Jump to content
IGNORED

Carburated bikes in the Mountians


creole

Recommended Posts

Quick question. We have a 99 venture and have talked with friends about a ride in the mountains of Colorado. Friends with fuel injected bikes have concerns about ours not being fuel injected. Surely it's not a big enough issue to be concerned with, but thought I'd ask if anybody had experience with this.

 

Thanks for the input,

 

Creole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last summer I rode down through Northern California and Nevada to Arizona on the high plains and quite a bit of riding was over 6000 ft above sea level. I noticed a loss of power over 7000 ft. periodically requiring grabbing a lower gear on climbs or when passing other vehicles. My riding companion said he'd see a puff of black when I really got on it, so she was running pretty rich. He was riding an '08 Suzuki Bandit (fuel injected) and didn't experience any power loss. It wasn't a huge problem, just be aware when you're passing that you don't have the normal ooomph you normally have. My bike normally lives at 2100 ft here in Kamloops and runs normal to about 6000 ft the way it's set up.:080402gudl_prv: Ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless thier fuel injected bikes are closed loop systems, (newer ones with oxy sensors) they'd have similar problems. But I have noticed a diff in power in the Blueridge mountains, and not nearly as high as the Rockey's. You'd prob be OK though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Irene and I have been to Pike's Peak, Mt Evans, and Trail Ridge Road on both a First Gen and a Second Gen - several times. No problems with the carbs at all. A little less power gets made at 14k feet, but you'll still have plenty. It'll even idle, though if you're pouring on the coals then have to chop the throttle it may die. It'll start right back up, but a more smooth throttle hand is a convenient thing to have.

 

I met a couple of guys at the top of Mt Evans with fuel injected BMW adventure touring bikes. They had to stay on the throttle a little bit because they wouldn't idle at the top of the mountain.

 

If you haven't changed it recently, be sure to change your clutch fluid before you go. The stuff draws water which will flash off more easily at altitude, causing huge problems. With bad fluid you can pull in the clutch and nothing happens when you're nearing the top. Come back down and it'll work just fine. Of course, the problem is that you'll need that clutch at the top.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your bike is running properly you'll have no problem in the mountains. I have rode 2 up pulling a trailer with our '01, 11000 ft on the main road and we took a few side roads at the top that took us about another 800-1000 ft up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 08' seemed like it ran better at the top of Beartooth Mountain pass last year, no problems at all. Saw some injected bikes having a bit of a problem with it tho.....

 

 

Didn't we like it up there Condor? We did it twice.... wanna go back there

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tend to use a lower gear above 6000 ft. I do a lot of riding in the high mountains. I ride pretty aggressive and stay on the twistys as much as I can. Rod

 

 

Sounds like a LOT of fun!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't have any problems with altitude with the Lady, even when I rode it to the mountains roughly 1 month after she sat dormant for 2 years. Was just fine. Granted, six months later, the engine grinded a hole into the clutch line :whistling: and I learned what it was like to ride without being able to pull the clutch in, thank god the police were all over the other part of town!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 08' seemed like it ran better at the top of Beartooth Mountain pass last year, no problems at all. Saw some injected bikes having a bit of a problem with it tho.....

 

 

Didn't we like it up there Condor? We did it twice.... wanna go back there

 

 

When is Cody 3??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rode my 99 all over the Colardo mountains occasionally pulling a trailer. Fuel mileage hurt a little and needed to run higher in the rpm's but no problems at all.

 

Mine backfired constantly and didn't bother me but sure sounds like someone was shooting at yah.

 

Enjoy

 

Brad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...