cowpuc

INDEED!! Thanks for keeping us in the loop Mike!! Thoughts and prayers as you continue to improve = the summer of '18 finds you right back out there CTFW my friend!!

,,, I'll grab my pick ax, compass and strap on headlight,,,,, you grab your M-16 and a few of those Tater Mashers with the little pull pin in em and cover my back while I go to diggin... We'll dig er up,, drag er home,, toss in a bore job, reset some new crank bearings, do a quick 3 grind on the valves, toss on one of the Wardens couch pillows for a seat and we'll ride that ol Beezer till the cows come home bro!!!!! 46? Was that Plunger frame? Man I LOVE the looks of those old plungers (loved those Amen Save Your Back chop frame plunger spin offs of the 60's = 1/4 inch of travel but WOW were they purdy).... Yea,,, I'd dig for a 46 Beezer DanL'!! ,, remember the cases on those old scoots?? They were made of this strange pot aluminum that was almost sponge like.. I swear,, things would "sweat" oil right thru the cases :banana::banana: Now THOSE were some off beat days of metalurgy I tell ya:happy65: I betcha @Hoss out there in Brookings, South Dakota could verify that which I speak of... I happen to know he loved and rode some of those older Brit Bikes... Just a minute here,, let me see if I can find a video of one or two he still has!! Oh my goodness,, I LOVE this Video!! This club of ours is FILLED with amazing people and that Hoss is right at the top of that list IMHO..

,,,, ,,, ya know Raf,,, now that mention it ,, never noticed that before but I gotta say,,, yea,, I get your :witch_brew: drift here.... Good thing our bike club aint one of those 1% outfits cause if it were,, :stickpoke:MOTOR MUTINY would definitely be in the makings... Now dont get me wrong here,,, I totally understand your comment about the 2nd Gen thing too BUT,, I am not so sure those 2nd Gen riders seen pulling trailers in the vids below wouldnt say something like = 2nd Gens pulling trailers :banana::banana:,, 2nd Gens being pulled in a trailer and there is more of them then there are of us so,,, well,,, so maybe just changing the pic over to,,,,,,

Hot Dang Stang = TOTALLY 100% endlessly AWESOME!!!!:clap2::clap2: You definitely had Tip, Tweeks and I in total with this one brother!! Wayyyyy cool!! Cept now all the three of us wanna do is go back to in a bold attempt to picking up the dream where you and that gorgeous scoot of your left off = CTFW!!!!!! Soon mate,, very very soon!!! Thanks Stang!!

Hey Roller,,,, her name was Olivia,, :95:,, I ,,, ,, miss her soooo much.. Here,, just to satisfy those wanting pics and I total respect for your inability to provide such because your viewing is being done via T.V.,, I will supply those varmints with pics BUT - it's hard cause I do miss her endlessly:bawling:.. But I still got lots of Pics n vids!! 20k for a WLA is actually a good, fair price from my experience.. I actually had a Harley shop offer me a brand new Ultra even up for Olivia but didnt do it cause I was planning on keeping her for ever but,, then life happened.. Ended up pretty close to the number you are seeing in the Auction which worked out ok for me I guess cause I still have access to her from the guy that bought her and lives down by Dons (thinking you may have met him at that Steak House during Maintenance Day?).. I had a LOT of interaction with Mid-America Auctions out in Vegas years ago (probably the predecessor of the "Mechum" deal happening now).. The Vegas Auction was always the benchmark for antique scoots and they produced a "blue book" of activity that most of the country's builders lived by in assisting for determining expected ROI for builds.. I wouldnt doubt that the same thing is going on now but I have no facts to support this as I have been out of the trade for a while.. I also used to deal with "Walnecks" A LOT back then.. Walnecks produced a regular monthly magazine that was laid out somewhat like the Auto RV book of today that you may or may not be familiar with?? The Walnecks magazine was sort of pricey though (I think non-members paid 10 or 12 bucks magazine) and was never a freebie like Auto RV.. I advertised regularly in Walnecks and did very very well with them.. During my shop years, when Walnecks sat on the center table in my office,, I know that a person could easily find exactly what they were looking for by just shopping a couple mags seperated by, say 3 months of time = ANY THING and EVERYTHING was available!! I think Walnecks sold out a few years ago,, not sure,, but it may be worth some leg work into them in an effort to locate the 350GTO you are looking for.. Speaking that Bridgestone,,, I also LOVED those scoots!! When I was a kid there was 1,, yes ONE Bridgestone in our hometown = it was a little 100cc two stroke and baby - did it FLY!! The struggle for Bridgestone in my area was they just didnt have the shop support.. The only dealer we had in our area was a Hardware store that basically sold lawn mowers as their only other gas operated machinery.. They had no repair facilities of any sort, while other metrics, European, HD's and even Sears/Montgomery Wards/J.C. Penny's and other mail order joints had some kind of service shops and parts houses = not fair but the way it was.. I am VERY familiar with the 350 though = WOW they were GORGEOUS and,, if memory serves me from a couple I had many years ago,, they were rotary valve motors like the Kawasaki's which made for a very performance orientated scoot.. I used to play around with modding the rotary valve (like port timing a conventential 2 stroke) on those scoots = make em pipey as all get out but WOWZY when they hit = HANG ON!! Anyone who has ever ridden a properly modded Kawi H1 or H2 triple will know what it took to hold em on the ground... Brother Roller,, I dont out much these days but every once in a while .. Will DEFINITELY keep a weathered eye out for that 350GTO for ya to spin wrenches on my friend!! Ya never know what may show up around this joint!! Pics n Vids for those lop eared varmints who cant read...

