2017 Colorado/Western Rally

[Bonz]

I didn't remember you had in the oil cooler, good deal on that. We had our Karma repay to that guy when he conked out dead in the water in the middle of the road on the last stretch before the peak. I hope someone gave him really good one finger XS1100.com salute. I gave him a very hard stare and an ear full of my horn. My better judgement prevailed as well, for whatever that is worth.

Eventually I saw him pulling up at the top and he looked pretty well beaten down. Probably by his wife sitting in the passenger seat hollering at him the whole time for taking the family up that mountain in a vehicle that he told her "would be fine". Still, a poor display of etiquette in the first degree. It had an Oklahoma plate, I stared at it for 15 miles at dang near walking speed. Maybe you will run into him sometime...

Yeah, I have a 750 FD on the SG and have to work it just a touch every once in a while from a dead stop on a good hill. In 2014 the going was a bit more steady although I had to clutch it around the switchbacks regularly because of the vehicles in front keeping inconsistent speed.

A note for all, and of course will remind everyone again at the rally there is no gas between Grand Lake and Estes Park, which is about 48 miles each way. Don't want to be starting that stretch on half a tank with a Special.

Hey Ty and Marshall, how is everything going? Ty, how is everything with your wife? Hope all is well.

[Bigfoot]

I also had an oil cooler. Not sure how much it helped. My main problem (that I found out once I got home) my float heights were way off. It was my own stupid fault and laziness. I put a set of carbs on without checking them. They fired up and synced nicely so I just went with it. Was running very rich when I left Kansas city at 900 feet above sea level. You all saw the results of that. Lol. Opening up my exhaust helped lean it out some though I between my bike and Joe's, surprised we didn't get fined for noise pollution.

I would still do the entire trip again in a heartbeat. Was an adventure and we all have some good stories from it.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Howard,
Yes, C14's have hydraulic clutches.
But, they're a semi-wet clutch design.

I think the biggest factor was how hot the engine oil also got... not just the cooling system.

When I got back, the clutch fluid level in the MC had dropped, and the clutch lever had to be fully released before it would engage the clutch!
Had to readjust the clutch.
I've since had it serviced, and all the fluids changed.

The C14 also uses a race-type "slipper clutch" that's supposed to be great and long lasting. That trip up Pike's Peak challenged that claim.

My fans ran the entire trip up, as well.

All I remember is all the steam and heat waves that were rising up around all the XS riders! Quite a sight, and can't remember ever seeing 11's get that hot.

[tcoop]

Howard Thanks for asking. My wife is doing great! She has two more chemo sessions left and her hair is already growing back! She also has not thrown up in over a month (it's funny the things you celebrate when you have cancer) To her credit she decided not to ware a wig and if someone had a problem... well it's their problem not hers. She was excited to get OFF the opioids (she had a Ureteral stent that caused her a lot of pain) so she is allowed to drive again. Her immune system is still very low so she needs to avoid large crowds and sick people. Halfway through the chemo they did a PET scan and it showed the caner was nearly gone. She will get another PET scan 6 weeks after the last chemo.

It is still up in the air for me attending the rally. It is a matter of having the funds with her not working.

[tcoop]

On that ride up to pikes peak. I was behind Greg, I have never seen a bike smoke that much with out actually glowing red. Most of the smoke was coming off his engine not his exhaust. I'm sure my bike was smoking too but it seemed to run just fine. It would have been a better ride if that White buffalo would have pulled over and let us pass... but then we wouldn't have as many stories to tell

[JeffH]

Ty,

THANKS for the update on your wife's recovery. We hadn't heard anything recently and had been praying for positive news. It has to be really tough for her to keep a positive attitude during such a difficult and long journey. Not easy for the family either over the last 8 or 9 months.

Hope you can make it to Kremmling. We sure would be happy if you can join us. Marshall too on that wing he bought.

Jeff

[Bonz]

Thanks Ty, happy that she is doing well and certainly the prayers continue. I got out on the SG today for a little bit, man I just love the smoothness of that engine.

Well heck, with respect to smoke coming off the engine, must have been Oklahoma dust on there that needed to be washed off anyway...

I guess I'm glad I was upfront and didn't get to see that, my conscience would've been having a terrible fit if I've been watching, knowing I was responsible for getting you guys on the road to 14,110'.

Bob, can you explain what a semi-wet clutch is? As far as I know the C14 is a wet clutch/shared sump design with a slipper that limits back-torque for smoother downshifts and keeps the rear wheel from locking under a missed downshift and has no effect on locking the hydraulic clutch for forward motion. Maybe there was some air in the system that caused the issue because of getting hot that wouldn't have caused a problem otherwise? I mean, brakes get hot and the lever goes away and it's the fluid that's the problem from being hot. Just trying to understand what you are describing and how it happened and didn't return to normal after things coole down.

[skids]

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

Haha! The location of the oil cooler radiator behind the headpipes might be more like an oil preheater at slow speeds!

[BA80]

Not quite skids, but a helluva guess. Haha

[XJOK2PLAY]

Thanks Ty, happy that she is doing well and certainly the prayers continue. I got out on the SG today for a little bit, man I just love the smoothness of that engine.

Well heck, with respect to smoke coming off the engine, must have been Oklahoma dust on there that needed to be washed off anyway...

I guess I'm glad I was upfront and didn't get to see that, my conscience would've been having a terrible fit if I've been watching, knowing I was responsible for getting you guys on the road to 14,110'.

