cowpuc

My good friend, neighbor and fellow VR member, @bluestar99, is a pretty normal varmint.. Like myself and probably most of you, Blue has a bucket list of things he would like to experience in life. I never knew this but apparently riding Crud was one of them.. Ding dong went the doorbell early this morning (watch the video - I think I mentioned the time of day that Ron woke me up ). Tippy yells, its our neighbors on their bike!! A little chit chat and Bluestar was like,, well,, where's Crud? The perfect start to a perfect day!!

Sorry Bongo,, still a little rattled from playing with @bluestar99 and the Vmax this morning I guess , here ya go my friend! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Motorcycle-Dual-Cable-Oiler-Luber-Lubricator-Tool-for-KAWASAKI-Models-/121220993921?hash=item1c39559381&vxp=mtr

This probably sounds wayyy crazy but I will say it anyway... I was an AVID snowmobiler for many years (with the Fool across the pond, a person best find something fun to do with all that Wisconsin White Wash ).. I watched as the sled industry went to "rider forward" in sled design. Ski-Doo came out with, what I called a "stealth bomber look" about them shortly after they went rider forward. Being an old school sled guy ( I LOVED my Arctic Cat 1000cc Thunder Cats and Ski-Mach Z's) it took a while to get use to the "look" of the new model sleds. Being an avid dirtbiker though, it didnt take long at ALL to really enjoy the whole "rider forward" idea - the new sleds encouraged the rider to stand up on the boards and ride it like a dirt bike = FUN!! Here's the crazy part, I TOTALLY see modern day snowmobile written all over these machines.. It looks like a snowmobile with wheels.. That said,, it also looks like it could be a ton of FUN!! Anybody else spend any time on snowmobiles and see what I am talking about?

Yea,, but when they are gone to work our road becomes a virtual Puc's Play Ground

COOL ZZzzzzz!!! Lookout @Marcarl ,, the Japs are hot on your heels brother! Looks like quite a contraption,,, hey - wait a second here,, didnt I read somewhere that Mother Yamaha has one too - or is working on one.. If so - Mom Yam probably sold us, waiting for the new Venture group, out to chase down that market ..

Crazy you bring that up Eck, my neighbor walked over to take a look at Crud yesterday. First words out of his mouth were "that puppy sounds like high end race car" - I grinned and said "I know what cha mean, thats why I dont run it early in the morning or late at night", he smiled and said THANK YOU!!

OUTSTANDING IDEA Hugger!! THANKS!! I been buying and using these cheapy little clamp on lubers (see link) for years but can say, in a pinch THAT would certainly do the job.. Now I gotta go lube the cables on Crud.. By the way, I have found synthetic bicycle chain lube to be about the best cable lube - seems to last a REALLY long time, even better than white grease. It would be interesting to hear what others of found to work the best for them as a cable lube..

No pain, no gain... No gain no guns.. No guns no funds.. No funds no eats .. No eats no bikes.. No bikes no laughs. No laughs no life. No life no good.. Hang in there bro,, you are healing and we are here for you!!!

Actually, one of the great things I have always loved about our 1st Gen Ventures is the totally adjustable bars. They are adjustable both at the triple trees and on the bar ends. I am an old chopper rider who always LOVED 6 bend pull backs and the Ventures (1st Gens) are the only scoots I have ever owned that came from the factory with bars I could fold back and in enough to get that chopper "feel" out of a long distance touring bike. Might suggest that you center stand your bike, get it set up in the seat/backrest/peg/brake/shifter position that really feels good. Then remove the bars from the tree's and loosen them at the ends, then adjust away until you know for sure that they can or cant get what you need.. There are things you can do to grip length (my 83/84's all came with longer grips that were flexible on the ends that I have always LOVED too - I love hands on the flexible ends - resting on my knees while I am leaned back on my wife).. On the same token though, if nothing works, I do not believe I have ever seen a bar clamp conversion to be able to put regular bars on the 1st Gen tree's.. There are a LOT of folks on here who know a lot more than I do about em,, lets see if someone can correct that thought!! By the way Matt, :2YELLOW:and good luck with your endeavor to get your bike to fit you! Puc

too,,,, he forgot the "TOO" Dan O',, sorry about the interrupt,, just trying to do my part to keep things straight around here..

GOOD FIND MR. RICK!! :thumbsup::clap2: All the best in the swap over my friend - cannot wait to see pics and read about the change over!! Hope all goes well!! Just a quick thought,, I am sure you have done so but, have you checked the frame to make sure she is straight.. I used to have a friend drive the crash victim down the road while I laid on the pavement and got a view down the axis of the tires.. Amazing what you can tell by doing so.. Just a thought.. Looks like a fun project!:dancefool::thumbsup2:

Rock solid to 135 Beau.. It does have brand new tires on it,, no idea about the fork brace - how about I take a picture of the area and you can tell me? Also sports a small windshield WHICH kinda concerned me over the same manner.. Was surprised at how well solid it feels at high speeds with the shield on it.. I checked and tightened my steering bearings a little right away.. They may be just a little tiny bit tight but,, the way I figured it,, no stabilzer = a little snug on the bearings to make up for it (old trick I learned with my KX500 while running it at 90 plus on the powerlines up here in Michigan).. No idea if it actually helps, thought I would apply my old school techniques and see if I could avoid experiencing exactly what you are talking about.. Speaking of dirtbiking,, you ever thought about tossing a knobby on yours and taking it two tracking? I been fooling around in the ditches on mine already - something I REALLY like about ol Crud is his mid placement pegs (same thing on our 1st Gen Ventures).. Up on the pegs,, thing is AWESOME in the dirt!! Just needs to hook up a little.. Will try a second gear hole shot for kicks and let ya know.. What kind of air pressures you running in your rear tire to hook up? Right now gotta a brand new Dunlop 150 on Cruds backside, gotta be really really careful in the corners not to wick on him to hard cause that hard rubber will lite up right now.. Was thinking more control (traction) out of dropping down to 30 pounds? Got plenty of Venture Diff's laying around.. Any idea what they did to 1/4 mile times? I honestly like the way Crud pulls right now and would wonder about the added stress of higher torque on the drive system (clutch/forward gear/rear end) of higher gearing.. Ever hear of doing so creating problems? Right back at cha on the bugs in your teeth Beau!! May not look the nicest but hey,,, by the time they hit at those speeds they are roasted to crackly crunch and dont taste that bad:big-grin-emoticon:

Dear Flied Lice, PLEASE drop an order of: 2 Elephant Ears, 4 Cheese Burgers, 4 Conie Dogs and a Pronto Pup from Cedar Point the next time you fly over in that puppy will ya!! Oh,, and Tippy wants to know if you can pull a little pitch out of your props and close the exhausts a little as you scared the neighbors chickens last time you delivered.. THANK YOU Half Tube n family

Fair question indeed Kev,, hope you get lots of input and thoughts on the subject.. Here are a couple of mine.. The original Venture motors were 1200cc, the V-Max was developed out of that motor because it proved very durable with lots more potential for unsetting the then King of Muscle Bikes - the V-65 Honda.. Yam engineers thought about a turbo 1200, then some GENIUS at Yamaha came up with the idea for the V-Boost - IT WORKED AWESOME!! They UP TUNED the original Venture motor (not the other way around) with the boost, bigger carbs, bigger valves, different cam profile, heads and so on.. It had to spin up higher - the "boost" on mine doesnt really hit hard till around 8 grand - redline is 9.5.. The later MK2's got the bigger bore (went from 76mm to 79mm) which increased thier total cc to 1300.. The Max stayed at 1200 all the way to the end of its run.. Why? I would not be surprised that was simply because the Max really had no competition as the King of Crusiers for many many years. Suzy dropped the Madura, Honda dropped the V-65.. Sport bikes like the R1's, Busa's and the like took over - the Max is a totally different ride than those bikes,,,, kind of a lone king.. On the other hand, the touring bike market engine size demands went WILD,, as did the V-Twin market.. Thats probably why Yam upgraded to 1300cc,, or maybe it was a torque thing... Another thought,,, when you increase piston size you also increase piston weight.. Perhaps those engineers at Yamaha had some concerns over the added weight of 3 mm bigger pistons spinning up into the area that the Max needs to rev to do its thing.. I only say that because I know when Yamaha came out with the YZF's (dirt bikes and street) they had to go with pancake pistons to overcome piston destruction spinning up as high as they do.. Of course, when Honda came out with the CRF450 they had to follow suit.. These pistons are about 1/2 inch in height (thats about 12.5mm in your language) - not a lot of mass.. In the end though,, I honestly think it had all had more to do with the old "why change it when it is selling like hot cakes just like it is" routine.. The Max had that and is still today, a "cult" bike if you will. Notice how our Ventures really never caught on (well,, compared to Wings - at least around here anyway) and that Yamaha STILL hasnt come out with a new REAL Venture yet but did come out with a new V-Max? I happen to think that that is all about what I am talking about...

an ASPIRIN:rotf::rotf: Truthfully,, I would LOVE to fly with ANY of you pranksters,, yes GW,, even with Tooch in an aspirin :guitarist 2::guitarist 2::happy65::banana: or you in a school bus... an aspirin ,, where do find these varmints @Freebird,,, you must advertise in the funny papers instead of the classifieds or something:crackup:

Come voting time sounds like that baby needs to be thrown out with the wash brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AWESOME RAND!! Congrats to the both of you on finally getting out for a much deserved vacation.. Looks like you love birds had a really fun time! So whats with the Pirate Ship? Glad you were in your Miata my friend - that trout stream you were driving down looks to deep for a Venture.. We watched the eclipse too, was cool once it got covered - looked like an space ship full of orange pop-ups hanging in the sky - waited over two hours for the moon to lite back up but gave up so you probably didnt miss much.. Congrats on the selling of Linda's house!! Welcome home. Puc

Here is a more extensive read on where things stand.. http://www.fltimes.com/news/article_64371cfe-6200-11e5-8617-e3ca8302a3d9.html Also, here is a clip from the above read about the scum bag who committed the crimes.. In here it says that no bail is allowed in the case.. Also notice some of his background,, looks like this guy was more than just a drunk driver,, should have never been let out of prison in the first place ZZzzz.. What a shame... """"""Town Judge Joseph Sapio declined to set bail, citing Wilson’s criminal history. Wilson is being held in the Seneca County Jail without bail. According to the state Department of Corrections website, Wilson spent time in state prison for forgery and felony DWI convictions in Steuben County."""""

Thems not tainters,, thems well earned beauty marks Beach,, repairable by stickers - tie wraps and super glue!!! The kinda of beauty marks that turn an everyday normal scoot and activity into a best friend full of great memories of going thru life with you!

:photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing: :photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing::photographing: BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mugshot::mugshot::mugshot::mugshot::mugshot::mugshot::mugshot::mugshot::mugshot:

See F-L,, THAT is exactly why I woke ya up brother,, I KNEW I was doing something wrong.. So,, what do you suggest,,, I have a hard enough time watching where I am going - much less watching all those gauges and meters.. Maybe I need a co-pilot to help me like you get to have? Wonder if I mounted a set of Moose horns on the bars of Crud (kinda like Tweeks Antelope horns),, wonder if I could use them for Al-eeee-Ronners to assist in the touch downs.. Is that what I need @flyday58? :lightbulb:This could work out really well cause I got buddies all over the trail leading up to Alaska! If Tip n I gotta go up there to find a Moose willing to donate some horns I think some of them may even let us camp in their driveways on the way up and back.. I know for sure a couple of them would cause they already told me so - Canucks can be such trusting people I bet some of them are wondering why on earth Don ever took my 12 dollars though:big-grin-emoticon:

Wow Steamer,, what an extreme tragedy!! Somewhere out there are a group of people (family members and friends) who are now in one of lifes hardest grieving moments - my heart is broken too for them - Prayers Up who ever and where ever you are at this time, you have my deepest heartfelt condolences. Prayers Up also for the person who committed this thoughtless criminal act against his fellow man. I truly hope and pray that thru the many years of time being spent behind bars you are facing you find the spiritual and psychological help that you need to afford you the ability to cope with what you have done. May the two riders, Steven G. Lester, 49, of Manchester, and Patricia Perryman, 47, of Canandaigua find peace at the throne of God, indeed - RIP our biking friends! Steamer,, I think I found the story you are referring to here: http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/news/public-safety/2015/09/17/man-killed-2-motorcycle-while-driving-drunk-police-say/32555967/ I wonder if it would be wise to maybe start a campaign within the comment area of a newspaper section similar to that link? There are many questions that I think should be brought up in this incident. Things like: Condolences to the family/friends of the deceased of course.. Why wasn't this person at least on a tether? Should the public require an investigation of his probationary history to see how closely monitored he actually had been? The article said it was "his truck". Should a person with his background even be allowed to own a vehicle? We could start a campaign in the "comment section" of almost any of the news papers that carry the story online Steamer.. If you think that is a good idea, select the one you think would get the most exposure and let me/us know. Be more than happy to participate my friend!! What do think gang? Good idea? Bad idea? Bossman?

I was born with ride weather monitors protruding from my chest muscles.. When the weather is right for riding the monitors are soft, when not they get hard like two little frozen peas.. They will soften up if it's cold and I put a shirt on, which I have had to do in the past to get home to the safety of my warm garage.

Few years ago my neighbor bought a brand new Ultra Limited. He and his new scoot, Tweeks and I went for a ride up north. On the way back we slid onto the passenger seats - he set his cruise and I locked Tweeks throttle. We were cruising down the hi-way like we were passengers with invisible drivers (my neighbor is a little "touched").. Seeing Ecks post makes me think of something.. I would LOVE to take that boney feller on Eck's bike, attach his hands to Tweeks grips, turn on his eyeballs and go cruising with me on the back taking pictures. Would sure put a whole new spin on picture taking - I would actually be able to use both hands on the for once:thumbsup:

If your gonna work with Crud and dont wanna get dirty, ya best spend some time practicing..