cowpuc

Indeed my friend!! And a VERY Merry Christmas to you and yours down yonder!!!! Have blessed Christmas Season and wonderful New Year!!!

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLRIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::ice_awesome-vi46644:ice_awesome-vi46644:ice_congrats-vi6886:ice_congrats-vi6886:ice_congrats-vi6886:ice_congrats-vi6886:ice_congrats-vi6886:ice_awesome-vi46644 Hey Larry,, try to adjust the pic size,, if you click on Edit, put you cursor over the pic while in edit mode, double click on the pic and see if you get to a sizing window... If you do, make sure you click on the Large pic marker and,, oh no,, I forgot what the other one was.... Anyway,, I have noticed on here when posting pics that we can now choose what size we want the pics to display when we click on the thumbnail within our posts.. Worth a try to help out your weak eyed geezer riding buddys

Right back at cha big guy!!!!! Wishing you the best of the best David!!! Puc n Tippy

Instantly caught my attention too Ed,,, hope others read your comment and at least douple check their home owners insurance policy if they are doing what RR is doing!!! I know a guy that lost 35k worth of vehicles and they were not covered due to a misunderstanding concerning exactly what you are talking about.. The person I am speaking of was wealthy enough that he hired a lawyer to challenge the insurance company.. He found out thru the courts that had his car/bike/jeep that he had lost due to theft been in "parts" he would have had a legit claim but, complete vehicles are a different story... Also had a friend get broken into recently,, found out that guns, jewerely are not normally covered? And that person had some major vehicle damage done during the break in process that will not be covered... Insurance is tricky and its real easy to come thru the "filing a claim" process with some real hurt feelings from things your told when you buy the policy - if a person wants to know what the company really will cover I have often wondered if the easiest way to know for sure is to ask a claims adjuster for the insurance company before ya have the need to file a claim and are stuck finding out the hard way.. Another note,, here in Michigan we have No Fault Auto Insurance and this thing called The Michigan Catastrophic Fund.. The fund is for the insurance companies to tap into if they have claims that go above 300k (I think thats the break point - I am NO insurance guy).. All our plated vehicle owners have to pay into the Fund when they buy their policy. Right now, the 6 months policy Fund fee ALONE is around 170 dollars (340ish a year) - this is JUST the fund, the policy costs are added to this amount.. We pay more just for this Fund on our bikes than people like Frodo below pay for his actual policy (you probably know all this).. An interesting point having to do with our bike insurance is that unless a cage (AUTO) is involved in a motorcycle claim accident, even though we bikers pay the same amount into the fund,, we do NOT have access to it.. Now that said,,, and reading Frodo's numbers (not picking on ya buddy - just using ya as an example here), I wonder what the legal side of buying out of state insurance for a motorcycle here in Michigan would be? Ever heard of anyone actually doing that (basically avoiding paying into the "Michigan Fund" AND filing a successful claim with an out of state company (I am sure you can "buy" anything,, have it worth anything after ya buy and when ya need it might be a different story)? Another interesting point about bike insurance,, to bad ya'll are stuck on riding all these fancy new machines,,,, ride a beat up ol 83,, stick on some Historic Plates (30 bucks/15 years), than cause its an antique - ya get wayyyyy cheaper insurance,, PLUS - and this is a big PLUS so read carefully - the old MK1's are (together in unison with me here ya'll) - FASTER!! ALL THIS CHATTER ABOUT INSURANCE (GOOD THREAD VENTUREFAR!!!),, MY NEW YEAR WISH FOR 2015 IS THAT NONE OF YOU HAVE THE NEED TO USE WHATEVER BIKE INSURANCE YOU CHOOSE TO CARRY!! HAVE A FUN BUT SAFE RIDING SEASON EVERYONE!! PUC

Might also loosen the drain screws up on the carbs one at a time - hit the key and make sure they are getting fuel flow, sometimes banging em around will cause a float to stick shut or not float smoothly.. Check plug terminals and wires,, maybe got something loose... The popping from a pipe sounds fishy to me.. Are we taking about a consistent "pop-pop-pop" at idle,,, coming from an exhaust pipe,, possible plug/plug wire, possibly got an exhaust valve to tight (I hate even saying that).. Might spit check (dampen finger tip and touch pipes) each pipe after its ran for a minute at idle just to see if its hitting on all four,, if you find a cold one - shut her down - pull plug on jug with cold pipe and check it - maybe do a compression test..