Hey Doc,,I clicked "like" on this comment of yours not because I glory in your suffering but because I LOVE talking bikes and LOVE reading about progress like it sounds like your making with your machine.. Sounds like little by little your getting that puppy sorted out and before long,, she will be ready for endless cross country Chasing Of The Front Wheel (CTFW) like it and you deserve!! Much like I did when you first inquired as to how you should approach the question of to buy or not,, I am gonna respond here with what I would do concerning the clutch slip.. Once again,, please be reminded that I have never owned a 2nd Gen like yours BUT - have fired a few shots with the 1st Gens so maybe - or maybe not - this will help.. If that bike were mine and I was experiencing clutch slippage the first thing I would do is look closely at the hydraulic resivore/master cylinder up on the clutch perch.. I would move the bars up to get that res as level as possible, put rags under and around it to protect the area from fluid spill (stuff is nasty) and then I would pop the top on the master... Looking down into the master and staring at the bottom of it I would locate the two holes in there.. Knowing that the forward most hole (toward the headlight) is the return hole for the fluid, I would gently and carefully and softly squeeze the clutch lever and release it (takes a little finesse cause this action can result in a SQUIRT right into the eyeballs so be gentle - practice makes perfect here - sort of like locating a vein for sucking blood from a patient) looking for reactivity from that forward return hole.. Having experienced a slipping clutch because of the return hole being plugged - I wouldn't leave testing this area until I KNEW that all was functioning properly here.. If the fluid is browned (water soaked and cooked to a crackly crunch) and/or there was an accumlation of garbage in the bottom of the master I would proceed with a clean and bleed with fresh fluid - doing so on a regular basis actually insures many miles of smiles and can keep you from having to do this out in the middle of nowhere and borrowing fluid from the other resivores on the bike to get you out of the woods so to speak - make sense? Also,, if the clutch master is nastyly contaminated - more likely than not = all the masters are and ya may as well do em all - I would.. If this doesnt clear up my clutch slip, I would proceed to redoing the clutch.. If the clutch has been spun it is probably glossed from being spun on so I would just order up new plates as well as the new spring (on the 1st Gens = multiple springs that look like valve springs,, your scoot may be a diaphram spring that consist of one big circular spring).. Having done clutches both ways,, by replacing the little half plate with a whole plate and also going back to stock by replacing the half plate with another of the same,, I would opt for going right back to OEM - I like the "feel" of the stock set up and I especially like where the clutch lever ends up in engagement (perfect for my style of clutch/throttle/brake control for slow riding) but that is my personal preference.. My current bike has a complete aftermarket system in it and YES,, it holds SOLID all the way thru all its gears and all the way out to top speed while all geared up for touring BUT - the engagement spot on the clutch lever is right out at the end of the lever throw and it takes an extremly sensitive touch to maintain stop/go slow riding without duck walking the bike. There,, thats my lecture,, now lets once again see what the real guru's advise here .. Thanks for the chance to again though,, felt good,, felt really really good!! LOVE THE SCOOT DOC!! Puc

