Search the Community

* this post is also on 2nd gen.venture forum , bc I didn't see THIS forum when I posted, MY BAD * Hello everyone I am interested in learning more about my 2003 venture which was recently purchased. I have ridden a total of 30 miles on it, but has 24xxx. I am confused and concerned about things such as the lowering kit, how it's on and any advice on what to look for. Was there any adjustments on the front end? Tires, brakes, electrical etc. the shop says all is good, but I feel weird not knowing much. I live in spring hill, and some that were on the left coast have expired memberships. I am willing to ride down and meet with anyone who is available and willing to show this newbie about RSV. Perhaps anyone in the Tampa / St. Pete/, or anyone near hillsborough, pasco, Hernando, citrus, counties. Heck, I will even trek to Ocala. There are some nice roads by me and some nice little beaches and bars / eateries if some want an excuse to ride this way I would appreciate all input and your time as well. No rush and perhaps there may be more free time after the holidays. I am open to suggestions. Thank you all. Barrycuda.

Well had our meeting at work and it was not good.With all the BS that has been going on at work and communication between Canada and US offices about runs and no good out come I guess I am totally out of work now. I am getting unemployment for now unless they decide to stop it. I will file for SS on Monday and hope for the best till I reach 62 in February. In the mean time I will have to sell off a few things so my ride will be listed again in the classifieds at a rock bottom price of $7000 :bawling:if sold by next due date of Dec 22nd. There is a lien on title but rest assured it will be paid off at time of sale and pay off letter issued may take a few days tho. I'm no way a scam artist so not to worry this is not a scam. Joe

Okay, I'm home. The first thing I did was to strip off all my clothes , and then jump into the hot tub for about 45 minutes. That is a lot longer than normal use, but I needed to melt some of the Alaska ice I brought home with me. Ride was interesting, and an experience. The BMW sidecar rigs were fun, and it makes me think about conversion of one of my bikes. Fairbanks was colder than ^$#@*, and Prudhoe Bay was about 30 degrees warmer than Fairbanks, due to drier weather. It will be some time before I ride to Alaska again in the late Fall, just before Winter sets in. Have done it three previous times, but those were all in the Summer. Now I can say I have scratched that itch. If you want pictures, which I know is one of the first things some of you ask for... ... ...are you still waiting? Well, my brilliant riding partner on the R12GS had his camera in his tank bag, rather than his jacket. And, since he made certain that it was fully charged up before he left, he did not bother to bring his charger. By the time we got to Prudhoe Bay, his camera was almost frozen...to digital death...and would not function at all. We waited until the next morning to leave, and hoped the camera would be thawed out, but when he did try it the next morning, the battery was below functioning level. No way possible to charge his battery, so he...literally...threw his camera into the Arctic Ocean...he was so mad. Say goodbye to one Sony Cyber-shot. I did not take a camera with me, because he said he would bring his. The Super Tenere' again worked excellent, as did his (my old bike) R12GS. BTW, the total trip was 5120 miles, and was done in just under 8 days of riding. Close to half of the riding was done in the dark, meaning...at night, because it gets dark really early up there. Now time to get ready for Christmas. So, what have you folks been up to? Eh ?

Turns out I was being cheap and stupid. I tripped over my ego and landed with, well you know. Anyway, I take great pride in the fact that I think I am a pretty good mechanic, unfortunately, there comes a time when you realize the thinking part of that statement can be your undoing. I have had my Royal Star for 17 years and the last 10 have done all my own work. I can pull those carbs off with my eyes closed, well at least that part is true. It is what happens after you get em off that is the problem. I diagnose the problem and fix whatever is wrong and put em back together, built a lot of my own test gadgets and sync tool, man am I smart! I save tons of money too! So after all this time, seems the bike and I are growing old, why a month ago I embarrassed myself at a Patriot Guard ride. I was in formation next to a trike and we came to an idle crawl. I found myself doing the "bike weave" with the front tire and pulling the clutch in more than it was out trying to ride at a complete idle. I kept having to put my feet down and as my face was getting a little more crimson in color and by God I was jealous of the guy on the trike and thinking maybe it was time to retire the old girl cause I could hardly do this anymore. Well, I went home, let the bike sit for a couple of weeks, then thought I would go for a ride. The bike had taken to leaking a little fuel if I left it sit for awhile but the leak would stop after it got warmed up. DANG ETHANOL! I knew that crap must be drying out the rubber! So I thought, the float needles are rubber and they are the only thing that would make the fuel run out because I had already adjusted the floats and being the ace mechanic that I am this must be it. I ordered the needles, pulled the carbs and replaced them, put it all back together and fired it up. Now I have a leak at one of the float bowls, needs a new o-ring, ordered the o-ring. pulled off the carbs, replaced the O-ring and put everything back together and fired it up, now I have popping, could not figure this out so guessed I must have put something together wrong, pulled the carbs off again, could not find anything wrong so I did all the tests, I find that the float level will not remain the same over time, diagnosed to a bad o-ring on the float seat assembly. Ordered them, replaced them, put everything back together and fired it up..... another float bowl o-ring is leaking....Now at this point it has been three months since the PGR ride and those carbs have been off more than granny's nightgown. I give up and order all new parts for the carbs, because by now I have a mismatched bunch of parts that have been replaced at all kinds of different times, bear in mind that this is how I have been doing the maintenance over the years. The parts were not all that expensive, a few hundred bucks when purchased all together. I rebuilt the carbs, did all the adjustments, fired em up, synced and low and behold, I am not OLD, I can ride at idle. Not only that, but my gas mileage has improved by over 10 mpg, I can turn tighter and starts at lights are almost night and day different. If you have been riding the same bike, and it seems like you are growing old together, rethink it! I did not notice the degradation in performance over time but after rebuilding it the sound is so different, I am ashamed that I did not notice any of those things. I was ready to cash it in. So for all you out there that any of this sounds familiar, take it from a newly humbled idiot. All this time I thought I was being frugal and smart, turns out, I was being cheap and stupid! Old dogs really can learn, too bad it took so long! Anybody wants to know how to get the carbs off or back on in 6 1/2 minutes let me know.

