Kandaje

Greetings... Got the can o' carb cleaner right here! In fact - had to run over to my neighbor's house to borrow it and a can of beer! Bonus he even threw in a half pound of roll yer own tobacco that he no longer smokes... As my Grampa used to say - Gettin older just means that I'm getting better at hiding my mistakes from others - But the Tersiphone catches all and allows none. Without a sense of humor - I'd be ugly and ornery! LOL!! The beautiful thing about motorcycle mechanics. Cut's though all your self delusions and gives you nothing but truth... You know - I did try something this afternoon that sorta solved the issue - I adjusted the idle UP to 2k and narry a hiccup on the test drive. But then I thought that's not a real fix - that's just treating the symptom and set it back down to normal... (BTW - the only carb that was out of sync was #1 this morning, I only had to fiddle with one screw... Well, 2 - I also played with the idle speed adjustment too...) I had to do that last winter just to get the bike to run in the cold and wet. My TCI was staying damp all winter and giving me constant fits and that was the only solution short of a total tear down to get it out that I could find. I'll reread the manual tomorrow morning - I remember reading that there's another air system that operates under 2500 rpm? Now I'm wondering if maybe something blew in there in last nights 60 mile an hour winds we had. The humidity has been 0% for the last few weeks, and the dust has been really bad out here...

Greetings... hehehe.... || I'm gonna' give you the list of other things to check. Cool! || Check the clamps on the Carb. boots for tightness, (there are two sets) Clamps are Tight but the boots are cracked but not leaking. But now that you mention it - there IS a leak somewhere - I can hear a slight hiss that stops after a second whenever I throttle up right about that rpm range. I'll recheck those tomorrow when I change the plugs. || Check the boost sensor (connected to #1 cylinder) You mean cylinder #2 of course - the left side forward one... || Download the First Gen, Service Manual off of this site Got it. Did that a year ago. Same day I got the bike. || Make SURE you put the 3 plugs back on the ports where you did the Carb. Sync. and || make sure that are not cracked or leaking They're all on. Not leaking but definately cracked. Repaired with Black RTV. || Check to see if you pulled the line off of the boost sensor (behind radiator) while || plugging the 4th line back up (#1 cylinder). It's still hooked up. I'll double check again tomorrow in the day light - Its a possibility that I may have yanked it off when I burned myself hooking up the mamo-tubes for #4 and #2 (right side/left side)... || When was the last time you looked at the Carb. Diaphragms? Never. They were new a year ago, though I've heard rumors that backfires can punch holes in them. So that's a distinct possibility || Have you checked the Idle mixture screws? Nope. Don't even know where they are... || Now, all of these wonderful suggestions aren't going to amount to a hill of beans || because what REALLY is going on is the FACT that the right bank and the left bank of || your engine are not synced properly, and the low vacuum side of the engine is puking || unburned fuel back into the airbox. So, unless you are wearing asbestos underwear || while you ride, :crackup:check the VR.ORG members list, find someone with one of those || overpriced "fluffy" needlessly high tech Carbtunes close to you, swallow your pride, || ask them over for lunch, sync. your carbs. have a "victory" adult beverage, go for a || ride, and be happy! You can do it. Just because you can drive in a nail with a 5 || pound mall, why would you want to? uhmmm.. 'cous then you only hafta hit'er once? hehehe.... No one within 350 miles, over the worlds largest flat top mountain, at least that I know of, who owns one of the gosh darn new fangled devices, and knows what the term Venture Royal actually means, or the term synchronization... So - according to all the posts so far - the culprit for backfire on acceleration, the answer to my question - is Lean mixture. either due to calibration settings or Vacumn leak. Or unbalanced Carbs. Well, I've performed this operation successfully maybe 20 times in the last year using the very same tools - So, I'm going to assume that by now I'm at least competent doing it and that the carbs are synched properly. Though while I'm not ruling out having made a stupid error - I find myself doing that more and more these days - But I think I'm still going with the bad gas theory until I can definately rule it out. If I could afford even one beer, or lunch for myself - let alone anyone else - I'd drink myself into forgetfulness and not worry about it. It's not pride that forces me to use home made tools - it's the lack of ObamaBucks... || My thoughts, for what they're worth, || Earl Pearls of wisdom! Infinitely more than what I paid for them! - Thank you Earl! I've definately got a lot more checking up to do tomorrow on the bike than what I was originally expecting.

