VanRiver

Hi @Yammer Dan, sorry to hear about your puter troubles! Time to switch to an Apple Mac puter. Life will get a lot easier for you on a mac.....of course this is just my humble opinion. I only run Macs now for my company and at home because I was wearing out hammers beating my crappy Windows machines out of frustration and problems.

Hi @videoarizona! You would be amazed at what you find in fairings! When I took my 1984 Goldwing fairing off last year, 2 sets of keys, a pair of needle nose pliers and a toothbrush fell out. I was happy about the keys since they including the original Honda rubber ones with the fancy Goldwing logo on them. Guess the previous owner kept dropping his keys from the ignition and they would lodge in the fairing. And rather then try and fish them out, he just got more cut! Or maybe that's how the needle nose plier got in there.....I have no explanation for the toothbrush, as I usually store mine in the gas tank to keep the germs off of it! If only fairings would catch money rather then spare screws and keys!

Well, my Wife and Daughter are out of town.....It is a beautiful day here in Calgary Alberta Canada, sunny and 28 degrees C or 83F for you imperial people....I have been working my Butt off at work...I'm still getting over my jet lag after returning from a business trip to Vienna Austria last week......This all adds up to me NEEDING to play Hookie from work this afternoon and hopping on my bike "Walt" for a ride to the hills, twisty roads, and clean air of Kananaskis Country. Just what the doctor ordered to help clear my head and recharge the batteries! I'm so blessed to have this right outside my front door. I strongly recommend it to anyone, come up to my neck of the woods and chase the wind on your bike in our beautiful national and provincial parks. You are ALL welcome up here on the Canadian Tundra, come check it out sometime!

Wow @videoarizona, that is crazy hot especially for this boy from the Tundra of Canada:cry:! Hope that heat melts all the cracks in my fairing together while AZZI sits in the garage! I'm currently in Vienna Austria on Business this week.... nice and cool here...60F at 6:30am. Not a lot of Ventures on the streets in this part of the world.

Wow.....glad you are OK @Evan!!! Looks like you hit pretty hard to damage that "Military grade Aluminum Ford fender" the way it did. Any pictures of the damage to your bike? Betcha it scared the heck out of you seeing that Ford make a right he shouldn't have. Stay safe, and nice MKII's are still out there if you need to replace rather then fix your faithful 88 VR.

How "aerodynamic" are the 2 racers/riders? I race my 5' 105lb daughter on our bone stock 1970's vintage Honda ct70's all the time and she always seems to beat me! My theory is she is just more "Aerodynamic" then me, which allows her to harness more of that 70cc's of pure power.......or I'm just fat and heavy...whichever.

Never seen Firetruck "Dalmatian" Kittens before. Say hi to "Tanker" for me.

Talk about "Old School New Tech" Very interesting! I love the idea of having a game change or industry disrupter occur when it comes to gas engine technology! Here is another engine technology that I have been reading up on lately which is a tad bit more practical to upgrade our 1st Gen's with someday. It is the Duke engine.....

Hey @Yammer Dan and Mr. @Flyinfool, don't laugh too hard about painting with a roller......have you heard about the process of painting cars with "Rust-oleum" and a foam roller? I actually have used this process to paint a car as well as to restore an antique gas pump for my games room....and if you do it right and take your time I can get the paint job to look as good as I could do with my HVLP paint gun. Plus good ol Rust-oleum (we call it Tremclad paint up here on the tundra of Canada) is a heck of a durable surface to boot......just no fancy metallic flake colours yet......sorry @videoarizona Check it out.....there is a whole cult following of car painters that use a foam roller. http://www.cartalk.com/blogs/craig-fitzgerald/how-paint-car-bucket-rust-oleum-and-roller HotRod Magazine even did a 1962 Falcon project using this Rust-oleum and roller method....painted the whole car for $98 bucks! http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/paint-body/hrdp-0707-1962-ford-falcon-budget-paint-job/

Thanks @KIC, much appreciated and yes I will take you up on the offer if @videoarizona doesn't mind being the messenger! I owe you buddy! Couldn't agree with you more, this forum has also saved my butt many times as well, plus got to meet a lot of great people too! Can't put a price on that. Thanks again KIC!

Wow @Lug Nut that bike looks AMAZING! There is art in simplicity!! Nice job Buddy!

Does anyone have a spare valve cover bolt they would like to sell (I only need one)? Last time I was in Arizona visiting my 1986 Venture Royale "AZZI", I was replacing the leaky valve cover gaskets....anyway I got a little "enthusiastic" while tightening one bolt and snapped it off. And it just happens that in all my Venture spare parts and bolt collections I do not have an extra! I will be heading down to AZ again next month and need to fix her up so I can ride again in that "dry heat". I thought I would see if any members might have a spare bolt they wouldn't mind selling me as I don't want to have to buy a whole new set off of eBay for the big $$$ they are asking. Let me know if you have one or two you are willing to part with. By the way they look like this for reference:

Thought I would stir the pot a bit .....Are you a true believer in spending the extra $$ to put the "good stuff" Premium in your Venture? Here is an interesting investigative report from our good ol' "CBC" (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) :canada:TV show "Market Place" that tries to dispel the rumours and oil company propaganda about Premium vs. Regular gas. I found it very interesting and thought I would share. What do you guys and gals think? Does it make your scoot go farther, faster, and cleaner?

