CaseyJ955

Thats what I'm seeing, the log-only kit is the price in glowing letters on the banner and often add 50%+ for floors, roofs and stuff. I know skilled builders can source that stuff locally cheaper. At my skill level I probably best go with the steel roof, windows and subfloor already cut to fit. I am lucky enough to have access to top tier doors, hardware and fixtures. I talked to a loghome kit vendor here in the midwest, he was pretty transparent about what the two kit levels have and dont have, and what It may cost before I hang my lid there. I can see this going upwards of $40k before I spend a penny inside. I just cant justify going much more or I cant pay for it without a traditional mortgage. I am able to get one but I cant swallow adding such a huge amount to total cost of ownership. Im doing this with short term personal loans and savings only.

So I have wanted a secluded, mostly off-grid cabin as primary residence all my adult life. Im now in a position to buy land, im looking at some southern hills acreages next week. Got my eye on small plots 5-20 acres. I am watching covenants and avoiding subdivisions. Actually avoiding covenants too, or at least restrictive ones. So far the only things that have caught my eye are cabin/log home "kits". Some marketed as DIY friendly. A cabin built from scratch is cost prohibitive on a good day, at least for me. I see where I can pickup a 2 bed 1 bath with loft cabin kit for $15-30k, add a bit more for a " dry" kit including subflooring, roof, doors and windows. So far Im okay with that, I can source plunbing, and virtually all interior stuff at cost later after the structure is paid off, and should be able to handle all but electrical. I have considered cost of well, septic and cystern. Im not sure what foundation will cost yet. What I really need to know is if the cabin kits are worthwhile. I see quite a bit of range in prices and material quality, im comfortable doing the work, although I do have help if needed. Anyone here gone down this road? Any wisdom or even a specific vendor with known quality/cust svc. I notice these kits on CL occasionally for a decimal point of cost, but it seems like a crapshoot. Seems from what ive read it can be a disaster while others report good experiences. I also wonder if I have overlooked some other cost effective construction technique. Ive rulled out trlrs, modulars and stick built. Ive even loked at metal buildings, I may go that route for the garage since I need a minimum of 3 stalls and the mother-in-law apt. Anyone been here/done this? Guidance, wisdom? Thanks!

I too was with Progressive, not too bad until you need to use their claims dept, then it becomess clear why its cheap. I went to State Farm, bikes and all, and its considerably cheaper for the bikes. Im at ~$55/yr for each bike, basic liability only. My bikes are a yearly renewal while cars and trucks are 6mo policies. What your paying seems pretty steep to me but its been years since ive had FC on a bike.

Make sure the little white collar on the needle is seated, that tiny white finger slips into the hole. Also make sure all those peices are spotlessly clean. A bent needle can cause drag if it drags against the emulsion tube. Even making that plastic keeper screw that holds the needle assembly to the bottom of the slide to tight can cause drag. They need be only barely snug. Ill bet some playing around with that helps. Im assuming the needles are straight and the slides were clocked as they wre removed. Try the slide in the carb w/o the needle installed and see if it suddenly moves freely.

Now thats a touring bike! Good purchase. Ol' gran-pappy always said it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. I do neither, rather I shamelessly do whatever I want. Gotta love that! congrats on the new purchases. I hereby grant you permission to buy whatever steeds you wish for as long as you want. T

Luckily its not a bad job and tbe parts are reasonably priced. I haven't done it yet but I did look into it, I can feel slight slippage in 4th and 5th under hard acceleration. Sorry it **** the bed all sudden like. Did it get home okay under its own power?

You did it correctly, late aug-sept would have also been accepted as a correct answer Being stuck behind a gaggle of HDs so long thats its pointless to even try to pass is a frustration my life is not missing haha. I bug-in for the rally and about a week on either side of it. Im far enough from the pavement that I rarely hear anything. That or im out across the plains in another state. The off season is stunning here as you can imagine and being able to reeeeeally ride the hills is priceless. The hills are virtually vacant until July, then after August. Did you head up towards Wall and through the Badlands? I can well up just thinking about that, and empty desolate scenic 44 back towards Rapid.

Put me down for one! I can write a check today. Good luck catching me when there are problems at the bank! Maybe its my distorted thought process here, but has a better earthbound getaway vehicle ever existed outside a James Bond movie?

I have an 89 Venture, and a Vmax and both bikes have the same finicky carb setup. I have been down this road more than once with exactly those symptoms. The first thing to try is a "shotgun" carb cleaning. It often works. I have trouble linking stuff with my phome but a google search should get you there. I know its covered here and there is a great writeup on vmaxforum.net also (same proceedure). I use seafoam when I do it. This might not work, if it does not then the carbs are coming off for a good cleaning. Worst case scenario is sat with ethanol tainted fuel. Not good, the corn squeezings gell up and leave a sludge, and it really wont take long for that to happen. Once you find a thread about the shotgun there will be some reading about whats next if it fails. I have found the way to prevent it by never ever using ethanol unless there is no choice. If you must use ethanol then splash a few oz of seafoam with it and do not let it sit for to many days. I have had ethanol fuel make mine do this after just a couple weeks. When the bike will sit for awhile use pure gasoline and a few oz seafoam. Mine set all winter with pure gasoline and seafoam topped off and fire right up in spring. Since doing thos I have not had to endure this issue. Never ever store it (or any carb equipped gasoline engine) with ethanol fuel. Pure gasoline and seafoam =good happy nice. If you do use seafoam run as much out as you can and come behind it with pure gasoline and seafoam. I know im repetitous but its that important. I hope the shotgun works, keep is posted and ask if any clarification is needed. Edit: just saw you left no ethanol in it, perhaps try seafoam in place of sta-bil. I like the above idea too from Cami too, im keeping that in mind. Since you didnt use ethanol I'll bet these other options have a decent chance of working. Edit again: welcome!! I see where you live, what an amazing place, ive ridden through and its spectacular. I usually end up in MT and WY when I ride aimlessly. If I ever move from South Dakota (unlikely) it would be for MT.

I apologize for how long it took me to get this together as promised, its been an insane week, but here is a pic of my vmax carb with a restrictor installed, which allows proper operation with a free flowing filter system other than the OEM box. A pic of the custom high flow airbox lid that made the restrictors necessary, and a pic of the top of the carb. The brass jet can be seen, and the smaller brass dealio next to it is the restrictor.. Buy em, press em in and run any sort of airbox or pods you want. I hope this helps. Ill repost these pics and info in 1st gen tech so its searchable for others. The airbox lid is part of a jetting system created by someone that knows a bit more than I to take full advantage of the free flowing Kerker exhaust on the Vmax. Once I got her put together and the right jets instslled it was wild. Now it revs so easily and violently past redline that I will need to install a shift light/rev limiter. Im sure there is no performance gain for a Venture ( restrictive heads and exhaust) beyond being able to ditch the OEM airbox.

Ive had my eyes peeled for another 70 Torino GT for 25+ years. Another 72 Torino Sport would also be awesome. The Clint Eastwood movie did not make those any easier to find though. Seems solid restorables are owned by those that understand the increasing rarity of either model and restored examplet cost about as much as a 911 Turbo. As in the case with your big block Chevelle (solid choice btw haha) they arent getting easier to find, esp #s matching. I sort of blame those televised auto auctions in which rare muscle car variants and rare desirable exotics sell for more than houses in upper middle class neighborhoods on the good side of town. At this point I would bite down on a 70-72 Maverick Grabber. I hope the right one presents at the right time, you may have to open up your checkbook pretty wide when you do find her.

Gen1 Vmax pumpkins do install on the gen1 Venture. The functional difference will be the Vmax gears are lower and will change your overall ratios. If your an open road guy like me that might not be to your liking, but if your more on surface streets or spend time in traffic than you may really like it. Acceleration will improve at the cost of higher RPM at highway speeds. IIRC the difference is 3.33 vs 3.66 so about 10% difference. A non functional difference is on the Vmax one of the shocks mounts to the pumpkin, so there will be a hole cast into the housing for that lower shock mount. Its only an esthetic difference going onto a Venture and wont effect bolting up. Thats only an issue if your putting a Venture pumpkin onto a Vmax. Some Vmax guys do this to improve highway cruising but it neuters that brutal burst of acceleration. I almost did the swap on my Vmax but because of the shock mount the easiest way for a Vmax guy to do it is to rent the gear puller Sean Morley and swap the gears into the correct housing. Venture with Vmax pumpkin, fairly simple and peppier acceleration. I have an extra pumpkin off an 85 Vmax if you need any pics or measurements let me know. When I researched it previously I came up with gen1 VMX interchanges to gen1 XVZ. I hope someone that has actually done the job verifies, and I know its been done. If you cant find a puller email Sean at one2dmax@aol.com. Some years Venture have an untapped shock mount but cant recall which, but from Vmax to Venture it should not matter to you. Im 98.975% sure you can bolt a pumpkin from any gen1 Vmax right on. Last I knew he had a puller he rented out via mail and would probably know off the top of head if your going to run into compatibility issues.

One thing I think I see is a lot more of the elitists and snobs are trading in the bikes for assistive devices. The "if it aint a Harley, it aint ****!" Crowd is dwindling pretty steadily. HD promised 50 new models in 5 years almost a year ago. By my math they have a little more than four years to bring these two concepts through R&D and to the showroom floor, then the additional 48 new models right behind it. I dont care what HD says, paint/bling schemes DO NOT constitute new models, nor does an improved existing model. Trim levels, sorry, still no. RK and Sportys are different models, just as the concepts appear to be. "New model" is not a subjective term in the automotive/motorsports industry. Imagine the arrogance it takes to make a promise like that with a straight face. What thinking adult did not laugh when reading that feature? They have a very narrow window here to attract younger buyers with new models. An OHC 8V liquid cooled, 60deg USA made vtwin would sure be a step in the right direction, but Ill believe it when I can test ride one. I think they currently have four distinct models in total, I know they have more different model names but essentially four frames on which they are built, and two distinct engines (4 and 8 valve). Trim level is not synonymous with model. They are treading water now but when they are really circling the drain it wont be much of a mystery. I was not with HD for long at all before I was seduced by the delicious powerful economical Triumph triples, and now very unapologetically enjoying the fine offerings from Japan and Australia too. I recall.the Triumph Daytona in the mid/late 90s, they had a 1200 that was written up as the fastest production bike at the time just after their restart. Pretty impressive IMHO. iI remember its resemblance to the FJ, which should be a compliment, the FJ was a very notable scoot. I saw a BRG Daytona 1200/4 displayed at a bike shop in Lynwood WA before I bought my new 2000. After ownership of a couple old Brit bikes and many many Brit cars I was stunned by how sorted, refined and appealing the Ts are. We'll add Hinkley Triumphs to Pink Floyd as some reasons to love our UK brothers haha. Can we send Piers Morgan back please in exchange for never mentioning Lucas again haha?

Your getting decent weather, maybe some rain tomorow though. Still it should stay under 90 so a good year for those here. I work one week a month 24/7, I got lucky this year and get to work through the ralley. I really DO NOT do well with crowds or traffic, an aversion that is somewhat debilitating if I'm being honest. The down side is I do miss friends that come to attend the rally. I missed Puc last year and apparently will miss you this year. If your still in the area on the 9th I'll catch up with you if your not opposed to venturing toward the northern hills or even west Rapid. Theres a few good places to grab a bite, I grill most summer evenings too and live in the hills west of Rapid, always open to guests from the Venture or Vmax forums. In any event be safe and have a great time!

If it were a car it would be a 72 Eldorado. I get about 40 if 1-up with some cargo. I had to do some tuning and tweaking to get there, before I got it sorted I was getting a high of 29-30. Sounds like your doing alright at ~35. Other than a synch, new plugs and current maintainance may getcha a lil more, but its a pretty herking bike. Economy scoot she is not, comfy and reasonably capable she is. Oddly enough I get about the same MPG with my Vmax with a third more power and a third less weight.

I stand corrected, I was unaware that Porsche had any input on the Nova project. I only know they were a major part of the Vrod mill years later. Cool info, thanks for putting it up there. I bought a brand new cherry red 2000 Triumph Sprint ST, got the factory hard bags too. I put about 80k on the bike before I decided to put a Daytona motor in, never finished, got hurt and traded her off. I have always regretted that. I have never experienced such perfectly maped EFI before or since. The torque from idle to redline was just delicious. Avg 55mpg US. Oh, the tours and trips...Wow I miss her! I have been eyeballing a tuned/cammed Rocket III for sale locally... Its hard not to love the mighty triple. HD has their work cut out for them if they plan to be truly competitive with mfrs like T, BMW, KTM or the big Japanese four. Even Polaris has them in a corner. What happens next will probably make or break HD.

