XJ700 trip report: Colorado to Montana and back

My SO and I rode our bikes (her: '85 XJ700, me: BMW R1150RT) to Red Lodge, MT, over the 4th of July weekend and I thought I'd share a few tidbits about her XJ's performance.

In general the XJ performed well considering that we were using it to something it wasn't intended to do - cross country touring. It's fitted with a small, clear handlebar mounted windshield that's perfect for her physique. I also set up her bike with XM satellite radio, she uses some custom molded earplug speakers to listen to tunes, etc.

We rode from Colorado Springs up into Cody, Wyoming, and then into Red Lodge. We also had a slight detour thanks to my not paying attention to which road we took out of Shoshoni. That cost us over 80 miles and well over an hour due to having to double back.

At our first fuel stop (@ 90 miles into the trip, average MPG was 47) she asked if we could bump up our average speed from the 75-80 mph pace to something a little more aggressive. With that request in my mind we got back onto I25 and I set the pace at an average of 90-95 mph. We crossed into Wyoming and not long afterwards I saw her headlight start to fade in the distance. I immediately pulled over and she coasted up to me to tell me the bike just died on her.

I got off and gave it a cursory inspection. The trip meter said we'd traveled a mere 67 miles so I thought it couldn't be lack of fuel. Wrong. On a lark I decided to switch over to reserve and the bike fired up, needless to say we stopped at the next gas station and filled up her bike. At that point I did a calculation and came up with this startling fact; her gas mileage dropped from 47 to 24 just by bumping up the speed about 10mph and having the headwind.

We rode through two rainstorms and lots of wind that 15 hour day. We left at 6:15 and arrived at our destination at 9:10, the trip meter said 742 miles. I was very, very proud of her and the XJ! On the other hand the XJ's small fuel tank is a time killer. We track her mileage and both know that we have to start looking for gas when we're approaching 100 miles. She's gotten to be pretty good at reaching down and switching to reserve on the fly.

I checked the XJ's oil level and noticed about 2/3 Qt of oil consumption and attribute that to the high speeds and heat we were operating in. The XJ's odometer passed the 30K mark on the return leg of the trip, the engine purring all the way.

We left Red Lodge on July 5th with the intention of breaking up the return leg into two easy days. We headed towards Billings, MT, and then stopped at the Little Bighorn National Monument and cemetery. After a tour of the area we then set our sights on Spearfish, South Dakota to spend the night and then ride through Spearfish Canyon before returning home.

Rain clouds started gathering on Wednesday morning but we headed into the canyon anyway. After about thirty miles we stopped for breakfast and when we came out it was starting to drizzle so we decided to cut the sightseeing ride short and head home. That's when the going got tough, wet actually.

We took state highway 85 out of the canyon and headed for Newcastle, Wyoming, but hit road construction after just five miles. We sat at a holding area for about ten minutes while we waited for a pilot car to bring one group through the construction area and just as we were released to follow it south the clouds opened up. We rode through heavy rain for about seven miles before we found a spot to pull over and throw on our rain gear.

That single event pretty much summed up the entire ride back as we rode into and out of a total of five rain storms. It seemed that one minute we were in rain and the next thing we know we're riding in a sauna.

We stopped in Erie, CO, for fuel and to once again put on our rain gear but this time we had to stay under the gas station's awning until the rain let up. The storm was accompanied by nasty lightning so there was no way in hell we were going to leave the protection of that roof!

When the rain and sparks let up, we rode our bikes about 100' away to discuss the route of our last 100 miles. Unfortunately, my SO pulled up right next to me and didn't get her side stand all the way down. No sooner did she dismount then she and her XJ came crashing into my bike. Her leg was caught underneath the XJ so she couldn't get free of the carnage, my RT was stable enough to allow me to go to the other side and lift the bike back up.

The good news was that she wasn't hurt, the bad news is that her clutch lever took the full brunt of the fall. That's it, she wasn't going any further. It was almost 6 p.m. and there were no bike shops around so I called AAA and requested a tow truck. I have the special RV policy that covers motorcycles so about 50 minutes after my call the flat bed truck arrived and loaded her up. I followed on my RT. She was really bummed out at having to finish the trip in a tow truck but I told her she at least didn't have to deal with another rain storm while driving through Denver....

The entire ride came out to just over 1600 miles but her ride ended at about 1500. She said she felt comfortable the entire time but we gotta find her something different to ride. At this point I feel I should tell you that I wanted to drive up to Montana and she surprised me by saying she wanted to ride instead. I commend her spirit and positive attitude through all this and feel lucky to have a sweetheart who's into riding.

 

I enjoy reading posts like this thanks for posting and sharing your adventure with us!

 

Nice post. Its always good to hear stories/adventures on bikes. They are memories that are not soon forgotten. Thanks