BlueSky

I suppose cowpuc hasn't calmed down enough to comment on the forum yet. Riding all the way there to see the historic unveiling of a new Venture with the Vmax engine and being disappointed is a real bummer.

I can understand why they went to a V-twin, much much cheaper and trying to pick off some Harley sales, not BMW or Honda. But, I cannot understand why they didn't use water cooling. At least Kawasaki added water cooling to the Voyager. I know air cooled bikes CAN last a long time. I recently talked to a Harley owner who had over 180k miles on his. He did a lot of touring but he said he never rode over 65 mph even out west. I don't want a bike that I have to baby to get it to last.

A while back I read an old internet article about the Los Angeles Sheriff's dept test of new potential police bikes. One or two of them were Harleys. One thing that really stuck to my memory was that the specifications provided by Harley for acceptable oil temperature was 410 degrees F. That is a mind numbing temp for oil in my opinion and completely rules out a heavy touring bike with an air cooled engine. How long would one last with Puc running across the desert at 100 mph? He would need new engines about as often as new tires.

Stratoliner engine instead of a VMax engine:95:

It's a beautiful bike I admit. But I'd never buy an air cooled touring bike. I don't think the Honda Goldwing or the BMW 1600 have any competition from this one.

Air cooled! Just what Puc needs to tour the southwest desert! NOT!!!!

I hate screw extractors. I think every time I've used one it broke off and as I remember I ended up replacing the part the bolt was stuck in. I hope you can grind the bolt head off!

Most of us have subjective opinions about everything including oil. The only reason I posted about the FJR1300 owner is that he gets his oil lab tested and his opinion is not subjective, but based on the lab report. Like I said, for what it's worth.

Nice to see those First Gens!

Compression will not be affected by the carbs not seated properly. To get a good compression reading, the throttle has to be open when checked. If the carbs are off the bike, the compression can be tested accurately. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-8Pc-Spark-Plug-Cylinder-Compression-Tester-Test-Kit-Professional-Gas-Engine-/332155770002?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275

For what it's worth, there is a member of the Kawasaki forum who rides a Yamaha FJR1300 bought new and the last I heard it had over 90k miles on it. Anyway, he's anal about maintenance and gets the oil lab tested to make sure how long it can be used. He said the Rotella oil didn't last very long in his bike. He uses Valvoline synthetic.

Remove the plug. Put it back into the spark plug cap and ground the body of the plug against the engine with the engine running. You should see a spark at the spark plug gap. If you have spark, it might be worthwhile to do a compression test on the engine. To do so, remove all plugs and hold the throttle open when checking the compression. A good compression test number will assure you that there is no mechanical problem.

Glad she is okay! And thanks for posting this. It's a good reminder for all of us to be careful out there. Trajedy can occur at any moment.

Looks like you are okay with that tire according to the sidewall. Just made me wonder after looking up the Challenger. Surely wouldn't want anything bad happen to our National Treasures, Puc, Tippy, and Tweeksis!

That Kenda surely does look like a beefy tire. Report back on how it performs and wears.

Is windows 10 worse than Google for mining data?

[quote=BTW I've been told that once you use a synthetic don't go back to a dino oil. Not sure why exactly but thought I'd mention it. Lots of old mechanics tales about "synthetic" oil vs dino. You can mix and match whatever meets the spec and be okay. Switch back and forth if you want and it's okay.

Any brand oil that states on the bottle that it meets JASO MA spec for motorcycles. Your choice for the brand.

There are a lot more dreamers than I thought. If Yamaha puts a 1700cc V4 in this new touring bike, everybody will pay attention. The bike magazine editors will go nuts over it. It will be in the class of the 1800cc flat 6 Goldwing or the 1600cc I6 BMW! If they put a V-twin in it, most riders and bike mag editors will yawn and won't be excited. How successful has the Kawasaki Voyager been? Yawn. I'm sure it's a nice bike but what about it is outstanding? The price maybe compared to a Hardley?

An infrared thermometer is a great tool to have for measuring exhaust pipe temperatures. Also, unscrew the spark plug caps and check for corrosion of the copper wire core. If corroded clip 1/2" or 3/4" off the wire and screw back into the cap. ngk.com has new caps for these bikes that have 5k ohms resistance (about $2.60each)versus the 9k ohms resistance of the OE caps.

I really like the looks of that BMW by the way. It appears to have a wide comfy seat and enough rake in the front end to track on the highway really well. A big thumbs up from me!

One of these is really handy. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Meter-IR-20-Non-contact-Digital-Laser-Infrared-Thermometer-50-C-to-550-C-Memory-Function/187896573?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=2762&adid=22222222227077798679&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=190053550968&wl4=pla-294783571614&wl5=9010080&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113126187&wl11=online&wl12=187896573&wl13=&veh=sem

I was getting excited until I checked and found out that Markel motorcycle ins is not available in my state, NC.

So you're saying it doesn't have an oxygen sensor to determine how to adjust the fuel flow, just a pre-determined fuel mix. I'm sure there is a vacuum sensor feeding the brain.