Freebird

You got a lot better deal than I did but I'm happy with them.

I will start working on the countdown page this week. If you know the dates of your events that are usually included, please post them here so that I can get them added. I'm talking about this page: http://www.venturerider.org/rally/ Thanks, Don

I agree with you about the electrical tape Eck. The problem here is that Ohio has E-Check and you can't pass if the light is on. Covering it won't get you by because they plug in and read the codes.

Yea, I thought about that. I never get much out of muffler audio videos but I could do it. Raining though and would just be in the garage. Maybe I will anyway.....

I don't know. Sort of makes sense though. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/10/18/airbag-equipped-motorcycle-vest-could-be-life-saver/?intcmp=latestnews

I went with a stage one air filter from Fuel Moto that allowed me to keep my stock cover. I like the stock cover about as well as any that I've seen. I also got it really cheap because I bought the Dyna Power Vision tuner from them and they offer a package deal. Fuel Moto offers about as good of customer service as I've ever experienced. If you buy the Power Vision tuner from them, they offer lifetime free map changes. When I bought the mufflers, I submitted a request using their online system for an updated fuel map and I received it via email about 15 minutes later. Just connect the power vision to my computer, download the new map into the unit and then plug it into the bike. Takes about 10 minutes from receiving the file to reprogramming the ECM.

I ran across an almost new set of Vance and Hines Monster Rounds for about half price so couldn't resist. They came yesterday so of course the first thing I did this morning was to get them installed. Also reprogrammed the ECM/Fuel Map to go along with them. I haven't made many changes to this bike in regards to performance so far and am pretty happy with it. I've gone with the stage one air kit, removed the catalytic convertor from the head pipe, and now the V&H Monster Ovals. Then the ECM tune of course. Now it's raining here so all I know is that they sound fantastic in the garage. Not a lot louder than stock but a much deeper sound. I didn't want loud so they should be exactly what I was looking for. Here are some pictures that I took while installing them and comparing them to the stock mufflers.

About a month ago, the check engine light came on on my 2007 Avalanche. I figured it was the gas cap but finally took the time to check it out last weekend. Stopped by the local auto parts store and borrowed their code reader. The code was not the gas cap but the evaporative fuel canister solenoid. Now there are two of these solenoids on the Avalanche, one near the manifold under the hood and the other under the bed above the spare tire. A quick search at the Avalanche forum indicated that the one under the bed is almost always the culprit. So I ordered one. Was out of town all week and the part was awaiting when I got home yesterday. I figured it couldn't possibly take long to change it out so I got right on it. The job is done and it did indeed correct the check engine light issue but at this point, I just need the name and telephone number of the GM engineer who designed the spare tire secondary latch system. He must DIE! Apparently it has been a long time since the spare tire was lowered and the secondary latch system was stuck. This has to be one of the most stupid and ill conceived designs I have ever seen on a vehicle. It took me over an hour to finally get the spare tire down on this truck. Following the instructions in the manual to deal with it not releasing did nothing at all. From other posts that I read at the Avalanche forum, it seldom works. It just took a lot of penetrating oil, a long metal bar, a big hammer, a pair of Channelok pliers and a lot of choice words to finally get it to release. What should have been a 30 to 45 minute job ended up taking almost 3 hours. So....if anybody has that geniuses telephone number, please post it right here so I can find him. What an idiot.

See if this thread helps. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=63049

Yes, but post them in the classifieds. I hate deleting a nice post.

Whatever the case about the bike itself, I think that the letter was very well done.

I have my doubts also but hope I'm wrong. Would love to see them come out with a new one.

I can honestly say that I have. It was on a truck, not a motorcycle. A late 60's Ford truck. The truck was very hard to start. You would have to crank it for a while, let it sit for a while, then crank it again and then it would start and run perfect. Turned out that the filter was full of trash. Cranking on it I suppose softened up whatever it was plugged with and then it would run fine until you turned it off and it apparently harder again or something. Changed the filter and never had another issue.

Thought some of you might find this interesting. It is our visitor stats from September. 44,162 The total number of visits to your site this month TOP COUNTRY 35,934 Visits United States 6,111 Visits Canada 336 Visits United Kingdom 308 Visits Australia 118 Visits France

I agree. That looks nice.

There are no rules about pictures having to be Venture related. The sizing requirements are the same for all and as long as they are PG rated, that is about the only rule.

LOL....to be honest...when I look in the mirror, I don't see that much difference. I have noticed that my pants are too big in the waist now but only a couple inches so far. I had gone to a 36 waist to be comfortable. Now a 34 waist is not tight at all.

