cowpuc

I have built a number of chops over the years and it seems that everytime I do one I learn more about steering geometry.. As you already know, there are a number of items in the equation that ='s stability and all those items have effect on the other items in the equation.. Sometimes adjusting the equation will give positive results and some not so.. A number of years ago I crossed into the realm of negative trail on one of my scoots, it felt fine and acutally really fun to ride.. I slowly tested it back and forth working my way to 120mph.. On this particular scoot all signs of anything bad happening were not found.. I had been testing on a section of road that I had used for this purpose MANY times with MANY bikes so I was sure I had a good grip on the perameters of the testing.. Came back on the 4th test with a funny smell on the bike and a need to buy new underwear.. I had gotten her right up to 90 just a clean and positive as any factory bike.. As soon as I touched 110 I felt a funny vibe in the bar tips and tank pads on my knees.. As soon as I relaxed the throttle it got interesting FAST!!! Here in Michigan we call em TANK SLAPPERS.. Tank slapping comes from the fact that your tank is slapping your thighs so fast you can keep from getting slapped.. Its also a fact that once you have been tank slap you KNOW it over cause the nature of the beast is just that... The ONLY was to correct a true tank slapper is to stop,,, BUT,,, hit your brakes and now your no longer tank slapping but pavement sampling.. I have saved a couple slappers by tossing it on the back wheel but there is something in the back of a riders mind that just does not agree with lifting the front wheel while your scoot is acting like a mexican jumping bean is inside its gas tank... Be REAL careful how much you change your castor, trail, fork oil ect... Do the changes little by little and NEVER assume that everything is fine so you can go further,,, you owe it to yourself to PROVE it is fine and you can go further... 'Puc By the way,, yes the crotch rockets guys use dampers but so do the dirt guys,, there is NOTHING wrong with setting up a damper - good insurance!!!!

Don, we are praying for your health and traveling safety out there. As others have mentioned, please dont worry about this internet stuff but focus on your health and all the decisions pertaining to it.. God Bless you folks! 'Puc

Also dont forget the obvious.. Put the bike on a stand and spin the tires and see if your brakes are binding.. CHeck your pipes for dings and also check them for mouse nexts - remove the muffs and see if she comes up to speed.. Spray carb cleaner on Vacumm lines while its idling and if the idle changes you gotta leaker. Check air pressure in your tires. RUn it without the air filter in it and see if its being chocked off.. 'Puc

Lets see if I can take an educated guess at what you are going to find out,,,,, I have no ego so if I am wrong I will learn something too.. First the Ohm Meter you are using.. Let me guess that you are using a very sensitive digital meter.. The reason I say that is the old analog Simpsons tended to not pick up the eddy currents that this new digital stuff does.. Next I totally agree with your summation that the coil windings between primary and secondary MUST be separated or they cannot function. However,,, the material used to shield the two windings maybe of such that "leakage" (eddys) can be detected with a sensitive meter and this low resistance material is necessary for the modern electronic switching taking place to trigger the secondary coil.. So here is what I would do if I were in your shoes.. I would test the coils on a known running bike and see if its any different then mine.. If not so I would be concerned,,, if they tested the same I would keep packing for that cross country trip I have coming up..... LOL 'Puc PS: Hope it all works out for you!!

Actually Ivan I have had a lot of experience with the sparkplug pump.. I have personally made them for friends of mine and have ALWAYS warned them that Fuel/air mixture at a VERY volatile state is now in thier tire.. Everyone, myself included, who got one from me swore they would warn the tire changing guy about it before dismounting.. Well,, all well conceived and properly planned idea is great until someone forgets.. At least that was always my nagging concience talking me out of doing any more of them.. Now what I Have discovered is that you can us that same device a flame thower that works very well!! You wanna start a fire to warm up by - Drilled out plug - screw in shrader valve, screw on braided wire air ling with 1/16 hole in orvice on end.. put regular plug in coil wire and ground to head,, Start bake and aim air line at sparking piston... Now for "putting up with Cowpuc has earned you one of his free ADVICE FROM TH E MIND OF PUC" Always make sure your plug is in the terminal and that the steel on the plug is grounded when ever your testing.. Many CDI's and trashed because the mechanic missed this point! Puc

