I've got a chance to rent a touring bike for about 60% off, leaving from Denver, CO.
The catch is discount requires trip to start/end in April 2011.
I've been planning a moto trip in Colorado, New Mexico for a while, and I'm tempted to do this April thing to save over $100/day on rental.
What say you Coloradoans? Is last week of April TOO EARLY for a trip from Denver down to Santa Fe and through southern Colorado and Northern NM?? Temps in 50s I can handle but if it gets down to the 40s during riding hours I'll be unhappy.
I could wait 'til later in the year, but I've been wanting to try an r1150 or FJR just to see how I like it compared to my VFR800. I love the VFR, but the seat is honestly painful after 40 minutes. For past 20 years I rode an FJ1100 and that seat was comfortable for 2.5 hours. I took that bike from Calif. to Canada twice, and my only real complaint was the soft bags would rub on the paintwork.
April is early spring here and the weather is very unpredictable this time of year, it could be 80 degrees out here like it was today or it could be snowing and blizzard like conditions, it is more predictable in April than it is now. I would consult with several different weather agencies and try to get a consensus on the window of time your looking at, either way the high country will have gravel and some ice so it would be more of a site seeing ride than any spirited twisty riding, it can be done but at a higher risk. Anything over 10k is gonna be icy still. 8k still has a good deal of snow on the ground but dry roads, but none of the gravel has been cleared yet from winter roads way up in the higher elevations. Northern New Mexico mirrors southern Colorado for road conditions. However I just took the road to Santa Fe over LaVeta Pass, and down into San Luis and Taos it was all clear no issues in the last few days, but like I said that can change in an instant. It doesnt get totally safe from snow till June, May is usually good but April has always been a crap shoot.
There are only three seasons 6 months of half assed winter, summer, and a very short fall and thats it. Summer time can be rainey has hell too or the whole place can be on fire! But usually summers are mild and very nice.
Stock vfr seats just are not comfortable, I had a pelvis injury so I cant stand a bad seat for long either, but baseing your opionion of a bike just on the seat when there are very good aftermarket seats availible is just not fair in my opionion. I dont know of any major motorcycle with a comfortable enough seat for me that is in the sport variety of motorcycling, I just cant put pressure on my seat bones too long without it aching.
Fortunately here in NM we do get 4 seasons but the end of April will still be tricky. I went camping in late April last year with the wife near Red River, NM and on Saturday we were getting blown around by high winds and bundled up in winter wear. On Sunday we were hiking in shorts and t-shirts in the same area under a sunny sky and temperatures in the low 70's.
So basically you are rolling the dice. Just keep an eye on the weather and hope for the best is my suggestion. And hope like hell you don't get caught out on the highway on a windy day (happens during NM spring time) or you will wish being cold was the only thing you had to worry about. Good luck! :fing02:
I've ridden in Colorado four times, but only in the summer (July/August). I will, however, echo HS's comments about the seat. Last summer I rode part of your route in reverse on my way home from Texas (Santa Fe to Denver) on my VFR800. The entire trip was 2,600 miles, with a few 400+ days (I stopped to visit/hike/sightsee for a few days in Santa Fe and Denver). My bike has the Sargent seat and I have to say I never gave one thought to my backside the whole trip--it just wasn't an issue. And it's not that I have a backside of steel, I had to get an aftermarket seat on my DR for long days in the saddle to avoid monkey butt. On the VFR I did have some circulation issues in my right hand and my neck was sore on the right side. I put this down to the angle to the clip-ons, so I bought the Heli-bars. I also found that I was getting a few more bpi (bugs per inch) on the shield than I like, so I also bought the slightly taller Givi windscreen (also because I'll be sitting up straighter/higher with the Heli-bars). I haven't had a chance to distance test this configuration yet, but I will this summer. I guess my point is that it's pretty well impossible for Honda (or anyone) to design a seat-bar-pegs-windscreen arrangement that will suit all the different sizes and shapes of riders, so customization is usually required for serious (distance) use. If you like your VFR, check out the options. Corbin makes a VFR seat with a backrest option that some prefer and there may be others. That said, it's fun to try new bikes too. Riding the BMW or Yamaha may give you more (or less) motivation to get the viffer just right.