Greetings... Accurate enough. It wasn't starting instantly, It wasn't idling well, or accellerating well, had a lot less power and general quickness than it now does. There was a heavy gas smell yesterday, All that's gone now... No - It's probably not my sync. It may not be "Perfect" But it's close enough for the girls I go out with. Besides the difference between the accuracy of my homemade tube and oil tool, and some overpriced fluffy bit of needlessly high tech will wear off in a week anyway assuming all other factors. Anyway - What I really wanted to know is just exactly what causes backfire on acceleration in the first place. If I know the physical cause, I can come up with a diagnosis and a solution. It's not a problem I've experienced before. I think it's the gas - I'll find out tomorrow after changing the plugs and filters...

Greetings... Is it raining? I have many, not all, of those problems, when water gets in the TCI - oddly enough only when I'm NOT riding in the rain but just parked in the rain. It never happens when I'm riding through rain - but I can be sure it will if I leave it parked without the cover over night IN the rain... Bouncing tach, computer resetting, stalling, signals not functional, display lights not working, clock resets...

Greetings.... A $1.10 can of pledge wrapped in a hotel towelet. Stop for gas, Wet the towel, place on windshield, fill the tank, remove towel and all bugs and other road grime. Spray on pledge and use some clean paper towels ( or your towel, should be dry enough by now) to polish and dry. Yeah, it kinda sparkles a little bit - but you get used to it. No rainbow, Rain drops make little itty bitty drops instead of big lakes and ponds and blows off really fast. Snow barely sticks, ice falls off instead of caking up... Use it on your helmet faceplate too - the lemon smell on the inside is kinda nice. doesn't get annoying...

Greetings... I live by Henry David Thoreau's advise - Simplify, simplify, simplify!! Clever but Complicated. Requires thought and work, has more than 5 parts (I try to not have to count higher than that) and skill with a dangerous electrical appliance (which can be fun don't get me wrong!). Besides that - I'm lazy... I just use 30 feet of clear tubing taped to an old bed slat and some 80w gear oil. I think it took all of 5 minutes to assemble - wrestling with that tape and all. Hung it up on the fence next to the bike in the sun, and made lunch. By then the oil had settled to the bottom of the tubing and leveled off... Sure - you have to manually switch the hoses and replace the caps and such - and you might get burned on the engine a few times if you aren't careful because you didn't take off the fairing, but - It's $3.50, lasts forever, is easily replaced, cheaper than a pack of cigarettes and still only takes 15 minutes. No special parts, no drilling, no potentially broken bottles, just a tube, some tape, some gear oil (who doesn't have a bottle hanging around from last year getting hydro-saturated?) and a bed slat... I think the problem that most people have with the simpler home made kit is that they don't use enough tube or enough oil so they get bubbles, froth, annoyed, discouraged etc. the longer the line and the more and the heavier the medium you are moving - the slower it moves and the more time you have to make your adjustments - even IF your carbs are way out of sync, because really - ALL you are looking for is a delta - a change. Yeah, little black marks on the board are handy - but - if the oil is moving one way or the other - it's usually pretty obvious, even to my old eyes... And even IF you suck a little oil in the engine - It ain't gunna hurt anything - the worst being you MIGHT have to change the plugs - but you were probably going to do that next anyway right?

Greetings... I found a dollar store that had some nice black "pleather" bags - shoulder straps, hand straps, zippers and all - that fit in my saddle bags perfectly - $2.00 each. they had 2 styles - shiney vinyl and textured distressed leather looking that matches my real full size leather luggage. At $4.00 a set - I bought all they had 2 sets each style - probably a lifetime supply. A little nylon thread to reinforce the cheap chineese straps and they can actually carry more than a couple of shirts without ripping the straps off!!!

