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We had very high winds here all day yesterday. The TV and Internet went down yesterday evening. There was nothing to do here, had to talk to my wife. She seems like a nice person. Internet is back on now but TV is still down. At least with Internet, the streaming services work now. I've been thinking about cancelling the cable anyway. I guess this is a good test.

Hey Jeff, You were already here when I joined in 08'! Your bike was one of the first "Second Gens." I ever saw on this forum. I was truly impressed with you and your bike from the beginning! 160K is nothing to shake a stick at, my friend. You will always be welcome here. There are days when I pass by my garage and just look at my bikes, when there was once a time when I would have been ON my bike! What ever you decide to do in the future Jeff, I am sure you will do it in STYLE, just as you have do it here, Sir. The best of luck to you from Jean and myself! Earl and Jean Harrell.

Sold the 2000 Venture today. 160,127 miles of enjoyment and solitude. The last vestiges of my single life has gone on to another rider. Be well, my friend. Advised the new owner to join up here. We shall see if he shows up. RR

Let's see what I have. Freebird was able to ride my R1200GS Adventure at a Maintenance Day a few years ago. I have added a K1600GT since then for Long Distance duty. Wow, what an engine! I've have an '87 K75C that I bought for son #2 10 or so years ago.

Hope things are going the way you want and hope to still hear from you here!!! You should stay around!! Also hope new owner joins up!

With the Venture being gone, there are a few items that I no longer need (and didn't send along to the new owner). They are in the Marketplace - 2nd Gen Parts. Shim Kit, Colortune, and K&N Air filters. I did throw the lift adapter (with legs) in his truck since he said he will be doing most of his own maintenance. RR

There you go stirring up trouble again you know Mike is the designated leader, I have to ride sweep so nobody will think Trina is trying to jump off when she starts flapping her arms like she is trying to fly. 🤣

Well, I now have another new tractor. Also a year ago, I bought the new Manindra 1626 HST. It served me well for a while. Then I changed stairlift suppliers and the new brand is heavier. As with the other brand, they come 5 on a pallet. Though the pallet with the 5 lifts is only about 975 lbs., the pallet is about 96" long and I have to take them off the semi from the end so there is a lot of weight hanging out on the end. The Mahindra handled the old brand ok but not these. I couldn't get under the pallets and curl it back at all. Depending upon how the weight was distributed on the pallets each time, I usually also couldn't lift them at all. I could get under it and drag it off the semi and it would hold them when it slid off the end. The I would have to get it from the side to carry it to my shop. Scary dragging a pallet off the end of a semi not being 100% sure it would hold it. So, I decided to buy yet another new tractor. The problem is, I didn't want to go with more HP because if you go above 25 HP you have to get the DPF emissions crap. After a lot of research I decided to go with a different brand this time. My last two tractors were Mahindra and I really liked them. Never had a problem with either of them. This time, due to it's better lift capacity, I ended up with a Kioti 2620 HST.; Still about the same HP so no DPF system but about 200 lbs more lift capacity which should be more than enough. It's not a lot more but enough that I should be able to curl it back and lift what I need to. It seems that Kioti has the most lift capacity in this class. It will be delivered one day this week after they get the rear tires loaded. Then I'll put my forks and ballast box on it and do a littler test. I just had a load of stairlifts delivered and am leaving them on the pallet until I get the new tractor here and give it a go. I'm confident that it will be OK though. The good news is that I got a heck of a deal on the Mahiundra 1626 and got within $500.00 of what I paid for it. Here's a picture of what I bought.,

Those BMWs sure are purdy bikes! Pictures would be nice.

I figured I would get a short ride in today before the rain, 121 miles just meandering.

It's all of 80 miles for me and I love it. I get to ride the North Ga, East Tenn. and West N.C. mountains any time I feel like it. east

Only 316? Thats just a short ride

To answer that question I believe a big part of the next generation prefer to live in a Virtual reality, versus reality. When we were young, we talked about the things we went out and did or the sports we played. Now all I hear is talk about what they watch on the boob tube. or the wins and losses they endured on video games. There are times I have listened to them talk about something, only to suddenly realize they are not actually talking about a real life situation but an online pretend one. They talk about a fight, as though it was real, only they did not come home like we did with a shiner , we won in real life scrap, because they were actually sitting at home, the whole time in front of a PC. Cost wise, like everything else pricing is a big factor but than there are always good deals if one looks around on used ,to be found. The other cost factor is insurance. Insurance cost in Canada is ludicrous in comparison the US and forget about adding an extra bike to your stable. Canadian insurance company's want as much for each additional bike, as the first bike, even though you can only ride one at a time. Their justification for this cash grab, is you might let a friend drive it but in reality, how often would that actually happen?

Solved** The plus was originally intended for an audio system which my bike does not have. I found the missing relay hiding in some wiring. I had to fix the headlight wiring as it was messed up from the previous owner but after throwing a new bulb in and correcting the wiring my tail lights and running lights work as they should.

I think the big issues for the touring/baggers are cost and "lifestyle". HD has sold so many people on buying a huge expensive bagger that gets ridden from the owners' homes to the local bar and back. I find myself in a small minority of people who jump on the bike with the intention of not returning for days. With the price of the HD CVO touring bike hitting 51k, Yamaha at 27k and Honda in the low 30K range, not a lot of people can justify that kind of money on a 2nd/3rd vehicle.