cowpuc

Later that day, as we were riding along discussing the need for small towns like Caliente Nevada to post train schedules for tourist, a couple of genuine Air Force jets came ripping along a mountain side about 3 feet off the ground!! An instant - HOLY ROAD RUNNER CATCHER BAT MAN, DID YOU SEE THAT - came out of my mouth as the 2 jets disappeared as fast as they had shown themselves!! Tip shook her head in a manner to match my excited comment.. The sudden thought went tearing thru my adrenalin filled brain,, I betcha we are near Area 51 - yeeeee hawwww - NELLIS AIR BASE!!! I pulled my feet down off the engine cases where I usually store them when traveling for hours on end, placed em down into their race mode on Tweeks pegs and headed off in pursuit of the Jets who had disappeared off Tweeks radar screen.. Tweeks and I had a pretty good vector fix on them though as her tach jumped up to a healthy 6 grand in 5th gear as we gave those Jets a run for their money.. WHAT A RIOT!! It wasnt long before we came to this sign that said "Extraterrestrial Highway". Having long since realized that Tweeks V-4 motor, as powerful and awesome as it is, obviously it is no match for whatever those jets were housing for power plants, my minds ability to resist distraction fell aside with intrigue at the sight of that sign. Tippy and I were having the time of our lives as we laughed at the fact that we were actually traveling the EXTRATERRESTRIAL HIGHWAY - HOW COOL IS THAT!!! The next sign that we passed after the Extraterrestrial sign mentioned something about there being no gas for the next 150 miles.. A few moments after passing that sign and I felt the great big grin on my face disappear as my mind started doing the simple mathematics of calculating the miles per gallon that Tweeks is capable of and dividing that by how much fuel I estimated she had in her tank.. Tip and I have had to push Tweeks a couple of times because of a slight error on my part in doing this advanced science so, to avert the possibility of having Tippy not talk to me for a couple days, I had placed a couple quarts of extra fuel on the tent rack attached to Tweeks back side just in case we met an encounter such as this.. After doing the initial mathematical calculation and not caring for the answer I arrived at, I than recalculated the whole apparatus to include the 2 extra quarts (that's an extra 1/2 gallon to any of you who aren't as advanced in math as I am) that I had stashed.. I did come closer to a reasonable answer in my math but, for some reason, something in my gut said - DONT TRY IT. As Tweeks came to coasting stop, Tip said, I know - I saw the sign - there is no way we can make it,, the womans as good at math as she is with English - being married to a school teacher does produce its moments. As we headed back in the direction that we had just came from, we noticed to a new sign that put a whole new spin on life - this sign boldly announced - "NO GAS - 100 miles".. I stopped, looked at Tippy and said - Houston,, we gotta problem. We had passed an old guy back at this Tourist Trap building that looked like an old military quonset hut that some hippys had borrowed from Nellis Air Base and had stuck a big silver Alien in front of it. I suggested that we ride back to that building that was obviously closed, and see if the guy was still there, maybe he knew of a fuel station (or a desert cactus farmer who would sell us some fuel) within 50 miles of us.. We did just that and remarkably, he directed us to the only fuel station within miles of us - no more than 10 miles away - PHEW! After I topped Tweeks fuel tank off with some pretty pricey fuel (the lady could have charged me 10 times the price though and I would have paid it - I didn't tell her though), I wondered inside to cool off and have a pop with Tip.. We started chatting about how bad we both wanted to ride the Terrestrial and about how uneasy I was in trying to cover that distance without a lot more extra fuel than we were carrying.. I noticed some small fuel jugs that this station had sitting on their shelves - also kinda pricey (x4 of a Walmart) - oh what the heck - ya only live once right, besides,, that one time can be cut pretty short if ya get stranded out in the desert without fuel.. We decided that if we were gonna buy one though - we would by the 2 gallon jug instead of the 1 gallon jug, we could always help someone else out if we bumped into another person out there who had ran out of fuel. As we were paying for the jug, Tip asked the lady at the counter if they ever had to rescue people coming across the ExtraTerrestrial Highway.. Amazingly, the lady said usually a couple times a week!! Tip said, that don't make sense - there's a great big sign out there that says NO GAS 150 MILES on it. The lady shook her head and said "I cannot tell you how many times we have rescued people out there who have ran out of fuel and when asked if they had seen the sign they say, yes,,, but we didn't believe it was real"!!