Greetings... 89VR Just synced the carbs (using my $3.50 homemade mamometer) this morning. Starts very easily. Idles perfectly like a bumblebee at just under 1000. Accelerates wonderfully (after the chuffing stops anyway). Sounds like it's in the airbox - and not in the mufflers. In fact - all in all - other than this annoying low rpm backfiring - it runs perfectly... It only happens in first gear, usually on a slight hill. It will not happen if I open the throttle very very slowly and ease it up to over 1800 rpm, at which point I can rocket it if I want. But If I try to beat the next light - It will POP POP POP until it reaches about 1800 - 2500 or so... I'm thinking it might just be bad gas - as I did fill up last night, and did the sync this morning, and it's been happening all day. But anyway - I'm really wondering just exactly what causes backfire on ACCELERATION - it does NOT backfire at all on decel... Timing? But If it were timing, I would think I would have other problems too... I plan to switch out the plugs tomorrow morning, and possibly all the filters too if I can find the cash. So maybe all the running around town will let me get a new tank of fuel from another source in and see if that's all it is... And yes - she's already guzzled 2 cans of seafoam in the last few months - Fwew! The Price of that stuff has doubled in the last year!!

Greetings... That's my idea too - The flakey Tach - that's why I tore the fairing off and started checking wires. It's Not a vacume problem. I'm pretty certain of that. And while it's possible it could be a jet problem - I'm thinking it's quite possible that cottenwood fuzz got into the gas tank - and somehow managed to work it's way into the engine. The stuff was particularily nasty this year! All summer long! Guess I'll have to tear off the fuel filter and see if it's clogged... I actually use seafoam a lot - I go through maybe a can a month anyway. But I think I will try the heavy concentrate, in addition to pouring it straight into the intakes and letting it sit for a day... One other detail - I can actually get it to idle correctly if I wildly unbalance the sync of #1 and #2. We have really LOW relative humidity around here. Though this summer has been unbearably humid. Our normal is usually around 17% relative humidity, but it's been closer to averaging 40% nearly the entire summer. Sweltering - as most people have swamp coolers - and they won't work above 35%!! So I guess I'll tear into the TCI this weekend and check it out... Thanks for the ideas Guys!

Greetings... This started happening about 1 month ago. It has gotten progressively worse - to this point: Facts: #1 & #2 carbs were out of sync because I played with the Sync screw thinking it was the idle speed screw. Finally Synced them, and played with the idle speed screw. A week Ago - It WOULD Idle at 1000 rpm when warm. It hasn't been run since last friday - It's now Wednesday. Over the summer - The cotten-wood trees have deposited a hideous amount of Fuzz that has been a real pain. It gets everywhere... It rained 2 days ago, and the bike was outside, uncovered. - Today was a rather nice day - I went out to go for a ride this morning, and basicly spent the entire day attempting to actualy get the bike (89 VR) running... Symptoms: It will now - NOT idle at anything less than 1500 rpm. At Idle (like at a light) there is an audible 'click' Where the tach will drop to 0 rpm, the bike will chug slower and slower - then eventualy, (if the throttle isn't blipped) Die... When it is running - It runs well! There is NO problem at any speed above Idle. The Tach will NOT register anything less than about 1500rpm. In other words - I have to keep the idle set a bit high, because it will just die - the tach just drops to 0 if I set it to less than that. What can cause this? Today I tore off the entire fairing, and checked all the wiring, all vacume tubes, spark plugs, etc... I synced the carbs - and finally got it running. It ran well - a lot more pep than it was doing a week ago - but every time I came to a light - it would idle at 1500, then - an audible click - and it would suddenly drop to 0 on the tach and a few seconds later - it would sputter out and die. It starts, as long as I REV it when it catches... But it won't idle correctly. I can play with the idle screw all I want - but If I adjust it down to normal idle - all the above is guarenteed to happen. So what can cause this?

