How Much Will an RE Carry? And Will It cClimb a Mountain?

[scoTTy]

at 149... I think I could do this,,, once the bike is broken in ..

[clamp]

Right then,--I thought I would stick in my two penneth.

    I don't think an Re is a mountain climber,   on the contrary it is a on the flat chugger.

   At slow speed with no wind it will get hot along with the gearbox etc etc.

    Its an old bike and is bought today by geriatrics for nostalgia.

       Oopps now im gonna get it, how old is a geriatric? I might be one muself.

      I certainly did'nt buy the bike with a reason other than that, certainly with no task in mind.

[fun2drum]

Clamp, I'm sorry to hear that your RE is only good for flat roads... you may want to have it checked out.   

[clamp]

It goes on flat roads and up hills ,--little ones, and really enjoys them,--I think.

       But if I wanted to kill it I think that trying to climb a mountain would do it.

     I am quite sure it would go down them ok,--oh no the brakes would get hot.

     I think they make better bikes for climbing mountains.

[fun2drum]

...I think they make better bikes for climbing mountains.

Oh, I'm sure you're right about that, but they don't make bikes that look better doing it.  

[Tiny Tim]

I speak from personall experience.

I give in long before my 500 Electra even skips a beat.

Trust it and go for it. What's the worst that can happen?

Life's for living

REgards

TT

[PhilJ]

The Indians also take the poor little fragile REs into the Himalayas, which by last reckoning a might bit hilly.

[daves02ES]

The Indians also take the poor little fragile REs into the Himalayas, which by last reckoning a might bit hilly.

That's what, over 16,000 ft? I'd just like to take mine up to Mt. Evans at 14,000 ft. Only a 70 mile trip from home (and 7,000 ft climb in elevation and maybe a fouled plug or two).

[bob bezin]

daves about twenty years ago i went up mt evans on a 400cc suzuki riding two up / camping gear. rode from wis. than on to payonia and homeagain nice country you have there highly recommended.

[cyrusb]

Sure, RE's climb the Himalaya's, but at what speed? Are they on a modern high speed roadway?  Is this a fair comparision? If you dropped one out of a helicopter would that count as a speed record?

[fun2drum]

I live in the foothills of the NC Appalachians and there are no modern high speed freeways in the mountainous areas here.  Even Interstate 40, which goes through Asheville, once it reaches the mountains has an avarage speed limit of 60 all the way to the Tennessee line and beyond.  Other than that, there are mostly 2-lane highways and a few 4 lanes with low speed limits winding through the mountains.  That's why I maintain that the RE's are great in the mountains - It's because I ride mine up through them all the time and it's great on curves and going up grades they way they exist here.  There are winding and steep grades in these mountains that are as steep and curvy as any in the world, and I've been on a group ride up though Little Switzerland and the Blue Ridge Parkway where my RE dealer rode two up with his wife on his Classic with no problems.   I wouldn't recommend a RE on ANY interstate system with modern freeway speeds whether it's flat land or mountains. 

[cyrusb]

I guess if the speeds are kept reasonable, and there are plenty of times your off the throttle, why not. But I would not recommend long continuous pulling , it's like a long dyno run. And although it seems many RE's are capable of doing this without exploding, it might be shortening their service life.

[Blue Ridge Wheeltor]

The original poster wanted to know if it was safe to ride home from the dealer on I-40, (70 mph speed limit), climb Old Fort Mountain (always semi's overheated climbing that hill, 7% grade for 5 miles) with his wife on back (400 lbs total) with a new, not broken in bike. I offered him my trailer.
A broken in bike can handle the mountains. This was a recipe for disaster.

[fun2drum]

The original poster wanted to know if it was safe to ride home from the dealer on I-40, (70 mph speed limit), climb Old Fort Mountain (always semi's overheated climbing that hill, 7% grade for 5 miles) with his wife on back (400 lbs total) with a new, not broken in bike. I offered him my trailer.
A broken in bike can handle the mountains. This was a recipe for disaster.

You're right, and your original response to take the two-lane highway without his wife on back for the trip home was good advice.  That 70 mph speed limit goes down to 55 right before hitting the grade, but even if he didn't get on I-40 until the grade starts in Old Fort it would still be torture on a brand new RE.  That was also generous of you to offer your trailer.  It's funny how an original question like that can take on a life of general debate like in this thread, but that's what makes these forums so much fun.   

[geoffbaker]

I think we can all agree on one thing..

an RE will have absolutely NO trouble going down the mountain...