I installed an HID kit sometime back. Say 6 months or so. It has been fine. Tonight the wife and I came home from my sisters place in the dark. It didnt seem to shine where it should, even with high beam. I know some is due to being 2 up but it didnt seem to be this bad last time we came home in the dark. Then it dawned on me I changed tires. I mounted up a Michelin Commander II on the front and it is the taller I think what are they 130/90 instead of the the OEM 150/80. Do you all think maybe this could be it?

Well I ordered a Sports-Vue 360 cam corder for $185.00 and I received it with in a week or less. Nice size little camera. It comes with a remote so I took it hunting with me to capture the BIG BUCK coming in. Played around with it for awhile in the woods strapped to my head and mounted it in the truck for the trip to and from hunting. When I went to watch the great movies I filmed it wound not play them. Disappointed I contacted Sports-Vue on there web sight. I told them what it was doing. The same day I e-mailed Customer Service, Jason contacted me and told me it had a corrupt file on the memory card and I would have to delete that file. You can't do it with the camera so you have to do it on a computer. I told him this will be very annoying out in the field if we are trying to watch a play back as I was trying to do last night. He e-mailed back and said quote,"Try recording a few more videos and see if it does it again. If it does, I can send you out a new camera". Well it did it again and I let him know. This was his reply. Quote, "I'm sorry that the camera is not working. I set up a RMA for the bad camera, I will ship the new one today with a return shipping label. Send back the camera only, keep all of the accessories". And this is exactly what he did. The new camera and all the accessories came in less than a week. This was this past Saturday so I have played with this one for a couple of days. This camera is capable of "Time Recording", set the time to start and stop recording. "Motion Detecting" It will record once it detects motion and you can adjust how long it will record after it detects. It also does "Still Pictures". The videos and still pictures are very sharp. It also records sound if you want it to. I was very impressed with customer support and I am now impressed with the Video Camera. Just passing info on if anyone is interested in a Sport camera.

This is just a feeler to see how many VR members from the west coast.... Vancouver, Washington, Oregon, NorCal, SoCal, Nev, Arizona would be interested in doing a 'weekend' Venture West V in 2012. No specific place or dates, just would like to know of any interest at this time. I'll try to do a poll... did one a long time ago but can't remember exactely how I did it.... Meanwhile your post will work.

OK folks. The flags were here when I got home yesterday. Today I will get them in envelopes and addressed and then sent out first thing Monday morning. I think they turned out pretty well. Appear to be good quality that should hold up for a long time.