Greetings... Tools required? Depends on your year - I hear the Harley envy versions (2nd Gens) use a #2 phillips Screwdriver - While, At least on my 1st gen - a simple straight blade Screwdriver... Other than that - About $3 worth of Equipment - Including clear plastic hose available virtually EVERYWHERE - A wooden yardstick - which are surprisingly hard to find these days - Or just yank up one of those Yard-stick-like pieces of wood with the red ribbon at any new housing development. OR a very large piece of cardboard, A staple gun, some viscous red fluid or used motor oil, and about 20 minutes... The Yard-stick has lines on it. The Survey stick or cardboard? Well, you scribe a line where the fluid that follows the universal law of fluids within a gravity well levels out - just in case you are like me - and need magnifying lenses over your eyes to see anything within 3 feet of your face. The line helps you quickly discriminate that one carb sucks worse than the other... OR If you have more money than sense - you can get one of those nifty $100 contraptions with Mercury just in case you want to inflict cancer on all the neighborhood stray cats - though personally I prefer open puddles of Anti-freeze to dispose of them... Here's the simple and easy way: Take your bike to a dealer shop and pay $300 to have them turn 3 screws - That's $100 a screw - If you think that's a bit expensive - And it is! I know a girl down at the bowling alley that charges MUCH less for turning a screw... What? Yeah but - She only works on harleys though... The hard way: You actually physicly attach the 2 ends of the plastic hose to the vacume nozzles on your intakes - and measure the DIFFERENCE between them and adjust that DIFFERENCE using those above mentioned 3 screws. Using the universal principle that fluids within a gravity well always tends to seek it's own level. You did put some of that viscous fluid in the clear plastic tube - LAST NIGHT - right? (you did it last night so that it looks neat...) In other words - Syncing Carbs - SUCKS. And it's that Suction that you measure. When one carb sucks more than the other carb - the Fluid that follows the universal principle - won't appear to - thats where the screwing comes in. It should - if you are competent - take more time to actually SHOP for the $3 worth of materials - than it would to actually employ them to get your carbs in sync - all in all, about 20 minutes - including the mandatory beer and smoke break... Of course - KNOWING which screw to turn when - a really complicated procedure that costs MILLIONS of dollars to discover and billions of man-hours to accomplish, the wife is whining her satanic fool head off about how you SHOULD be cleaning out the gutters and taking out the garbage instead of spending quality time with your REAL girlfriend - Trust in the engineering abilty and logic of the Japanese Engineers which designed the bike - After all - there are ONLY 3 screws to choose from - 1 on the left side - and 2 on the right - You get 3 guesses and only 2 count... Now Like I said above - If it takes you longer than 5 hours - that's 3.5 hours of shopping, 1 hour of building your DEVICE ( stapling the tubeing to the stick or carboard without puncturing it and putting in enough viscous fluid) and 30 minutes of actually turning screws like the girl I know down at the bowling alley - Then you should choose the easy way - Or just post WHERE your funeral arrangments are made - No doubt, many of us will show up and drop a little something for your widow and kids.... Yes - It really is - Just that simple - Or complicated - depending on your point of view... Here's the science: When you twist your right wrist - 4 butterfly valves in your carbs - open. Allowing fuel and air into the cylinders. The object of the carb-sync game is to get those 4 butterfly valve all opening at the same time and rate of flow. That Rate of Flow is the suction that your clear plastic tube measures. The viscous fluid that you put in the tube last night will raise on one side - If it sucks more - Ahem - if the rate of flow is higher... You turn screws - on the BANKS of carbs - 1st the #1 (left rear) and #2 ( the one thats static - left front) THEN the #3 and #4 and then you sync the 2 banks - the left side with the right side. (#2 and combined #3/#4) As I said - only 3 screws - and only 2 guesses count... Assuming you did it correctly - all 4 carbs are now in sync. They all draw the same amount of air and fuel at the same time. And as Aunt Martha says - That's a very good thing....

Greetings... Sounds to me like a crystal clear case of: Remove all the warning labels and let nature take it's course... Of course we're still stuck with all the whining idiot freedom hating liberals who survived and demand that it's the breeding Stupid people who set the bar. I'm disgusted everytime I hear one of these whiners say - "They should make a law...!!" Firing squad fodder as far as I'm concerned... I fought for your right to say it - But honestly, I'm really starting to regret it. Casting pearls before swine...

Greetings... Think about it for a minute.... Deer, like just about every other critter - are creatures of habit. Deer Whistles - a whistle that is supposedly pitched above human range of perception so that it doesn't annoy YOU. But supposedly annoys deer? Yeah right... Guess how many deer whistles are currently installed on vehicles? Billions? Maybe not quite THAT many. But it might as well be. There ARE a lot of stupid suckers that buy them. Now, I'm supposed to believe that some stupid deer is going to be MORE affected by a whistle that I CAN'T hear - that they can, that is probably one of the MOST common sounds they DO hear on a daily basis - and it's going to be a lot more effective than the roaring sounds of my engine - which they are apparently immune to since they hear IT so often? Apparently a LOT of people do - (If you price it HIGH enough...) Deer whistles are right up there with comfort food, hybrid cars, placebos, recycling, and pablum television programming. All they do is let you think you FEEL better... (scratch that - there's NO "thinking" involved...) Psssst!! I've got this bridge in brooklyn I can let go real cheap! Have you ever actually looked at one of these cheap plastic toys? It's just a cheap plastic freaking whistle for God's sake!! Why - other than fooling you into believing that it's WORTH $35, are they $35 (on average)??? Spend your $35 on a good butcher knife and a road kill tag the next time you hit one... - and enjoy some very tenderized venison... Oh, and BTW - Yes, I have one on my bike... It came on a used left side vent I replaced - I think it looks Cool - that's the ONLY reason I left it on...

