Independence Pass, outside of Aspen CO

[bonedoctor]

Few pics from this summer at the top of Independence Pass 20 miles outside of Aspen, CO on CO 82, elevation just over 12,000ft. The bike is a stock Yamaha FZ1, stock carb jetting. Had a little less zip, but was very surprised how well it ran at this altitude. Can anybody beat this? Let's see the pic!

Even the ol' Kawasaki Vulcan Classic 1500 with big Dynojet jet in the carb and Vance & Hines Longshots made it up and over with two people. Guess they run them pretty lean from the factory.

Here's wishing it was Spring.

[UFO]

Please, 800lbs, 2 people, ran great.
Passes motorhomes on the uphill side.

[UFO]

Are we shooting for altitude? Rockie Mountain National Park 12,500ft

[pashnit]

Great looking bikes guys!! Beautiful Harley!

[OrangevaleFJR]

Originally Posted by bonedoctor

Few pics from this summer at the top of Independence Pass 20 miles outside of Aspen, CO on CO 82, elevation just over 12,000ft. The bike is a stock Yamaha FZ1, stock carb jetting. Had a little less zip, but was very surprised how well it ran at this altitude. Can anybody beat this? Let's see the pic!
.

Yup, Mount Evans, Also Colorado, 14,000+ Feet

The FJR has got the fuel injection so it ran just fine from sea level to in excess of 14k feet

See the bikes in the parking lot?


Here's a zoom


Here we are on top:




Summit marker


Local friend we made:


Colorado rocks!

[bonedoctor]

Sweet! Just what I was looking for. Let's see some more pics!

I think Independence Pass is the second highest pass in the US and the one over in Rocky Mountain National Park is the highest.

I was just really surprised that my bikes with carbs ran fine--sure wish I had fuel injection. The big Kawasaki must come from the factory fairly lean, since I rejetted the carb with two or three sizes up and had V&H straight pipes (did put BigShots baffles in them to quiet them down a little, get a little back pressure)--but this stuff was done in Columbia, MO. Elevation was probably 1000 ft at best. Almost sold the bike back there because I was convinced it would run so rich that the plugs would foul quickly. But it's gone up and over the pass, so who knows?

[bonedoctor]

Originally Posted by UFOFZ6

Please, 800lbs, 2 people, ran great.
Passes motorhomes on the uphill side.

I think somebody's got us both beat.....look in the right background of your photo and you'll see a guy on a road bike. That's a helluva climb without carbs or FI, just a little bit (about 0.25 max) horsepower, but looks like he's headed down the other side towards LeadvilleTwin Lakes. That's a screaming descent!

[bonedoctor]

Originally Posted by UFOFZ6

Are we shooting for altitude? Rockie Mountain National Park 12,500ft

Is that the other pass in the US that's a little higher than Independence? I've heard it's in Rocky Mountain NP over near Denver, but haven't been able to figure out exactly where.

[bonedoctor]

Check out the the bicycle dude in the picture. That Harley's makin' about 70-80 hp, he's makin' about 1/3rd hp!

From the internet:

History of the term "horsepower"
The term "horsepower" was invented by James Watt to help market his improved steam engine. He had previously agreed to take royalties of one third of the savings in coal from the older Newcomen steam engines[3]. This royalty scheme did not work with customers who did not have existing steam engines but used horses instead. Watt determined that a horse could turn a mill wheel 144 times in an hour (or 2.4 times a minute). The wheel was 12 feet in radius, thus in a minute the horse travelled 2.4 × 2π × 12 feet. Watt judged that the horse could pull with a force of 180 pounds (just assuming that the measurements of mass were equivalent to measurements of force in pounds-force, which were not well-defined units at the time). So:


This was rounded to an even 33,000 ft·lbf/min[4].

Others recount that Watt determined that a pony could lift an average 220 pounds 100 feet (30 m) per minute over a four-hour working shift. Watt then judged a horse was 50% more powerful than a pony and thus arrived at the 33,000 ft·lbf/min figure[5].

Engineering in History recounts that John Smeaton initially estimated that a horse could produce 22,916 foot-pounds per minute. John Desaguliers increased that to 27,500 foot-pounds per minute. "Watt found by experiment in 1782 that a 'brewery horse' was able to produce 32,400 foot-pounds per minute". James Watt and Matthew Boulton standardized that figure at 33,000 the next year[6].

Put into perspective, a healthy human can sustain about 0.1 horsepower, and trained athletes can manage up to about 0.3 horsepower for a period of several hours. Most observers familiar with horses and their capabilities estimate that Watt was either a bit optimistic or intended to underpromise and overdeliver; few horses can maintain that effort for long. Regardless, comparison to a horse proved to be an enduring marketing tool.

[UFO]

[quote=bonedoctor]Check out the the bicycle dude in the picture. That Harley's makin' about 70-80 hp, he's makin' about 1/3rd hp!

That's the part I couldn't believe. I got winded just walking to take the picture at that altitude, and these guys would be standing up on the peddles.
BTW, I have a little bit of an unfair advantage. My Harley dyno's at 98hp and 102 ft lbs torque. I tell everyone it has 12,000 feet of horespower. At 12k it runs like it used to at sea level