BlueSky

According to his profile he was 68.

I'm shocked! Dan was so full of life. I don't know what to say. The forum won't be the same without him.

The water cooled Ventures have a coolant temperature gauge. Does the new Venture have an oil temperature gauge?

All big bikes produce a lot of heat no matter how they are cooled and that heat gets transferred to the air flowing by one way or the other. My 89 Venture is uncomfortable on a hot day and it is water cooled. My air cooled Kawasaki is not uncomfortable from engine heat, maybe because it is smaller. It still produces 74hp. My objection is related to concerns of engine longevity. If you are aware of the stop and go heat up potential with an air or an air/oil cooled bike and take precautions it shouldn't be a problem. I know a guy who put over 180k miles on his Harley by never riding it over 65 mph even when touring out west and taking good care of it. With a water cooled bike overheating in stop and go traffic isn't an issue because the fan prevents the engine from overheating in traffic. At my age 74, I don't intend to buy a new bike of any kind. I won't say absolutely not but there isn't much potential there to cause me to buy. So my opinion doesn't count! Rock On!

Puc, Yamaha should have bought Tweeks from you and put her in a Museum for all to admire!

Member Steve Rosemans Road King pipes on his 90 Venture.

I think if an individual anywhere in the USA sells a gun to a felon, that individual just commited a felony. I would not sell a gun to someone I didn't know without doing it through a dealer who could make the call. I bought several guns from co-workers and sold one to a co-workier at the nuclear power plants and we didn't worry about that because we were all back ground checked to get an access badge to the nuke plant. And the back ground check was much more extensive than the check to buy a gun.

Yeah, it should last long enough for most people. Personally, I think Yamaha should give one to Cowpuc to test by running it 100 mph riding double with a huge pack of camping gear on the back across the southwest desert for hours on end. If it holds up to Cowpuc and Tippy for a couple of summers of touring, it may be worthy of being called a Venture.

The point the way I see it is a fan is needed for stop and go city riding. Most water cooled bikes have fans that come on when needed. If an air cooled bike had a fan it might stay as cool in traffic as a water cooled bike but it wouldn't look "right". The air cooled autos of old had big blowers that kept them cool in city driving.

I miss FL. I got a carry permit in less than 2 weeks, ex-military no class needed. With that, I could buy a handgun which I did from budsgunshop.com and had it delivered to a dealer who charged me to make the call to check my record before I could take possession. There is so much crime in southern FL that I think the authorities want people who don't have a record armed so they can take out some of the criminals. In NC I have to fill out a multi-page form, take a class, and list 3 people who live in the same county who aren't relatives who will vouch for me and wait for the Sheriff's office to process the application to carry. Just to buy a handgun, it takes a form with people vouching for the applicant too. When I toured Wyoming summer before last I was told you didn't need a permit to carry a weapon open or concealed! They don't have the buttholes and criminals that other states have I suppose. I believe it is the least populated state in the country. If it wasn't so cold, I think I would move there.

It looked like a couple of those accidents were caused by sand on the road because the bikes shouldn't have lost grip. Then they could have running Cheng Shin tires!

You could use a thicker viscosity fork oil. This will slow down the action of the shock absorption of the front forks. And Progressive or another vendor may offer some stiffer springs.

For the rear tire, spray it with some water that has a little dish soap in it and look for bubbles. With the bike on the centerstand, slowly spin the tire while you spray and inspect it. Don't forget to spray the fill valve. And I agree that if the fork tube has drained completely, just fill with the specified amount. The stroking is to get the air bubbles out of the oil but that seems to me will happen when you start riding the bike. Getting the air bubbles out is needed if you depend on measuring the level.

It doesn't have to 90 degrees. No air flow equals overheating. It's as simple as that. Whether is overheats to the point damage is done is anyone's guess but it will heat up the oil. There is a 2009 Los Angeles county review of potential police bikes on the internet that I read. A couple of air cooled Harleys and an air/oil cooled BMW Boxer were included in the comparison. They did a thorough review and one of the things they tested was oil temperature. They did not state what the oil tempertures were for the bikes but they did list the manufacturers maximum allowed oil temperature. For the Harleys, the manufacturer's maximum allowed oil temperature was 410 degrees F. For the air/oil cooled BMW Boxer it was about 300 degrees F as I remember. For the water cooled bikes tested the maximum allowed oil temperature was about 260 degrees F. So, evidently Harley considers oil temperatures of 410 degrees F are acceptable.

If the oil cooler had a fan, it probably would stay cool in stop and go traffic. But without it , it has to heat up the oil to higher temperatures than would be seen with water cooling and a fan. Longevity has to be affected but lots of air cooled motorcycles have run over 100k miles reliably. I would think it depends on how much time it spends in stop and go traffic. When I get stuck in traffic on my air cooled Kawasaki, I turn the engine off at the stop lights just in case. It starts immediately so this is not a problem.

Man, that is crazy! Riding a 1983 Venture with stickers all over it and get a ticket for impersonating a police officer. What a hardazz he was/is. That one would be a good one to take to court if you had the time and money to hire an attorney. I can't believe a judge would find you guilty on that one if you showed him/her a photo of you and Tippy on the bike.

Puc has a great point. Always check the VIN # to make sure it agrees with the title. I used to work with a guy who found out when he tried to sell his house when the job ended that he owned the house next door and the neighbor next door owned his. Had to pay an attorney a few bucks to get it straigtened out. The Lady next door was happy to let him pay for the attorney and she cooperated.

I agree with Freebird. You stole that rig! The bike looks like it will clean up really well.

Yeah, I loved that show, "Then Came Bronson". It was too deep and not enough action for it to last more than one season though. A couple years ago, I ordered the DVD of the two hour premier but had to return it because it was defective in the middle of the show. Michael Parks, the star of the show passed away a year or so back. Hope you will be riding and grinning real soon!

I like them. One reason is besides water cooling, that they have a disc brake in the rear when other brands that size have drum brakes. And if I remember correctly, it vibrates less than the comparable Yamaha.

The batteries in these bikes are only 20 amp so they are not that big or strong. Trying to turn the engine with another battery before buying is a good idea I think. I would be surprised if it is locked up. You could get more than $500 for the parts if you decide not to fix it up. It will be a lot of work to get everything up to snuff but I'm sure you know that. But, there is a wealth of knowledge and help on this site.

One other reason is that the raw river water the county is using has all kinds of chemicals in it that are not removed by their treatment system so we just installed a whole house carbon filtration system to take out some of it. And the water heater is probably full of chemicals. And the size heater that fits in my little closet is out of stock and my wife had a 10% off coupon to help buy one. If it failed when one wasn't available, we'd probably have to call a plumber and pay twice as much to get it replaced. This way I'll replace it for about half price. We can always rationalize spending out money can't we? If this new one lasts 25 yrs, I'll be 99 yrs old if I'm still above ground.

Just finished replacing my Kawasaki ZN700's fork seals for the 3rd time in 9 yrs of ownership. And it sat too long without running while I was dealing with health issues, shingles in particular, and the carbs were partially plugged. The idle circuit on carb #1 was plugged. I put a bottle of Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA in the gas tank and after running it a few times over a few days the carbs cleaned up. So, I'm back in business. Taking it to get it inspected today and then new license plate sticker and I'll be riding it again.

Ordered a new electric water heater last night. Mine is 25 yrs old and has never given me any problems. Just decided to replace it before it fails.

The economy is picking up with more demand for fuel. I sort of suspect it may also be caused by the fact that a couple years ago, congress changed the law and now allows oil companies in the USA to export crude oil which they couldn't do before. They could only export refined oil products.