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First off, I wanted to thank each and everyone for your prayers and well wishes for both Jean and myself. I can't tell you how much it meant to us, especially right after the surgery when it was touch and go there for a while. The next thing I wanted to say is I am VERY grateful to be ALIVE today! This all started on December the 6th of last year. My left leg had been going numb off and on over the last year and it had finally gotten to the point where one day it went numb, and the feeling never returned. I thought I was looking at a hip replacement, my doctor was skeptical. He sent me for an MRI anyway. The report came back that afternoon and my hip joint was in excellent condition, but the doctor found a rather large aneurysm at the base of my Aorta, and I had zero blood flow to my left leg, and only 40% blood flow to my right leg. I was called at work the next morning, and was TOLD that I needed to get to the hospital for a CT Scan ASAP! At that point, this stopped sounding like a hip replacement, and more like something much worse! I left work at 10am, got the CT Scan and met with the best Cardiac Surgeon in the area. He gave me two options, pop a couple stents in the Femoral Leg Arteries and hope the aneurysm doesn't explode for like the rest of my life, or sigh up for a legit Triple Bypass. Now overall, I'm in pretty decent health. NO heart disease, I'm not Diabetic, and I stopped smoking about 10 years ago. If I address this issue in a timely manner, I could have another 20 years left in me, maybe more. The lure of the stents was a very quick recovery. I talked it over with Jean, and decided to go for the Triple Bypass. I have attached some pics below. I haven't really been out to the shop since I have been home. Jean, of course has been watching me like a hawk. I am currently receiving at home PT, and am working on the going to the bathroom issue. It seems like my stomach has forgotten where my butt is for the time being! LOL!! On a brighter note, the feeling in my left leg is about 90% restored. I am now able to walk farther than I have been able to in over a year which is wonderful news! Thank you again for the prayers and well wishes, It meant a lot to me! Earl and Jean.

6 Years ago I needed a 2 inch drive shaft extension for a swing arm extension on my 1995 XV1100 Virago The stock wheelbase is to short if you are doing a lot of 2 up riding .. First cut the old shaft in the middle and machined both of the cut ends ..The made a sleeve to act like a coupling ...Machined the inside of the sleeve .003 inch smaller than the machined ends of the drive shaft ...They would not slide together ...Put the drive shaft into a freezer for 5 days , next heated the sleeve to near red hot ...Mounted the drive shaft in a jig under a hydraulic press and proceeded to press the sleeve over the machined drive shaft ends .. It a tough job to press them together ...But it did go together after some time of trying ...The Yamaha shaft had spines at one end and gear at the other ..Did a spin balance in a metal lathe ....I road the bike with extension for 45000 K's never a any trouble > It did improve the ride by a long ways and handling had very little change ....The turn radius became about 10 percent larger ...I sold the bike in 2020 April , and because of the safety inspection , I needed to return the bike to the original wheel base ... I still have extension . If you are going to try making a extension do not weld near the cuts on the machined ends of the shaft

Discussion of ammo, and guns, near impossible to find, I watched an awesome documentary on Nat Geo, Trafficked by Marianne van Zeller, this episode called 'Guns', and I was literally shocked. All this hoopla about drugs coming from Mexico into America, and the crazy thing, the enormous amount of guns and ammo smuggled from USA to Mexico, to go to the cartels. There is a major turf war going on in Mexico on who will run the country, and Guns sell for a serious premium to cartels, and it is a operation just the same as drugs coming to America, only catch, Mexico Borders do Very little searching heading south. Here we all think Americans are stock piling, wrong..... Civilian gun ownership in Mexico is basically illegal, so who owns them, cartels and thugs... If you have access to Nat Geo, highly recommend it. She actually has a few great documentaries in her series https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/trafficked-with-mariana-van-zeller

I was just curious if anyone had any videos of the different that cutting the pipes make? I have to do something to mine to increase the volume and I'm trying to figure out if I'd rather invest in some harley take offs or if I want to do this cut mod.

LOL, wow, I never new or considered there were differences north of the border, East to West. The next 4 year stuff, certainly political. My opinion is, and we all have opinions, Biden bothers me not so much, but that nasty VP Harris, wow.. My bet is, by June, Biden will be declared unfit for Presidency with health concerns, she'll take over, the first Lady President with a very very very social agenda. The even more scary part is the influences that companies such as Facebook have in manipulating perceptions, add to that Google who will let you see what they choose to let you see, you get where I am going. The ultra wealthy and powerful will continue to brainwash their following. Another great documentary if you have access to Netflix, The Social Dilemma.

Hi I’m James I am a Trucker from Frankfort Ky. I purchased a 2004 midnight star this past fall. I just got my riders permit in 2020 and am waiting to take the Harley rider course in the spring.

The flu shot only protects against the strains of the virus that are included in the vaccine. 30 years ago, most likely, vaccines for each season were not developed as they are now. For the last 7 years I have been vaccinated against the flu every year and have never had the flu since the first vaccination. Therefore, your experience is rather an exception and cannot be an argument in 2021, since medicine has made great strides forward over 3 decades.

interesting harley vs Indian video. Also check out the other videos on this link. https://www.youtube.com/channel

Not trying to steel hijack you thread John just thought this was a good place to talk about general restoration issues. There are so many old threads on here it gets difficult to find what you are looking for. If anyone thinks it is best to start a new thread or put these photos someplace else just let me know. So I got motivated today to make something look better and pulled the clutch and water pump cover. The photos show a before and after cleanup. I learned two things today. That fancy chrome plate in the middle of the clutch cover is attached by a screw on the inside (why why why would they do this). It was really tight and required heating to get it out. Scary since there is a rubber grommet under the screw. Probably could have left it on but I was sand blasting and thought it best to remove the cover. The other thing I learned was the water pump cover does not have a gasket it has a big rubber O ring. Anyone have an idea what size that thing is. I hate to order it from Yamaha. I suspect it one can be purchased on line someplace so long as you know the specs. This bike is going to look way better than it has in a long long time. I guess i am going to have to keep it even if I don't ride it as much

Hi Unc!! @uncledj , those Nighthawks were fine scoots - you got yourself a worthy project there of which I implore you to work thru it step by step and end up getting to experience the breeds real/full potential. Because of that Honda's vintage and also the demand for them back in the day I ended up refurbishing more than one of them. From that I divulge my amature knowledge of such. They did have some particulars you might want to be aware of: The Nighthawks real achilles heel from my experience can be found in Honda choosing to use hydraulic lifters in them. All of the ones I brought back to life had to have those lifters addressed. The lifters are tiny, about the size of your pinky finger from the 1st joint forward. The tiny feed holes that feed the lifters love to plug up causing lifter collapse and ending up destroying the top end, especially found with bikes that have not been run for a while. Another issue therein also has to do with cam saddles being dry from sitting and ending up smudging at first start up after a long sitting time. The answer to both is not trying to start the bike but to pull the covers and make sure the lifters are cleaned, cams prelubed before cranking her up. I ALWAYS also double check the fuel tank to make sure no rust is in there. If you find rust, a product called Red Kote will become your best friend. BAR NONE (and I have experimented with many), Red Kote is the best of the best. As far as the carbs go you can always safely use spray carb cleaner as sold at Menards or Auto Zone iinjected into the carbs with a syringe like I have mentioned on the site many times if you dont want to pull the carbs and/or do the full tear down of the top covers on the valves like I mention. Simply remove the throttle slide from an outside carb so you can look inside of the carb body and watch the amount of fluid you are injecting. Now open the drain, fill the syringe (large horse syringe like found at Farm/Fleet) with the spray, fill up but note on the syringe where you are starting the injection. Hook up with hose, inject and watch the emulsion tube where the metering rod attached to the slide slips into the emulsion tube (that metering rod controls the amount of fuel entering the carb thru the main jet). Keep pushing cleaner in until you see cleaner coming out of the emulsion tube hole. When you see the fluid coming out of the emulsion tube hole STOP - close the drain and note how much fluid you have used from the syringe. Now do all the other carbs with the same amount of cleaner. You can let that spray cleaner set for days,, wont hurt a thing. I have tested numerous cleaners and found Seafoam useless for active cleaning, as mentioned - Berrymans B-12 works great but you gotta not leave the stuff for extended times or it will effect rubber parts - I have used B-12 successfully for years. The very very best cleaner I have ever used is Chem-Dip but that stuff is real active,, any more than 1/2 hour soak without a good thurough cleaning/flushing and stuff inside will be wrecked. I have successfully used Chem-Dip though - just gotta work fast and beware that you eventually may be rebuilding carb Unc, I know you have been inside of our V-4 carbs,, remember those 700's carbs are only 1/2 the size of our V-4's. The idle circuitry in their will be hair size in spots BUT if those hair sized passages are not open and clean the bike will never run right. Looking at what I see in your post, if it were mine I would just go ahead, pull the top down, prelube, put a teaspoon of Mystery Oil in each jug, spin the motor with drill motor with the plugs out, drop a compression guage on it to make sure it had good compression, pull the carbs if it does, and do a real good thorough cleaning of the carbs with a CHEM-DIP soak of the disasembled carbs. Seal the tank if needed. Put it all back together, put a 1/2 teaspoon of raw fuel in each pot and screw in new plugs each gapped correctly so it pops right off at first push of the button. Beware when ya go to riding her ya lop eared varmint.. Those little 700's were big twin slayers!! Been a long time since I saddled one but I am thinking your looking at 80/90 horse at the wheel there and on that light little sucker,, FUN!!!

If you do that you have to trailer it everywhere.

71 Hemi Cuda is my bucket list car. Had a 67 formula S model 340 6 pack 4 speed with a 4:11 rearend. That car was a rocket, pull the front tire off the ground.