2016 Colorado/Western Rally

[3Phase]

Slip Sliding Away

What parts did you get, and will Colombo see another Colorado Rally now?!?!

Enjoy your ZX, you've done worked on it enough!


I'm hoping I can get Columbo up and running for the rally but there are a lot of things that have broken or worn out and have to be replaced. My little brother slipped when we were rolling the bike out of the U-Haul after I got home from Colorado and it fell off the ramp.

I sent you a PM with a Onedrive link to the order from Boats.net. I've scrounged up used cosmetic and non-critical mechanical parts when I could but the order is still roughly $1000.00 of new parts. The most painful is the 4 new slides with diaphragms at $133 each and the 4 needle valve kits. Ouch. The original slides lasted 35 years with a lot of TLC but the rubber and fabric has just flat rotted and worn out and they're all full of holes. The fuel taps and needle valves keep seeping too and I really don't want an engine full of fuel. So it'll be a fair amount of work but I should be able to get it done, I just don't know if I have the energy to ride to Colorado and back.

.

[Bonz]

What parts did you get, and will Colombo see another Colorado Rally now?!?!

Pretty much done tweaking the ZRX1200 carbs (Keihin downdraft 40mm, grafted on from a ZX11/ZZR1200, same carbs) after putting in the ZZR1200 cams and it is one pretty good running bike with a mid-range pull and top end that is awesome! Going to see CZ tomorrow to use his Mercury sticks and give them a sync.

My residual, nagging knee swelling from surgery back in the spring went down a lot this week (I can see my knee cap outline for the first time in 4 months) so riding the 80SG won't be a problem now (more bend than my knee liked), but I am set on the ZRX because it is flat-out fun to ride and want to "show off" all the mods I have done. I love my SG, but riding a bike that I have put this much time and effort into dialing in with the mods feels good.

[3Phase]

Hey has Roo put a lift kit on his Nomad so he won't scrape going around those switchbacks? :-)

Hey has Roo put a lift kit on his Nomad so he won't scrape going around those switchbacks? :-)

Dunno, I'll ask him though, I need to find out what he's been doing besides working.


I finally managed to get the broken exhaust stud out of the head. It's only been soaking in secret sauce for a year and today it creaked, popped, and then the stub backed out of the head like it was buttered. That was the only stumbling block so putting the engine back together just became possible without a whole lot of angst and drama so I celebrated by buying a boatload of parts from boats.net.

Man! Parts are 'spendy!

.

[Bonz]

Hey has Roo put a lift kit on his Nomad so he won't scrape going around those switchbacks? :-)

[rdmcguy]

Road conditions update Pikes Peak Hwy.

Howdy.
I just got off the phone with the Rangers station on Pikes Peak ,According to them the road is in excellent condition!!! So, come one come all the highway to the sky awaits you ....
See ya in about three weeks !

[XJOK2PLAY]

Heh heh heh .........the plastic might break on a less than smooth road. Besides, they don't want to get too far from the hauler.

Yeah, with Greg's past history of crashin', we figured it might be a good idea to have a hauler nearby...

[Bonz]

LOL! Yes we have special gummy bears, special brownies, special cookies, probably special lollipops to if you really want one.

[Bigfoot]

I was just passing on what a friend had told me about her recent trip up the mountain. Though it is possible she may have had a few "special" gummy bears before the trip so who knows. Lol

[BA80]

Edit to last post... Bohn and Bob had lunch with a friend, so they did not ride their techno marvels up Pikes Peak. My error!

Heh heh heh .........the plastic might break on a less than smooth road. Besides, they don't want to get too far from the hauler.

[Bonz]

Heh, heh, heh... said the pot-stirrer.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Oh boy! Now ya done it...


Yes, Howard... We met up with Miles and Janice for lunch while you guys rode up Pike's Peak.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Oh boy! Now ya done it...

[Bonz]

tcoop, no other women coming along at this point in answer to your question about that. Sorry I missed it the first time.

Bigfoot, glad to hear you are coming! It'll feel "cooler" in the saddle at speed as you gain elevation with the lower humidity. Plains of Colorado (pretty much what you are riding until you get to Canon City, or Colorado Springs) can easily be 100 deg, and Canon City itself gets butt-hot in the heat of summer. Campground is at 6000' elevation so nights cool off nicely and we'll have cool mornings even if the days are hot. Riding won't go lower than 5300' (Canon city) for the rally. 14,114' on Pikes Peak!

Man, it's gonna be a good time enjoying the riding during the day and have some good times at night with old friends and new ones!

What oil are you guys gonna be running?

[Bonz]

Edit to last post... Bohn and Bob had lunch with a friend, so they did not ride their techno marvels up Pikes Peak. My error!

[Bonz]

We had a lot of snow late in the season out here in the front range ("Pikes Peak region") and close to record heat some days in the last week.

What were the "ruts" from? Snow pack on the roads or road damage itself to the pavement? As of the end of May, the road wasn't open (last 4 miles) up to the top due to all the snow drifts and such, so a couple weeks ago that would have been just a week after the end of May.

The road is open all the way to the top, as per the hill climb being held this weekend as Joe said. They run some low slung vehicles and race bikes in that race as Joe alludes to as well.

Not much comes up on the Internet about road damage (nothing), so interested in what the ruts were from.

Will sure look forward to any info Joe posts up.

Photographers want to get up early to the top, to get the sunrise, ergo the 4:15 opening. Shouldn't be anything more than a regular day on the peak by the time we get there. Could be a bit of a wait in line like last time in some hot temps but the XS's all made it fine along with the liquid cooled modern contraptions of Bohn (GS1200), Bob (C14) and Roo (Nomad 1500).

Heck, Roo rode up with barely/no clutch on his Kawasaki V-twin Nomad 1500, so he gets a belated gold star, and Motoman had a whacked-up rich pilot circuit that choked me to tears while revving the pee out of his motor to keep it clear on the way up.