Cory,,, if it were mine this is what I would try.... If the key is broken off in the switch and I needed to ride it like it is to get to my toolbox I would carefully take a flat head screw driver and see if I could place it into the switch and get a good enough grip that I could rotate the switch into the on position so I could start the bike. The broken key inside the switch should be holding the tumblers open and allow for this.. Before I would go thru the hassle of removing the entire switch to fix it, I would dig out a couple of dental pic's (available cheaply at Harbor Freight if you dont have a set) and, with the switch in the off postition, carefully contact each side of the broken edge of the key and lift it out.. I have done this many many times and it works great.. Be careful once you have the broken piece out that you dont lose it.. I would take the broken piece to a lock smith and have him cut me a new key from the broken one.. Something to remember about that ignition key is that all the locksets on your scoot are probably keyed to it = all take the same key.. Another thing to consider is that these keys are not steel (brass under chrome) so you cant use a magnet to remove the broken key - just gotta use patience and those pics.. Puc

:lightbulb::lightbulb::lightbulb::lightbulb::lightbulb: You DID IT @Condor,,, YOU are a GENIUS my brother!! You single handedly discovered the answer to that life long timeless question of "WHY DO WE RIDE?"!!!! The answer we have all been searching for = "TO ESCAPE OUR ACCUMULATION OF STUFF BACK HOME"!!!! :bikersmilie::7_2_104[1]:

WOW Boss,, isn't life just AMAZING = so much truth in that saying of "to live is the greatest adventure of all"!! I hope you know that Tip and I will be supporting you folks in both thought and prayer as you set out on this great move!! WHAT A RIOT!! When I was just a little varmint I remember the sites, smells (seriously, I LOVED the smells) and sounds of bike shops.. I always LOVED the joints and always knew deep in my heart of hearts that someday,, somehow I was gonna end up owning and operating a full blown shop of my own = as President Trump mentioned in his recent awesome SOTU address = American's are dreamers too and owning a bike shop of my own was my dream.. Throughout the years of working in shops and in The Trades as a Welder the rush of the smell's and sounds of bike shops never left me,, the passion grew.. Tip and I would talk for hours about The Dream and, even though she chose to stay home and home school our children and knew I would never ever relax in my responsibilities of providing financially for my family - she always encouraged me in someday seeing the fulfillment of The Dream.. As time went on and we, as a family became more secure,, I felt the calling even stronger.. I had friends who attempted self employment and failed due to not understanding business and,, as @FlyingFool pointed out - they had no idea of management = COMMON MISTAKE.. I had a very successful business mentor during those days who strongly suggested my return to College to gain business knowledge - with 4 kids, a wife and a home to support - I took advantage of night classes at our local 2 year Community college - finished my Associates Degree and went on to a University to complete my Bachelors Degree (2 of them,, one in Management and the other in Marketing) = finished at 44 years old!! Got scarfed up by a big company shortly there after, took my Plant Superintendent sign on bonus and opened my shop.. Few years later as business grew = stepped out completely into The Dream - never looked back = BEST years of our lifes!! Besides being blessed with a few very good employees (no one will run your business like you do though), I got to have my kids work for me too cause child labor laws dont apply to family businesss LOL .. One of them who is a Medical Doctor out in California now will openly say that she got her start in the Medical field by doing carbs for her Dad at "the shop" = true.. Now,, because of some continual medical stuff,, those day are behind us.. I did learn some things though that may or may not be of use for you.. 1. If what your doing is a passion and you either have good management skills or are willing to listen to the counsel of those that do = it is fairly hard to not succeed.. Unlike working for someone else = self employment is 24/7 though,,, no time clock mentality allowed though.. 2. Customers are amazing people!! My customers were always an extension of my passion for bike shops and motorcycling... Helping people can be wayyy more rewarding than $$ for time.. 3. Just because tax write off's are there and they increase your short term profitability does not mean that its prudent to take them.. Paying the taxes on a large income for a couple years can greatly increase your Monthly Social Security amount when that day/time arrives.. Setting up your business as an LLC and working with your spouse as staff members can be a great way to protect and also be very lucrative for your estate.. Given,, working for your wife after she becomes "President of Operations" can be an exciting adventure in itself = it truly is not that bad!!! 4. The freedom that comes with the fulfillment of The American Dream can be endlessly rewarding (and it should be).. Little things like just the opportunity to now be the one to choose whether or not you and your wife will both be attending trade shows or out chasing prospects while CTFW is AMAZING!! I LOVE what being my own boss did in my/our lives and the quality therein.. I found that the only only limit to accessing and realizing that Freedom was that of my own personal motivation.. I guess what I am saying by that is that, at least from my perspective, unlike in socialist countries or other environments where we are cared for, fulfillment of "The Dream" I am talking about depends totally on you - no one else,, it's an independence thing.. Lack of accepting personal responsibility or lack of motivation to succeed is the cause of failure - nobody is gonna do it for you and you only get out what you put in = the buck truly stops with you.. Bottom line brother,, I am VERY happy for you and excited for you because I know how from observation just how motivated you are and how much fun you and Eileen are headed for!! WOW, this is AWESOME Don = congrats my friend!!! JUST AWESOME!!