Part One: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73786 Part Two: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73853 Since writing Part Two of this series both I, and another Forum member have competed in a Long Distance Rally. Rather than simply go down the path of looking at the different aspects of LD Riding, I thought that for this one I could bring the subject to life and take you on a rally. At some point it might be useful to look in detail at planning a rally, but we are riders, so let's go for a ride: It has been made clear to me that my Blogging platform of choice is not welcome on this site. That has caused me a good deal of extra work to bring this to you, and it is not as good as the original in terms of layout and readability, and you have lost the many excellent comments left in the other place. Anyone wanting to read it as I intended it to be seen is free to email me for the link "Steve went to Prada, and all I got was a lousy photograph" - Jodie http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-8dfFkhS/0/M/DSCN0943-M.jpg "Prada 'Marfa'" is a piece of installation art. It is on a deserted highway in Texas, close to Marfa, TX and the Mexico border. The structure was built at a cost of $80 000 and is designed to be allowed to degrade and crumble with the ravages of time. It's sole purpose is to demonstrate the return from modernity to the earth from which it was created. Prada gave their blessing, and stock, for the store. I was there because it was a bonus location worth 1405 points in the Big Tex Rally, a thirty six hour motorcycle rally entirely within the state of Texas. From the start I was determined to make a significant assault on this rally. Despite my motorcycle inhabiting the territory known as the "Hopeless" Class, in previous rallies it has acquitted itself decently well, and surprised more than a few folk. This time the rally was a little longer, a little tougher, and I was determined to find out just what it could and couldn't do. Incidentally, "it's the rider not the bike" is an old homily which was going to be put to the test too. In the end it was a mixed result. For reasons that will become clear I decided not to finish, yet what I did accomplish, what I learned and what I will share that others may benefit too made this a truly worthwhile endeavour. *** It was dark at the Rider Meeting, at a gas station in Denison, TX. The event was due to start at 6 am and we would have no daylight for at least another ninety minutes. Denison was one of the four stating locations for the nearly fifty entrants. I will say right here that I am not a big fan of multiple starts. The Rally Master and his staff, who do a wonderful job in all things, cannot level that playing field. They can probably get very close, but they cannot make them equal. The Cape Fear Rally has three starts, and publishes a different finisher list for each one. That said, about half the field was starting from Denison, and clearly they each had identical opportunities. I had arrived the evening before and met up with a few riders I had met on previous rallies, and some new guys. It is always good to meet old friends and acquaintances, and we wished each other well as is the norm. These events are more "friendly rivalry" than competition. Sure we all would like to win, but there can be few who don't simply admire the achievements of those who exceed your own efforts; especially given that your own efforts were prodigious! The Rally Pack had been distributed three weeks earlier. About half the field were newcomers to the sport, and Wayne, the Rally Master, was keen that everyone had a chance to plan routes carefully. We were told that there would be some new information that would be given out at the start of the event, but nothing that would cause riders to alter their basic routes. This was very good to hear. The last thing new riders need is to plan for three weeks then have to scrap and re-plan on the clock. So it came as a bit of a surprise to read the supplementary information and realise that one of the biggest bonuses available would require me to completely alter my route! This was not going to happen. The supplementary pack gave me an additional 7500 points without changes, and I decided to live with that and look again at the overnight stop, to see if I could make hay with the other stuff. That 7500 points gave me a projected score of maybe 58 000 points for the event. What I now know is that had I been able to take advantage of that "extra" multiplier, the 58 000 could have become around 67 000 points ... a very respectable finish. However, we are getting somewhat ahead of ourselves and I don't really do "what ifs", nor do I ever bemoan my own misfortune. Every event like this is unique. What is important to me is that I learn from each one, and incorporate those lessons into all future events. If I can share what I learn, and that helps others, then I consider that to be an added bonus. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-wnBqVCS/0/M/DSCN0931-M.jpg At the start I found myself next to a guy in his first rally. He was clearly a mix of excited and nervous. He wanted to chat about what was to come and there wasn't much I could say to him, and I knew exactly how he was feeling. I suggested that he simply take it very easy for the first twenty miles or so; that is when the adrenalin will kill you. Suggested that he might remember that whatever the objective, all he was really doing was going for a ride on his rather nice Honda Gold Wing. That is it ... it's just a motorcycle ride. Enjoy. I didn't catch his name but I really hope he did well and had fun. Six am duly rolled around and we were off. I was the second or third bike out of the parking lot. I had a long, hard day ahead and I wanted to make some good early progress. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-5ph3FtQ/0/M/DSCN0933-M.jpg The first target was the grave of "Machine Gun Kelley". I took a wrong turn almost right out of the gate which cost me just a few minutes and I arrived about 100 miles later at 7.50 am. I was maybe the fourth or fifth there, but it was apparently on many schedules, and was a busy graveyard at that early hour. The location was easily found and a few minutes later I was on my way again. This time another 130 miles to the home of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian. This is always the phase of a rally where I settle in and get on with the task in hand. The initial rush is passed, the sun is up and I can take stock. The bike is running well and you can make good time on these Texas highways. The speed limit is 70 mph, and much of the time that is doable. I have a route that demands that I ride 1030 miles before my overnight stop, and along the way I need to hit some time checks. I am heading for El Paso. It was a bit disconcerting to pass a sign as I left Sherman saying "El Paso 545 Miles", and I wasn't even going straight there! I never let my head go to the entirety of the route, but simply ride from one planned location to the next. Those are bite-sized chunks that never seem too far yet add up to a total plan. I was scheduled to be in Sanderson, TX at 11.30 pm, there I could rest but for now there was the small matter of bonuses to hunt in the Guadalupe Mountains, and other places. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-j6LX39h/0/M/DSCN0935-M.jpg This bonus benefitted from the supplementary information. The original requirement was a photo of the front gate, which was easy enough. For an additional 2190 points you also needed a picture of the typewriter that the novelist used. It is obviously inside the house, and equally obviously might prove tricky. I am the first to arrive at this bonus, but I am confident that the enormous number of points would attract many riders. The house is locked up so I went around the back and found an open door and two little old ladies doing some filing, or something. Well they wanted chapter and verse, and I have only budgeted five minutes for this stop. I indulge them as politely as I can, and get my photo. As I am leaving three more riders arrive. Nicely primed the ladies are likely to delay them for rather less time, yet I don't begrudge the extra few minutes one bit. We are ambassadors for our sport and making a favourable impression on little old ladies is simply part of the job. Plus, they are usually very nice to talk to I was fortunate they were there. Usually the place is locked, and you have to call a number and wait for someone to get there to let you in. Some later riders might find this to be a bit of an obstacle. It might have cost me five minutes, but I was grateful to them