KIC

Once the frost bite sets in your legs will feel warm and the cold just won't matter any more..

I Don't use 5th unless I am driving over 75 on the freeway. I usually cruise around 4500 RPMs in any gear. 5th is rarely used on my 1989.

I just went through the CLASS last week and cleaned and tightened every fitting, cleaned the 3 solenoids checked the air dryer etc. seems to be working OK now. I did have, at times a leak sometimes it would hold air sometimes it didn't. Now it seems to hold it OK. I am now concerned about the shock since the bike seems to be sitting so much lower even with the CLASS aired up. My mud flap drags a lot more, and that is with 1 up. I am concerned with tearing the bike apart and putting the 87 shock in it if the 87 shock has an issue too since it has been sitting for awhile. I am wondering how to test/check the 87 shock before I install it in the 89. The CLASS isn't working in the 87 since the bike has sadly become a parts bike over the last 1 1/2 years.

After a 300 mile ride today I do need to do this. Is there anyway to check a shock to be sure before tearing one out ? I am pretty sure the shock on my 87 is good but I hate to go through the hassle of removing it only to find out it has an issue .

I have a similar dilemma in mounting my newly created pipes that go from the collector to the Rk's I just came from the auto store and ended up getting a very short roll of aluminum type muffler patch. I will try putting a strip around the collector pipe and see if it takes up the little slack in there and keeps a seal once the clamp is tightened. I hope to try mounting mine on Sunday since tomorrow I am riding to Phoenix with a group to put the bikes in a bike show.

So I have been dealing with a potential problem. I think my rear shock is going, or gone, out. Hard to tell since the CLASS system seems to still be working. My rear mud flap seem to slowly drag more than usual especially on speed bumps and today seemed to drag on regular turns. I have a shock on the 87 that I could swap out with, but it looks like a major job getting to the top of the shock. Do I have to pull the gas tank ? what all is entailed ?

OKAY, you totally lost me on the wiring, resistors, boards, wiring, resistors, PCB's, horn flashers, resistors.... etc..etc..etc.. I guess I'll look into upgrading the stator which should be more in line with my abilities.

I will do something once I finish mounting them and have a final knowledge of the actual installation needs. ( Hows that for a disclaimer ? ) My friend said that he could make a JIG that would allow an easier replication of the angle size etc. I have not installed them yet. I have a group ride on Saturday so i will probably try to mount them on Sunday. If anybody is interested I can ask my friend what he would charge to build and weld a set.

I hear ya. We have camped for 35 years in campers, tents and a larger tent trailer. The wifey says the tent and air mattress is a thing of the past but would camp with a tent trailer. I know the $$ will never be there for a trailer so this is my compromise...and I'll throw in a real nice air mattress for the tent. Add a floor, paint the frame, add four stands and a front 3rd wheel, and put the tent in front with a small cooler... I can see it happening...

I never said she wanted to spend the money on one, I said that she just said she wants one. Big difference in my world....

No...she just said what she wanted. And I just checked...she took the check book with her to work...

Rabbit trail........ Back off track... So how much do you think it cost to switch everything over to LED's ? I have disconnected my anti-dives ( which a BIG difference) but I also have a lot of lights..in fact I just finished adding the OEM trunk guard on mine, although I wired the four rear lights to the brakes and the four side lights are brake/turn signals, there is a total of 26 additional lights on the rear not counting the stock rear light. I know I read something about converting to LED in the past, but doesn't it take adding something to make the LED's work in place of the stock ? Do they just plug in the same as the stock ? Inquiring minds want to know ??

I presume in order to do all that you have upgraded the stater/charging system on your bike ? I think that is my next upgrade to my 89. Not to hijack the thread, but on a scale of 1-10, how hard is it to upgrade the stator/charging system ?

I was thinking along the same lines as putting the tent across the front of the bags and using one bag for the sleeping bags and cooking stuff and the other for clothes and misc. not so concerned about the security as the purpose of the soft bags would be to be able to take them inside, for example if at a residence or hotel. A simple lock could secure them to the trailer for travel and short stops. I would think that if I had the hard trunk, I would leave anything of any value in it over night in a parking lot anyway. Well it is still in the thought process. My wife says to get a tent trailer or nothing. She is "done" with tent, on the ground air mattress, sleeping. She had just seen our friends motorcycle tent trailer and decided that is the way to go. We used to have a full size tent trailer for camping that she liked. There is only about a $3,000.00 difference between my idea and hers...