After a short but interesting single track ride around the area that left Tweeks with some tumble weed branches dragging behind her, we once again hooked back up to the pavement and headed out in a westerly direction. Later, after it had been a while since we had crossed into Nevada and our human fuel tanks were once again blinking low fuel signals to our central computer systems, we started looking for food.. We pulled into this little out of the way town called Caliente Nevada just in time to find a late breakfast. If you are ever out wondering around in the deserts of Nevada and happen to be hungry, you can do far worst than this place called The Brandin Iron in Caliente!! Great food, great service and you will not leave hungry!! I would suggest this though, if you are in any kind of a hurry OR if you are bothered by trains, you should ask what time the train comes thru before you decide whether you want to dine in or whether you are better off with take out at the Brandin Iron. Tweeks, Tip and I have encountered western trains whose car count seem to be in the hundreds and measure in miles not feet. We have always enjoyed traveling beside them, waving at the Engineers with vigor in an attempt to get them to wave back - many times they do.. Its always a special treat to get them to blow their train horns wildly at us in response to our childish waves. Trains are a wonderful, fun part of CLFWing,, until you get boxed in by one of those endless contraptions!! In all fairness to our friends, the trains. Tweeks would like to thank them for holding us up that day as this way laid us long enough to provide me with ample time to remove some of the tumble weed remains that were making funny clicking noises as her cooling fan bumped into them.

Old Iron Town was fascinating in an obscure kind of a way. Signs were everywhere describing what had taken place there many years ago. I had no idea that the mountains of Utah were so rich in Iron Ore. It was amazing to find out how much Iron had been removed from this area and also how much still remained. Definitely a place that any CTFWer would be proud to claim they had a chance to see. After showing me where the restrooms were, I thanked our tour guide for his kindness, Tippy tossed him the remains of a left over piece of jerky I had tucked away in the little tour pack located on the center console thats attached to Tweeks back. We both gave him a hug and watched the kind hearted desert dog snickered at us as we rode off, probably never to see him again.

As Tweeks led Tip and I off CTFWing down this old gravel road looking for some ghost town called Old Iron Town, probably because I once spent a night in the desert with no water, I felt my throat going dry.. After reaching up and taking a swallow of water from our high class styro foam cup that sets in a cup holder I had rescued from the middle of the road at a Sturgis Rally, I leaned back and told Tippy how much I LOVE Ghost Towning. We hadn't traveled very far (under 15 miles as I recall) on that dusty old road and sure enough,, we came to some signs that said Old Iron Town!! There were no other human beings around that we saw. A real friendly desert dog greeted us as we slipped out of Tweeks saddle.. Tippy reached down and patted the pooch on the noggin and mumbled something to the friendly critter about being thankful to him for chasing away all the snakes that may have one time inhabited the ruins we were about to investigate.. Tip has never really been fond of snakes,, matter of fact - she dislikes them with a passion. I know this has never occurred to most folks who know me but, I like to hang the remains of dead animals on Tweeks. Once we were down in southern Florida traveling along the "Alligator Alley" and we found a genuine dead Alligator on the side of the road.. Tips actually held the plastic bag for me as I stuffed the feet that I had broken off the dead gator with my 16 inch Channel Locks (and people have the nerve to ask me why I carry those great big pliers - sheesh) into the bag for storage.. We later had to dispose of the feet because not even Febreze could conquer the likes of that odor but, thats beside the point. Tippy has never even squinted about helping me fulfill my love for dead animal parts, even gator feet.. Until earlier in this trip that is.. I had found a dead Rattle Snake (a BIG one) on the side of the road back in Texas and was headed back to procure its head to mount on Tweeks front fender. Tippy despises snakes so much that she said if I did so she was gonna make me walk home. She really meant what she said to our new friend, the desert dog too.. I didnt realize how well the dog was trained as a tour guide until I realized that the bond between Tip and the hound were instantly solid enough that the puppy would be our guide for the entire tour.

In order to find obscure places on this planet of which we are all part of, you almost have to be an obscure kind of person. Most people that I have had the pleasure of meeting in my life will draw the fine line in risk management when motorcycling somewhere between comfort and sensibility. I have found that if one really wants to locate obscure little hidden treasure spots, one almost has to throw back a shot of very little southern comfort with big gulp chaser of "whats sensibility got to do with it". I cannot express to you, the reader of some of this nonsense, how many times Tip and I have experienced the neatest obscure things simply by letting Tweeks enjoy some CTFWing and getting us good and lost. As I packed Tweeks up on this gorgeous Utah morning I was actually wondering what kind of obscure things she was going to lead us into. We hadn't traveled very far from our the beautiful campground (Tip and I call anywhere we have camped without getting chased out for vagrancy a "campground") which we had stayed at that night, before I heard Tips gentle voice mentioning something about seeing a marker of some sort back on the side of the road. Tweeks has taken to listening to Tippy almost better than she listens to me (got some kinda girl thing going on) and was already starting one of her famous "lets go the other way turn arounds" even before I could get upright in her saddle. That old sign that Tip had noticed said something about an "Old Iron Town" and had an arrow pointing down some lonely gravel road. You, the readers, have got to understand something about what we were about to do. A person really needs to grasp and appreciate CTFWing in places like Utah and Nevada to fully comprehend just how obscure these places can be. There are VAST sections of these two States (some other places in our country too) that use some weird kind of math formula to calculate politically correct distances between fuel stations and water sources. Choosing to run off into the desert in this part of Utah is what might separate the people who are on one side of the risk management line from the people who are willing to travel on the other side of that line.

They can have my 1st Gen Venture named Tweeks when they can pull her from my worn out old fingers.. Seriously Ride2much,, I totally get your point.. Those Indians are GORGEOUS and there aint no one that I know of that will argue the point that mother Yamaha has turned her back on us.. IMHO, and that is all it is - OPINION,, I really dont think we are gonna see the V-4 platform return in a touring bike.. I look at that AWESOME V-Max 1700 and how it has been relatively poor in sales and I just cant see Yamaha using it... I have hunch, based on Harley's V-Twin dominance, that the future in Yamaha touring is gonna be around a V-Twin - maybe the 1900 Strat platform.. Maybe something in that line will be upon us soon if your interested.. Now, about the Indians, I LOVE EM TOO!! Long before you buy one you owe it to yourself to spend a couple days at their demo's.. Go early on a Friday (even take a day off work if you have to - its worth it to not have to deal with the crowds and be able to ride all day) and, even if you have to ride different models than the Roadmaster - RIDE EM!! The only way you can really know if the motor fits your needs is to try em out! They all have the same 111 (except the new Scout) so, even if you have to ride different models at least you can get a feel for the engines power delivery, vibrations and possible hot spots on your body.. Another thing that comes to mind with Indian is something we have talked about a little around here lately.. That is the fairly small number of Indian dealerships there are throughout the country.. Brand new bikes arent suppose to break but, as we all know, they are just machines and breakdowns do happen.. If you travel cross country as much as your name implies, ya might wanna consider what I am saying.. I am consumed with this bike passion much like you, I followed the new Indian from beginning and was hoping that because it was Polaris who picked up the name, it meant that any Polaris equipment dealer could at least source parts and do some repair work in a pinch.. My understanding is it doesnt work that way. A Polaris Victory dealer cannot help a Polaris Indian rider with his broken bike or vice versa. It might be worth some digging to find out whether or not what I have been told is true - especially if your serious about buying one and riding long distance on it... Might also not be a bad idea to become a member at an Indian forum and snoop around some.. See if there have been any issues and if there have been, find out how Polaris did with warranty work.. Dont get me wrong,, I LOVE the bikes and LOVE what I see in the engine design but their prices pretty much match HD and one doesnt have to travel many miles to discover that Harley shops are like Star Bucks - when da HD breaks,, seems like there is shop within 2 miles (just saying this to make a point).. If you do get one, PLEASE dont forget about 's,, lots and lots of 's for your family who will still be here for you!!! Puc

Got some pretty cool vents happening on the body side covers too...

Well shore nuff,, check this out!! Looking at this one, cause of the different angles of the pics, it suddenly dawned on me that the 85 trunk is kinda shaped liked the 83/84 but it looks a lot deeper? Anyway,, I betcha THIS is what you 's are talking about.. Nice bike,, I could see where this one year model would be highly sought after!! 1985 Yamaha Venture Royale

Well shore nuff,, check this out!! Looking at this one cause of the different angles of the pics, I suddenly dawned on me that the 85 trunk is kinda shaped liked the 83/84 but it looks a lot deeper? Anyway,, I betcha THIS is what you 's are talking about.. Nice bike,, I could where this one year model would be highly sought after!! 1985 Yamaha Venture Royale

Yea Starfan,, come on brother,, its spelled diaper,,, thats the thing some folks use to make things they dont want other people to see disappear...

And just think Bren,, we are only operating at about 1/100th of level of freedom we could be operating at.. Technically we should be able to take a switch to our kids when they do wrong, let em say the pledge of allegiance in school, run truck tires on our bikes, ride across the desert with no helmet on and a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on the front while singing the National Anthem at the top of our lungs just daring those bad news terrorist thugs to cross the line into our country BUT,,, we try to hold some back so our neighbors to the North dont think we are totally crazy

taberqulosis

Happy Birthday ColesGrandPappy!! Wherever you are,, I hope you made it the BEST OF THE BEST!!!!!!:group cheers:

Thanks guys!! Oh yea!! He even said I get to drive his WW2 Ambulance and Jeep!!!!! CAN NOT WAIT!!!

Ohhhh,, I get it now,, your just trying to a little.. As the Wizard Of Oz said,, WELL BUST MY BRITCHES,, WHY DIDNT CHA SAY SO... \ So, to answer your original question,, indeed,, the ORIGINAL 1200cc Venture motors were far superior in every way!! Fasterrr,, smootherrr and even better sounding!!!!

Speaking about being confused,, someone like YammerDan would be the one to address that question to CJ cause I think he has actually spent some time on both.. Just thinking out loud here,, if we have a hard time finding that feller I am sure there are many others around this joint with just as much experience with both motors.. Well would ya look at that!! I dont think I have ever seen one Don!! Is that the same trunk as on the 86 - 93 and does it have the same seat/trunk backrest as the 83/84 I wonder...

Seeeeee,, THAT is the reason why I didnt include the 85's in my thesis!! I am not so sure that maybe some 85's looked like 84's and some looked like 86's... What da heck I say,, what da heck...

Tahhhhhhhhh Dahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! 1985 Yamaha venture No idea where or what a Yakima is BUT,, this thing is gorgeous! CJ,, did I ever tell you that I love bikes and love being involved with procuring, riding, talking about, working on,, heck - even having them talk to me.. Sorry about your mishap but thanks for taking us along on the journey of watching you find your next bike!! hope I dont poison the water hole and get us both in trouble for stickin the Craigs ad on here, shhhhhhhh Hey,, look at that Don,, I got all that funny writing in front of the smilie I was trying to get..

Took a while but I just remembered the guy on VR who rides that gorgeous Voyager,, it was JRichard.. As I recall, he is from Virginia.. That Raggie,, he sure likes to show off his vivid memory collector thingy:missingtooth: Hey,, JRichard,, sorry I couldnt pull it brother - sucks having a leak in the beaner!!

WOW what a morning.. My new friend Ben, got up very early this morning at his home near Vermilion Ohio and drove to our home here in Muskegon to begin his caretaking of Olivia.. Just like most of you, my family here on VR, my love for motorcycling and being involved in that deep passion, has led me into meeting some of this planets most incredible people. It happened again today! Ben has an extreme passion for WW2 history and is involved in re-enactments of WW2 battlefields. He has some amazing equipment but had a vacant spot in his need for a 1942 WLA Harley.. Enter Olivia.. She has gone to a VERY good home!! Ben does screen printing as a profession (GORGEOUS WORK MY FRIEND)!! He special made these shirts for me (they go really really good with my Dispatch Shirt from Tooch) and presented them when he came today (1-31-15) to take Olivia to her new home! Ben,, Cheryl and I wish you NOTHING but the best in all your endeavors!! It was an honor meeting you and doing business with you!! Olivia,, you are loved and missed. Treat Ben and your other family members with the same goodness you treated us with.. Stand tall as you rub shoulders with the men and women who sacrificed so much in keeping us free, its to them, AND ALL THOSE WHO SERVED OR ARE SERVING - PAST - PRESENT and FUTURE, that we all owe the greatest thank you to!! Don, Ben is very excited about the possibility of hooking up with the group during Maintenance Day, even if nothing more than to say hi at the restaurant (that oil change place you mentioned that you go to?). He also asked if, because you two are neighbors and you have a deep love for biking, I could hook him up with you so he could pick your brain a little about potential motorcycle mechanics in the area (he is looking for someone down there to upkeep Olivia if needed - for pay of course).. He is very good friends with the guy who owns the Harley Shop down there (you may have purchased your new bike from Ben's buddy..), matter of fact - he used the dealerships truck and trailer to come get Olivia LOL, but the HD shop doesnt do relics.. Do you have any problem with me sharing a phone number, e-mail or something for him to touch base with you on?

This place is plagued with lop eared varmint troublemakers I tell ya!!

AWESOME Silv!!!! My hat is off to your Dad !! Do you mind that I put that quote in my signature area? THAT IS AWESOME!!

SilvrT,, Tip and I are sitting here staring at your piece of work,, speechless... I dont know what to say.. Tip just said,, all she can say is WOW... Talk about talent my friend,, you got your share! WOW.. THANK YOU for your work.. THAT IS AWESOME!! We really appreciate what your doing Silvr!! I can say this right from the bottom of my heart,, YOU inspire me to keep writing and,, more importantly,,, it inspires both of us to look beyond all this medical stuff and KEEP RIDING!! Just flat out cool!! THANK YOU SilvrT!! Puc, Tippy and of course, Tweeks

Oh, by the way,, I really like the way you think!! Good thing we aint neighbors or our neighborhood would have grease and grime covering the trees and bushes.. Kinda like that Cat in the Hat did when he came to town

Hmmm,, this probably sounds insane but,, I wonder if a timer relay for a dome light in a car would work for what your talking about Randy?? Depending on the amp load of the anti dives, you might wanna wire up the timer to a higher amp relay between the timer and the anti dives.. Most of the switches (thats all the timer is) in our bikes work thru a relay like I am talking about anyway cause the little contacts, in lets say, a headlight switch,, cant handle the amp load and would burn up if they didnt have a relay that handled the amp load.. Any way,, I have NO idea how much a dome light timer would cost new BUT - I know our local junk yard charges a buck a piece for relays and switches (sometimes will give em to you if your nice like me,, and catch em on a good day:301: