Kandaje

Greetings... Very Cool, Very Clever! Beats the heck out of my single tube, 1 board and gear oil contraption for looks and usability - Mine looks the same as the above!! but then, I can only turn 1 screw at a time...

Greetings... I found some black pleather "luggage" at the chinese Dollar store a while back that fit the 1st Gen saddle bags perfectly. Fills the entire box up to the cover when full. $3.50 - $4.00 each - Bonus Shoulder straps!! Also, my sister gave me one of those collapable shopping baskets with the aluminum handles a few Tamuz day's back...- It fit's perfectly on the rear luggage rack with a couple of bungies to hold it down. It also fits perfectly in the side bag when empty and will carry as many groceries as you can get in a hand carried basket at the supermarket...

Greetings... Or a couple of drops of Elmer's Moo Glue (the plain old white stuff that we all ate as kids...) around the swivel - would hold it tight and would be easily removeable if/when needed... I'd hit it first with some carb/brake cleaner to degrease it and remove any oils that might be providing unwanted lubrication...

Greetings... No doubt something like that, or she' not yet traded down. I have a homeless guy that's been working for me for almost a year now, he knows all the drunks and crazies. I'll ask him in the morning if he knows her...

Greetings... I'm a fan of pay-pal too.... If you do end up parting it out, I too would be interested in a number of parts: In particular order... Battery charge sensor thingy - the thingy that you stick into the top of the battery. Lower air scoop + mounting hardware. VR Emblem for top cover. Venture Emblems for side covers. Big Venture emblem on the front under the windshield, either the emblem or the entire piece of silvered plastic, if it fits on an 89. Passenger arm rests. The radio controls on the left deck panel. The entire CB, panel controls and all - I think mine is entirely fried. Or the entire audio system - as a complete unit if the price is right... The antenna and mount. Passenger audio control box. Though I too hate to see a working example parted out - we, 1st gen'ers unfortunately, have the need to resort to cannilbalism whenever possible... But yeah, as others have said, It's definately a buyers market. In the last two weeks, I watched sadly - as a complete set of both passenger armrests and backrest in excellent condition - sold for $25 - Sadly, I couldn't even scrape up that before the auction ended! Last year at this time - they would have went easily for over $300... People just don't have the money anymore...

Greetings... Went to Wally World yesterday. Was parking under the overhang between the Garden center and the part of the store where they park the shopping carts, where most of the cycle riders park. Backing in, there was a somewhat drunk middle aged woman with a scooter talking on her cell phone, wandering around. As I backed under the overhang to get in the shade, I caught a whiff of nasty sewage, looking down was an uncovered hole in the concrete right under where I'd parked. I commented about it to her, and procceeded to move over a bit so I wasn't directly over it. For some reason, this prompted her to move her little scooter too - she slowly backed it out (she had put it in - nose first) standing on the RIGHT side. I was still in the process of backing, preparing to shut down, when her center stand clipped the edge of a bench, put her off-balance, and down she went - slowly, dropping her scooter (to the left of course)- then slowly falling on top of it, as only a practiced drunk can, deftfully rolling over it backwards, heels over head. As she rolled over it, she muttered something like " sorry, I have a broken elbow" The little scooter exploded into a pile of plastic and metal parts!! It litterally disintegrated!! Completely out of proportion to the slow drop - The seat came off - apparently the main stowage - and cloths, drink bottles, basicly everything a woman would normall carry in her purse - all spilled out. Front wheel came off, instument panel seperated, mirrors, muffler, the chrome ring around the headlight, the headlight itself - everything!! I was stunned at the almost total destruction! I walked around trying to help her collect the carnage, and trying to help her piece it all back together - she wouldn't let me! Each time I'd hand her a piece, she'd grab it and growl like I was trying to steal it, then put it in the pile - and all the while she's trying to apologize and reassure me that she's "Not a weirdo" What can you say to that? - I thought it was downright scary! Like something you would see on some old BBC comedy program, only in real life!! The Benny Hill jingle started playing in my head!! When I got into the store, I had to pause and look back out - and all I could say was Whoa! The whole encounter was just so bizarre, weird and well into sureal territory. I was only in the store for about 10 minutes, and when I came out - she and her scooter, and all the parts were gone. I shudder to think that this is probably at least a daily occurance for her. That thing's going to kill her!

