Author Topic: Please tell me about Colorado  (Read 12615 times)

Offline TJ

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Please tell me about Colorado
« on: January 10, 2013, 01:28:47 PM »
Wife accepted a new job near Colorado Springs. Please tell me abour riding in Colorado. Has to be an improvement over Alaska! What will tags cost? Any type of inspection? Are there times in the winter you can actually get out and ride?
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Offline galaxieman

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2013, 02:33:50 PM »
Only ridden there in the summers, but I have a bunch of friends on another forum from that area.  Occasionally see facebook posts about someone who braved it out on a warm day randomly during the winter, but it's usually to work and back.  Mountain passes can have snow LATE in the year, and are pretty much only car or 2-wheel drive Ural with sidecar passable in winter.

Red Mountain pass, 5 June 2010:


Same location, 1st weekend of June 2011 (note the giant snowpile behind us):


Oh, and the road that pass is on is definitely worth riding.  The 'million dollar highway' as Hwy 550 is called, specifically the section between Durango and Ouray is breathtaking. 
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Offline Conrad

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2013, 02:56:52 PM »
Marijuana is legal for recreational use.     8)
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Offline gPink

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2013, 03:17:30 PM »
Don't miss a trick, do you.

Offline ZG

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2013, 03:19:58 PM »
Marijuana is legal for recreational use.     8)

 :)

Offline sherob

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2013, 04:22:48 PM »
Legal if you can buy it.   8)

I ride year round... if no snow ice on the road.  The worst part is just getting in and out of your hood if they don't plow your streets... main arteries are usually clear after a snow storm the next day or so.

Always carry bad weather gear in your bags if you plan on riding the mountains... even in the summer... you never know when a rain/snow storm will pop up... even riding some of the slab out here is pretty fun.  8)

Tags are outrageous... value of the bike... when I moved here, my Wing tags were $600!!!!!  :o  No inspection on bikes... emission in certain counties on cars/trucks that burn gas... I think diesel gets a pass, IIRC.  They do set up sniffing vehicles on ramps to slab and catch your plates...  if you pass, you don't need to get tested... pretty cool.
Rob
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Offline TJ

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2013, 04:40:54 PM »
$600 for tags for only one year? Steep increase over the $35 or so I pay here per year.

Once Oct rolls around we have to park the bikes until mid April, no and's if's or but's about it. Sure will be nice to get out occassionly in the middle ot winter.
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Offline sherob

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2013, 04:45:33 PM »
My 09 C14 this year is ~$250, I'll have to look at the card again... it's on the fridge waiting to be paid.  ::)  Yeah, I was used to $35 in TX. 
Rob
Brighton, CO... missing Texas!

Offline tonedeaf

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2013, 08:20:45 PM »
Winter riding varies every year, but from the Springs you have the possibility of riding east just about any day (but, any day from  Nov - Mar might also be a blizzard and 10 below). I live in the central mountains at 8,600' and I park the bike for 4 - 5 months every year. If the weather isn't bad, the roads are covered with sand, melting snow and mag chloride.

The cost of registration varies, with the largest part being a specific ownership tax that depends on the age and initial cost of the bike. It goes down every year and after about 5 years it is fairly reasonable -- a new C14, however, is going to be in the hundreds of dollars.

There is great riding out of the Springs: all the Colorado and New Mexico mountains, the grasslands, mesas, buttes and long quiet rides out to the east.

Offline Locol

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2013, 03:31:47 PM »
Riding here is spectacular. I ride in the winter when the weather is sunny, no wind, and above 30 degrees. Very rarely are you not able to ride several days during each of the winter months.

Good gear is a must when riding in the mountains. Weather changes in a heartbeat, even during the summer. Three years ago I got snowed on going over Cameron Pass on August 19. Coming from IL, this flatlander was not used to that.

Offline stevewfl

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2013, 04:39:46 PM »
I found the place is AWESOME can be *chilly* in Jul




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Offline sherob

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2013, 04:45:46 PM »
One of the best rides you can have in your life...  8)  I've done this 3 years now... never the same.

http://www.bmwmcc.org/100k_foot.php
Rob
Brighton, CO... missing Texas!

Offline CRocker

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2013, 10:34:14 PM »
Wife accepted a new job near Colorado Springs. Please tell me abour riding in Colorado. Has to be an improvement over Alaska! What will tags cost? Any type of inspection? Are there times in the winter you can actually get out and ride?

I live thirty miles north of Colorado Springs...so, to address the items you mentioned...here goes...

Colorado riding:  Spectacular!

Tags:  Don't know for a '12 C14...probably similar to my '12 Focus...$700...it's only $59 for my '88 C10...and we do have a state income tax... :o

Inspection:  Not for bikes...cars have emissions testing closer to Denver.

Times in the winter you can actually get out and ride:  YES!

Come on down...and let's go riding!

« Last Edit: January 12, 2013, 07:43:06 AM by CRocker »
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Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2013, 06:52:36 AM »
Love the roads when I passed through there.  After reading this thread I have no desire to ever move there.  No income tax in TN.  $42 to register vehicles.  Property tax in the hundreds, not thousands.  Insurance on 6 bikes $800 a year.  I think I will keep my base camp here.   8)
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Offline Strawboss

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2013, 07:05:05 AM »
What everyone else said. Being from fairly flat NE Ohio, we weren't ready for what we saw when we went to the National rally in Frisco. Spectacular mountain vistas, words cannot describe what we saw and most important what we felt. A few passes were still closed in the summer but we made a few of the big ones. The small towns we stopped in were right out of the movies. The secondary roads can be hit or miss sometimes. We still can't figure out why most all of the parking lots were dirt or gravel, I'm thinking major snow could be the thing. We were also surprised at having 4 inches of snow when we left Frisco, and it was almost 80 degrees in Denver an hour later, elevation, and by the time we were an hour outside of Denver, it was flatter than Ohio. We'd like to do it again soon because we are still talking about it 5 years later.
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Offline TJ

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2013, 11:59:26 AM »
After living in Alaska for 35 years guess I'll just have to get used to paying sales tax and state income tax. Not sure why you commented on TN since the thread was about CO, but the one thing I found out when researching new locations to move to is no matter what the "man" will get its share in one form or another. It might be sales tax, state income tax, or personal income tax. Failing that the property taxes can be high or utilities or insurance. Live in a lower income state then not only are the wages lower but so is the locality pay the goverment pays it's federal employees.

Anyhow, Up here I leave home and can head one of three ways. And believe me it gets really old seeing the same roads all the time, no matter how beautiful the scenery. For the last two years even our summers have sucked with a lot of rain and temperatures in the low 60's. Time for a change. Looking forward to becoming a Bronco fan but the Steelers are still my all time team:)
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Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2013, 03:11:18 PM »
After living in Alaska for 35 years guess I'll just have to get used to paying sales tax and state income tax. Not sure why you commented on TN since the thread was about CO, but the one thing I found out when researching new locations to move to is no matter what the "man" will get its share in one form or another. It might be sales tax, state income tax, or personal income tax. Failing that the property taxes can be high or utilities or insurance. Live in a lower income state then not only are the wages lower but so is the locality pay the goverment pays it's federal employees.

Anyhow, Up here I leave home and can head one of three ways. And believe me it gets really old seeing the same roads all the time, no matter how beautiful the scenery. For the last two years even our summers have sucked with a lot of rain and temperatures in the low 60's. Time for a change. Looking forward to becoming a Bronco fan but the Steelers are still my all time team:)

I brought up TN to brag.  Why else?  Since I have never lived in a high cost state, FL, TX, AL, and now TN I just can't fathom what people pay in other states for housing, fees, taxes, etc.  I was expressing my shock by revealing the fees in my area.  My 5 acre farm probably cost what a condo will cost in CO. 

BTW: the Redstone Arsenal Area pays a very high wage to cost of living ratio.  Many Army retirees settle in this area.
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Offline TJ

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #17 on: January 12, 2013, 04:23:43 PM »
How is the ATV riding in Colorado? Just bought a couple of new Brute Force 750's last fall. We like to hunt and fish and can use the RV to haul everything.
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Offline ZG

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #18 on: January 12, 2013, 05:29:38 PM »
When are you moving there TJ?

Offline TJ

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Re: Please tell me about Colorado
« Reply #19 on: January 12, 2013, 06:03:37 PM »
Wife needs to be there about mid March. If our house sells early I will go with her otherwise I move when the house sells.
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