peterg

And I actually forgot one. While riding in a town called Castlegar in B.C. which is built on the side of a mountain, I approached an intersection where there was a stop sign and almost no visibility to the left, so I had to fully stop and take a good look. The road sloped very steeply from left down to the right. I stopped, put my left foot down, and then went to plant my right foot and straighten up the bike, but the road on the right was several inches lower than I anticipated. My foot found only air, and plunk, down I went with my loaded for touring RSTD with a trunk and a bag on top of the trunk. There was no chance I was going to right the bike on my own on a steep slope with the wheels on the high side, but luckily a friendly local approached and helped me out and together we got it up without spinning it around on the pavement. Damage to a passing light, some nicks on the body work and up near the top of the w/s where it hit the curb, and a lot of my pride got bent. I had about a 9 hour ride from there to home, and I was surprised that it took me at least a couple of hours to get back my "good feeling" about riding. Ok. I think that's it. Peter

Years ago riding my Yamaha RD400 on a gravel road "short cut" between two highways, my front wheel began to clog with mud between it and the fender. I wasn't going that fast but as soon as I began to slow, the front wheel began to lock up and slide. Eventually the front wheel stopped, just as the bike did, and we tipped to the left, shooting me into the muddy ditch. It must have looked like the guy on the tricycle on the old "Laugh In" show. Had the rear tire of my "recently" restored 1973 Triumph Bonneville 650 suddenly deflate. Control was to say the least awkward, and got worse (I needed all of that 22' wide highway) as I tried to slow down which I of course had to do. I forsook an opportunity to go into the nice shallow fairly soft ditch, not wanting to fold my forks under and almost immediately regretted it as I thought I was going down on the pavement. Having slowed at that point from about 60 mph to maybe 20 mph which seemed pretty slow, I thought putting my left foot down would be a good idea. I caught my heel on the ground, and my foot slammed down which was mighty painful. My knee was unhappy too. Shortly after, I rolled, sort of, to a stop several miles from town so I walked home on a very sore foot and knee. Heading out for a course early one morning on my 83 Goldwing, I passed the local gravel truck as we were both heading west on a narrow highway. A mile or two later I reached back with my right hand to make sure my saddlebag lid was secure and it wasn't there! Yow!! I pulled over and the gravel truck passed me again, and I felt back with my left hand and the other saddlebag top was ok. I raced back to town 3 or 4 miles looking in the ditches for my saddlebag lid hoping to see it and not its remains crushed by the gravel truck and got all the way home. I opened the garage door to look inside and couldn't find the lid anywhere. Sadly I turned to my bike to get back on and go to the course, and there was the lid, still sitting sideways on the passenger seat where I had set it before leaving earlier. Helping my daughter and her husband unload her Honda 750 Shadow off their pick-up down a 2"x12"x10foot plank. "I've done this before!" said I, and straddled the bike in the box of the truck while we guided it backwards to the plank. I'd overlooked the fact that when I "done this before" it was down a 5' wide ramp from my 18" high trailer. As the rear wheel started to roll down the plank, I applied the front brake to slow things down. (both feet were out to the side to balance on a ramp which wasn't there.) Front wheel began to slide rearward in the box. Other than a smooth descent, the next best plan was for the front wheel to push the plank of the tail-gate and drop bike and me down but upright. The next next best (and also worst) plan was for me and the bike to tip sideways off the plank which we promptly did. Luckily our fall was broken by my head (no helmet of course as I didn't plan to go for a ride.) and right shoulder so there was no damage to the bike which partly stayed on the plank. I got to my feet and assured both my daughters and sons-in-law that all was fine. That had always been my plan. No vital fluids were leaking out of me or the bike, so I think they bought it. Looking back at this post it seems like I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a bike (or maybe even out of the house), but in my defense, these incidents took place over a span of nearly 40 years. On the other hand I didn't seem to learn anything in 40 years. Oh well. Peter

Hey Russ, Since this thread has been silent for about 18 months I'm just wondering if you're still happy with the modification, and whether or not you have some follow-up comments or recommendations after 2 seasons of use. I have also a couple of questions. Since the oil pick-up location is pressured and used to attach an oil pressure guage, will taking a small but "free flowing" line from there potentially reduce the pressure and inhibit the oil pump's ability to deliver oil to the rest of the engine? Is there enough pressure in the "new" line so that oil squirts onto the clutch basket gear, or does it just dribble? Is an orifice needed? Peter

Just a short plug for Carbon One's crash bar supports. I ordered them a while ago, and got them promptly but didn't get around to installing them until recently. I've used my highway pegs before but hadn't realized how much tension was in my legs when I did until I rode with the supports. WOW!!! I would not have believed how much difference it makes to have that solid feel on the pegs, and how many easy miles now roll under me with my feet up. I know they're not a new product, but for anyone who has been thinking about them, just do it. They're an inexpensive way to make a huge beneficial difference in your bike. Peter:canada:

My wife had one in about 82 or so. It was a great bike for folks (like her) who fear stalling when pulling into traffic etc. The guy who eventually bought it from us was still putting around the village of Foremost until just a few years ago. My objection was that when you closed the throttle, IT DIDN'T SLOW DOWN LIKE I EXPECTED. It felt like it accelerated. I'm sure it didn't but without compression braking it startled the heck out of me the first few times. And oh yes, it would do 60 all day, but it had a small fuel tank so when we'd ride west about 70 miles against the wind into the nearest city, she'd have to fill up.

Does Ed McMahon know about this?

A few years ago, riding my 83 Goldwing (the saddle-bag lids weren't attached to the bags, just clipped on) I was on my way to a class early in the morning. I got out onto the highway, passed a friend in his gravel truck which was going too slow for me, set my throttle lock, and casually reached back with my left and them my right hand to touch the lids to check that they were secure. The right lid wasn't there! I pulled over, looked over my right shoulder, and yup, it wasn't there. I headed home watching the road surface for a beat up lid, hoping my friend hadn't accidentally run over it, and got all the way home, about 4 miles. I was hoping I'd left it in the garage. I got off, looked in the garage but it wasn't there. I turned to walk back to the bike, and there it was. Sitting on the passenger seat right where I had left it. It made it about 8 miles at highway speeds without falling off. I'm now obsessive about checking the saddle bag lids, even though my RSTD has them attached. However I did once forget to check the (aftermarket) trunk lid which is hinged on the left side, and the wind caught it, flipped it up and emptied all the light stuff onto the road. Luckily no traffic, and no damage as the restraining cable caught it. Now I do a walk-around before I leave just a light aircraft pilot does. Sometimes I stop a block from home, and do another one just in case I forgot to do the first one. Peter

Hey Oldseadog It sounds like you married your best friend. Good on both of you. Peter:canada:

Like Illinois said. Earplugs. Cdn$0.25 a set for the good ones. (US0$0.10) Peter

I have a Premeux on my 06 RSMTD. I can't provide costs etc., because it was there when I bought the bike about a year ago. It's pretty light weight, but I'm very happy with it. It looks like a Harley Tour Pack trunk, (without the lights). I've added a chrome "Harley Tour Pack" luggage rack, and it looks like it belongs on the bike. I haven't added lights to it yet because I'm looking for something not too expensive which will work as brake/signal lights and won't show unless they're in operation. (I already have those Harley brake/tail-lights with the chrome licence plate thing.) Peter

Hey Phil I have an 06 RSMTD and I love it. I bought it in December (can't ride in Alberta in December) so I took a chance, but I've never regretted it. They're listed at around 800 lb, and my 83 GW was 750 lb, so I thought what the heck. The GW was great except that I have long legs and my 70 year old knees could no longer handle being cramped for more than about an hour. I've put on over 16,000 km this year (by far my best riding year ever), and recently put new tires on it. Shinko's front and rear and the front is a 130-90-16 instead of the 150-80-16 I had on before. Wow! It's like going from manual to power steering. Steering is almost effortless, and on high speed highway curves, completely neutral. No more "holding" it into the curve. Heavy isn't an issue even though I'm getting older and weaker by the day. Once I "heave" it off the side stand and get under way, it feels lighter than my old GW. I can't think of a bike I'd rather have. You'll love yours too. Peter

Hi Scott. I am the father of a daughter born out of wedlock. Her mother and I were not in a position financially, jobwise, or maturity-wise to take on the raising of a daughter in April 1964, and she was put up for adoption. But we were in love. We married in Feb 1966, and have made it past our 48th wedding anniversary. At first, we felt that we had left the "situation" behind us, but as time went by, we desperately wanted to know that child, that we still loved. One day in about 1995 (My wife would know the exact date) I got a letter from a Social Services department, and both my wife and I leapt at the chance to meet this child who was and yet wasn't our daughter. We knew it would be difficult, including how to tell our other three girls about their older sister. We got through it with love. We now have four daughters who all love one another, and as I sit here today, that little girl (who is now a 50 year old woman) is visiting with us and chatting with my wife in another room. In about 1986, our "middle" daughter announced that she had made the same mistake that her mother and I had made. At that point, our "actual" first daughter was still a secret from the others, and we didn't then disclose the secret, but it made us able to more easily understand the fears of our daughter. She was as terrified as had we been. She thought her future was destroyed (she was still in her final year of high school) and the outlook was bleak and depressing. The boy did have the courage to make the "announcement" to us with our daughter, but that relationship didn't last, and we believe that our daughter knew it wouldn't, which made her fears even worse. Her child (a son) was given for adoption to an agency which kept her in touch with the adoptive parents and the child. (Our wishes were that she "cut the string" sort of as we had, but she was right, we were wrong.) She finished her high school, and two years of college, and she is now a very happily married woman with three other children, and all of them have a loving relationship. If I can offer any advice, it is to make sure that your daughter knows how very much you love her, and want only what is best for her; that she will always be your much loved daughter, and she and your grand-child will always have a home with you. Peter

