Ed S, SE Nebr

So, on my inaugural road trip on the Unplanned Venture last weekend I was cruising along a rural highway. Nice two-lane, smooth, not busy; and my speed was a bit above the posted limit. What should have been the appropriate gift of appreciation for the driver of the black Mustang who had the opportunity to visit with the highway patrol just a little while before I got there? eds

Did my wife tell you I snore? She's lying. I'm sure of it. eds

Congratulations! It's that good Nebraska air! Have a great and safe trip. eds

They posted an update to the story. The driver - was a pickup - is facing DUI manslaughter. Reminds me to be sure and tell my wife I love her whenever I can. eds

Good to see some comments showing you enjoyed the story. Saturday was a long day, over 12 hours from leaving in the morning to parking that night. I had to talk myself into Sunday's trip. But, I'm glad I did. I can still feel the grin across my face on Sunday as I tapped her into gear, the clutch started engaging, and I felt that torque pulling me away from my shop. What a feeling! I think I might just be infected. So here's a question for some of you with lots of Venture history: What 's the remedy for that feeling of "just not enough" when you are leaving a stop sign and really grab a handful of throttle and are accelerating through 70 as you shift out of 2nd. And then you have to shut her off cuz you just aren't in a place where you can do what you want to do. But, you have three more gears... Do you know what I'm talking about? eds

Some of you may recall my tale of the 88 VR I bought at an auction a couple of months ago for not very much money. I had no intention of buying a bike that day, especially one which may or may not work. But... After a battery and clutch cylinder work I was able to take a short ride. I determined it needed at least a brake mc rebuild. Then, I had to do some farming. I call it farming - just a few acres of brome grass to put up. But since my equipment is old it takes as much time fixing as it does running. Well, I got the brakes working; got it insured, then titled and licensed on Friday. Saturday I took it out. First stop was back to the auction house where I bought it. They were having a sale so I got to show it off. Then I needed to find something to do. My wife had gone to Lincoln with a friend, so I drove there. First stop was to send her a pic of me in front of the new Pinnacle Bank Arena. Turns out they were across the street. So we decided to have lunch. Our son who's in college there came downtown and joined us. Had a great burger with some ice water to drink. After that I was looking for something else to do, and figured I really should have a beer. What better place than on the Missouri Riverfront in Omaha? That's the Omaha skyline over the bike in the next pic. My wife was a bit jealous, so when I got home we took another trip to get a burrito at the taco truck a town over. Sunday came around and after catching up with some garden work, picking some beans and tomatoes, while my wife and our youngest daughter went shopping for her return to college, I figured our oldest daughter, who's in college in Kearney, needed some fresh veggies. So I made that delivery. And stopped in at the Archway monument just outside of Kearney. If anyone's been through Nebraska on any of the East/West roads, you've seen the billboards for Pioneer Village in Minden. I've now given you the view from the parking lot. A couple hours home. An itchy butt, and there's 550+ miles showing on my trip meter. That's a great weekend. And thanks to VR folks for helping to make it possible. eds

Thanks, all. Now that we have that all settled, I think I'll stick this on my 94 Maxima (210K miles) which I rarely drive and is always dead when I want it. The transformer says it's rated at .5A/12V output. Probably plug it in for a couple days every week or so. eds

Probably demonstrating ignorance here, but... After buying this bike for a song at an auction last month I've been working to get it back on the road. Successfully, by the way. I took it for a ride to town last week. The first thing I did was to replace the battery. While doing so I removed what I assumed was an accessory plug cable-tied to the grate up around the triple tree. The leads went directly to the battery. I recreated that in the image called "original". Today, while removing the right saddle bag to get to the brake caliper, I discovered a little 12v power supply. When I noticed the plug on the end of the supply was the male end to the female I'd earlier removed it clicked that this could be a battery charging system which I am not familiar with. Is that right? Does it work? Seems reasonable; not optimal, since the battery is really closer to 13v, but it shouldn't hurt. eds

Should've included this for some background: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87003 eds

With help from the good folks in the 1st Gen Tech Talk forum and a few hours in the shop I was able to go "around the block" on my VR this evening. This is a bike from an estate auction a couple of weeks ago. I went without any intent to buy a motorcycle, but couldn't pass it up for what it was going for. It was "as is", non-running, so a complete gamble. I'm out in farm country where our "blocks" are a mile on a side. For lots of reasons I was kinda nervous: 1. It's been a long, long, time since I've ridden 2. This bike is BIG! 3. Gravel roads 4. Bike's been sitting since at least 2009; probably not more than 2000 miles in the last 14 yrs. Tires might be bad. 5. I just rebuilt the clutch master cyl and replaced slave. 6. Knew I had at least some front brake. Not sure about rear. 7. Custom pinstriping is really pretty 8. Not even sure if it would go 4 miles. 9. Between reading about the VR here, and working on it for the last few weeks, I think I could like this bike. I made it. If I'd not been dumb and in such a hurry to give it a try, I'd have cleaned the windshield, which might have let me see the gravel ridge as I was heading into the sunset, and I might not have gotten a little sideways. In the end all that happened was a heart rate spike and probably some extra squeeze marks on the grips. Not sure whether my riding skill came back all of a sudden or the bike's pretty stable. (Actually, I know that answer.) So. That was fun. Hope to do it some more. eds

But, some good things to add. Here are some images of the pinstriping. Holy cow! What talent. Looks like the signature is "Kafka '89". eds

Here's another image, this of the back page of the owner's manual. There are no other maintenance records in the manual. I assume the PO (who was either a good mechanic, or an extraordinary tool collector) had recently purchased the bike and changed the oil. Right now the odometer shows just over 90K miles, so that's 2K in 14 years. If this is accurate, and there's no reason to think it wouldn't be, I'm much more concerned about the tires.

While waiting for parts to arrive I've done a bit of poking around. I believe the canister in the middle means this is a California bike. I don't plan to do anything to or about it, though. eds

More good info. Don't get in to Lincoln much, but this is good to know. Thanks, Dave. eds

Thanks. This helps. I'm at work, half an hour from home, and was hoping to pick one up today. We're not working tomorrow and if I can save a trip into town... eds