Greetings... Oops... Yeah - Black RTV...

Greetings... Just for giggles, yesterday (crowded weekend store) I was at one of our local motorcycle accessory stealers and after rifling the entire overpriced store looking for parts and finding absolutely nothing worth the asking prices - asked them about a carb sync. Specificly told him - Nothing else - Just a sync. Shouldn't take more than 20 minutes and $40. He walked off into the back to 'consult' the mechanic... came back with "at LEAST an hour and a half of labor - AND parts - probably close to $300 - maybe a bit less - What year is your bike? An 89 Yamaha? OH! Well then, probably a bit more, we might have to special order..." I just did one of those slow giggles to outright roaring spitting laughter while heading for the door carefully and obviously counting down my fingers with each step. Paused near the door and looked at all the customers glaring angrily at me, Bent over double in glee , and shouted across the store to the stealer - "PARTS? SYNCING THE CARBS? BWAAAHAHAHHA!!! What? I have to buy the mechanic a new screwdriver TOO? He wants $300 plus to turn 3 screws! That's $100 A SCREW! - BWAHAHAHAH!!! " "I know a Girl down at the pool hall who can do THAT for a hell of a lot less and she's a LOT prettier than you are - DUDE! and no doubt a lot less diseased - probably not even give me a reach around either...damn!" I wish I'd had my camera ready - the look on his face, and the instant silence in the store was PRICELESS!! I saw a lot of the many waiting customers at the register looking down, reconsidering their purchases while climbing on my bike... That's the second time I've counted down on him while heading for the door (10?,9?,8?,7?,6?,5?,4?,3?,2? -ONE! - Yep still got 'em all!)- I don't think he likes me in there any more. The first time was when he told me $150 + $45 for parts for an oil change a couple months back, and I asked him if he were high - because one of us would have to be... I was kind of surprised that he didn't remember me! I'm not really an attention whore - It's just that I'm not afraid to call a thief - A Thief to his face, even IF it means acting like one to do so. Besides - Life's too short to NOT squeeze every possible drop of dramatic entertainment out of a situation like that. I'm all for Pavlovian, conditioned-response, feedback in the commercial retail environment. If they treat me like a moron - I'll treat them like a fool! Laughing at them the entire time. Hatred, disbelief, contempt, disgust, sure - but never anger. Thieves don't deserve anger. I hate thieves - The last burgler I caught in my house, alive, got away with his job description carved into his forehead. I mispelled it too, but I did apologize to him for screwing it up, before I curbed out his front teeth and properly disposed of him, hog-tied, in the dumpster in the alley - Gotta remember the IMPORTANT things - 'I' before 'E' Except after 'C'...

Greetings... I'm keeping my eyes open for some flatter wider clips - I may just have to make them. The ones I found, while nice and heavy are a bit too skinny. They tend to want to slide around the corner at the top of the cover - So I clipped them to the grills instead... I didn't have the heart to cut the straps on the bag - But the back of the bag has a pouch on the back, and holes down at the bottom to stuff in all the extra strap. I've been trying to find the bag online - just interested in seeing what it costs new - Because this thing looks new! When the crazy-cat-lady told me just 99 cents - I just smiled and gripped it a bit tighter. Funny - she had an insulated wine bottle/picknik bag too - complete with plastic wine glasses and flatware - but it was the wrong color.(light blue) hehehe - I'll probably go back and get it anyway - I mean how often do you find an insulated wine bottle backpack? - I've never seen one before! She wanted 5 bucks for it! LOL!! If I can find a source for some flatter wider clips that fit the straps - I'll definately post it!! EDIT: - Found the pack and a review: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2004/07/victorinox_mini.html

