I am in the early stages of planning a 4-day trip from Orange County, CA to Sequoia Nat'l Park about 250 miles away in the Sierra Nevadas. One of my major concerns is performance at high altitudes with some drastic up and down twisties once in the park. I will be going from essentially sea level to elevations of about 8000 ft. There may be the potential of riding in some light snow.

What do I need to do to prepare my bike before and during this trip?
Will I need to rejet/change needle(s) after a certain elevation?
What kind of fuel economy can I expect?

Thanks in advance to any and all input!

 

Riding from sea level to 8,000 should not be a problem. The worst that will happen is you will run a little rich. Better rich than lean. The worst that will happen is you might foul a plug, but that is doubtful. Take a wrench that will fit you plug so you can remove and clean it if necessary.

I have ridden carb'ed bikes from sea level all the way to 11,000 ft. without any problems. It will not run as good at altitude as it does at sea level, but that is all.

Regards,

Bill

 

Last summer I took a 3000 mile trip from Louisiana through the Rockies, down to Grand Junction and Back to Shreveport. I was on a stock 883 and didn't experience any problems with plug fouling etc. As billnourse said, performance will drop off the higher you go. The CV carb will compensate up to about 5000'. During the climbs through the Rockies I used fourth, and sometimes third, gear to keep from lugging the engine. Your Sporty will do well. Have a safe trip.

 

1,Change yourfluids, just be sure you won't exceed the recommendedoil change interval.Also, check your tire pressure frequently.I would prepare more for myself than the bike. Weather and Climate conditions are going to be harder on you than the bike. It will get cold,wet, hot, ect...
2, No, may get a little rich. What I've noticed isloss of power,approx 2-4% for every1K in elevation, most noticeable between4Kand up.
3, It will deterioratewith elevation as well, approx. the same loss as with the power noted above.

Disclaimer: This is my own personal observation with testsperformed throughout theRocky and Wasatch Mountains.

 

I took my lady up there from LA about 3 weeks ago. We went on the bike you see below (quick release luggage rack and windshield were the only things that have been added). We stopped only once going up and back and had an absolute blast. We stayed in a hotel about 5 miles from the Southern entrance to the park and when we rode up into the park, we only went as far as the General Sherman tree. The ride from the hotel to the tree was about an hour due to traffic and road construction. When we got to the tree it started snowing, LOL, so we only stayed up there for about a half hour. My bike performed extremely well in the high altitude, but I don't think that we ever went above 7,000 feet. There was about a 1 mile stretch where it was one lane so we had to wait at a light for about 10 minutes before we could go. We didn't mind the slow traffic due to the temperature (about 33 degrees). I enjoyed it because I had my helmet flipped up and was able to dip snuff the whole way up the mountain. That's a rare treat for a rider with my redneck roots! LOL.

It's a very nice ride and you'll have a blast. Due to the snowmelt, rain and snow throughout the various legs of the trip, my bike was dirtier than it has ever been by the time we got home.

If memory serves, it was about 600 miles round-trip.

PM meif you want any more info.

 

Awesome, I like what I'm reading. Thanks everyone.

I'll probably be going sometime in May so that I can take some of the roads that would normally get snow or ice earlier in the season. I suppose I'll just to keep my eyes peeled for those black bears up there!

sgreen, PMed

 

I PM'ed ya back the route that I took, as well as some other info about the route. Keep me posted on when you go....maybe I'll join ya. I wouldn't mind goin' back again.