Luvdaleather

Oh and more thing, the braided passenger hand grips are missing................

So Jonas, yes it is done. :sun:For the record, this man is relentless when it comes to designing something he wants to put on a bike. :smash2:He pushes my abilities beyond what I think I'm comfortable doing, is patient and somehow knows I can do it. What can I say about working with vinyl with incredible detail? :confused24:It's not leather :headache:and doesn't behave like leather so Jonas then brings in what he calls "German Velcro". With that he transforms what I felt would never fit right into "you'd be surprised what I can do with that stuff". :banana:When I said "You folks in Iceland must like really fancy bikes" :ignore:he emailed me back and said "yes we do". There you have it!

Well, let's see Yama Mama.....Talked to the Pucster this morning, he gave us some tips on pulling the clutch. So we got that done and I boxed it up ready to send off to the auto clutch people. Laundry is going, the bed needs to be change, I cleaned the cat box last night.....uh....oh the dishwasher is ready to start. Ken got his nap in today and is now helping with the laundry. There is a nice breeze outside even though its pretty hot....uh.....Oh and the floors need to be cleaned (that will happen tomorrow)....oh ya and one of our dogs definitely needs a bath. How did I do?

Please note: I am re-trainable! I'm having luck not pulling the clutch in all the way especially on the "sore thumb days". :(Oh duh....I didn't realize that you didn't need to do that. :doh:No wonder Ken would always beat me when we race the RSTD's on the way home. Dang him, I'm on to his trick now. However I will say that after an over night to the Oregon coast with a friend down hundreds of curves the thumb joint wound up real sore aka hurt like hell. I've decided to go for the auto clutch. :happy65:Going to pull the clutch this weekend and send it EFM Auto Clutch Inc. I'll report back of course.

Michael, I'm replying to an old post that you made regarding shifting without hardly using the clutch or actually not using it at all. I went on a trip with a friend to the Oregon coast and figured that as long as I was on the road for few miles, I would try it out. Man it works! Your suggestion saved my hand from overuse as we went through a few hundred curves. I never knew this technique although my husband Ken said he had showed it to me....obviously I had checked out and wasn't listening. (La La La La) :confused24:Another thing I did was not to be so concerned about downshifting all the time in the curves and just let the bike do the work. (what an idea! ) Well needless to say I'm "a little slow out of the starting gate" and with that its sure good to have the members of this site :2133:around to point me in the right direction. We'll be pulling the clutch out here this weekend and sending it off to EFM that is if we don't take the boat out and go fishing! I'll be reporting back.

Heck the first date was September....I can live with August. I can get way too hot for me to ride during that month. Besides if I HAVE to ride and the seat is being worked on, I'll steal the seat off of Ken's bike. It pays to have two of a kind in the garage!

Hey Freebird, Happy Maintanance Day! I went to Russell Day Long Seats yesterday and talked about my new seat. They had me fill out a form with measurements; height, weight (boo) and info about the bike. They explained that they would be able to keep my low height in the seat and give me the thigh support that I need. There is enough foam left from the amount that I cut it down to insert the patented spring in the tail bone area. The way they make the seat will alleviate issues which I have with one of my hips; I stand hip shot while working (not smart) and it will keep my back straight while riding. Right now I tend to slouch some. I chose a dark tobacco in the same Whisper vinyl of your lid covers. They are going to design skirting for the seat like what I have now. The seat will be done in August. :biker:They also said that adjustments to the seat is easy but to allow a break in period. Looking forward to the new seat.

Took a look at my pending board Chuck, you won't have it next week, however I may surprise you sooner than you think. The heat is on here so I makes for more time in the coolness of my shop and less time on the road!

