The back up heated grips worked fine, my regular grips were missing a piece of wiring from when they were removed from Valencia, my 2011 URAL Patrol by the dealer as she was prepped for sale by them. In fact, they got quite hot, quite fast.
My legs felt a bit colder than usual, I really miss the wind protection provided by the leg guards I forgot to pick up at the dealer back on Friday!
The sun rose quickly as I motored southwards on Parker Road, through the towns of Parker and Franktown. The skies were clear and the sun would warm things into the low 30s by the time of the ride's end but the chill would stay with me for a while longer. I think next time I ride in temperatures under 20°F, I will also don my rain gear to block the wind chill's effect.
There's several spots on CO State Road 83, which takes one from Parker to Colorado Springs, where one's view of Pikes Peak is suitable for pictures. I stopped at the first one of these and got these pictures.
The 2014 Patrol, which remains nameless still, performed just fine. She's a little "poppy" when the engine is cold, probably a factor of the Electronic Fuel Ignition (EFI) mapping which still needs a bit of tweaking I think for us riders above 6000 ft in altitude.
Yes, Electrojet (the makers of the EFI system) did test their Electronic Control Units (ECU) at high altitude, but they did it in a plane. I wonder though, how they tested the return to idle behaviour, while in a plane? Still, the rig runs strong and except for the occasional pop from the exhaust while in first gear, no issues were presented.
As you can see, not much snow fell on us in this part of the great state of Colorado. There were patches of ice on the roads, especially in the areas that lie in the shadows of trees; my rig did fine though, since I always slowed down for those.
I hope you liked the first pictures of this rig while on a ride. I got home by 9:30 AM or so and had a late breakfast and coffee to warm up. Not a bad way to spend an early Sunday morning eh?
11 comments:
The rig who remains nameless still needs a name, Dom. Please consult your family or the fellow blogger community for appropriate suggestions. I love the red by the way, and it provides exactly the colour effect that you were hoping for. I can't wait to see more of it. Keep it rolling!
"Poppy" as in popping noises in the exhaust system? If so, still running rich with the higher elevation but that may be intentional during the break-in period.
Looks pretty good!
You could always refer to the rig as the "Lady in Red" from the movie if the same name...
Dom it looks good out on the road.
I like Poppy
Hi SonjaM, the name Luziya, which is the Russian version of Lucy is gaining ground. Martha likes Lucy because the rig is red and Lucille Ball was a redhead....
Poppy as in popping noises RichardM...
Spat, sorry but Poppy isn't in the running for names....to easy to make it Poopy.... :)
Dom:
Lucy is just as photogenic as Valencia. She looks good posed next to or in front of, snow
bob
A weekend photographer
or
Riding the Wet Coast
I agree with Bobskoot - she is just as photogenic as Valencia. Very nice.
Bobskoot, the rig's red color sometimes presents as orange to my eyes....though yes, just as photogenic.
Trobairitz, thanks for your comments.
Beautiful new machine and seeing it against the snow covered mountains is nice. The strongest reaction to this post was "18F". I'm sorry, every microgram of strength I used to have to ride in the cold has left me and I fear I am going to become a fair weather rider. It's not pretty.
Scarlett was my choice of names for the rig -- something akin to someone you may have run into a hundred years ago in a saloon...
steve
Hi Steve, it was a warmer 23F on the commute in but all was well behind the windshield of the rig....even had to turn off the heated grips as they got way hot.
There's no becoming a fair weather rider for you Sir, you got me into this type of riding (well, you were a major contributor)!
Of course, I am but a piker when compared to RichardM.
Scarlett does appear to be leading the poll....
Great pictures of a great bike. I'm looking forward to more of your exploits.
Lucy means "light". Natalya means born on Christmas. Scarlet and Luziya didn't seem to have a meaning. I always feel names should always mean something other than just sounding cool. Each of my bikes have a name picked that is appropriate for the bike.
Good luck picking a name! :D And post some more pictures!
Greetings Unknown,
Luziya is the Russian version of Lucy.
Lucy was a reference to "I Love Lucy" and Lucille Ball, a famous redhead.
Scarlett, besides the commonality with the color Red, was a passing reference to Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind.
Thanks for commenting.
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