BlueSky

Hey, I worked at the DC Cook Nuke Plant mentioned during their restart around the year 2000. During the Clinton administration, he appointed a woman to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and she forced lots of Nukes to shut down for repairs and modifications. A lot of nuke contractors like me earned lots of money because of her.

I've never done that:whistling:

I worked at Turkey Point from Jan 11, 2010 until the end of August 2013. Both nuclear units underwent almost $2B in modifications to allow them to increase power output by about 15%. I loved the weather there. About 2 weeks of winter. I do remember riding to work in January in 40 degree temps. Loved the clear water, fishing and snorkeling! The first time I went fishing on the Captain Michael out of Robbies Marina in Islamarada they gave a few of us rods rigged for Grouper instead of bottom fishing rigs and I caught this Goliath Grouper.

I lived in Homossassa just north of there for a year (2008) and I loved that area.

I owned a 83 Virago 750. I think it's a reliable bike and looked decent but I don't like vibrating underpowered v-twins.

Home Depot sells clear plastic tubing in rolls.

Riding a bike certainly beats sitting in front of the tv. I had my Kawasaki with me in FL when I worked at Turkey Point. During those 14 months of 6 - 12s, riding my bike to work and back every day were the highlights of my day, especially when a Harley pulled out to pass a car with me and got left!!

Exercise helps a lot. When my 6' 4" 200lb 38 yr old son visited at Christmas we did some exercises and I was stronger than he is. I am 73 and exercise regularly and he had recently started exercising. Watch 83 yr old Senator Grassly beat a high school girl in a pushup contest. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/01/watch-sen-chuck-grassley-83-beats-teenager-push-contest/

The marina where we rented a slip is well protected from the waves but I will be pulling it out if a storm comes, like a hurricane that we occasionally experience here on the coast. It will be ten miles away.

Well, refurbishing the boat should keep you out of the bars for a while. Should be a lot of fun! We have a 98 18' Boston Whaler Ventura with a 99 Yamaha 150hp outboard. We rarely used it because of the hassle of pulling it to the ramps and launching and retrieving it with the crowds. Sooo, this summer we rented a wet slip. If we don't use it more this summer it will be sold! Painting the bottom with the anti-fouling paint while it was in the yard on the trailer is something I don't care to do again! Had to be done though since it will be sitting in salt water.

You are seriously suggesting that a wife can be trained?!?!

Market value and value to you are two entirely different things. And where could you get a great touring bike for less money?

Is this what happens when you buy a Harley?

I rode home from work one day on my 2004 Kawa Concours when the clutch release wasn't working. I let the fluid get too low. There was a slight incline that enabled me to get the bike rolling before putting it in gear. It was easy to shift gears by matching the rpms of the engine and the gears. I was lucky that I was able to roll through the 3 stop signs and made a left turn without having to stop. If you are careful, I don't think it hurts anything.

Have you tried looking at the parts diagram on partzilla or similar site?

The very short time I owned a motion pro carb sync tool, I saw the tiny orifices that fit into the vacuum lines to keep the vacuum signal stable. I'm wondering if Motion Pro would sell these tiny orifices to you separately???? If so, the vacuum tank wouldn't be needed most likely. The hole in those orifices were so small they were barely visible.

What I believe is that the carbs should be drained when leaving it sit for a long time. I've never tried stabil in the gas so perhaps that would prevent the carbs from getting plugged from the dried up gasoline. I drain my gasoline powered pressure washer carb after learning the hard way or rather I turn off the fuel and let the carbs run dry. My riding lawn mower will run after sitting without draining the carbs. But, I run it periodically even in the winter to rake the yard. Running around the outside of the yard blowing the trash into the center saves a lot of raking. Motorcycle carbs seem to be paritcularly sensitive to plugging up after sitting. My next motorcycle WILL be a fuel injected. I keep looking at those Honda ST1300s on craigslist!!

So, you guys are saying that you leave the petcock on and don't drain the carbs when leaving it sit for a long time or you drain the carbs and the fuel pump prevents the gas from refilling the carbs?

https://yamahapubs.com/ You will get a reprint at this site. The best way to get one may be ebay. I bought an original owners manual for my Gen I on ebay and it has a fold out large wiring diagram in the back of the manual which is kind of neat.

That sounds like a great idea. Because on the old car engines that I am familiar with for performance the engine needs 32 to 36 degrees of ignition advance for maximum acceleration coming in gradually and all in by 2500 to 3000 rpm. But when cruising, the fuel mixture is lean and for best fuel economy the total advance should be more with some engines that could use as much as 50 degrees total advance. So the manifold vacuum was used to pull in the extra advance while crusing and the manifold vacuum is high but when it went full throttle it lost the vacuum advance and only had the 36 or so degrees advance that includes the initial setting and the centrifugal advance. These bikes should be getting better fuel economy that they actually get if that is the way it's set up.

I'll show my ignorance of these bikes. So, the 89 has essentially a vacuum advance built in to the ignitek fed by manifold vacuum??

Not with all cars. some with manual transmissions can be towed in neutral. I carried my 85 Kawasaki to FL from NC in an open trailer in February. It rained a lot on the way. There were so many snowbirds driving to FL on I95 that had salt all over their cars that my bike got covered on the left side with salt. A real bummer. Best way to transport a bike that you aren't riding is in a covered trailer.

The elevation of the petcock doesn't matter. It's the elevation of the fuel level in the gas tank relative to the elevation of the fuel level in the carbs that determines if it will gravity drain. But, the fuel pump may not allow fuel to drain through it with the bike sitting.

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/1983/XVZ12TK/FUEL+TANK/parts.html They are still available from Yamaha if you want a factory unit. If you leave the bike sitting for a long time you should turn the fuel off and drain the carbs. I think these bikes have overflow tubes that will prevent hydrolocking if the fuel needle fails to hold. I know my 2004 Kawasaki Concours did not have carb overflows and the fuel valve was vacuum operated. So, if the vacuum operated fuel valve failed and the carb fuel needle failed the engine would fill with fuel and hydrolock. It did happen too. Yes there is just a stub to turn and mine is tight enough I have to use pliers on it to turn. But, it works fine.

There's all kinds of things we depend on our primary hand to do. It will try your patience I'm sure. But the time will pass.