Sideoftheroad

http://i624.photobucket.com/albums/tt327/kittyowen/99YamRSV080509A/JMH_6443.jpg

Wow way off on my details http://growingbolder.com/media/technology/vehicles/romancing-the-road-259598.html

I am having trouble finding it but recently saw a video of an older lady in TX with a handgun that she carries with her in case her car gets broken into. She is the original owner of a 70's Ford something with like over 200k miles. When it came to get things fixed she always bought with lifetime warranties. So she pays for very little when it comes to maintenance at this point. If I find the video, I'll post it, but hate to break into her car.

See you went down Hanging Rock Hill in Madison (where I grew up). To travel that far to have a bike fixed. Now that is faith in a dealer. Dan Cycle Sales at least in the past has handled the merchandise for a major bike event called Miracle Ride. Also have heard good things about them. Glad they were able to get you up and running again.

If using casette deck headphone jack make sure it is set to cassette setting on the radio. If using the jack from inside the fairing then use AUX. Will need to do the following mod 1st [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3905]Installing an Aux line splitter - VentureRider.Org[/ame] If not familiar with it, here is how to open the fairing to get to the jacks [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=494]Splitting the Fairing - VentureRider.Org[/ame] If you use any headphones and can hear music, you should be able to hear it through the bike as well providing you are using the appropriate setting on the radio unit and volume is turned up. You may have to turn the volume up on the mp3 player as well.

Congrats to you both. Party at Tufftom and Yamahamer's. Wahoo!!!! Oh you know if there are any kids around they will want to jump off the roof into the pool (hoping it's deep enough on that end)

Couple examples http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36114&highlight=trailer+wreck This is the one I was thinking about. Read the posts from The Black Pearl and NCReb. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=37199&highlight=trailer+wreck Trailering might not be a big deal. Heck I am already half way there to a Harbor freight MC trailer mod as we just bought a X-Cargo Sport20 from Sears last week for a few family trips we are taking this year. But like I said researching different ideas for a motorcycle

Saw a car with one of these this weekend on my way to Canton Ga and got me to thinking. I saw another car with a similar one, different brand, but forgot the name. Anyone used anything like this as opposed to doing the harbor freight mc trailer mod. Just think of different ways to add storage for long trips as opposed to a trailer. Read some stuff on this board and other boards about bikes flipping over and such because of a trailer. http://www.stowaway2.com/ Sounds like the lowest class hitch accepted is class II. Wonder if one of those cage things would work better and then maybe a collapsable bag or if anything one of those plastic storage containers from like Lowe's. Just wondering. I would think with something like this there would be a constant strain on the frame, but curious to hear some thoughts.

Overall I would say based on my experience, this isn't a bike you want to lock the brakes on.

Just a tad too young. LOL. Saw the news story on Karl last night and how he was in the Street Car Named Desire and, the tv show the Streets of San Francisco and spokesperson for American Express. Been a really long time but I have seen Street Car Named Desire. Probably watched reruns of S.O.S.F and don't really remember the A.E. commercials. I am sure they are on U-tube or something.

Guess I will have to google them. Except for the 1st 3 mentioned have no idea who the others are. Sham Wow guy probably won't die anytime soon. Probably just be the next favorite party favor in prison. LOL.

As said before if you don't want a patch, then don't buy it. It's not mandatory. Some people have the patch for this forum and others don't. We have members that want to only wear the smaller patches in the front and that's ok too. Indy chapter has raised funds for 2 semi trailers full of food for the local Feed The Children affiliate in 2008. I went to the 1st food drop. Before we got everything unloaded there were cars already lined up. The 2nd one was really intended to get the items in the storage area. Regardless at how many show up the day of the food drop, the items will be there for families in need, which is what it is all about.

bongobobnyYes the 1st year membership is free. Call the international office 1st if you don't want to wait for the post card. 800-422-1041. Like I said they want to make sure you mailing info. is correct before they send the membership packet out. So if you don't call, they won't send it. I think it will take like 4-6 weeks unless there is some delay in getting your packet to you. Just like anyplace they have to rely on some other place to send them out so at times they are at their mercy. Once you check out a chapter and start getting involved, if there is something you don't like then work with the chain of command on making things better for yourself and for the rest of the group. If it doesn't happen for you, then move on to another chapter or as some have done leave altogether. Your experience will vary by chapter it sounds like. I happen to have good experiences in 2 chapters now. You don't have to own a STAR motorcycle, own a motorcyle period and you don't have to belong to a chapter either to be a STAR member. Since our group (Westfield) is new all we have are STAR motorcycles at this time. The Indy group has STAR motorcycles, a BMW, Harleys, Hondas, and a Kawasaki. Yes there are rules as there are with any group and Life for that matter. Some groups will have more rules, some will have less. some are strict, some aren't. No matter what activity it is finding a group (if any) that fits best for you. I think enough has been said already. The only way you are going to know is if you try it for yourself. No matter what you do in anything regarding group activities there are going to be people that either love it or hate it as you have read already. But I think it would be a mistake for anyone that has read and/or posted about having second thoughts about STAR to not at least try it out (it's free anyway for the 1st year if you recently bought a 1300cc or higher bike) because of the bad and good experiences posted on this thread I wouldn't worry about brand switching either. I used to have a Honda, now I have a STAR motorcycle. I would get some ribbing about it, but no bid deal. The long time Indy member I bought the Venture from (through the dealer) bought a new H-D in June last year. There are 2 others in the group that owned Ventures, V-Stars and Road Stars that also now have switched to H-D's. Yes they get the usual ribbing about leaking oil and parts falling off due to the shaking. Heck the BMW guy gets it too. They all say his bike sounds like a sewing machine. But it isn't done to hurt anyone's feelings or make them upset. With any group you are going to get ribbing of some sort. Also that is really the answer to the question on formerly endorsed by Yamaha. There isn't Yamaha motorcyles anymore. It was renamed STAR motorcycles. Good luck. If you decide to go for it keep us posted on how it goes.

