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Good day everyone! I'm back. Left about 2 years ago......had first one hip replaced......didnt think I could or would ride again so I sold my 06RSV........quickly learned that I was wrong so thought I would try a newer 1800 Wing. Have had 3 Ventures and now 2 Wings over the years. Had the other hip replaced this April and the Wing, as nice and smooth and powerful as it is, is just too heavy and hard for me to get on and off of. She's a great bike but......I miss my RSV so I have the Wing up for sale and have been shopping....have a few on my mind, just have to sell the Wing first. Will also be getting a new knee somewhere in the not-too-distant future. Don't know how many of the "old crew" are still here. Anyway, I'm here and you're stuck with me again.

Well, I am afraid to say anything out of fear of jinxing myself. I took the bike out for a short ride for lunch to get a couple more cans of B12 to have on hand in case I need them for the bike or other projects. I took the bike and had been driving very mildly in town. I then went to the gas station and filled up after adding half a can of B12 Chemtool. I took it out and was starting to head out of town. Since the bike was warmed up and I was on the open road I decided to see if the problem was about the same as last time or better/worse. Much to my surprise it launched all the way to redline without a hint of hesitation or bogging. Pulled like a freight train all the way up. I did some mixed driving and tried a few more times. Every time it launched like a Saturn V rocket. Unbelievable. It seems like the carb cleaner had some effect on the carbs, whether it be some varnish or crud I had missed, or if it caused some of the old rubber to swell and seal up as needed. I have no idea, just glad it seems to be working well. Time will tell if the problem is truly resolved. I think I might need to start saving my pennies to have the carbs rebuilt at some point as I am reluctant to believe a fix in a can is going to last long term. Right now I am incredibly grateful it seems to be running right. Now another concern I have is the half can of carb cleaner that is still in the bike. Right now work is keeping me pretty busy so I haven't had much time to take rides. It might be sitting for a week or two before I am going to ride it. Trying to decide if I need to run out that tank and fill with fresh gas with no additive, or if it is OK to leave in the tank for that period of time. If it had that much of a dramatic effect in a 1 month period of sitting there, then I don't want to risk liquifying any rubber plugs or gaskets that are soaking in this mixture. Anyone have any experience with B12 destroying rubber parts in their carbs? Thanks again for all the input, have a good day!

We certainly plan to have Freebird's Maintenance Day next spring.

Over the past 20+ years I have attended several great Meet and Eats. Met a lot of great friends and ate a lot of great food. The attendance numbers has fallen off over the years after loosing a few riders, but for some who are still diehards, we continue to have a good time. With all the new viruses and crap going around, I hope that there are those who continue to Meet & Eat. Last I knew of, the New York group has got together and Mike's Root Beer Run still does. I haven't made either of them yet but would like to in the future. Not sure of any others. As for our annual third weekend in August each year at Vogel and Asheville, they have been great. With or without an official Meet & Eat gathering, I plan to continue visiting theses locations. Anyone is welcome to join. I guess what I'm saying is that there was a time I would check this website multiple times a day and couldn't live without it. I don't get to as much but sure miss the fun we had. I am retired now, but seems like I don't get to as any events as I use to. I miss that....

Oven cleaner. I did it to my 87 trunk with no damage to paint. Be warned it will mess up your metal trim so be careful of overspray, either mask it or wipe it clean immediately.

I'm also getting ready to post one for the Houston Area toward the end of this month first part of September.

Time to pop for the Corbin Fire & Ice Seat?

No leaks. - Now, there is little resistance in the clutch lever with full, clear fluid, (new a year ago.)

I am with yo skid. Every year I looked forward to Maintenance Day, the WNY rally and the roaming international rallies, and hooking up with all the great friends I made through this website over the years. For a time we even had a good Ontario Rally and a meet and eat or two going. I hate to admit it but I am getting a little bored running the same local roads over and over. I hope things get back to normal sooner rather than later.

Really hate that Covid got MD and WNY this year. I’m getting to make Vogel the first time next week. Wish there were more members closer to this area to do some M&Es. I may be retired before the rally here next May, almost positive I will be before the following year so if we get a good turnout I can see that becoming an annual event. There’s some really nice riding here, you can come in on interstate or good smaller roads.

I know for Lonna and I, life has sped up a lot. I too miss the M&E's and would love to get it going again. Hopefully we could get some of the newer members to step in the gap and plan one.

May be a lot of work , but its a lot more fun than work. I will sure miss that area and the people if we ever stop meeting

Here's what I found last night. I was in the garage and I loaded a route and started playing around with the screen. I went through every option and I couldn't find a way to remove the first way point so I just shut everything down. This morning I started on my way to work and the route popped right back up. Stopped for gas and started going through the screens. This time I went into the edit route option. Bottom of the screen when you open NAVI. I had a list of 'stuff'. It was basically the first 6 or 7 way points. From here you should just be able to delete the way point you want to skip. It is not pressing one button like we would all like to see but I think this will work.

I don't have much farther to go on this thing. Today I moved the bike from our so called "formal" dining room to my so called "man cave" / garage. Today I also painted the fake gas tank with two coats of paint including the amp meter / ignition switch plate. Both are drying right now. The remaining things to complete this project are: Once tank is dry (and weather permitting), I will mask it off and paint the lower section of the tank White to agree with the original two tone colors. Then I apply the new original type decal I had made to the fake gas tank on the left side of the tank and then install / wire up the charger plug for the batteries which goes on the right side of tank. Install the amp / ignition plate and wire up the Amp meter and ignition switch. Bolt the tank to frame (one bolt). Install the rebuilt seat And I should be DONE with this project except for buying and hooking up the two batteries. When I am done, my plan is to speak to "WHEELS THROUGH TIME" and "BARBERS MUSEUM" and see if either place would want this thing for display with their other bikes. Here are a few pics starting with what it looked like when I got it, then some rebuild progress and the last pics are from today as to how it looks now.