This may sound a little corny - not intended - but I have personally found the greater endeavor in covering our country is found not so much in the absoulute stunning glory of the high tides of Maine, the extreme history of the east coast, the amazing old time Maritimers stuff in the Keys, the smelly stock yards and VASTNESS of Texas, the fake looking big gulf of the Grand Canyon until you ride the two tracks along the rim and toss boulders off the edge to acutually PROVE to yourself its real, those amazing round boulders stacked on the side of 40 out by Needles, those crazy white dogs chasing a coyote on the farmers field that we have camped on the last 5 times we went to LA on the bike, the smells and views and NIGHT moon glow on the ocean on "1", that huge river that divides Oregon and Washington, what Gods finger did to Mount St Helens, waking up north of Cor De Lane to Eagles stealing fish, the endless beauty of Glacier and trying to enjoy it while traversing on ice patches, the jack rabbits coming across Montana and the and the Antelope almost killing us in Wyoming cause we were caught waving back at an Engineer on a train, the tornado that literally passed over our heads just south of Rapid City, the Black Hills - Needles Highway - Rushmore - Custer State Park petting zoo (here we pet wild buffalos) are all wonderful BUT the real wonder of them the off trail area we camped in and woke up to Big Horn Sheep feeding within 50 Feet of our tent - we watched for over two hours, the MASSIVE winds coming into Cody that literally moved our bike (84 Royale) across two lanes and almost into the ditch on the other side, the shower/motel at Cody after 3 weeks of roughing it without either, the 7 solid days of pure enjoying Yellowstone (take the back roads and camp in the sticks) - Tetons, Jacksonhole,, the little cafe in Majove that has the genuine old school look and the BEST viddles anywhere on the planet - believe their name is Prevos or Premos or something like that, coming into Vegas at 2 am WOW, leaving Vegas at 1pm when you place your foot down on the pavement and it slides out from under your cause your shoe is melting, the kids in Salina Utah riding their mini bikes and quads right down the road to the gas station - heyyyyyy is that legal asked Cowpuc - out here it says the kid - Cowpuc says to his daugher on back of bike - we should live here, the endless prairie of corn that is covering the Old Chisom Trail but you can still find monuments if you look..... Anyway,, all that said I really said nothing of importance because thier is another BIG part of the ride that needs to be there or its all empty.. Everywhere you go there will be people just waiting to here your story and for you to hear theres.. PEOPLE who you meet along the way are the very adhesiveness that bonds the ride to your memory. If you do what I suggest you WILL have an endevear second to none.. Go out of your way to meet folks - dont wait for them to come over and chat - YOU go and introduce yourself and do the cold call.. Learn to thrive on meeting new people - listen to their stories, be honest with them about what your are doing and they well instantly be your best friend.. What I am saying here is that PEOPLE are what make good trips GREAT TRIPS!! Of the ENDLESS friends I have met while covering this great land of our I want to share two.. I sat down to eat on the way to sturgis a few years back. Just got in under the wire and got served. A guy with a shirt on the said "I got my Harley in Iraq" sat down at a table and knew he wasnt getting served and he didnt.. Frustrated, he walked passed me and I said they didnt serve you did they - he said no.. I said sooooo,,, whats the shirt all about.. He said I just got home from a year in Iraq, my brandnew Harley was waiting for me at the base and they paraded me all the back to my home town for heros welcome.. My mom asked what I wanted to do and I said mom - I gotta hit the road on my bike - that was three days ago... About that time the waitress brought back my dinner and I slid it in front of him - he said oh noooo I cant take your dinner.. I said well, then I will just through it away cause I will be darned if I am going to eat while my brother who just got home from fighting for my freedom to ride my bike across the great land goes hungry.. I looked him in the eyes and told him if he didnt eat it I would toss it.. He ate,, camped with my for the days of Sturgis, went ghost towning and we had a BLAST!! We are now very dear friends and he has been to our home and stayed with us.. Another notable meet of many was an old Lakota Indian woman that my daughter and I got yapping with a gas station.. After about an hour of 100% thrilling Indian tales of the days of yesteryear this precious old woman invited us to here farm that had been in their family since the reservation days.. Come to find out, she was a PROFESSIONAL miniature horse raiser!!! Friends for life.. The last point I want to make about truely riding epic trips is to examine your heart for what you are after.. Maybe the first couple times of doing such a thing the planning and organizing is not just helpful but for some it is NEEDED before they feel like they can let go.. The longer I do this I am finding that it has an effect like some kind of powerful drug. I can hop on that thing an ride for hours and truly just be so lost in the ride that it feels like minutes..........its a feeling very similar to the feeling of when you are in the zone racing professionally on a dirt bike. Time just sort of suspends and it just you and the machine as one ripping through space and time. IT DEFINES FREEDOM FOR ME... Go define it for you... Good luck Cowpuc

I am with Ivan,, I think we should have a club policy that states if you are buying off Ebay - or anywhere - that we consider each other family and will that for not "bid" against each other!!! Sooo, if you have something on ebay you are bidding on you would post it on here and all the readers on VR would not bid against you.. Seeee, now this is way to handle Ebays nonsense without getting mad!! For all the crap ebay/paypal does to us it would sure be refreshing to have a website that promotes real familyness and fairness!!! I will be the first to sign on! 'Puc

You might want to google them and see what other folks have got to say too!!