Those of you who have not owned a Honda Shadow likely don't know about this issue. I had a '95 I think and I loved the bike but the battery was a very poor design They designed it especially to fit into an odd shaped area so it was not a rectangular battery. It was narrow/stepped down on the bottom. They had a tendency to boil the acid in the narrow section of the battery and if you weren't observant, would spew battery acid and corrode the frame in that area. Great bike but very poor battery design. Here is a picture of the one I had taken in front of one of my houses in Dallas. Also a picture of the battery it took.

Somebody the other day was telling me to try spaghetti squash in place of pasta. They said that it looks pretty much like regular spaghetti once cooked. Very neutral taste and works well as a substitute. Eileen already uses ground turkey for all the sauces that she makes so that may be a good option. Haven't tried it yet and understand that the texture is the only thing that you have to get used to.

I agree. That is why I said, I was NOT changing my diet in an effort to lose weight. It is just a result of the change that I made to get my blood sugar down a bit. I need to buy a tester because I don't even know what the result has been. I just know that I'm losing weight...and I'm HUNGRY.

I installed them long ago. I think there is very little left for Yammer Dan to do to that bike.

I've seen a few posts here lately about there still being some brand new RSVs on dealer floors. It led me to think about, why would I buy or not buy a new RSV. I was just wondering how you all feel about it. For me, the decision has very little to do with the bike itself. In my opinion, the RSV is still one of the best bikes and best bike values on the market today. Yes, Yamaha should have made some small incremental changes over the years but basically, it is a solid platform with a great engine and is still one of the most comfortable bikes I ever owned. Yamaha continuing to install a cassette deck on the bike until the very end is just plain stupid in my opinion. They could have very easily done away with it and substituted an MP3 or just an MP3 Interface. Even a CD player would have been an improvement though not a lot better. They could have just removed the cassette, run the auxiliary port to the dash the way many of us did and just put some gauges where the cassette was...again...as many of us did. A very small amount of engineering and production change to correct the sometimes obsessive clutch basket chirp and the gear whine would have been a great move. It would not have taken much to address that issue. Carbs? OK....to most people, not that big a deal. I was actually just fine with the carbs even though there are few vehicles on the road today that still use them. Some people actually prefer them over fuel injection because we can work on and repair them. There are some things that I like batter about the fuel injection on my Road Glide but it's honestly not that big a deal to me and I was fine with the carbs also. The bottom line is that the RSV was and still is a great bike. I love my Road Glide but there are a couple of things that I actually liked better about the RSV and the main thing is the heat. Make no mistake about it. The Harley runs HOT. If you get stuck in slow moving traffic you are going to suffer and your passenger is going to suffer even worse. On a very hot day, you will even notice some excessive heat when running a highway speeds. There are some things you can do to help, remove the catalytic convertor from the head pipe, replace the head pipe with a ceramic coated aftermarket unit, etc.....but even then....it is HOT. Not way around it. Not bad for the rider when you are running down the highway with your feet out on the highway pegs but the passenger will still suffer some. With that one thing aside though, and it is a big one, there is very little that I don't like about the Glide. That being said, what if I didn't like the Glide and decided to buy something else. Would I buy a new left over RSV? With the recent posts about them being available it just caused me to wonder why people would. Big Tom posted about a brand new one on the floor at Pioneer for $14,000.00. My friends, that is a BARGAIN. That is just about what I paid for my 1999 when I bought it in April of 1999. So why would anybody not jump on that deal? Well after giving this some though, I can only give you my main reason for letting it pass if I were even in the market. Accessories. That is it. I can live with the carbs, I can remove the cassette and add gauges, I can pretty much deal with the whine if it is not very excessive. Personalizing a new RSV would be a major pain though. One are where Yamaha has always been a complete failure is the availability of accessories. I don't think there has ever been a time since the RSV was introduced in 1999 that the accessories have truly been readily available. I can remember many of you posting in the old days about trying to order a rack or bag rails or this or that and being told that there was a 6 month wait. Why? Because they were selling so fast and furious? I don't think so. I think that Yamaha just put it out there and then sat back and waited to see how much demand there was before actually manufacturing them. Then after that short time when there were a few items available, many were discontinued even while the bike was still being sold. It is inexcusable that a company would market and sell a bike while at the same time, discontinuing the accessories that many people would want. I don't think that they even show a trunk rack available any longer. Hopnel stopped making the bibs long ago. Khromewerks no longer shows mufflers available. Forget ordering any carb covers, twinky covers and many other things from Yamaha. That means that you buy a brand new motorcycle and find yourself scouring Ebay to make that bike your own. Aside from a handful of local members here who offer some nice accessories, you are pretty much out of luck. I think about the bike that I sold to Yammer Dan and then think about how long it would take me to accessories a new RSV the way that I had that one done and I realize that it is NOT something that I would even want to try. There are many things on his bike that would be very difficult and maybe impossible to find again. Not to mention what it would cost me to do so. So that is why I would not buy a new RSV. I think that Yamaha could and should learn a LOT from Harley, Indian, Victory and others about marketing. They are capable of building a fantastic machine but fall way short in everything after that. What are your thoughts?

