BlueSky

Welcome to the forum! I'll be following your build with great interest!

Harley Davidson Closing Plant Due to Declining Sales Apparently the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles. Generation X is only buying a few, and the next generation isn't buying any at all. A recent study was done to find out why. Here are the reasons why Millennials don't ride motorcycles: 1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat. 2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on. 3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving. 4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one. 5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped. 6 Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care. 7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning. 8. They can't afford one because they spent 12 years in college trying to get educated. 9. They are allergic to fresh air. 10. Their pajamas get caught on the exhaust pipes. 11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil. 12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen. 13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch. 14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding. 15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did. 16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes. 17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield. 18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up. 19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face. 20 It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water. 21. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.

I went for a ride today on my new to me 07 RSV. The gas gauge was on 2 or 3 bars when I started it. It took a while to warm up and after riding it a few miles the low fuel indicator light came on. A few seconds later, it started sputtering and died. I coasted to a gravel driveway and stopped. After looking at the fuel valve I switched it to reserve, allowed a few seconds for the carbs to fill up and rode to a gas station. It took 4.5 gallons to fill. It will be nice to know in the future what to expect. I'm undecided whether to keep the fuel valve in the reserve or on position. With the gauge and warning light I suppose there is no reason to keep it in the ON position.

Great to hear from you! The MH sounds like a great project. A MH is on my list of desires but as long as the wife still has a job, I can't justify one yet. Take care and keep us updated. It's great to have members with your skills.

While driving by the Honda motorcycle dealer today in Wilmington NC, I noticed a white RSV sitting outside with their used bikes that are for sale. Wonder if someone traded it for a new wing?

What's up yamagrl? Whatcha been doing? Long time no speakee. Are you still riding two wheelers?

If you upgrade the starter to a 4 brush, do you still need the larger cables?

speaking of oil, I was in Walmart yesterday looking at the labels on the Rotella oils. The dino version T4 and the T6 synthetic oils have the JASO MA spec listed on the label but the T5 synthetic blend has no JASO MA spec listed. Curious?

I'm against legalizing it. It is just one more step in the degradation of the USA in my opinion. I tried it a couple of times way back when and decided I'd rather have a beer. My son admitted that he smoked it as a teenager and he also dropped out of high school when he was staying with his mother for a semester due to my transient situation. I thought I was moving back to where his mother lived but ended up not being able to sell my house. He worked a a few non-inspiring jobs for several years after quitting high school before quitting smoking pot and got focused on his career. He taught himself how to scratch records and asked me to support him while going to Full Sail, a school in Orlando where he could learn his chosen profession of music recording. I didn't know whether he would apply himself or not since he had not in high school but I agreed to support him. He worked hard in school and afterwards and now he has recorded and mixed most of Beyonces last 3 albums and won a grammy for his work on her second album. So, I'm really glad he quit smoking pot.

Any brand that meets the JASO MA spec and the viscosity recommendations of Yamaha.

Some car owners disconnect the vacuum hose connected to the brake booster and put a can of seafoam into the intake manifold and let it sit over night. When the vehicle starts, it will smoke a lot because of all the crud that breaks loose in the dirty intake manifold. From what I have read on the F150 forum, Seafoam can harm the catalytic converters and Ford only recommends Chevron Techron.

You may need to clean the carbs. I'd put a bottle of Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA in the gas and run it for a few minutes every day and see if it clears up. Most members like Seafoam but I've found that Gumout does a great job.

When were the valve clearances checked? I'd put a bottle of Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA in the gas and run it through. Have you confirmed the float levels?

Well, I decided to buy a new Kohler replacement engine. The replacement was not the exact same spec engine. When I tried to order it, I found out it wasn't available. But, the short block is, so that is what I ordered. So, now I have to install it when it comes in "5 to 7" business days. $478.26!!! for a short block!

Briggs sells an "Intek" engine that is designed to replace the Kohler courage for about $555. One guy who said he had been repairing engines since 1972 said it was the worst designed engine he had ever seen.

I liked the Hayabusa!

My particular engine 21hp SV610-0212 is not available any more. A supplier has a recommended courage replacement 20hp SV601-3241. But the factory is not making any more courage engines. A short block and crank kits are available for my engine from the suppliers. Mine was run hard. My stepson said he could mow the yard in 15 minutes. I was gone a lot working temp contracts. I also run it fairly hard. But, my first rider was a 36" cut Murray with a briggs engine that had a splash lube system. It mowed an acre of grass for 7 years and my son used it to mow neighbors yards for pay that were an acre or larger. Then it mowed my current yard for 3 more yrs before it started knocking. I bought another Murray with ohv and pressure lube and it lasted 10 yrs on my current yd that is 15k sq ft including the house. Now I buy the Husqvarna with the Kohler courage and it lasted 7 or 8 yrs on the little lot. Seems to me each mower had a worse engine than before. If I buy another it will have a Kawasaki engine. Lowes has a Hustler zero turn 42" with a Kawasaki engine for $2799 before my 10% veterans discount.

Kohler makes a better engine called a command I believe. I think the courage line is a cheap line they came out with for cheap consumer mowers. The SV line of courage engines which I have one of are not very durable from what I have been told. They don't make an engine in the "courage" line any more. I think they renamed their cheap line "confidant".

In my Husqvarna 46" cut riding lawn mower with the Kohler courage 21hp engine. It has a build date of 2010 and I don't remember exactly when I bought it but it has only been used to cut about 1/4 acre of grass. Bad engine design I'm told. Trying to decide whether to buy a new crappy Kohler engine replacement, try to rebuild the existing engine or spend $2500 on a new mower with a Kawasaki engine? Decisions! Decisions!

Keep lots of fuel injector cleaner with PEA polyetheramine in the gas. It will gradually clean up the carbs. A long ride will help tremendously too with the cleaner in the gas.

The 07 I just bought has stock mufflers and it is the same as yours as far as starting cold. It fires up immendiately and runs fine on full choke (after pouring a half bottle of Gumout with PEA in the gas tank) but takes a lot of warming before I can give it throttle without the choke on. After warming up it runs great on the road with lots of power. I have not tried adjusting the idle screws yet.

How long have you ridden it without stopping? The seats on the smaller bikes get uncomfortable after a while or at least my ZN700 does. And for an old coot like me, I'm folded up a little too much for long rides.

I think that the 2005 and up models have the same hp as the Ventures. The older models were detuned.

I bought a Motion Pro unit and I couldn't get the bubbles out. After calling Motion Pro they suggested adding more fluid. The fluid will get sucked out into the intake if there is much of a difference in the vacuum. So, I was so disgusted with it that I sold it cheap just to get rid of the lousy thing. I understand the Carbtune unit works great. I haven't replaced it yet.

In NC, there is a "stand your ground" law that doesn't require you to retreat from a confrontation. It also allows you to show your weapon to defuse a situation, something I would never do because if the other person has a weapon they might kill you and call it self defense. We also have a "castle" law. If an uninvited person is found to be in your home, you have the legal right to kill them. Before that law, they had to be a threat before shooting them. The key words are "in your home". You can't shoot them in the yard unless they are attacking. Carrying a gun is a responsibility that can get you jailed. But, like the saying goes, it's better to be judged by 12 than carried by pallbearers.