At the end of last month I met a friend who had a "ride in" appointment at Russell Cycle Products Inc. (aka Day Long seats) in Redding, CA. Dan opted for the ride in appointment as he didn't want any "down" time from his new bike. In their current busy season orders are back up with about a 30 day wait. Patient riders send in seats for all over the US and further. A ride in appointment is $80 extra and the bike must be there from 8 am to 5 pm. Rent a car or trailer the bike in and enjoy the amazing area! Impromptu I requested a tour of the facility and within 10 min we were taken into the facility where they make these unique seats. What I learned is that each seat is custom made; there is no such thing as a mass produced seat. Each seat is created using a base for the style of bike you ride. These are poured at the factory where they quality control the density of the foam. The foam tops are then adjusted using the customer's height, weight, inseam and waist measurements along with photos of the rider AND the passenger sitting on the bike in the old seat. If the customer can get the bike to stand straight (with a little help from their friends) the photos work even better. Their patented spring suspension system is inserted into the seat. They use the base part of the foam from the original seat. This guarantees that the foam will fit the pan as it was intended to. Depending on the taste and requirements of the rider "the wings" can be minimized which clarified a misconception that I had. I had the thought that the "wings" is what each seat comes with, like it or not. Jay explained that for me, the sport seat would allow them to minimize the wings yet provide me with the bucket. He also gave me “homework” which was to check out the website under "options" and "Day-Long vs Sport Seat". The sport seat will still allow me to have the majority of my foot available when I'm pulling the bike out of the garage on to our uneven tilted gravel driveway. As for colors, textures, vinyl or leather, that is not a problem…..take your pick. They also do decorative stitching and embroidery. One of the vinyl's which Day-Long uses is the same vinyl I use on the saddle bag lid covers. It is called "Whisper" and is designed for outdoor use; excellent on seats. As a ride in appointment, Dan and I went for a test ride on the unfinished foam seat. I was skeptical about what I was sitting on, Dan was not. His other bike had the Day long seat so he knew the fit he was after. When the seat was done and the leather top sewn in place, he put the bike on the center stand and I was able to sit in the passenger seat (also well known to me as the "torture seat'). OH MY GOD what an amazing passenger seat! The last thing was a serial number sticker was placed under the seat so that they had a record of the owner and specs in the event that the bike was sold. If the new owner needed adjustments to the seat, they only need to call the company at 800-432-9566. PST. Seat prices vary. I found them more than reasonable for the custom fit you receive, the quality of customer service and craftsmanship. With that I went home thinking about my own seat and realized that even though I had improved the fit, I could not create the fit that Russell Cycle Products produces. The next day I made an appointment for my own seat. A bit of history: The seat was originally designed by Bill Mayer Sr and the company's was sold to Don Russell in the mid 1980's. In the late 1990's ownership passed to Donna Russell. In 2002 master upholsterer Terry Bradford purchased the company and is the current owner. They currently have 10 employees.

Atta boy Freebird, let's all watch him spend his "Harley Bucks" in all the right places! Freebird, I'll get back to you on the bib either today or Friday. I've got some cool ideas percolating! No shop time tomorrow! I'm actually meeting a friend tomorrow, at Russell Day Long Seats in Redding, CA. He is an ex-Venture Rider and is now having another Russell Seat put on his new bike; a beamer . I'm pretty excited about the visit because I get to see the operation first hand. By the way you guys, this is the first time since I started creating the saddlebag lid covers for the RSV/RSTD/RS bikes that I have had so many on the board! Holy Cow I'm knee deep in Venture Rider orders!

Yep, its the same Sam.....Sam from Weed, CA and that's no joke. I asked him if he joined the site and he "I sure did!" :thumbsup2:Actually Sam is from Kentucky! Born and raised there!Oh and did I forget to mention that in 2014 he was inducted in the Country Western Swing Hall of Fame? He can sure play some licks on that pedal steel! I just got off the phone with him and he said, "you put me in touch with the nicest people ever!". Ya think?

How did I get mixed up with a bunch of such awesome people? :thumbsup2:You guys are worth your weight in gold! I'm keeping my eye on the postings and emailing them to Marilyn. She can print them out so Sam can re-read them. I know you guys will get him "unstuck"!

Thanks Puc, you're the best!...I know my friend Sam will be grateful to solve this unfortunate mystery. By the way folks Sam is 85 years old, his wife Marilyn is 82 They still ride around AND trailer their trike to different places for a ride.....who says "we is old"? Roll on................

Hey Puc! Ok so I finally got around to lubing the pivot joint on the clutch lever. (What an idea! LOL) We also changed out the brake and clutch lines and both things have helped with the stiffness of the clutch. On another, note I noticed that my left hand is much weaker than the right one so I've been doing some exercises to build it up and stretching the fingers and upper arm muscles. The thumb join is responding to the exercises and stretching. I have not ridden much this winter however on a short there is a marked improvement in the ease of the clutch. I'll report back when the weather gives us a break and I can go for a nice long ride.

Don, over the years I have met SO MANY outstanding people, most whose faces I have never seen. In March I will start my 11th year with my small business and through my customers I have the thought that I have traveled to several different countries, ALL over the US and Canada. Blessings to each of the members for spreading the word about my work and the customer service I provide. Be safe and ride safe!

Jonas keeps me on my toes as that man is forever coming up with a new bib design or someting. ;o) I'll let you know how it comes along. So far nothing earthshattering; the braided lines helped but not as much as I thought. ;o( Next is Puc's suggestion on the lube....what an idea! LOL

Puc, I can always count you to come up with a simple solution....or at least a hell of a good idea. I will try the lube tomorrow and report back. No test ride any where in site as we Californian's are hogging much of snow and rain (finally). Spoke to a guy in Dundee NY, he said he lives in a heavy snow area...they have no snow! If ya'll don't mind we'll keep some rain and snow for ourselves for a while to help our lakes and rivers come back to life! Happy Holidays Buddy!

