Hell’s Loop, and more…

Yep, that’s the Hell’s Loop Endurance Rally, and I’m in it next month. The 25th, to be exact. I had a blast in that event last year, and you can bet I’m in it again this year.  I’m going to be running it on the Baja Blaster (just like last year).

The Hell’s Loop ride was a lot of fun in one of the most scenic places on earth.  If you want to enter (and I think you should) you can sign up for it here.

Alan Spears is the guy who put the event together, and he always does a great job. Don’t be scared by the organized event aspect of it…this is basically a 400-mile fun run through an amazing area.   It’s not a race, or maybe it is…but how fast can you go on a 150? I’m in, and I hope to see you there, too.

More good news…I got a couple more emails from our good buddy Howard, who is now in Colorado on his California Scooter. What an epic ride!

Howard was passing through the Garden of the Gods yesterday, just outside of Colorado Springs.  It’s a great shot of a great guy and a great bike!

And one last cool shot I’ll post on the blog today…I grabbed this one with my i-Phone on the Cal Poly campus a day or two ago….

That bike is a Ducati 748. I like the color and I like the style, and I think of all the Ducatis ever made, this is the prettiest one.

The Ducks usually make a lot of noise…the high performance models (like the 748 shown above) have dry clutches, and they rattle around a lot when the bike is in neutral.  When I see a Ducati rider on an idling bike, I always like to tell them it sounds like there’s something wrong with the clutch.  I usually get a tolerant smile (they hear that one a lot, I’ll bet).

Motorcycle riders tend to have personalities that are pretty easy to identify by the kind of bike they ride, and you can usually have a bit of fun teasing them. Here’s a sampling of the comments and questions I’ll usually ask based on the bike…

For Gold Wing riders:  Where do you keep your bowling ball?

For BMW riders:  Excuse me…can you tell me where the nearest Charles Schwab office is?

For Harley riders (especially if they’re on a chromed-out new bike):   Wow, what a cool motorcycle…is it the new Kawasaki?   (Use this one with caution…I came pretty close to losing a couple of teeth one time when I asked that question…you have to choose who you ask this question carefully.)

For Triumph riders:  It sounds like your engine’s only hitting on three cylinders…

For KLR riders:  So how long has it been since you washed your bike?  (If you ride a KLR, you will absolutely get that one.)

There’s probably a few more, but I need another cup of coffee before I’m wide awake. If I think of any more I’ll post them later.

Later, folks.  Ride safe.