And to add into this w/out posting another book about my STAR experiences. I too have had issues on the national forum. Got slapped on the wrist a couple times for really silly things by their moderators like posting a link on an ended e-bay item for a Venture trunk. So yes the organization is not perfect and people (including myself at times) have issues with it.

Dave, Point proven on the individual chapter differences. We try to be as flexible as possible, but we can't meet everyone's needs. 1st year we did dinner on Tuesdays once a month at a local restaurant. We moved to another restaurant at one point because that is what the membership wanted. 2nd year, membership didn't want to do Tuesday dinners. Wanted to do weekend meetings. So now we meet once a month on a Saturday. Afterwords we go out for lunch for those that want to go. Our VP rotates every other weekend with his work. Well when you have 3 weekends in a month then that flips him on whether he will be able to attend the Saturday meetings or not until the next time there are 3 weekends in a month. We have it setup currently as a standard to do Sunday rides once a month. Some people said I go to church on Sunday's or work on Sunday's (but not Saturdays) and I want to go on chapter rides too. The members voted and came up with, tell us when and we will do a Saturday ride for that month. For those that can't do either a Saturday meeting and/or ride, they are available on Sunday and vice versa. The membership also voted that they wanted to do a dinner ride every Friday. Well I work during the week so I can't go.

Kevin, I agree it would be easier. All we want is for things to be exactly the way it was before we disconnected the line. I think they owe it to us at this point. Heck I am trying to give them money by paying the bills every month and they don't want it apparently. For whatever reason they don't seem to be willing to help (yet). I may lose the battle and war on this but I am trying. I could be wrong but I still believe it doesn't have anything to do with the wiring inside the wall. It worked perfectly before we disconnected the line. My theory is that they made both lines primary or secondary so the system thinks they are running on top of each other. Before any of the wires were touched by the techs, I would call the phone # from my cell phone it would ring busy (but no dial tone from the phone connected to the line) which also makes me think the system thinks the lines are running on top or each other. I was told that was impossible. I am sure that if someone at the office that pushes the button to (re)connect the line would actually look at how it was reconnected, I am sure they will figure it out that it is possible.