If you would jump on Tinker this summer and scoot up here to Michigan for one of our VR Hot Dog extravaganzas where Ventures roam freely and Hot Dogs are an endangered species,, I would GLADLY demonstrate how true that statement right there is Snype!!!!

Just read your P.M. in my email a moment ago Zzz and gonna answer it here in case others are following along = dont wanna confuse anyone (I am the sort that has no problem doing that).. After trying many different products to repair those diaphrams, thru trial and error I found YamaBond#5 to be the most useful and have ran many thousands of miles now on repaired with YamaBond diaphrams.. The Yamabond is not perfect though.. A number of years ago we were out playing in the mountains of Utah and one of my 1st Gens ended up on its side and we ended up having to roll it all the way over to get it upright (these things are way to heavy to lift uphill with).. As a result,, among other things, I crushed my right saddle bag and ended up binder twineing it back together and coating it with RV silicon sealant.. Last year on the way home from Americade the three of us ran into some of the heaviest rains we have ever ridden in out in N.Y... I am one of those who speed up in the rain to stay dry and in so doing we hit flood water so hard out near Speculator NY that the impact of the water actually nocked Tip's feet off Tweeks pegs.. The next day we were getting gas and I noticed a steady stream of fluid leaking from Tweeks Maintenance Dept. (right bag - the patched one).. After tasting the water to make sure someone hadnt remounted Tweeks radiator inside that bag and it had sprung a leak, I told Tip that I thought my old roll over patch had finally let go and that Tweeks Maintenance Dept. was flooded out from the previous nights excursion.. I open it up and sure enough,, there was a wide open 2x3 inch hole making me thankful that I keep most of Tweeks tools safely lodged inside of a tote bag in there (ironically, even that weather proof bag was leaking water).. Being not impressed with what I found with the RV silly cone patch and a sort of an adventuresome sole,, I set forth to locate a better roll over repair product.. Gonna sound nuts here but I actually found the E6000 at our local Meijers grocery store!!! I was impressed with what I read on the tube so I decided to give it a shot.. WOW was I impressed (as shown in the vid).. It was after the patch on the bag that it dawned on me that the stuff may very well be the next step in quality Diaphram repair - possibly even to the point of actually molding a whole new diaphram around an existing old one (I am one cheap varmint). As shown in the vid, I LIKED what I saw in the one little repair I did BUT = I still have NOT tested the final product in the gas soaked area where the diaphram resides.. Zzz,, your slide assemblies are on their way and should be there by Monday.. Dont worry about $$'s,, glad I could help and hopefully the parts somehow do just that.. I would ask though that if you do follow-up on the E6000 experiment that you report back here with how it all works out and how the product holds up.. I, for one, would be VERY INTERESTED in knowing what you find out!! By the way,, if memory serves me correctly,,, videoarizona commented about that E6000 back when I posted that video for Bongo and mentioned something about using a LOT of that product years ago (I think it was in road construction or something) and supported the thought that the stuff was really amazing!! Hope it all works out and all us of gain yet another little more insite into ways to keep these amazing machines out CTFW if you decide to attempt an E6000 diaphram rebuild!! Puc ,, what da heck brother,, your either Phycic or your hooked into our EchoDot machine and friends with Alexa or something?? As crazy as this may sound,,, Tip is a endlessly marvelous Menards rebate couponder and Menards had some AWESOME precision screw driver kits for $5 after rebate (AMAZING little set!! you should check it out if you have time Stang!!) that was hanging not to far from a freezer full of precooked, BBQed pork ribs... WOWZY were those ribs calling my name... Of course,, a package of those ribs followed us home and of course,, they ended up resmothered in some sweet n tangy Hawian BBQ and getting the quick over under the broiler by Tip (she spoils me something rottin)... Now get this,, just this morning with my breakfast eggs that Tippy pulled one of those little bags of Baby Back Ribs double SOAKED in BBQ sauce out of the freezer and they ended up on my plate!!! Little by little,, getting the weight back on!!!!!! DEFINITELY headed in the right direction !!!!!!!!!!

