is anyone interested in a local k.c. ride?

[Wolfpaws]

Was a great weekend! Sorry I couldn't get out on the ride with everyone - the day was getting a bit late and I had to duck out - but it was definitely good to work on some bikes, meet people and BS. Not to mention all the looks when people rode by thinking a biker gang was in town...we ever decide on a name?

Let me know if/when you guys want to get together again, and I'll do my damndest to have more time!

[Bigfoot]

I guess a little bit of a write up is in order for those that didn't get a chance to join us.

What started out as a request for a get together ride around Kansas City turned into a mini Meeting of the Minds. Russ was quickly volunteered to host this meeting as he has

1. any tool you would ever need
2. A nice lift
3. A kegorator, with plenty of room to also cool the soda's for those who swing that way.

and he was gracious enough to agree. We had Exquized1 come in from Illinois and Catatonic Bug made the trip from St. Louis. They both got into town on Friday night with no issues. Saturday morning CBug and I collected everyone from the north side of town (Vincer, Wolfpaws, zx11racr) and headed down to Russ's. Awaiting us there was Russ, Exquized1, and Russ's friend Wes with a nice little XJ550 I think.

After introductions and chatting for awhile CBugs midnight special went up on the lift. He had developed a first gear problem so a tranny fix was in order. When taking off his exhaust, the left side muffler literally fell off. Luckily, Russ is an excellent welder and had it put back together long before it was ready to be installed on the bike. The tranny fix went well with CBug doing most of the work and me bugging him, looking over his sholder, and lending a hand when needed. We did find that both of the circlips that hold on the gear on the end of the fork shaft were missing. One was in the oil pan. The other was MIA. A trip to the hardware store solved that issue and we were back in business. We also took a break for some really good pizza for lunch.

I know a couple guys took the opportunity to install new fuse blocks and at least one set of carbs were sync'd. I was rather busy fending of Vincer's attentions and helping CBug so I don't have a complete list of what else was going on.

Some had to leave early due to previous engagements so by that afternoon we ended up with just 4 of us going for a ride. Russ led us on a nice 100 mile trip up to Leavenworth, Kansas and back. Nice twisty (for Kansas) roads and we were able to run at some decent speeds at times. We went through a little town that apparently was either really boring or getting ready for a parade. Sorta weird when all of the townspeople were sitting on the main street just to watch 4 XS's ride by. I wonder how they knew we were coming.

Back to Russ's where we found ZombieRob awaiting us. Russ grilled us up some burgers and dogs and we sat around shooting the breeze until late. Sunday morning Cbug and I went back over to Russ's and finally got the colortune and sync done on his carbs as well as solving an electrical issue. Exquized1 also solved a problem he was having by installing a new ignition switch.

Overall, it was a very nice weekend and fairly productive. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. I know that i had a great time.

I would like to thank Russ for hosting and Jenna for putting up with all of us.

[exquized1]

I been sitting at home trying to figure out my gas mileage. The only changes I made to my bike was on Sunday before I left for home. I installed a new ignition switch and added a slipstream windshield that Vince sold me. On the way out to KCK I took all interstate I 80 to I 35 down running about 75 to 80. I was only getting about 75 miles before my light would come on. with 7 stops my adverage was 24.96 mpg. The way home I took highway 24 across Missouri than hopped onto I 72 to Springfeild Il. than took I 55 north to home. This route I got 32.95 mpg with 6 stops. Total trip was 1,123.2 miles at 28.95 mpg. Could the windshield make that much of a difference?

I had a great time! Russ and his lovely wife were excellent hosts. Always great to put faces to screen names and find out The people at Channel 11 will always take care of one of their own! Thanks again for the great time!

[CatatonicBug]

Might be a combination of things. The windshield will make your bike more aerodynamic, helping MPGs a bit, and the speed at which you travel will also make a difference. I don't know what speeds you were travelling on the way home, but I would imagine it was a bit slower, since they were smaller highways?

I travelled the same route both ways, but increased my speed on the return trip by about 15-20 mph (I was pushing 95-100mph a few times ), so I may have hurt the increase in MPGs that I achieved from the carb tune we did at Russ' place. I'll have to determine the real gains when I fill up next time, since I normally go just around town, under 50mph.

Just be glad you got an increase, and not a decrease!

[Bob Falter]

Matt, which way was the wind blow? It can make that much difference easy.

Bob

[Ivan]

In my scoot the difference between 60 and 75 is about 5-7 mpg. I am guessing that to be just enough more throttle to get the needles out of the midrange of the carbs and starting to run on the main jets, but that's merely a guess.