You guys/gals HAVE to let me in now!

[CaseyJ955]

I will be waiting for my laminated card and acceptance letter into the 40mpg club. I have my credentials in order now.

 

Rapid City fillup pure gasoline. Nemo road to Vannocker Canyon all the way into Sturgis. 14a leaving Sturgis heading into deadwood. I was well out of Sturgis before that first bar started flashing the F (43 miles). Deadwood to 385 heading back to 44, but I skipped 44 and did Sheridan Lake Road back into rapid where I filled up at the same station again, 105mi and filled 2.65 USG which lands me right at 39. There were a handful of WOT passes and some headwinds, almost all hilly curvy scenic roads and I was somewhat spirited on some of this journey as if I forgot to try and break 40mpg. I know a judicial rural highway jaunt would get me over 40 no problem. I tried to ride around 3500rpm as I read that they get good mpg there but it's so damn grunty from 2500 on (except 5th gear, 3000+ is better). I did a lot of 4th gear between 2200 and 3000 and it was very relaxed and thrust is immediate with the flick of the throttle.

 

It was a cool and sunny day, roads were essentially clear all the way, it was blissful, damn near a coital experience to have this bike running so well and not have to keep one eye on the fuel gauge.

 

Bike current config

K&N air filter

floats at 1.125"

AF screws 1-3/4

Skydocs drop shims

COPs/Ignitek.

 

I'm done, shes done, we're ready.

Edited April 30, 2017 by CaseyJ955

[cowpuc]

Not sure about letting you into the 40 MPG club - someone else is in charge of that.. I can do this though,,,, ,, pull er over there ya varmint,,, can I see your DL and Proof of Ins? Noticed your a full fledged member of VR MC,,, you aware of the penalties for riding your Venture in some of the worlds most beautiful country known to man and not taking 's to post on the site to brag about?

 

CONGRATS on the outstanding MPG Casey!!! GOOD TUNING BROTHER!!

[CaseyJ955]

Thank you, but the credit belongs to all the guidance and bits-n-peices from other members here. I was just pleased that this seems to have remedied the issue fully and not just more baby steps in the right direction. I wonder what the paper filter would do for MPG.

 

As I was riding today I could not for the life of me figure out why we have no M&E or gatherings here (besides the fact that I'm the only one here). The riding here is INSANE you guys!

 

Now, Cowpuck, I'm going to be at the MD and I full expect you to be in attendance!

[cimmer]

Sounds great.. Congrats.. now get out and ride the tires off that VR. Yea a M&E would be great out there.. And maybe it is something that could be arranged as it is a fabulous area to ride for days on end. It is one of my favorite places to ride that is for sure and I do hope to get out there this summer for a nice long weekend ride so maybe we can set up something then.

Have a blast riding and just for the heck of it you should try for a 40+ ride one of these days..

Rick F.

[cowpuc]

Thank you, but the credit belongs to all the guidance and bits-n-peices from other members here. I was just pleased that this seems to have remedied the issue fully and not just more baby steps in the right direction. I wonder what the paper filter would do for MPG.

 

As I was riding today I could not for the life of me figure out why we have no M&E or gatherings here (besides the fact that I'm the only one here). The riding here is INSANE you guys!

 

Now, Cowpuck, I'm going to be at the MD and I full expect you to be in attendance!

 

Good on ya!! Just to help ya out this one time with Vannocker Canyon pic help I found this.. Notice it has "proof" written on it? This is advisable when taking pics out there because of all the photo shop choppin going on these days.. Here ya go brother - background look familar?

http://www.aboutdon.com/p811821845/h51bdf5e0#h51bdf5e0

[djh3]

My 2nd gen I usually got around 36-38 on long trips. But I was usually 2 up and loaded with gear. Yesterday we ran up and back to Leesburg Bikefest on the Victory. I got 41.6 mpg, winds picked up considerably on the way back. Probably 10-12mph gust and 8 steady.

[videoarizona]

You will find 5th gear best at 4k rpm... very good mileage as well. For both of my Ventures, 4k rpm is sweet... In either 4th or 5th gear. I can ride all day in 4th gear on two lane roads. Smooth as silk and great mpgs!!