Greetings... My 89 has on occasion, popped out of 2nd gear under very heavy accel - The delaminating kind of accel... Maybe 3-4 times over the course of the last year. But I've always chocked it up to a bad/weak shift on my part. I bent my shifter lever last summer, and it's a little higher than it should be. It's always happened really quickly, never after getting a good long pull in 2nd... Maybe it's something that simple for you too?

Greetings... ....And then change your sparkplugs. If your fuel system is dirty, your plugs will definately get fouled as the Seafoam works it's magic. People often forget that step, and wonder why the Seafoam made it all worse...

Greetings... Happens all the time 'cept when I put too much in after a change... So far as I can tell, the only things that keeps it from happening is Not going to warp speed from a dead stop, or scraping the pegs in a turn. That's, of course, when you only fill the site glass to half... Solution: keep a quart handy and add a tad when the light comes on, until it stops coming on. That way you don't OVERfill and start blowing oil into your air filter - But of course, if you use an oily air filter (KM) anyway - then that's not such a really bad thing anyway, just means you'll have to change the plugs more often... All in all - It's Normal behavior, probably no worries...

Greetings... Definately ugly - But also definately practical. I'm a function over form kind of Guy.... Half full vs Half empty - If it really concerns you - you ain't drinking fast enough...

Greetings... Ebay Item 260419391088: I like it! It's not something I'd drive on the highway, any faster than 55, but for working it's a rather clever idea... Kind of a Grapes of Wrath kind of Trike - Should put a "Californi or Bust" sign on the back, big wooden chair with granny sitting on the back trailer, etc...

Greetings... In a moment of "Those who don't learn from history" department... Anyone remember the infamous Chinese - "Gang of Four" from the middle 70's? One can only hope that the kept-on upper Managment of Hummer will be treated with such dignity...

Greetings... Looks like some chinese farm equipment company - FishcalledWanda or something like that - wants the Hummer division of Guvment Motors...

Greetings... Then they'll get you coming and going - the filing fee for the 501-C3 alone would eat it up... I don't know that I'd want any Gov'ment motors car - don't the Gov'ment do everything by lowest bidder? Brakes by Gov'ment Motors - Obama-Brakes! WooHoo!! I wonder if they'll offer any cars in black? I've heard it said that black cars lead to Global warming... So I guess not only were my economics and history teachers incorrect - it seems so too, apparently, were my physics teachers...

Greetings... Ah yes, the new improved Kyoto Cafe protocols... I ran over a pencil today - I'm pretty sure it had at least enough carbon footprint to satisfy a family of 9...

Greetings... So... If you owned a printing press, and could print out as much money as you wanted - anytime you wanted, and you got all of your neighbors, friends, family etc, to accept it AS money, and use it as money - Why would you need to come around once a year and take some of it back?

Greetings... Valvoline 20W-50 Motorcycle Oil. Because it's the only one on the shelf. AND I also use Fram filters. Because it's the cheapest I can find. I'd use a coffee filter if that's all I could find. I change my oil every 1500-2000 miles, around here, you pretty much have to if you want an engine to last more than a couple of years. Dry and Dusty. But then, I don't have to worry too much about rust - chrome lasts forever out here - heck we have daily displays of classic chrome from 1918 to present out here....

Greetings... YEAH! I want that radio - I got first dibs on it... The lettering was really clear and the stereo seperation was excellent... That and the CB... Didn't test the CLASS, Though it didn't come on when I turned the key. No errors on it or the main dash computer. I'm thinking -I get another night job cooking at the local VFW for a few months - buy the thing as a parts bike and share the wealth here in the parts I don't need... - I've come on here, mentioned a problem I've had, and 4 days later a box from someone mysteriously shows up with the part I MIGHT need - so I'm thinking - Time to pay back and forward a bit.... It's worth it - That's what a life's all about - isn't it? Giving other's an opportunity to help you, earned with random act's of kindness? heheheheh....

