cowpuc

Personally I am not sure "Getting" has much to do with it Boss - things like that just seem to happen to some of us more innocent folks = been an issue my whole life......

Hi Mom = here is a great big huge endless Puc Hug for you precious Lady = :bighug::bighug: By the way,, did anyone ever tell you that that daughter of yours is an amazingly good judge of character?? You did a fine job on raising that one I tell ya!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

:thumbsup: NICE Coff = CONGRATS on the find!! Speaking about your favorite Venture riding couple in Michigan = hope you know you coulda saved some really big bucks on shipping, rode that gorgeous scoot out here - picked up the hitch and installed it at our house - been mighty glad to have supervised that project while feeding ya endless 1/4 pound Hot Dogs!!!!!! Love ya Sonshine!!

Stock 96 inch Bill?

100% TOTALLY awesome TD!!! Cant wait to read the reports and see the pics come rolling in when you get her!! Gonna be wayy exciting = thanks for sharing the excitement with us!! PS - what is an ROT?

Yep,, I totally agree Casey,,, fact is - I personally just had my fingers/toes/legs/eyes and even ears crossed really tightly that Mom Yam was gonna do something spectacular in the realm of performance.. Something that, like my R1 does for me, would put performance orientated permanent smile on a new owners face bigger then the state of Texas.. You gotta know what I am talking about,, the type of knock down drag out BOOGIE that - after wickin the thing up - a test rider would come back shakin and say = "I simply have NO desire to own ANYTHING other than that right there - WOW!!"... Fact is,, Harley has had such a strangle hold on the V-Twin market for so long and others have chased that phenomenom for so long that - to me,, it just gets old.. Instead it would have been neat for Mom Yam to take another stab at become King in a whole different realm - a real performance touring machine capable of covering those longgggggggggg stretches of open nothingness out west while keeping up with those planes flying over head... You know what my friend,, I am actually coming down some from it all already as you mention.. I keep looking at that motor, the styling and stuff.. Actually getting kind of excited about chasing down some test rides myself.. Matter of fact,, if I get a chance to grab a low dollar Raider I may just grab one just to spend some time with that 113 inch pushrod motor.. Always been a chopper kind of guy,, think that may just fill a need for a retirement chopper craving.. Yep KC, things are calming down..

FULLY GUARANTEED Venny!! I saw him looking at me when I said "OH POOP" when they hit the start buttons on the new Yams. He came walking over, said something about it being obvious I was not afraid of crowds, told me it would be fun and he would send me home with all my pieces and parts intact = good enough,, you know me brother - I'm always a sucker for adventure and always wondering whats around the next corner Oh sure,, laugh it up ya lop eared snow makin Consin varmint,, always easier to laugh when your not the one getting knives tossed at cha Hey,, speaking of adventure,, how comes the space ship? :thumbsup2::thumbsup2:,,, took me a while but after getting half way across Kanuckian, passing everyone and wondering if any of your fellow countrymen had a car that could actually get closer to the posted speed limit and maybe even do more than 60 mph, I stopped for gas (WOW - whole nuther story - could have saved enough to have boughten lunch if I would have been smart enough to exchange some of my cash for some Kanuckian coin) and got counseling on the matter!! I actually have a video of the young man counseling me on the matter and will post it up for your enjoyment when I get a second 5 Buck!! Along this same line,, anyone traveling in New York might wanna take note of this: "NO STANDING" on a sign along the edge of the street does not mean you cant stand there - it means you cant park there,, as in "NO PARKING"...

Gotta agree,, todays belts are amazingly durable compared to those produced just a few short years ago.. I am sure the wear factor is up high and, as suggested, maintenance is a piece of cake. I will add though that I have stopped to assist more than one failed belt over the course of time. While all of those I have been involved with were Harley's (lots of HD's out at the rallies and HD has been belt drive for a good while now) and, on a Harley the process of installing a new belt is just as involved as taking down a drive shaft. The entire primarys (compensator and sprocket on crank, complete clutch assembly) has got to come apart plus - definitely not a road side repair. Not sure on the new Yam but I am almost positive the swingarms gotta come apart on a Strat to do the belt and this new one may be the same.. Now,, I know,, normal people dont ride off road much on a touring bike.. I know that on my bikes I have come "out of woods" dragging sticks and having a row of weeds dragging behind and beside me big enough for a squirrel to build a nest out of it.. If I were riding a belt driven scoot under those conditions I would probably be reluctant to adventure much across creeks and deer trailing along the rim of the Grand Canyon for fear of picking up a stick stout enough to cause belt damage.. Plus I know for sure that a lot of those Utah dirt pits in the back road mountain trails out there have some pretty good rocks in em cause I have had to stop and knock em out of my tire well (even had it happen on a front tire once). Matter of fact, I have often said that if I ever did end up going back to anything other than a shaft drive for my touring needs I would probably need to find something I could convert back to chain/sprockets like my 78 Low Rider I toured on had (or my dirt bikes).. Modern day chains have also come a LONG ways in durability with zero maintenance (O-Rings) and, personally, I would far trust a chain/sprocket more to avoid stick/stone/debris failure even with todays belt quality. Chain/sprockets also usually give the owner a very easy means to toss gearing at his bike simply by swapping out front sprockets and making a huge difference in performance thereby (always carried a full set of front sprockets for my dirt bikes - 1 down on the front of my KX500 would turn it into a rock crawling monster and 2 teeth up on the same and you could ride it on the back wheel for miles and it dominated the drag strip/ had a top speed of over 120 - talk about fun!!

Tip, Tweeksis and I beat foot it home after hot shoeing it across Canada out running massive thunderstorms, experiencing the "Peace Bridge"and checking out a castle on the New York side of that bridge (anyone have a clue what that castle is all about?), touring the Adirondack mountains in New York in the rain, watching the unveiling of the new Yam, hydroplaning at speed and hitting that water so hard it knocked Tips feet off the riders pegs and soaked her legs up to her knees, completing Tweeksis's break in period by adding over 2200 miles to her all while making it home in time for my most recent Cancer checkup.. It all worked out with us just barely getting home in time for me to get my blood work for the followup today (oh wait - its after midnight,, make that yesterday). I had more internal biopsies taken a couple weeks ago and the results were waiting for us when the Doctor greeted us.. He also had the results of the recent blood work. He also complimented me on seeing my weight finally headed back up as I had been on a steady downward spiral for the 8 months prior to removing that grapefruit sized tumor from my abdomen and my weight had dropped to below what I weighed in High School - basically giving me the look of someone being starved to death even though I was gobbling food like crazy - I had gained another 4 pounds since my last appointment! After giving us all the GREAT results, he said "what ever your doing = keep up the good work!" After making that comment he glared at me over his glasses and asked "so what have been up to?" (I got a hunch these Cancer doctors are always keeping an eye out for Depression and the like). He recoiled slightly when I told him I had been goofing around working on my motorcycles.. He REALLY drew back when I told him we had just hauled butt back from Americade after touring and camping in the rain/cold of New York state. I didnt bother to tell him about how much fun Maggy and I been having and how much headway we had been making in our bonding during these bucket list days and that my spirited recovery process may actually have something to do with that putzy little 1000cc Super Bike too. Before I left today,, yesterday,, he smacked me on the knee, smiled and said "well I am glad to hear your enjoying your retirement = all's good here = keep up the good work".. When we pulled into the garage after arriving home from the Dr.'s office on Tweeksis I noticed a funny grin on Maggies pretty little face - any one who has ever owned an R1 can probably attest to the characters they can be. I honestly believe that Mom Yam created them with a permanent grin on their faces (next time you see one = look carefully at that gorgeous set of headlights and see if you dont agree) cause she KNEW that permanent grin would escalate and instantly become part of anyone fortunate enough to be found as caretaker of such a magnificent piece of machinery. I walked over to Mags, scratched her belly pan and padded her on her rear tire and asked if she wanted to go celebrate the good news.. Of course she did... The private road that we play on is just barely long enough for Mags to stretch out in 5th gear. Tip keeps telling the two of us that she is gonna take us out to The Bonneville so we can find out if Mags 6th gear even works = Tip, Tweeks and I had a BLAST out there a few years ago and now Tippy just cannot wait to get back out there!! Me n Maggy - we just look at each other and giggle fiendishly when Tip talks like that!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNH0-swxUo

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Sure,, take a spray bottle like an empty windex bottle - fill it half full of water - put in 3 or 4 table spoons of dish soap in it - shake it a little to mix good and make sure its sudsing - if no suds add a couple more table spoons of water - inflate the tire to max PSI - spray tire across tread on down beads where they meet the rim - if its leaking the soapy water will bubble up - after spraying section let it set of a couple minutes to give bubbles a chance to form - watch closely, if no bubbles rotate tire and try another section - work methodically and you will find the leak. Also check air valve with no cap and around valve at rim. If all this fails - work the rim, I have found porous spots in cast wheels that started leaking this way.. If all fails = remove wheel from bike - find a creek or use a dunk tank to stick aired up tire into - dont give up till you find the leak = flat tires are no fun.. Possibly you have some dirt in a bead causing it to leak. This can fairly easily be repaired on the bike by using a small hand held bead breaker like the one I use from Harbor Freight - break the bead, clean the rim and tire and pump her up.. Personally I dont use fix a flat in bike tires but not because I dont want to ruin my rims - more cause, like patching or plugging a bike tire = I simply dont trust the stuff for long term usage..

Me and my BIG MOUTH - its amazing how much trouble a guy can get into just by ..... That juggler was a good act - apparently he has won several awards including best comedy in the State of Pennsylvania.. Good juggler but TERRIBLE with a knife!!

WOWZY that was a quick trip - it was a last minute decision on my part to just ride thru the endless rain forecasts and make the unveiling.. After all the messing around, seeing the sites and dodging rain bullets we just made it in time for the unveiling, then had to beat foot it home to get my blood drawn for a Doctors appointment tomorrow.. My apologies for missing allll you amazing folks offering shelter and food here = YOU are all GREATLY appreciated!! Hopefully we can get back to NY in the future to hug and thank you all IRL for your kindness!! WOW - have toured Lake Placid, Finger Lakes and the like but never knew about "8" thru the mountains = AMAZING!! Also, the announcer at the Unveiling mentioned riding the "Talhacky" or something like that = anyone have a clue? Also, right across the border of Canada/NY in NY is a "Castle" that looks like something from the Knights in Armor days = anyone have a clue what thats about? Public tours? By the way,, Enhanced Drivers Licenses work AWESOME! Unlike Raggy always getting popped for random search - we just showed the licenses and passed (knock on wood). May have been Tips smile though,, maybe..

For the life of me I cannot make out which screw you are referring to. I have successfully removed ruined screws by placing a good prick punch on head of the screw and making a punch mark in it - then angle against the head of the screw with the punch end in the punch mark and rapping it with a hammer with a good smack - most times this will break them loose.. Another method is to take a cut off disc in a dremel and cut a flat screw driver slot in the screw and then use a flat screw driver in your hand impact wrench - works great too..

Cha I think you should spring for the new Venture = then ride it up to Michigan for a Pucs MGnEM where you and your new bike will be treated to endless WONDERFUL Hot Dogs AND you will get Star (no pun intended - Star Motorcycles) billing and folks will come from miles around just to meet you and pet your new scoot = PROMISE!! Of course,, you and your old bike with a new tire on it would be treated the same brother if you wanna save $26000 minus the price of a new rear tire for her =

Yeppers,, that was none other than Tippy herself laughing at her poor suffering Pucster getting made fun of - sure Tip,, go ahead and laugh young lady,, this guy sticks me and you are gonna have to ride Tweeksis home with me on the back with a knife sticking out of my leg (or worse).. Tip sends her love young man!!! Glad you enjoyed watching your Dad make an idiot of himself

Ya know bro,, my Dad was a Police Officer and I used to snag his cuffs to play with when I was a young varmint.. He had real deal genuine Cop Cuff's with the little tiny hole on the bracelet that you would push the pin on the end of the keys into to double lock them (not sure if these are still used today). I messed around with a bobby pin on his cuffs and got good enough pickin those things that I could even release the "pin" lock with a bent bobby pin = true story!! My dad was always amazed that he could lock me in em and, as long as I had a bobby pin - within a couple minutes I was free!! We make good partners in grime bro Dad also carried a sawed off pump 12 gauge in his squad car - it was a strange weapon with a "slide" that slid out of the back of the receiver when you racked it = no idea of brand but Dad loved the thing.. One time he left it out and I got my hands on it, was showing my little brother how it worked = racked it and it ripped a bunch of skin off the back of my hand - told my little brother = DONT TELL DAD as I wrapped my hand in towels!! That night when my dad got home from bowling I got my back side WHOOPED (he used to wack my so hard I felt like my body was a pin wheel).. I kept screaming "what did I do" = after the whoopin he showed me the blood on his gun and asked me to explain the slide action marks on my right hand

Oh,, by the way = TOTALLY AWESOME FIND BROTHER!!!! Offer em 7000 cash in a non running = unknown condition and get er going, some new tires, clean her up and have a blast covering the planet on that sweetheart I tell ya!!:clap2:

I made a good living thru the years resurrecting barn finds and the like.. One of the issues that I ALWAYS insisted on when chatting about them was doing my best to get the previous owner to NOT attempt to start the machine if it had been sitting for more than a year. Honda (and LOTS of other companies) use line bored aluminum castings including cam journals for bearing surfaces. If they dry out and it takes a second for the oil pump to move oil across the journals - bad things can happen instantly.. If I were looking at that bike the first thing I would do is dig around a little and see what is necessary to insure something bad (like smudging a bearing surface) isnt gonna happen and, if possible and necessary how you would do a pre lube.. Can you spin the oil pump, does it have oil check bleed screws on the jugs (my R1 has these = little bolts to pop out to check for oil flow after an oil change = many people may not realise this but Honda did this with the later model XR100's = there is a 10mm bolt located right above the spark plug just for this purpose - kids would fall over, oil pump would lose prime = pull the bolt and kick till the oil comes out of the hole, do the same for oil changes - doing this could have saved hundreds of ruined XR100 top ends thru the years.. ,, am I making any form of rational sense here? sometimes I embarrass myself..

Yep,,, talk about a strange time of life! We used to recite the pledge of allegiance to the American flag back then right in the classrooms before school started.. I remember right where I was standing on the day President Kennedy was slain and it was announced at our school... My Dad was a bouncer at Grand Haven roller rink during the "Beach Bash" days when small groups of hit rock n roll bands came to play at the rink = Herman's Hermits, The Monkeys, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Archies just to name a few - came and played at that little rink - AMAZING time to be a kid I tell ya!! Also remember wearing flowered covered hip huggers and the smell of pot rolling out from under the bleachers during football games. Pumping Sunoco 260 into real muscle cars right out of Detroit.. The first colored tv in the neighborhood belonged to the rich kid who's dad was the bank president in our town.. Losing friends to the war in Nam and finding their names on the Wall in D.C. = made me cry.. Losing my little league baseball coach to a person going the wrong way on the highway next to our town - my coach was riding a 59 Harley that I LOVED.. Going around at night and playing with the bomb shaped smudge pots that our village road guy used to mark road work - things looked like the bombs that Boris on Rocky n Bullwinkle would light and throw.. Leaving notes on buddies bikes to tell about a party - this was wayyyy before texting and was awesome cause you could ride around town and read notes to find all the parties oh yea,, one more thing,, Mini-Skirts ,, ouch,, OUCH = let go of ear Tip:12101:

Ohhh come on Don,, me n Yammer Dan been put on Club probation and had to suffer extreme humiliation for far less then that!! :stirthepot:

We had fun, we saw some AWESOME country, we met some AMAZING people, we covered just under 2300 miles, we got wet and it was cold, we found out that the area in the mountains where Americade was held had just lost their last bit of snow 3 weeks ago = I have proof, Canada's 100 mph speed limit is not 100 mph = its 100 Kilometers per hour, Kenda Challenger tires are good stuff for rain,, the unveiling was amazing and fun but disappointing for me = I was hoping for a 1700cc V-4 V-max motored turbo charged bike = didnt happen BUT still a nice machine, when they pulled the covers off the bikes and hit the starters I instantly knew I had been hoodwinked into thinking the mighty V-4 Venture was once again gonna dominate the touring market - out loud I said "OHH POOP" and apparently I said it loud enough that others heard me.. From that, I got selected for this Mid Unveiling Comedy Act..

I havent been home long enough to even know what all this is about but gotta say,, hopefully no one is offended by any form of my banter or opinions.. Bikes and bike chat is suppose to be fun.. When I was a kid in High School we used to settle our "who's bike is baddest" lunch time discussions out on our 1/4 miler that runs along side I-96 = a country road called Kendra Road (look it up, its still there but, of all things,, has a HUGE Church on it now - a bunch of kids could have used that back in the day:guitarist 2:) - just outside of Fruitport Mi.. Bumped into one of my arch nemisis a while back = he rode a Kawi 350 Avenger and could just never get beyond the fact that my rat bike Honda 350 could put a whoppin on him (he was bigger than me - had him HP/weight BIG TIME = those Kawis were BAD TO THE BONE!! We used to fight continually about it.. Having recently ran into Mark (kawi owner) - we both laughed and laughed and laughed about those days.. The anger associated with "my bikes better than yours" discussions were long expired.. Funny thing now,, he rides a GORGEOUS new Harley and is a very successful business man.. After complimenting him on his HD - He checked out Tweeks, setting there on his new Harley and says = gotta say Scooter (thats what they called me back in the day) = that is allll 100% you and she is GORGEOUS,, its a piece of crap Yamaha but still GORGEOUS,,,,,,,, thats when the fight broke out:crackup: Dont nobody leave over this stuff - wont be long and we will be back to normal around here!!!

Yep,, can only imagine - that is one tough job brother.. Proud of you and VERY thankful you are in charge here so our friends/family members are never forgotten - may each of them Ride In Peace on those streets of Gold. THANK YOU DON - very well done!!! FYI = the "In Memory Of" forum listed on the main forum page is different than the Memorial Page - if you are having a hard time locating the memorial page Freebird is referring to try this = http://www.venturerider.org/MEM/index.php and it is located in the community section of our Clubs site..

Yep, I sure did and wait till you see what my GREAT BIG MOUTH GOT ME INTO (I SAID "OOHHH POOP" wayyyy to loud when I heard that Strat Motor start up) !! I am uploading a video right now that will explain it all... Me and my BIG MOUTH!!!! Nope - nary a Hot Dog in the ride!! Did have a GREAT Country Fried Steak covered in AWESOME gravy though - thinking I gained 5 pounds over that one.. Saved allllll my Hot Dog cravings for upcoming MGnEM's!!! TOTALLY 100% tracking with you MM = you are right on target.. Thing is though,, and this is where "touring" becomes a subjective term IMHO, if you watch closely at most of the Rally's (this is real easy to spot at the Sturgis Rally) a lot of the air cooled V-Twin scoots are being trailered into those Rallys.. I know,, I have commented about that on several occasions and have almost gotten beat up several times for making comment about that observation but it's simply something I have observed - Rally life has changed MAJORLY over the years.. This is especially common, IMHO, in regions where temps rise above 100 on a common basis.. Personally I cant help but wonder if the actual touring industry (meaning = people who pack up their scoot and are gone on it for 3 or 4 weeks at a time instead of taking a motor home or truck/fifth wheel) is actually quite small.. Seriously,, I dont consider Rallying even remotely related to touring - two different experiences from my perspective.. Rallying is HUGE and, people riding touring bikes during rally's is HUGE.. From that perspective,,, very possibly Yamaha is on to something BUT - that there is a Harley world and I still think that going toe to toe with the King is tough.. Especially if your looking for the same MSRP.. Still think a 165 MPH, arm stretching V-Max motored touring scoot would have been a hands down touring bike KING - a real game changer!!