CaseyJ955

I've spoken to a small handful of folks who have done the VMX head/cam/intake conversion onto an XVZ. One of those fellows is/was a member here with lots of credibility. It makes sense, add another 55+hp and 3000rpm and it will be fun, but the efficiency thing is something that should plan in. I have heard if they are dialed in correctly the MPG is not much worse than a stock XVZ. I know from owning/tuning my VMX (Vmax) that tuning is absolutely critical for mpg as well as power. Even a stock VMX can be sluggish and thirsty as they tend to be so rich, then the DJ jetting kits exacerbate that problem (if the directional inlay is followed). For the VMX the bottleneck is the factory downpipe diameter. The Venture exhaust is even more restrictive with the weenee downpipes. Marks makes/made some exhaust components for Venture. Making this conversion worthwhile will require a free flowing ($$$) exhaust. I kept parts of a stock Vmax exhaust but I'm probably going to butcher up a Kerker and have some exhaust work done $$$ cough cough $$$$$. When I got my stock XVZ and it was besting under 30mpg, I tried several things. What worked to get up to around 40 mpg was Skydocs shim kit. That tells me that the problem could be worn emulsion tubes. For a Venture I would not drill slides/use stage 1/7 springs (common VMX tuning practice) as it lifts the needles closer to 3400rpm rather than the factory 4000rpm. I cant see that as a positive for a touring bike. Besides when I did the slides on my Vmax it really didn't make much difference but did cost some mpg, especially at highway speeds. Also if the Vmax block is used the gearing is lower than with the XVZ, at least 5th gear. Venture and Vmax final drives are compatible but different ratios. That can make quite a difference too, especially on a bike that weighs an Oprah more than a Vmax. A few things come to mind that would effect the mpg like that. It's a challenge I would have loved to dig into. Where is that bike now Don? Long gone is it?

If ditching the factory airbox for a less restrictive design, like stage 7 PODs or a Morleys Jet Kit, you will want to use the restrictors to fool the carbs. I got mine from Morley included in the kit but he sells them separately, and they are pretty cheap. I used these on my VMax when I went to the free flowing airbox modification and full Kerker exhaust. Not only does it work but it's brilliant, it's sort of a given for tuning a Vmax as the engine with full exhaust flows enough for that to make sense. I'm not sure the same is true for a Venture, at least with factory exhaust. I would really vote for keeping the factory airbox unless it's a project and the airbox wold be an aesthetic issue. We've seen some bobbed Ventures with pods, pretty sweet looking. I'm sort of a fan of the CV design, at least when they work.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-harley-davidson-results/harleys-shares-tumble-on-disappointing-earnings-idUSKCN1PN1D3 I knew things were tough and getting tougher for powersports in general, but this is a pretty sharp tumble by any standards. Not HD bashing but making an observation about this trend that effects powersports as a whole. I speculate that the days of the $20,000+ bike are not long for this world, not in the world of mass production anyway. So HD tumbles, no surprise but this far this fast is a bit sobering. Also that the 18 Venture did not sell out, what about this new Ducati V4 with all the mad tech and like nearly 220hp off the showroom floor. It barely cracks the $20k mark. Things are changing all around us, I'm optimistic that this will be a good thing for consumers in the long run. Originally I thought it was the buying public loosing their taste for the narrow angle twin in lieu of performance machines, but I think it's bikes altogether. There are many 20-something folks in my family/friends and not a one of them seems to give a **** about bikes, at all. Not cruisers, not sport bikes, none of it. Even dirt bikes seem to be hit/miss anymore. I guess one fear I have is that mfrs like Triumph, Yamaha and BMW will begin to see investing in R&D as a profit loosing proposition. I'm interested in the interpretations of others, what gives, am I off base here? What do you guys think this means, if anything?

I gotta jump in and suggest OEM fork seals. Even the nice aftermarket ones can be hit/miss. When it comes to Japanese vehicles OEM parts are very hard to beat. Forks seals are too much work, I would highly recommend grabbing a set of OEM fork seals to complete the job. Any savings would be eaten up quickly when you have to spend a decent chunk of your weekend redoing a PITA job like fork seals. I got mine from Boats.net back when they were still doing this sort of thing, new bushings and head bearings for my Gen1 really helped make it feel like a competent modern bike. Too much work to even chance it IMHO.

