It was 31F when I went into the garage this morning. If it had been up to me, I would have waited a couple of hours to start the ride. But it wasn’t up to me. Friend Mike, whose skills with computers and motorcycles have saved me on numerous occasions since 2000 when we both rode Kawasaki Concours (his a ’98, mine a ’99) C-10s, needed me to be to his house by 10AM so he could save me once again. By the time I got there, only 21 miles from here, the temperature was up to 50F. Mike was going to help me finally get my Koako throttle lock that I’ve had since October installed on Horse. I hadn’t been able to remove the OEM bar-end weight, but Mike’s impact wrench made short work of that. Then a more difficult job was to remove the part of the Honda bar-end assembly that’s buried in the handlebar. Mike figured out that the way to go was to remove the the throttle/switch assembly. Then we could get at the clip that locked that assembly in place.
Then the issue we faced was that my Oxford heated grips kept the the thrust washer of the Koako from touch the handlebar itself. So, Mike trimmed the ends of the grips and then hit them with a Dremel abrasive to make them smooth. From there, it was easy to install the Koako. I have a cruise control on Horse, my 2nd NT700V, but I’ve learned that there are times when a throttle lock is worth having. I wish I had thought to have the Throttlemeister from Dudley (NT#1 for me) transferred over to Horse, but I didn’t. Throttlemeister is gone now, but the Koako gets good recommendations.
By the time Mike and I finished up, it was 12:30 and I decided to celebrate Ground Hog Day by taking a ride. I got onto I-25 between Loveland and Ft Collins and headed north. In Colorado, it was a beautiful calm day. But Wyoming is rarely calm. Sure enough, about 10 miles south of the border, the wind started blowing and by the time I got to Exit 8D, the turn to I-80 East, it was blowing 40-45mph. I rode through Cheyenne and exited 80 at Campstool Road, passed the Historic Wyoming Hereford Ranch and rode to Carpenter the SE-most Wyoming town. And, by the time I got past Hereford, the NE-most Colorado town, the wind was easing. By Grover, about 15 miles south of the CO/WY border it was down to 10-12mph and the temperature was up to 65F. I took my usual route: Keota, CO-14, Briggsdale, and Lucerne and home. It wasn’t a long ride, but it was the first ride I’ve had in 2021 and it was well worth it.
My Epic Post-Retirement Rides 
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