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cowpuc

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Everything posted by cowpuc

  1. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination BUT, IMHO,, its still fun to play with!! Enjoy!! http://cycle-ergo.com/
  2. So what could be happening is the high amp contacts inside the solenoid are cruded up.. This can cause a high resistance to current flow which will show up in a low amp supply hitting the starter.. The way it all works is there is the large +12dcv cable that connects to the battery goes to one side of those contacts in the solenoid. Then there is another high amp large cable that goes to the starter located on the other side of those contacts so when the contacts are made (or come together) the starter is hit with +12dcv high amps.. The solenoid also has small leads going to it which carry low amp +12dcv coming from the starter button on the right side of your bars = when the start button contacts are made (or come together) a coil within the solenoid is hit with low amp +12dcv which pulls the contacts together that allow the high voltage to flow to the starter.. You can test the solenoid by bypassing it and just hitting the high amp cable with +12 directly from the battery and that should roll the starter with full effeciency if you have a good battery and if you have a good connection at the battery.. Another thing often overlooked on our Ventures has to do with starter amature contamination.. I know many folks have gone to larger cables to overcome what appears to be a lack of amperage available and have done so successfully but I have found on more than one occasion that just cleaning up the original starter (get that dust out from between the grooves on the stator and communtator) and checking bearings that its not uncommon for the original 83 starters with OEM cables to return to as new umphhh... Only stating that because it is possible that the problem you are experiencing could actually be starter problems.. ***** Its also possible that its a ground issue too.. It never hurts when testing devices to run an extra ground wire directly to the device to insure your not over looking a simple ground issue.. A long time ago when I was a kid in High School my Electronics teacher showed the class how to use a test light in series with the ground circuitry to identify a bad ground = seems like if the ground was bad,, the light would light up or something like that.. I now wish I would have listened a little closer in High School cause some of that stuff we were taught would have come in real handy when dealing with stuff like this Cammy...
  3. The only wire that connects to the starter comes directly from the solenoid..
  4. Silly Rabbit ,,, even an old hound dog like me knows its best to wrap the bird in tin foil if ya cant control the grill temps GOOD IDEA THOUGH SNYPE = definitely something I will tell your new Grand Child that you thought of when the little rascal gets a little older!!!!
  5. This product has also served me well thru the years Cammy... Because it's a dry lube, you may find it more to your satisfaction as it also doesnt collect dirt/dust.. http://www.jigaloo.ca/lubricant/1-jig-a-loo.html It also actually smells GREAT (until it drys) - sort of a motorcycle deodorant if you will..
  6. :scared: :big-grin-emoticon::big-grin-emoticon:
  7. I would be HONORED and THRILLED to get a peek of that chopped Pan of yours if ya find a pic of er bro = definitely right up my alley!! Those for real long bikes raked out past 38 degrees and surfin on above 12 over are magical IMHO.. The ride they produced when done right was second to none... I know what cha mean by it not being much,,, in fact,,, other than the amazing paint some folks stuck on em and the extreme care we had to take in getting the "trail" spot on so they didnt "flop" or go ape crazy in the steering like a grocery cart at high speed - none of em were really much , pretty simple really but WAYYYYY cool and fun in their basic bike soul!!!/ Yea bro,, if ya bump into a pic = I would LOVE to get a peek!!