Larry, there is an O'Ring (so to speak) in the cap to the master cylinder reservoir. Because the Reservoir is VENTED Spencer, it doesn't matter weather you use a washer or an O'Ring to seal the fill port. ONLY the fluid from the seal on the plunger of the master cylinder puts pressure on the fluid going to the caliper. If you bleed the brakes and air returns, it can ONLY be coming in thru the seal of the master cylinder or the caliper seals. (As long as ALL of the banjo bolts are tight) You can drill holes in the cap of the reservoir and it WILL NOT let air into the brake system! Period. If you see fluid coming out of the vent holes in the reservoir cap then the seal in the master cylinder is failing and allowing pressure that should be going to the caliper to escape back into the reservoir, pushing fluid out of the VENT holes. Ben, I'm pretty sure you have De-Linked your brakes. So you are telling me that you took a master cylinder that was powering TWO 4 piston calipers and are now powering ONE 4 piston caliper and you wish you had more braking force? If this is correct then you have another issue like sticking pistons in the rear caliper or you may want to select another type of brake pad my friend! You are dealing with two forces between the MKI and MKII master cylinders, Volume and pressure. There is MORE than enough volume in the MKII master cylinder to lock up the rear caliper. Both my 87'VR and my 89'VR are De-Linked, and I had to go to the Kevlar rear pads to control the lock up issue. Excessive PRESSURE prematurely wears out the seals on the master cylinder and calipers. Volume on the other hand, gives you plenty of braking power WITHOUT the damage to the seals, and I control the lock up issue with brake pad selection. Because we are talking about an 83'VR here, the ONLY item that can be used from the MKII Brake system is the MKII rear master cylinder. NONE of the calipers from the MKII can be swapped onto an MKI without mods done to the lower front forks, and the rear rotor and caliper mounting bracket. I hope this clears this up for you. Earl

Tell her I'm doing the best I can with all I got. We will be there Wednesday.

Stopped by Fin Feather and Fur yesterday just to look around., Ended up buying another pistol. I bought a Kimber Micro 9. Also picked up 5 boxes of 9mm ammo. They had plenty of Ammon but there was a 5 box limit. I have several pistols and my carry piece is a Sig Sauer P365. It's a good gun for carry because it holds 12 rounds and is small. This one is about as small but only holds 8 rounds with the extended magazine. Still, I prefer the looks and feel of the hammer fired 1911 style pistols. The Sig will still be my main carry piece but I like this one just because of the styling, finish, etc. BUT.....I haven't kept up with the new models in a while and just learned that Cold is making the .44 Anaconda again. I think that will be my next major gun purchase. They are expensive but I've wanted one for many years. Anyway, here is a pic of the new addition. It goes well my my Crimson Carry in .45.

we have something in the works. Will know more next week.

Ended up buying another one yesterday. Saw it when I picked up the Kimber but had never heard of the brand and wanted to do a bit of research first. Everything I've read has been pretty positive so for the money, I felt it was a decent deal. I think it's made in Turkey. That's what I've read but haven't actually looked yet. It is a Citadel Boss 25. Came with two five round magazines but 10 rounds are available. I'll probably shoot it over the next day or so. It's.12 gauge shotgun changed for 3" rounds. The only thing I really don't like about it is that the stock is not adjustable for length. Stock comb is adjustable for height though. I don't have the optics shown, just the fl9p up iron sites. May add some optics later but for my use, I really don't need them.

I hear oven cleaner does it nicely without damage.

Hot and humid today. Came home and started working on the bike. Drenched with sweat and swatting mosquitoes as I worked..... Drained the gas from the tank, (Didn't look or smell bad). Tucked a couple of rags on top of the crankcase, under the carbs and drained the gas out of the bowls. Took some carb cleaner and blew it back through the overflow ? into the bowls? and gave each carb a gentle tap on the bottom. I figgered that since the floats weren't being held up by fuel, maybe such a tap would break the floats free. Since I had the tank off, I pulled and checked the spark plugs. All looked good, all were consistent with each other. Probably 5k miles on the plugs. No... I didn't replace them.... Put the tank back on. Filled the tank with 5 gallons of ethanol free gas...$4.49 a gallon...and one can of Seafoam. Fired it up and no more leaks. It does sound like one of the cylinders on the right side where the leak was has an intermittent miss. Goose the gas and let it off and there's a bit of a pop from that exhaust pipe. Maybe the carbs need synced..dunno... New air filters will be here Friday, so I'll put them in and ride it a bit. If the miss doesn't clear up I may need to take it to "My Guy". I think this old gal sits more than she should, but, being an HVAC service tech, I don't have the time I'd like to in the warm months to ride much. Hopin' that will change when I retire. Still 7 years or so from that though. Thanks everyone, as always, for the advice.

Painted the tank today back to it's original two tone colors, Orange & White. Put the New decal on it that I had made at a print shop here in Huntsville. Going to let the tank dry for the next couple days since it is 100% humidity here. I still have to mount the charger plug in the hole on the right side of tank and wire it up, and wire up the amp meter and ignition switch to the small square plate in pic, and then mount that plate to top of tank. I am no painter by any means, but I feel it turned out OK for being my first time at ever doing a masking / two tone paint job with spray cans of paint.

Ok, here they are the long awaited Service Manuals for the First Gen Ventures. 1983 - 1985 Service Manual 1986 - 1993 Service Manual I hope some of you find these useful.