Greetings... Yep! Just tin them all back together (the black wires mentioned above) Another common problem, is broken solder traces on the Computer board in the dash. Try the "cleaning the connectors" and all around un****ing the thing 1st - of course - that's the simplest. The wires often are pulled tight - messing with your WA... If that don't fix it - re-soldering the board in the dash isn't difficult at all - if you are competent with a hot iron. If you do have to do 'it' - and your eyes are no longer microscopes - then get a good magnifying glass/light combo and a good fast soldering pencil and heatsink. (you really DON'T want to melt the board!). Pull the dash-panel/ instrument cluster - Not difficult. take off the computer panel (the thing in the center) and basicly - resolder any broken (very common problem!) solder points. Just touch the tip to the old solder and let the flow - well, flow... There's a writeup with very good pictures, either around here or on that other Pay Venture site - (Venturers.org) tech database, about it (don't have to be a member to access the database - but the drunk chicks at the late night bars really dig the patch and pin!! Besides - you save the cost on the 1st hotel room you take those drunk chicks to...) A new (to you anyway!) Dash for your year range - Ebay - about $100+ And you might have to do it to it - anyway...

Greetings... Been there - done that... New L.A. Sound speakers - Which sound WONDERFUL BTW!! Even at 100 mph!! - when it works... All wires and connections cleaned, dielectric greased - Military hardened, etc... Shimmed the blue D shells up a couple .00th's thinking it might be an intermittant connection there... Ground cleaned - beefed up... Everything CRC-ed cleaned - brushed, brightened, sterilized! etc... It AIN'T a wiring problem... It's definately the AMP - I've eliminated everything else... The ONLY thing, I haven't been able to try is installing a known working amp - I keep getting outbid on Ebay!!! It ain't worth more than $50 to me. I even took this morning's ending auction on Bill's (in Pueblo) 86 parts bike amp/tuner up to $72 in a fit of glorious insanity ("Honey! I'm hocking your wedding ring!") and I was still outbid... Well, at least I can afford more beer now... It's GOT to be a solder - If it were a chip or a diode or some other solid state component - it wouldn't fail the way it does - it just wouldn't work at all...(most of the time anyway...) Even a break in a board trace would probably kill at least 2 circuits and we'd be having other problems too. Cascade failures of other frying components. But it's JUST the left speaker channel and remains so over time. The fact that it can be reset by turning off and on, at least temporarily - also suggests a burnt power coil, or transistor/capacitor load balance circuit - still - probably just a broken solder - because bumps AND heat affect it. But NOT FAST intermittantly -it doesn't stutter. It just cuts off, banking left or right will bring it back on (the unit flexes a bit?) - for a time, etc.... I know a wee bit about diagnosing, tracing and repairing circuits - One of my jobs in the AF... (1st in my class in tech school! Whatever that means! LOL - I think I may still have enough non-beer sodden brain cells to figure it out - or ruin it!). In which case, I too am going to upgrade to a more modern stereo - I've already replaced the CB with a new GMRS system, and the Tape deck is soon to be replaced with an MP3 Aux Jack-plug-in. More time than money... So I'll definately try that - If I can get the cover off! -And I'll definately photo-document it. My Honey-DO list is a bit long in the tooth - The Old GF is screaming about that water leak in the Swamp cooler, What? 100' is TOO much? It's efficiency Honey! Water on the roof - cools the roof!! - Jeez - she whines about being cold in the winter, hot in the summer. (muttering - my NEW GF only has the stock Yamaha Whine! and THAT I'm used to!) - Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.... So - Maybe not this weekend, but soon - Stay tuned... Gotta get me a bigger magnifying glass to see the darn thing first. Beer and tobacco have cried havoc on my eyes. I can sex a prairie dog at 500 yards - but anything within 3 feet of my face... - That's another story! Hang on to it for now Friesman! It might be a really simple fix - and you might regret it! later - LOL. If I fry my own test unit here - I might be giving you a call!!

