I am planing a trip to Vegas from minnesota and i am concerned about adjusting the carb on my 03 1200c for altitude changes.
can i just mess with the air/fuel mix or should i pack some jets with?

second question

i have new bars (apes) that i need to drill for internal wires. i dont have the bike back yet but i want to get the bars ready.
how far in on center should i drill the holes, and how big of holes?

any tips or experiances, please let me know
thanks

 

Dale: I'm no expert tuner, but I would make a substantial bet that you wouldn't have to change a thing. There are three routes that one could use: via Wyoming to Salt Lake City (no more than 8600 ft. near Cheyenne and just a few miles of high road; via Denver and the Rockies due West ( about 10000 ft max at two passes, more miles than the Wyoming route, but still not bad) and via Albuquerque, NM (8500 ft. near Gallup and 7500 ft. near Flagstaff, AZ). If your bike got to running a little rich at altitude, just take the air cleaner element out for a few miles then put it back in after the mountain pass is behind. More than likely the only time your bike would even indicate it was rich would be at low speeds and in none of those passes do you even have to slow down much below 55 mph. Several fellow riders from your area have posted in this forum of their trips to the Las Vegas region. None that I can recall even mentioned noticing any problem with air/fuel mixture ratio. ............ BC

 

If you still have the stock CV carb, you don't need to adjust it, it compensates for altitude changes itself.

I drill at least a 3/8" hole at the dimple on the h-bars for the wire to enter from the switch housing, you will see this end of the dimple when the housings are on but only a little bit. You can drill three 3/8" holes in the bottom of the bars between the risers and connect them into a slot to get them out.

 

I have ridden carbed bikes all over the Rocky Mountains and down to sea level. You will notice that the bike will run a little different with elevation changes, but not enough to worry about changing jets. You will get a little rich at the higher elevations, but not enough to foul plugs.

If you plan on being close to Bloomfield, NM let me know. Maybe we can get together for a few minutes.

Have a good trip.


Regards,

Bill