cowpuc

I love Harleys,, always have, always will:biker:... I grew up as a ratty little grease covered kid in the early 60's that just drueled over the rich guy who lived "on the other side of the tracks" generator FL Panhead with the air horns, white pogo buddy seat and the chrome oil filter canister hanging on its side.. WOWZY WOW WOW WOW was it GORGEOUS. It looked, smelled, sounded, felt (he let me sit on it more than once), stared back at me called my name like no other motorcycle of my child hood and its what some of my dreams of the future were filled with as a kid (turned into more of custom knucklehead chop freak even as a kid but still LOVED those FL's). The 70's found me CTFW cross country on more than one old HD - even had a brand new Low Rider in 78 - and following those early dreams taught me some things about all 45 degree, single crank pin, knife and fork rod configurated V-Twins whether they be a flat head, pan head, pan shovel, cone shovel, evo, twin cam or even this new "8" = ya better carry a tube of Loc Tite in your tool kit and use the stuff religiously.. Nature of the beast then,, nature of the beast today! Best way there is to keep your taters all in a row = simple as that.... (I always carried a small selection of electrical terminals and a set of crimps too but thats another story)..

So my family doc advised me a couple days ago to get plenty of sleep, take my drugs and to keep my head down and give my immune system time to catch up. Staying out of the cold, away from adults with colds and runny nose kids ain't that difficult when ya sleep as much as I have been doing BUT = a lop eared 1/2%er VR MOTORCYCLE club member varmint's gotta have some kind of fun - right?? WOWZY WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So light and nimble right off the kick stand (like standing there nockin a MX bike between your knees - DOUBLE WOWZY WOW WOW WOW) that I almost tossed it over onto its right side when I stood it up = had not it been captured between my knees I just may have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My gosh what an amazing piece of game changing world class RnD.. I used to go to the big rally out in Sturgis just to hang out all night with the builders and always got over ground up builds.. This was right out or front door, good night,, is it a genuine work of motorcycling art.. Truly,, IMHO, if your any type of a bike gearhead or into custom builds at all and havent taken a moment to stop and admire the new Wing you really should do so!! To all you folks at Honda = :clap2::clap2:

OUTSTANDING and a HUGE congrats Geo!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing like a job well done and V-4 hitting on all 4!!! That Fool,, he really is quite the lop eared varmint I tell ya - one of the sites gurus for sure!! Know what I would do if he ever did something like that to my bike Geo?? I would nominate him for one of those fancy little blue ribbon "honor award" things that ya see hanging under peoples avatars - living proof that that Fool really is a blue ribbon kind of varmint IMHO!!

Dont you know about gremlins jumping up and gettin ya Snype?? Maybe a quick run thru on the video below will help? I see tires, solenoids, CDI boxes, mirrors, inner fairings, batteries and on and on..... Of course,, I also fell on my head when I went over backwards on my KX500 years ago too so maybe what I think I am seeing is not exactly what is actually there Snype....

I hear that brother,, only thing is,, the smarter these bikes become the harder it seems like it is to fool em.. Some of these new brains that operate thru CANbus systems are really not that friendly,,, matter of fact,, some of them are designed to protect against hacking and will rat you out quicker than a 16 year olds little sister.. This can be a serious matter if it ever comes down to a warranty question comes some of these things are so smart they can tell how fast you have gone, if the oil ever got below a pint low and even if you ever tipped over (that is HUGE cause tipping over on a running bike can cause air into an oil system = good excuse for failed crank bearings?).. Lots of the old Screaming Eagle hacking days and fumbling with ECM parameters are gone IMHO.. Multiple computers speaking to each other can complicate things I reckon...

