vzuden

10,000 miles per year on my RSTD and for tunes, iPhone in a holder on the handlebar and blue tooth headset. Turn by turn navigation is a bonus.

Devils Tower in Wyoming, Custer State Park/Mount Rushmore, Badlands Nat'l Park. These are the usual highlights. Each a day trip when based in the Sturgis area

My son recorded a video of what happens to a cupful of hot water tossed into the air at -17 today in Madison Wisconsin. I wish I could get the link on here but can't get it so take my word for it. It turned into ice crystals in mid air.

I wouldn't mess with the AIS for the popping. Carb sync and sea foam first

Most require side reflectors also. However this bike does look good!

George, I have not heard of these relays having a high failure rate. With that in mind, if you did lose your fuel pump relay or even the pump you could always gravity feed it by rerouting the fuel lines to finish your trip. Just a thought

My father died of a brain tumor at age 37 when I was in high school. Mother is in a nursing home with Alzheiners and incoherent for the past 5 years. Now not to go all doom and gloom because I have great wife, four wonderful kids, and five fantastic grand kids. That whole group is what keeps going me going and looking forward to every day. And those dats are even better hittin the open road on my RSTD!

George, go to to the tech section for 2nd gens and check out the procedure for installing leveling links to raise the rear of the bike. From the sound of what you have done on your bike so far you should be able to do this. I made my own links and the handling is much improved. I don't know if it will increase your ground clearance enough to avoid scraping the center stand but it should help some. If not, you will still have a better handling bike. Some have been concerned with increased seat height so if you are "in seam challenged" take that into consideration before raising the rear.

Go to the VR Tech section. There are wiring instructions there that should help

Try this guy. He sells on eBay and I believe they are $100.00 or less. Nothing fancy but it works for me. http://www.grasshopperlimited.com

Try this place. I have been using one on my 07 RSTD for a couple years and have been happy with it. http://www.grasshopperlimited.com Not fancy but it works

wide open throttle

Don't feel dumb. Many of us have been there

Four hours for me. I will plan on it!

We use it as an addition to cable and have only used it for Netflix. It is great for that

maybe...... They would PAY me to take it off their hands?

When inspecting and cleaning the connections I always add a little dielectric grease

Yes. 4 - 5 MPH higher than actual

Skydoc, Do all of your suggested maintenance items and the frequency of each apply to both first and second gen? Particularly the valve adjustment?

I took mine out, cleaned, and repacked them this spring. It was the better part of a day's work. They had a fair amount of grease from the factory, unlike the swing arm bearings which were almost dry.

"Don't have to.... she has them hanging from her rearview mirror." She has mine hanging from the receiver hitch of her truck:confused24:

I got my idea from Cadillac, where they ran fiber lines off the signal lights up to small fins on the top of each fender. Those were the indicators.. I think it was the same model that had the auto-dimmer on it??? In the '60's or maybe the '70's most of the luxury model GM cars had fiber optics than ran from the rear light assemblies to a plastic block above the rear window. The driver could see in his rear view mirror if he had light out. Worked well as I recall and now that the thought was brought up here I would think it should work well for our bikes.

You do not have a separate reserve tank. It is all one tank. the petcock valve has a high suction and a low suction. When it is in the on position it is taking a suction on the high suction tube. When the engine starts to sputter the fuel level is below the high tube. When you shift the petcock to reserve, you are taking suction on the low tube near the bottom of the tank. this will give you about 1 gal. of gas to get you to a gas station. This the best explanation so far. But I might add..... I always turn the fuel off when parking the bike. If one of the float valves sticks open it will drain the tank through the carb/float bowl into the cylinder and cause hydrostatic lock that can destroy the engine. I know it is rare but it happened to me once and that was one too many times!

Forget drywall. Just put up melamine. (I think that's what it's called). It's basically sheet plastic. Assuming you aren't looking for a complete perfect finish like an inside room. I think melamine is that fibrous hardboard with a plastic coating, isn't it? If it is what I am thinking of, it will blister and flake when wet repeatedly in wet environments. FRP plastic is the best, in my opinion.

I use that model of Tourmaster on my RSTD. You will like it. From experience - don't trust the tie strap on the bottom of the rain cover. It's no fun chasing it down on the freeway in traffic with a rainstorm beginning. Once I retrieved it and put it back on I wrapped it with bunge straps wih no further problems and everything stayed dry