cowpuc

hey CR,, i am sooo glad to hear things came out as well as they did for you bro!! As frustrating as all this is PLEASE remember that these bikes can be fixed an/or replaced!! Not so with the human body,, something that some of todays so called "mechanics" dont even consider... If I were you I would suggest to the dealer that they consign the work to another shop of your choosing.. As it were, I doubt you will ever be able to trust their work.. On a side note,, I am an independent bike builder by trade. A few years ago I had a young man working for me that I was paying 15 bucks an hour to for spinning wrenches.. I had to let him go, he had less then desirable work habits (he left some cam bolts loose on one topend that destroyed the motor among other issues).. I have a real close friend that owned a Yamaha shop at the time and told him about it.. His eyes got the size of saucers,,,,,, he says 'sheesh man - my highest paid mechanic is at 8 bucks!!! I have since investigated this even farther and found that our Yammie shops wage wasnt far off compared to other shops in the area.. 12 bucks an hour being top wages for a "skilled" factory trained mechanic.. I also ride with LOTS of folks that have NO BUSINESS doing thier own work.. I have some words of advise to my friends who fit into this category.. It goes something like this,, learn to fix your own car first AND DO IT - that way if something goes haywire at least you have four wheels and a cage around you that may keep you alive while your learnin...

and they really sound cool when there are 4 or more running at the same time.. They kinda have their own lanquage.. My grandmother had one on her old wringer wash machine that was wayyyyy cool... Takes me back to alot of lost memories there... That great big flywheel keeps em chugging for long after combustion. Condor, your a man after my own heart.. I drag stuff like that home and my wife just shakes her head and smiles... Have fun gettin er to putt.. REally neat find there bro!!

my 83 with fresh carbs rebuild, fresh sync, brakes done right, tires at 45 pounds running Dunlops, shield cut to 8", running bags but no trunk, plugs gapped to 28 thou, not running side covers but fairings are on and complete, running open fishtails that I designed to squeeze tail ends to adjust backpressure on the Dyno.. 105 MPH in 3rd gear is common - not even starting to valve float... 120 in forth and it was not over by any stretch of the word.. I believe it has more there, 5th will have to wait till next year for a Bonneville run to find out... I would REALLY like to know whats REALLY possible too!!! On another note,, I was riding a buddies R1 the other day... 102 MPH in 1st gear folks ----- and I am NOT joking.... and ummmmmm,, can you say FLY?? If you can say "fly" you have just found out how long it takes to get to 102 too - FLYY and your there... Or just sit and crank the throttle and listen to the engine rev,, now try to beat the engine to top revs with you hand twisting the happy grip - aint gonna happen!! Now remember that the same thing happens in first gear with your back tire hooked to the tarmack.. Hope you can ride bro cause THAT is one mean awesomely powerful bike that dont take no crap from NOBODY - you better be ready to standup and lean over the front and force it down into the ground or your gonna have to let up or over backwards!! I honestly think 230 MPH would not be out of the question on this new R1.. I would LOVE to do it too BUT NOWHERE other then Bonneville flats - PERIOD!! If you cant ride your dead..its that simple...

West Michigan Creditors has a repo 2005 Midnight with tons of options starting at 10500. The scoot has either 5700 or 7500 on it. RUNS PERFECT but needs a battery badly,, Hideaway on dash CD, cruise, rear speaks, air ride, tons of crhome.. Nice bike that seems to run well.. 5k bike should be worth 10..

WOW WOW WOWEEE OUCHEE.... That is almost hilarious.. If my 83/84's are the same I guess I better get em on Eslay and set up my retirement account hahahha I will gladly ride with a hole there for that!! Another thought,, I hope those speakers are something special too because these old speakers need updating BIG TIME.. I upgraded mine two years ago and am ready to do it again.. Those speakers are not just 20 years old in life, they are 20 years old in design too.. WOW,,,,,, that $$$ amount is shocking..

Or you could come to Michigan and buy both my perfect running 83 with 30K original mile on it and my 84 Blonde Royale parts bike for $2400... Then you would have lots of parts for many years of great cross country riding in the future........ 'Puc

Ron, I am so sorry to hear about your great loss.. Those words seems so menial considering the length of time that we as a society have had to put up with such immoral, uncivilized acts of destruction.. Please do not let the sincerity of my condolances be clouded by the decisions of our lawmakers... Not only am I an avid biker, I am also an avid Michigan snowmobiler and have been for over 40 years.. Our state has suffered great losses like you have experience MANY times in the sledding industry.. Unlike bikes, snowmobiles take NO skill to ride - literally a drunken person can climb on, pull the trigger and kill someone in a matter of seconds.. I was instrumental in helping to establish a "Zero Tolerance" policy for Michigan Snowmobile Association.. The public outcry against people like myself for supporting zero toleance was AMAZING!! It seems that the overwhelming majority of people in our society want their cake and eat it too.. They want to be able to drink "socialably" and be able to legally drive after doing so.. So many people misunderstand the effects of booze on a persons judgement.. Asking a person who has been drinking to decide whether they have drank enough to give up their car keys is like asking a child to decide when they have had to many cookies - the idea is proposterous!! Unfortunatly, your friend is one of many innocent souls who have paid the ultimate price for our societial selfishness.. I for one appologize for it.. Sincerley 'Puc

As difficult as it is to try and explain the "peace that passes all understanding" Marcarl, you gave it an excellent shot!! Indeed, I just shutter at the thought of going thru life without it...

I think this is a GREAT thread.. Something I have always loved about biking is that no matter how long you have been doing it the learning curve continues.. Something I learned and always taught my kids when teaching them to drive/ride is to take LOTS of pictures.. By this I of course me mental pictures of the surrounding area -- the point is that you can trust NO ONE.. Did you see that shadow under the car that was approaching the intersection Son?? Ahhhhh,, no I didnt.. Then your mind wasnt on driving - remember Son, you can trust NO ONE but yourself, YOU have to drive for both you and them... Can you tell me whether that car that was sitting at the end of that driveway had a hubcap on the front wheel or not Daughter?? Whats that got to do with anything Dad? Cause you can trust NO ONE other then yourself when your driving a car,,, that front wheel will tell you where that car will squirt to if the drivers foot slips and will also tell you if the car is moving -- all at a glance!! I have gotten myself into the habit of slowing wayyyyy down for people who like to creep at corners or when coming out of their driveways.. As a matter of fact, I now make it my appointed duty to come to a complete stop and sit there and stare at them when this happens --- just to let them know that I dont trust them,, the ONLY person I trust behind the wheel is me... Pardon me wife,, but did you head check that merge?? Shut up husband - I aint one of the kids... I like the swerving idea when coming to an intersection to maintain your lane ownership that someone mentioned - mainly because I TRUST NO ONE other than myself while I am driving.. I have lived in the country for years and have had to contend with Deer during twilight hours for a long time - one thing that deer have taught me is you cant trust them.. During these high engagement probabilty hours I gently swerve back and forth so my lights are scanning from one side to the other. If you have never done this you will be shocked to see how far down the road your lights will light up their X-ray eyes as well as other critters.. Once you have avoided and accident by doing this you will be shocked too at how natural it is.. All you have to do stay focused in your ever searching endeavor to see em before they attempt to do you in.. ANother thing to be aware of is the location of the Sun.. If your riding early mornings and late evenings with the sun on your back you MUST understand that Cagers cannot see you.. You have to make your decisions based on this FACT becuaes you can never trust them.. On divided highways I ALWAYS ride the open lane.. If one lane has more space between the cars thats where I will be.. I also avoid bottle necks - if I have to ride aggressively for a short ways to get into a hollow spot I do.. Or,,, if I am coming up to a bottle neck I will slow down and let the idiots hash it out and then blow by them to the next hollow spot.. The chatter about Semis brought up another one of my favorite sayings about trucks that I always told the kids,,, and that I live by.. NEVER play around near them,, they are the most dangerous pieces of equipment onthe road.. If your gonna pass, wait till you have an opening to do so that is complete and then do get it done - DONT get caught having to ride next to them for any distance.. NEVER cut them off in traffic and NEVER ride at night with your lights in their mirrors.. Dont follow in thier dust or rain mist cause you NEVER know what is gonna come off one - you cant trust them.. Go around them and leave them to their jobs.. On 3 lane highways or more I always use far left and avoid merging lanes.. Leave yourself an escape path.. Another thing I always do when turning is engage my blinkers and then hand signal with a flat hand showing to the traffic.. In heavy traffic when merging out I will motion from straight up to outward or vice versa in an attempt to be seen - I trust NO ONE but myself!! I also use a small set of those little concave mirrors on my road bikes as well as my cars.. I use my mirrors and do headchecks when changing lanes or turning.. A longggggg time ago (1974) I was riding beside a friend on his new Honda 500 four.. He was sooooo proud of that scoot,, so proud in fact that he was so busy showing me how cool it was that he totally missed the discoloration of the pavement he was approaching.. I tried to point at it but he didnt get my message before he was on his face... What happened was truck from a local scrap yard had entered the road with a container on from a machine shop.. Inside the container were shavings from mills/drills/lathes and the like.. Of course,, the water coming fromthe container contained cutting coolant and it was REAL slippery... Tim didnt even have the chance to touch his brakes (it would have only sped him up anyway) before he was down!!! From that experience I learned to take pictures of the surface I am riding on too!!! Bluntely,, you cant trust the pavement either!!! Speaking about judging surfaces,, does anyone else have the habit of watching the joint between pavement and shoulders on downhill roads?? I have found that you can sometimes predict gravel on the highway by the condition of the shoulders.. I absoulutly LOVE highspeed country road corners but blind corners at those highspeeds give me the jitters... I am always looking for signs of an UNTRUSTWORTHY road.. 'Puc

^^^ABSOULUTELY^^^ I have chased down 17 people this year alone who flagrantly cut off bikers - 4 of which happened to me personally!! I ALWAYS get close enough to their face to smell for booze and have never held a drinker yet - just plain old NOT CARING FOR HUMAN LIFE.. I am FED UP with these idiots,, tell ya what,, it aint all old folks either.. We DESPARATLY need cell phone laws!! Arrrrgggggggg Sorry bout the rant gang but this stuff REALLY gets my goat! Hey Hippy,, soooo glad your ok Bro!! Praying that your injuries get better and nothing more comes of it! Also that this next bike is even nicer then the last one!! Long live the Hippy and long live the 1st gens! 'Puc

^^^ COUNT ON IT DON!! Will be praying for both the wife and her mother!! By the way, we had ICE on the lawn this morning!! 40 minutes Northwest of Grand Rapids Michigan... But we still had 12 bikes show up for our church ride today and we did 250 miles!!! 'Puc

I have an old school HOnda santee softride chopper with a California Springer, Z bars and open pipes that I have ridden all over the country.. I literally have never been stopped on the old girl BUT I do try to obey traffic laws with her.. Actually the NUMBER 1 thing that WILL get you a ticket though is not wearing a helmet in these god forsaken helmet states!! Michigan is TERRIBLE (legislation has been on our fine Governors desk 3 times now but the insurance industry has put enough money in her pockets that she wont sign off..) but Nebraska is even worst - last I heard theirs was like $1000 instantly.. Kinda like them winning the instant lotto or something... Cowboy up and LET ER BUCK!! Have fun and be safe out there!! 'Puc

Fixit - PLEASE let Jake and his girl know that we are thankful that they are ok!! Also that many lives are lost every year in deer accidents and PRAISE GOD neither of them were part of that list!! Also, tell your son thanks for his willingness in serving our country!! 'Puc

Gotta tell ya Drifter,,, from one ol Cowpoke to another,,, iffen these chores werent overwhelming and the trail boss wasnt so ornry (gotta be careful - she didnt say a word about me being 8 days late from the last roundup!!) I would be right there by ya!! You asked for advice,, ok here ya go,,, dont over plan - stop in all the little cowtowns and meet all the great REAL western folks along the way - get an xtra gig of SD for the camera and fill each one with pic after pic - camp on the prairie floor on the highspots perferable on top of the buttes (make much better night viewing)... Follow game trails up into the high plains (you know this already I am sure),, they will lead you to good sleeping and great morning pics of Muleys and Antelope,,, put on some Willie, ROy Rogers or Gene Autry!!!! I have always told my kids that the ride dont even begin till we're on the west side of the Rockies,, ahhhhhhhh,, no bugs, no traffic (riding off highway is the ONLY way to travel), old ghost towns, pure saaweeet UTAH air and room to breath it.. Man I wish I could join you - YOU are headed into the country that I could ride 6 months of the year and NEVER get tired of!!! Hey,,, watch out for the Mule deer,, I have a set of horns on the front of my 83 that I pulled off a fresh road kill out in Montana a couple weeks ago.. They appear to be scraping early so you may find rut coming way early too.. I say that cause,, again being another Cowpoke you already know this,, they get restless and stupid - start thinking with thier pee pee instead of their brain and will run right into you.... Also,, watch the erosion spots in the low lands - seen lots of hidden spots while crossing open prairie on the scoot. FOr some reason that Western Utah ground doesnt take flash flood water real well right after drought and bingo - erosion is everwhere.. I personally saw stuff this year 5 miles from the nearest pavement (pavement runoff causes most unnatural erosion) that was like quick sand (loose like powder) but deep enough to swallow a bike whole!! LUCKY SUCKER - HAVE FUN!! Dont step in the Cowcrap! 'Puc

^^^ EXACTLY WHAT MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS^^^ If it were mine I would get at least 1/2 inch of thread into the fork.. Mine also came with longer stainless cap screws and finish plugs for the holes.. It also fits the forks VERY snugly and I am sure this is necessary for adding stabilty and makin the forks work as one unit.. If I had yours I would trim the base of the fork gator (thats the proper name for those rubber fork guards) so it trims perfect to the brace. I would then get some shim stock and work with the distance between the fork leg and the brace - you want it so its snug (not so you have to beat it in with a sledge hammer though,,

A little soething to add to Georges writing here.. Not to dice down anyones equipment but I have learned by experience that digital is wayyyy ore sensitive then analog. Unless your testing sensitive devices you are money ahead to stick with a cheap little analog meter as they tend to be less subject to "eddie currents" and residual reading then digital meters are.. You want something that is putting a small load on the system when checking voltages that size.. If your going to try and test it with a real sensitive digital meter your almost better off just shootin a resistance check.. I have a voltmeter that I actually use a small light bulb in series with to put a load on the line I a testing.. I do this to get away from any resisdual reading that ay toss e a curve.. Just a thought 'Puc

Indeed,, Nothin wrong with making one,, you could even take a block of aluminum - use your stock brace for a pattern and gain just by tripling the thickness of the stock brace.. Hey Boss, you might want to check your frontend and see if the forks have twisted in the triple tree.. I have an easy way of checking this that I have used for years,, its especially prudent when looking at used bikes. All you have to do is have someone ride your directly at you while you look straight down the alignment of the tires. You have to almost lay down on the pavement to do this but it works. Just line the side wall of the front tire up with the rear tire while the bike is rolling across a parking lot toward you. You will be SHOCKED at what you'll see if the forks or the frame are twisted. To reset your forks, loosen the triple tree clamps - hold the front wheel between your legs and twist with the bars, retighten and check again.. Play with it till you get a good alignment onthe pavement and you will be amazed at how much better it drives.. A lot of times you can also tell alignment by how the bike tracks when you let go of the bars.. If you have to sit side saddle to get her to track straight no handed you may very well have twisted forks... Some thoughts.. 'Puc

