Riding in higher elavations

So i am doing a fairly long road trip from Chicago, il to Seattle, wa. than back down through Boulder, co. I have an old timer friend who has traveled many a mile on two wheels through most every state. He brought up a potencially valid point about riding from a lower elavation upto a higher elevation, and how that may or may not effect the Carborator on my Swing. My only experience with a large elavation change was driving through the Appalachian Mts, and those are ant hills compared to the Rockies.
Anyone have any experiences with that type of riding? How much of an effect does it have on the Swing? If it does, is it easy to modify the Carb on the fly to account for the change?
Thanks
Brent

Hi Brent,

Don't worry old buddy. Your Silverwing is Fuel Injected.

Thanks Dennis for replying so quickly. My old timer friend is no longer permitted to own 2 wheels, you know, the wife/kids thing. So he is vicariously living through my single young adventurous self.
Brent

BrentS wrote:

He brought up a potencially valid point about riding from a lower elavation upto a higher elevation, and how that may or may not effect the Carborator on my Swing. My only experience with a large elavation change was driving through the Appalachian Mts, and those are ant hills compared to the Rockies.

Anyone have any experiences with that type of riding? How much of an effect does it have on the Swing? If it does, is it easy to modify the Carb on the fly to account for the change?

I do not believe there is an issue with a stock (non-Power Commander) Silverwing.

I have a Power Commander and had my Silverwing dyno'ed with a custom map by Johnny Cheese. He said the map would be good up to 6,000', so at the higher elevation I may revert the map to the zero map (original) to avoid any problems.

Brent,

I live in California now, but am an Illinois native myself, and I have had mine up to about 7,000-8,000' heights going up to Lake Tahoe and I didn't feel any difference whatsoever. It had plenty of power and did great. This was when I still had the stock screen, stock variator, and no Power Commander. So don't worry..you will have no problem at alll. Take some pics and but them in your own folder that you can create in the "Album" section. We would like to see pics of your Swing and of your rides.

One of the joys of FI is that regardless of the elev. the FI automatically adjusts for changes in elev. I live at 3200' and often ride at 7000'+ elev. No diff in performance at all.

BrentS:
Your trip sounds like great fun and your Swing should have no problems with elevation changes along the way. I live in Littleton, CO (elevation 5,800) and regularily go into the foothills and even over some of the passes that are over 10,000 feet above sea level. I have noticed a drop in power above about 8,000 or 9,000, but every vehicle on the road will experience a similar power loss, so relatively speaking, you will still be one of the quickest vehicles on the road. It was the power loss at elevation that prompted me to modify my Swing to enhance the engine performance. In particular, the J Costa helps by boosting the engine rpms into the power band, so you can use the available horsepower and torque when you are climbing hills. Hope everything goes well on your trip.
DCC

I routinley ride between 2000-4000 feet. Never noticed any appreciable loss in power. Occasionally, I ride to roads approaching 6000 feet such as Blue Ridge Parkway, Roan Mountain, Grandfather Mtn., etc... Again at this speed (usually 45-50), I've never noted any appreciable problem with loss of power although they are slower 2 lane roads. I use a power commander map from Bill that has worked well for me at these elevations as well as the lowlands. I've never noticed any type of symptom or behavior from the bike that would suggest an elevation issue. Maybe some of you who have ridden higher out in the big boys out west have noticed more on this in terms of powerloss?