LOL We got an "invite" from them too.. Ours was in the form of a good sized package that included a plastic car key that you were suppose to try and maybe win a new car just for taking their 90 minute presentation.. Along with this car offer was a GUARENTEE that you would win one of the following priizes.. It had everything from a walkman to 52 inch tv listed.. Each prize had a number listed by it. These prizes were listed in an envelope that you are not allowed to open and that the "official" at the store would open to determine what you had won. I looked the envelope over and discovered that if you held it just right you could see the prize number you had won.. According to what I saw we had won a 52 inch Sony TV,,,, of course my wife and I went to the open house... When we got there we were welcomed to some of the toughest sales drives I have ever seen.. Back in the 80's when time-sharing was the big drive we used to go to there open houses and I gotta tell you,, on a scale of 1-10 the time-share sales drives were a 1 and Direct Buys drive force was a +100!! We finally got them to the point that they understood that all we came for was our free 52" Tv.. The guy opened the envelope and handed me a 50 cent cup holder for my prize.. I said wait a minute - I peek thru the envelope and it said the grand prize of a 52" TV.. He then showed me the envelope - yeppers,, the stupid thing was designed to show EVERYONE that prize and the rest of the letter was hidden by ink blots on the inside envelope,,,,,, so everyone who took a peek would think they were getting a TV LOL.. The Salesman laughed as he told me that I wasnt the first one to "peek".. Then I laughed and told the salesman that indeed I got fooled by that envelope BUT at least I hadnt written a $4500 check to join a company that had to trick people in order to get them to join and them I said,, so the joke is really on you I guess!! DOnt be fooled!!! 'Puc

Like most everyone else I have seen, or come upon, my share of accidents and a number of them have been fatal.. I had the opportunity to take the Red Cross training in CPR and have acutally used the training a number of times. All that being said here is a situation that occured last fall not to far from our home. A deer jumped out and ran into the side of a biker. THe biker was only going about 15 MPH but the impact still forced the guy into on-coming traffic and he was literally ran over by a truck. The victim was trapped under the truck and in getting there vital parts of his body were smashed and he was obviously a goner.. The riders wallet and paperwork were laying seperated from his body and he was less then a mile from home. A discussion took place as to whether or not his family should be called to the scene.. That is the question that I would like to hear some opinions on from our group.. If you end up being the first on the scene or there way before "Professional" help arrives do you make the phone call to family,, more pointedly - if the person has expired do you notify them???? I am really curious what everyone thinks 'Puc

I gotta sneakin hunch that being nice had very little to do with Bubba makin dat decision!!

LOL,, and as a person who has cut tons of grass with a little push mower I have never met a flywheel key that I would trust not to get a notch in so small that you couldnt even see it but its always enough to mess up the timing so the stupid, idiotiotic, piece of crap mower wont start no matter how many times you pull it - and ALWAYS with a neighbor watching!!! Xcellent job Randya!! 'Puc

Not saying you whether you were over riding your headlights or not but I can attest to having done just that on many occasions.. Although with me its usually an exhaust system off a car or a big ol' honkin hunk of tire from a semi having lost its re-tread... Heck I even JUST barely missed a full grown Texas Longhorn standing perpendicular to the center line with his head turned away so you couldnt see his eyes - scared the living jeebers out of me!!! Speaking from experience, over riding the headlights is a VERY easy thing to do,,, just kinda kick back and daydream for few seconds and WHOA - what was that!!! A trick that has saved my life a number of times is what I call the Flammy Tap I learned as a kid.. I found out while going no handed on my SL350 that I could change lanes instantly just by Tapping lighting on the end of the bar.. I told a buddy about it at the time and he said I was a flammy so the turn Flammy Tap was born... 'Puc

I bring along a air pressure gage and head straight to a gas station. On the way to the station - with no traffic around - I would hit the front and rear brakes fairly hard. At the station I would put her on the center stand - spin both wheels and look for sticky brakes by seeing if the wheels spin freely. I would then check air pressures front and rear. Also check the oil while I had her up.. Now give her the once going over looking for loose nuts and bolts that might cause me troubles.. Then, if it already had the break-in miles on its clock, I would hit the road and not look back - yeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Congrats on the new bike and have fun out there. 'Puc

