BlueSky

I haven't heard of any aftermarket headers/pipes that are available any more. Some folks replace the mufflers with Road King mufflers. The link attached is of a member who installed Road Kings on his Gen I.

Aww! Where is you spirit of adventure? Ha! I know what you mean though. My 05 Magnum's transmission needs a new electro-hydraulic conductor plate and it is located above the valve body inside the transmission. I'm not looking forward to replacing it but I intend to do it. Would be much easier to shell out the money and get a transmission shop to do it. I called two transmission shops and the dealer for quotes and one was $500, one was $900, and the dealer not to be outdone quoted $1600. I ordered a conductor plate from rockauto for $150. And from looking at the videos, it's about an hour job (for an experienced mechanic).

"Then Came Bronson" was on tv in 1969/70!!! And it only lasted one season. We're showing our age! I really liked it. Not a lot of action but really well written. A couple years ago I bought a CD of the 2 hr premiere but it was screwed up and I returned it.

Amazing how Bronson's Harley morphs into a dirt bike at the appropriate time.

One of my relatives hunts deer in season and he grinds the venison with beef fat added to make hamburger.

Wow! That is one sweet looking Valkyrie! That's a 98?

And vibration is why I decided long ago not to buy another V-twin and because they are usually underpowered. Make mine a smooth powerful 4 (or 6). Although, I would love to ride a 90 degree V-twin V strom and the boxer twin BMW R1200RT to check them out. I think I might like those.

If I remember correctly, the 950 vibrated at interstate highway speeds and I read the same thing when a magazine compared it to a Vulcan. The Vulcan vibrated less.

You may want to remove the spark plug caps and snip a half inch or so off the plug wire and reinstall. The caps screw off. The wire tends to corrode at that point and reduce the sprark intensity. It's easy to do.

Yep, I bought new ones for my 89 Venture from partzilla.

Just goes to show that we aren't eating enough venison!

Do you prefer the feet forward position of a cruiser or would a sport tourer meet your needs? Suzuki Vstrom comes to mind if you like the "adventure" bikes. BMW R 1200 RT is a great touring bike if you like the upright seating position and it isn't that heavy.

Yep, if you require a lower cog than a 1st Gen, the Goldwing or Valkyrie would be it.

If the engine is bad and you have to assume it is, $125 is maybe top dollar.

yamagrl! Long time no postee! Thought we had lost you! What's happening?

You can check the float level while on the bike. Hook a tube to the drain tube. I got a clear tube that fit tightly over the drain tube and held it up and the level is supposed to be to a certain point on the carb. Look in the manual where the details are given. You can check it with the engine running. At least you will know if the float levels are okay and if they are the floats are okay.

I remember when we switched to the M16, the instructor told us that the M14 had a maximum effective range of 460 yds and so did the M16. The muzzle velocity is much higher with the 5.56 round helping it to equalize the effectiveness. With equal sights it may be easier to hit a target at 350 yds with the M16 since it won't drop as much over that distance. I found out with my M14 sighted in for something around 200yds. I had to aim at the head of the target to drop it. Aiming at the chest wouldn't drop the target showing me that there was significant drop in the round at those distances. There is an smart phone app that will calculate this for you but I don't remember what it is.

One trick I use for getting vacuum lines off is to twist it to break the seal.

Yep, for shooting long distances, the M14 was super. I could actually hit the targets at 350 yards using the M14, the peep sight was so good. I never had to qualify at a range with the M16 even though the Army required everybody to qualify annually I believe and paperwork was produced to show that we qualified while in S. Korea. I qualified "Expert" in basic training and when they randomly assigned everybody in the fake paperwork, they put me down as "Marksman" which was the lowest category. Didn't like that! The Army is a dictatorship and like all dictatorships, it is corrupt as heck.

The NAV in my wife's Infiniti can't be programmed while driving. I understand the intent but it's annoying that she can't program it while I'm driving it on a trip.

Excellent! Sounds like you went through it right and it should give you great service. I bought my Venture in 2014 I think and it only had 5,914 miles on it. My Kawasaki in my sig I bought in 2009 with only 1,054 miles on it.

When I was in the Army in 1969 stationed at a missile site in South Korea way out in the middle of the rice paddies, we switched from M14s to M16s. We were taken outside the compound and allowed to shoot up some ammo against a hillside to familiarize ourselves with the new weapon. No gun range anywhere near us. We had nuke warheads for the missiles there and there were about 100 infantrymen there for the sole purpose of guarding those warheads. Well, the infantry guys brought out a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a tripod. They were allowing anyone who wanted to to shoot it. I watched one guy shoot it. He sat on the ground with his feet braced against two legs of the tripod with another guy sitting back to back with him with his arms wrapped around the shooter. When he fired it, the tripod with the gun and both guys were bouncing around on the ground. I passed up my golden opportunity to fire a .50 caliber machine gun!

That is one powerful weapon! I have a video on my old computer of Canadian snipers shooting the Taliban from long distances and it is unbelievable. They evidently used explosive rounds. I'll see if I can retrieve it and find a way to post it.

That bike looks too good to be a parts bike!

$5k should be enough to buy two Gen1s in good shape!