Improving Fiona's MPG Results

Ever since I got Fiona in working condition, she's exhibited very poor MPG results with each tank full of gas.  There having been other more major things to fix on her, it wasn't until very recently I started troubleshooting why she was getting such poor gas mileage.  I'm talking the low 20s!

Several phone discussions with Richard Winter, who's proven a veritable fount of knowledge, led to the theory that fuel was being lost out the overflow hole on the Bing Carburetors.

This, was after I'd verified no sooty spark plugs or exhaust pipes.  We also eliminated the air filter being too restrictive by putting the muffin top air filters Fiona came with, back on.

So today, Richard had me measure the fuel level remaining in the carburetor fuel bowls and they proved to be to high.  It was 15/32nds on the left bowl and 8/32nds on the right bowl, way too high!  As comparison, the fuel level on Brigitta's fuel bowls (same carburetors as Fiona) was 20/32nds from fuel level to top edge of the fuel bowl!

So I adjusted the tang that the fuel needle rests against on each carburetor float assembly and got it to be 18/32nds between the top edge of the fuel bowl and the fuel level itself,  on both of Fiona's carburetor fuel bowls.

Took Fiona out for a test run and she performed well all the way to 65 mph.  It was now time do run her for a few miles to see if the MPG result was better.

I ran her out to past the Town of Parker and used CO Hwy 83 to get to Castlewood Canyon State Park.  I parked Fiona just south of the entrance and got this pic:

Pikes Peak

Fiona and I proceeded onwards for a few more miles, eventually going past the junction of CO Hwy 83 and Lorraine Road where Pikes Peak provides a great background for photos:

For the above three similar shots, which one do you prefer?  Please let me know in the comments section.

Fiona and I then returned towards Franktown and gassed up.  MPG was 24.98!  Much better than the 21.9 she'd achieved in the previous tank full of gas.  Now, of the kilometers accumulated, 50 km had been done before I made the changes this morning.  Oh, and strong headwinds on the way down to the above shooting location too.

After Franktown, I cruised through the Town of Parker and stopped to check out this "modern art" exhibit near the town center:

We then rode over to the ranching neighborhood where I like to pose my motorcycles with Mount Evans in the background:

The day was so nice and warm, I decided to try for a couple of time lapse videos of the clouds above Mount Evans.  Here they are, spliced together into one video:

After finishing the time-lapse videos, we rode on home.  I stopped for gas even though Fiona had only accumulated 30.5 km since the last fill up.  It took .642 gallons to fill the tank which works out to 31.1 MPG.  So a definite improvement!

More tweaking to be done of course, I hope to get the MPG up into the high 30s, low 40s like Richard Winter's Bural rig.

Update: 15APR17.  Next tankful, which comprised city/dirt/highway driving: 23.98 MPG.  

Snowy Morning and a Good Sunset

Yesterday we woke to a little bit of snow in the Metro Denver area of the Colorado Front Range this morning.  The area around my home had perhaps an inch on the grassy areas, but the roads were clear by the time Scarlett and I headed out for pictures.

Temperatures were just north of freezing so I didn't even bother turning on the heated grips until about 30 minutes into the ride.

 Mount Evans in the distance

Pikes Peak was showing up nicely agaisnt

the clear blue skies

After work, Scarlett and I headed out to the usual Sunset watching spot near Quincy Avenue.  The clouds were promising, but I ended up shooting mostly in Sunset Mode on the Sony A5000 camera to bring out the colors more.

Sunset Mode pushes the reds and yellows more within the camera, the actual sunset colors weren't as rich.

The layers created by the clouds reminded me of Tiramisu...

April Fools Day Ride to Perry Park

A bit over seven years ago, I met with a small group of Uralisti for breakfast.  These folks would come to form the core group of the DAU: Denver Area Uralisti that eventually morphed into CZAR: Colorado Zidecar Adventure Riders.

I was still very much a newbie when it came to sidecaring on a URAL you see, riding Natasha at the time, my '96 Ural Sportsman.

Link to the blog report on that initial meeting and subsequent ride with Uralisti:  LINK

This past Saturday, April Fool's Day, we met again as a group, though this time lacking the attendance of Craig and Julie H. who couldn't attend.  We met once again at O'Brien's Diner in Sedalia and for once, I was the last one to arrive.

It had been quite a while since we'd met for a ride.  In attendance were John and Cookie S., Jay and Deana and yours truly.

It was decided to somewhat re-create the riding we did over seven years ago after we finished breakfast.

 Gearing up after breakfast, that's Cookie smiling...

We rode at a pretty sedate pace due to wet weather conditions from Sedalia where we had breakfast and down to Castle Rock where we got onto Hwy 105 via Wolfensberger Road.  There was nice frosting on the trees as we entered Perry Park but active snow fall......yet.

Photo stop at Camel Rock

Jay and Deana

the "youngsters" of our group

photo courtesy John S.

A view of the frost covered small trees

photo courtesy Jay and Deana

We meandered briefly through the rest of Perry Park but there were now

"no trespassing" signs where there had been but muddy/rutted dirt trails.

Progress, I guess.

Conditions were quite muddy as you can see.

I ended up having to engage 2WD to get myself turned around.

photo courtesy Jay and Deana

 A view of the main rock formation of the Perry Park Golf Course 

At the lake in Perry Park

photo courtesy John S.

 In the parking lot of the Perry Park Country Club, the snow was

starting to fall in earnest at this point.

 The view behind us had been quite nice, when we'd first arrived 

at Perry Park.  Now, it was hidden in the dense snow fall that was

ongoing as I took this picture.  

We left Perry Park as it continued to snow on us, still the temperatures were not that cold and we soon rode north of the snow fall into even warmer (seemingly) temperatures.  Our last stop was back in Sedalia by the Buckskin Saloon where HD types congregate during warmer weather.

We accidentally arranged the rigs red-white-blue

which complemented the US Flag behind us well.

The ride was over at this point as we all had stuff to get done back at home.  It was great riding with these long-time Uralisti friends of mine.  I look forward to the next ride, where perhaps we can be joined by members of the CZAR now that nicer weather is in the horizon.

Traded in the RV for a Toy Hauler

We went to Camping World and traded in Umarang, our 24 Foot Motorhome for a 32 Foot Toy Hauler/Motorhome!

No more need for a trailer now, the ramp in the back lifts whichever Ural sidecar rig we decide to bring along and you just roll it into the back of the motorhome!

We're thinking of naming her April....

like in....

...

...


Happy April Fools Day....