I have an ME 880 150/90 B 15 on the rear of my 06 RSTD. It fits fine, but after 13,500 km, all this year (around 8,000 miles) it is about 3/4 worn out. I ride single and have 46 psi in the tire, so maybe that's too much air. I don't know what normal wear should be for my bike and that tire. Peter

I bought my bike with 80K kilometres (50,000 miles) with clean oil from a dealer. I didn't ask what was in there but assumed it was the cheapest stuff they had "on tap". (probably dinosaur oil) I switched to Amsoil which I had run in my GW with success, but it made my particular bike (06 RSTD) scream like a banshee. I went to Castrol GTX 10-40 and it vastly reduced the whine. I am now trying out Rotella-T and it seems to be reducing the noise even more. Because it's designed to run in diesels, it has (I think) more resistance to sheer break-down which running it in a m/c transmission (apparently the source of the whine) might induce. Anyway, it seems to work. As far as I can tell, oil is oil. It is designed to lubricate, and it does. Why did Amsoil work so well in my GW and not my RSTD? I don't know, but I've never seen a scientific explanation of why one shouldn't switch from one to the other. I avoid any oil that says it has "additives" to make it "fuel efficient", as I'm concerned that they might affect the clutch. I'm back to dinosaur oil and staying there. Others may have better success with synthetics. Just my (Canadian) two cents worth, although we don't have cents in Canada any more. We round down or up to the nearest nickel, so rounding down I guess my ideas are worthless. Peter

Hi Zoller When I bought my 83 Goldwing (in 04) it had one of those monster, almost over your head windshields with a vent in it. I rode around a bit carrying an erasable felt marker, and marked where I would prefer the top to be. Then I masked off where I thought I'd like it, and rode around some more. Eventually I decided on the height and shape, marked the windshield, and cut it off with a mini-grinder. I used a palm sander to finish the edge, and it looks (I think anyway) great. It's hard to tell without close inspection, that it isn't the original top edge. I already had the tools, so it didn't cost me a nickel, and I got exactly the height I wanted. Just a thought Peter

Hey, we still all say that and it's from the Howdy Doody show in the 50's. (or is it even older than that?) I remember (I think) the kid Dilly Dally whose ears spun around, cause I have ears about the same size, but mine don't spin. Peter

A few years ago my brother (really, it wasn't me, really), rode up his fairly steep driveway to his garage door, and without thinking it through, put his 83 Goldwing on its centre stand. It was easy to do because of the sloped driveway, and he was happy until he realized that his garage door (the swing out slab type) opened toward the bike, and he hadn't left room. He couldn't work the bike around sideways for fear of dropping it on the steep driveway, and it was impossible to rock it forward off the stand. In the end, he had to ask the Harley owner across the road to help, which he did, smiling all the time. This all happened in Regina Saskatchewan, so it couldn't have been me. I've never lived there. And yes, that's how we Great White Northerners spell centre. It's like metre, or motre as in motre bike.

