Wind and Snow near the Moffat Tunnel

It was nice and sunny here in the metro Denver area this morning so I thought a ride to capture the Continental Divide mountain scenery near Rollinsville was in order.

It was perhaps 21°F (-6°C) as Scarlett and I transited the metro area using the US6 super slab to get to the city of Golden where we continued on US6 as it became a two lane canyon road with lots of twists and turns as it followed Clear Creek.

There were very strong winds coming at us from both the north and west, winds that didn't help Scarlett's performance as she fought her way through the headwinds and the gradually increasing slope of the road as we gained altitude towards the gambling town of Black Hawk.

After transiting Black Hawk, we were further slowed by the sight of wet looking roads and temperatures in the low 20s.  Never did encounter ice but I still slowed the pace to at or slight below posted speed limits just to make sure.  

I tanked up a few miles south on CO72 from Rollinsville itself.  Moving onwards, I could see the mountain peaks to the west were completely covered by snow clouds; so much for taking pictures of snow-clad peaks!

Still, we continued onwards towards the eastern end of the Moffat tunnel along Tolland Road.  This road was for the most part ice and packed snow covered.  There were more cagers than I thought there would be on this road too.  Apparently, the trails were attracting many hikers and the trail head parking lot was of course near where I was headed.

The winds which had slowed Scarlett and I down since Denver hadn't abated, and now that we were at altitude they were picking up ground snow and throwing it as us in large swirls and eddies.  There were times, in fact, that the blowing snow basically appeared as dense fog.

Still, we made it to the vicinity of the Moffat railroad tunnel's eastern opening with no issues.  The trailhead parking lot was full in spite of the suboptimal weather conditions.

Eastern end of Moffat Tunnel

Sorry for the quality, I was shooting straight into wind-driven snow

particles which stung exposed skin

The high winds caused the 16°F (-8/8°C) temperatures in the area to feel much colder to me so I didn't linger long at the above location.

Scarlett and I motored away from the trailhead's parking lot and I found a spot to pose her so that I could shoot pictures and film while shielding the camera from the onslaught of snow particles carried by the gusty winds.

Here's a one minute video I shot of the conditions above to hopefully give you an inkling of the weather factors.  I would have to say, they were sub-optimal.

We retraced our route back along Tolland Road towards the small settlement of Rollinsville.  The roads on CO72 remained wet looking so progress was cautious on our part until we got back to Black Hawk where road conditions improved considerably.

Instead of heading back to Golden though, we turned from CO119 road onto US6 and  towards Idaho Springs.  We then got out of the mountains by using the US40 frontage road which parallels the I-70 super slab.  

Not much to tell about the return trip, just slab riding with heavy weekend traffic.  I was glad to get home, feeling tired and cold.  

MPG note: outbound: 26MPG inbound 37MPG.  The effect of the strong headwinds on the outbound leg of the riding, as you can see, was quite notable.

Update: We went out, Scarlett and I, to catch today's sunset which looked promising....

New Tires for Scarlett

I replaced the pusher tire on Scarlett earlier this week, got only 6406 kilometers from it with all the highway riding I'd done of late, a bit dissapointing but it really has a lot of load on it while in operation so not surprising.  I could have pushed it to 7000 kilometers but it wasn't worth it to me.

Today, I replaced the front tire.  The original plan had been to use the old pusher tire but it was too worn down so I bought another K37 Heidenau tire.  This one proved to be a bit of a PITA to change out, not sure why.  Managed to tear the inner tube while removing the old tire, damaged the valve stem guide tool and the normally easy mounting of the new tire proved slightly harder than usual.

I chose to replace the brake pads as well even though I still had a bit more wear before reaching the 2mm minimum thickness on the braking material.  It proved, like the tire, to be a bit of a PITA to install the new pads as there wasn't much room even with the pistons pushed back.

Still, got it all done, went out in the evening for a test ride to see if the front wheel would stay on or not....it did.  :)

I stopped at the same spot for sunset pictures but today's sunset was a bit on the "weak" side with snow clouds moving in from the north and also from the front range mountains area.

So, new tires on both the pusher and the front wheel, the SC tire was put on 6400 km ago and it's got almost the same thread depth as the new tires!

A More Colorful Sunset

This past Saturday, Scarlett and I tried for the first set of sunset shots for 2016.  We had a "fair" sunset but it wasn't up to the usual colorful sunsets we've captured before.

This evening I left a bit earlier than usual to see what kind of sunset we would get here today in the great state of Colorado.  Apparently, I'd missed a gorgeous sunset yesterday, based on some of the postings on facebook!

A view of Longs Peak from the normal sunset viewing location.

Mount Evans

As sunset approached, instead of the usual sunset viewing location, Scarlett and I motored a bit further north to a parking lot on the southern border of Buckley Air Force Base.  You get a wide view of the horizon, Mount Evans was visible and on really clear days, you can see Pikes Peak from that location.

Longs Peak from near Buckley AFB

As the sun started to get lower in the sky, the skies glowed with a golden yellow tint....still, it appeared to me at that time that this sunset would not be very special.

Yours truly, waiting for more than just a yellow sunset...

Appearing first as just faint tinges of pink and red edges in the skies above the front range mountains, the sunset rapidly began to show gorgeous colors:

As I kept shooting the western skies, I chanced to look over to the east and saw how nicely it was being illuminated by the setting sun:

The sun went behind the front range mountains and the red colors really started to make their appearance!