Two cyl fire at the same time, giving a sound just like a twin. I watched a youtube vid, it reminded me of a 2 stroke, a little. It doesnt sound as sexy as I had hoped, sure looks like it moves out just fine though.

There appears to be a bike HP war going on. BMW and Kawasaki just fired some shots recently, really a mfr like Ducati cant ignore that. Perhaps they feel they have exploited the Vtwin for all it's worth. I would take a Ducati twin any time, but in this new world of 200+ hp machines this was probably a more efficient route to keep things streetable and increase overhead for the HP junkies out there. Looks like they have managed to keep it pretty light. I was heaving a Vmax engine around last year and one thing it aint is light. I just read that it's a twin pulse setup, should feel just like a twin but be stupid powerful.

That is awesome! I read through the spec sheet, thats quite a lot of bike for a reasonable price. Lofty V4hp too, not that I woulld assume that the mighty Duc would not leave us short on snort. I cant wait to see what else they do with this mill.

They are mating and wear surfaces so I felt it was prudent to go ahead and index them in just as they came out, they are clocked as they were removed. Not sure if it's really necessary, but why not slide them in just as they came out? You should be able to carefully rotate the diaphragm after it's installed on the slide but I would get it close. I had some that rotated more easily than others. I used some WD-40 to help them on and into position. I got mine spot on to the naked eye, however precise that turns out to be I'm not sure but it seems to be doing it's job quite well. Not sure it makes much difference but I used the diaphragms that are made in the UK and sold on Ebay. Well made, pretty happy with them. The OEM ones were to rich for my blood and the Chinese ones are Chinese. If after the diaphragms are indexed, cleaned and reinstalled, and there is any stiffness or binding in the slides take a look at the needles to make sure they are true. Even if they are a little too tight they can cause slight binding of the slide. They need only be barely snug. Handle carefully, these slides can be brittle.

I have always liked the MK 8, I would have purchased a new one but I wasn't happy with the trade value of my my well preserved 72 Town Car at the time. I figure if I ever come across one and the price is right I'll still jump on it. You'll have to post pics of your new Lincoln and let us know how you like it. Congrats!

This is all news to me, if this is true then the folks that already have the 18 should enjoy exclusivity and possibly increased value. I like the concept of a pre-order system. It would eliminate impulse buyers but they would be stuck with a whole lot less inventory at the end of the model-year. It makes sense, glad to see Yamaha take this approach. Although I was an outspoken critic of this bike, or at least the fact that it was coined as a Venture, I did not doubt that it would sell in-spite of being overpriced IMHO. Overpricing has not hurt HD until more recently. I've only seen an Eluder in the flesh and I can easily see how this bike would take some customers from Polaris and HD, at least those looking to cover some serious miles. Those pressing Yamaha for regular production should (IMHO) be ready to make a deposit for one. Sure this bike aint for me, but I am surprised it didn't sell better. It seems to have a lot to offer twin buyers looking for something more refined.

Thank you Jim, this should be emphasized. Prohibition is beyond absurd, but it is still federally prohibited in the states. Obviously plenty of individuals and businesses are in direct violation, as they should be. Still our gov persists in knowing whats best for us and protecting us from ourselves on our own dime. NO borders, for any reason. Once one gets stateside it's available. Collaborate with local friends or make some new ones. It's around, just gotta shake the right hands. I suspect (hypothetically of course) anyone traveling into NY will have no real trouble procuring party favors, even if prohibition still exists in NY at the time. Discretion is ones friend in the states. If one were to get hassled by a cop that does drink the Kool-Aid of prohibition, one is still gonna have some splainin' to do. Here is a brief description of our state laws, which are continually being updated as more states/folks favor liberty over prohibition. https://norml.org/laws

I took my 40% off coupon into Hobby Lobby today. They have a fairly decent wall of stuff. Mostly the AMT kits, no Tamiya, and no Tamiya paints. I did grab the chrome pen, contour putty and glue that is not old enough to buy it's own beer. I was walking out and this Revell kit, an Early Bronco, jumped right off the shelf. Never seen one jump like that before, so I had to bring it home, really no choice. I know you understand. I did grab a handful of the Tamiya paints from another hobby place. They had one Tamiya model but it was an Enzo, I'll go on Ebay and see if I can find a 356 or 935 in the Tamiya line. Thanks for the tons of guidance, I"m going to do my best to get a couple pics up today.

