War II before my mother was born. Pretty common back then. He was in a bomber, shot down behind enemy lines, and was later buried in a military cemetery in Belgium. My mother only knew of him what my aunt (his sister) told her: he was a free spirit who liked to ski and ride motorcycles, and I think that’s why my mother’s aunt always had a soft spot for me.

So as I look at the photo below, I have no idea what year or make and model my grandfather’s bike was. From casual online research, people tell me it’s likely a late 1930s Harley Davidson. I also heard a story that at one time he had an Indian, but it must have been a different bike. All I know as I look at this photo and try to make out the details, my grandfather was ready for adventure. The boxes on the back sort of give it away.

Photo circa 1939 of my Grandfather on a vintage motorcycle.

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Beer Forty-Five: Moto Video Diary

30 Nov 2011, written by Moto 0 Comments

I was going through an old back-up hard drive of some video footage gathered over the course of the last two years, and put together this short diary of some of my favorite clips. Clips are from Dualsport motorcycle adventures with the usual suspects in places like Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, and Morocco, which is kind of like Utah, but not really. Thanks to the cast and crew: Darth, Dave, Mark, Ben, Steve, Chad, Jake, Keith, Matt, Matt, Scott, am I forgetting anyone? Daryl?

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High Uintas to Flaming Gorge Dualsport Ride Part 1

14 Jul 2011, written by Moto 0 Comments

I have lots of topics to write about from a recent dualsport moto tour through the High Uintas area of Utah and on into Flaming Gorge. For a later post, I’ll talk about the new Cardo Scala Rider G4 Powerset communication system that Darth and I were testing out. It’s a pretty cool new toy that works well for two-way communication between riders, and connects via Bluetooth with my iPhone (or other Bluetooth devices). I’ve never been much of a fan of wearing headphones while riding, but it sure is nice when your mind starts to wander on long stretches of nowhere road to be able to roll some tunes from the “Moto Playlist.” This post is more simply about how amazing it is to live in a place like Utah and have so many options right out your backdoor to go from garage to middle of nowhere in a matter of hours. Places like Hoop Lake and Beaver Meadow Reservoir. John Jarvie Ranch and the Swinging Bridge.

The one limiting factor this season has been the record-setting snowpack, and how long it has stuck around. Keep in mind we’re hitting mid-July, and some of the passes we rode on this last trip were not possible just a weekend or two before. For example, Elizabeth Ridge, the 10,235 feet high summit of the North Slope road still had considerable snow on top, and they (not sure who they are, but it’s got to be someone) are just now grading the road from the decay that results from a brutal winter. Another thing to note: some of the stream crossings in the High Uintas that you might normally blast through are pretty deep and swift. It seems like the water is just starting to come down off the mountains. We crossed one stream that required a two-man push to get the bikes across. Water was up to mid-thigh, and while walking across without a bike to hold onto, you could really feel the force wanting to carry you with the current.

After getting one bike across said stream crossing, a rider on a new KLR appeared coming from the opposite direction. He watched us wade back across to get the 2nd bike and do our routine. We told him we’d gladly help him get his bike across since we were already wet, or video him, if he was game to try to ride it. But he thought better and turned around to follow us in the direction we were heading, to the North Slope Road. At that point, our new friend Steve said he better head back to SLC, and he had quite a ride ahead of him to get back before dark. We still didn’t know if we would make it all the way through to Mountain View, Wyoming, as the road was still posted as closed, and there were some rumors of a bridge being out. On the way down the North Slope Road, we stopped a Jeep coming up the other way. He told us it was pretty rough for the next 10 miles, but it ended up being more like 2, so we had no problems getting down to Mountain View for gas and a Red Bull stop.

While resting for a moment at the Maverick in Mountain View, we made a call to Mark Wilson, the owner of Red Canyon Lodge in Flaming Gorge, to see how late the lodge’s restaurant would be open. We had to decide whether to get something to eat in Mountain View, or if we had enough to take a scenic dirt route to Flaming Gorge. Mark said definitely take the scenic route, and if we happened to arrive after 9:30 pm, when the kitchen shuts down, he’d set aside a couple hot plates for us. Turns out that was the right choice, and we still made it before 9:00 pm, giving us plenty of time to get a table and sit down to an excellent and civilized dinner with Mark at his place.