I was a police officer and around 1973 the department added a couple of motorcycles to its highway patrol unit. I expressed interest in riding to my wife, whose response was "The day you ride up to the front of the house on a motorcycle, the kids and I are leaving by the back door." She was terrified of motorcycles, and didn't want to worry herself into an early grave waiting for me to be killed on one. About 3 years later, I bought (with her approval) a Yamaha 175 trail for commuting to get my pilot's licence. (She didn't seem to worry about me flying, just riding.) I went to an RD400, an XS750, a Virago 1000, and survived them all, plus a Triumph 650 Bonneville. She got curious about the attraction, and her fear had abated. We had a 200CC 2-stroke road bike we carried on our camper, and she tried riding that, then got her licence on it. One day, at very slow speed, on a gravel road, (just trying to get back to pavement) she rolled it. Took the windshield right off. She wasn't hurt, just sort of stunned. She climbed back on, we got to the pavement, and we rode about 80 miles home. The Honda dealer in Lethbridge had a bike sale on, and we got her a Hondamatic 400, so her only real issue/fear with riding (stalling while entering traffic) would be gone. She loved it, and we rode together many miles. We also put many miles on bicycles touring in all kinds of road and traffic conditions. She no longer rides a motorcycle (bad hips from curling), but she understands why I do, and doesn't worry about me when I'm out somewhere on the bike. That's huge. She knows I'm not some over the hill squid; I just love to ride and she trusts me to come home every time safe and sound. She understands the risks, and knows I'll do everything I can to mitigate them. I couldn't enjoy riding if I knew she was sitting at home worried about me. I love riding (I agree with the flying analogy) for the same reasons we all do, plus I know my wife is at home loving me, and not worrying about me. Peter

A few years ago, riding our 83 Aspencade in Waterton National Park. My wife was on the back, our little dog on her (removable) dog seat ahead of me. We were only moving about 10 miles per hour past ice-cream eaters on the sidewalk. A beautiful summer day and my brother and his wife were on their bike (almost identical to ours) behind us. A lady decided to cross (jaywalk, but that doesn't matter) ahead of us to reach the ice-cream eaters. I could have just rolled on and made her wait, but just to show how polite motorcyclists really are, I chose to stop. And I wanted to stop really smoothly (for those ice-cream eaters) too, so I slowed and put my left foot down. Unfortunately as I (smoothly) put my left foot down and planted it, the bike was still (smoothly) rolling forward for about 18" after I had (smoothly) planted my foot. (An "Oh Crap!" moment) Down we went. Judy and I just stepped off the bike, and Chica the dog jumped off and began immediately trying to get back on. My brother and wife came running, but Judy, (who I think was as embarrassed as I was) and I picked the bike back up onto its wheels. After spending a minute or two cranking the engine getting the flooded carbs to dry out, we rode (smoothly and avoiding eye contact with the ice-cream eaters) out of there. (Never let 'em see you sweat.) I think my face was the same colour (burgundy) as my bike. We got our ice-cream somewhere else. I've done the side stand down trick too. Our Goldwing doesn't have a side-stand kill switch, and I seem to forget when I stop to use my cell phone or some such thing, and I don't actually get off or stop the engine. Left a Pincher Creek gas station a while ago, stopped to call home, then turned right onto the road, right to go around a traffic circle, and as I began to turn left around the circle, felt/heard it touch. It was too late to turn right out of the circle, so I stopped just before hitting the concrete triangle. There I was in a bunch of loose gravel, waiting for traffic to ease so I could back up and leave. How do I donate? Peter 83 Goldwing 06 RSTD

Today I started early to sync the carbs, but thanks to Carbtune (that I read about here) and the great photos of the adjustment screws (that I saw here) I think I was done in about 20 minutes. The last carb sync on my GW took about 2 hours of fooling around with my old set-up. What a great site this is for tech info. Anyway I took her out again for about 90Km. Had lunch at Twin Butte General Store and Mexican Restaurant. If you ever near Waterton National Park it's a great place to eat; lots of bikers there. (But not today. I was their first bike this year.) I have "the whine", but I'll try Amsoil to see if it quiets it a bit. (It helped my GW). RSTD still isn't as smooth as I'd like. I hadn't read the post about lugging it so I'll take special note next trip. (Min speed for 5th gear roll-ons? I know, I know - - just listen.) It was a beautiful day with melting snow but when I got home my driveway was a soggy gravel/mud mess. Fun pushing the bike backwards into the garage. I have a Clymer manual coming and when it gets here, I'll do a full tune-up, valves, ignition timing, plugs, and re-sync.

I bought it about a month ago, and I finally got to ride it. I live in southern Alberta and we get Chinooks which melt a bunch of snow, so I was able to chop paths to the road in front of my house, and out to the county road, and it was good from there to the local paved highway. I took the Goldwing out first because I'm used to it and the paths aren't that wide. Then I took THE RIDE. I loved it. It's easier to handle than my 83 Goldwing. It feels much lighter on the road and it's much more powerful. It'll take getting used to where the shift levers are (my GW has heel & toe but in a different spot), but otherwise I'm good. My only concern is that when I made it pull hard, the engine vibration increased a lot. I do my own maintenance so I guess I'll do a tune up with valves, plugs, carb sync., etc. Maybe the increased vibration is normal, but I don't know. My GW after carb sync., is really smooth. Anyway, today was a great day. Weather report says I may get to ride again Saturday. Peter