I just printed one off, might as well stop in and see what they have. The other local Who's Hobby has tons of good stuff. Just as well check both out. If I were to see a 70s Diamont T kit I would snap right up, thats exactly the sort of thing I keep an eye out for. I've had my eye out for a same era COE Ford, not to many of those floating around either.

I have a large expensive box full of Testors paints. In retrospect the Testors paints were never great to work with, I guess I didn't realize there were better alternatives. I will replace them now with the better paints. Far to many hours go into one of these to cheap out on supplies IMHO. When I was much younger I had 20/13 vision and the steady hands of a surgeon. I painted chrome trim freehand with a precision brush and it was pretty darn good if I do say so. I'm looking at some of the examples of foil vs paint and it's no contest. I have added Bare Metal Foil and Molotow Liquid Chrome pen to the shopping list along with what I'm sure will be a fairly pricey pile of paints. I have been using the Testors precision glue, is there something better I could be using? I now have an old Peterbuilt cab/sleeper soaking in DOT3, I condemned it years ago with a bad paint job. You saved ol' Pete! It's working! I still have the rest of the kit untouched. I didnt know what would strip the paint without hurting the plastic body. I did, however, find some things that would strip the paint and turn the body into a molten plastic turd. I didn't know any of what you said here, highly informative and I'm sure I cant thank you enough. I can see each of these tips upping my game considerably. Last time I built a model the internet wasn't a thing, access to tips and professionals like yourself were not available. What can I say? Thank you! Time to go shopping.

I definitely belong to this school of thought. I mostly own older vehicles and when I have tried to run synthetics and different weights I've gotten mixed results. I use the synthetics in my 4.0 Lexus V8 and 2.0 TSFI, which is what they call for. Using the wrong oil wt or type in the Audi will cause it to throw a code. Somehow it cant be fooled, as with most German things it is very finicky and service intervals are critical! I could not play with wt/grade, the car protests if it doesn't get EXACTLY what mfr suggests. Even in the transmission, I tried three different oils to get the slickest shifting, but the OEM VAG oil was hands down the cleanest shift over all the aftermarket gear oils I tried. With modern fuel injection and liquid cooling there just doesnt seem to be any reason to experiment with different wts/grades. I've pretty much give up on second guessing manufacturers on anything new enough to have composite headlamps. Save for air cooled and heavily modified mills I have nearly always gotten the best results using exactly what the MFR suggests. Like everyone I have my favorite brands but I think brand matters less now than ever as long as wt/grade/service intervals are adhered to.

I'm afraid I'm no longer on FB or any social media beyond these great forums. I'll see if I can get to it from my laptop, I would like to see some more work. To bad I cant engage in FB groups like this without actually going back to FB. I brought out a few that I had done years back, they were wrapped in bubble wrap and carefully fit into small totes. I was moving around too much in those years not to try and keep them safe until such a time that I could place them in a suitable case. My next move is coming soon and will hopefully be my last. I've been collecting a few model kits as I find them. I always knew when I was done moving around I would return to this thing I have been doing since I was a small child. BTW, I like what you did to Christine, that last one was Christine, right? I have a Christine still sealed, also a 57 300C waiting to be built. Something about the old Chrysler products, They captured all that was spectacular and flamboyant about American cars when the big three were still on top of the world. Every time I go to a hobby shop I go straight for the models and see if one jumps out at me. Usually at least one does. Now I have a fair stack of models to choose from to build. I understand painting much better than I did last time I tried it on a model truck. I'm seeking out youtube tutorials now. The one part of model building that has always haunted me was trying to get a nice job like that on the body. Most of mine I built simply omitting body paint/CC, but going forward I'm going to learn to do that correctly.

I've been storing my bikes for the winter with non-ethanol and a good splash of seafoam, probably one can split between the two bikes, then I run them enough to get it all through the carbs. I fill the tanks as full as possible, then throw the covers over them. It fills me with shame to reveal that I've had to store them outside under cover for the last few years in the SD winters. The relevant part is that under these conditions they still bark right to life in the spring with 0 fidgeting needed. This was far from the case with even a gentle aroma of ethanol in the bike or if I did not use Seafoam at end of season. I'm sure there are other factors but I dont see any fault with your winterizing strategy as far as fuel management goes. When I had a weak battery I had some missfiring, even though it was strong enough to start the bike I could feel it was not quite 100% any more. New AGM and miss-fire solved. Anyting less than a fully charged battery might have a fellow feel like he's urinating up a waterfall. I cant find it now but there is a multi-meter test for the pickup coils that should help rule that out. Mine are gen1 machines but I do believe the carbs and charging systems are quite similar.