PB is right Jack,,,, orrr,, you can pop those balloons on the map one by one, when they pop that leave the members name hanging in the air,, click on their names and POOF, all their info shows up,, than all ya gotta do is write down in a book all the info you wanna know about em... Not as easy as looking under Community but still a lot of fun!!!

No idea of a website Rand but I LOVE Miata's!! CONGRATS:thumbsup: on the find my friend - hope the two of you also find many many miles of enjoyment out exploring the country with it!! Cant wait for the

Tip n I had an excellent adventure today.. We are still in the process of getting things in order for the big cruise over to Ann Arbor to visit the U of M in January. 3 weeks ago, during an outing that found me jogging on a tread mill while a very young looking heart specialist controlled the speed and uphill angle of the conveyor belt that was moving beneath my feet,,, 30 more seconds the nurse said,,, I didnt trust her cause it seemed an hour had past since she had said "1 more minute".. As we were walking out the door of the hospital on that previous adventure, I looked at Tippy and told her how happy I was that another link in the process of this medical journey was completed.. Looking for empathy and maybe even some sympathy, I also made a comment about how much the angle of that tread mill reminded me of the angle of the roadway her and I had pushed Tweeks up when we ran out of gas on the other side of the Missouri River from Chamberlain South Dakota.. It worked cause she acknowledged that the ordeal didnt sound like that much fun.. I told her that the Nurse and Doctor had pulled a tag team of torment on me trying to get my heart to rev over 138 rpm's and that, truthfully, I would rather have been back out in that 105 degree sun, helping her push Tweeks.. Glad it was over.. Thought that was ancient history,, a long forgotten time of trauma when,,, last week,,, our Doctor walked into room #3, said hi to us, looked down at her computer and said,, "getting handle on all the prep - every thing is looking good --- except your heart stress test,, got some stuff there that we should look deeper into"... I knew it,, I just knew it,, that local hospital tag team and their conveyor belt with a "T" handle bolted to it were gonna cause me problems... My Doctor announces I have to go do ANOTHER one of these tests only this one will be a little more fun cause I get a bunch of pictures taken AND I get to have my motor injected... That brings us to todays adventure.. This time the tag team consisted of 3 medical looking people.. After shaving a bunch of spots on my chest to make sure my wiring was grounded properly, they flipped the switch on the monitor,, one of the group kinda moaned a little and said something about my motor rate of 42 rpm's.. The one in the white coat walked out,, looked at me and said - "do you have a heart condition"? To which I replied,, "not that I know of"... I was laying down on a bed with wheels next to the conveyor belt while that conversation was going on. I didnt notice the guy with the injection cart walk in.. Having been around injected motors and gear heads who inject them, I am pretty familiar with the voice tones the type of person who injects motors has.. I knew immediately what this person was up to as soon as he introduced himself as "Ed"... I forgave "Ed" for trying to push the feed line for my motor injection thru my elbow - he was very apologetic about it not "flowing".. He tried some kind of technique using some kind of saline solution but still couldnt get the injector cranked up.. He had to plug that lead and go looking for another one... Wired up,,, chest shaven with patches hanging all over me,, right arm all poked full of holes,, tag team standing around me, they cranked up the conveyor again... As I held onto that familiar "T" handle and felt the conveyor start to tilt, it occurred to me how many times I had asked Tweeks to pull an incline loaded to the Antelope Horns with gear and with two people on her back no less... "Ed" broke my sweaty daydream as he announced he was about to hit the injector button.. As he shoots the juice to my motor, someone announces that having