:scared:OUTSTANDING @VentureFar!!!!! :dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::clap2::clap2: Man,,, you don't Monkey around (inside joke ) when it comes to jumping right in and taking off on a new scoot!! GOTTA LOVE YA MY BROTHER!! Can not WAIT to read your take on the 'Luder... For those who cant read here,,, lots and lots of 's would also be GREATLY appreciated (actually,, as you all to well know,, your buddy here in Michigan is the main culprit always beggin for 's).. This will be awesome!! Ride safe and do us proud Neil!! P.S. = please tell that awesome neighbor of yours THANK YOU again!! JUST FLAT OUT AWESOME!!

Oh man,,, Prayers Up my Texas Hero brother!!! Will be lifting you and your family up with thoughts and prayers while your out pounding the pavement ISO of a new job John.. Always thought it was easier to find work when working = even flipping hamburgers or doing volunteer work looks better than "unemployed" to a lot of Managers.. Just a thought,, hope the search is short lived:fingers-crossed-emo!!! GO GET EM BIKERJOHN!!!!

Shotgun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

,,, if I had me a great big gorgeous scoot like that I would ride it till the tires fell off,, stop and spoon on another set and do it all over again!! That there is one purdy machine - little bit tuning and preppin and she would be ready to earn some stickers IMHO!! Congrats Doc,, glad it all worked out!! Puc

900 pounds of Venture vs 6 ounces of tent fabric! :witch_brew:= look out campers,, YammerDan's got a piece of dirt in his eye and his scoot is using the force to locate its camping spot!!! Would LOVE to make this one!!! Tip has yet to do one of Don's MD's, Tweeksis has some new stickers to show off and I got some fresh scars to compete with Yammer Dans scars, a score to settle with Frosty, a BRAND NEW tent to break in AND I still think I can easily one up Carl in the huggin contest....

They are not perfect but should get cha by.. I know I would find a way to use em longggg before I would pay more for parts than I usually spend on my actual bike purchase Anyway,, the pics are what I have and the vid is what I was gonna use em for (the one I have in the vid is in the Maintenance Dept. on Tweeks side and still has not been tested in fuel) = good ol fashioned science experiment as it were = strip em down,, seal em up, put the best needles in em from what you have and what is hanging from these slides (you will want to check em closely for sure) and hopefully run em out another 300k!! Send me an addy Zzz and I will send em to ya to see if you can use em...