,, on the other hand though,, IMHO,,, the ability to spin up a 2 inch wide patch of rubber (about what you get for contact on a bike tires radius to the road) on wet pavement is not really a good/fair indicator of that much really... FUN? OHHH HECK YEA:biker:!!!! but still not much if your trying to prove anything concerning the performance of the scoot = just my opinion... Now if that guy would have throttle her up on the back wheel on dry pavement in 2nd Gear and then spun the back tire up when he nailed third like I saw a guy on a new Valk do not long ago = ... That being said though,, if you watch the tach on the bike and notice how quickly it revs and where in that rev range things start to get interesting = you can get a small taste of the torque vs Hp thing and also what having 4 valve heads and being massaged with a little CRF valve train techology can do.. I sure wish Mom Honda would have REALLY gone after that 160 Hp Beemer... Torque vs HP.. Being no engineer of any sort,, but I am old back yard grease monkey with a lifetime of messing with this stuff so I do have some thoughts on the torque/Hp battle (plus we are talking about how they apply to bikes:happy34:)... IMHO,,, torque and hp are inseparable.. Torque is a measurement of how much work an engine is capable of doing and Hp is a measurement of how fast it can do that that work.. Many years ago I was taught that this can be expressed mathematically and when shown the math formula back then - it was easy to see where no torque = no hp,, simple - one cant exist without the other.. Speaking of the math here,,, ever look at a dyno sheet Cha? Next time ya do try to take notice of something = there is a "given" on every dyno chart for every motor = that given is that at 5200ish R's the Hp line will cross over the Torque line.. No joke brother,, sounds crazy probably but this is a fact!! Years ago, playing with dyno's and doing some tuning I came to realize that after 5200 R's - torque is irrelevant when talking performance = it's all about Hp up there above 5200 R's if you remember that the torque number is incorporated in the hp number.. Below 5200 R's and torque is where its at and HP is irrelevant because it can not be above the torque curve and above 5200 = torque will always be below the hp curve.. Another interesting thing about tuning for torque in motors that are not designed to handle R's over 5200 is that because your dealing with a given rpm range to build that torque (5200 r's) - the absolute best that builders/tuners can hope for when it comes to the torque curve is a flat/high curve and that is not always easy to accomplish.. Most engines "peak" in a fairly close range (lets say 1500 r's) which requires a fair amount of shifting to accomplish decent accelleration (take a peek at how quickly the new Venture has to be shifted compared to Tweeks in the videos below - both revved out to rev limit in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear) and held within that range to have effective acceleration.. On the other hand,, HP seen on the curve of a dyno plot starts way below the torque curve (ALWAYS - it HAS to - it cant go above the torque curve until 5200 R's) and builds steadly until it crosses 5200 r's and then - depending on the engines tune and design - keeps building as the R's increase = higher she revs,, higher the hp faster she be funner the fun .. The range of the R's that the engine can safely and reliably produce is a huge factor when you think about all this because a well balanced usable torque - high hp motor has amazing usable operating range when combined with a probably ratioed tranny (you gotta come ride my R1 Cha = little 1000cc motor = 105 mph in FIRST GEAR = breaks the back tire loose in 4th at 140 and you can still feel it "sliding" loose at 160 in 5th:cool10:) .. Here is something to think about when thinking Torque vs Hp.. If torque represents the amount of work the engine is capable of performing and Hp is the time factor in which that work is going to be accomplished than,, in my pea brain,, the first thing a person should do is determine how much work they actually want the engine to do = in the case of a motorcycle,, this can be determined by a simple weight/load measurement.. It all comes down to a balancing act IMHO... Think of this,, we bikers arent trying to move 40 ton down the highway like the Truckers are, we really do have a limited amount of work for the engine to accomplish.. If we over build for work (friends in my area have heard me say "that thing is muscle bound" in reference to some of the high torque V-Twins I have helped build - in using that term I was trying to denote the imbalance I am talking about here - at some point,, having a lot of torque becomes pointless IF having it prohibits an increase how fast that work is going to be performed) to be performed so its wasted muscle and we do pay for that over build by limiting the speed (how fast) at which the work can be accomplished than something isnt right - its all about balance. So how does this limit on the speed of the work being done manifest itself?? Ponder this = years ago because of my playing with lawn mower engined powered minibikes and reaching down and over riding the governer and developing a nasty habit of destroying rods in those engines by doing so, a seemingly talented mechanic explained to me that the reason I kept blowing rods was because I was pushing my little Tecumseh motors "piston speed" beyond reason.. I gotta to be kind of careful here cause there are some real engineers around here that don't agree with this but I ended up getting exposed to protecting my future engines by setting rev limits according to "piston speeds" on those future builds as explained by the mechanic years ago .. Without going into to much detail here and potentially causing another clubhouse ,, I will simply state that the more cylinders you have to spread the wanted Cubic Inches around to - the less rod length needed to amass the required volume to accumulate those desired Cubes and the higher you can safely spin up the R's without crossing into dangerous piston speeds because the piston(s) dont have to travel as far for each revolution of the crank ( = lower piston speeds).. IMHO developed thru a fair amount of non scientific messing around with this stuff - a good balance of power without going muscle bound for a touring bike weighing under 1000 pounds and hauling 500 pounds of payload (1500 pounds = this represents the work to be accomplished) is 75 Foot Pounds of torque in the 3 grand range and capabilities of spinning up to/ safely tuning to at least 7 grand/100 hpish = this balance produces plenty of torque for effortless mountain work with out downshifting alot (depending on top gear gear ratios of course) and, with no confounded speed limiter set by some bone head who thinks he/she should decide how fast I need to go instead of letting my right wrist decide = LOTS of spirited fun!! Then,, if 75 ft pds really is sufficient (and IMHO - it is plenty for me as I am not one of these varmints who plans on pulling a rail road car around with me) - any tuning/building beyond that figure can/should be applied to speeding up the process of getting the work done (HP) and, IMHO, that increases the "FUN" factor!! My fingers are tired,, gonna end here but before I do I just wanna say,,, I LOVE that new Wing too ,, but,, yea,,, 25 grand and up for an engine and two wheels (I personally could care less about radios, tape decks, blue teeth, Go Park Somewheres (is that what GPS stands for?) - 25 grand is Corvette country IMHO