your motor injected while trying to balance your wheels on a conveyor belt can cause momentary loss of balance.. It can and it does.. Thankfully the "T" bar on the conveyor belt at our local hospital is very very well made!! As the tag team was helping me lay back on the wheeled bed I could feel my pride and dignity returning knowing I had accomplished another great adventure.. I immediately found out that only part of the journey was completed.. The team moved me into another room where many more tag team members had gathered.. My motor and I were placed under this machine that they all said was "the camera" - certainly did not look like one though.. Spent about 20 minutes getting pictures taken of my motor.. As I leaned up onto the side of the bed with wheels, visions of some of Tips turkey and homemade dressing danced in my head (had to fast for this procedure - hungry!!).. Glad to have this one done... The nurse that handed me my shirt asked if I would be waiting in the hospital for the "next" step or if I would be leaving.. She informed me that I would have to be back in a couple hours for part two... Ohhhhhhh,,, goody goody,,, its not over!! It dawned on me that I still had the "injector" hooked up and,, being the gear head that I am and knowing first hand I dont like people knowing whether or not my motor is injected either, I asked if - for secrecy sake - my injector port had to be removed if I was leaving the Hospital.. Nailed it.. Remembering the fiasco that "Ed" had gone thru trying to get my injector flowing,, I made the wise choice to hang out for a couple hours... As Tip and I were goofing around in the corridors of the Hospital I was intriqued at how many mature adventurers there were hanging around.. As with any trip, we conversed with quite a few of them.. After finishing up a conversation with another bearded charecter about my age, I looked at Tippy and told her I wanted to go view the "little people behind the big window".. It had been many many years since I had stood at the viewing window and made ugly faces at the lil ones.. We walked up the stairs to the 2nd floor exit ramp.. Hooked an exit and noticed a sign that said "Intensive Care" - opppssss,, obviously the wrong exit... Merged back in the stair well traffic,, off on the 3rd floor exit,,, surgical rooms......... Back into the stairwell traffic,, 4th floor,, which was also the end of the stairwell road.. Walked in,, more surgical care rooms... Walk over to the nurses station on the 4th floor.. A nurse asked if she could help.. Tippy stood there beside me as I explained to her that we were just waisting time between some heart testing and were looking for the baby viewing area,,, just wanted to give the hospital a chance to show off those lil ones.. The nurse eyed us up and down,, smiled and told us that this particular hospital didnt do babies no more... Saddened, we ventured back down to the main floor.. As we stood in the main floor corridor, leaned against a wall and yapping, a well dressed office looking lady walked up and asked if she could help us find something.. I lifted my sleeve, showed her my injection connection and told her we were waiting for part two.. Than we got yakking about the hospital not having a baby area, how strange that seemed and how disappointed I was that I didnt get to view the little curtain climbers.. The lady grinned when I said that and said,, you wanna hear something that will really make you sad.. She asked when the last time was that I had "viewed" the hospital babies.. Probably 25 years we said.. She says now adays, at the "other" hospital, you cant even view em unless you are a family member and have a security wrist band.. She said because of people STEALING babies and other security issues, those "open view" days that I remember so well are a thing of the past... Keeping it a "secret" about whether or not your motor is injected is understandable but,, hiding those little people like that - now that is just plain wrong... Got the message that I was "next in line" for more injector flavored pictures,, finished up and came home a little older and a whole lot wiser about injectors, babies and life in the not so fast lane of geezerdom!!

