BlueSky

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?3384-First-Gen-Service-Manuals

Wow! That was quick!

If you have to crack the throttle to start, that seems to mean to me that the fuel is too rich. Perhaps, don't pull the choke out all the way and see what happens. Perhaps the idle mix screws are too far out, too rich. But, some serious riding with a cleaner in the gas might help out.

I have some videos of Canadian Snipers making some long range kills on my old computer. I'll see if I can find them and load them for all to see.

You mean it doesn't have anything in common with the Stratoliner, such as the engine and belt drive? Take a look at the Strato specs. I admit it is "all new" compared to a gen 2 Venture. I just got back from the NC mountains, specifically Hot Springs and surrounding area. There was a bike rally this past weekend. Lots of Harleys there. Harley has the rumbling V twin market pretty well sewed up. The sound and image is everything to most of those guys. Saturday other brands showed up like Goldwings, sport bikes, a few BMW R1200 GS. I was surprised at how well I like the sound of those opposed twin BMWs.

Cody is a great place to visit. My wife and I spent a couple of days there and had a great time. Went to a rodeo. Went to a live performance. Went to see the old western cabins. I kinda wanted to go to the gun experience and fire the gatlin gun but didn't.

A member from Canada bought an early Venture for about $250 Canadian as I remember and rode it to Mexico. If you have the time do a search and read about his adventure. jfman is his handle.

Just don't get stuck in stop and go traffic in the summer or the engine could fail or be damaged. I don't see buying a bike with those limitations. Like I've posted before, the ineternet posted LA Sheriff's dept test of potential police bikes where they checked everything during the test including oil temperatures and made sure they met the manufacturers specs, the Harley spec was not to exceed 410 degrees F oil temperature. That is a mind numbing number to me.

Oh Man! I'm really sorry you hurt yourself. It's as frustrating as it is painful I'm sure. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

I'm sure it's a great bike. And I don't mean to criticize your bike. But it looks like a Harley to me. I just have a mental block when it comes to Harleys and wannabe Harleys. It's my problem.

Have you been doing knee exercises? It really helps. I do a few exercises 3 times a week. One of the exercises is 45 squats. As we age the legs will get really weak if we don't exercise them. I'm 73 yrs old. Exercise also helps keep arthritis at bay.

Switzerland is fortunate that they aren't large enough that they have been invaded. And they were sympathetic to Germany in WWII. Going to war as unfortunate as it is, is necessary sometimes to maintain proper world order. If the USA had not entered WWII, we would all be speaking German or Japanese if we were alive. I know Russia defeated the Germans on the east side of Europe but they got a lot of help from the USA to do it. The UK, about the only European country left was almost defeated when the USA entered the war. No country in the Pacific was able to stand up to the Japanese. So, war was very necessary for the USA in WWII. And today, if it wasn't for the USA military, Russia and China would take over the world. They might anyway.

Demography has a huge impact on the countries such as the USA. The Swiss don't have some of the problems other countries have due to demography.

I might end up with a cruiser. Who knows? But I have a character flaw. I just don't like the looks of cruisers or anything that is styled like a Harley. And I'm sure that V twins are better designed today but in the past I had a CB350 Honda parallel twin and it was a great starter bike but it did have a nasty high frequency vibration (because it turned 6,500rpm at 60mph). Later I had a Yamaha Virago that vibrated and was underpowered so I decided no more vibrating underpowered twins for me. I might be tempted by the Vstrom 90 degree twin or the BMW R bike but I don't know. Yeah, I know. I'm weird!

I've been looking at Goldwings lately as well as ST1300s and even V-stroms. Don't know if I will actually buy one, but I like to look and that is what starts it. My 85 ZN700 is fun around town but it needs a much better seat to ride any distance. When you get much over 500 lbs, bikes tend to get much harder to handle in town and the ZN weighs about 525lbs with a full tank.

Depending on how often it was ridden and how much maintenance it has had it might make the trip. Don't be surprised if it doesn't have second gear. they usually go out before 60k miles. You can still ride it by skipping 2nd and it won't hurt anything. Fork seals are always suspect on an old bike. the stock brakes leave a lot to be desired on the MK Is. A member "Cowpuc" buys old 83s and put a couple hundred thousand miles on them. He's on his 6th now.

I've always thought that the second amendment was there to protect the people from a tyrannical government. The first thing tyrants do is confiscate the citizens guns. Most of the gun related murders in the USA seem to be occurring in the ghettos of the larger cities by gangs fighting for drug sale turf. Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami for example. The city leaders don't seem to care enough to stop it. Chicago has very strict gun laws and they are the murder captital of the USA. But if the gun laws aren't enforced, it doesn't matter. When I was working in Homestead FL, I was watching the local news one night when they interviewed a Miami policeman and if I remember correctly he said there were 58 gangs in Miami composed of people who came from south of our border. He said they were used to gang life where they came from and they brought it to Miami. I'm not sure what the answer is but until there is an answer, I'm carrying.

I'm most concerned with grip in a tire. That's what keeps me from road rash. I can deal with tires wearing out quickly better than I can deal with road rash and broken bones. If an inexpensive tire has grip, I'll like it. I bought a used Yamaha Virago 750 years ago and it had Cheng Shin tires on it. I won't buy those because they did not grip and I had a broken ankle to prove it.

Those helmets black? Black appears to be the preferred color for helmets but it doesn't make sense to me.

If you spend too much time sitting in stop and go traffic, an air cooled bike engine may not last one summer. An air cooled bike has limitations. If you are aware of those limitations and try to avoid those limitations, they will last a long time. When I ride my air cooled Kawasaki and I find myself sitting at a very long stop light, I turn the engine off so it won't get too hot. It starts instantly and this is not a problem with me. But we are not talking about a used $1200 bike. We are talking about an expensive latest design from Yamaha touring bike.

What I'm concerned about is the oil temperature. I don't think the typical air cooled bike engine will last 250k miles like a water cooled. As someone else pointed out when it is sitting in traffic the oil cooler doesn't help much either unless they put a fan on it.

When I was on vacation in Wyoming last summer, I was told by an old guy who ran a western clothing store that in Wyoming, a permit was not needed to concealed carry or open carry. I suppose they don't have any ghettos in Wyoming.

Check with National Cycles. They probably have one.

I was posting from my memory of reading an article many years ago about the 22,000 rpm Honda. So, I did a search and found this article about one of the 22k rpm Hondas. http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/2013/02/article/memorable-motorcycle-honda-rc148/ Low angle V-twins are one of the worst designs as far as dynamic balancing. I think that is one factor in the rpm limit. And if you cam an engine for low rpm torque it usually doesn't have a lot of high rpm hp. Yamaha chose a cruiser engine for a cruising bike. If we want a performance oriented bagger, we'll have to buy a Goldwing or BMW. I think Yamaha could have put a large 4 cylinder engine in the bike and by slanting it forward could lower the center of gravity like BMW did with the K1600 GTL. But that ain't the market they are after. Oh by the way, a straight 6 is the best dynamically balanced engine.

Yep, the reduced mass of a multi-valve engine valve train allows it to rev more freely as was pointed out earlier on the valve springs not having to be as strong. The old man Honda who started the Honda company didn't like 2 stroke bikes and he competed against 2 stroke dirt bikes with his mult-valve 4 strokes that could rev to 22,000 rpm!!! This was in the 50's I think. So Honda knows how to build high revving engines!