2017 Colorado/Western Rally

[DiverRay]

So, a face to face talk tonight, and I WILL be riding out!! I can't leave until Thursday morning, and need to be home Tuesday night, but I get the long ride to clear my head!!!
Scott, we need to talk about timing mid June...

[3Phase]

June works (remind me when it's June, will you?).

My project's been on semi-hold while the Santa Ana winds blow the goldfish out of everything down here but it's cleared up now, back to work minus the flying grit.

[BA80]

June works (remind me when it's June, will you?).

My project's been on semi-hold while the Santa Ana winds blow the goldfish out of everything down here but it's cleared up now, back to work minus the flying grit.

June is when the weather.......uhhhhhh........never mind. The weather never changes in SoCal.

[3Phase]

It changes:

Not nice.
Nice.
Nicer.
Nicest.

[Bonz]

We've had crazy Colorado weather at my place in Palmer Lake especially. We are on the Palmer divide which is the bull's-eye for most of the spring storms.

Last Sunday morning I walked out the door to 24 inches of snow that had fallen Friday and Saturday. We really needed the H2O to keep the Front Range from becoming a tinderbox. Yesterday was in the 70s here and so will today. The snow is a memory.

That is a good segue to reminding everyone to pack gear for potential cold or wet conditions during the rally at any given point at higher elevation. In northern Colorado snow is even a potential at the elevation of Trail Ridge Road which we will be riding. Trail Ridge Road begins around Grand Lake at 8700', crests in a couple places over 12,000 feet and drops back down to the mid 7000' in Estes Park. It's a 48 mile road so lots of opportunity for some good pictures will abound.

Here are links to some cool information.

https://www.google.com/search?q=trail+ridge+road+average+elevation&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS717US717&oq=trail+ridge&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l2j69i60l2.3115j0j8&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#spf=1

https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/trail_ridge_road.htm

http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/road-trips/articles/trail-ridge-road

It is a highly traveled tourist road so we should be getting an early start on Saturday or Sunday whichever day we ride it. I will check this week to see what time typically the road starts getting traffic and plan accordingly.

Our other ride over Rabbit Ears pass to Steamboat Springs and taking some scenic roads won't have elevations over 9400' feet.

Temps overall should be warm to hot, however Colorado is a different animal when it comes to serving up weather from day today or even hour to hour. Just a word of reminder, be prepared and leave it at that.

For reference, Canon City area at the campground where we've had the last two rallies is about 5700', for those that did the Durango rally in 2011 that is around 6500'. Kremmling is just over 7300' which will more or less be the low elevation point for the weekend. It will be cooler at nights for those at the campground and mornings probably will be cooler as well as evenings compared to the previous sites.

Please be sure your trusty steed's are carbureting well. Going up Pike's Peak the past two rallies is a shorter ride distance-wise (17 miles each way, with basically the ability to coast the whole way back down) even though it's to a higher elevation. For Trail Ridge Road, there will be more miles spent well over 10,000 feet (20 miles each way since it's an out and back) and 11 miles each way spent over 11,000 feet.

[Bigfoot]

Please be sure your trusty steed's are carbureting well. Going up Pike's Peak the past two rallies is a shorter ride distance-wise (17 miles each way, with basically the ability to coast the whole way back down) even though it's to a higher elevation. For Trail Ridge Road, there will be more miles spent well over 10,000 feet (20 miles each way since it's an out and back) and 11 miles each way spent over 11,000 feet.

This was a problem for me last year, was running extremely rich at altitude. Had to keep the rpm's way up or it would start bogging down. Would not have been too big of a problem if it wasn't for the stop and go traffic going up pikes peak and a complete idiot in a large SUV that refused to pull over and let the mile of traffic behind him get past. My clutch certainly felt it that day.

[Bonz]

For what it's worth, a temporary aid is to turn in the fuel screws a little bit while at higher elevations. Definitely helps at lower speed and slow traffic, which for the sake of the call and the beauty of Trail Ridge road we could potentially run into.

