cowpuc

During the next day our CTFWing consisted of a good amount of fun in the vast forest areas of Idaho. Places like the Sawtooth, Salmon and Bitterroot forests were captured between us and our hopeful intent on seeing Glacier on our way to our home state of Michigan. It is very easy to lose track of time when exploring remote areas like this, the day went by very quickly and it was not long before we found ourselves once again facing a setting sun. We were in a remote area of National Forest outside of a place called Boulder Montana when the sunset forced us to take refuge from the darkness. I was awoken during this night by the sounds of some thing pawing around in our tent area. The next morning I went out looking for tracks and was able to locate what appeared to be Mountain Lion tracks next to Tweeks. I never realized that those big cats had any interest in riding motorcycles but apparently they do!

GO BARRY, GO BARRY,, GO BARRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dancefool: Advice,, of course - go over bike with a fine tooth comb. What can I find in my bucket of advice,, lets see here,, if the trip is 100 percent about completing an Iron Butt and I were doing it for the badge.. I would empty Tweeks bags and remove her trunk. I would measure up the area I had internally inside the saddle storage area's - take the measurements and go down to Wally World and buy a gas container that would fit in a bag (even if it were just a 1/2 gallon of fuel - just in case). When I filled it I would make sure I ended up with an inch of empty space for slosh. I would also double check the can after I filled it, slosh it a little, and make sure it didnt leak. I would slip the container inside a garbage bag with a draw strap and tuck old sweat shirts or rags around it so it was fairly secure in the saddle bag on the open road. I would also get a pair of riding shorts (spand-X) with the shami bottom in them if I wasn't positive about my bikes seat not causing Monkey Butt. I used to wear them when I did 3 hour harescrambles - they work GREAT for wicking sweat off the bottom! They are also GREAT for fighting butt and leg cramps - carry em with you just in case. Planning 24 hours straight up, I would know I am gonna be riding a big part of the ride at night. I would plan my ride so I met the darkness at the start of the ride, say leave at 9 p.m. and ride all night in the freshes frame of mind I could have (probably hard to schedule a day of sleep if your used to sleeping at night - not worth messing up your sleep schedule). I would plan my ride so the rising sun in the morning was not in my face, for you that might mean heading north as far as possible and turn west as the sun was coming up, then in the afternoon head back south and then as the sun got lower in the day, head east. Key being, ride as much as possible with no sun on your face. If your rider pegs are adjustable, move them into a position where you can move your feet onto them making as many feet position changes as possible. I would start out with a lemon inside of my styrofoam water cup. Slice it in half but dont squeeze it. Fill the cup with ice and the lemon on the bottom, then water. As the day goes on and you refill the water cup, you can reach in and give a half of lemon a squeeze to start fresh. Lemon is a good thirst quincher and also very good for you. Eat a decent meal before you head out and keep the on road stuff very light. Maybe a cooler with a couple top quality fresh sandwiches (loaf of bread with homemade sandwich spread in a dish stuffed into a small cooler) - and a couple banana's - GOOD ROAD GRUB:hurts: @Barrycuda, if I think of other stuff you KNOW I will be HAPPY to share it with you!! As far as meeting ol Puc down there,, Tweeks is in our basement right now with about 4 feet of snow blocking her in,, highly doubtful you will catch her out of storage before April.. I am hoping and praying it warms up here by the end of May so I can make it to Dons MD:Bunny: You have a really really good ride out there Barry, Tip and I are rooting for you and KNOW you will make it - GO FOR IT CHAMP!! OH YEA, EARLY :group cheers: since your gonna be on the road Barry!!!

I can't wait to see it! I also cannot WAIT to see your old bike that Yammers riding, Larrys new Slingshot AND, if Wild Bill shows up - I cant wait to see his new Indian.. Come to think of it,, I am may need an extra day just to see all the bikes!! Hey,, maybe we could have a show and tell time,, I have never been to a rally where that was done.. You know, where we have an introduction time where we follow each other around, introduce ourselves and our bikes at the same time!!! Just do it Don, come on,, you wont have anything else to do during that time!!! (wish I could have had a camera on your face when you read that last line)

Glad to hear that! Tell you guys one thing,, I think we are ALL going to be OK again as soon as this White Washing business is over and we can all ride to Don's MD, sit down by a camp fire and have some good old, down home, face to face motorcycle chat!! Think I may start early.. So,, now that we have this classified stuff all hammered out on the site,, I gotta ask,, are we gonna pull into MD and see your Harley sitting there with a for sale sign on it?

