VERY LARGE ARRAY TRIP - Now? Spring?

[NMBeemer]

I will soon be done going through the '84 R100RT I recently bought and converted to an RS. After running errands in Albuquerque several times to make sure things are copasetic (I live 20 miles outside the city), I want to hit The Very Large Array. It's a really fun, surreal place to visit and take photos, have a picnic or grab some New Mexico food in Socorro.

Any classic airhead owners feel like doing a day trip? Maybe converge on Socorro, gas up, eat, then ride the 50 miles up onto the high plateau west of the town to see the Array?

My idea is to pick a day with a high of 50 F. minimum, but obviously I'm behind an RS fairing. So, we might have to put it off until Spring for naked bike riders to feeling like going along...?

[NMBeemer]

Looks like passing interest in the topic but evidently no takers thus far...

I have now ridden the RT to RS conversion (essentially done now, see pics) several times in sub-50 F. weather, and I think I could comfortably sustain the ABQ to VLA ride under such conditions behind the RS fairing with just long johns under my jeans and my down puffy liner under either of my leather jackets (one is a traditional style motorcycle jacket, the other a decent copy of the WWII airman's jacket).

I've caught my first cold since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (those KN95 masks work wonderfully), so unfortunately can't test the theory out this week--which looks like low to mid 50s by midday all the way through. But as soon as I'm able, and assuming a day in the high 40s or low 50s pops up, I will charge up the GoPro and scope out the route, suggest some good New Mexico food restaurants, and snap a few stills of the Beemer at the VLA.

[NMBeemer]

I did what I consider to be the final 'shakedown cruise' today, starting at the Northern tip of the Sandias (1st pic), heading north on I-25 to an early Santa Fe exit, then south down NM14 behind the Sandias (Turquoise Trail), stopping to pay my respects at my late friend's ranch (the NM historian Marc Simmons), and continuing south to have lunch at the Mineshaft Tavern in Madrid, an little artsy community (2nd pic)... and finally ending up back where I started.

Bike was flawless, though I'm of the opinion that these machines would take a l-o-n-g stretch of road to reach the supposed 120 mph mark associated with the fairing design. To be fair, my ride went up from 6,000 ft starting point to 7,500 in Santa Fe and considerably higher behind the Sandias near the crest. So, throttle response while perfectly adequate isn't going to be what it would be at sea level.

Anyway, lots of fun--and I'm ready for the VLA ride!

[therealkennyboy]

Since you are consistently at high elevation, you could lean it out a bit for a slightly better performance (thin air = richer mix, as there is less oxygen in the air). It may not be that noticeable but could help with starting (I vaguely remember the Bing book has elevation charts for needle sizes for the CV carbs?).

I remember riding my '84 RS up Mt Evans in Colorado (highest paved road in North America), about 14K feet elevation at the top, and it was only above about 10K ft that I started noticing performance falling off (given that I was tuned for about 2K ft coming from Arizona).

I've done that VLA ride, coming the other way (towards Santa Fe)--wide open country with big views. It should be a fun ride.

Long term, I think you'll enjoy the RS, especially after a few longer rides like you just did. I think the fastest I ever got my RS up to was about 115 or so (the clutch started fading, had to stop and adjust the throw-out for a bit more grab)--I took it easy after that! Ride safe.

P.S. 'Fairing Pockets' are a great RS-specific product; Google 'em.

[NMBeemer]

Since you are consistently at high elevation, you could lean it out a bit for a slightly better performance (thin air = richer mix, as there is less oxygen in the air). It may not be that noticeable but could help with starting (I vaguely remember the Bing book has elevation charts for needle sizes for the CV carbs?).

I remember riding my '84 RS up Mt Evans in Colorado (highest paved road in North America), about 14K feet elevation at the top, and it was only above about 10K ft that I started noticing performance falling off (given that I was tuned for about 2K ft coming from Arizona).

I've done that VLA ride, coming the other way (towards Santa Fe)--wide open country with big views. It should be a fun ride.

Long term, I think you'll enjoy the RS, especially after a few longer rides like you just did. I think the fastest I ever got my RS up to was about 115 or so (the clutch started fading, had to stop and adjust the throw-out for a bit more grab)--I took it easy after that! Ride safe.

P.S. 'Fairing Pockets' are a great RS-specific product; Google 'em.

Sorry that I didn't see this post earlier...

Yes, ordinarily that is exactly what I'd do, but weirdly the bike presents symptoms of overly lean running--at least in the cold conditions we've been experiencing of late. I have installed new 'manifolds' (the usual suspects just sell slices of fuel filler hose) so there are no longer air leaks. And I have installed new needles and needle jets, and set the height per the usual recommendation--which I believe is for lower elevations. Yet, the bike still runs lean. Indeed, I may insert an intermediate pipe into the exhaust and use my AFR gauge to see exactly how it's running... for now, though, it responds very well except for when it's cold.

Wow... 115 is fast. I have had it up to ~90 mph getting around a semi doing 80+ (really, too fast for a truck adjacent to passenger vehicles IMHO), and it was surprisingly stable. I have heard BMW used the Pininfarina wind tunnel to design the RS fairing, so as to increase downward pressure with increasing speed, and I believe it. The absence of the RT's buffeting and shaking passing semis is striking.

Thanks for the tip. Those pockets look cool.

It's now gotten too cold for this trip. I think we're looking at Springtime--or I am, if no one else opts in.