Hi Pete: Hopefully this letter is finding you getting stronger everyday.. Like a bunch of others, I too am praying for you!! Considering biking, as others here have pointed out - every case is different. My dad had a stroke years ago and with lots of therapy he is about 90% better, I also might add that he is much more sensitive emotionally then he was before his stroke.. I say this bring you to a long range perspective of your condition.. Give yourself lots of room to re-establish control over your extremities - time and therapy is numeral uno!! I have been around bikes all my life and can tell you that Scooters, yes Scooters, have come a long way thru the years!! Personally, I would NEVER be ashamed or embarrased to ride one of the new 650's ANYWHERE at anytime.. While on a bike tour down south I bumped into an older couple who were all packed up and on the road - she on here 400 and him on a 650, both scooters.. I asked them how far they had come and they were from the state of Washington with over 3500 miles already on this trip! There bikes are fully automatic - excellent MPG (she was getting 75 MPG!!) and will run highway speeds all day long with no problem!! Might not be a bad idea if your stroke damage appears permanent!! Just some thoughts, at any rate we are ALL pulling for you. 'Puc

The Sturgis Rally in Sturgis South Dakota is one of the biggest and oldest rallies on the planet.. For 20 years the rally went off without ONE shooting incident even though it is attended by old traditional gangs such as Hells Angels.. I have a hunch that the writer of that poorly researched and down right untrue article even realises that this 20 year record was broken last year by an off duty Police Officer from out of town who belonged to a police biker gang!!! This so called "protector of the people" pulled an illegally carried pistol (it is state law that ONLY SD Police are allowed to carry at the rally) and discharged the weapon inside of a crowded dance hall (my daughter and I had been there the night before).. Came right down to the bottom line and it appears that we "bikers" are the least of the writers concern and that maybe our society has much larger problems!! 'Puc

My original 84 Gold Royale that the kids fondly named BEEGEE (B.G. = BIG GIRL) followed me home from an Estate Sale back in the 80's with a tad over 20k on her.. Lost second gear in her at almost 50k while drag racing a friend on a V65.. Continued doing cross country rides with my kids in tow and shortshifted our way alllllllll the way to 190k on her,, never did replace second gear. Had replace 2 water pump seals, one water pump impellar, updated Stator with the little oil splasher, two sets of Progressive Springs (I do a lot trail riding with the kids seeing the country) - ### GET THAT STINKING FISH OIL OUT OF FRONT FORKS - REPLACE WITH 7.5 WT!!## , three clutch packs, clutch master rebuild kit, fresh battery every other year (low voltage is #1 cause of starter failure so why chance it), countless tires and brake pads. I actually like riding in the rain and usually speed up when it is raining so my bikes tend to get abused.. I have had some issue with water contamination in both clutch and brake fluids so I have learned to clean/unplug the little bleed back holes in the masters for all, also keep lube on the stud your rear brake pivots on... Very early on I purchased a quick release oil plug for mine so I could drop the oil in a parking lot at an Auto Shop while traveling.. Learn to sync your own carbs - you will be amazed at how quickly they will change and at how it effects effeciency AND performance..l My 84 began leaking oil on the top end around 100k but I rode it HARD! It later began losing some around the drive shaft seal shortly after that.. I never bother repairing either - would drop a quart between changes.. Anyway,,,,,,, The last trip Beeg made was out to the West Coast,, would still run 90 all day long in that great, vast desert heat on the way out BUT coming home I knew she was hurting... Believe it or not I was mentally planning the announcement to my wife that I was going to "need" another bike (you would have to know me to understand that one).. As I turned the corner onto our road, at 3 in the morning, an 83 Std sat in a neighbors yard with a 4 sale sign on it.. Stopped - OF COURSE - in the dark and looked her over.. Right side PERFECT, left side like it had been sitting in the rain its entire life about halfway down - left pipe rotted right off.... 24,000 on the clock!!!!!!!!!!!! Went down the next evening, let the guy tell me how bad he needed it out of the yard - hadnt ran since his brother parked it many years ago,, original cover had rotted off exposing the left side.... Told him how much I would pay for a parts bike and took it home.. Pulled valve covers, prelubed the top end, fogged the jugs, rocked her in 4th to bump the pistons - she was free as a bird!! Did a mix up of parts with my Royale so the kids and I have LOTS of "memory parts" when we hit the highway.. It now has 139k on her!!! No oil leaks yet!! I am older and smarter now so when I race V65s I go easy on second gear.. Yea it has cost me a little in the mid range racing BUT it all equals out in the other gears and beating the neighbor kids aint so important anymore (yea right).... Oh - by the way - welcome to the forum and congrats on owning one of the world most overlooked motorcycles - enjoy! 'Puc