This is going to be one of those questions like which tire or oil is best. I am also a member of a chapter and have been in STAR Touring since '04 (I think). I love it. Met alot of great people and willing to do anything I can for them. Yes you can argue most anything that STAR (or any other group for that matter) offers, can be done w/out the membership dues. No local dues for us BTW. That is voted on by the chapter You can argue the same things for car clubs, chess clubs, card playing clubs....I paid for a 2 yr membership for a local classic car club. I went to 1 meeting and one car gathering. Didn't do anything with it after that. Sure I felt it was a waste of money after the fact, but then again I didn't put any effort to get involved. I didn't put anything into it and I didn't get anything out of it. STAR is not for everyone, just like other groups HOG, Southern Cruisers, etc...I am sure that there are some people that were on this forum at one time that left because there were things they didn't like. I used to be on the delphi Venture forum. I didn't like it. Haven't been on it I am sure for at least a year at this point. Also there isn't any perfect chapter either. I am sure you can go to one and feel like an outsider. You can go to another and feel like a bunch of people you grew up with. There is one guy that became a member at the same time as a couple. Now they hang out together all the time. They most likely would not made this connection w/out STAR. There are some that do get involved in a chapter and still don't like it. Well that's fine too. I also was at STAR Days in Chattanooga (my 1st STAR Days). Had a blast (thought tail of the dragon was dissapointing though). I could meet up with any # of people from anywhere and hook up with them for a ride. That is pretty much all I did there. Got up in the morning, rode all day (with a different group of people each day), got home when it was getting dark and then all hang out for dinner and a camp fire. Saw some awesome TN back roads too. W/out STAR none of that would have happened. I can't confirm Brake Pads info. I left the morning of the awards banquet (the last day of STAR Days). Also going back to no perfect chapter and brake pads info. on the chapter he was involved with. All I can say is I started with the Indy chapter and the Westfield chapter formed a couple years ago which I am a member of as it is alot closer to my home than the Indy group. Westfield and Indy chapters do, do things together. They have what's called state picnics (just a weekend event). Both groups went up to the most recent one in Joliet IL (got my pic in front of the prison). We hung out together, ate dinner together. Some just went up for the day so members of both groups left together. The Indy President and I rode home together the day after the event. There are local charities (ride for Rupert's charity-yes Rupert from Survivor, Miracle Ride-raises money for a local children's hospital, and other events (they can't call them Poker runs anymore for some reason) where members of both chapters tend to go on. There is an OH state picnic coming up in Sept. that I am sure both groups will attend. I know that there are members of both groups going to STAR Days in Billings Montana in July. I really don't know the STAR Days history, but there are some people that have been to every single STAR Days since the very 1st one (10 yrs ago from 2007 I believe). Brake Pad, can you chime in whether they got recognized at the awards banquet because I believe that was the STAR Days 10th year anniversary. Could be wrong. STAR also has regionalized weekend events called STARBQ's which the Indy chapter is hosting in Aug. They have asked the Westfield chapter to help run some of the events. STAR does have a rule (not sure really if the chapters stick to it though), that you can check out the group for 3 sanctioned events. Events are meetings, rides and such. After the 3rd event you need to decide if it is for you or not. If so, send in the $48. Also if you bought a brand new 1300 cc or higher street bike you get a free year membership. If it is w/in the past year (unlikely but maybe 2 yrs), then worth a shot to call the home office to check it out. The info. gets sent from STAR motorcycles to STAR Touring. S.T. will send you a postcard or something telling you to call the home office as they want to make sure they have your info. correctly. From there they will send you your membership packet. I haven't checked it out but I have started to hear that if you buy any street STAR motorcycle you get a free 1 year membership. If you recently bought a bike (say w/in the past year) and paid for your membership. Call the home office to verify whether they gave you another year on top of what you already paid for. Overall like MiCarl said, check out a local chapter and decide for yourself whether you like it or not. Some do and some don't. Some go into it loving it and quit after several years of being a member for whatever reason. Some people have been in it since the very beginning. If you don't know the web-site address already google for STAR Touring. You will find a link on the left about the chapter listings. You check out the link for your state to get a listing of local chapters.

:thumbsup2:Thanks Vance. And granted I know there are much more larger issues in this world. For instance soldiers fighting and dying overseas so I can even have the freedom to rant on this forum. I just don't like the way I am being treated.

Congrats.

I didn't understand the post either which is why I asked. Mean spirited isn't my intent. I am ranting about how I feel about this situation and also asking others if maybe I am just plain being stupid about this. When you lose your cool you can start saying/doing things that maybe you shouldn't (this posting might be one example LOL). Opinions at times can help bring things into prospective and open your eyes to what you (me) am being dumb about. If this should be deleted or locked, I am sure the moderators will jump in and let me know.

Vance, Yes, but this is also the watering hole section where anything can be discussed from my understanding. Why do you ask?

pics of how the wiring was left

I know some people that have Vonage and like it. I just don't like the 911 issue in that if you call you get a national 911 office and they will switch you to a local 911 office. Magic Jack is pretty new (but so was Vonage) but might still look into it. So the supervisor and his crew never showed up and never called giving an explanation. I called the repair manager (who previously said she would let this guys supervisor know) a call again and let her know. She said she couldn't understand why this supervisor is behaving this way. I said it doesn't suprise me and I have my doubts he was ever going to come. I told her that my wife was getting ready to work so they can't come out now. He needs to work around my schedule. I'm not working around his. I also called the secretary of the supervisor that is supposed to call me on Monday. It went directly to voicemail which kinda tells me she may have left for the day. I left a message saying I need to talk to someone now. I didn't care if it was her or the supervisor of the guy who is supposed to call me on Monday. I told her that no one talks to me this way. I have been a Verizon customer for a very long time. I said there are now 2 options. Verizon flips the bill for any charges related to get these phone lines fixed or we will cancel which we will do on our own (in case they get the bright idea of cutting us off today)

I am pretty much at this point. I have their cell phones too. I know plenty of people that are happy with Vonage home service. Only thing I don't like is if you dial 911 it goes to a national office and then to a local one.

MiCarl, Also want to mention they said they could fix the supposedly bad wiring (for a cost), we could have an electrician fix it (for a cost) or we could fix it. Since we don't know how, that leaves the 3rd option out. They also said the wiring the tech you can narrow which wire is bad by process of elimination. You just plug it in. Whatever you are supposed to plug in and where you are supposed to plug it into. I have no clue)