Greetings... Brown, or is that supposed to be 'Gold'... Owned by the store "Motorcycle Accessories" on I-70b, right next to the bowling alley. The plastic is pretty torn up - The PO obviously hurt his left knee - nothing really missing but every peg on the side covers (held on by zip ties.) Radio works and sounds good, even though the antenna is missing. Still has the lower scoop (with screens) and original screws, that and the front fender are just about the ONLY pieces of tupperware NOT split, cracked or missing chunks...Currently there are two inches of water in the rear luggage box - the passenger radio/cb hand unit is actually in the right hand saddle bag Though the salesman didn't seem to know what it actually was! Mirror's are good, obviously been replaced - She's been down on both sides more than once, and the mirrors are the first to go in those kinds of drops. There is a split in the dash plastic that would leak humidity onto the speedo in a rain. How do you split the dash board plastic that way? She had about 49K on the dial - but that can't be trusted. Has a rather newish looking "Grey" V-bag on the right hand passenger spot - but both front driver V-bags are gone - the right side still has the snap intact. The fairing upper decks are missing plastic at the points where the metal latch attached for the bags - so they probably got ripped off by knee impact. That's the story the cracks tell on the fairing lowers anyway... When asked if the cruise worked - I got the "I don't know - But probably not" questioning (it's got cruise control!?)look that a semi-honest salesman who trying not to lie to someone who seems to actual knows what the heck he's looking at uses... Asked him to fire her up. She started rather slow, took three tries (my 89 ignites instantly - even in the winter - so it needs some work), after I told him to wait a sec for the fuel pump to STOP pumping fuel to the carbs, she fired fine - Starter was nice and strong - though it needs a new battery, once she fired up, she idled really sweet without needing any choke (carbs are in sync - the mechanics have obviously spent some time getting her running), and reved quickly and strong. Didn't test drive, as the seat was mostly just yellowed foam - the sun and armor-all had split just about every surface of seat, back and arm rests. Not one square inch of leather/pleather remaining - anywhere - not even on the backrest! Armor-all + sun = destruction... The mufflers sounded like they had at least another 5000 miles left in them - didn't hear any loose baffles rattling, and didn't sound they had been removed. She was nice and silent at idle and rev. There's an extra brake light on the travel compartment, and the vanity mirror is actually still there and in pristine condition!! The side bags are non-cracked, and still have the original foam bottoms. Unfortunately - the 2 inches of rain water in the rear travel compartment have really rusted the bottom left set of screws and nuts. However - the fact that the water is still actually there - leads me to conclude that the rear compartment isn't all cracked up, all the locks work and all hinges are in excellent condition... They were asking $2700. I asked him if they were firm on that - his reply was I'll get 3 times that If it sits here all summer then I part it out on Ebay... So it's obviously priced to NOT sell. I told him that that's about $1700 over priced - he just smiled - so I got the impression that that's what they probably paid for it and the hours put into it in labor and parts... All in all, I'd scrape together - Maybe $1500 for her - even IF I ended up parting her out. But the engine sounds good - My guess is she's probably got at least 50k left on her clock before a major rebuild if you kept up on her maintainence.

Greetings... Yawl need to remember that all chrome is justified - It's defensive driving safety gear. That means you can not only write it off on your taxes, but you can always justify it's continuing expense... There are two ways to light your scoot - Lights at night, but I think most of us prefer daylight and chrome.... But only if you buy - AMERICAN made chrome safety gear...

Greetings... I can add to that too. Was looking around the house for some ammonia, noticed the Girl Friend had stocked the bathroom cupboard with a can of Scrubbing Bubbles, then noticed that the tub/shower was also clean! Took it out and sprayed it on, let the bubbles run off, then wiped the Tersiphone down with a sponge, and went Huh! Stuff works good!... So I put the GF on the back of my nice sparkling Bike and took her out to dinner for cleaning the bathroom!...

Greetings... hehehhee... SLC being about as far away as Denver, just in the other direction! But hey! I'm up for the ride just to put my bike on your tool - just to prove to everyone that my home made tool is "accurate" enough!! Unfortunately - the 4 tanks of gas that it would take, are more than I can afford at the moment... But I think that when my economic situation gets a little better - It sounds like a fantastic idea - That should be completely documented! You got a video camera? I come to SLC, we go down to Lowes, I buy the materiels and construct the device - sync my carbs with it, then hook up to your High Tech machine and check out the sync. A true battle between Good vs Evil. The trailor trash practical vs the High Tech. Simplicity vs the overly complicated corporate beast system... hehehehhe.....