Very Nice! Interesting Trike Kit on her. Is it home made or a kit from a trike company? No matter what it is, it looks great!

Hi @van avery, sounds like the vinyl is breaking down or may have been exposed to some kind of chemical to cause the "plasticizers" in the vinyl material to start leaching out...if that is the case then it is not a case of "cleaning" the sticky stuff off but stabilizing the material to stop the leaching from continuing....basically replacing the seat is the only option I would suggest unless you don't mind a sticky butt every time you ride. Might even be the foam underneath the vinyl seat cover causing the chemical leaching too. I personally have had other plastics leach, but not a motorcycle seat......most of my seats have done the opposite by having the "plasticizers" in the material evaporating due to heat or UV rays from the sun and becoming brittle instead. The good thing is that GL1100 seats are fairly plentiful on Ebay, and probably cheaper then trying to get the existing one recovered. One last option might be to use a Vinyl paint (you can pick up a spray can of your favourite colour at any auto store) which might seal the surface and lock in any further leaching....but I'm not sure if the vinyl dye/paint would stick to the leaching plasticizer chemicals escaping from the surface....but might be worth a try.

Nice work David!!! I look forward to doing a personal inspection of this paint job in July when I'm back in Arizona. Have you got enough paint left over to do my bike AZZI and cover my 1986 baby poo brown....I love that pretty blue from 89!

Thanks @cowpuc for bringing me up to speed (sorry I was late to the party!). So nice to see Tweeks and Beeg's spirit live on! I look forward to finding out the official new name of Tweeks sister once she has earned it. The last picture is my favourite...Two very lovely ladies posing on a warm summers day...priceless. Hope this new bike takes you on a trip into my neck of the woods someday!

Yup....even came with a "Stovepipe Top Hat Welding Helmet" too....it all makes sense now!

@Dragonslayer you hit the nail right on the head! Puc is one of my Heros around here (you are too by the way)!!!! I can't believe I missed it. I feel like I let the team down! Time to hit the archive posts and catch up.

Yes I have read some of your past posts and your tool collection sounds epic! It is one thing to own the tools, it is a completely different thing to know how to use them proficiently.....and Jeff it sure sounds like you have got both sides covered. I'm just learning..more money then brains I've been told. I unfortunately have the soft buttery hands of a "White collar guy" but long to be a man of the trades with skills to fix, build, and create.....a boy can dream! Would love to see some pic's of your "Big old tools"! Sorry that statement didn't come out right, and sounds kinda dirty....you know what I mean.

Sorry I didn't do my homework....I'll try harder to keep up....Less time riding my Venture, and more time in front of my computer reading about others riding their Ventures.

Bought a new toy today....well actually an old toy. 400lbs of pure historic Lincoln Welder goodness. Thank heavens my Tractor and front-end loader had enough uummfff to lift it out of the trailer and get it into my Garage! She isn't very pretty, but once I'm done with "Ol Sparky" I think she will shine, buzz, and burn rods like the day she left the factory (I'm still trying to figure out what years she is from). Thought I would share thinking there are some welders on the forum that might appreciate this classic as well. I hear that these Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DC welders are bullet proof....hope so. I personally have a weakness for shop tools that are older then me, weigh more then me, require a power cord that is 2 inches thick, and are made by the best skilled hands and minds that the USA and Canada had to offer back in the day. When Men were Men and Steel was Steel! This welder fit the bill, so I had to buy it. Now I just need to learn how to Arc Weld (Minor detail)! (I'm just a lonely MIG guy that can barely run a bead....wish me luck!)

Hi @cowpuc......wow I wasn't aware that Tweeks was retired!!! Congrats on the new 83!! Sorry but I need to help enforce your own rule, I would love to see some pictures of this NEW bike!!!! Plus, I have so many questions: - What is the official new name for this bike? - Are you moving those legendary and historic side covers from Tweeks over to the new bike? - Has Tweeks been donated to the Smithsonian to be put on display for future generations? Or did Mother Yamaha buy it back for research purposes to model the Venture Gen 3 after? - What is your plan to transfer all the stickers over....heat gun, chemical peel? - Pictures, Pictures, Pictures please! Glad to hear this new addition to the family came from 2 previous very kind and good homes. I hope it serves you and Tippy for many trouble free years and miles!

Be careful not to over tighten those valve cover bolts.....I broke one off during my last gasket change. These bolts have a "shoulder" and will only tighten so far....so if all your bolts have been tightened to the max (bolt shoulder stop) then it might be 2 things....your gasket is not seated properly or the bolts are not putting enough sealing pressure. If it truly is the latter then it could be the rubber grommets being old and compressed or a thin gasket that is out of spec from Mother Yamaha. I can almost guarantee it is a gasket not seated properly. I had a really difficult time getting mine seated properly (it took me 3 tries) plus I had to buy a tube of special gasket seat compound to hold it in place otherwise I would need 5 sets of hands to hold properly......or need to flip the bike upside down while I was doing the work. But like I said, I might not be the best person to give advise on this topic... because on try #3 when I finally got mine seated properly with the compound I turned into the Hulk and broke a bolt...... I'm kind of famous for making small jobs harder then they should be....hopefully you have a better reputation.

Thank you for our Freedom. Lest we forget. (And to all the other flags that should be included here as well)