  8. LOOK what I found buried in the clubhouse walls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's hidden no more David!! GOOD JOB BY WAY = THANK YOU for the excellent observations and write up!!! ***By the way,,, hope ya got that oil filter squared away ok brother!! Here's what I found hidden in the clubhouse walls: and VAz wrote = I finally got off my butt and went down to see the 3rd Gen in person. Was looking for this huge monster scoot. In fact it's about the same size as the 2nd gen....except lower. The salesman let me crawl all over and under the bike, answering my questions and making comments. He was good and knew the bike. First impression, it has a big butt! It is very easy to get off the side stand. It is easy to hold up. I have no problem flat footing that beast....felt very comfortable sitting on her. The controls look/felt perfect for my reach and inseam. 210 pounds, 30 inch inseam, 5'10". My wife commented on all the plastic. She's thinking breakage. But at least the plastic feels stronger than the 2nd Gen...though not as strong as the 1st gen. The flexing is in between the 2....but did feel better to my hands. The trunk is huge. Seriously. Saddlebags are larger on outside but the opening is smaller due to the hinge mechanicals. Still...lots of room. No 12 volt for passenger...that's in the trunk. There is 12 volts for rider and USB as well. Cleaning the buggies off of the all the stuff that is stuffed under the triple tree looked like a daunting task. The hole between the forks is huge. Be a nice place for a radiator but there is a ton of other stuff up in there. Eric, our salesperson, said not to worry...pressure car wash as all electronics are marine grade and can take the water pressure just fine. Hmmm. Well...that wouldn't surprise me knowing Yamaha engineering. Seat felt good to me. Firm. Can't be as comfortable as the pillow seats on the 2nd Gen. Feels more like an advanced 1st Gen seat. The rider seat" back" piece does move forward to allow more room between the rider and passenger...but at the expense of room between rider crotch and gas tank. When forward, It feels like the 2nd gen...when back...it feels roomy! Wife thought maybe that little back piece lifted up rather than slide forward. That would have been a good idea Yamaha...as my back needs more support. To lift up 3 inches would help my lower back a lot. It would truly make you feel like you are sitting in the bike and not on it. Snug. But...maybe on the Mark 2 version! Glad to hear a rider back rest is coming soon. There isn't much room around the engine guards for mounting highway pegs. In fact none at all in the front. Plastic would need to be trimmed out to allow a bracket there. Will be curious to see how the aftermarket solves that problem. The guards will not help the plastic in case of a fall at all. Just like the 1st Gen in that regard. Maybe Yamaha or some 3rd party will design some good looking side pieces that will act like some of the aftermarket stuff I've seen for dirt bikes. But that probably wouldn't look to cool... Minor thoughts. The lower vents are not adjustable while riding. Gotta get off and reach in get them. But look and feel much stronger than the HD Ultra lower vents. The upper vents have lots of adjustment to them...so passenger/rider cooling shouldn't be a problem. The dash was an easy reach for me, the hand controls felt good and easy to find...but all that a moot point if you use voice control. Windshield had impressive amount of movement. For my riding height, looked like I could vary the airflow nicely. I like the rake angle of the windshield as well. Should throw the air up and over without being a huge wind block in higher winds. Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of the bike. It truly looks like a well designed and built piece of precision machinery. I will ponder what I saw and felt, then go back for another walk around. I told Eric that my buying style is one where I visit 3 to 4 times before I even ride....and then expect at least a 50 mile test ride. His eyebrows raised up at that...but the manager was standing there...and he smiled and said that could be arranged. So we shall see... Would I buy it? Yep. Hands down from just walking and sitting on it...it is a very nice scoot. But...wifemate wants a travel trailer or RV so....who knows what toys I'll have this time next year. OH...did like the red color, but I do prefer Yamaha's liquid silver! Hope this helps...
  9. Yeppers that GeorgeS is a TON of fun = good peoples to say the least 7!! There are also numerous other fine lop eared VR folk varmints out and up your way. No idea if there is anything in the makings along this line but something you might wanna keep a weathered eye out for would be the VR Rally known as "Venture West".. WOWZY = GREAT bunch of folks out your way on the coast = superb time to say the least!! Dont get me wrong though,, those lop eared down yonder are AMAZING too - definitely the best of the best so you really cant go wrong no matter which way ya go.... Come to think of it,,, you couldn't go wrong CTFW up into Canuckian land either or hitting the East coast for that matter,,,,,,,, WOWZY there's a BUNCH of fine VR family out there!! 7,, if you do take my brother THEEEE DragonSlayer up on his offer,,, you would do well to remember to ask him about the origin of his name... Definitely an amazing story to behold - IMHO!!
  10. :sign yeah that::ignore::ignore:
  11. THEIR COMIN BEANY:big-grin-emoticon:!!!!! Parts are on their way Ty!!! Sent em Priority USPS - should be there in a couple days
  12. Hey Ken,, mind if I ask what you did to clean the rust out of the tank? I only ask because I know of more than one instance where the rust got cleaned out of the tank, new filter put inline and carbs cleaned/rebuilt only to have it all go south again in a very short time. I have personally yet to find filters that were tight enough/small enough in the openings for fuel to get thru that would not still let some rust particles get thru - basically fuel filters wont stop rust from contaminating the carbs... In the end, if the tank is rusted it either needs to be replaced or treated before addressing the carbs to any real extent.. Trying to save you headaches down the road.. Puc
  13. :178::178::178::178::178::178::178::178::178::178::178::178::178: :fatsmiley::fatsmiley::fatsmiley::fatsmiley::fatsmiley: That is SOOOO sweet of you folks to have an open invite like this Ready = THANK YOU!!!!!! I wish there was some way Tip and I could even remotely see making it across the pond to hug and congratulate that precious bride of yours (and you too) and to double hug that sweet Mom of yours too - probably not gonna happen but regardless - be sure and pass around a bunch of :bighug::bighug::bighug:from us though will you?