Greetings... Let's talk accuracy for a second... If you are a race driver and milliseconds means something to you - then sure, accuracy might actually mean something to your paycheck... But if you are riding a 20+ year old machine (like a lot of us are) for fun or economics, and aren't overly anal retentive - Any difference in accuracy between syncing your carbs with a simple $3.50 oil column or a $100+ mercury filled High Tech gizmo - is going to dissapear the instant you come home from this weeks ride - That's reality - When you ride - your carbs go OUT of sync. It's called entropy. It's a law of the universe. The practical mind says that you'll use a tool that is handy, easy to use, and non-complicated. Simply put - if you aren't worried about screwing it up - and it works well enough to get you to use it again next week, then you will. My Bike is my only means of transportation. It's all I got, short of walking 3 miles to ride the bus. Keeping it running well, means that once a week or so, I pull out my $3.50 oil column and maybe burn my fingers on a hot engine. It takes all of 15 minutes. Maybe - one day, I might actually NEED to know just exacly how many Micro-Mega-pascals of sucktitude Cylinder #3 is actually drawing, and when that day comes - then sure, I might consider laying out the Obamabux for it. But until then - syncing my carbs using $3.50 worth of materials that takes all of 5 minutes to assemble, seems like a good idea to me. Especially in this economic day and age... Basicly all I'm saying is this - If you have NEVER done a carb sync on your bike yourself - You might be afraid, you might think you have no mechanical ability, whatever - then go spend $3.50 and do it. You will be amazed at the performance boost, and you'll feel really good about your mechanical abilities. You might even do that Tarzan thing and beat your chest with your fists afterwards - and you'll be justified in doing it... The VERY least of what you need: AT LEAST 30' of clear plastic hose that fits snugly over the vacumn nipples. From Lowes, Home Despot, Daves Mom's Hardware store - Drive your bike down, take a knife with you. Ask the High school dropout if you can test an inch of it for fit. The stuff is like 12 cents a foot. If he gives you a hard time - make fun of him. I say at LEAST 30 feet - because the more you use - the easier your life becomes, as we'll see. Don't scrimp here... A board or even a pipe about 4 feet long. 6 foot is even better. Any board will do, a wooden queen size bed slat works perfectly (that's 5 feet). Basicly anything that has 2 parrallel straight edges about 2 inches apart will work just fine. Some clear packing tape. Some 80w rear end gear oil. Any viscous liquid will work - but you really want to use something that you won't worry about if a little gets sucked into the engine. even Used engine oil will work too. You probably aren't so blind that you can't see yellowish 80w gear oil in the tube - so you really don't need to flavor it with something red for the coolness factor. I suggest the gear oil, because it works well in this particular recipe. Tape the Tube to the edges of the board so that you have the center of the tube at the bottom of the board and the tube running up both edges. Make a tape loop at the top so you can hang it on something. You should have 2 lengths of at least 10 feet of free tube coming off the top of the board. Fill the tube with enough gear oil so that it comes up at least half way or more up the board on both sides. The more oil you use - the slower the oil will move and the more time you have to play around with the screw before it gets sucked up too far IF your carbs are really out of sync. So YES - you can use too little oil, so again, don't be afraid to use enough. Try less or more - if you ARE overly anally retentive for MORE accuracy... Now it's time to say - that if you do this on a nice sunny hot day, and you build this thing in the sunshine - your life will be infinitely easier than if you do it on a cold frigid day. Warm oil, warm tube, etc... Get all the bubbles out. Hang it up in the sunshine, go make lunch. Do you need any markings on the board? No not really. But they look like you put more than a few seconds of thought into the construction, and it impresses your nosy next door neighbor who will definately stop cutting his grass and come over to see what you are doing and beg a beer. So go ahead and scribe a line at where the oil levels off with a ruler so he doesn't have anything to laugh at about you not being able to draw a straight line... But you DO want to mark one of the hose ends - Just Because. So grab a can of spray paint and shoot a little color on the end of one of the ends of the tube. Just so you always know which tube is which side of the board. Don't worry - this is just so you can always be sure - Cylinder #1 is drawing less or more - instead of having to constantly trace the line. I colored the right side line - but that's just the way I am. Your milage may differ... What you do: Take your bike for a ride down to the liquor store. This accomplishes 3 things; 1: It warms up the bike to operating temp. 2: Your begging nosy neighbor won't get your last beer. 3: You get reminded of how pathetic your bike was running before the sync. Take off the side covers of your bike. You now have a choice. You can also remove the fairing lowers and NOT burn your fingers, or you can leave them on and take the chance or wear gloves. If it's really hot outside - set up a big fan in front of your bike to keep it from overheating. Hang the board on the nearest fench or some other convienient location where you can see it - near the bike which is now on the center stand. Set Idle to just under 1000 rpm if it isn't already there. Pull the vacumn cap off cylinder #1 (left side rear) and the boost line off cylinder #2. Hook up the colored hose to cylinder 1 and the other one to #2. You can do it either way - but get in the habit of always doing it the same way every time. Get your screwdriver ready - and locate the sync screw. BTW - a set of small clamping pliars that can grab the screw - actually works better than a screwdriver here, but again, your milage may vary - You will be making very minute and precise movements - and I've had the clamping pliars "drop" just from gravity and screw me up. Life is full of choices... Pinch off BOTH tubes so that the oil won't move when you start the bike for the first time. Your Bike may be way out of sync, and you don't want it to injest all the oil instantly. Be prepared to hit the kill switch if you see the oil literally leap when you unpinch them. Now you can see why I said AT LEAST 30 feet of tube... Now we get back to accuracy. Basically - the only real world accuracy you really need here - is - Is the oil moving? Typically - if the cylinders are out of sync - the oil will move. Either up or down. You adjust the screw so that it stops moving. Then you turn off the engine - level the oil, and do it again. You do this as many times as you need until the oil doesn't move. You let the engine idle for a minute watching the oil - blip the throttle any time you make an adjustment - which are usually very tiny adjustments (which is why entropy makes pinpoint accuracy - pinpointless). Engine vibrations, heat, moving parts, metal fatigue, unequal expansion coefficients - all those things contribute to entropy and reduces any discusion of precision to an accademic excersise only. When you have #1 and #2 in sync - Turn off the motor. Replace the cap and the boost line and move to #3 and #4. Same procedure as #1 and #2. You use the rear of the two set screws to set #3 and #4. Now as you work your way around the cylinders - you may or may not have to readjust your idle speed as you go to keep it in the knat's hair range of just under 1000 rpm. So really you are accomplishing 2 things at once - syncing the carbs and getting your idle speed just right. Also - get into the habit of always replacing the cap or line on the nipples as soon as you remove the tube. Nipples should never see more than a minute of day light they might get sunburned! hehehe. Now you won't forget... When 3 and 4 are in sync - it's time to sync right side and left side - that's #4 and #2 and using the forward of the two set screws on the right side. Front Left #2 #4 right #1 #3 back Lather, rinse, repeat. The first time you do this - it might take you an hour. After that - If it takes you more than 15 minutes - Your neighbor is drinking way too many of your beers... Now, ride back down to the liquor store - and celebrate your mechanical genius by buying another 12 pack. Either you completely screwed the pooch and shouldn't be allowed within a mile of small children, or much more likely - You'll have a HUGE grin on your face and wonder why you didn't do this before... Don't drink and drive. It's too expensive... Do this once a week if you ride a lot. Once a month if you're a really lazy cheapskate like me...

Greetings... Oops - I was thinking faster than my fingers could type... I based my lean judgment on Plug #2 - Too lean. The porcelain was white - not the light chocolate that it should have been... I suspect the black deposits on the rest were a result of a combination of 2 other things - me screwing with the idle and sync all winter dealing with a wet TCI and excessive overfeeding of seafoam... In any case - As soon as the sun comes out again - I'll take her for a spin over the Grand Mesa and pull the new plugs and see what's up...

Greetings... It rained yesterday, so I had to wait till today- But - The new spark plugs solved the chugging effects... #'s 1, 3 and 4 were all black - definately lean. #2 still looked brand new though it's a year old. But then, I've run a lot of seafoam through her since last winter - and that alone can really foul the plugs. So No real definate cause can yet be scientificly determined. She runs like a top now - a very very quiet top too... Blessed silence.. But I guess we can add fouled plugs to the list of things that can cause backfire on acceleration...