I just picked up a '88 TW, and am new to this forum. My normal bike was down for serious work, and I needed to go to Centennial, WY from Grand Junction, CO and back (about 600 miles), and I thought to myself, "What the heck, I'll take the TW."
The bike was a little bit rough, so I had to fix some things, during which I geared it for the highway with a 14T front sprocket and a 42T rear. After some new tires, I strapped on my camping gear, and I was off.
With that gearing, I felt like I maxed out the TW's power, but it didn't feel abusive to the engine. Even loaded, I could cruise comfortably at 45-50 mph, and push it to 55 mph if needed. I stayed on secondary roads for the most part, going through Rifle, Meeker, Craig, Steamboat Springs, and Walden. I camped a couple of nights too, once on the way on Rabbit Ears pass, and then again at my destination with friends at Centennial.
On steep sections like passes I had to downshift and run at 35-40 mph in 4th gear, but I just faded into the shoulder as needed to let faster traffic by. I checked my fuel economy twice, and I got 76 mpg when doing a lot of climbing, and 79 mpg when running more on the level. That's what the 2014 supposedly gets
Not bad!
I used a 110 main jet, but it was too rich above 7,000 feet, which was actually a good bit of the trip... for example, all of North Park. At full throttle, the engine lost power and loaded up, so I had to back off. I've now got a 108 or order to see how that does. Spacing the needle jet up 2 washers is a golden tip I got from someone here. That helps a lot.
The big tires were a bonus during camping, as I needed to ride through some softer terrain where my normal dual purpose bike would have left ruts. Cool!
I'm a new TW fan! It was a fun ride. I'm looking forward to more already...
(Pic is from North Park looking towards Rabbit Ears)
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The bike was a little bit rough, so I had to fix some things, during which I geared it for the highway with a 14T front sprocket and a 42T rear. After some new tires, I strapped on my camping gear, and I was off.
With that gearing, I felt like I maxed out the TW's power, but it didn't feel abusive to the engine. Even loaded, I could cruise comfortably at 45-50 mph, and push it to 55 mph if needed. I stayed on secondary roads for the most part, going through Rifle, Meeker, Craig, Steamboat Springs, and Walden. I camped a couple of nights too, once on the way on Rabbit Ears pass, and then again at my destination with friends at Centennial.
On steep sections like passes I had to downshift and run at 35-40 mph in 4th gear, but I just faded into the shoulder as needed to let faster traffic by. I checked my fuel economy twice, and I got 76 mpg when doing a lot of climbing, and 79 mpg when running more on the level. That's what the 2014 supposedly gets
Not bad!I used a 110 main jet, but it was too rich above 7,000 feet, which was actually a good bit of the trip... for example, all of North Park. At full throttle, the engine lost power and loaded up, so I had to back off. I've now got a 108 or order to see how that does. Spacing the needle jet up 2 washers is a golden tip I got from someone here. That helps a lot.
The big tires were a bonus during camping, as I needed to ride through some softer terrain where my normal dual purpose bike would have left ruts. Cool!
I'm a new TW fan! It was a fun ride. I'm looking forward to more already...
(Pic is from North Park looking towards Rabbit Ears)