Bob, can you explain what a semi-wet clutch is? As far as I know the C14 is a wet clutch/shared sump design with a slipper that limits back-torque for smoother downshifts and keeps the rear wheel from locking under a missed downshift and has no effect on locking the hydraulic clutch for forward motion. Maybe there was some air in the system that caused the issue because of getting hot that wouldn't have caused a problem otherwise? I mean, brakes get hot and the lever goes away and it's the fluid that's the problem from being hot. Just trying to understand what you are describing and how it happened and didn't return to normal after things coole down.

Howard,
Not sure, I need to research more about the C14 clutch design and location in the case. From what I have read, part of it is wet, part of it is dry. Correct about the "race slipper" design part. It supposed to be a tougher, longer-lasting clutch design... like being able to endure multiple high rpm drag race passes without failure.
All I know, is after I got back to the motel that day, instead of the clutch beginning to grab as the lever was released about 60% out, it was grabbing about 90% out, like it really wore the discs down a lot.
C14's have a dial knob adjustment on the lever... numbered 1-5 settings.
I had to change that setting in order to restore proper release/grab again.

Other than that, I've seen no other issues from the clutch. No slippage, chattering... it's been fine. I talked about it with Bobby Pugh at Stillwater Kawasaki when he ran the valves and flushed all the fluids, and he checked it all out, said it should be good for a lot more miles.

I believe my oil got super hot that day, and the cooling system couldn't overcome that. That affected the clutch. 'Cause after we stopped, let them cool down, and kept moving after that, it was ok temp-wise... just the lever's grab point had changed. That never corrected, until I adjusted it.

Works fine now... time will tell, I guess.

[Bonz]

The $$million$$ question, what oil were you running, I have an oil OCD. The oil wouldn't make any difference, just curious what you feed your steed.

I was running 20w50 Dino Valvoline 4Stroke. I have done a lot of extra reading and perusing oil and the role it has in engine temp, especially when it gets HOT outside.

20w50, for example, doesn't have the flow volume even when hot vs 10w40 or 15w40. Heavier oil makes the engine work marginally harder to pump it, especially at idle/slow speed where the fan comes on most.

Kawasaki calls for a 10W40 and I have always run 15w/40 or 20w/50 in the ZRX. Higher flow/volume gets oil circulating for more heat dissipation, keeping the heat in the sump and not taxing the cooling system as much.

Last spring and summer when running the 20w50, my fan came on very often. Went to a 10w40 for the piston break in (1200 miles) and now 15w-50 Mystic JT8. Only time the fan has come on was doing a carb sync. I didn't use a floor fan, the fan on the ZRX is from a GSXR and flows 25% more air than stock, I let that keep it cool once it cycles on. It would cycle on and off every few minutes during the sync.

With that said, I am going with the 15w40/50 oils in the foreseeable future because I do believe the heavier oil was contributing to the fan coming on more last year. I could go with the recommended 10W-40 however with that viscosity spread it shears down out of the grade fairly fast based on oil analysis. The slightly heavier 15W40 has less viscosity index improvers added to it so holds grade very well.

For what it's worth, I ran the newer Rotella T5 15W40 synthetic blend for almost 4000 miles before going to the 20W50 last summer. It has been the only 15W40 dino oil I have run out of four or five different brands that stayed in grade. I'm running the Mystic JT8 now simply because I picked it up a few years ago and want to use up the oil stash that I have in my garage. I hoard oil I guess.

[BA80]

My fan NEVER came on.....

When I first got this XS I ran Rotella 15w40 because that's what I had used in all my previous bikes. The XS clutch hated it and went on strike. Just refused to do it's job.

[skids]

My fan NEVER came on.....

When I first got this XS I ran Rotella 15w40 because that's what I had used in all my previous bikes. The XS clutch hated it and went on strike. Just refused to do it's job.

Was that the T6 oil?

[Bonz]

Skids, T6 is the full syn, 5w40. Regular Rotella T is the 15w40 he is referring to I believe. They call it T4 now and comes in 10w30 as well. Then there is 15w40 T5 syn blend I referenced above along with T5 10w30 and then T6 full syn 5w40.

I ran the full syn 5w40 in the ZRX for the longest drain interval I have done on that bike (5,360 miles, Kawasaki recommends 5,000 mile intervals) and the oil was done. Shift quality had gone down for a while and some wear metals were higher proportionally compared to other oils I have had tested even though other oils were changed between 3500-4000 miles. T6 is a good oil so I wanted to run a full oil change interval to see if that was pushing it even though Kawasaki says you can go that long. Too long. So, 4,000 miles is the most I do anymore and seems to do well with all the subsequent oils I have tested.

Depending on the mileage I may still have the Mystic JT8 15W50 in the ZRX for the rally or who knows what else? With a promotion Mobil was running for a nice rebate, I picked up some Mobil 1 10w40 4T MC specific full syn and 20w50 full syn VTwin oil to mix 50/50 and come out at a 15w40. That may get the nod if I need an oil change before mid-July. The M1 has a really good additive package in their MC oils with lots of zinc and phosphorus. Just can't stomach the price other than when I find a deal.

Ok, sorry to digress and mess up the Rally thread!

On another note, heard from Joe (rdmcguy) and he won't make the rally. He's got a cool 40th year high school reunion to attend around that time. Stay young Joe!

[rdmcguy]

Too busy

Howdy Ya'll
As Bonz mentioned I won't be able to make the rally this year,I'm going to my H.S. reunion (40th) down in Florida but I hope you all have a great rally , I know you will enjoy the roads and magnificent scenery,
I've been super busy of late selling off some of my bikes in order to make room for new ones .I found a Venturer here in Denver that is in pretty good shape so I've been bringing it back to life . Photobucket is giving me a hard time but will post pic soon ....