Author: Kenny Schipper

Long time backpacker, and mountain biker. I've done my fair share of four wheeling and Jeep building, but my passion is motorycles. Anything two wheels gets my blood up, really. Combining backpacking, and exploring on two wheels was a natural extension of my passions. Most of my adventures are exploring the Southwest and learning about the diverse history of the region.
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Tour De’Colorado: 2 Up

What do you get when you add 2 weeks time, one beautiful wife, a whole shebang of camping gear, and a big blue motorcycle? The trip of a lifetime is what! And what better setting to place such a trip than gorgeous Colorado!

This trip took place in the first bit of August 2017. “It’ll be boiling hot!” “You’ll get soaked!” “You’ll ruin your backside!” Naysayers aside, we were hot, we were cold, we were wet, and we were tired, and we wouldn’t trade it for the world!

What better start to a Colorado adventure than the quaint little town of Telluride? There is some seriously surreal property in Telly, and as Ferris said, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.” Well, we can dream.

As they say, “With a van, you can!”  Never mind who “they” are. You’re looking at 21 feet of American Made glory right there. Fits a Tenere pretty darn well!

Jumping off: Day 1

Layered up, rain gear on, and everything strapped down, we head off into the rainy morning on day 1. Ahead lies Gateway Canyon, John Brown Canyon, a startled black bear, and Moab, Utah. Bonus points if you can find the ‘hanging flume’. Of course, we had to say hi to the horse version of Fabio on our way to seeing some very old footprints.

Turns out, Moab is hot in August. Leaving Castle Valley and heading to City Market to fuel up both the bike and ourselves had us very much looking forward to a dip in the river. All the recent rainfall had the Colorado brown and full. It was still mighty fine!

 

Getting out of Dodge: Day 2

The new morning had us going up to the 70 and into Grand Junction. A word to the wise, avoid the 70. It’s friggin’ boring. Long, straight, flat. But, it gets you access to Colorado National Monument, which is almost cool enough to redeem that abysmal road. Almost.

Up next: Grand Mesa. Everything between Grand Junction and Cedarville is pure bliss. If you’re in the area, don’t miss Grand Mesa. Skiing? Check. Trails? Check. OHV? Check. Fishing? Check. Boating? Check. Freshly repaved roads? Ohhh, buddy. This place has it all. Don’t forget to stop and get your hard cider in Cedarville either!

To finish off the day, we dodged a bugger of a storm cell to scoot through Montrose and down into Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This is one of those places that you’d never see if you were just driving through. You have to make an effort to get here, and go specifically out of your way, but when you do, you are rewarded with a special treat. East portal campground is well worth the harrowing drive to get to. The roads are seriously steep.  

Hot, wet, left and right: Day 3

Twisty roads, hot springs, and the best camp spot of the trip. The 92 heading north from Gunnison is pure bliss. Epic views and unending twisties leaving you ready for more. That said, the 133 is one of my favorite paved roads of the trip; fast, flowy, gorgeous. Them Colorado engineers really know how to put a road in.  Don’t forget to play tourist and see the coke ovens on your way into Redstone.

We enjoyed soaking in the hot springs and seeing the mountaintop amusement park in Glenwood Springs. We then hit up the local grocery where I learned my headlights had both burnt out. At 7:30. As the sun is setting in an unfamiliar town where we don’t have a camp planned. Crud! AutoZone to the rescue, and much thanks to Mother Yamaha for using standard H4 bulbs. Crisis averted. Now where to sleep? KOA’s full, hotels are $$$, and national forest is far enough to be finding camp in the dark. Well, we put our newly minted headlights to task, and found a viable spot up Avalanche Creek Rd. Luckily, no snow this time of year.

Of course, the entry fee is a nighttime water crossing on a 800lb motorcycle! Talk about fun! Hah. Set up camp, cook dinner, everything in the bear bag, hit the sack. We awoke to the best spot of the trip. Towering mountain ridges closed our view on either side, lush alpine streams serenaded us, and morning sun filtered through the trees.  Can’t we stay another night?! The water crossing was much less eventful in the daylight.

Pizza, Crusty Butt, Cheap Cups: Day 4

Next stop, Crested Butte by way of Forest Rd 12.  This one’s a stunner guys. Of course, the camera was charging, so you’ll have to take my word for it.  If you’re in the area, make it a point to drive this road. Then you can try the Elizabeth Anne pizza in Crested Butte.  

Onward and outward. Coming up, Tin Cup. It’s a weird little historic town up in the sticks. Pretty cool place, just don’t count on a great hamburger while you’re there. We ended up camping right next to a ‘fixer upper’ right out of town. I counted four tailing piles, but I didn’t want to push my luck climbing around old mine shafts. We found some appetizers and washed ourselves down in Slaughterhouse Gulch. Nasty name for a picturesque book.

You Take the High Road, I’ll Take the Adventure Bike: Day 5

The next morning we would tackle the only pass road of the trip. I know, I know. I came to Colorado on an adventure bike and didn’t ride the passes?! Well, been there done that, and I’m a firm believer in ‘horses for courses”. In other words, muscling an 800lb pseudo streetbike two up through a scree field-turned-road isn’t my idea of fun. Hey, she’s light on her feet for a fat girl… we’ll come back on the dirtbikes and rip it up right proper.