Looking forward to seeing the FJR1300 Harry! I am sure you love the FI already no matter where you ride it.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Harry,
My clutch had to be adjusted after that, too!
Didn't do it any favors,for sure. Probably lost a few years of life off it.
That was the first time I'd ever seen my temp guage peg on my liquid-cooled bike, too! (Fans running full speed, too!)

I was behind you, and could see steam/smoke rising up all around your head...
I just knew we were gonna lose a few air-cooled 11's on that ride from overheating!
But they all somehow survived. A true testiment to the toughness of an 11.

Jeff really saved the day by riding ahead of the group and paying for all of us to get into the park as a group! Quick thinking!
If we had all been required to individually pay, I believe some of the bikes wouldn't have made it.
THANKS AGAIN, JEFF!!

That was definitely a "memorable adventure", as Bohn would say.

That guy in the SUV made a lot of us mad that day. He was definitely in his own world.

[Bonz]

Bob, you have a hydraulic clutch???

JeffH, how did the clutch and engine temp fare on your XS?

[skids]

This was a problem for me last year, was running extremely rich at altitude. Had to keep the rpm's way up or it would start bogging down. Would not have been too big of a problem if it wasn't for the stop and go traffic going up pikes peak and a complete idiot in a large SUV that refused to pull over and let the mile of traffic behind him get past. My clutch certainly felt it that day.

That kind of thing is worse with the final drive modification!

[JeffH]

JeffH, how did the clutch and engine temp fare on your XS?

In spite of the abuse of 90 degrees and sunny day, no wind, HOT - HOT motor and 1/2 mile / 1/2 hour of uphill traffic jam starts to the toll gate; my bike ran fine. Really couldn't tell the difference. Idled fine and clutch behaved perfectly even though it had to be smoking hot. Impact was on operator while the XS11 E ran fine and behaved perfectly.

Interesting that i use Yamalube 20-50. Had filled up with Shell 85 in Canon City and topped off with some Conoco 85 at Divide when we made the pit stop. Only thing I did after the toll booth (rather than stop with the group) was to ride 2-3 miles to the first pullout. Did that to get some airflow over the engine to cool it off a bit before shutting it off. Ran great. Started hot and idled just fine. Seems it didn't smoke or misbehave like some of the other bikes.
Got 35 mpg too on the 14,110 ft. Pikes Peak run.

Maybe I should rethink my gas & oil choices?? Not an adventure when bike works perfectly.

Jeff

[Bonz]

. OK, I did set you up on that because I did know that your bike ran well and your bike didn't have the issues other bikes did. I rode the 80 SG to the top of Pike's Peak the previous Colorado Rally and it didn't miss a beat. CaptonZap requested I pull a plug at the top so he could see how the SG was running. He still gives me crap for running 107.5 mains.

While we waited in line at the bottom that year, we waited about twice as long and it was even hotter if you can believe that. Although we did shut the engines down to let cars pull ahead a few hundred feet then we would all fire up to catch up while waiting. Maybe we should have been more deliberate in doing that this past year. I just recall guys being worried the bikes wouldn't fire back up and kept them running as much as possible. But my mind could be all wrong in what I remember.

Anyway, to share a few moments of Rally's past... In 2014 Brant passed me part way up once through the gate and "led" the charge on his Venturer that needed to be cleared out regularly. I am sure that young family of four in the small compact sedan thought he was trying to harm them when he would go running up on them standing up on the pegs a la motocross and revving the tits off the bike. Quite a sight! And I had a rocky mountain high from his exhaust... Oh Lord, that pretty bike was running fat rich down low!

In another moment from 2014, Roo got the gold star for riding his Nomad with basically no clutch and not enough ground clearance to take the switchbacks at a lean all the way to the top. He kept grounding out that land yacht. Got his already malfunctioning clutch working better at the top and he made it back down and then back to Cali.

This past year took a lot of patience on the peak ride and all you guys that were part of it were great sports and did exemplary! The moment I remember wasn't bike related, but Harry's quote on the ride back to the campground about "What's the penalty for XX mph over in Colorado?", after an open stretch and the speed limit dropped and we were all rolling out. Maybe you had to be there to appreciate that one. I still chuckle.