IMHO, the correct way to wire the 12VDC lighter/power source would be off your fuse panel, there should be an ACC terminal that only works when your key is on. You then would wire the plug on the load side of the fuse in the panel. If this is already used or not available and he really wants to wire directly off the battery then indeed, he should fuse it close to the battery terminal itself. The "plug" should be fused to its capacity (probably 10 amps) so if someone plugs something in other then an Ipod (spot light, cigarette lighter ect..) it will operate like it should.. He then should fuse his Ipod line at the Ipods rated wattage to protect it (it probably already is).. General rule of thumb is that circuits (in this case the plug is the circuit) are fused to protect themselves not the devices operating on them, devices (the Ipod) are fused (or should be) to protect themselves.. This way everything gets protected. I was a machine tool electrician years ago and did a ton of panel work. Everything from 3 phase high volt to installs on servo drives and p.c.'s, lots of control wiring.. I have never heard of fusing negatives, neutrals or grounds.. About the closes my pea brain can imagine something even remotely related to that practice would be ground fault - where the grounding system senses even a slight current and it,like a fuse, kicks out.. If thats what your after your gonna need something other then a normal fuse to accomplish the task.. ANother something to remember is that amperage is not being forced into the Ipod, thats not the way it works. The device (Ipod) takes what it needs and any available amperage left over is just that - left over and available for other devices.. VOLTAGE is the force, the PUSH as it were.. Unlike amperage, high voltage will instantly destroy the internals of his Ipod. THink of it like this,, you can take a little 1157 tail light bulb out of your car, take a small 12volt 3 amp battery out of a moped and lite the bulb with it.. YOu can also take a 12volt 25000 amp farm battery and do the same thing in the same way.. Now, take 10 little watch batterys that are 3 volts each and stack em on top of each other (in series) and your voltage from positive to negative will be 30 volts (still very low amperage available though - less then an amp). Now attach that 1157 to those little watch batteries and POOF - no more filment in that bulb!! My 2 cents 'Puc

Did it sound like it was in the front of the bike?? Might wanna check the pads on the front. Maybe getting close to change time and a pad got cockeyed or a stone got into the caliper some how.. It only takes a second to pull the calipers and examine them.. Also check the rotors too..

TJF, how did you diagnose that it is spark related? Did you pull the plugs, ground them and visually check them? Just wanting to make sure we are side tracked.. Anyway, another thing you could check is the resistance in your plug caps.. I have seen those caps fail on more then one occasion. Just unscrew them from the wire - maybe even just swap them over to the other side so you KNOW it works.. Also dont forget to double check plug gap to spec.. Just for kicks you could take a little gas line and dump a teaspoon of raw gas into each non-running cylinder, put the plugs back in and see if it'll run off that.. That will at least tell you that its getting gas.. Exactly where on the bike is the TCI located guys? Also, what does TCI stand for? Total Capacider Ignition, Thermal Cathode Igniter, To Cause Irritation hahahah Thank you Lord I LOVE this site!! Aint nothin funner then hangin out with a bunch a gear heads is there.. 'Puc

Speakin about running the dog of er, here is what I did earlier this year and have been having a RIOT with her. I got tired of having the HOG boys that I run with out toning me,, heck guys - I couldn't even hear my scoot running most of the time.. Sooooooo,, I built a set of custom pipes for her and I absoulutly LOVE them so much I havent taken them off in 4 months!! I built them out of galvanised thin wall chain link fence pipe, made my own fish tail ends.. I built the tails wide enough and long enough so I could squeeze them and get the "tones" I want.. As it is right now, at idle and up to 2500 it sounds pretty "V-twinish".. As a matter of fact, its a BLAST to pull into a gas station with a buch of Hoggers and get into a sound contest with them.. This baby BARKS and backs off with the best of them... Of course,, my favorite part is drag racing those new big cubes!! Just goofing off the other day I ran against a recently done 110 inch (high comp so he has to run Torco but non-alchly). He was right there by me until the V-4 tapped into er fresh air at 5g's.. I was grinning from ear to ear as I knew he was about to get an ear full - he was about a half a bike length down so his head was in just the right spot... With these pipes - when the ol girl hits 5 grand her tone changes from the tone of a high performance V-twin into a Formula race engine INSTANTLY!!! When we finally came to a stop and he caught back up to me he says "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO THAT MOTOR!!!!".. The real shock for him came when I said - NOTHIN = its stock hahah Gonna try a couple shots of my pipes here.. May have to go to Firefox to post em so please be patient.. What a blast! 'Puc