  14. What I would do is remove the choke cable and lube it with a cable luber, then reattach setting it tight so I am getting max pull on the linkage.. Next I would WD40 the cable linkages on the carb - I like WD40 cause the bike and I can bathe in it together without worry of poisoning (experience taught me that) and its friendly with other parts besides linkages... Now I would full activate the choke lever and I would go around to each individual choke plunger on each carb (found under the edge of the diaphram carb bodies) and take a pair of needle nose pliers and lift up on each one - one at a time - to make sure each plunger is coming all the way out. Then I would WD the shaft on those plungers and close them with the lever, repeat and repeat and repeat a few times till each one of those plungers (you cant miss them = I am talking about the plungers with the little mushroom on the end of the shaft that has the fork in the linkage gripping it) prove to be moving freely without me having to help it with my needle nose pliers.. I am not sure (never did it with the Ventures) if you can get those plungers out without removing the carbs if they have to be rebuilt (dried O=Ring, plunger dried out) but I almost think it would be possible sitting here thinking about it.. Seems like the linkages at each fork have a screw in them to remove the fork and give access to the plungers... Shouldnt be to hard to see if what I am talking about is correct.. Hope this helps Cammy!! Puc
  15. EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!! :big-grin-emoticon::big-grin-emoticon::missingtooth::happy65::happy65::moon::moon::banana::banana:
  16. OUTSTANDING JOB VentureFar/Neil!! Thanks again for posting this up for our enjoyment and we are all looking forward to your Venture T.C. report brother!!! This is a very well written, straight forward personal account of a ride report on the new Eluder and it can be found here in its entirety with some outstanding pictures: https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2018/02/07/2018-yamaha-star-eluder-test-death-valley-bust/ and here is short version/primer of Neils professional opinion of what life on the road with the new Eluder may be like: 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder Test | Death Valley Or Bust! By Neil Wyenn - February 7, 2018 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder 500-Mile One-Day Test With The GT Option Package My plan was to loop from Los Angeles to Death Valley and return putting over 500 miles on the odometer of the 2018 Yamaha Star Eluder. I wanted to see if a 200-miles-per-day rider could head off to Sturgis and put in 500-mile days. Also, I wanted to see how it compares to my Generation 2 Yamaha Royal Star Venture V4. I started out at 7:30 a.m. with a topped off tank to get a good idea of mpg and miles per tank at various speeds. I felt like a bad ass, as I was riding this aggressively styled 1854cc bagger. I was thinking of ripping off my shirtsleeves and getting a tattoo. I have never ridden a bagger style bike before, and I found myself with a whole body feeling of testosterone and masculinity (no offense to the ladies, but not being one, I don’t know what the equivalent is). The Yamaha Eluder feels like it has a very low center of gravity. It is extremely easy to maneuver at slow speed. Using the friction zone from training on Ride Like A Pro, I was quickly able to U-turn in a space not much wider than my Honda XR250R dirt bike and at very slow speed. The Eluder has a 200mm wide low-profile rear tire. The lean over roll rate is noticeably slower than my Gen 2 Venture, but I quickly remembered about throwing the outside knee against the tank to help push the motorcycle over in conjunction with countersteering. The Eluder still doesn’t weave (swerve practice on the freeway) as nimbly as the Gen 2, but by the end of the day I was getting close. The stability of the Yamaha Star Eluder is amazing at freeway speeds. I spent time hands off the bars and the bike tracked true and straight. I don’t remember the hands off on my Gen 2’s bars with the stock front tire because I had changed it to the narrower tire for lighter handling soon after I got it, and it is definitely not a hands-off bike now. Many have mentioned, and it has happened to me that in a high-speed turn on the Gen 2, that if you hit a bump while leaned over the bike will wallow and wiggle. The Eluder is absolutely solid in a bumpy turn and doesn’t wallow. It carves tight and wide turns very capably and predictably. The bike is very stable and cruises comfortably at 85 mph in sixth gear. I would guess that about half of the 525 miles was at or around 85 (Note: Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt.) With that cruise speed, I still averaged 32.6 mpg for the day. At 65 mph I saw about 45 mpg, and at 75 about 38 mpg. The tank holds over six gallons, so even at 85 mph you can get 180 miles between gas stops. I ran the gas gauge down to just before the red/empty line, and it filled to the brim at 5.2 gallons. As I understand the tank, that still left 1.4 gallons until sputter out. The Eluder has a rev limiter at 4600 