We would then pass over Monarch pass, where we got our first real opportunity to don our rain gear in earnest! Rain, then hail, then BIG hail! At least it felt big. Had to pull over and wait that one out on order from the spousal unit. That storm would chase us all the way into Colorado Springs, where it decided it liked us and wanted to ruin our views for the next couple days. But not before regaling us with stories of hurricane force winds whilst traversing HWY 24. That’s another one you can skip, especially on a bike. My neck still hurts.

We’re both starting to get pretty ripe. That means it’s laundry day. We’ll be in Colorado Springs for a couple nights, so might as well hit the coin-op. I packed just enough, which means I bum one of wife’s extras. Hey, I know what I’m about. Over the next 36 hours, we enjoy some excellent food, burn up some amazing roads, and laugh at some incredibly cold mountain bike tourists. It was 28 degrees and wet at the top of Pike’s Peak, but at least the fog broke and awarded us the epic view we were suffering for. I tell ya, Pike’s Peak is a helluva thing with 30ft visibility.  

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Bajaworx Enduro Windshield

While reading the internet one day, I came across a post from Bajaworx seeking testers for an Enduro bike windshield.  Bajaworx was looking for folks to give their product some real world testing, and to put it through the ringer to see how performed and held up to months of riding.  I promptly replied to the post, and a few days later I received a neat, tidy package in the mail.  Like the proverbial porridge, the box was not too big, not too small, but just right.  Maybe it’s just me, but it really irks me when I get a pair of gloves shipped in a box you could live out of.  No, Amazon, I did not like your packaging.

Tear open the box from Bajaworx however, and you get a carefully and correctly wrapped shield, complete with a bag of hardware taped in place (nice!) and a clear set of installation and care directions.   The shield comes out clean and free from blemishes, and they even used high quality Makrolon polycarbonate in its construction.   These guys obviously care about what they make and sell.

Start the installation by removing the headlight mask on your bike to install the shield.  You’ll have to punch a few holes in the stock mask, but luckily this part is only about 20 bucks if you need to “rework” it for any reason.  Removing the headlight assembly is as simple as disconnecting the wiring, removing the brake hose guide, and pulling the two rubber mounting straps.

Here’s my first gripe: I’m a klutz and I want a template, darn it!  I’m also borderline OCD, so I needed to get the windshield installed perfectly straight.  Out come the calipers and the sharpie so that I can scribe some lines of reasonable accuracy.  A paper template that I can lay over the bike’s headlight mask and mark out the drill holes would be a welcome addition to the installation instructions.

One of the more refined features that are included with the Bajaworx windshield are the stiffening brackets that help reduce movement of the windshield while under wind load.  Sadly, they stopped short of the mark on my particular bike, so I wasn’t able to use them.  It should be noted that I installed the windshield on a model year this was NOT designed for, so that’s no fault to Bajaworx.

Yet again, Bajaworx’s attention to detail surprises me – in this case the appropriate hardware comes pre-assembled; no digging through a bag of hardware looking for the “#4:  6mm screw – 30mm”, or some such nonsense.  Just select a long or short screw, and assemble one at a time being careful not to overtighten.  Depending on what handguards and other handlebar accessories you have on your particular bike, you may have to spend some time tinkering and adjusting to incorporate this windshield onto your bike so that vibration and rubbing won’t cause part A to eat part B.

Over the last several months I’ve taken the Bajaworx windshield down many miles of singletrack, climbed mountains, and gobbled up hundreds of miles at full chat.  I’ve taken the windshield into some properly hairy scenarios, and I never noticed it; with one exception.  I bottomed out hard in a G-out and let myself get pulled too far forward over the bars.  My chest kissed the top of the shield, but that’s all.  No harm, no foul.  Otherwise, it’s utterly imperceptible until you get up in speed.

Once you’re looking to cover some miles, you will notice well, nothing – and that’s the point.  The shield takes all that wind pressure that would normally be pushing you over backwards and diverts it around you.  When sitting, you will have practically no wind from the neck down.  Unlike other products, this piece accomplishes this in such a way as to maintain smooth, laminar airflow across your helmet.  This means that while your head is still in the wind, it’s not bobbling around and creating a roar.  There’s some noise for sure, but it’s all quite tolerable.

Last but not least is durability.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I did not get the opportunity to crash test this shield, so I cannot speak to its performance in that arena.  I would posit that this shield is the least of your worries in a crash, and that because the headlight assembly is essentially rubber mounted, it would likely survive any encounter with the earth.  One area of improvement I would suggest is the brake line routing.  The brake hose on my bike would rub constantly on the two ridges on the back of the shield, quickly developing a ‘smeared’ section.  It’s a non-issue since the shield in nowhere near your sight line, but it’s kinda ugly nonetheless.  Granted, it’s still the best looking plastic on my bike, so who’s to argue?

All said, this is a well thought out, well made, and made in USA product that can provide some real world relief on those long stretches at speed.  Whether you’re headed to Dead Horse, or you’re in search of some fish tacos and a cold cerveza, the Bajaworx enduro shield is a welcome riding partner and will see you through a day of riding with noticeably less fatigue.  Check them out at bajaworx.com.

 Full Disclosure: Bajaworx generously contributed this Enduro Windshield for review at no cost to the author or American Adventurist.