I'm takin my Outlaw 500 to the mountains this next week. I know the higher altitudes causes a decrease in the engine power. Any way to bypass this?

 

Any gas engine will lose power at higher altitudes. I crossed Wolf Pass in my GMC with the 6.0L engine at about 10,000 ft. elevation and it made it feel like a 6 cylinder. With a carb. this can be more pronounced and usually requires rejetting the carb. I'm not that versed in playing with carbs. so someone else might chime in and help you out on that one.

 

Since the air is thinner in the mountains, you will be running "rich" with your current fuel/air mixture. The only real way to compensate for that is to decrease the size of your jets. Personally, I don't think it's worth it unless you plan to move out there permanently. I would try to live with it for only a few days worth of use. You shouldn't "hurt" anything. Now, if it was vice-versa - different story because if you go "lean", bad things CAN happen

 

If you are going to deal with re-jetting at a higher altitude I would suggest finding out what altitude you will be riding in and go from there. Some jet kit manufacturers have tech support which could help out a lot with getting it dialed in before you make the trip. You could also call local dealers in the area and see what set-up they are using which will save you a lot of time.

 

Rejetting is the only real way to prevent the loss. I live in Denver and take my quad near 14,000 ft. Get your quad jetted to 7500-10000ft and you will be absolutely fine every where in Colorado.

 

Hope this helps. We have been to utah twice now. Two of the guys had carb quads and all they did was use a hotter plug for the week we were out there. One had a polaris and the other had a older kodiak. We were 11,400 ft up. The only thing they did was not turn them off when we stopped that high to take pictures etc. Otherwise no problems on either trip. Saved allot of time rather trying to rejet the carbs etc.

 

This is really a problem that's why i avoid going to high altitudes.