BlueSky

I guess it comes down to comfort, whichever bike is the most comfortable for long rides. A guy who lives a few miles away has been advertising a 2010 BMW R1200RT with 25K miles for quite a while and has come way down on his price and has been tempting me. I think it weighs 550 lbs or so and has 110hp so it should have plenty of git up and go. I know it is an air/oil cooled twin which I usually don't like but it has proven itself in the engine dept. I'm still worried about reliability of the electronics and the cost of parts though.

It's 80 degrees F today in Wilmington NC!

I did that once. Just before going into the Army when I was 23 yrs old I worked for a home builder for about 7 months. One day I carried 3 bundles up a ladder to the roof. The guys stacked 3 bundles on my left shoulder and up I went. It was a dumb thing to do though.

In my area, you would be required by law to get a building permit. Any home improvement or repair that costs more than $500 needs a permit. Any out building larger than 12' on any side needs a permit. That is why I built a 12' x 12' utility shed last summer. A PE stamp on the structure is probably required by law. Just adding to the confusion. Sorry.

I bought a 2004 Kawasaki Concours that had been for sale on ebay back about 2010. I was the high bid but didn't meet the reserve. The seller had posted his phone number on the ad so I called afterwards and reminded him I was ready to buy at my final bid. After thinking about it a day or so he accepted. It was about 100 miles away so I hauled it home in my trailer. I suppose ebay didn't get their fee on that one.

Remove the air cleaner and watch while you blip the throttle to see if the diaphrams are doing their job. Unscrew the plug caps and inspect them checking them for resistance. Should be 10k ohms or less. Inspect the spark plug wires to see if there is corrosion in the copper wire end. Clip off a 1/2 to 3/4" of the wire and screw it back in the cap. Would be a good idea to inspect the other end of the wires too at the coils. New spark plug caps are available at ngk.com and they have 5k ohms resistance. Don't know if the resistance drop is okay for the TCI. I assume so?

I would think it's too risky to try. The paper in toilet paper varies a lot and I'd be afraid it would break apart and put pieces of paper in the oiling system. Just my smelly opinion:banana:

I would love to have it if I was 25 yrs old and had the energy and interest that I used to have to fix-er-up. But alas, I'm almost 74 and much of the energy and love of those old cars has disappeared. Now, I'd much rather have a new hot rod but I'm too cheap to buy one. I do love my 2005 Dodge Magnum Hemi. It satisfies me when I feel the need for speed. As well as the motorcycles!

I actually bought my stepson two Miatas. When he turned 16 I bought a one year old 2007 Ford Focus hatchback for him. After a year of driving experience, I had taken the family to FL to be with me on a long term contract job and he was depressed with having to deal with a new school so trying to cheer him up I traded it for a 2006 Miata that only had 12k miles on it. 6 weeks later he stepped on the gas too hard on a wet road not being used to rear drive cars and totalled it. The insurance co. paid me enough to cover all of the money I had spent on both cars. After letting him walk a while giving him time to think about how he screwed up. I bought him a 2000 Mustang. He drove that several years and sold it for more than I paid for it. So, I got all the money back from his first 3 cars. Since he was in college and doing well, I bought him another 2006 Miata. He is still driving that one. Very reliable car. He was a very nice, disciplined kid and very smart. Mom is Russian and has a degree in electrical engineering. He got a degree in Computer Science and he is doing really well working in Raleigh. I'm very proud of him. I bought my daughter 4 cars and my son 2 cars. I spent too much money on them for sure. My son is Beyonce's recording engineer / mixer and has recorded her last two albums and won a grammy for the last one as the recording engineer/mixer.

Yes! Amazing!

Cowpuc, didn't you swap Tweeks carbs to Tweeksis? I remember you did but you may have swapped them back later. So, did you send Tweeksis diaphragms or Tweeks?

What is the difference in the hp rating? 1 hp?

I loved those Chevys back then and owned some of them. But, I'm not a collector and just for driving pleasure, the new Camaros and Mustangs are a world above those old cars, faster, handle better, much better on fuel, quieter, modern conveniences, just better in every way. Lately though, I have been thinking about a seventies vintage Corvette. I always liked the body style. Be kind of cool to have one of those to tool around in. About 6 years ago, when I was looking for a car for my stepson, we test drove a 2004 Mach I Mustang. It had the 32 valve DOHC engine and the PO had added full length headers with a Borla exhaust. That car brought the fever back. I got excited. I bought a Miata for him but I thought seriously about buying that Mach I for myself.

Motorcycles with a wet clutch like the Ventures should use oil meeting the Japanese spec JASO MA. Rotella oil dino and syn meets that spec as well as many of the motorycles oils.

hydrolocking wasn't that uncommon with the Kawasaki Concours because the carb overflows were deleted as part of the emissions systems. Without the overflows if the diaphragm petcock failed to seal and the carb needle failed to seal the carb would overflow to the engine. In fact a member of the COG would rebuild your carbs and add overflows if you mailed you carbs to him in FL.

I spent a total of about 2 years living in Auburn NE while I worked contract at the Cooper Nuclear Power Plant about 1 hour 15 minutes south of Omaha. I like the little town of Auburn. It was about as close to Mayberry as you could find at that time. Reminded me of the little town where I grew up in NC. Since I was divorced at the time, I usually went to Omaha to have fun on the weekends. They offered me a permanent job at the Cooper Plant but it was too freaking cold in the winter for a southern redneck!

I'm handicapped by watching acetone dissolve all kinds of stuff in organic chemistry lab when in college.

Wow! You caught that dealer at the exact right time to get a steal of a deal!

Larger diameter wheels will decrease the mechanical advantage of the brakes.

Yep, change the front forks and the Mark IIs (86 thru 93) have 4 piston calipers on the front. Starting in 91 they have 4 brush starters.

Berrymans has Acetone as one of its ingredients and Acetone is known as the universal solvent. If I used it, it would only be for a very short time frame.

Good Luck with your new endeavors! One thing to be aware of is that now you will be home every day and Eileen has been used to having a lot of space or time by herself. It will take some adjusting for both of you. This happens when someone retires too and is always underfoot. I'm sure you will be able to work it out. Just something to think about.

Well, $1291 is a lot cheaper than a Hannigan conversion I'm sure. I'm also sure it is a better way to go if you can afford it.

I think it is a straight forward swap except the brake line has to be rotated to hook up to the R1 caliper. I bought one and it appears to me that the pad surface is the same as Mark II calipers although the R1 has pistons that are different diameters within the caliper. I think I'm going to stick with the original calipers since they have 4 pistons. If you have a Mark I, you should probable change to Mark II forks since the Mark Is have 2 piston calipers as I understand. I hope someone corrects me if I'm wrong.

I have an attic full of stuff that belongs to my kids, age 41 and 39. They don't have the room for the stuff and they don't want me to throw it away......