cowpuc

me

Motorcycles, lots of motorcycles.. Friendly people, lots of friendly people.. Lady passengers/riders, lots of others to bring their lady passengers/riders so Tip has someone to play with. Hot dogs, lots of hot dogs.. Ice cream, lots of ice cream.. Weather, lots of good weather.. Quiet places to tent camp, lots of quiet places to tent camp.. Stickers of the area, lots of stickers of the area.. Cheap gas, lots of cheap gas..

Wonder if Honder Dan will have any better luck finding Honder Dan than Yammer Dan did finding Yammer Dan,,, something tells me this would not be an easy transition

That there Mr. Eagle,, he has an AWESOME Eye for good picture taking!!! :clap2::clap2::clap2::dancefool::dancefool: Thanks Steve!!

Painter,, I want you to know that I for one appreciate your openness and honesty. IMHO, our feelings are a big part of what make us human and a HUGE part of what makes us either happy or sad - they are real and they are for a reason. I know from experience that Freebird is genuine in what he is saying and want you to know he speaks for Tip and I too (we actually ride a Helix - pretty close to a Vespa:scratchchin:). You have my thoughts, prayers and concerns as you sort out how you want to handle your feelings my friend. Having been in similar situations several times in life I can also say that for me, forgiveness - acceptance and empathy for those around me (especially family members) has gotten me thru a lot of rough times and usually back to . Something to think about..

My son the politician..

To my buddy @billmac = :rasberry::rasberry::moon::moon::moon::rasberry::rasberry: actually that would really be fun to pull up to the US/Canadian Custom's up at Glacier like that and when asked "got any weapons" be able to reply "is the Grizzle Bear I got wrapped in my bed roll considered a weapon" ,,,,, might be a little dancey in the cross winds of Montana on the way up though Funny story,, promise to keep it short.. Had ol Tweeks packed for MD, Tip had to stay home so I just slid our care package Motel tent bundle on the back seat where Tip usually rides.. Kinda looked similar to the pic that varmint Billy Mac has above.. @eagleeye had stayed with us and rode to Don's with me so he can probably verify this,,, we pulled into Don's and one of our lop eared varmint members (now that I think about it - may have even been that cocky Billmac critter:buttkick:) comes walking over to me, pointed at my fine packing job and said "when you gonna let Tippy out of there?" = you NAILED it @H20

Now that is more like it Bob!! Hey Dan, get a side car rig bro,, that way if you happen to get to a Rally and start feeling like you cant ride - you can still have one of your more trustworthy buddies drive you around while you relax in the side hack (pick me Dan,, pick me,,,,,, )... Tail of the Dragon - look out,,, Yammer n Puc coming outa chute 9,, let er buck:bikersmilie:!!!!!

Brother that don't sound good - condolences and Prayers Up for all involved!! Thanks George for looking out for us by providing the reminder!! Also might add its not a bad idea to keep a close eye on wheel bearing condition and grease content too.. Most bike trailers arent packed to heavy but they do have pretty small wheels on them and they are really spinning some R's back there..

Sure enough Mike!! And that Veer - O - Qwah Moe is a top contender

WOW - thankfully no one was injured!!!! What a mess indeed!!

Wish we could of made it - RATSSS!! Patiently waiting to hear about the Pig but also desperately wanting to hear about how the Pine Trees came out too Bub Bet you Pig caught in the Evergreens attenders never thought of this one,,, been a few comments made about it but not even ONE . That's a significant point you know............

Wow Frank, what a gorgeous example of the iconic Blonde MK1 1st Gen Venture - you do nice work - ya did well my friend!! Thanks for offering your beloved scoot up here before going public with her - THAT is very thoughtful of you and greatly appreciated!! I noticed you are located up on that peninsula that jets off to the east of Green Bay? Tip and I have always wondered what was up there - now we know!! Someday we may venture our way up there to see for ourselves Sorry to hear of your decision to sell Yammy Frank BUT our thoughts and prayers are with you as you deal with your arthritis.. Hope you are able to enjoy many more years of riding and able to enjoy your 950 and its lighter weight!! Puc

That's hilarious David,, mine came home from Menards the other day,, was allllllll excited,, said she noticed that the Menard's tents we been using for years (actually went thru three of them in one year) was on sale for $28 :mo money::mo money: That Tippy,, she is

Nah,, your still on the right site bro:big-grin-emoticon:

From another prespective though,, it is possible that the guy on Craigs knows exactly what he has,, his asking price is up there to the point that it makes me think maybe he does have an 1800.. Shortly after Yamaha came out with the Roadie 1700, the aftermarkets jumped in with a big bore kit (not sure if Mom Yam ever did come out with one but I do know for sure that it was available aftermarket) that took the new 1700 (1670cc) out to an 1800 (was actually just under 1800cc if memory serves me correctly).. Those "kits" were way more expensive than HD was/is getting for their "big bore" jugs/piston kits (88inch to 95inch, 96inch to 103inch jugs) which does indeed make them kinda rare.. The cool thing about the Roadie 1700 (and the earlier 1600's too) was they were/are very similar to an HD in their simplicity,, nothing like a "V" pushrod motor for ease of swapping out topend parts.. While no where near as big of variety as OEM Harley or aftermarket Harley, there were/are also performance cams/valves/heads available for the Roadie too.

I always liked the way that you about the Victory scoots and was looking forward to hearing even more about your Roadie Silv I am totally in tune with Barry's comments... Gotta a sneaking hunch that, as history has proven, as we creep into winter and starts taking the place of - for a lot of folks a "different" kind of fun will once again invade this place:thumbsup: I know one thing brothers,, even with my off season because of medical stuff - I done got me a great big ol heaping helping of beans to spill once the fireside chats begin - looking forward to hearing yours too Silv!!

Ever noticed how time slows down when your waiting to make the aquaintance of yet another good friend?

Me want pie, pie is good, Mike is friend, wish could make trip to see friend again and eat much his pie...

Count on it Michael!!! And a endless dose of the hearty greetings right back at you my friend!!! COW Puc

Yep @syscrusher - shameful as it sounds and as embarrassing as it is - that is exactly what I am saying.. Out of the 5 1st Gens (including Tweeks) that I have worn out, with the accumulated total of 1 million plus miles (note this is NOT 1 million miles on 1 bike - however, the "Blonde" side covers on Tweeks are from my first one - those side covers are a keepsake from my first one that have faithfully served thru all 5 bikes and those do have over a million miles on them). I have yet to re-shim the valves on any of them. I will add here also that number 3 (still sitting out back under a cover and now a "parts bike) did loose total compression on the number 4 cylinder. Bought a replacement 1st Gen for 750 bucks and never tore #3 down and inspected it but I do believe the compression loss was valve related. I purchased them all used, all of them with 38k miles or under on them in either non running or ill running condition on the cheap. The highest price that I paid for one (the first one) was 1200 dollars out of an estate sale back in 87, it had 20k on it, was an 84 Blonde Royale that my kids named Beeg. A one owner bike whose original owner had ridden out the stator on, he (the P.O.) had dismantled her and, regretfully, had passed away during the process of repair - she came to me in pieces. Beeg became a very loved part of our family, spent her life toting my children one at a time and I all over the country, sleeping under the stars from Nova Scotia to the west coast and retired at 240k. You may be interested in this also. Besides serving as a very inexpensive test ground for just how far will one of these 1st Gens go without valve maintenance, that 84 also served the same point concerning the second gear issue. She lost second gear at just under 40k and taught me first hand that I could rely on her even with no second gear (just "short shift" (means skip a gear in the shift pattern)). A valuable lesson for a person like me looking to tour the country for a very small amount of cash with little kids in tow. In all fairness, I am not sure if any of the bikes P.O.'s went to the bother of doing the valves before I purchased them. All five bikes made it well into 200k plus miles, one of the 5 had a catastrophic crank failure (pretty rare honestly) at 265k. 3 of them lost second gear (Tweeks is one of those three too) pre-50k but, like the valve shimming, I never repaired a second gear in any of them either - always did the short shift to termination. More info that might be of interest to you: I always carry a spare fuel pump but only number 4 ever took advantage of a highway pump change while touring and finished out the last 10k of a 20k ride with the spare fuel pump tie wrapped toward the rear of its passengers left floor board - I have bench cleaned a number of points in the pumps though. All of them had to have Progressive springs in the forks - most being sacked from just sitting in storage with the weight of the scoot on them. Tweeks is the highest mileage of all 5 with just over 300k on her BUT, she has also been the most problematic with "little things" happening all the time - suspect age has to do with it but, that is why we call her Tweeks. Knock on wood, I have never experienced a broken frame, all have had that familiar "wobble" at around 38 mph, have yet to own one with a good clutch (one that would hold if you nailed it in 4th gear at 4500 rpm with two up and loaded down). I have always changed my oils at discoloration instead of miles, use cheap 20/50 non synthetic oils - never any particular brand (lots of Super Tech from Walmart while traveling cross country - the old oil change in the parking lot routine) - dont always do the filters when on the road but do always keep clear oil em. I dont wash my Ventures, I catch a LOT of heat for it from my neighbors who ride with me but have always held closely my own personal belief that I would rather see em dirty than be forcing water into places it dont belong - I KNOW - sounds crazy but consider the source.. All that said,, I have a theory about my success in undermining the scheduled valve maintenance on these scoots.. I lug them as little as possible and tend to move right along when touring.. A lesson I learned at a very early age about chain drive cam scoots was do your engine a favor and DO NOT LUG EM.. A lesson learned from having to rebuild my early model 350 Honda's (you lug - you loose your cam chain followers, chain and even jugs from chain slap against the cylinders).. I know they are totally different motors then our V-4's but old habits die hard and keeping them spun up in "non lugging" mode has been part of my life (except for push rod motors)...

BEAUTIFUL PICS MI!!!!! Gotta love dat Bridge bro!! Congrats on the great ride and THANKS for sharing!!

Thanks for the update Coff, our thoughts and prayers are with you Son-shine (and your precious family) as you serve God and Country in the Middle East. Thank you for your service Chris!! Be safe over there! Puc n Tip

But,, on the other hand,, I actually admire those who can find happiness in living vircariously thru others experiences - LOTS of reason's for someone being in the set of shoes for that to be necessary. That said,, if you happen to be one of those types of folks - you could take a peek at the "Polls" ( found here: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?108934-Internatonal-Rally-Location-Time-to-VOTE ) - pick an area that sounds like something you might wanna even just read about in your vircariousness - then vote on that area.. Gotta remember that this particular election selection is open to all members - riders/drivers/walkers and house bound alike.. Unless I am misreading something, it's not a sign up sheet for attendance to the IR, it's more of testing of the water's of interest (someone feel free to correct me if I am way off base here), a sort of ... Bottom line, just cause your not able to ride, or even get out of the house for matter, doesnt mean that your vote doesnt matter - your thoughts and opinions count too..