Greetings... Was puttering around the yard sales today... Found this: A Victorinox small-pack- the company that makes the original Swiss army knives. - so you KNOW it's quality!! Heavy nylon construction, waterproof, excellent zippers... The Bag - $.99 - at our local Pussy-Cat Salvage Store - a local "thrift-store" that devotes the procedes to 'rescuing' cats... Terry (excellent saleman who also rides! Willing to search the entire store!) at REI provided me with 2 sets of $.80 clips (2 ea) that fit the straps perfectly - 2 at the top, and 2 at the sides. A few minutes installing the clips - which fit under the top-cover and hold the bag perfectly - Total cost: $2.60 + Governor's cut. We'll call it $3.00 even... Big enough to hold the 9mm, ammo, camera, the mail, Jacket, gloves, and other assorted goodies found in my pockets- and a bottle of water in the expanding side pouch. No more Velcro coming unglued in the extreme heat -positive hooking, easily removed and installed without taking off the top-cover... Took the Tersiphone up to 100 mph to test for function - lost my cigarrette but not my new bag!!

Greetings... Deep breath! It's summer - the busy season, and 3X more bikes on the road than last year. He's probably swamped busy, having shipping problems, hot, irritated, 13 year old daughter just announced she's pregnant - too busy just answering Email and the coffee machine just broke... Still, he too needs a deep breath before "shouting" at his customer like that... I suggest you send him back another email - quoting his - with a lot of smilies - chuckles and sympathy - and complimenting him on his sense of humor ("I loved that line about El Salvador! Blaine! My buddies and I cracked up over that one!") , and a prayer to smooth his day to day stress -Turn his frustrations back on themselves. - Just as a negotiation tactic. THEN see if he bends over backwards after YOU give him a chance to think twice. If he doesn't - then he's being a jerk and won't last long in business anyway if he continues...

Greetings... What issues are you having with pledge? Yellowing? Buildup? I often notice that there's a haloing - glowing effect, right after I treat mine, and every little nick and scratch sparkles! But it sure does makes cleaning a breeze!! Bugs, water born dust spots after a sprinkle, just rinse off - no effort... I keep a big bottle of diluted Dawn - about whatever is left dried up on the squirt nozzle (about 10 drops in the bottle) and use that to wash the bike once a week everything - including the windscreen. You can barely detect any blue tint in the water. Then wipe the bike with a pledge laden cloth. (those yellow fuzzy autoparts store ones that absolutely suck at absorbing water) It strips off last weeks pledge...

Greetings... It wouldn't be too difficult to make a new 2 hole hard rubber mount. I think about that every time I see an 18 wheeler toss off a section of tread on the hiway! I would think that to that - you could attach just about anything you wanted that would fit! Just be sure to : of anything you create so we can pat you on the back and tell you how nice it looks!! After all - this is POOR man's tips and fixes...

Greetings... Anyone ever dissasemble the power Amp on a 1st gen? I've seen a lot of people complaining that the left channel cuts out intermittantly, and mine has been doing it since I got the bike. It's NOT a wiring or ground problem - AFTER the amp. I've isolated, at least MY problem to, at least the amp. (New speaker and ALL new wire hooked up directly.) I've noticed that it's failure is consistent with tempurature change. On cool days, or cool nights - it cuts off and pretty much stays off, or if it's on, it's affected by bumps. During really hot days - it will pretty much stay on all day and NOT be affected by bumps in the road. Unless I park in the shade! When it cuts out - I can frequently turn the radio off and on restoring it. Where it will usually then cut out (when I'm in the shade!)after a few seconds or minutes. That tells me that it's probably a cracked solder on the left channel speaker output. The intercom output is unaffected. I've already cleaned and shimmed the blue interface connectors, cleaned all connectors, and tried a hard wired connection bypassing the wiring harness... Before I tear it all out and dissasemble it to trace the line - I was wondering if this was a known problem, or if anyone else has already figured out a common failure point...

Greetings... The Stebel site says everything is included... Freezy - do you remember what the Amp rating on the included relay is? A 20 amp? I'm guessing... Reason I ask, is that a friend of mine made an interesting little fast blinking red LED thingy - I was thinking it might be fun to hook it up so it fires when the horn is activated. - make the air scoop under the headlight look like it's belching a little red fire! Can you tell, I'm determined to get those twits to drop their cell phones? Someone on a wing passed me a few weeks ago - lit off his horn and waved - I nearly jumped out of my skin! I recognized the sound when I downloaded the audio file -

Greetings... Yeah! She's either 3' 6" or that's like a 20 gallon tank! - It probably needs it!