saddlebum

I found some times using different grades of gasoline when you don't need to is kind of like giving a patient a placebo. I bought a truck from a good friend of mine who always told me he got more millage and better power when he ran premium gas yet when I tried to compare with the same truck after i bought it just for kicks the only difference I found was I paid more per gallon for gas but gained nothing. Maybe he just had more faith than me.

Whether or not you should be using regular or high octane fuel is based mostly on the compression and timing specs of your engine. The higher the octane is, the slower it burns it actually (contrary to popular belief) is not necessarily a better grade of fuel. In a low compression engine you can actually loose performance and get worse fuel millage burning 91 octane or higher because it does not ignite as readily. In high compression engines higher octane fuel is used because it has a higher flash point, this is to prevent what is commonly referred to as pre-ignition. Many older folks may recall the unexplained rattling noise coming from your engine when pulling a loaded trailer or climbing a steep grade. You either retarded your timing (which resulted in power loss or you ran a higher octane fuel. In simple terms Octane is a flame retardent it raises the temp required for fuel to burn or ignite. Todays engines with all the electronics and sensors are able to control preignition where older non-electronic engines could not so a good part of the sales rhetoric to put higher octane fuel in your vehicle is plain hype. However some smaller engines like weed eaters and chain saws require the higher octane fuel, Why? Because those little guys run very high compresion ratios and regular gas can damage the pistons due to preignition. If you ever see a piston that has suffered preignition damage it will look like some one had a field day with a little shot gun.

One of my pet peeves on top of those already mentioned is vehicles make U turns around the traffic island in the middle of an intersection. Last week I almost got clipped while making a legal right turn by an idiot that suddenly decided to make one of these U turns at the same instant. I was actually lucky to be on the bike as it allowed me room to avoid the nutcase. Had I been in the truck there most definitely would have been a collision. It seems these U turns and running stop signs are becoming so common and through texting in the mix you got a recipe for collision.

Actally I found the prairies very interesting when I drove through them. But that was probably because it was the 1st time after that it would get boring.

check the one way check valve going into the tank. The unloader valve is only supposed to drain the discharge line between the compressor and the tank, too make it easier for the compressor to start when it kicks on. If the one way check valve sticks open or has lost its seal the unloader valve will drain the entire tank. The one way check valve is usually built into the fitting at the tank that the discharge line and often the small unloader line go into. Disconnect your big line between the compressor and the tank and remove the fitting to check it.

I will be there and if things move to Toronto I will still be there

One son and one daughter caught on to shifting W/O using the clutch but the other son and the two other girls not so much. Ironically the 1st two won't buy anything without a stick shift,Where the other three like the automatic but are proud they can drive stick when the occasion arises. While teaching the 1st son to drive in his Hyundai Tibauron he asked me what speed shifting and double skip down shifting were. Yeh like a bad teenager I gave him a little demo on a secluded section of road:Laugh: His response was (HOLY S**T Dad .....That was just like out of the fast and the furious)........ What can I say It was strictly for educational purposes only Of course I gave him a stern warning:backinmyday:I would ground him if I ever caught him or found out he was driving like that.............(probably paid as much attention to that as I did when I was his age Oh yeh my last words of wisdom on the subject was (DO NOT TELL YOUR MOTHER ABOUT THIS)

Yeh and they call that driving in manual. Most people are amazed that my kids can all drive stick but I told them if there going to learn to drive then there to learn all of it. At 1st they complained but now they think their members of some sort of elite drivers club cause they can drive stick.

Takes all kinds

Nice find Mike.

I learned on a milk tanker (and had to split shift) with a 5 spd transmission and 2 speed axle when I was 15. The guy driving the truck taught me on the back roads of Nova Scotia while we picked up milk from the farms. Later when I was about 20 I was driving an old Hayes clipper with a 2 stick 5 & 4 20 spd transmission. Here is the real kicker. When going for your truck drivers lic here in Ontario I am told you no longer need to know how to drive a standard truck, you can take your test in an Automated trans truck.

Not one to enjoy putting a damper on things BUT what freedom. Has anyone not noticed that the lawyers, the insurance company's, the computer geeks and the politically correct are slowly taking our freedoms away.My father fought for freedom not for what the above are doing to us today. But for what it is worth i still celebrate what freedoms we do still have in both the USA and CANADA

Ok I am officially green with envy. I would love to have a Urial 2 wheel drive as a second bike

Gee if you wanted a cruise to go on you should have let me know. Me and my canoe could have taken you for a nice cruise. only stipulation is you have to help paddle but think of the money you would save. But then I heard the Alaska cruise is real nice. My sister in law was on that and really liked it. Uh Carl............... rumor has it among Dutch circles that your teddy took advantage of one of your nappy times to jump overboard. Something about it being either that or being around while you speechified it to death. Apparently you used poor teddy to practice on............A lot

so if I want second or thirds do I need to sign up two or three times

OOPS...... My Bad:doh:

Or a motion sensor hooked up to an array of very bright flash bulbs and/or strobes. would be fun to watch the blinded tripping stumbling fool try to make his way out of a tool strewn shop in 0ne piece only to met with a thunder stick outside the door, Or simply a cast iron fry pan on the noggin as exits the door might add more to the humor. And no I am not a sadist by nature.

Or a motion sensor hooked up to an array of very bright flash bulbs and/or strobes. would be fun to watch the blinded tripping stumbling fool try to make his way out of a tool strewn shop in 0ne piece only to met with a thunder stick outside the door. And no I am not a sadist by nature.

What! You tired of the Bloomers already

I was actually looking to buy a vulcan myself when the venture got between me and the vulcan so I taught it a lesson and took possession of it. 12 years later still clinging on to it. Geez you'd think I was talking about my wife wouldn't you. But that's another, longer story. Come November 25th she will have had possession of me for 40 years.

Hey and saddllebum will be there. and if MJ44 does not show up I have no problem dumping a big bucket of water on you if a shower is all your worried about

I may be wrong but i was under the impression or at least heard somewhere that the Honda shadow had more American content than the Harley

We just had a new employee hired were I work. I walked in to work one day after parking my 1st gen beside this guys new Harley (now I have nothing against Harley, never rode one so can't judge.) When I walked in a couple of my non-biker co-workers commented about this guys Harley and would I not sooner ride a big Harley than a little Yamaha. I said to them walk out with me and let me show you something. They did not know what to say when I pointed out the Harley which was was clearly smaller in size than my 1st gen MKII. and asked, how do see that bike as being bigger than mine? SILENCE was the answer. It is amazing how the word Harley seems to mean Bigger and better even to the non-riding folks.

Sorry to hear about your troubles Mike. I know it lays in the back of all are minds that this sort of thing is very possible, yet we ride despite the reality of it all. It still sucks when it actually happens and I hope you recover fully. Look after yourself and prayers sent on your behalf for a short and positive recovery.

I am not against responsible level headed people earning the right (let me repeat earning the right) to own guns. Ironically here in Canada Bleeding hearts have a louder voice than level headed people and so whenever there is an incident the cry goes out for either banning guns or stricter controls. Yet the minute Police try to go after the real culprits or those likely to abuse, the same idiots cry out about how profiling etc is abuse of these criminals rights. Gun crime in Toronto went up by 60% almost overnight as soon the Police hands were tied from randomly checking or profiling known or likely gang members from being searched. I say let responsible people own guns after proper and thorough checks, education and testing and start coming down 100 fold on the criminals and gangsters.