rpm. I have no idea what the rev limit is on the Gen 2, but I was bumping into the Star Eluder’s limiter for most of the day when starting out from a stop. Eventually, I got the hang of quickly upshifting shifting during acceleration. When aggressively taking off, you better hold on or you will be left behind. Yamaha tells us that peak torque is at a low 2500 rpm, and what that translated to is pulling just about any of the six gears from almost any speed. Speaking of six speeds, many times I was cruising for quite a while in fourth or fifth gear, completely forgetting there is a sixth cog. Cruise control worked great at any speed, and was a real help in 35 mph zones. At any set speed on any hill, up or down, the cruise control held exactly spot-on. In addition to quite a bit of power, the engine puts out a lot of heat. I didn’t notice it when the air temperature was between 45 and 73 degrees, but above 73 the underside of my left thigh was cooking, though not the right side. There are lower vents on both sides, but they are inconvenient to open and close while riding. When closed the heat was very uncomfortable at any speed. Open, they did help blow some of the heat away. Everything below the seat is warm or hot. Riding slowly in traffic at 90 to 120 degrees during the summer will really be uncomfortable on your left leg! The seat seemed comfortable in the garage but after 200 miles I started squirming. Where is Rick Butler when you need him? Want more??? Click on the link and enjoy the journey like I did!!! Puc
  17. My ears were ringing and I just found out why = I think this blank forum space was just SCREAMING my name to come and write something in it!!!! I LOVE being 1st in line,, you guys are sooooooooooo slow :crackup:,,, must be a bunch of 2nd Gen riders :rotfl::rotfl: ,,,, just realized I am in the new Eluder forum area:ignore:,, ,, think I better think fast and go find something to stick in this forum that has something to do with Eluding before I end up back in that infamous club penalty box.... ,,, VentureFar's Eluder report at UltimateMotorcycling ,,, time for some "Star" billing oh sweet brother of mine!!!!
  18. Sure enough Dog = you nailed it big time!!! Thank you Honda cause in so doing, it appears that Dunny has jumped on the "we better make a tire for this new scoot too" band wagon which makes it look like the tire prices have already come down to about 1/2 of what they originally were when we were out demoing the new Venture at Sturgis last year = GOTTA LOVE CAPITALISM:usa:!! Dunny or 'Stones though,, it will still be interesting to see what kind of tire mileage folks see out these new ones.. I know from experience (nephew owned a Strat that he and his wife toured on) that, because of the hit of the big twin Yam = the torque beat played havoc on tires - especially on hot tarmac (like all tires dont wear out prematurely on hot pavement right?).. I am not sure if the new Dunny is one of those high end dual compound tires or not but my buddies around here are running them on their big twin new HD's with good success (they dont tour though).. I know too that Mom Yam is using some new kind of composite engine mounts that may or may not absorbed some engine thump torque.. I also know that HD uses a compensator on the crank for such stuff as well as pulley to wheel snuffers - no idea if Mom Yam is utilizing either = be interesting to know. I have my doubts that the new Honda will have this same out come with tire wear even though it operates at close to the same torque as the Yam = I got a theory that 6 hits per rev has less tire torque hit as 2 hits per rev when considering high torque.. It will be definitely be interesting to see where this all leads.. Gotta LOVE talking scoots!! Puc
  19. ,, I always LOVED putting a whoopin on stuff like that Ty,,, giving it the old 1 - 2 punch and if it don't pan out - oh well,, bail and start from scratch! At this point, if it was mine I would take my largest set of good vise grips, I would snap the jaws closed on those vise grips and then lay the face/nose of them on my bench grinder or belt sander and I would grind a really good flat surface on the face of the vise grip jaws. Keep in mind I am talking about the nose/face part - not the side of the jaws. I would then place this freshly manicured jaw nose against the face of the res body along the edge of the O.D. of the broken screw with the drill bit in it.. I would squeeze and adjust my vise grip setting as I squeezed while lightly pushing down on the vise grips to maintain a perfect contact with the res face while garenteeing I am getting max bite on the screw.. When the vise grips finally snapped closed I would twist slowly but firmly to the left (lefty loosey) while feeling for and watching for any slippage of the vise grips on the stud (as small as the screws are for that cover = probably break before slipping).. I would take extra special care to make sure the only motion that was happening while using the vise grip was rotational = no leaning/torqueing sideways - patience.. It'll come out... Its just had the ole brake fluid between steel and aluminum going on for a long time = sort of creates its own nightmare but it will come out.. Sound like fun or should I go do some digging and see if I can come up with a do over for you? I rebuilt the one on Tweeks a couple times so it could tag along with us on her 300k miles of fun and it was still working when Tweeks donated her carb bank heart to her sister - should be still totally functional as far as I know.. Another REALLY cool thing about these old 1st Gens that I have ALWAYS appreciated = it was like Mom Yam knew upfront that a wanna be biker wrench spinner like yours truly was gonna end up working on the thing - probably out in the of the desert or wayyyy up on a mountain when fixing something too - Murph being Murph and all that.. IMHO,, Mom Yam being like that shows up in places like the clutch master we are talking about = x2 10mm bolts and the clutch perch is free from the bars (not attached to the grip control unit like many many other bikes). 12 mm banjo releasing the clutch line and unplugging the clutch switch.. If memory serves me correctly,, not much to it. If this sounds like a direction you want to go just P.M. me a shipping address and I will do what I can A.S.A.P. so you can get out there and CTFW!! Puc
  20. cowpuc

    Mama Tried

    Thats why I prefer to do my sovenier shopping and hang my hat in these kind of back alley joints Zag,,,,, I think all the booming and banging during the daylight hours tends to scare away those with sensitive ears and answers the question of whether or not my pocket knife is still legal is self explanatory PLUS = free camping, free parking, no entrance fee's, free Vendor tables ( and WOWZY - talk about pretty Vendor ladies at those tables)...
  21. How do ya tell the guy's with the magneto Panhead's from the one's without?? The guys with the magneto Pan's have 2 more inches of muscle on their right legs than on their left:178: Talk about those old Hardleys that would give ya crows feet from kicken em,,, the kid that bought my Chopped 59 (see pic,,, tossed in an old pic I just found of a '39 Chief basket I picked up too that I thought you might get a "kick" out of) call's me the day after picking it up and says "I must of kicked this piece of junk 1000 times last night and IT WILL NOT START!! Please tell me again which direction the toggles go for "Start".. All forward I said,, all forward I did he says and it still wont start.. I said,, "did you listen when I told you and showed you how to start the old Loner?".. He says "to the letter".. Lets go over it one more time I said: Toggles back (ignition off), gas on, throttle closed, choke on, roll thru twice on kicker, full retard on magneto then slight advance, Toggles forward, roll kicker over lightely until you feel the cams put pressure on the valves - keep pressing down until you feel the cam lobes rock between exhaust and intakes,, straight leg kick it like ya mean it and DO NOT sissy kick it with a bent knee cause it will hyper extend your knee and break it (very painful = those early XLCH's had VERY tricky kicker mechs).. If it dont start in 2 kicks, open the choke and give er some throttle and try again... Kid to me: tell me gain about getting it between the exhausts and intakes = I forgot about that part Hearing ya bro on the FACT that Yamaha has the best of the best history of rider satifaction/dependability!! Was reading not long ago that we have OWNED that for a long time now!!! YAMAHA - TODAY IS THE DAY!!
  22. To me, you bringing up those valid points about the Kawi has a real sense of irony about it Sky. On the way in from an out of town little Medical Research trip, Tip and I needed some fun time so we stopped to look at scoots - dead of winter,, slow paced sales floor and all that - LOTS OF FUN!! No new stuff was in yet but the dealership did have a couple year old left over Kawi Voyagers which are the tour bike episode of the bagger in the comparison.. I actually liked the "retro-sports car" dash and Tip and I were admiring the fairing lines (pretty cool,, definitely a look of its own like the new Venture/Eluder) when the sales guy announced $11900 OTD = take one home says he , of course I was ..
  23. and then there are story's like this young mans that make me just shake my head in amazement at how blind to proper "customer service" some dealerships/manufacturers can be (this is a tragic HD story but, IMHO, HD is far from alone in this type of improper business ethics).. Ethically speaking, this young guy should have gone no more than 2 days without a brand new replacement bike IMHO.. When watching these two vids, dont forget to remind yourself that the question of the day that our industry experts are asking us to help them answer is "what can be done to help save the industry" = now watch these and remember = this can/does happen to anyone:
  24. ,,:dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::clap2::clap2::clap2::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: = ACTUAL :Happy Birthday::Crazy_139: WHAT A CHAMP!!!!!!!!! YA DONE BEEN BLESSED SNYPE!! CONGRATS TO ALL!! Puc P.S. = ON THE NO SMOKEY TOO BROTHER!!! :You_Rock_Emoticon:
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