BlueSky

I hope you feel much better now Freebird! Do you guys get flu shots? The last one I got was about 25 years ago and about 3 weeks later I got the flu so bad I was afraid I was going to live! It must have worked though because I haven't had the flu since then. The medical profession will tell you that there is no chance that the shot will give you the flu. I flag that as BS!

Looks like it has a comfortable seat for one person and an upright seating position. I think it has possibilities for one rider touring. 4 exhaust pipes probably indicate a smooth running haul butt 4 cylinger engine. Looks to be similar to the Kawasaki Versys. Definitely not the cruiser style seating position that seems to be the preferred choice these days.

What the heck is that built on the side of the hill in the next to last photo?

If you take an infrared thermometer with you, (I bought one at Autozone.)you can check the temperatures of the exhaust pipes and tell if they are all firing properly. The 90 and older models have a 2 brush starter that won't spin the engine as fast as the 91 and up models that have a 4 brush starter. A common mod is to replace the older starter with a 4 brush. Be aware that the left front brake caliper and the rear caliper are controlled by the pedal and the right front brake caliper is controlled by the lever on the handlebar. Good luck with your hunt for a great bike!

It's different if you want to full time for a while and move around the country and really get to see and enjoy the sights. I worked temporary contract engineering jobs at nuclear power plants for almost 20 years in over a dozen states before retiring. The idea of using a TT or motorhome appealed to me because finding an apartment was almost always one of the worst things about a new contract. And the idea of not having to pack and haul so much stuff from home to the new jobs was very attractive. But it just didn't make sense for me. Many of my jobs were in the frozen north where the campgrounds are typically closed in the winter. Usually, I could rent an apartment for less money than the cost of renting a campsite. I went through the debate with myself several times and just couldn't rationalize using a TT or motorhome. When I worked at the Nine Mile Nuclear Power Plant close to Oswego, NY a coworker fulltimer paid $600 / month for a campsite. I rented a 2 bedroom apt for $420. I furnished it with what I could pack into my F150 with camper shell on the back.

Do you still have your DD214? I still have many copies and also my discharge certificate.

After a while it's much cheaper to rent hotels and apartments.

Yes, you are correct and I thought of that after I posted. But, that assumes the radiator cap which is a crude pressure control device will work the same no matter what the atmospheric pressure is. For example a car's cooling system will run cooler with a larger radiator even though the thermostat is the same. When I installed a large transmission cooler in series with the internal to the radiator factory transmission cooler on my 95 Mark VIII, the engine ran cooler according to the in dash gauge using the same OE thermostat which is also a very crude temperature controller.

After thinking about this some more, I think I understand. The radiator cap relieves at say 15 psi. That is actually a 15 psid or differential between the cooling system and atmospheric pressure. When atmospheric pressure is higher at the lower elevations. The cap will add 15 psi to the atmospheric pressure for the cooling system and the pressure inside the cooling system will actually be higher at the lower elevation than higher elevations. And could conceivably cause a leak at lower elevations and not at the higher elevations.

The difference in the pressure in the cooling system and outside will be greater at the higher elevation, so it doesn't make sense to me that it would leak at the lower elevation and not the high. Also, at the lower elevation the air would be denser and would cool the radiator better and maybe keep the engine cooler??

So, yah missing Big Red!??

Wow! He didn't even stop to empty his underwear!

The battery in my ZN700 would not start the bike. The voltage checked good for a fully charged battery, so I thought it was an electrical problem. I just took it to an Autozone store and they checked it and said it wouldn't support any load even though it checked 12.6 volts. So, I bought their AGM for my bike at about $82. Now the starter spins the engine really fast. The crazy thing was that when the 6 yr old AGM failed, it went from spinning the engine really fast to dead. Something inside shorted or broke or something. Anyhow, that's my battery story for today!

I was just looking on line for a motorcycle battery and Lowes building supply has Deka AGM size 14 batterys for less than $80. You may have to get them shipped to the store so a wait will be involved.

This is a shake down cruise for the truck. Grin and bear it is my recommendation. For those of us who can't afford new everything, we have to fix stuff occasionally. It's not all bad. Like someone else said, I couldn't afford two new cars, new truck, two new motorcycles, and a new boat. My wife has the bought new 2013 Infiniti. I have a 12 year old car, a 15 year old truck. two motorcycles that are 28 and 32 years old, and a boat that is 19 years old. I'm happy with my old stuff for the most part, certainly happy enough that I don't intend to replace it with new stuff no more than I use them.

Yep, AGM is the way to go unless you have the money to waste on a Lithium.

Son Stuart just won a Grammy! Best Urban Contemporary award as Beyonce's recording engineer/mixer!

Oops! Having FI is a great thing.

A couple of really knowledgeable people on this forum recommended an electric pump be installed because of the likelihood of the chevy cam lobe being worn to the point it isn't working the mechanical pump lever enough. Why not give it a try? In the old days some of my friends would install electric pumps on their cars in series with the mechanical pump to make sure their engines were getting enough fuel on the way down the quarter mile drag strip.

http://www.f150online.com/articles/florida-news-guy-uses-f-150-to-stop-violent-lunatic/

Any updates on what was wrong with the truck?

I don't suppose there is a vacuum hiss when you remove the gas cap after it dies? Just wondering if the tank is vented properly?

Car collectors will be salivating over that auction. Would be interesting just to go and see all those old and unique vehicles.

I've heard good things about the durability of those 460 engines. A 77 would have a carb and no computer.

Yeah, you're gonna have to swap that truck for a dually 4x4!