Indeed!!! GORGEOUS SCOOT Rick = just flat out GORGEOUS IMHO!! Fact is,, Harley has come a long long ways (see vids) since the days of the Flatheads, Knucks, Pans, slab side Shoves, Cones, Evo's, Twin Cam's and now the new "8"s ... It's been an amazing progression to be part of.. I LOVE the Ultra's and the Limited in that color is actually one of my very favorites.. It is also down right AMAZING the amount of those gorgeous HD's that now can be had at very reasonable prices (considering what they and their competition like the Polaris and the new Venture cost new) = talk about a saturated market.. I look at a beautiful machine like you just picked up that isnt even broken in yet and it's 5 years old and I just ... What on earth is that about,,,,, never ever made sense to me and, knowing you,, I bet you feel the same way.... Nice though cause WOWZY = look what you got = BROTHER THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!! Have fun this summer!! Puc

:scared:no idea if what I am seeing is accurate @TTrax (joined in '14 and this is your 1st post?) but if it is = THAT right there is one of the most awesome 1st posts I know of!! BEAUTIFUL pics or some AWESOME Chasing Of The Front Wheel!! Thanks for joining in!!!

I just stepped out in the garage and asked Maggie the R1 what she thought about this.. Her words? "They put that thang on my back they better double tie wrap his hands on the bars and super glue his feet on the pegs cause I will buck em off so fast when he wicks me up that he'll be in worse shape than C3PO after the Empire got done with him at Landeau's joint after he hits the pavement"

Not that I am aware of Larry,,, I would LOVE to meet him again = VERY nice fellow to chat with and extremely trusting type of guy to let an has been like me who pulled up on a beat up old venture jump in and try to fix the scoot he was riding.. Sylv,, for the life of me I cant remember the guys name.. It is my fault too,, he told me what it was but my focus was on that GORGEOUS scoot he was riding.. I will say this,, I do know that he told me who he was and that he did not actually own that old Harley and that he was JUST "the rider" = just .. This "Cannonball" thing is totally amazing = people from all walks and 100% up my very narrow band, single track life long motorcycle gearheaded alley in every way.. Out there on the CTFW road, old or new,, rich or poor or even what type of scoot we ride = we all become brothers = true members of the Brotherhood of the Open Road..

:95::95: Prayers Up for Lari's family and friends as they work thru this great loss.. Good grief,, I have said before and I will say it again,, I am not a normal everyday hateful person but this good for nothing Cancer stuff = yeah,, I HATE IT!!! R.I.P. and Godspeed Lari.. Thanks Rand for the FYI...

First things first = = glad you found us Doc!! 2nd things 2nd,,,, yippeeeeeeeee,,, a thread about motorcycles,,,good grief I LOVE talking bikes!! Unfortunately though,, I have never owned a 2nd Gen Venture so you probably will want to take what I have to say here with a grain of salt and maybe even allow some elbow room for any corrective :Im not listening toyou and I might get from the 2nd Gen guru's around this joint... Understand,, my points to ponder come from some experience with the 1st Gen Ventures.. This is what I would do... I would call the owner on Craigs to set up the look over and I would ask him to please not start the bike = I would want it cold.. When I got there I would reach down and feel the jugs to make sure it was indeed cold.. I would turn the key on and listen for the electric fuel pump to cycle thru,, I would also pay attention to how the electrical system comes up when I rotate the key to "on" as I have heard the 2nd Gen's have had some issues with key switches.. I would then toggle the kill switch off and then back on and listen to the fuel pump again.. I would do this until the pump slowly cycled off signifying the bowls are full.. Key off, I would then look at the carb overflows to any sign of fuel leakage,, pay attention to gas odors too.. I would then pull the choke, key on, kill switch on, hit the starter and with the throttle closed she should fire up nicely. Let it idle and slowly slip the choke in after just a couple minutes,, as soon the bike idles on its idle circuitry I would spit check the headers to make sure it is hitting on all four.. Next I would check the bikes charging system by asking the owner to "blip" the throttle while I watched the headlight = it should brighten up noticeably as the R's come up off idle.. You can also do this alone easily if the bike is in a garage that you can bounce the headlight beam off from.. It may help to click the beam onto highbeam first.. Now I would shut the scoot back off, sit in the seat and roll it back and forth to feel its resistance to roll.. Next I would squeeze the front brake hard enough to not be able to roll it and release the front brake expecting it to return to free roll indicating no sticky caliper.. Do the same with rear.. Now I would squeeze the clutch lever and hold it in for 15 or 20 seconds paying attention to resistance and feeling for clutch action.. Then I would release it and do the same again to see if I notice change = checking the hydraulic clutch system.. Now I would bounce the bike up and down some forcing the rear of the bike to stroke thru on the rear shock.. I would then take a peek under the rear of the bike in front of the rear tire and locate the bottom of the rear shock. I would look very closely for any sign of oil leakage around the bottom of the rear shock.. I would at least smack the tires to make sure they seem to be aired up fully.. I would also take a peek at the rear brake rotor while down there and see if it agrees that the bike only has 45k on it (amount of wear edge on the rotor). Now I would crank er up and head on down the road if the guy would let me ride it.. I would get out of sight of the owner, put er in 2nd or 3rd gear and wick er up - she should run like a scalded dog (I know my 1st Gens do and the 2nd Gens I have ran with run almost as strong as my 1st Gens) = this is a good test for carb diaphrams.. IMHO,, the fuels we run now adays are with their alcohol content are very hard on diaphrams.. Doc,, I am on my 6th 1st Gen since 87.. Although a completely different model (not as cool looking as the 2nd Gen's) the 2nd Gens are pretty much the same engine internally/drive train with total Yamaha quality (did you know that Yamaha has held the top notch for bike quality for many years?) and I gotta tell ya = the durability of these machines and their far rider friendliness is uncanny.. The side covers that were on my original Blonde 84 Royale that I bought in 87 are still in use on our current 83 and those side covers have over a million miles on them... 200k is pretty much a standard and I have seen 300k plus on a couple of mine with out much more than lots of brake pads, LOTS of tires,,, 2 fuel pump failures, a half a dozen stator failures after upgrade (the upgrade thing was a 1st Gen thing) and keep this in mind = all but this latest 1st Gen was ridden out to those high miles with blown second gear - no joke = short shifting skipping 2nd for 10's of thousands of miles and other then having to "click-click" = never even really missed having 2nd!! Loaded up,, riding 2 up and that little V-4 pulls like mule strong enough that 2nd wasn't even needed!! THEY ARE AWESOME ENGINES!!!! O.K.,, I'll shut up,,, I know I talk to much (wait till you come out to one of our club rallies and meet Marcarl or Saddlebum though,, like a couple cackeling old chickens ... Before I go though,,, everything mentioned before I commented here is spot on IMHO.. Doing those and everything I wrote should take no more then 30 minutes of your time.. Personally,, even if I found some of thing wanting I would still grab the scoot and not be afraid to invest some $$'s into it to make it worthy! Usually, once these scoots are sorted out they are the best of the best for long riders and amazing around town bikes too.. Fingers are tired,, hope it all works out,, high potential for a GREAT scoot at a really good price my friend... Puc