Well here's the thing. Many of you know that due to a bout with Cancer about 5 1/2 years ago, I lost the site in my right eye. Things are going fine and the cancer appears to be under control so that's not the issue. A couple of months ago while I was in Columbus, OH on a business trip, I woke up one morning and was having a difficult time focusing. Computer text was blurry and etc. Got up and headed out to see some customers and found that my distant vision was blurry also. Couldn't hardly read street signs and etc. Being blind in one eye already, it was a bit scary. So when I got back home I went to see my eye doctor. I had just gotten new glasses about 2 months before and my prescription was almost the same as the year old glasses that I was wearing. This time though, my vision had changed a good bit. Especially my distant vision. So again I got new glasses but they didn't find anything wrong. A physical a couple of months early indicated that my blood sugar was getting a bit high. I was not diabetic but he called me "pre-diabetic" and told me to change my diet or I was looking at diabetes in the future. Based upon that, my eye doctor told me that my blood sugar was likely causing my vision problem. Apparently high sugar causes the pressure in the eye to change and distort the eye and can cause vision problems. So, that scared me enough that I finally decided OK....time to look at my diet. Now you have to remember, though I live in Ohio now, I was born and raised in Texas and was raised on biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, lots of beef and etc. Since marrying Eileen almost 20 years ago my diet has certainly improved as she absolutely does NOT fry anything. Still though, I travel extensively and eat out at least 4 days a week and have taken full advantage of it. A couple of 20oz. Ribeyes per week is not unusual and the other nights are typically either BBQ, Mexican food or whatever else I am in the mood for. Well I'm 59 years old now and changing eating habits at this age is not easy. I'm trying though. For about the past 6 weeks I've completely changed my diet. It has been perfect except for two little things. I HATE it and I'm ALWAYS hungry. Now I'm fortunate that I've not had to be on blood pressure medicine. For a few years I've taken a very low dosage Cholesterol drug because my good cholesterol is too low but otherwise, I've been pretty lucky. So I changed my diet. Instead of going out to eat every night, I go to the grocery store and buy food (if you want to call it that) and take it to my hotel to eat. Usually a bag of salad mix and some smoked salmon or tuna to top it with. Instead of eating the hotel buffet scrambled eggs and bacon, sausage or ham that they have, I eat a small bowl of raisin bran with 1% milk and MAYBE a small thing of low fat yogurt. I have never been one to eat lunch so that gets me by until my friggin salad at night. I still usually allow myself to go out one night per week and treat myself. Even then though, instead of the 20oz bone in Ribeye, I will have maybe an 8oz Sirloin. Instead of blue cheese dressing with the salad, I have a vinaigrette or something like that. Now like most folks at my age, I could stand to lose a few pounds. I never thought I was obese but knew that it wouldn't hurt to lose a bit. Just wasn't that important to me though. I am about 6'2" or slightly taller and when I started this, I was bumping the 220 lb. mark. Now after about 6 weeks of this new way of eating, I'm down to, as of this morning, 200 lbs. So even though I didn't change my diet to lose weight, I have lost 20 lbs. in 6 weeks. To be honest, I think that those height/weights charts are crazy. According to most of them, I am still overweight but I honestly don't want to lose much more weight. So now I have to figure out how to eat to slow down the weight loss while still maintaining a low carb diet to control my sugar. In addition to all of this. I MISS my food. I LOVE food. I LOVE food that I don't need to eat....and....I'M HUNGRY. ALWAYS HUNGRY! Maybe doing all of this well help me to live longer.....but do I want to? hmmmmmmm.......

This was discussed a while back. The problem is with Internet Explorer. There is a bug in Internet Explorer that prevents it from loading the images correctly. There are actually many bugs in Internet Explorer and that is why I stopped using it years ago. I think that if you try Firefox, Chrome, Safari or most any other browser that the problem will go away.

I have no idea. Can you not see where either end goes?