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Hey Earl - my wife is the SAME WAY,,,, just cant learn to be thankful hahaha!! I mean really,,, your wife gets to whoop on a youngen on a Crotch Rocket and RIP A HARLEY like its standing still all while getting a GREAT view of the sky and then you buy afterwards.... I tell ya bother,, its really hard to figure them ladies sometimes!!! As Red Green would say "I can change, if I have to, I guess..".. 'Puc

The Service Manager probably wanted to tell you that your scoot had to be completely dismantled cause the tech noticed your blinkers also have an intermittent problem... Seriously, hope it all works out! 'Puc

Now that is AWESOME!!!! Of course you guys better hope that mother bear dont come knocken in the middle of the night wanting her babies back hahahahaha:big-grin-emoticon: Yea I know,, BEARLY made you guys laugh.... 'Puc

Wow,, I didnt realise there were that many other hunters on here! I started as a kid back in the 60's with a Bear Kodiac recurve and acutally killed a couple deer with it before I bought a first year model Allen Speedter. I lost that one (was FREEZING from winter hunting and laid it on top of the truck, climbed in to chat with my dad and took off with the bow on top of the truck!!!).. Bought another Speedster that lasted many years and killed a few really nice bucks with it (Michigan state land bucks are nice if they are 6 point or more).. Bought a Darton in the late 70's and hunted with it till one of the limbs lost lamination while drawing on a buck.. Am now using an old Bear Whitetail and it has been really good to me!! I cant imagine a 99% let off.. Are you guys sure about that?? You realise that means at 100# your only holding 1# right.. Sure seems like that would be really erratic draw going oer the cams needed to produce that...... Concerning going back to a non-compound,, I picked up a Black Widow long bow at a show last year and tried to pull it back and about separated my shoulders and it was only 70 pounds at my draw!! Put a Buck in front of me while trying to draw that puppy back and there would be a 4 inch blur all the way around me and my arrow would be clattering on the arrow rest for sure!!!!! Trucker,, what you really need to do is go to real good sport shop and try out a bunch of bows.. Most of the better shops will have a range and a nice selection of bows (w/ arrows) to do some shooting. Seriously, that is your best bet.. 'Puc

That is EXACTLY what came to my mind when I first read this post!! I did indeed have a recently plugged tire come apart and get tangled in the wheel because of the above!!!!! If the tire went flat over night and was NOT ridden on while flat then yep, I have plugged MANY tires on my cars and motorcycles and never had a problem within those parameters.. I carry plugs, tools and glue in my tools on my bike when traveling and used them on more the one occasion,,, of course I also do alot of back road and off road travel that tends to produce nagging little leaks!! 'Puc

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Here is good one for those of us that ride during and immediately after nadty weather.. I used to race harescrambles and MX (longggggggggg time ago,, all the way back in the late 60's/early 70's) and the general makeup of the tracks was always a blend of clay.. ANyone who has been around water and clay knows the great traction you get but also the MAJOR hassle cleaning bikes afterwards is even with a powerwasher.. I ALWAYS covered my scoots with a good dose of WD about an hour before the race (except the seat of course).. Not only did the WD make cleanup a LOT easier (could actually get the stains off) but you would be surprised at how valuable WD is as a water proving agent around plug terminals and coils!! Well like they say,, old habits die hard,, to this day I use WD on ALL my scoots when ever it appears I am headed for the nasties.. Here is one another one to keep in mind - pay attention now cause this may be something you never thought of.. If you are like a lot of us hardcore riders, waiting for summer to ride is out of the question.. We recently had a majhor heatwave come thru west Michigan and the temps actually got up to a balmy 40 degrees here!! I was applying the WD when a friend came by and asked what I was doing,,, kinda cocky too like I was missing a few screws or something.. Anyway, I simply asked him if he had any recollection of what our road commission uses during the winter to keep the roads clean.. Of course he knew salt was the answer.. I then asked him if he recollected what salt did to to steel when applied wet,, RUST of course was his anwer.. I then told him that my experience has been that even after 5 good rains there was still salt on the roads during the spring time and we were still months away from spring so I KNEW there was salt just waiting to put a lovely coating of ugly rust all over my priceless 1969 Santee framed - California Springered Honda 750 that he loved so much!! Suddenly the light went on!! Last time I talked to him was a Walmart where he was buying 10 cans of WD 40 hahaha Spray your bike if your gonna ride these salted roads of the north country folks!! 'Puc