The HD Nova goes back in time, never made production, died as a concept. Im not sure if they had a prototype or not. The Porsche designed engine is the one in the Vrod. Actually joint between Porsche and HD, I believe HD has exclusive rights to the Vrod twin. IMHO they should do something with it other than stick it into a Vrod. Its a darn fine twin from what I hear but I have huge bias as a Porsche fan.

Remember how dark things got before they started using elec start? Change and adaptability have not been strong suits of HD, can they jump right in with competitive new models? Triumph did it when production was restarted in Hinkley. They hit the ground running with some excellent machines right from the start (restart), so we know it can be done, I bought one and it turned out to be the best ballanced and most reliable bike I have ever owned. Triumph reinvented themselves from the ground up, albeit under different circumstances, the results were great. Is HD reinventing, or attempting to placate the buying public? Im not sure yet but I remain apprehensive given their history. Although the street fighter looks like a giant barrel-chested sperm to me I do like the dual sport concept. If I were a potental buyer my first concern would be how they plan to bring the first truly new models (since the Vrod) to market at a competitive price without huge chunks of it coming from China. I hope they do this right and make something to bring them safely into the future as a mfr of world class bikes.

Assuming proper tire pressure and no strange tire wear I would first pop it up on the center stand and check steering head bearings out. Also have a look at the rear swing arm and make sure there is no slop. Check for any fork oil leaks and make sure they are filled uniformly, strange things result when one side looses all it's juice. Check to make sure that center brace, the one that holds the front fender, is intact and tight. Those come to mind as things I would check first. Have a peek at this one. This guy has to be right on, I mean how can you sport a *****en' stache like that and be wrong, right? I ended up replacing the steering head bearings and races on mine when I got it. They were pretty knackered at 72k. Made quite a difference.

It is my experience that they are notably more sensitive to restriction changes than flatsides. Upside is they seem better in adapting to altitude changes. The restrictors I'm referring to come as a set of four little brass cogs, smaller than a pencil eraser and with a specific sized orifice in each one. They slide into the second little port atop the carb adjacent to the barrel. They press right in by hand. I did it on my Vmax because I wanted to take advantage of the increased flow of a full Kerker 4-2-1 and a custom airbox with a big fat filter grafted to the top of it replacing the more restrictive inner filter. Other folks do it because a custom job requires removal of the factory airbox, for whatever reason the little brass restrictors are a neat clean cheap way to do it that does not require mods that would impede or hinder the flow of air into the carbs. http://www.morleysmuscle.com/ Sean is the guy to talk to if you need other options or more info on this one. He not only does Vmax but also has a couple very sweet Venture projects under his belt.

Stacks and open pods in lieu of the factory air box can work just fine but you must compensate for the lack of intake restriction. The easiest way to achieve that is to get a set of restrictors from Morley's Muscle. Cheap and fast. It's what I had to do when I installed a free flowing custom air box on my Vmax (same-ish engine/carbs). One way to illustrate the importance of the air box is to try and run without it and see how bad it is. CV carbs are sensitive to flow/restriction changes. Good luck on the project! I love to see unique and custom things unfold!

Thanks guys for all the awesome responses. I knew a few had to be up to this! There are two main reasons I got this bike, other than simply because I think its cool and wanted it. 1. To get further into the woods than anything else with a motor, there is NOTHING in the world like the perfect unspoiled silence and tranquility found deep within the Black Hills. It is therapeutic for me, I love it! If I get out there far enough I'll just kill the bike and sit, maybe for quite a long time. 2. To extend my riding season, its pretty short here. We sometimes have pretty serious winters and a decent chunk of the summer the roads are clogged up with tourists and rally goers. By doing it this way I can still ride through the summer, the nearest trail head is a country mile up the road. It works. Well, it works if I dont shoot for the moon first time out haha. I'll see if I can work my way back into some mild/moderate single track by fall. I think I'll leave that other nasty stuff alone, I'm not so distraught that the advanced stuff is on the other side of the fence. I'm really in this for the enjoyment and workout but I dont need to say I slayed the worst the Black Hills could throw at me. I've been in the Hills long enough to know that it's generally a poor decision to challenge mother nature! Thanks for all the thoughtful responses, really enjoyed the read and perspective. Tony