""""Here's the bottom line. I'm not moving another ad. I'm not sending a single person a message letting them know that a post has been deleted. No exceptions. I try hard to provide requested features, look into any problems, help members if they need instruction on how to upload an ad or how to post a message, etc. I won't apologize for asking that our handful of rules be respected"""" THANK YOU DON FOR ALL YOU DO AND HAVE DONE - YOU ARE APPRECIATED!! You do far more than "try hard" to accomplish the above - you have and continue to succeed at doing all the above and then some! Expecting us to be respectful and abide by the rules is not something you should ever feel like you need to apologize for, its the other way around Boss!! Sorry about the added work some of us have caused you (myself included) and the added frustrations of dealing with all this during an already dicey week.

Worked great here Jack!! BEAUTFUL!! I can sure see the connection between your two passions Condor. Not to long ago another VR member, @Stealthblade, passed this very moving song along to me, thought I would share it with you. I played it while I watched the video you have posted - try it and see what you think!!

When we finally get a chance to meet IRL, walk up to Tip - give her a hug and say,, "I been meaning to ask you something, does Puc have a tendency to fall asleep during movies" and see what she says Yep,, sound asleep!!

NICE!! Silvr, I gotta ask ya something here.. When say 69 Yamaha 125 Twin, are you by any remote chance talking about the little Yam Scrambler with high pipes? Had a single pipe on each side,, if I recall I think they were model numbered "A1C" or "A1SC" or something like that? I CRAVED that little scoot! There were lots and lots of early Twin Jets, 200 and 305 Big Bears Scramblers and early R1 350's around (I redid one of those a few years ago - bet not many kids today know that the predecessor of their 1 liter R1 was a 350 two stroke twin way back in the 60's).. Anyway, that 125 Scrambler was rare around our area, never had one but I ALWAYS :178:after em!!

Waited long enough for the rest of the story here Eckster,, it didnt happen so I thought I would help you out a little.. .......man you would do anything to get a new microwave wouldn't you (just picking on her).... Eck smirked as he walked away from the pretty lady who, unknown to him, had learned long ago how to navigate around her "we need new appliances" shy husband.. After they returned with the gorgeous new stainless steel Microwave and Eck had spent some time showing off his toolbox prowess by making sure she noticed that he knew exactly how to use a level, he proudly put away his installation equipment, walked over and sat back down to relax in his recliner again.. He didn't notice the shadow of his wife reaching down to unplug the power cord on the white dishwasher sitting across from the newly acquired Microwave. A smile came across her very intelligent countenance as she slid the end of the ice pic into the unplugged cord and mumbled something under her breath as she felt the sharp end of the ice pic mix the copper wires inside of the cords insulation like she had done on the Microwave her husband had just removed. The words she mumbled sounded remarkably like "that matching stainless dishwasher will look PERFECT in our kitchen"!!

You probably only weighed 110 lbs wet back than too!! They didnt call those sweet Kawi's the Widow Maker for nothing,, I bet you RULED the Universe back than!! I SOOOOOO miss hearing them ripping up the asphalt!! Only thing that even comes close nowadays is the sound of a mighty Arcticat Thundercat giving the sled trails the what for!!!

Dont know nothing about the hat bro but thoughts and PRAYERS UP for your brothers good friend!!

I hear that Ben!! I've fired a few shots with the SOHC 750 Honda's thru the years, sticking em in chopper frames.. Aint nothing sounds a purdy as 4/4 properly tuned 7 fiddy Honda rapped up till its valves are floating and then slam her shut!! Here is news paper shot of the same bike as the pics below before I raked it out for the 18 over.. Also, the journalist who wrote the article for the paper obviously didnt know a DOHC from a SOHC - Honda's last SOHC was 78.. Writers,, sheesshhhhh.... Bike Time gets off to roaring start despite weather, changes in features | MLive.com

WOW Don, the polling thing on our new site is downright pretty!! I dont remember all the colors like that on the old site polling!! Wait a minute,,, Tip deep fried some mushrooms for me for dinner,, I wonder,,,,,

Been a while since I had the pleasure of voting in a poll and thought this might be fun.. Come one, come all - tell us thru the polls how you REALLY feel about our motorcycles and the exhaust tones they make.. Don't be shy now, even if you don't usually participate on VR with posts of your own - YOUR thoughts matter here!! Oh yea, I tried to set this up so we can vote yes on all of them if we so choose!!

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! And turn my back on the best snow provider that has EVER walked the face of planet!! NEVER!! Dont worry Fool, you and Saddlebum (your Artic air provider) have got my business forever!!

Anyone heard any scuttlebutt on the new Indians? Wonder how they handle heat dispersion.. Someone here just bought one,, maybe he will chime in..

Yea, I know Bob! Tip found that and was reading about it,, she said that the guy who is selling the stuff said he could not believe it actually worked either and said that he was gonna keep selling snow as long as the ORDERS KEPT COMING IN!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

Starting wayyyyyy back in the early 70's, I never went any where on my street bikes that my Snowmobile Suit wasnt strapped on the back - even during July and August it would get down right FREEZING at night on a bike!! We Michigan riders are used to that "riding along on a gorgeous night, minding our own business, the road drops into a valley and you would SWEAR you were right back into the dead of winter" routine.. I remember my buddies laughing like crazy when it would get dark and I would put on my old Ski-Doo nylon one piece suit (OH MY GOSH - BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE THAT MEMORY CAME UP), I would laugh right back at them and say - yep, I aint as cool as your about to be!!

Okie, dokey,, you asked for it,, buy a 1st gen Venture - get a set of side panels that either have closable vents or solid fill in's on the windows,, ya end up with a faster bike and your riding partner will be MUCH cooler (well,, you both will be cause your riding the bestes, coolest bike) and you can ride all day in even the hottest of GREAT POINTS THERE BILL!! Just tossing a couple other thoughts out here to and maybe help someone.. Having done some tuning on a couple Twin Cams I had and on helping neighbors with their new Ultra's (one has a 2012, other has a 2010) - I TOTALLY AGREE ABOUT REMAPPING THE INJECTOR'S!! Last I knew, the best tuner is still Harley's Screaming Eagle. It allows you to fatten up or lean down in 200 rpm increments which is AWESOME! I know they are expensive (500 buckish) but a good product. Also getting rid of the freaking cat! HUGE difference! Removing the lowers during the summer also helps. So does making sure that your rear cylinder cut off is set to "on" is a plus. While I am not sure what is available now for external oil coolers, I always appreciated extra coolers on my shovels back in the day - did a LOT of desert riding on them years ago and found out that getting the oil into as much cooling area outside of the motor really helped in bringing down temps. Another thought,, while I have not spent any touring time on one of the new water cooled exhaust valve big twins, I did spend a fair amount of time riding them during some HOT HD demo days and honestly, Tip and I couldnt really feel that much of a difference between them and the regular Twin Cam 103 that we rode a fair amount of miles on.. I cant help but wonder if the reason that HD finally went with some form of water cooling had more to do with trying to stay up with Regs and a lot less to do with solving rider overheating/discomfort than some dealers have been saying... On a side note here,, I run my 1st Gen Yam's with out the lower fairings (I like to stretch out). I also have run them A LOT without side body covers when riding alone BUT, if I have Tippy on with me and it hot outside, I have to run side body covers or her legs get uncomfortably hot (Harley's are not alone in dealing with this problem)..

Now I am having second thoughts!! CHECK THIS OUT!! ShipSnowYo.com - Send your friends Snow (from Boston)

In my bestest Bambi's mothers voice,, ahhmmm.. "Dont worry Bambi, winter don't last for ever" of course, if was right after she said that that BANG,, she ended up in a frying pan so I would be very careful who I shared that tid bit of info with bro!!

Get him Slowroll,, sic em!! GOOD DEAL!! Gotta LOVE this place!! hey Slowroll - can I borrow your new carbtune

Congrats on the sale Brian,, are you going a different direction for summer fun or are you thinking new bike? I bet if your going with a new bike, no matter what breed, and need suggestions or encouragement on making the decision on what to buy, if you ask here on VR there would be a few people that would be willing to share their thoughts on which bike is best:big-grin-emoticon:

Yeaaa,, I think I heard of them,, didnt they make it big in the oil business a while back?

I wonder if that is also when they went to a 3 phase stator on them too