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I agree with Spencer. However if it does end up needing a starter do yourself a favour and try to acquire a 4 brush starter. It is like day and night specially when trying to crank over a hot engine.

Ford transmission fluid works for me its good on the seals.

Just heard from Cowpuc. He and Tippy are doing well. Taking time with grand kids and playing around with their Ebikes! He knows his membership is expired and probably won't renew. "we are on to the next phase of life"...in his words. He does miss us and wants me to say "HI" to all for them! So we shall see where the Pucster ends up...and I'll be keeping in touch with him and let you know how they are doing. Sniff, david

Now your just bragging. Have fun, be safe and we'll see you next year.

Adjusting Steering Head Bearings Today we are going to look at a very simple method of adjusting your steering head bearings. Loose steering head bearings are a fairly common problem on both the first and second generation Venture and probably the Royal Star also. At some point, you will most likely want to do a true service on these bearings. That is a much more complicated and time consuming job which requires completely removing the handlebars, top tree, and on at least the second generation Venture, the front faring..inner and outer. I've done that job and it takes several hours. It should be done at some point though because you will probably, at some point, want to repack the bearings and that requires the more complicated method. If your front end seems loose though and you simply want to tighten it up a bit, it's a very simple job that can be done in about 30 minutes. You will need a lift to do this job as the front must be completely off the ground. As you can see from the following picture, it does not need to be high in the air...just make sure the front tire is not touching the ground. Once you have the bike lifted, gently push the handlebar one way or the other and see how loose the front is. In my case, the front would fall to one side or the other without me even touching it unless I had it perfectly centered. That is too loose. The front should stay where you have it and if you gently push it one way or the other...it should gently come to a stop but not be binding or hard to push. If you gently push the bars so that it bounces off the stops, it should rebound gently and stop...maybe even ever so slightly oscillate back just a tiny bit but if it oscillates back and forth 2 or 3 times, it is definitely too loose. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/lifted.jpg The next thing you will need to do is slightly loosen the top nut just below your handlebars. An open end wrench works great for this but if you don't have the right size, you can protect the finish with a rag and use a pair of Channel Locks. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/topnut.jpg If you look just underneath the top fork brace, you will see two locking nuts. These nuts are slotted and locked together with a locking washer with a tab. You do not need to pry out the tab as we are going to simply tap and tighten both nuts together. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/lockingnuts.jpg Believe it or not, we are almost done. Simply take a long screwdriver and place the blade in the slots in the nuts. Tap lightly with a hammer to tighten the nuts. Be careful here. You will be amazed at how little you have to tighten these nuts to make a big difference. http://www.venturerider.org/steering/screwdriver.jpg After tapping, gently swing the front end. If you gently swing the front end to where it gently hits the stops, it should rebound slightly and come to a gently stop. It should not bind or be stiff but should not oscillate back and forth. If it bounces off the stop, and then rebound and hits the stop again...it is too loose. If it rebounds and gently stops....you are about right. Once you get it right....simply retighten the top nut and you are done. Very simple job that takes about 30 minutes.

Thanks Vaz. Remind him for us he still has friends here, I miss his humor.