Got the treat of taking the 'Burb on a long trip last weekend! Wifey and I, and my BIL/sister had planned a camping trip to Land Between the Lakes in western KY with some friends from Missouri, and since my BIL wanted to ride his '72 Honda CL175 down it made sense to take the 'Burb so we could haul the bike back if it rained or we just didn't want to be limited to the leisurely pace the bike can maintain. So last week I finally broke down and dropped the hitch and gas tank to fix the above-1/2-full leak it'd had since I bought it and put the new straps on since one had broken last winter. After fixing about 10 small pinholes right above the tank seam with JB Weld, I got it all back together Friday and we rolled West. Since I could fill it up now, I finally scientifically checked my gas mileage: exactly 14 on the way down (mostly interstate at 60-65 MPH), 12.7 running around the park all day Saturday, and just over 13 on the return trip due mostly to the extra weight of my BIL and the bike (450 lbs.+) pushing the total weight to around 5,800.
Not a single problem over the whole 540-mile trip, and stretching its legs gave me a better idea how my jetting needs improved upon. I went to .061/.068? when I swapped cams last year, then based on plug color moved down to .054" primary a few months ago and hadn't driven it enough to nail down what more it needed since. Also, for the return trip I replaced the stock snorkel air cleaner lid with a 9" pie pan to see just how restrictive the original lid was - some difference in 40-65 MPH throttle response, but more noticeably a lot stronger pull above 70 MPH and more exaggerated lean stumble as it pulled up from idle to around 2,500 RPM confirming my suspicion it was slightly too lean. I'm sure the 220HP 327 required less air than the 350 does, but the stock lid certainly lacks the capacity to feed the current engine. I think my base timing is just about right now (not sure if the curve is ideal) but I need to come back up a few thousandths on the primary jets. Only lost 1/2 quart of oil over the trip, too.
"Took a look down a Westbound road..." (Name that song.) Looking down the on ramp to the Western KY Parkway:
Everybody (and the bike) loaded up for the trip home:
And the state of my plugs at the end of the trip. Color looks pretty good but the slight surge/chug under load got worse after I opened up the air cleaner, which says it's lean. The dark black around the outside is charred and smooth, not sooty - I'm thinking it's just left over from the days when it was in worse tune. (Plugs are R44T's, by the way.)