Fantastic pics! Looks like a great ride and what a view. Maybe you can be the first to take a Gen3 to the darkside

Not to long ago I took the maiden voyage on my new-to-me KTM 250 XCW 2stroke, a dedicated dirt bike with no pretense of streetability beyond being plated and insured (I love South Dakota!). I had ridden it previously only on my driveway to dial it in and get it ready for a coming gathering of dual sport guys. I wanted to get some saddle time in before riding with others, but I barely got it together in time as I had to wait for a jet block Oring kit. So the day comes, crack of dawn Im making my way towards the pavement, onto 44W and eventually to Deadwood where I found my destination. It was ~20 mi of pavement, the bike is positively vile on the road, like a big angry chainsaw. I have to admit a nostalgic rush as I blasted through the crisp morning air on 2stroke with no legal worries. This is my first modern dirt only bike and im not terribly familiar with it yet. In 09 I rode with this club on my new KLR and had a great time, 10 yrs ago and on less gnarly turf. So I get there, mingle a bit and find a handful of others that were looking to do some single track, I tell them I just got the bike and im green. They welcomed me along. Several more paved miles, fuel top off/oil mix then off behind Nemo into the forest. The first bit of single track zig-zagged up a rocky hill tbrough the trees and a welcomed plateau, which would soon give way to some of the more challenging single track in the hills. I considered turning around after that first hill, I knew I was punching above my weight class. I know it gets worse but I suspect not by much, these were like goat trails! This ride was like a 2 hour Mtn Dew commercial! I got my ass kicked but good, I knew I had put on the big boy gloves after the first hill going in. These guys made it look fairly easy. I have viewed single track with KTM 2 strokes on Youtube to get an idea if mine was tuned about right and judge whether or not I was ready for it. Where we were was definitely more challenging than what I saw on the comp. I was doing okay but with my backside biting holes in the seat the whole time. It was not long before my flawed technique and death grip on the bike erased my stamina. Instead of controlling the bike, it was controlling me. My strength waned to nothing. At one point I had to roll off the bike and gasp for air while fighting exhaustion. It took several minutes before I could get back on my feet and don my lid again. All the while these guys are very patient and very cool, I knew I was slowing them down. Super guys really. Before the end of the ride we stopped and I opted to take some intersecting double track back out towards the road. I stopped along the two track and had to rest awhile before I had the strength to get this 230lb bike off the kickstand and kick it started. I was both humbled and, and embarrassed by my newfound limitations. I got through about 80% of the ride before tapping out. I stopped for water near the trailhead at a general store where I saw them emerge, I bought some beers to thank them for their great patience and guidance, then headed home as I was 10 minutes from my cabin at this trail head. I did take consolation that they opted not to go back through the trail but on the road instead. It was 4 days before I could even move the bike inside, it sat where I parked it for that time. I was torn up but good. Now had I known these trails were anything more than moderate I would have opted to go with a double track crew instead. But I learned plenty, Ive had the bike out on some pretty gnarly double track since to get more familiar and try to build my stamina back up. Im 6,1 210 so im not fighting much extra weight, I have not ridden offroad at all since an onset of fibromyalgia, so that definitely lowered the ceiling a bit. It wasnt that many years ago I could have endured this without full on exhaustion. Needless to say these.guys were half my age, I saw no gray hairs in the woods that day, and I think I know why. I know I look considerably younger than I am, and feel considerably older than I am, at least in recent times. Possibly they didnt know I was old haha. Im on the threshold of 50. Do any of you around my age or older still single track, if so, how advanced and what toll does it take on you. I know riding off road is physical but I was still surprised how completely it flattened me. I dropped the bike a few times, got good and bruised up, left a little skin, and a mirror... and my dignity in the woods that day. Most of all I had such a blast that I cant stop thinking about going back out again on milder stuff. There is a fall rally and I plan to attend and do double track so as not to be a weak link. The harder single track may just be something best left to the younger guys, or tougher guys than me. I bring this up here because I know we have a decent peppering of mature gentlemen on this fine forum. I know at least a few of you have left the pavement a time or two..

I couldnt see the vid but the pic is awesome. NOW I have seen it all haha.