BlueSky

Quite a while ago, Motorcycle Superstore sent me a "new" 5 year old tire. It was a Metzler Lasertec that fit the rear of my Kawasaki and I suppose there isn't much demand for that size. I used it and it worked okay but when you order tires there is no way that I know of to request a newly manufactured tire. They should refund your money with no drama on that tire.

Wow! That's a lot of riding. Maybe at 74, I'm not too old!

I worked as a temporary engineering contractor at nuclear power plants for the last 20 years of my employment. When the work was finished, I was terminated in all kinds of ways. Sometimes we got emails telling us our end dates. At least one job, we were escorted out by security immediately after being terminated. I didn't care. The jobs were temporary. The pay was high. I liked not having any ties to the companies other than trying to do a good job. I was always happy to leave and take a break. I almost never looked for another job until the current job ended. I'm just an independent cuss. It worked out well for me. But, if you are the type who worries a lot, that type of job may not be for you.

You may be interested in watching these old Yamaha training videos. There are 12 of them on the internet.

My favorite was a Sugar Daddy. it was hard caramel candy on a stick, like a small popsicle. When I went to the movies in the mid to late 50's, one of those would last about half way through the movie.

If it has no issues that is a reasonable price in my opinion. Typical issues are dirty carbs that might can be cleaned up without removing them from the bike with seafoam or Gumout, noisy speedometer that needs lubing, spark plug wires that are corroded at the cap. Typical fix is to cut off a half inch or so of wire and screw it back into the cap. Make sure it is running on all four cylinders. These V4 engines run like they are missing at idle. If you can check the exhaust temps with an infrared thermometer, you will find out if a cylinder isn't running right. Carbs don't usually cause problems unless you let it sit and the gas dries up in the carbs. Another typical problem is the clutch slave cylinder leaking. These bikes have been known to run over 200k miles with reasonable care. Bottom line is that they are darn good bikes.

For anybody who has a Harbor Freight lift table that has a failed jack, this guy came up with a great solution.

Or you could go with the laboratory tests of oils if you can find them. There is some difference between oils that meet the same specifications. Subjective opinions meet little.

In today's market, it's amazing how much bike you can buy for little money! According to cowpuc you should be able to get another 150k miles out of that one!

I feel for you. I installed a new light/fan a while back and I was amazed at how much time it took. I had to drill some new holes in the circuit box for the new screws. And then it didn't work. So, I wired it up directly bypassing the remote circuitry and it worked. So, I went back to Home Depot with the remote gadget receiver that was inside the housing and they gave me another one out of another fan's box. Came back home and that one worked. It was a lot more work than I ever imagined.

Looks like a great deal! Congratulations! How many miles on the bike?

That's awesome news! I'm so happy for you!

The sight glass is in the same location but the Gen 2 has an exhaust pipe in the way of using a mirror to check the oil level.

I'm sure that you don't have to use Yamalube to maintain the warranty. On an air/oil cooled bagger, I suggest you use an oil with a good noack test. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noack_volatility_test The next link is a 2009 document of tested motorcycle oils. http://www.oil-tech.com/amsoil-pdf-files/motorcycle-oil-comparison.pdf

Something occurred to me about balancing beads. Most gas stations today have these tankless air compressors and by not having a tank when they compress air, if the humidity is high that day, condensation may occur. So, it's probably not a good idea to use tankless air compressors to pump up bike tires that have beads in them. The moisture may contribute to the beads sticking together. This also includes those small compressors that plug into a 12 volt outlet on the bike or auto. Those of us who have an air compressor with a tank know that we should drain the water out of the tank periodically.

Gumout for high mileage engines (with PEA) is my favorite fuel injector cleaner/ carb cleaner. I've been using it for a while. When I bought the 07 RSV last week, the first time I started it, it didn't start immediately and it missed a lot until warm. I put a half bottle of Gumout in the tank and ran it for a few minutes. The next day, it fired immediately on full choke and didn't miss. I took it for a ride and it ran great. Last summer my Black Max with Honda engine pressure washer cut off after using it for quite a while. It would start and run for a few seconds and cut off again. It was getting late so I put it away and ended up leaving it all winter with gas in the carb. A couple days ago, I tried to start it and it would not fire at all. So, I sprayed some starter fluid into the carb and it fired up for a few seconds. I poured a couple ounces of Gumout into the gas tank and used the starter fluid to keep it running for a while. Today, after a short starter fluid spray, it fired up and ran on the gas! Yeah! I used it for a while cleaning the concrete walkway and it ran great! I love Gumout!

Well, I found my mirror and tried to check the oil on the 07. The oil sight glass is several inches back under the engine and it was impossible to use the mirror to check the oil. So, I'll have to get it upright in a safe manner so I can lie on the floor and check it. As someone pointed out, I'll need it upright to change the oil too. I checked craigslist last night for motorcycle jacks and there are a plethora of them available within 100 miles but not in my town.

I'd still put some seafoam or my favorite, Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA, in the gas tank. I think it's an infrared, not laser thermometer. I used to call it that too.

The Yamaha specs say that the (84 & 85) Gen I MKI is 736 or 756 lbs depending on whether it is an L or DL model. The Gen II is 869lbs. So, that is 113lbs or 133lbs right there. Add the differences in your bodies weight and what you were carrying and you didn't have a chance without considering the gearing. My 89 is supposed to weigh 783lbs. But during my misspent youth I lost a lot of drag races and all of them were fun!

I suspect it was a mixture that they came up with, probably diluted battery acid (sulfuric acid), or hydrochloric acid or something like that. Muriatic acid that is available from a builders supply co. such as Home Depot or Lowes and is used to clean concrete or bricks is dilute hydrochloric acid. What those acids will do to aluminum, I don't know?

That is what I have used since then, but it isn't anywhere near as strong as the acid they used in the AF base shop.

When I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Bliss in 1968, I used the auto craft shop at the fort and the nearby Air Force base. The shop at the AF base had a 5 gallon bucket of carb cleaner. It must have been an acid mix because when the cover was removed it smoked. Anyway my 65 Chevelle was running fine but I disassembled the Carter carburetor and soaked it in that mix. Wow! What a difference in how it ran afterwards and I thought it was running well before. I wish I had recorded exactly what that carb cleaner mix was because my carb looked just like new afterwards.

That is scary to me. If I get the bike truly upright so the reading will be accurate, I'm afraid the bike will fall on me while I'm on the floor trying to read the level. I'd for sure have to restrain it in some way so it wouldn't fall on me. I have a mirror. I'll give that a try while I'm astride the bike. It would appear that since it doesn't have a center stand, I need to buy one of those jack adapters from Carbon One and a motorcycle jack if I decide to keep it. I'll be riding all of my bikes and will try to decide which two to sell or at least that is what I'm telling the wife!

That size is probably the ideal size for scooting around town easily.

Now you know that photos of that new scoot posted so we can enjoy them are mandatory!