Anyway, the rain has let up after nearly a week and temperatures are going to be in the 70s tomorrow through the weekend. Looking forward to getting the bikes out for some exercise.

This year's rally will be new roads, new scenery and even some new friends joining us! For anyone contemplating please give it a hard thought as you will ride country you may not ride again by your own devices with guys you will make friends with for the rest of your life!

[BA80]

. OK, I did set you up on that because I did know that your bike ran well and your bike didn't have the issues other bikes did. I rode the 80 SG to the top of Pike's Peak the previous Colorado Rally and it didn't miss a beat. CaptonZap requested I pull a plug at the top so he could see how the SG was running. He still gives me crap for running 107.5 mains.

While we waited in line at the bottom that year, we waited about twice as long and it was even hotter if you can believe that. Although we did shut the engines down to let cars pull ahead a few hundred feet then we would all fire up to catch up while waiting. Maybe we should have been more deliberate in doing that this past year. I just recall guys being worried the bikes wouldn't fire back up and kept them running as much as possible. But my mind could be all wrong in what I remember.

Anyway, to share a few moments of Rally's past... In 2014 Brant passed me part way up once through the gate and "led" the charge on his Venturer that needed to be cleared out regularly. I am sure that young family of four in the small compact sedan thought he was trying to harm them when he would go running up on them standing up on the pegs a la motocross and revving the tits off the bike. Quite a sight! And I had a rocky mountain high from his exhaust... Oh Lord, that pretty bike was running fat rich down low!

In another moment from 2014, Roo got the gold star for riding his Nomad with basically no clutch and not enough ground clearance to take the switchbacks at a lean all the way to the top. He kept grounding out that land yacht. Got his already malfunctioning clutch working better at the top and he made it back down and then back to Cali.

This past year took a lot of patience on the peak ride and all you guys that were part of it were great sports and did exemplary! The moment I remember wasn't bike related, but Harry's quote on the ride back to the campground about "What's the penalty for XX mph over in Colorado?", after an open stretch and the speed limit dropped and we were all rolling out. Maybe you had to be there to appreciate that one. I still chuckle.

Anyway, the rain has let up after nearly a week and temperatures are going to be in the 70s tomorrow through the weekend. Looking forward to getting the bikes out for some exercise.

This year's rally will be new roads, new scenery and even some new friends joining us! For anyone contemplating please give it a hard thought as you will ride country you may not ride again by your own devices with guys you will make friends with for the rest of your life!

EH! My bike was sick for the rest of the day. When we FINALLY got through the gate it wouldn't run because it was TOO hot. Smoke coming off of a non running engine after we stopped.

XJOK2PLAY said even his water cooled connie got hot.

[Bonz]

My liquid cooled ZRX 1200 had the fan running the whole time as well. However the idiot light for too high of a coolant temp did not come on.

Something I have been reading about is oil viscosity and how a lighter weight oil will flow faster and help pull heat from the engine better than the heavier weight oil most of us use. I know Yamaha calls for a 20W40 and we use 20w50 because of the scarce of Vail ability of 20w40.

With that being said, I put in 20w50 Castrol full synthetic last summer before the rally when 3Phase rode the bike and the bike loves it. Meaning, it runs fine. Granted, he did not go up Pikes Peak with us on the bike however two years previous with 15W40 Dino oil the SG was great.

For the 2011 Durango Rally I was running 15W40 Dino oil and going up Red Mountain Pass it was hot as can be for an extended climb and I could tell that oil had thinned out something fierce. The engine (valve train) didn't get its normal sound back until the next morning when I started up to ride home. For what it's worth, that oil was just past the 2,000 mark in the engine when I got to the rally, so it was getting toward the end of the oil change interval for sure anyway.

Greg, you run the 15w40 Dino oils don't you?

[BA80]

Greg, you run the 15w40 Dino oils don't you?

Nope. Running 20-50 dino w/ an oil cooler. The cooler doesn't do much good at 5mph though.

I think my biggest issue was the 850 FD and the SLOW climb.

I considered speeding up and kicking in the door of that Yukon or Tahoe, whatever it was, more than once. But, better judgement prevailed.