Folks

Taking a trip to Colorado to tour the area along with venturing out to Utah.

I am hauling the bike along with (2) other Speed Triple and Duc ST3.

Since I have not ridden out West before ,(typically east/ Dragons Tail and north Georgia. I am seeking advice as to where to ride twisties, etc... and does the altitude present any issues or concerns with the performance of the VTR?

Regards,

VTR01

 

I haven't ridden in Colorado, but I regularly head up into the hills around Phoenix, and going from ~2000 ft to ~7000 ft doesn't seem to cause any huge issues. If you were living up there you might rejet, but for a single trip, nah, you will just run a bit rich while at altitude.

 

In Colorado, once you're IN the mountains you will be hard pressed to not find a place to ride that won't rock. Unless you try the hawk on a dirt road switchback, I wouldn't recommend that.

As for paved roads (if you're staying in Denver) take any major-ish highway up into the mountains. 285 South is pretty nice, and there are lots of roads that go between that and Evergreen or Frisco/Dillon. The road from Morrison to Evergreen is pretty fun, but packed on the weekends. Lots of places for drivers to pop out too. Morrison and Evergreen have their couple of bars that have the streets lined with motorcycles of all types.

The roads between the foothills and about 30 miles into the mountains seem to be the "twistiest", if that's what you're after. Things loosen up a little bit once you're deep into the mountains.

The ride from Golden to Blackhawk and Central city is pretty nice too, then from there you can take the back highways up to Estes. I have some great photos from that ride.

The only thing you really have to watch out for is dirt patches around corners, and rocks on the road in the mornings. I've had a couple near-misses with rocks about a foot in diameter.

Your VTR at altitude will probably die during idling. Mine is jetted for around town at 5000' vertical, and sometimes around Mount Evans if I let it idle it will stall out. I think that's around 10,000'. I'm not sure what you'd do in this case except re-jet for the altitude you think you will be at the most.

But really, once you get here there are so many "good" roads to ride, you won't go wrong =) I've never ridden the Dragon, so I don't know how to compare it to. I just started this last season!

 

jonnyd: What RPM does your bike idle at? Mine is set to ~1100 to 1200 ish and even when I am up around 7000ft (Pinetop) I don't stall at idle and I am not jetted for high altitude.

 

Excellent info.

Idle and and stalling were a concern. Near misses regarding 1' in diameter rocks I did not think about as a potential trip ending event.

What are the temps at that 6k+ altitude. Trip is in July?

 

My buddy Brandon and I rode through Colorado last August. We expected sunshine and warm temps, but we got rain and sleet instead. Thats right, sleet in August. I guess you never know what kind of weather those 11k' passes will dish out. Passing cars at 11k' was hilarious. You gun it, nothing happens, you down shift; gun it... nothing again, down shift again; gun it... you then creep by the Ford Explorer. While the million dollar highway was nice and scenic, the road around Black Canyon (Colorado State Highway 92) was my favorite. Although we did see a dozen or more deer on Highway 92, there was little to no traffic on that road.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...9,4.921875&z=8

 

At higher altitudes is when you start wanting a turbo..

In fact some small airplanes are "turbo normalized." That is the engine isn't beefed up for a full turbo, but rather a turbo is added to the engine that just boosts air pressure up to sea level levels so that the engine gets the performance it would have at sea level. (level, level, level.. for good measure, lol)

 

Mine idles about the same. I just noticed on the first couple of rides that up there on the higher roads if I stopped to snap a picture my bike would stall out. Could have been bad gas too =) But when I went back to the dealership to ask about it they told me they could jet for town or mountains, and that what I experienced was normal.

I'm still a little naive on the motorcycle bit. Only 5k miles so far...

 

If you catch a sunny day it's awesome. About 70ish up in the hills, and you might actually get a little chilly in the shade. The wind always seems to be at least at a breeze. Around Georgetown the wind could hit epic proportions. Later in the afternoon the wind picks up. I actually got cold riding next to streams because it's all snowmelt. I was always going early morning though about 7am-10am to avoid sightseer traffic.

One ride late last august it was awesome, and I hit a rainstorm. Just ride through, I saw some folks a few miles in grabbing rain gear from the back of their bikes, and a few miles later... all clear. Colorado weather is really weird sometimes.

But July? Should be prime time =) Might put on an extra layer just in case, but just enjoy it!

One last note on the rocks: Due to the expansion and freeze/thaw cycles, rocks do fall on the road. The less traveled roads early in the morning is where you can see these. Most of the time someone will stop their car because they think it'll damage all kinds of stuff and move the rock. But honestly, after 900 miles last season I saw 2 rocks to really be of concern. The deer jumping out of the road when you travel something desolate are one helluva lot freakier.

 

Well 11K is a fair bit higher than I ever get around here. So it may well act as you describe normally.

 

DON'T LIVE UP IN THAT PART OF THE COUNTRY ANYMORE, WAS STATIONED IN NORTHERN UTAH FOR SEVERAL YRS. BACK IN THE 80'S,SURE LOVE RIDING THE CANYONS OF THE WASATCH MTS. COURSE DID'NT HAVE THE SH BACK THEN. WAS RIDING 84 GPZ 750 & 87 FJ1200. AS WITH ANY MOUNTAIN ROADS, DEPENDING WHAT TIME OF YR. YOU RIDE WATCH OUT FOR GRAVEL INSIDE CURVES. OH, & THE OCASIONAL MOOSE.

 

I'm in cali right now, but when I return I will look over my maps and point out some of my best rides. Off the top of my head for now.. Highway 36 to 34 all the way to Estes Park is amazing! One of my Fav. rides is from Colorado Springs back up to Denver. Take HWY 24 to 67 through Pike NF to 126 to 285, back to Denver. There is a stretch we call "Horsepower Hill" Ride and you'll see what I'm talking about!!! A Great quickie out of Denver... Ride out to Golden, Take HWY 6 west, then 119 twords Nederland, then hang a right on 72 back tword Golden....fun fun fun! CO has the BEST twisties!