for choosing that Friday morning to do paperwork. I needed gas next, and I would need gas again before the next bonus. As I plan on gas every 250 miles that is a long way between stops. You sometimes just have to hunker down and ride. Five hundred miles into my day I make it to Wink, TX. Here is the home of the Roy Orbison Museum. Again it is closed and you have to go to the City Hall a few doors away to gain admission. The lady tells me that a few riders have already been through. I imagine they were nearly all from the Anthony, TX start location. Few from Denison were coming here as far as I knew although I had been passed on the road by a BMW GS. That incident was instructive. I am a decent rider. I can push where I need to, and throttle back when I have to. I do not worry about taking my 900+ pound beast down unmade roads, or up mountains. I had been pushing hard yet this guy simply rolled by. I am beginning to understand that my trusty mount is playing out of it's league. Realising this, which is a feeling that has been growing, is a bit dispiriting and I ponder that for a few miles. Meanwhile, I hit Wink on time and get a stupid photograph wearing some "Roy Orbison" sunglasses. (I have been informed that these are actually Roy Orbison's glasses. Donated to the museum by his family). http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-8swmqqf/0/M/DSCN0936-M.jpg Here I make a plea to Rally Masters. Please do not insist that riders include themselves AND their Rally Flag in photographs, unless it adds something to the necessary bit of proving that you were there. In this instance it clearly did, and was fun. In others, not so much and is a requirement that adds nothing to the task, just makes the picture harder to get and to what end? This is my story, and I'll tell it the way I want to, m'kay? That said, the next picture did actually turn out quite well even if it did take longer to frame than was necessary: http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-HrSqsr5/0/M/DSCN0937-M.jpg We are now another one hour and forty minutes down the road, and still on schedule. This bonus was just three miles after bagging the Passport Stamp for the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I nearly had a complete disaster at the Visitor Center there. I pulled into what appeared to be a perfectly ordinary parking space, but I had badly misjudged the camber. As I came to a stop the bike started to fall to the left. The world goes in slow motion for a split second as a whole train of thought rushes through your head. Can I hold it? No ... It's too risky, Okay, then how can I minimise this situation? Left foot firmly planted, keep hold of the bars and allow the bike to lay gently on the crash bars. Step off and scratch head. It's hard not to laugh, and even harder not to cry. I haven't dropped a bike for maybe twenty years and I picked a fine place to try it again! There is another motorcyclist in the parking lot. He comes over and thirty seconds later the bike is safely restored onto it's sidestand. No harm, no foul. It is 104 miles to the next bonus. Actually it is three bonuses within a mile of each other worth a combined total of 5659 points. They are all in El Paso and they are the reason I have come this far west. At my current location I have a "get out". If I am too far behind schedule I can miss El Paso and head south, shortening the route. I would lose the El Paso points, but could make some of them up with the shorter distance and extra time. I am at Guadalupe Peak bang on schedule though. My GPS is estimating arrival at the next National Park at 4.58 pm, two minutes before it's official closing time. I said I was attacking this rally, so I decide to go for it. And "go for it" I did. Across the bleak uplands through the Guadalupe Mountains. The roads are fast, generally straight with very little traffic and as I ride I am able to watch my ETA become closer. I had it at about 4.50 pm ... I had built a ten minute cushion. In the end it was worth it even if I missed the 690 points in the Visitor Center, the nearly 5000 for the grave of James Wesley Hardin were sufficient. A complication was the 1000 point Call-In Bonus. We were now on Mountain Time, and right in the window to call the barn. I couldn't do it. Even stopping every few miles to check for a phone signal there was nothing doing. No stores, and few householders would relish a mad English motorcyclist banging on their door asking to use the phone. I eventually came across a lonely "Craft" Store that would have a phone I could use. It was 5.05 pm Central ... Too danged late! Then I hit the outskirts of El Paso. Mile after mile of urban highway. Where the hell did all that traffic come from? Traffic lights every ten yards, and every one of them red. My ten minute cushion became seven minutes late by the time I arrived at the Chamizal Visitor Center. When this kind of thin happens seven hundred and fifty miles into your ride, it can be a severe blow to your peace of mind. As I head, less than confidently, to the center I spot a young woman from the Park staff. She tells me that the door is still open. It isn't and with little hope I banged on the locked door. To my surprise, a guard opens the door and tells me, in no uncertain terms at all, that getting the two Passport Stamps inside is absolutely no trouble! The Gods of Motorcyclists are smiling on me today, and in a short while the smile will deepen and broaden into a positive grin! http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-n8f22xB/0/L/DSCN0941-L.jpg As I leave for Concordia Cemetery, the final resting place of James Wesley Hardin, I decide to take a few moments while there to take stock. The location is only a couple of miles from Chamizal, but that couple of miles takes over half an hour. I get firmly and inextricably lodged in traffic. It appears that every truck in North America has chosen this time to head into Mexico. The lines are solid, every intersection completely snarled up, and my engine boils over ... twice. I have lost the best part of an hour from my schedule and when I finally arrive at the cemetery, it is closed! Closed three full hours before the posted closing time of 8.00 pm, something I carefully checked before leaving home. There is a guard at the gate letting the final few stragglers out. I can see my target maybe fifty yards away and I wonder if he will let me in. All I need is a quick picture. No, he won't, at least not without the permission of the owner who is right there. Apparently they are preparing for some James Wesley Hardin Commemoration the following day. She hears my tale, gives permission and the friendly guard took the picture. Like I said, I am destined to do well in this Rally, and I am earning it the hard way but now I am very concerned that I do not trash my motorcycle nine hundred miles from home. I make my way slowly out of El Paso, well behind schedule and am rapidly calculating the damage, which amounts to ninety minutes (1350 points) lost from my Rest Bonus and a sick motorcycle. I make it to a gas station where I need a few minutes rest. I am up around eight hundred miles for the day and the last hundred have been very hard on both of us. At this point I don't need gas, just a few minutes off the bike before I head into the mountains again, and into the night. I hate this bit. I started the day in the dark and am now faced with another two hundred miles or so, in the dark. The lights on the bike are decent. They are not quite what I ultimately want, but they are good enough to run a fairly fast pace on these roads, mountains or not. By chance I look at my auxiliary gas tank and I notice something wrong. The gas cap is missing, as is the bulk of the five gallons of gasoline I thought it contained. I realised just how lucky I was. I was heading into wild territory thinking I had five more gallons of gas aboard than I actually had. That was a certain disaster averted but now I could only run my main tank. This immediately compromised my second day plans because I had to again run fast through country where gas was going to be hard to find. The loss of that cap and the nagging worry about the engine was bringing me to the point of simply riding for a finish, with no guarantees that I would even get one. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-8dfFkhS/0/L/DSCN0943-L.jpg I make it to the eponymous "Prada" maintaining my predicted pace. I am an hour and a half late but have not lost any more time. Here is a bonus where the requirement was for a "non-pretentious picture of you in front of the Prada store". This was one where I happily agree that getting the rider in the photo adds value. I loved this bonus. Being in this place, at this hour was a surreal experience. In my six or seven rallies to date this has become my favourite bonus location and if you are ever in the area please stop by. I promise that you will not regret it. It is vital that you never let your plan take over from your common-sense, and decision making. Your rally plan is a target to aim for, and must never be allowed to rule your judgement. If any newer riders are reading this, I cannot stress the point enough and right now I was at decision time. The next bonus, and the final one of the day was at the McDonald Observatory. Unfortunately, they tend to put these things at the top of mountains. While I felt reasonable confident that the road up would be manageable, I was rather less confident of my ability to go up safely. I was tired and I knew it. Riding to my planned rest stop maybe another 130 miles was one thing. Detouring up a mountain at midnight was quite another and I make the only safe decision I can. I cut the bonus and the 3000 points that go with it. Even then I hit a wall. No, not literally, the figurative "wall" that is a combination of poor sleep the night before, nine hundred miles riding, the darkness and the stress of El Paso and the lost gas cap. I called Jodie when I filled up with gas and we talked briefly about the 97 miles left to the rest stop. I was confident that I would be okay and indeed I was, but not without a lesson that I will share with you all. When I am tired and riding, I do not generally suffer from my eyes closing. What does happen is that I lose focus, literally lose focus, my eyes go blurry and I have to force my concentration back to the task. That is a clear and unambiguous sign that I need to get off the road, and get off the bike and I NEVER ignore it. Neither should you. There comes a point, and we each are different, where we recognise those signs. It is not clever or brave, or admirable to ignore the signs. It is stupid, dangerous and has no place in LD Riding. I felt that happen about thirty miles into the last leg. I needed a safe place to stop and there wasn't one. That road is wild and desolate. There are no houses, no towns, no gas stations just a ribbon of tarmac with nowhere to stop. If I stopped in the road I would be in danger from the next tired idiot driving up behind me. Somehow I had to stay alert until I could safely stop. I yelled at myself, I ate candy, turned up the music and had as much air flowing as I could manage. I was prepared to continue only as long as it was safer to ride than stop. Eventually I hit a small town called Marathon, TX. This was about twenty miles passed my "signs to stop", and about forty miles from my planned stop. I pulled over in a parking area, got off the bike and lay down on the sidewalk. This might sound a bit extreme but it didn't seem at all odd at the time. I was in a safe place and could use a short "power nap". I got one and in about twenty minutes was feeling pretty darned good. There was nowhere to take my official rest break so I hopped back on the bike and completed forty uneventful miles to Sanderson, TX. All along I had planned my rest stop carefully and deliberately. In the last rally I entered I stayed at the Iron Butt Motel (sleeping outdoors for those who don't know). This time I planned the same. Truck stops are a decent choice. They are open 24/7, have computer generated timed receipts, and they have coffee, food even showers available. All you need is somewhere to sleep and a quiet corner of the parking area will do nicely. In some places you can even blag your way into the truckers lounge and sleep in a chair. This one was different. It was closed! So, no hot chocolate for me, but the gas pumps gave me a receipt timed at 1.10 am (the correct time). Within fifteen minutes I was in my sleeping bag. As I lay there, cozy and warm I saw more stars in the night sky than ever before in my life. There is no light pollution here, and the view was glorious. I had the warmth from the tarmac coming up through my sleeping mat, and the heat from my cooling engine. Alarm set for six fifteen, I was asleep immediately and slept the sleep of the just! I am firmly of the view that sleeping like that, listening to your bike clink and tinkle as it cools, and gazing up at the stars is one of life's great treats. You miss all that if motels are the only choice you ever make, but even I agree that they do have their place. When the alarm woke me I lay there for another forty five minutes. I had done some thinking and already decided that today was going to be spent simply riding home. I was in decent enough shape rallywise. I had worked out that if I simply rode for a finish I already had sufficient points to qualify. If I was granted all the "givens", and my license was still safely in a sealed envelope, then I had already accumulated around 33 000 points ... more than enough. Anything I gathered in the second day would simply raise me in the final standings. I had planned to hit the compulsory bonus at 8.00 am, and that was still on. If I could make the second day work I was back at the barn for around 58 000 points which should be a decent place. The fly in this ointment was the supplementary bonus thrown in at the start. Not only was it a bonus that I could not reach without re-routing my entire day, there were no guarantees that I could hit a target three times with a .45 Magnum. This bonus required you to be close to home no later than 2.00 pm, and from Sanderson that was not going to happen. As I have already said, I was attacking this rally and that means getting to Dallas no earlier than thirty minutes before penalties. To plan anything else is wasting time that you could have been on the road. It is a minor understatement that I felt that this bonus was breaching the spirit of the rally in more ways than one. First, it did demand significant re-routing. Second, it introduce a points multiplier based upon a skill that has nothing whatsoever to do with motorcycling. I want to ride my bike, and plan my rides. I want to enjoy camaraderie and good fun .... If I wanted to shoot a gun I would buy one, or join a gun club! Don't get me wrong. I am as keen as the next person for Rally Masters to get folk off their bikes doing interesting things. Is it too much to ask that those activities be designed to explore and develop the skill set we need to ride and rally, rather than introduce elements completely unrelated. I would be perfectly fine with this being "just another bonus" that one could choose to go for or route around, but it was a whole points multiplier .... Just didn't feel right to me is all. I'm sure it was indeed fun for those who completed it. All of the above is pure conjecture, and it's easy to ride a rally from my armchair I had the points to finish, but I had already decided that I was going home. My main concern that "home" was six hundred and ninety miles away. I would have liked to have gone via Dallas, put in my score and enjoyed the great company, but that added another three hundred miles, and time pressure to a motorcycle that I was not confident was up to the task. Especially as it would have probably meant routing through San Antonio, Austin and Dallas itself, with a motor that had already threatened to toast itself in city traffic. I called Wayne, made my apologies turned on my GPS, hit "Where To" and "Home" in that order and was on my way. The ride home was at a slower pace and uneventful. Seven hundred miles at a decent clip with only Wichita Falls to slow me down. I was home by 8.30 pm. Tired and a bit achy, but very pleased with my efforts despite the DNF. As a final note ... I would hate for folk to read a few minor criticisms, or personal preferences, and take them out of context. Rally Masters will never know what riders think unless we tell them purely in the spirit of contributing to the development of events. The Big Tex Rally was professionally staged, wonderfully managed and a great credit to Wayne Boyter and his Staff. All the riders, including me, owe those guys a great debt of gratitude. For my own part, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this awesome event and would not hesitate to enter again. My own trials and tribulations along the way are teaching points, no more and no less. I include them here that I may learn from them, and that others may benefit should they choose to. I rode a total of 1922 miles on my 27 year old motorcycle, at an average moving speed of 64.7 miles per hour. I completed the mileage required for a Texas "In-State" SS1000 and the mileage required for a Bun Burner 1500. The last 28 miles of that were in Oklahoma. It was a good weekend