WOW, thats some nice work! It would appear I'm a few steps behind you with getting a nice paint job. Love the frankenbug. I have a couple totes full of models where parts were missing/body warped/error victims, just for such things. I'm getting my data cables back this week and i'll upload a few pics. Should give me some time to clean them up, they haven't seen daylight since I was in my early 20s. Funny, the wrecker I've been wanting to build, the AMT 8126. I thought it was a bottlenose but I guess to much time went by. I think I have a bottlenose 1:25 cab in that tote though. I'm clearing some room in the loft and sorting through all my paints and supplies, a little less screen time would be good for me anyway.

Round' here it's easy to find tax preparers, but mighty challenging to find ones that take it seriously. Congrats on that, I suspect you will be in demand. I've got a Bottlenose pete towtruck I'm waiting to build, I havnt built a model car/truck/bike since before my first marriage, so, 30 years or so. I do have several I have picked up over the years and really wanting to get back into it. I like to build select classic cars with heavy tilt towards euro, but I have a strange attraction to old trucks, cant get enough of that, especially tow and recovery rigs. Funny, just a couple weeks ago I found my Badger 350 and knife/awl set. If you ever feel compelled to post some of your work I would be counted among the interested viewers.

I noticed those carefully chosen words. It was vague indeed. I would just as soon not be under anyone's drone regardless.

I'm going to fly mine today, I'm covered to $300,000 through my cabin insurance if I do any damage with it. I noticed this in my coffee reading, vague but relevant. https://www.kotatv.com/content/news/Feds-to-ease-rules-on-drone-flights-over-people-and-at-night-504336131.html

96 is a great run but a parent is a tough loss regardless. I can only begin to imagine what 96 years must have been like, how amazing to have seen and done so much. My condolences to you and yours.

If I had a choice to (or not to) step through a time portal and hit the original Woodstock, I absolutely would, it's an experience I would take. Just for the music alone it would have been amazing IMHO. Not sayin' I would be just listening to the music! Music and society have changed enough that I'm going to stick with the realization that it is an era gone by. I'm not actually sure what my choices would have been had I been of age in 69, but the only choice I could not make an argument for would the the choices taken by some of our would be POTUS that were of age at the time.

I'm not sure if there is a limit to how cold it can be while still riding. I've ridden in sunny dry but below 0. Thats mighty cold my friends. If you have the right gear, even heated gear and the roads are clear then it's a personal judgement call. If the roads are wet then I stay above 40f and dont go far. Here elevation and temp changes can come up on ya right quick and freeze the ground right under you. Trees shade areas and leave patches of ice on otherwise clear roads. Lots to think about. IMHO mixing freezing temps with wet is a hard no, the cost and likelihood failure is high. If your freezing while riding your more likely to make a mistake, that sort of freeze fatigues a rider pretty fast. I've been stuck in pucker-factor 9 trying desperately to keep the wheels in the tiny little grooves cars cut through the frost and snow. I hope to never have to do that again. I have done some very long trips in some nasty weather, nothing left to prove. If in doubt I take the cage and live to ride another day. So my own guidelines are 40 deg if wet, as cold as I can stand it if it's dry.

Very good point. It's hard to argue with keeping insurance on anything that could be a liability, like a drone. If one chooses roll the dice and be underinsured, and they loose everything via fire/theft/vandalism/drone mishap judgement or whatever then they got exactly what they bargained for. I have a really tough time mustering any pity for someone who gets bitten by their own blatant irresponsibility. The part I take exception to is the part when one causes damage to someone else's person/property without adequate insurance, ones victim may not be able to recover damages, could be a life changing event for an innocent person. No way to slice that to be acceptable. I put in a call to my State Farm guy to see what my coverages are on drones. Monday I should know my exact coverages. Thank you for bringing this up. Maybe others that have drone insurance can share how they got it, through renters/owners insurance or a separate policy. My cabin policy covers TONS of stuff outside and not pertaining to the home as well as all my **** at home. This is not an insurance policy I would want to walk through life without, drone or no drone. EDIT, I love my Canadians, seriously, but if I were ever thinking about moving to Canada you fixed that right up for me. It sounds like a really cold CA haha.