A really good friend of mine (MiRider) had one that I got to ride and I liked it.. The one he had didnt steer like a traditional "trike", it still had the characteristics of a bike in the twisties but still provided adequate anti tip over.. I know that lop eared Hot Dog sneakin varmint and his precious wife have since moved on to a traditional trike (Tri Glide) but I am sure that MiRider told me how thankful they were for their Voyagerized 2nd Gen (and their current Tri Glide) as it added some 15 years onto their being able to get out and CTFW.. Knowing that,, in the sellers defence I also know that the company that produces the Voyager does advertise it as a "Trike Kit",,, not that it really matters though cause to me,,,,,, I wouldn't care if they called it a screamin yellow zonker with a double warp drive,,, if it keeps the buyer out CTFW = I am good with calling it whatever they/I/you/them/him/her/us wants to call it...

:rotf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRysrnWZ1SI

Hows you 2nd gear Ready,, been noticing any slippage or jumping happening? As far as the white smoke and not running up to temp on the left.. You might wanna pull the plug(s) (at least on the one that is running cooler) and take a quick pic of it for us.. If she's pumping water and your getting white smoke because of it the plug in the pot that its leaking into should show signs of it. Also, can you smell anti freeze in the exhaust? You could also drain down the coolant tank, pull the cap on the rad - see if it has oil/carbonish in the coolant - start the bike and run it and see if you get bubbles in the coolant in the rad and/or hit it with one of those rad pressurizers and see if you can push coolant into the top end.. You dont remember overheating the ol girl do ya Ready?? Truthfully,, I have ran these things out for a fair amount of hard miles and have yet (knock on wood) had a headgasket pop yet.. I am pretty sure though that, like most any aluminum headed varmint = overheat em,, even once and warpage is bound to take place... Just some thoughts...

Guessing that isnt a sparker,,, looking more like an oil drain plug with kibbles and bits stuck to its magnet....

What cha talkn bout Willis,,, I had nothing to do with nuthin... This is either another case of mistaken identity or one of those big brothers blaming everything on lil brother moments Another example? Many years ago, some buddies and I were rabbit hunting.. 4 of us had driven north into Michigan SnowShoe country in my 67 Cougar with the hounds and guns in the trunk.. Got late and started getting dark, opened the trunk - stuck the guns in - called the dogs but my Beagle named "Star" would not give it up (good rabbit dog). Standing there yappin, I noticed Star's flag (tail) whipping back and forth about 30 feet off the side of the dirt road,, all of sudden "BAWLLLLLL" = he opened up with tone that screamed "I JUMPED A :Bunny:".. Squinting to see in the looming darkness, I saw his tail coming at me at high speed, bent down just as the broke the edge of the two track = scooped up the live and tossed him in the trunk of my Cougar and a buddy slammed the lid.. :dancefool: Slowly opened the trunk with my lunch box opened in my hand... Reached in, grabbed the and stuck em in my lunch box.. All of going crazy with :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::dancefool::dancefool:.. Got home, told my girlfriends dad about what happened (hunting with her brothers and another friend named Garv).. Her dad didnt believe us until I opened my lunch box and BOING = was rippin around their house.. Garv and Rod (girlfriends brother) worked together and during a lunch break the next day Rod starting telling a large group of fellow employees sitting around the lunch tables about what had happened... Got to the end,, all the guys were looking at Rod with that "ohhhh sure" look, Rod looked at Garv and said = "Garv was there, tell em Garv"... Garv looked at Rod and said "I have no idea what your even talking about"...

:sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On::sign Rock On: :dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool:

One of the reason's that i prefer to use hardened bolts and even washers when dealing with this stuff is that the softer medium grade stuff always seemed to me like it absorbed impacts when ya smack the puller bolt and any stretching or bending that may happen can really work against you.. If it were mine I would dismantle and dig thru my salvage yard like bolt accumulation and find some higher grade bolts and also something harder or thicker than the washers you have under those bolt faces where the bending is going on, or hit up our local Hardware for such. Something so when I smacked the center bolt the impact was not being absorbed in other ways than what I wanted.. Another trick that I have used many times in knocking out tie rods and ball joints that were 100% locked on in their tapered mount was an air hammer... Just put the end of the air hammer against the end of the joint, pull the trigger and POW!! Like mentioned earlier though,, be careful when doing this kind of stuff because the energy behind that flywheel will be unreal = I had a little tie rod come shooting off one time, hit me in the face and ended up with my teeth pushed thru my lip.. It would be awesome if you could get your hands on such a thing (cheap at HF) but if your stuck using a hammer to hit that center bolt it is important to remember NOT to use anything real heavy.. Your not trying to separate the crank bearings,, as mentioned by Corporal Newkirk mentioned - its the "vibes" your looking for = I would think a sharp blow with a 20 oz hammer would be fine.. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES though when working with this stuff too though,,, especially with hardened stuff like hammer faces and even that center bolt = they tend to shatter instead of bend... By the way Snype,, hopefully you are sure that the end of the center bolt is laying flatly against the end of the crank so deforming is happening there. I KNOW,, that tapered fit is TOUGH,, but you be tougher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://www.walmart.com/browse/motorcycle/motorcycle-accessories/91083_1080484_7946546_1070264?page=1#searchProductResult

Yeppers,,, came thru loud and clear Cal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:dancefool::clap2: BEAUUUUUUUTIFUL!!!!! Looks like those two scoots are already becoming the best of friends:big-grin-emoticon:!! CONGRATS!!

Being of the old deer slayin denomination myself,,,,,, the is one of my favorite video's of the 708's capabilities!! ALL the best in your sale Jeff!!

Personally,, I like the "VentureFar Clamp-On's" and would probably purchase a set from Venture Far Inc. before I would go Kury.. Those "V.F.'s" are a little more my style Sly..

Not really sure what exactly is happening but I REALLY wanna congratulate you Rodney on getting to go back to work too!! Health issues have landed me in early retirement now and I gotta say that not earning a living/working is a double edged sword = IMHO.. I have a buddy who is my age and still driving OTR truck full time who recently commented that he is considering joining me and taking early retirement too but decided differently when I reminded him of the fulfillment associated with earning a living (not just $$ related = not all treasure is gold or silver).. IMHO,, staying busy working full time is not only honorable,,, it is also extremely healthy!! Put in another way = cutting/loading and splitting your own firewood (we heated with wood for many many years) warms more than just your outside!!

Fixed it!! that gorgeous scoot of yours is ALLLLLLLL better!!!!!

Quick cultural question for you Carl = Can you Canuckian's get away with mentioning that one track is no longer enough room to your Trainers Carl?

YAAAAAAAH!!! Like this one that even comes with a camper so you CAN'T loose your tent poles no matter how hard you try bro!!! http://gl1800riders.com/forums/6-gl1800-classifieds-4-sale-owner/406097-2002-trike.html

I am thinking those are like a grade 5 (three slash) SAE Snype... Personally,, I would hop on down to ACE or somewhere and see if I could find some higher grade bolts to use.. If I recall,, metric "10's" are almost an additional ton of umphhh... Problem I have had using light duty stuff on pullers like that is that they stretch like crazy when you hit that hardened center bolt with the hammer or torque... If you find metric threaded bolts marked with at least 6 slashes instead of a "Y" shape 3 slash those would be fine too = that would be the equivalent of a +10 metric mark.. Make sense?

Right there with ya brother = does look like the thing just fell over before takeoff.. CRAZY!!!

Here is another take on the whole thing Fool,, see if this works for you.. Same video footage included..

cant see the marks on top of the three bolts = are those hardened? Use hardened bolts tightend in at least as much as the OD of the bolt - make sure the puller face is squared off nicely and then tighten down the center puller bolt.. A little lube on the center bolt going thru the puller body helps a LOT too!!