One of the last shots, with the last vestiges of sunlight illuminating

the bottom edges of the farther clouds.

I pretty much had left the lights turned on for close to an hour while shooting the 177 images I brought home to sort through.  Scarlett's battery behaved as if drained when I went to crank the engine!  Instead of draining it further, I just used the kick starter and after two kicks, she roared to life.

I also had my jump starter battery kit with me, so no worries.  I must remember though to not leave the battery running so long.  It was just such a gorgeous sunset, that all I could think about is getting shot after shot.

Hope you like this series of sunset pictures.  Scarlett ran good as usual, the two-into-one exhaust headers don't appear to have any more exhaust leaks that I can find.

Scarlett gets the Raceway Services Two-into-One headers installed.

Back in early December of last year, I'd bought Raceway URAL's (formerly Raceway Services) kit to convert my 2014 URAL Patrol from having two mufflers, to just using one, the starboard one.

You see, the stock mufflers on the sidecar rigs made by URAL have what I've come to think of as a design defect.  Nothing safety related of course, it's just that when one's rig is on a rough/rocky trail and is tilted towards the left or port, the muffler sometimes contacts a protruding rock.

Said contact, given enough speed/force, tends to knock one's muffler loose from its connection to the catalyst pipe or even the header pipe.  Quite a PITA to put back in place while on the trail, let me tell you!  I'd taken to carrying a heat-proof glove and a big hammer for just such occasions.

As it is, even when the muffler doesn't get knocked off, it acquires some rather sad looking "dents" and scratches from rock impacts.

Reference pic, the red arrow shows where rocks usually

impact the muffler when rig is tilted to the left because

of rough terrain conditions.

The Two-into-One Header pipes from Raceway URAL allow you to eliminate using the port-side or left muffler and catalyst converter pipe, that links it to the left side header pipe, which goes into the left cylinder head.

The stock header pipes.  The holes you see near

the junction of the header pipes to the cross-pipe are

the oxygen sensor "bung" holes.

The hardest part of the whole install?  Removing the oxygen sensors that were rusted on solid into their mounting holes in the stock header pipes above.  I eventually succeeded in removing them but basically ruined the edges of the 14mm nuts securing them into the header pipes above.  Dammit.

Tried three different 14mm open end wrenches, all were just slightly loose!  Ended up using vise grips and brute force after trying both solvent oil and applying heat as well.  Sigh.

Once past that particular obstacle, all else went pretty much OK.  I had previously purchased a "reducer" to allow for the mating of the new header pipe and the stock muffler which I elected to leave on the right side of the tug.  Darrell S., a fellow Uralista, had previously done this install and had elected to use a HD Sportster muffler for his rig.

I have not, ever, had a rock impact the right side muffler in the almost six years or more that I've been driving URAL sidecar rigs, so I figure it to be a good risk.

I had to cut the right side header pipe from Raceway Ural in order to fit with existing hardware. Raceway Ural ships it to you long, so you make final adjustments as you do the install.

In the picture above, you can see the pipe onto which the left side header pipe connects.

Above pic shows the right side header pipe mounted to

right side cylinder.  Again, you can see the pipe where

the left side header pipe will connect.

Now you can see the left side header pipe connected and

secured onto the right-side header pipe.

Though it was a damn close fit on both ends, I still ended up with an exhaust leak on the trailing edge of the reducer!  Darrell advised using some heat resistant sealant from the local auto parts store and so it was applied.  

I removed the port side muffler and mounting bracket, tightened everything down on the new assembly, took it out for a test ride and everything seems to be good to go!

Here's some pics of the final assembly:

The right side header pipe, linked now to the stock right side muffler

You can also see the Mr COB belly pan which protects

the oil pan.

The left side header pipe, mated to the right side header pipe.

You see see the right-side oxygen sensor's cable near the right-side

header pipe.

Sorry the rig looks so dirty, it gets that way when you go riding in the snow.  What you're seeing is dirt-encrusted accumulations of magnesium chloride on the radiator fins of the cylinder heads.

I am quite happy with this farkle for Scarlett, she's gained about four inches of ground clearance on the left/port side of the tug.  Scarlett is ready for this Spring's Moab gathering, and she won't be leaving her left side muffler on the ground this time!

just look at that new ground clearance!

Notes:

Did not use the new header gaskets provided by Raceway, re-used existing ones.  Wanted to avoid removing the stock header studs after all the "fun" I had with the oxygen sensor mounting nuts.  Using the Raceway gaskets, which are thicker, would have possibly required the longer studs they provide.

Update: 24JAN16.  Replaced the reducer with the one pictured below that I got from O'Reilly's Auto Parts. It's always best to ensure that the flow end goes into the next section, shall we say.  Previous reducer forced the flow out at the join point, no amount of sealant would do the trick.

Update: 28JAN16.  Found the source of the exhaust leak:

 left side cylinder head, this is the stock gasket that

came with the rig.

The defunct gasket, came apart as I removed it from

left side cylinder head, no wonder I was getting an

exhaust leak.

The right side cylinder head gasket seemed "ok" but of course was replaced with the slightly thicker gaskets that came with the new pipes from Raceway URAL.  They'd also included longer head studs but the existing ones were long enough for the stock crowned nuts to grip and be tightened down.

A test ride revealed all the annoying popping and backfiring was gone!