 

Congrats... Now push for more !

Grins

[CaseyJ955]

You will find 5th gear best at 4k rpm... very good mileage as well. For both of my Ventures, 4k rpm is sweet... In either 4th or 5th gear. I can ride all day in 4th gear on two lane roads. Smooth as silk and great mpgs!!

 

I tried to keep the revs up but it was just so relaxed at 2500-3500 and no hint of bogging, I barely touched the throttle but for headwinds or inclines I often downshifted to get that 3500-4000 in 4th or 5th, I have a several day road trip coming up and I'm going to try it both ways and see what happens, I think my state of tune may be atypical for a Venture. I'm sure if I stop screwing around with the throttle I can do better than 40.

 

My 2nd gen I usually got around 36-38 on long trips. But I was usually 2 up and loaded with gear. Yesterday we ran up and back to Leesburg Bikefest on the Victory. I got 41.6 mpg, winds picked up considerably on the way back. Probably 10-12mph gust and 8 steady.

I'm taking wifey to Hot Springs for some brisket BBQ next week before I leave, we'll see how the 2up mpg is. Great mpg on the Victory, thats probably my favorite twin right there. Amazing how fast a headwind can kill MPG at highway speeds.

 

Sounds great.. Congrats.. now get out and ride the tires off that VR. Yea a M&E would be great out there.. And maybe it is something that could be arranged as it is a fabulous area to ride for days on end. It is one of my favorite places to ride that is for sure and I do hope to get out there this summer for a nice long weekend ride so maybe we can set up something then.

Have a blast riding and just for the heck of it you should try for a 40+ ride one of these days..

Rick F.

Definitely look me up when you get here, if tourist season is in full swing or Sturgis bike week is going on there is a good chance I'll be out of state or hiding out on my property. If the later you must come out for some ribs and camp if your camping. If you come after tourist season it's a whole different experience, I guarantee you wont be disappointed! I know I'll get 40+ on a more tame ride, I really didnt expect to hit 39 with all those bursts of spirited twisties and WOT passes.

 

Good on ya!! Just to help ya out this one time with Vannocker Canyon pic help I found this.. Notice it has "proof" written on it? This is advisable when taking pics out there because of all the photo shop choppin going on these days.. Here ya go brother - background look familar?

http://www.aboutdon.com/p811821845/h51bdf5e0#h51bdf5e0

Sure does, looks like that first valley coming in off Nemo road. Norris Peak road is another must do from Nemo road, it dumps out onto the 385 which is also fantastic. Not sure if I ever told you how much I love your bike! If you dont have a Wall Drug sticker we'll have to get you one next time your here, even though Wall Drug aint what it used to be, you still need the sticker!

 

You guys rock, this is such a great community. If anyone would like to see a M&E, Black Hills/Badlands ride or camping trip, or any combination thereof let me know. If there is some interest in it I'll see what I can put together.

 

Open question here, when you guys ride do you use the CB to communicate from bike to bike?

[cowpuc]

I can attest, some of these lop eared road captain varmints use their CB's during group rides - they even put em PA so all can hear whats happening (check out attached Vid - about .40 into it is where the yakking begins). Personally I like to just stand up and yell cause I aint had a CB since my 1st Venture back in '87 (was a Royale - its where those dandy Blonde side covers came from on Tweeksis)..

Oh yea,, all set on my Wall Drug sticker Casey - I actually love the joint cause I love Cowboy history and the Back Yard area where the Dinasour comes after ya has always displayed some of the best early day photos known to man.. When you and I finally hook up IRL - PLEASE take a second to sign Tweeks Wall Drug sticker - dont let me forget to ask you to - also, I always keep a permanent marker in the left side of her tank bag - help yourself if I aint around..

Got an idea that may boost your MPG - may even give ya HUGE braggin rights.. Tweeks/Tip and I are really into coasting down mountains.. Iron Mountain road has some awesome coast time, so does from the top of needles hwy where ya go thru the narrow tunnel down to Sylvan lake... Fill up in Keystone,, ride that loop doing as much coasting as possible and then fill up again down past the Lake and I bet you might see 100 mpg plus - then come on here and :witch_brew::witch_brew::witch_brew::stickpoke::stickpoke::stickpoke: with these varmints who think they get good mileage:fishin:

 

Casey,, I gotta question for you,,, you ever check out the ICBM site over near Rapid City? Tip and I have always wondered about that - have heard they do public tours down into the hole? Always thought that would be fun.. On a bigger note though, I was yakking with a couple of like minded desert rats one time who were telling me about abandoned ICBM sites and exploring them - any thoughts? You dont know any folks over in Draper do you? Name of Mitch Campeu ring a bell by any chance? Guy stopped to check on me one trip out on an old 750 Honda chopper I built and didnt get the line leading to the oil bag on over the nub - line got hot - dropped off and pumped all its oil onto the frontage road running along side 90 over by Murdo.. Locked er up tighter than a well point in clay pan.. Mitch stopped and offered to let me store it in his barn for as long as I needed to to get back with a trailer, didnt need to cause I was able to free the motor up by rocking it in gear after she cooled down (smudged some rings in on #3 but those even unstuck after 500 hundred miles or so - got lucky on that one).. Any way,, great folks out there - thought we might know some of the same people cause SD aint got a huge population - like NYC or similar..

 

Here's that vid of some of these varmints using their CB's:

[bongobobny]

Hey Puc, there was a great link after your video to the 2009 International Rally at Dogpatch Arkansas! My '09 was only a couple of months old there, and my trailer was still gold colored and paneled to match the '84...

 

[cowpuc]

Hey Puc, there was a great link after your video to the 2009 International Rally at Dogpatch Arkansas! My '09 was only a couple of months old there, and my trailer was still gold colored and paneled to match the '84...

 

 

,,,, BEEEAUTIFUL SIR BONGO - JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! Brought tears to my eyes watching that - you put the vid together Bob? Who ever did did a REALLY great job - farrr beyond my capibilities - THANK YOU to whoever did that and thanks for hooking me/us up Bongo!!!!!!

 

By the way Bob - LOVE your scoot - that the one that you triked?

[Venturous Randy]

For your best gas mileage, RPM's are not as important as throttle position. An example of this is if you are running in 5th at 2,500 RPM's and without changing the throttle position, down shift to 4th and the bike speeds up and you have to reduce the throttle position to maintain the same speed, then 4th gear with higher RPM's will give better mileage and this also works from 4th to 3rd.

I have also done the washer adjustment that helped both gas mileage and the fuel smell at idle. My best mileage was on a trip from filling up in Asheville, NC to Cherokee, NC across the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back to Asheville on I40, filling up at the same pump. On that trip, I got 50 mpg. On that trip, I made a special point of not lugging the bike and running in a lower gear while pulling the mountain with as little throttle as I could use to maintain speed. I have routinely run from 45 to 48 mpg.s two up, even when I dogged it some. I have gone as far as 230 miles on a tank and still had gas left. I have also run on the interstate at 90 MPH trying to stay a head of a bad storm and my mileage was probably closer to 30 mpg.

Randy

[cowpuc]

For your best gas mileage, RPM's are not as important as throttle position. An example of this is if you are running in 5th at 2,500 RPM's and without changing the throttle position, down shift to 4th and the bike speeds up and you have to reduce the throttle position to maintain the same speed, then 4th gear with higher RPM's will give better mileage and this also works from 4th to 3rd.

I have also done the washer adjustment that helped both gas mileage and the fuel smell at idle. My best mileage was on a trip from filling up in Asheville, NC to Cherokee, NC across the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back to Asheville on I40, filling up at the same pump. On that trip, I got 50 mpg. On that trip, I made a special point of not lugging the bike and running in a lower gear while pulling the mountain with as little throttle as I could use to maintain speed. I have routinely run from 45 to 48 mpg.s two up, even when I dogged it some. I have gone as far as 230 miles on a tank and still had gas left. I have also run on the interstate at 90 MPH trying to stay a head of a bad storm and my mileage was probably closer to 30 mpg.

Randy

 

Thanks a gizzlion Rand,, I always wondered why my MK1's got such lousy mpg's when touring the west and I think you may have nailed it!!

 

[bongobobny]

Yup Puc, that was Sexi before it grew an appendage! I don't know who made that video, wasn't me, but yes indeed an excellent job!! Brought back very fond memories!!

 

PS Casey, part of being "in the club" is to have your thread hijacked...

[CaseyJ955]

Casey,, I gotta question for you,,, you ever check out the ICBM site over near Rapid City? Tip and I have always wondered about that - have heard they do public tours down into the hole? Always thought that would be fun.. On a bigger note though, I was yakking with a couple of like minded desert rats one time who were telling me about abandoned ICBM sites and exploring them - any thoughts? You dont know any folks over in Draper do you?

 

My folks run a door company here in this area, anyone that knows Dad knows he's the one that can be trusted with historic and difficult jobs. Almost any door you walk through in Deadwood is one of his. We did go out to one of those silos and did some door jams that needed to be historically accurate, it came with the full tour down the hole and around the old equipment. As far as I know you need to get hooked up with a tour, they dont let you just wander them, the vandalism would be off the charts if they were just open all the time. It's worth seeing, very cool glimpse into the past. A real reminder of how things were in that era. Worth it!

 

Nope, dont know anyone in Draper, not even that many folks in Rapid anymore, it has grown and become a big city with hostile traffic and lots of crime, I just stay out as much as I can. The rest of the region is pretty darn great for motorcyclists.

[CaseyJ955]

For your best gas mileage, RPM's are not as important as throttle position. An example of this is if you are running in 5th at 2,500 RPM's and without changing the throttle position, down shift to 4th and the bike speeds up and you have to reduce the throttle position to maintain the same speed, then 4th gear with higher RPM's will give better mileage and this also works from 4th to 3rd.

I have also done the washer adjustment that helped both gas mileage and the fuel smell at idle. My best mileage was on a trip from filling up in Asheville, NC to Cherokee, NC across the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back to Asheville on I40, filling up at the same pump. On that trip, I got 50 mpg. On that trip, I made a special point of not lugging the bike and running in a lower gear while pulling the mountain with as little throttle as I could use to maintain speed. I have routinely run from 45 to 48 mpg.s two up, even when I dogged it some. I have gone as far as 230 miles on a tank and still had gas left. I have also run on the interstate at 90 MPH trying to stay a head of a bad storm and my mileage was probably closer to 30 mpg.

Randy

 

I think of the washers help at idle the emulsion tubes have to have some wear, I'm thinking thats why the needle mod helped mine too. I'm pretty sure mine wont get up into the high 40s but we'll have to see when I hit the open road and cross the badlands and grasslands. I'm tempted to try out the Factory Pro emulsion tube design and see how that works. I see them listed for Vmax but not Venture in the link here. Also shows float adjustment.

http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/prody11.html Thats a lot of coin for 4 tubes. In theory the main jets/needles/tubes should be doing nothing until there is a notable load on the engine or until around 4k when the revs start to lift the slides. Thinking my emulsion tubes are worn enough that dropping the needles actually put me back to stock-ish state of tune where I can see 40-ish. I'm also going to try putting the paper filter back for a day of riding and see what difference that makes. I'm going to speculate that new tubes with the same settings would buy me 3-4 more mpg. I'm really happy to be at 40-ish but if it can be made better, why not? Sounds like you have yours in a great state of tune and a proper riding method must help too.

[cowpuc]

My folks run a door company here in this area, anyone that knows Dad knows he's the one that can be trusted with historic and difficult jobs. Wayyyyyyyyy cool!!!!:thumbsup:

 

The rest of the region is pretty darn great for motorcyclists. For absolute ROCK N ROLL sure brother - YOU nailed it!!

 

[CaseyJ955]

Yup Puc, that was Sexi before it grew an appendage! I don't know who made that video, wasn't me, but yes indeed an excellent job!! Brought back very fond memories!!

 

PS Casey, part of being "in the club" is to have your thread hijacked...

 

Hijack away! if you dont I may be guilty of hijacking my own threads. If that means I get my cool laminated card then I'm willing to pay the price!

[cowpuc]

Hijack away! if you dont I may be guilty of hijacking my own threads. If that means I get my cool laminated card then I'm willing to pay the price!

 

Willie explains to us why we are good with hijackin each others threads..