I just returned from a 2275 mile tour of Colorado from Baltimore, MD. Yes, I towed the bike it was easier and I didn't want to hear the arguments from my wife over riding out. But I am really happy that I did TOW, just don't tell my wife I agreed with her!

Anyway, I met up with my cousin who lives in Littleton, CO. and we visited all four national parks and a few other places to boot. Overall I will say my 2011 FLHTK performed flawlessly. I started to get a consistent 50-51 mpg per fillup. Now you have to understand, we were filling up on average between 180 and 210 miles done. This was the first time I ever got better than 43 mpg, so I am extremely happy over this, I just hope it continues to get 50 mpg.

Our first long ride was down to Great Sand Dune N.P. and that was 460 mile round trip. The next ride was to Rocky Mt. N.P. going from the back side from Berthold Pass and finishing with lunch at Estes Park. Beat the crowds on Memorial Day Weekend. Then we did a trip up to the top of Mt. Evans (14160 ft), man talk about cold and hard to breathe! Our next trip was to head out to Black Canyon of the Gunnision N.P. an awesome place if ever there is one. We did both the north and south rim tours but didn't do the East Portal Road (which I really wanted to do, but I got over ruled on that one). Then it was off to Mesa Verde and see the cliff dwellings. Then to Grand Junction for the Colorado National Monument. We met up with a couple of other touring bikers and they recommended we take CO 141 outside of Cortez to Grand Junction. That was a great tip. Magnificent road to ride on.

Colorado is a tough place to ride. The weather or I should say the temperatures range from freezing to broil back to sub arctic cold. I am glad I over packed and took my heated gear as well as my hot summer wear too.

I took video of the rides and in the process of editing them and posting on YouTube. Once I get them all done, I'll update and post the links.

 

Looking forward to the vids and pics!

 

The wife and I went out to colorado lsat year.My bike gets 36mpg here in indiana.It was getting 47mpg in colo.Once we were back in the plain states out dropped back to 36.

 

Sounds like a dream vacation. Hope to do something similar next summer!

 

Sorry to say your mileage will drop to what it was before. The altitude makes the bike run much leaner which greatly increases the mpg.

 

Uh, less air at altitude, mileage should be lower. Maybe the fuel is a bit better grade? Did you guys notice any difference in power up here? Colorado is a hard place to beat, can ride flat lands and mountains. Kind of like water sports, you can snow ski and water ski on the same day in Spring/Summer.

 

1st - big thanks jbkrab for the post - would love to ride all over Co, and really appreciate the feedback from the trip. Also looking forward to the videos!

2nd - I did about 20 minutes worth of reading on higher altitude and better mpg, but there were quite a few opposing opinions

 

Actually, I think the better mileage comes from their riding all those 2-lane roads in the mountains at typical speeds of 55-65 mph...or less. Get back on the big road and hold 75-80 mph and your back to about 40 MPG or less, depending on the wind. At least that's been my experience.

 

...... yep.


........ OP, glad you enjoyed riding in the higher state. C'mon back anytime !

 

+1. I'm very jealous. I've always wanted to ride in Colorado but not excited about the ride to get there, with all due respect to the members who live in Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska.... (I don't have a trailer nor a vehicle that can pull one.)