Thank goodness to the Man up above I have now made my 1 year anniversary from taking out that 8 point buck last year (sure wish I had those antlers!), back into riding a bit and making it back into full time work and $$ producing! I want to say THANK YOU to everyone on here that bought a raffle ticket for the "Aussie Annie" trailer last year to help us thru this time, it was amazing and truly let us know how we are appreciated around here. I have no other "family" like you guys that know how to make a guy feel after the devastating effects that happened. We shall be happy to see a lot of you next year via MD and the Int'l Rally! Thanks again, Dano and Rose :bighug:

Well I finally got the bug to get a helmet cam after visiting Hockings Hills in Ohio for the second time this year. Went down the 11th, 12th and came back on the 13th of this month. What a great place to ride. Took 3 other riders with me this time. Just the guys and no wifes. They all want to do it every year. We road 200 miles in the area before coming back home. Anyway I would like to get a helmet cam. Been looking and reading about the "Replay XD 1080" and "Go Pro HD Hero 2". Anyone have one of these? Any thoughts. Thanks

It doesn't happen all the time, but here goes. I have an '05 RSV. When I use the CB talk button on the left handle bar grip, the CB changes channels. As I sit here, it just hit me to try the passenger talk button and see what happens, so next time I will. If I have the display set to view the radio and push the talk button, the radio changes channels going thru the preset channels. It is happening more frequent now but not all the time. I have had all the connectors apart inside the fairing and under the seat to clean and apply dielectric grease and still have the problem. Any ideas??

Hey everyone, This is a link to my groups video. Our grade is based on the number of hits. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Jennie Credille [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG8zB51hbu0]www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG8zB51hbu0[/ame]

Hi All Well Christy and I are back home from vacation. We spent a week in Saint Marteen, we had a great time. I was able to over come my fears of the ocean and go scuba diving yep a whole 30 ft under the waves, it is nothing like wearing a airpack, We spent a lot of time on the beach reading and people watching, there is alot of peaple to see on the beach some need a second look. We met alot of great people, Christy got her birthday ,christmas, and probubly couple other holidays present.It was a ring she had her eye on. We flew out just as the tropical storm was coming in. We had a super time and cant wait to go back. Bull463

just wanting some feed back on the camper thing.I'm looking at the bunkhouse,the time out by openroad and the solace by USA trailer. i don't want price to be the only reason i pick one but it is to be considered. the bunkhouse seems to be built a little better perhaps but only has three levaling jacks which is probably enough. when in the open position the camper bottom itself acts as a storage and part of the bed, and than has a room in front of it on the ground. the other two campers have a double fold out bed which makes the camper bottom a dinning room and than has another room in front and its off the ground. they also have 4 levaling jacks. the bunkhouse has a queen and even a king size bed where the Time out has a full and a queen and i called USA trailer and they said theres is also a queen that the print up was a miss print. the solace doesn't offer any trailer brake where the time out does for 469.00 dollars and the bunkhouse offers it for 1225.00 dollars. the price list that I'm looking at is the bunkhouse at $3695.00 the time out at $3795.00 and the solace at $2675.00. i wont bore you all with the standard features but i know some of our members have the bunkhouse and was wondering if anybody had any feed back on the others. thanks ans sorry for the long post.