ANOTHER AWESOME FIND HERE RIV!! Fool is thinking like I am thinking and following on your idea of a locking pin!! Some form of device so you can have it be either a traditional side hack or this AWESOME free mover!! GOOD NIGHT to I LOVE the looks of this thing!! It would DEFINITELY be a blast in the twisties!! Years ago Honda built a moped called a "Gyro" which I had a number of.. The Gyro was a three wheeler (two rearward) but was special in that it had a lock handle on the front downtube that you could release and it became a "leaner" = WAYYYYYY FUN!!!! The added stability was nothing short of amazing... Honda only made em a couple years (good $$ return = very collectible) as I imagine, like anything else = kids got kind of daring on them BUT - they were awesome in the corners.. I got a hunch that, couple with the SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAZAAAZZZ of that 1600 Beemer - oh yea,,, look out twisties = no more chicken strips for us geezers!!! As far as the K1600 goes - I am hoping to get ride on one as soon as the weather breaks... I definitely still dont get the 101 mph speed limiter on the new Grand America (makes about as much sense as Mom Yam going air cooled IMHO) cause I just couldnt take having some kid on a Honda scooter or a beat up old HD 883 Sporty or even a good running 250cc go flying by me at 102 mph BUT = that unlimited GT1600 with Tweeks top box tie wrapped on,,,,,, yea,,, that would work!! GOOD GRIEF that 1600 sounds AWESOME!! Ya know,, been reading a LOT about the new Wing too.. NICE SCOOT!! Right in the same ball park $$ wise as the new Venture and (unlike Mom Yam stepping back in time) WOWZY did Mom Honda put the RnD into this one = definitely a BUNCH of major improvements!! Major weight loss, major engine change (4 valve = designed after their AMAZING CRF450 top end!!) and WOW - I LOVE the new front end design!! Having been a Chopper rider for many years and having BRAGGED to people about the awesome ride of both the Springers and the Girders,, Honda finally found out what I have always raved about and are now employing a "girder" front end!! Can not wait to ride one of these too!! Only thing is,, like Beemer,,, the new Wing is speed limited too = 118 tops.. Must be something in the water or something,,, just dont seem right... To be fair though,, Mom Honda also chose to - for some reason - spend all those RnD $$'s t develop that GORGEOUS 4 valve Beemer competitor and then they also neutered it to just 5 hp over the earlier models,, once again,, makes no sense.... I gotta admit,, one of the huge things that really concerns me to about the Beemer Riv is the maintenance costs. I am long past the days of using my hands for delicate work (nerve damage from Dupuytrens surgery and cant see worth a hoot any more either) and I just imagine that paying a Beemer dealer to due the valve trane maintenance on that 1600 would be a chunk of change.. I know on the Honda they are single cammed with screw adjusters on the exhaust valves making it very easy to do half of them - plus,, IMHO - its usually the exhaust valves that go tight because of the heat = good choice on Hondas part IMHO.. Plus the heads hang out there to work on,,, gotta think it would be an all day job just to get the Beemer opened up to even see the cams in it.. Lot to think about if your gonna run er out to high miles BUT - WOWZY would it be fun to have 160 hp on a tour scoot... Telling ya,, I use all these V-4's have to offer on numerous occasions and having that xtra 65 hp would be,, shall we say,,,,,,,,,, life changing fun!!!! Remember we talked about losing the speed limiter?? From what I have been reading,, no can do on the Beemer... It appears that,, at least on up to the '17's,, the speed limiter on the Wings can be deleted by a fairly inexpensive ECM flash ($350) that also made the earlier 1800 run wayy better = more responsive.. From what I have read,, being of the Wing culture,, the aftermarket guys are already working on doing the same for the new one.. Not sure what that means as far as Warranty goes (I say that tonge and cheek - I am certain it would void a warranty) but I truly can just hear those guys at Honda in Japan saying "BEEMER goin 101 - we go 118 and stomp on 160 horse motor with 110 hp - make customer very happy and sell like hot cakes:big-grin-emoticon: so the tuner reflash wouldnt be needed by most anyway.... I have a pretty good "threw the gears" vid on the new Venture compared to our old 1st Gens.. I hope to do the same on a Wing and on a 1600 Beemer just to compare... Gonna be fun!!

EXCELLENT THREAD/POST RIV = MADE MY DAY = THANK YOU!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup: Indeed,, those officers really go thru the training!! I LOVED seeing the "trail riding" going on - IMHO, there is sooo much to learn by woods riding that is directly applicable to road riding.. And that sand pit = WAYYYY COOL!! Matter of fact,, years ago when our local HD shop was putting in their 1st training course I happen to stop by when I noticed what they were doing and the first thing I asked them was ="where's your sand pit?".. Looked at me like I was crazy:big-grin-emoticon: :scared: your Father was a bike officer?? WAYYY WAYY COOL!! Brother,, the 3 of us HAVE to get together some time cause I would LOVE to hear some stories!! If you have time and he is willing,,, can you ask him if he remembers what he rode back in the day? By any chance did he start out on Pan Heads?? Tank shift/Foot clutch?? 60's it would have been Pan Bottom, Shovel Top ends cause I dont think they came out with the Cone Shovel till 70ish... I had a first year, non AMF Police FL for a while.. LOVED the bike!! WOWZY Riv,, I would LOVE to hear more and maybe even see a pic or two!! Be sure and tell your Dad THANK YOU for his service!! P.S. = my Dad was an LEO too wayyy back then (not a bike officer though)!! Not sure but I always wondered if his 1st born son riding tearing the town up on his 1959 Sears Alstate was part of the reason that Dad got out of law enforcement:missingtooth: