BlueSky

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!

It is a felony to sell a gun to a felon. So, if I sold a gun to someone I didn't know well, I would do it through a dealer so the dealer could make the call to make sure the buyer is not a felon. I ordered guns from internet stores and that is the way they sell. They ship it to a dealer of your choice and the dealer charges a fee to run the background check and complete the sale. I've only sold to a co-worker at the nuclear plant. If you work at a nuclear plant you have to go through an extensive back ground check to get an access badge. After working in Homestead FL for over 3 years, I started carrying due to the high crime rate in southern FL. Even if I needed it, there is no guarantee I would be able to use it. But, I don't believe in being a victim.

Nope, the scumbag died.

It is very rare to read an article on oil that addresses the fact that "synthetic" oil today is a Group III oil and the "synthetic" oil used to be a Group IV oil. Most of these articles are written by writers and not people who really know the differences in oil. In other words be careful what you believe.

In 2014, I worked in SC with a guy who rode a Honda ST1100 (and a Hayabusa!). His wife rode a 250 Honda Rebel. He said they rode to Key West together and on the interstate she held that Rebel wide open at 80mph to keep up most of the way and it did fine.

The difference is that it is a Honda!

If you want it go back with a cash in the hand offer. It might do the trick!

The 2008 V10 has the 3 valve per cylinder heads. the 2 valve heads prior to 2005 were the ones that only had a few threads on the spark plug holes and tended to blow out if they were not torqued enough. The 3v heads had the notorious 2 piece spark plugs that tended to break off when they are removed. Sometime during the 2008 year Ford changed the head design and went to one piece spark plugs. Irritating and costly plug replacement on the two piece plugs but nothing that can't be dealt with. The V10s never got the variable cam timing like the V8s which could be a troublemaker.

There isn't anything really wrong with old tech if it works. The bottom line with an air cooled bike engine is that it will overheat in stop and go traffic in the summer and it will overheat if you ride it hard. Harley says it's okay if the oil gets to 410 degrees F. I don't think so. That is what I object to especially in an expensive touring bike. The opposed twins in the BMW and copied by Ural is a good design from an engineering standpoint as far as cooling and dynamic balancing. The 90 degree twins such as the Suzuki Vstrom are a good design too with water cooling.

Go back and read post #59

I guess you missed the thread on the Van Buren sisters who rode Indian motorcycles across the USA in 1916. So air cooled v twins must have been around more than 100 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Buren_sisters