Mike, when our Yamaha dealership closed down a few years ago I was lucky to have made friends with the certified Yamaha mechanic. He still works on a few bikes from his house and I get to call him with questions. Tony said that yes you can change the master cylinder which helps a lot. I was told that hydraulic clutches are supposed to be very easy (so "they" say) however even with changing the lines I can still feel the pain in the thumb joint. As an instructor I use the friction zone a lot and you can imagine what my hand feels and looks like after a lesson or a nice long curvy mountain road! (Ice becomes my friend). I've come close to selling my bike, but I cannot find anything I like as much. Thank you for your kind words and I will keep you posted on what I find out.

thanks John, I'm going to try the braided lines that we just installed as the stock one were past due. It does seem easier already. I'll go to the auto clutch if my thumb joint continues to cause me grief.

Thank you Michael, I haven't been on the site in a while thus the delayed "thanks!". What you wrote was interesting. We changed out clutch and brake lines to braided from Hawkeye Performance and it seems much better, however rain and snow is keeping the test ride from happening yet.

I figure that you guys can help me out. Due to many years of hammering leather my left thumb joint (along with myself) not in as good a shape as we used to be. In short the clutch on my RSTD makes that thumb joint real sore when I shift a bunch. I checked out a site for an auto clutch which sounds good yet I'm looking for more feed back. How do this work in real slow parking lot maneuvers? The web site says I can still use the clutch or not but I always have to shift. http://www.efmautoclutch.com/street.shtml We lost our Yamaha dealer so what does it take to install one and what am I looking for in a qualified mechanic? Oh and no I won't attempt to sweet talk Ken into doing it for me! Ok, so SOMEONE out there has to have some first hand experience.

There are LOTS great ideas for the 2016 Venture West Rally! Also thank you for the acknowledgment of the teamwork that went into the 2015 rally. Here is what made the rally so smooth: Vic had a person in the city of choice. It was easy for me to figure out the ride routes and find a place for the group to stay and eat. The difficult part was deciding on the many routes we had to offer! The other part was that I was able to share some of the history of our area and pass on some of the stories. Coordinating the event from my end was easy and took very little time. With that Vic and I had thought that if one of the members wanted to "show off where they live" we would use their knowledge of where to stay, ride and eat. Having a person in the city (or close it) where the rally will be was a huge help to Vic. Being that this was my second rally I am a bit new to locations in the VW area. As for my input on the location, one of the members from the 2015 rally said that he would help us out in the Springfield Oregon area. Are there any other members who may want to help out in their area as well? This way we could possible compile a list and then Vic can draw from a hat or throw at dart at a board with names on it!

Hey Dale, rest easy my friend. Northern Cal is doing its version of Canadian weather called "Canafornia". As we "speak" it is snowing in the City of Mt Shasta with rain and high winds. No snow in Yreka thus far. The highest temps we've had in the past 3 weeks has been about 58. God bless heated gear! As far as next year's VW Lone Eagle post a comment a couple of days ago and with that I'm on a hunt for the thread....on ward!

Melanie is doing pretty good. After 5 1/2 hours of surgery and a few pints of blood she is recovering, off the pain meds and is looking towards intensive therapy. She will be staying in Redding, CA for the therapy before coming home. Tibia, Fibula and Femur are glue, screwed, nailed, duck taped and plated back together! LOL She is in a hip cast that can bend at the knee....thank you modern technology. I'll let her know that you all have been thinking of her. I'm sure she'll check the site for any private messages. If you care to text her.....530-905-0194. Thank you all!

I just got home from ER where as Caverrider (Melanie), while on her way to meet me for our usual evening ride, was hit by a woman making a U-Turn in the middle of a long fast moving road. They were both heading out towards Montague, the lady slowed down and pulled over a bit. Mel assumed she was going to stop, and then the lady made a U-turn in front of her. Mel is being flown down to Redding, CA for surgery at Mercy Medical tomorrow. Her right leg is broke in three places. She has a compound fracture in her femur, a clean break in her tibia and a break in her fibula. Her CT scans proved that her leg was the only major injury. Tomorrow's surgery will show more as her femur is shattered. Dr. Bill Broekel, Melanie's friend, was there and he explained things to me so that I understood her injuries better. The bike is totaled. I do not know more than that. funny, how in her pain she mentioned Victor and the "Venture West Folks". She asked me to "let them know I'm ok". Without asking I know that you all will send prayers and good thoughts. Mel's private email is caverrider@yahoo.com