Friday afternoon I had just started working on the 1st gen in great hopes that I would finish it up by happy hour. Five minutes in, My neighbor pulls up with a problem. She needs someone to ride up to Chattanooga with her to retrieve her husbands truck. Her husband evidently took a road trip by himself against all advice since he has been sick and near death for past year and ended up getting taken to the hospital by ambulance up there for some reason that she was not exactly to clear on. I figured what the hey, two hours up and two hours back is the least I could do to help a friend/neighbor in distress. Four hours investment would give me plenty of time to get back, get some sleep and make an 8:00 AM four hour class and exam in Marietta, Ga to get my EPA Certification in refrigerants I was schedule for. Or so I thought. Silly me. So, we gas up and start heading to I75N which is the closest route to Chattanooga from here. About the time we get close to I75N she gets a call that he is in a hospital in Sevierville, TN not Chattanooga! Turns out he had been in Gattlinburg not Chattanooga. Factual details are pretty sketchy since evidently he isn't giving her very clear information due to his condition and she is naturally a little bit ditsy and confused anyway. Well, it's closer to go up I85N to Gattlinburg so we turn around on I285 to head toward I85N. By this time we are right in the middle of Atlanta rush hour traffic, on I285, on a Friday afternoon. If your familiar, bumper to bumper/Grid lock is an understatement. :bang head:Two hours later we get to I85N which is no better than I285. :bang head:Then she gets another phone call that he is being transferred to a hospital in Knoxville. The keys to the truck are with him and the truck is in Gattlinburg. So Knoxville is now our destination. We should have just continued up 75 had I known at the time, :doh:but at this point I85 seems to be gridlocked all the way to the horizon and there's noway I'm getting back on 285 so I turn north to head to Knoxville, due north across country. Another hour and half later we finally get out of traffic just south of Dahlonega. Now, Ga. 60N out of Dahlonega is a great motorcycle road :7_6_3[1]:as many of you know but in her ragged out 4 cylinder, straight shift, Ford Ranger after sunset, no so much. Four hours of twisty mountain back roads through rural north Georgia and Tennessee double clutching the whole way we finally reach the Knoxville area. Now I'm relying on the GPS for directions since her sense of direction and coherent information seems to be non-existent:confused24::confused24:. She also does not understand why the GPS can't process input such as a Hospital somewhere in Knoxville. :confused24: He is unaware or incapable of giving a name of the hospital or street address:confused24: and evidently calling a nurse to the phone for specific information is too much to ask. Forty five minutes later I finally get a street address to plug into the GPS. We reach the hospital, undergo interrogation and a background check with hospital security to get after hour passes to visit him in his room:doh:. It then took 30 minutes for them figure out and tell us what room he was in. Then we roam the maze of hallways and elevators in the hospital to find his room since the rest of all of the hospital staff were evidently on break and not available to give us directions to his room.:doh: We finally find the room, visit for awhile, get the keys and head off for Gattlinburg to retrieve the truck. We reach Gattlinburg to find out that she does not know, can't remember and can not make heads or tails of her scribbled unintelligible notes on the back of an crumpled envelope that she had written down the name of the motel where the truck was parked. :doh:So, after another series of phone calls back and forth with him to find out what hotel the truck is parked at we finally locate the motel and truck sometime around 2:30 am. At the motel I do a Google map search from Gattlinburg to Marietta, Ga and determine I had time for a 30 minute nap to make it to the class in time and take the exam. So now I'm on a forced drive through the Smoky Mountains in the middle of the night pinching myself, slapping my face and hanging my head out the window to stay awake. Did I mention the pea soup can't-see-the headlights fog that lasted the whole way. I did successfully make the class in time with 5 minutes to spare. The four hours of class which amounted to a very intense detailed scientific dissertation on the nature, chemistry, usage and regulatory laws concerning air conditioning and refrigeration refrigerants. Now, I'm sure that for some, like the instructor, Refrigerants is the most interesting and captivating subject matter obtainable. For me with no sleep for the past 24 hours, not so much.... in fact not at all. My biggest fear at this point is not failing the test but cracking my head open on the over head projector in front of me when I lapse into a coma from sleep deprivation and mind numbing boredom. In fact several times during the first two hours, it was everything I could do to not get up and walk out blowing off the class and the exam. Had it not been for the $130.00 I had paid in advance for the privilege of being there I would have. Instead, because of the kinda-of-guy I am, and the money, I stuck it out doing my utter best to stay awake and pay attention to the instructor:detective:...... With the help of all the strongest, blackest, most horrible burnt tasting coffee I had ever had and could swallow. I'm glad I did, because when it was time to take the exam, it was 100 multiple choice questions which all seemed incredibly easy and I'm pretty sure I aced the test. Leaving, I had an incredible sense of relief and accomplishment :dancefool:as I got into the truck, heading home via I285. I was thinking of nothing but my warm, safe comfortable bed at home that was calling me as I entered the ramp on to I285E toward home. Right into the middle of grid lock/bumper-to-bumper traffic on 285 :bang head::bang head:with no chance of avoiding due to a resurfacing project which has been never ending ever since they built that damn road. Two and a half hours later I did finally make it home and collapsed in bed safe and sound asleep. Just in time to be awoken, Several times, by my friend sobbing tears of joy and gratitude for me helping her and all that it meant to her and her husband. Which she promised she was eternally grateful and in my debt for. Of course I said, and did sincerely mean, "don't mention it, It was my pleasure, I'm glad to be able to help." Before I rolled over and went back to sleep. So, the moral of this story is what? (A) Consider all factors and possible consequences before volunteering (B) Endeavor to persevere at you weakest moment because quitters never prosper © When in Atlanta avoid I285 at all cost (D) No good deed goes unpunished but, usually is well worth the effort. (E) All of the above Since, you volunteered to read my rant and dissertation and persevered I will give you the answer. ................. the answer is (E) All of the above Thanks for letting me share

I just wanted to say hello let everybody know I'm back For those of you who know Charlie e-fishin-c he is doing great I went and visited on the on the 14th for a for a week we had a great time at the fishing camp and I'll post a couple pic's when I can get them from my camera to my phone Dray

I'm sure I should have known this but..... I was installing my new ClearView screen which requires removing (at least partially) the front fairing piece. I've had that off once before but this time I notice that there is a knob on the left side way down near the bottom of the fairing for adjusting the headlight. Don't know why I never saw it before.

After 21K miles on it, I needed a new front tire, and quickly, as we are leaving tomorrow for Savannah. I squeezed every millimeter of tread out of it, and it was time. My usual tire guy is closed on Mondays, so I called Mountain Powersports and they had the tire in stock (ME880), and had me come in first thing this morning to get it done. $146 for the tire and $60 for labor, with no add-on fees. They were professional, on time, offered me coffee and a computer in their awesome lounge to get some work done while I waited, and had the job done in 40 minutes, including a nice wipe down of the bike. No hard sell on anything else like brake pads or air filters, and a coupon for a free oil filter with any parts or accessories purchase over $30. Really a pleasant experience all the way around.

Every time I touch the brakes my fuse blows. Why is this ?

hello i have tryed to post the bike in the classifieds but it will not post i have tryed a vew times in step 3 i hit samit it takes a few min's then no add i have waited till next day to see if it may take some time but sill not there any help on what i am doing wrong will help kevin bumble bee lexington sc

:cool10:Hi Folks I just picked up another Venture.It is an 84 Royal in not bad shape.She has been sitting around for a long time but I will have her road worthy by spring.:cool10: [ATTACH]71599[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]71600[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]71601[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]71602[/ATTACH]

After 31,000 miles it is time to replace my Kumho tire. I have been well satisfied with her travelling to Texas, to Utah, crossing the pass near Breckenridge, Colorado at about 11,500 feet, riding the Highway to the Sun, in Glacier NP, Montana, and visiting Ohio for our MD at Don's. All those miles and the tire preformed flawlessly! Time to see for myself, now that I have personnel experience with a car tire, what difference going back to a motorcycle tire will do for my bike. I read an excellent article recently in one of the Bike magazines regarding why one should not turn to the darkside. I bow my head to their wisdom and knowledge. My decision to leave the darkside is not based on this article though. My experience, with the car tire, just does not track with what they are saying. Leaving the darkside, at least for the life of one motorcycle tire, is my way of figuring out what is best for my bike. I ordered an Avon Venom this morning.

I heard about this forum from the gentleman i purchased my bike from a year ago. it has been such a good bike I've had no issues so I spent my time riding instead of logging on. I do have an issue that came up today. I have a fully charged batter, fuses all check out, ground appear to be in place but I have NOTHING when i turn the key. it ran fine yesterday. help anyone!! Update: after taking off a bunch of plastic and removing the radio, i found a broken switch. not sure what it is, want to order a new one. it is a switch that attaches to the main buss fuse and is mounted inside the radio compartment. it has a knob that you push/pull to make something work. after i put the switch pieces back together, i now have power. it doesn't look like the kill switch (1NL-82501-00-00) that the yamaha dealer suggested. any guesses out there. help!!!! thanks for your time and input. final solution: I figured out the switch mystery. A previous owner put in an anti-theft switch. I found a perfect match at O'Reilly auto parts. A 75-amp push/pull switch. I'm going to get a new one and replace the one I reassembled previously. Thank you to all who gave me possible solutions.

Was doing a carb sync last night getting ready for a day ride tomorrow and four day trip beginning next Thursday. Normally I can get the sync done quickly, but this time the motor ran a little bit longer than ususal and the "FAN" kicked on. I am sure it's been on before but never paid much attention. This time however there was a "Loud Rattleing' sound like something was loose or had fallen into the area of the FAN and was caught there. Is there an easy way to check this without tearing down the whole front, end. Lowers, Seat, Tank, etc. Of course I turned it off for about 5 minutes, Made sure oil and coolant were OK and started back up. Runs GREAT but of course this time the FAN did not cycle on? Thoughts Long Tall Lynchburg, VA