cowpuc

Bum rap brother = hope ya git ol Charlie back at it soon,,, its ride time Kev!!! Tip, Tweeksis and I are rootin for another west coaster real soon - cant wait to smell the desert smells again - howl with the Coyotes on the back of the badlands and chase the sunsets in the mountains,, been wayyy to long with all this goofy medical stuff and all.. '14 was the last trip to "1" - wow,, has it been that long - aint felt good for a long time I reckon.. Did weasel out a Sturgis rally in '15 - fun but hard cause of not feeling the best.. Besides a tuner for my ticker they yanked a grapefruit sized hunk of cancer out of my abdomen back in Jan.. Took my prostate, part of my bladder,, hunk of my ureeter - still wearing a diaper but hey,, better than pushing up daisys.. Thinkin they put a whoopin on that nasty stuff cause I been steadily feeling better, good enough to ride I hope AND, get this,, getting to play with my brand spanking new grand son - KIDS A RIOT!!!! Getting to be good friends with my Cancer Doctor buddy.. He's and avid hunter = outdoors men.. Good fit cause we got talking about "bucklist time".. Shooting straight - he said he would if he was me.. Looked at Tip, smiled and said "R1 time".. Ever ride one? WOW!!! Only 1000cc but WOWZY WOW WOW WOW.. It'll break 100 in 1st gear and still loft the front end when the exhaust valve opens at 7500 R's in 3rd :happy65: Named her "Maggie" after the "Magnum" roller coaster down at Cedar Point that my kids and I LOVED riding thru the years (will include a pic of my son and I later in life on that puppy)... An amazingly precise piece of astounding Yamaha technology to say the least.. I hear a lot of giggling going on in the garage at night = Maggie and Tweeksis get along REAL well!! Good to hear from ya Kev,, been to long!! Get Charlie fired up, head west and maybe our paths will cross = Hot Dogs on me if ya do!!

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW = awesome pics, awesome friends and I can tell you all had an AWESOME time Ready!! Wish I could have been there !! That Lucy looks like she was having the time of her life too!! Those folks sure know their way around a Venture dont they!!! Thanks for the update Ready!! Puc PS - right there with ya, that Or and Sharon have definitely got heaven at their doorstep - THATS A FACT!!

***Previous Governor Jennifer Granholm of the State of Michigan after giving away thousands of jobs and trying to sell her new socialist economic ideas to her constituents: "You just wait 5 years - your gonna be blown away by Michigans economic recovery" = been 10 years,, still waiting,,, and waiting,,, and waitinggg.. ***Rainbow Vacuum Cleaner salesman standing in Pucs garage while Tippy is inside doing laundry: "Any idea when the lady of the house would be available for me to show her this new $1400 vacuum cleaner" ***Puc and his child walking thru the store.. His kid see's a dollar bill on the store floor,, bends down to pick it up and the dollar bill moves away from him.. Puc hears teenagers laughing behind clothing rack and notices the fish line attached to the dollar bill leads to the clothing rack where the teens are hiding. Puc walks around isle, crosses between clothing, steps on fish line - can feel line pulling under his foot,, his child picks up dollar bill and Puc snaps it free of fish line and gives it to his kid.. Teenagers did not appreciate paying a dollar to see Pucs weird sense of humor..

Indeed brother - THAT is sooooo gorgeous out there - a couple of best friends on a beat up old motorcycle could easily ride off into the sunset and get lost in their dreams while singing some old cowboy songs out there for sure.. DEFINITELY,, as you say,, BREATHTAKING!! Ol Tweeks had just over 300k at that point.. Her speedo died in Dennison Texas a couple weeks before we got there at just under 300k - before we scooted down to Big Bend.. Poor thing finally gave up the ghost.. Was kind of a God send though as my wife - Tippy - had caught me and Tweeks duking it out with a sport bike before it broke at speeds in the triple digits with her on the back and she put her foot down to speed limit us at 100 mph.. After the speedo broke - I had to guess our speed all the time - she never caught on to the fact that I was using the tach as a speedo,,,, Tweeks and I went right back to our normal "open range" antics after it broke .. Later in that trip, before we reached the VR Rally in The Dalles Oregon, Tweeks fuel gauge decided to go on a vacation of its own like the speedo did earlier which left me guessing on fuel consumption.. Ran out of gas twice after that - once on "99" just short of Elk Grove California - ended up pushing the bike up the exit ramp to a gas station. Next time was just short of Chamberlin South Dakota - that one was a little longer push - about a 1/4 mile... Tippy put her foot down with that one and made me pick up another gas can to carry (had given my other one to my grand son in California before we lost the fuel gauge).. To the day Tip gets really nervous when the fuel light on the bike comes on,, I think the combination of pushing a 900 pound bike in the heat and having people stare at her while she was doing it changed her for ever - still an amazing best friend BUT definitely jittery around empty fuel tanks on motorcycles she is gonna be riding cross country on.. Wanna see another spot that I absolutely LOVE and have on my bucklist to cross someday on a bike? If so,, here ya go = if you camp out on this white stuff and lay still and flat on the earth under you, I swear you can feel the earth breathing,, sounds crazy but amazingly true - we Americans have been endlessly blessed I tell ya:

Play this video from :39 to :46 and you can clearly hear the typical clutch whine people talk about.. Definitely agree with the tire whine thoughts!!

I get between 30 and 43 MPG depending on how much I roll the spurs into her sides.. Tweeksis likes to have her reigns and stretch er legs - our average MPG is closer to 30 then 43 PS - @Carbon_One - Larry if your reading this - WOW is having 2nd Gear and a good clutch FUN!!! Ready - IMHO = +50 mpg sounds excellent!! Sounds like she's hitting on four and loving every minute of it!!

WOWZY brother Texas Hero of mine = what a trip!!! Looks like the Lord blest you folks with an AWESOME trip despite the pot holes my friend = CONGRATS!! THANK YOU for sharing the pics John - DEFINITELY an inspiration to get back at it - GORGEOUS out there!!! Your ol buddy Puc!

WOW Mike - soo sorry to hear about all this your family is going thru brother!! Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with you folks as you work thru it all!! Grieving with you! Tip and Puc

Sooooo,, :scratchchin:Skidders got a screw loose,,,,, oppsss - my bad - shoulda wrote Skidders got a bolt loose..

I did a fair amount of delivering bikes I had built and sold back when I had my shop - both truck and trailering.. Also did a LOT of hauling during my MX days.. Personnally I would lean toward a stout little single place trailer before I would truck haul. The ease of loading and unloading off a low to the ground trailer compared to a truck bed would be HIGHLY beneficial IMHO.. Plus, if (heaven forbid) an accident did occur - not having 900 pounds of motorcycle wanting to come inside the truck with me would be hugely beneficial.. Something to consider is that Sport bikes are amazingly light (my 1000cc R1 is under 400 pounds dry).. Modern day dirtbikes are even less.. The weight of a full sized touring bike like our Ventures can easily work against you during unloading and loading.. Case in point - I remember reading rbig1 's story about loading his RSV into his Van - caused me pain just reading it.. Rodney - back me up here.. Gary,,if you do end up truck hauling - make sure your ramps are stout!! Make sure they fasten securely to the truck BEFORE you put any weight on them even if you have found a good raised spot to unload/load on as suggested.. DO NOT trust the ramps to stay put without being strapped or pinned down!! If the bike starts to get away from you DO NOT try to stop it = let it fall!! What ever you folks decide - be safe and HAVE A BLAST OUT THERE!!

:scared::scared::scared::scared::scared: WHAT IN THE WILD WORLD OF CRUNCHIN MOTORCYCLES!!!! :95::95::95::95::95::95::95: @BrakePad = MIKE,, SOOOOOOOOOO GLAD YOU ARE OK BROTHER!!!!! Wowzy,,, stepped away for a few days to play with the grand son, come home to find this -- sorry to read this brother!!! I know (and LOVE) that area surrounding Kanab Utah very well = love it out there!! Where were you guys when this happened? Zion? Headed to the north rim? Going over to Page? Good grief brother = what a nightmare!!! Yea,, that area does get HEAVILY traveled by tourist - including LOTS of foreign travelers.. No excuse though..... Brought tears to my eyes seeing you laying in the hospital... Prayers Up for you in your recovery - also hoping you found someone to help with getting the bike trailered in.. WOW -- makes me sick to my stomach just reading this.. My gosh,, Prayers Up Puc

Back at cha Grubs!! You ever see a sticker covered beat up ol 83 Yamaha Venture beatin her poor little 74 inch V-4 heart out trying to get the 2 people riding on her back back to civilization PLEASE feel free to chase er down and point its riders in the right direction = be a Hot Dog and a can of Pop in for ya if ya do!! *** Hint for easily surpassing all those miles you spoke of,,,,, written above is a detailed explanation of how it happened.. ,, sorry bout that Leland = back to that GORGEOUS scoot of your sons!! WOW that is GORGEOUS!! Just noticed its "custom" wheels.. Sort of has a HD CVO look to em... Wonder if those are stock on the "Elite"?

""scratch one ISIS soldier"" = BINGO!!!!!!!!! ""thank you to our military for their services."" = DOUBLE BINGO!!! = a HUGE thank you to ALL those folks out there fighting to keep the free world FREE!! IMHO - one of the things that having taken full advantage of our countries 2nd Amendment rights thru the years has taught me (and obviously others) thru a life time of shooting experience is just how difficult it becomes to score a hit as the range increases.. I personally have shot out to 1000 yards with a 7 mag, thru an 18 power scope and gotta say - everything has to be perfect just to keep your ammo from bouncing off the rocks in the canyon floor between you and your target on the mountain side your shootin at.. To folks not familiar with attempting such a thing,, trying to explain to them simple things like just the affect of touching the trigger on the weapon and seeing your heart beat in the scope is hard to understand - and this is thru a measly 18 power scope shooting 1000 yards.. Cant even begin to imagine +2 miles thru optics powerful enough to show a kill zone and not be computer assisted somehow .. 1760 yards x 2 (2 miles) is a longggg ways.. One thing for sure - regardless of how that Canuckian sniper did it (and I am PROUD of him for doing so - HATS OFF TO YOU MY BROTHER!!) - I sure am glad he is on our side!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK OUT THERE!!!!!

Not me,,, I been out playing with the new grandson for a whole week - what a hoot!!! Got new tires waiting for me mount and high hopes of hitting the road in a westerly direction - LOOK OUT WORLD = Tip, Tweeksis and Puc comin outa chute nine!!! Hey DanL' - Kevin's probably doin some CTFW of his own,, probably cant hear ya over his pipes,,, try this = WASSUP @AKRefugee

Glad all is well and you folks made it home safely brother!! Been out of town for a while too - baby sitting the new grand kid - so I missed a lot here on the site.. Got a LOT of catching up to do - including checking out your ride!!

Not me baby - if I were gonna spring for one of those gorgeous scoots I would HAVE to have those iconic swoopy fenders,,, probably Cream and Willow Green in color and even a really nice set of white wall tires like I KNOW you share in a deep love for too :rasberry:

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW - THAT IS GORGEOUS!! If I had me a great big gorgeous motorcycle like that you would have to catch me at a gas station filling it up with fuel to catch a still shot like that - any picture beyond that would just be a quick shot of the shadow of my Indian and me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS to your son Leland!!!!:thumbsup:

THATS MY CHAMP RIGHT THERE!!!!! I just KNEW if anyone would come up with a fix it for those Chicken Strips it would be you Coff:dancefool:!!!! Tip, Tweeks and I tried to follow you up Mt. St. Helens where no Chicken Strips are allowed :big-grin-emoticon:,,, talk about AWESOME memories Sonshine!!! Sure am thankful to the Lord for bringing you safely home Coff!! THANK YOU again for your service Tech Sargent Coffey!!:usa:

Awe,, thanks Kretz for loving ANY of my posts my friend! You dont ever have to worry even one bit about Puc even having a naughty book - I always figure with as much , and that I do around this place (I love needling people - especially folks that I love and I know love me) that ANY form of or or I get I am SURE I somehow deserve it Puc da Geezer

Very informative post Davin = thanks!! Looking at your gun collection = NICE - gotta ask,, what is that rifle in the forefront of your safe? The black one with the multi round magazine sticking out of it? Looks like maybe a 7.62x39 or maybe .223 rifle,, maybe even larger = .308 NATO? Cant see the action on it but that sweetheart sure looks Semi Auto to me? IMHO - Making it illegal to own a semi auto or full auto is a partial ban,, to some folks here it may also be considered a ban... Speaking of mass murder,, a few years ago in the State of Wisconsin very near a small town of Fon Du Lac a young man driving a car decided to go bowling for bikers. A large group of riders from my home state - Michigan (included a few buddies of mine that I knew real well) - were on their annual ride around Lake Michigan when they met their demise at the hands of this mass murderer.. He took the whole group out with his car - killing a bunch and maiming for life others. One of my neighbors was part of that attack and, fortunately survived thru it but is a paralized from the shoulders down for life.. Because it did not involved a gun and massacring people by using a vehicle seems to be more politically correct - public outcry for more Auto control was zilch. An interesting study into what I am talking about happening here in the States might not be a bad idea BEFORE changes to our Constitutional rights take place.. Little things like banning the use of Alcohol or Drugs in Public might not be a bad idea.. I am not sure of this but I have a hunch that the loss of life or permanent injuries due to Auto accidents involving alcohol useage is probably substantially higher than the same involving guns. Another interesting study would be one of the same in countries such as Canada or even your homeland where zero tolerance to public use of Alcohol is not applied... I know,, what I am talking about sounds rediculous because,, well,, because telling people they will no longer be allowed to consume Alcohol outside of their homes is serious business.. On the same line of thought though - it might be important to remember that there are people in the U.S. who also take altering or changing our Constitutional rights - including the right to keep and bear arms - as very serious business too..

Or,, do that:thumbsup:!! I did that before and found out me and Murph just aint that close:255: BUT - I do know people who seem to have a pretty good relationship with the ol boy = DEFINITELY AN ALTERNATIVE:thumbsup:!! My biggest problem with Murph have always been that he waits till I get out in the middle of no where - like crossing Death Valley - before he decides to let me know I should have remembered that little section of gas line to attach to my tank vent to blow into and force fuel into my carbs when he decided it was time for my fuel pump to go on a vacation of its own..

Prayers Up my brother!! Wish we were closer I would come over and pick up sticks and debris.. Praying that the Lord will provide decent weather for the Rally Or!!

I really like this David = especially the part about the sparking floorboard thingy's... That right there is almost enough to make me start searching for one .. and someone called me a geezer - NA NA DEEEE BOO BOO!!

Goodness gracious,, where to begin.... 1st n foremost = !!!! Glad you found us Mark!! The suggestion of printing off the membership list is a good one - as many have found, that list and the knowledge found around our club will probably serve you better than any form of extended warranty on a new bike ever possibly could.. The only thing is, I believe you have to become a full dues paying member of our club in order to have access to the list,, not sure but I am almost positive that is the case.. Our dues are only 12 bucks U.S. a year - definitely well worth the cash IMHO.. BUILDING BOBBERS IN A SHED??? For absolute positively SURE = YOU are my kinda folk Aussie!!! You sound like just the type of person who can and WILL fly to the States, take one of these ol 83's and totally enjoy a really fun tour of our country!! That said,, here are some random thoughts that may help - what I would do in your shoes: 1. Pull the cover on the cover over the air box (open the tank fill lid - one small screw in there to remove = slide the cover forward and its off). On top of the battery is the main fuse panel = check it carefully, if at all questionable I would - at a minimum pick up some GM style fuse holders and splice em in = do away with the fuse panel = thing is problematic at best.. I would also double check battery condition including post corrosion = these bike LOVE fresh batteries and having a good battery is the best protection for starter issues IMHO. 2. Check air filter for mice nests and make sure its clean - leave air filter out so you can see into carbs. 3. Remove side covers and fairing bottoms so you can access carb covers. 4. Left side under side cover on frame rail will probably be a terminal where the 3 wires from the stator join the main harness (wont be there is someone has already hard wired it). That terminal has caused more problems than its worth for a lot of us 1st Genners.. I learned a long time ago that the best solution to over come possibly problems is just to clip it and hard wire those three wires = problem solved.. If you decide not to do so = at least pull it apart, check it for melting and corrosion, clean it real good and dielectric grease the thing - you know the routine if you have been building Bobbers.. In process of doing this = grab an ohm meter and ohm out the coils on the stator. The terminal you are looking at houses 3 white wires coming from the 3 phase stator. If memory serves me correctly - 3 to 6 ohms is spec BUT - whats really important when checking the stator is they all ohm out the same.. Just check across the wires (1-2, 1-3, 2-3) and make sure ya get the same reading.. Also check all three to ground for short.. 5. Carbs been rebuilt? Any idea by who and what that terminology means to the person who did it? Personally I would at least pull the little covers over the slides (totally accessible without removing the carbs), pull the diaphrams and check them real good for holes.. Check around the area where the diaphram meets the carb body.. These bikes run amazingly well on 3 cylinders and holes in the diaphrams is one of the main ways to make em have to drag a jug BUT = covering the distance you are talking about covering you really want the old girl to be hitting on all four all the way up to redline - make sense? If you find the fabric along the edge of on the main part of the diaphram worn very thin and not torn really bad they can be repaired very easily. I have tried a LOT of different things for repairing these but the best so far is YamaBond #5 . Clean em up with carb cleaner - dry em - lite smear of #5 , let er cure and she'll be good for THOUSANDS of miles.. I have also patch some major rips using #5 and a small piece of an old diaphram but thats not best - better to pick up new if its that bad.. When ya put the slides back in, make sure they move easily in and out - if sticky = clean them and carb hole with rag and carb cleaners till they do.. Should be REAL easy slide in and out.. 6. Drop in some new plugs - buy standard NGK DPR's - gap em at 30 thou so your at the tight end of the gap spec so they have room to grow a little from running em hard .. Unscrew the plug caps from the wires = clip 1/4 inch off end of the wires and screw the caps back on. 7. Put er back together, close the choke and start er up, spit test the pipes while she's warming up to make sure she's alive on 4. May take a bit as these scoots can be cold blooded.. As it warms a little - you should get sizzle on all 4 pipes (like mama used to check a hot iron) - dont be fooled if she doesnt - again they do run remarkably well on 3 - if its running on three figure out why.. 8. Running on 4 - look at carb throats thru air cleaner hole - wick it up and watch slides with pen light on them - make sure they are dancing in unison.. 9. Replace Air filter and cover on air box. 10. Hook up Sync gauges and sync carbs. 11. Idling - check volt meter on dash = 12 volts,, twist the throttle = should bounce to 14 voltsish. 12. Spoon on those new tires = yes BUT in the process,, plan on checking the locks over real good on the bags - both locksets - one that secures the bag to the bike and one that keeps bags closed.. Also grease the gears between the wheel and the pig.. Lots of folks pull the drive shaft and do the splines - I dont make a habit of it and have yet to have problems BUT some have had problems there - your choice.. When you pull the rear wheel watch carefully where the washer placement is between the caliper mount and the swing arm - narrow washer goes outside between caliper and swingarm = thick spacer goes inward against bearing in wheel - you'll see.. Tip wheel over so gear face is facing you. Notice protrusion hub with snap ring on it? Take a sharp screw driver or snap ring pliers and pull ring = lift up and drive hub pins will come out on hub = grease em up.. Also grease up inner needle bearings.. 13. Remove rear pads, run rear caliper pistons out to new pad distance (careful - you dont wanna push em out to far) - use new pad width to judge safe distance to force pistons out with rear pedal.. Rip a clean rag in width of piston clearance and long enough that you can wrap rag around piston and pinch it between your finger and thumb to form a cleaning tool for piston. Soak rag good with brake or carb cleaner and tightly move rag back and forth around piston to clean it really well.. (do same with front brakes when replacing pads up yonder). Force pistons back in and then out to same spot with pedal - examine for drag lines - reclean until no drag marks.. This will keep you from developing a stuck brake in the pouring rain on a mountain side in the mountains of Utah:big-grin-emoticon:. Also, the rear wheel can easily be removed without having to take off the small frame work from the left side by putting the bike on the center stand and then rocking it up on one stand leg at a time and slipping a two by four under the center stand. This also works good for doing the front wheel BUT - when messing with the front wheel be VERY careful not to put rearward pressure on the bike to the point that the center stand folds up and the whole thing comes tumbling down.. 14. The early 1st Gens came with a plastic water pump impellar.. Only way to really know if yours has been updated to aluminum is to pull it down and check it. Personally I wouldnt do that. Instead I would judge it by the way it cools.. They normally run a needles width or two out of the red zone - appears running hot to some folks who arent familiar with them. If its not circulating well because the impellar has no blades left on it it will want to run in the red zone all the time.. Just a heads up. 15. On oil refill during change.. After draining the oil - turn the key on and let the computer run thru its tests. After it does you should see the little oil container symbol showing.. This symbol is driven by a float switch in the oil pan = that should go out as you fill the case with oil.. Make sure you get new o-rings for the canister with the new filter and replace them - this will keep oil leakage at a minimum.. Only fill the engine to half way up window with filter full - over fill and she will aspirate to air filter can and will leak down on motor.. Here is a secret of mine - I run em hard and all of mine use a little oil when I do - you can keep a real close eye on your oil by hammering on it real hard in first gear occasionally (fun) - if its a quart down and time to add the little oil light will flash when the oil rocks back in the oil pan allowing the float valve to make contact and show the light - make sense? WOWZY - am I overwhelming you Aussie or is this the kind of info your looking for? More to come if ya want it?

You made NO mistake,,,, well,, maybe a small one = trying to put together any form of logical sequence of events in following my twisted up ways This report was done way after the unveiling.. The pictures I posted in the report were pictures taken BEFORE the unveiling on the day I mounted the tire:banana::banana: Your fine brother = its me that is making it all difficult to understand = certainly not the first time THAT has happened