Soooo Okay,, Netscape couldnt do pics so I am trying Firefox.. If they work, the first one will be of the master and L together. Second one will be of the plugged return hole at the top of the cup that recieves the L. Third will be of the wire sticking out of the return orfice.. Sorry about pic quality but I tried! Hope this helps someone!!! 'Puc

again

Okay, if your on the road and your brakes stick on what do you do? I just finished solving this on my 1st Gen (83) and this may help you!! I am going to try and include pics with this!! I replaced my pads for a 10 day cross country ride coming up and ended up with a sticky Rear/front brake system.. If something like this happens to you here are some suggestions.. 1. If your bike feels like its lost power, is hard to push back and forth or if you just plain smell hot brakes - STOP and check them! 2. With a damp fingertip (spit works great) carefully touch the surface of your rotors (like testing a hot clothes iron). 3. If both left front and rear rotors are hot - its the rear system. If its just the right front its the front brake.. I am only dealing with the rear system at this time.. 4. If its the rear system, take an 8mm box end or a socket and open the bleeder on the front left caliper - have a rag hany cause if it is a stuck system your gonna get fluid out and you dont want it on your rotor.. 5. Push the bike back and forth or put it up on the center stand and see if the she rolls easy now.. If it does and the problem had effected both front and rear brake rotors (remember - your back brake pedal is activating both front left and rear calipers) check these items.. 6. Look at your master cylinder - at the bottom of it is a rod sticking out and an attachent for the pedal. Gently hold that rod between your thumb and finger and see if it has movement back and forth and a small amount up and down.. If it doesnt, you may need to clean the pivot for you pedal and/or adjust the freeplay screw to get play in it.. Now try your brakes - if still stickin go on to 7. 7. Pump your pedal HARD!! ALthough it is BEST to remove the rear brake master cylinder to do the following, so you can take it all apart and clean it thouroughly, I am going to give you some info for "on the road" fixen!! It also may be worth just doing this first BEFORE doing a complete take down - always start with lesser surgery first - I learned that from my NeuroSurgeon! 8. Expose the rear master. 9. Notice where the hose from the Fluid Resivore attaches to the Master. It is attached with a small phillips screw. Remove this screw. 10. Take a pair of pliers and squeeze the rubber line about 3/8th inch above the little plasic elbow that you just removed the screw from.. ITs best to have an extra set of hands there to do this as youwill want this line held closed during surgery. 11. Gently turn the hose back and forth to move the plastic "L" in its holder. Pull out while doing so.. The "L" is held in by an O-ring. 12. Make sure you dont loose the O-Ring when the L coomes out of the master - maintain squeeze on the hose (by the way, I carry a small set of surgical forcept pliers in my tool kit - VERY handy for all kinds of this stuff!) 13. Look at the pics I have attached - If you look closely you can see the little wire I have protruding from the return bleed hole back into the fluid res hose. This little hole is the hole that is on top of the cup that recieves the "L". 14. You WILL need a small wire to unplug this hole. I am using a bristle off a wire brush - someone who responded to my original thread about all this suggested this and it works GREAT!! I also use wire brush bristles for carb jet cleaning!! On the road I wouldnt be afraid to take a strand of wire from piece of wire (ya'll carry a little spool or wiring in your bag dont cha?).. 15. Push the wire into the top orfice and be prepared to get a SQUIRT! WHen I did this on my 83 it SQUIRTED out like a high pressure squirtgun!! 16. Work the wire in and out to clean out the orfice real good. 17. Wipe the insideof the cup where the L goes out real good. 18. Clean the surface of the "L" and the o-ring real good. 19. Relax the squeeze onthe hose and let a little fluid out. FLuid should RUSH out!! 20. If the fluid barely trickles. 21. Squeeze the hose again, point the opening of the L that goes into the Master down toward the ground. 22. Squeeze the hose above the pliers with your fingers. 23. Let go of the pliers a little so the fluid is forced out - you may be shocked what you get out of the hose - I WAS!! Re-Squeeze with the pliers as soon as it bleeds a shot!! 24. Replace the end of the L into the cup on the Master. 25. Release the pliers and squeeze the hose so fluid is gushing out around the L while pushing it in. 26. Replace the phillips screw!! 27. Pump your brakes and they should release and the wheels roll free. 28.. Put her back together and RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yea, you might want to check your Brake Fluid first chance you get!! Special thanks to ALL who responded to my other thread about this!! Lots of GREAT info there folks!! "puc

I tryed..