XS West - Making Passes

[xs650mike]

Cody,

Great pics! Yep, Matt's bike is particularly spectacular. Nice to see all that old Vetter plastic. I flashed on Rays windshield too down in Los Baños. Spectacular too is the shot of the XSives and their bikes up on the Geiger Grade, what a view. The shots in V.C. bring back old memories and are making me extra sorry that I missed this one. Too bad you couldn't have ridden Zilla back, I feel for you.

Man, four Sierra passes in one day, that's one great ride! How did the bikes perform at those altitudes? It's a big advantage to have CV carbs when one is making those extreme altitude changes. My old Honda ran so rich up there that I had to install hotter plugs so they wouldn't coke up, lost a lot of power too. I'm hoping to do Shasta next year.

[MAXIMAN]

I may still ride Zilla back once he gets put back together.

As far as the performance, Zilla ran very well at that altitude considering he's a low altitude bike. He has the stock tuning and jetting.

I'm not sure how the other guys bikes ran. Maybe they'll respond.

[Bill]

Accelleration on my XJ700 was a little soft off-idle, but otherwise the bike ran pretty well. OTOH, it was nice to feel the full power return when I got back to the lowlands.

[DiverRay]

My bike ran well at the altitudes. I do have the carbs set for sea level, as thats home. My big problem was going from first to third on some of the roads!! I need to fix the transmission this winter!!
I really enjoyed the rides, and I just wish eliberty and I could have done the complete last ride. We split off at I80 to head back home, as we both needed to be at work in the morning.
Matts midnight that his brother was riding was the only bike that was getting the milage I was. We both ran close to 40mpg on the ride!!
I think we should have a quick talk before every ride, as we probably could have kept Cody and Paul up on two wheels. I am VERY glad no one was "hurt", not counting pride. It was great riding with Jerry, Cody, Matt, and all! I'm ready for the next one!
Ray

[xs650mike]

Yeah Ray, I'm big on a little talk before a ride if there's more than 3 or 4 or it's people who haven't ridden together much or at all. I like to go over hand sigs for communication, following distances and rules for passing traffic and each other. People think I'm worrying too much but hey, it's about being safe and having fun. It's just not fun to have "incidents".

[sermn8ter]

Great pics

Looks like it was a great ride. Matt's bike is sweet. I know there are tech tips for polishing metal, but what did you do to get that look on? Will it buff out that shiny if you get rid of the clear coat, or did you send that out for chroming?

[Dhost]

Congrats a great Rally!

Congratulations Matt, on what looks like a fabulously successful rally! You really pulled that one off, Bro! Everyone looks like they were having a blast and I am sorry to hear about the spills, glad all are OK tho. Hitting all those passes in one swoop was trully a marathon run... something you will remember forever. Thanks for sharing your pics and comments. Wish we could have joined you. G&L

[Pat Kelly]

The Markleeville "Death Ride" (bicycling) is a yearly event. When I did it (1987-88) it was 5 passes. From Markleeville you went over Monitor pass, down to NV, turn around and go back over Monitor. Past your car (should you decide to quit). Then on to Luther Pass, Carson Pass, back by your car and on to Ebbets Pass.
152 miles, 15,000 feet of climbing (and descending). Both times took me 9 hours.

The course has changed since then.

[xs650mike]

Sheesh Pat, you are (or were) one tough SOB. I used to ride my bicycle 30 miles after school everyday when I was a kid over the canyons above Malibu but those were 2000, 2500 feet not 9000!

[MAXIMAN]

sermn8ter

About 95% of what you see that looks like chrome on Matts bike...is chrome. He chromed all the engine covers....the wheels...the grab bar. It's really chromed out but it's not gawdy. I thought it looked very good.

[sermn8ter]

Great looking bike

No doubt about it, the bike looks awesome. That is kind of the look I'd like for my bike. I just had it painted thistle metallic purple, and am ordering a different seat for it. I want to get 4 into 2 turnouts for exhaust, and a clear windshield, and I'll be done for a while, (I think) except for the metal. Mine is all oxidized and i have tried a few things on it, but nothing really seems to do the trick, so I think I am going to pull it off and send it to be sandblasted and chromed.