So I am thinking of building a trailer. I would go with a small Harbor Freight tag along, extend the hitch, immediately replace the bearings and what I was thinking was instead of the normal hard cover roof carrier that is usually mounted, going with the soft tops that could be removed. Something along these: I kinda like the dual ones since they can be easily removed and taken inside. My wife wants to try motorcycle camping with some friends and this setup could be easier to load and pack. I can see the tent sitting right up on top. She wants a tent trailer to pull behind, but this set up would be $2500 cheaper.

I have found that the bearings on the HF trailers are junk even keeping them greased. I lost the bearings on my 4X8 in the mountains in the middle of a rain storm. I replaced them with real bearings and have not had a problem since.

Just sayin"...

Look at my current thread on my adVenture with Road Kings http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?111847-Road-Kings-on-my-89-Take-2 I think I finally nailed it but won't know until tonight when I can try to fit everything together on the bike. The hangers I have "look" like they will work, but again, until I actually mount them I won't know.

This is what I have ended up doing. After figuring out that I could not get the pipes "bent" easily ( never did find a shop willing to do them) I then re-evaluated the whole situation and came up with this configuration below. I went to a friend's shop to has just about every type of welder and we put this together. I am lucky that I have my extra exhaust collector to use while mocking up the pieces. So we got it all welded together and I only needed 3 of pieces from PepBoys. The bummer is that after loading all the other exhaust and stuff back into my car, I left the pieces at the shop.

Road Kings come with the muffler bearings already installed. There is a small oil tank to assist with the HD oil drip system. On the Venture you can fill the oil tank with auto trans fluid and use it when you pass the slower 2nd Gens creating a smoke screen so they can't see how fast the 1st Gen's really are, which usually makes them cry and creating a blurry vision issue while riding...

I just checked. The "institution" only let him out on a 72 hour test leave. He'll be quiet again when they zip the sleeves up behind him and Nurse Ratchet welcomes him back. Bad boy....bad boy watcha gonna do when they come for you...

But rumor has it that as soon as they bolt on to a 2nd Gen they then become Road Queens... SilverT... you shouldn't have deleted your response...it was hilarious and I should have known my statement would elicit that response from somebody.. And as part of an answer to your statement... The two Harley guys were just jerks about putting the RK's on a "Jap" bike. The second Harley place I went to was a Custom Bike shop.. so they built custom Harleys..would've thought they would know where to get some pipes done. All the one guy could do is argue with me that the the exhaust collector/crossover was a catalytic converter. I explained that it wasn't and he was adamant that it was. I was holding the one off of one of my 84 parts bikes and again stated that it wasn't and he said it was and that the one I had had been cut opened and gutted. So to answer your question.... Yep they were.....

So I tried 3 more places today. 2 motorcycle shops and another exhaust shop. Yesterday was 2 places. I finally needed up at 2 different PepBoys and found some pieces so I could try to fabricate my own pipes. Tomorrow I will take them over to a friend’s shop to have the fittings welded together. Then I will still have to find somebody to bend the pipes. Nobody wants to work on anything under 2-inches. I took my extra crossover collector off one of my parts bikes and also have the pipes from my 87 off to try to mock up what I need. Here are the pieces I have so far: Exhaust HD Road King Conversion 2 – 1 ¾ ID X 1 ½ OD adapter Pepboys #17533 2- Connector 1 ½ ID Pepboys #17519 1 – 1 ¾ ID 18-inch tailpipe extension 1- Can Krylon High Heat black 1-Package Permatex Orange muffler sealer I am just documenting this so somebody else in the future might want to try this adVenture...

but you look so comfy on the 'puter.... Some minds never forget....

I have found the best way to never see a deer in deer season is buy a deer license and tag. Get on your bike and pretend/think you are hunting for deer. Take a toy rifle with you for the ambiance. The only time I can NEVER find a deer is when I am hunting for them. In 1989 I spent two weeks hunting for deer. Early mornings freezing my butt off. Then left to drive to Indiana to visit wife's family. The night before we left my brother-in-law called and warned me about all the deer on the highway and to be careful. Left Tucson at 4:30am drove 60 miles and hit a deer on the freakin freeway in Arizona. So I have only been successful hunting deer when I used a 1989 Celebrity Station Wagon...