AWESOME STORY AND AWESOME PICS K-RIDER, THANKS FOR INCLUDING US IN IT ALL!!! Let ya in on a little known trade secret on motivating the DragonRider guy,,, bike on stand - lay out the tools - stand behind tree and say "hey Fozzy Bear,, mind taking a look at my bike",, guaranteed that'll perk em up and instantly cause em to become focused!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Had I have known that we even had a problem, I would have been the first one in line at the court house while out there to settle up any wrong I had done,, problem was,, being after the fact, I would have had to make a trip to California from Michigan to find out what the law really was,, simply not worth it.. I know many folks look at Cali negatively,, I dont DJ.. Instead of that I try and view the out of state tickets I have gotten thru the years (California officers arent the only ones who write tickets ) or even the few not so friendly people I have ran across thru the years in a different light,, I look at it all from negatives vrs positives and I gotta say,, thus far my touring positives farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr outweigh the negatives!!! Will you still see me traveling California on a motorcycle,, you better believe it.. Will I get anymore tickets while doing so,, more likely than not (price of admission).. Will you catch Tippy or I wearing a white helmet while we do, nope NOT when the price of a can of paint at Walmart = $1.50 (I actually painted her helmet after the fact out there)

Well,, as always,, there's a lot more to it than words can describe DJ.. Traveling on Tweeks like we do leaves us and Tweeks open for human interpretation as it were,,, and police officers are only human beings with a hard job to do - I cant even IMAGINE being an LEO - especially in CA.. The officer who wrote us up and told both Tip and I that it was a no dollar "warning" ticket was actually a pretty decent guy.. He was a motorcycle officer.. We had just pushed Tweeks up the exit ramp off 99 in an out of gas situation,, filled her up.. We were standing by the pump yakking, I saw him drive thru and pointed/waved and said to Tip - LOOK CHIPS,, kinda loud.. He heard me, didnt bother waving back but parked his bike and walked over.. Sorta eye balled a couple of pretty dirty prospectors (just came in from camping/panning gold up near Kings Canyon) on a bike that,, looked more like a prospectors mule than a motorcycle:Laugh: I didnt realize that he was serious about his comment about Tips helmet looking like one of their patrol issued helmets and I laughed when he said that (I have a REAL problem with an over active giggle nerve).. It wasnt till I saw the look on his face that I realized I had offended him.. Point being in all this,, and kinda getting us back on the discussion of the "legality" of doing something or riding something that may or may not be legal.. I have a very strong hunch that a LOT of it depends on the officer who has the tough job of deciding whether or not something is or isnt legal at any given moment in time.. Went home, called the courthouse in Sac, they gave two choices to pay the fine - send check in mail (lady said there was a higher chance of payment getting lost in system so I chose second option) or go to some non-court electronic payment system - pay an extra 23 dollars to that company and pay it instantly.. I did that cause I didnt want anymore problems.. It wasnt over though... The warning was issued in August, heard nothing from them concerning matter until December and paid ticket at that time and recieved electronic confirmation that the 500 bucks was paid.. In March of next year I recieved another notice from Superior Court Of Sacramento that they had suspended my Michigan drivers license:crying: Immediatly tried to call them, waited a couple hours on phone and could not get thru.. Called my Son in Law out in Sac to see if he would make a trip into town to check on it for me, he told me about a data base that they (no idea if this is California wide) use to keep track of Traffic Violations.. Went to this data base and sure nuff,, their was Puc the pirate still listed with a WHOLE bunch of other scallywags.. Got thru to the Court Clerk a couple days later,, found out I had been driving on a suspended license for almost 2 months!!! Was able to give confirmation info to clerk who said she would petition the court to release my license.. Few days later I checked that data base again and notice my name had disappeared from list:thumbsup2: Found our local part time officer here in Michigan, had him run my license and all was fine:dancefool:

I still think a Slingshot looks more like a trike than it does a 56 Chevy:stirthepot:, now maybe if Bongo was driving one his great big :big-grin-emoticon:could be construed with the grill on a 56 Chevy, thereby confusing certain people who spend a lot of time in a confused stupor and whose name I wont mention (initials are YammerDan).....

:thumbsup::clap2::dancefool: and YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Oh man PB,, thats easy = http://www.sovietsteeds.com/forums/images/smilies/bs.gif Back in the late 80's I salvaged my first Venture,, an 84 Blonde Royale (whose side covers can be seen on 1st Gen #5 known as "Tweeks" with close to a million miles on em).. Bought it to take my kids cross country touring (was doing a lot of it on Dual Sports and stuff but needed KID time - grabbed an "estate sale special") to get some one on one with em.. Two oldest were already riding, used to camping (deer woods) and loved the outdoors.. Took my time with em around Michigan on the 84,, starting with the two oldest (7 and 8 year old daughters).. They named that great big beautiful blonde girl "Big Girl", which instantly became B G, which soon became BEEG - crazy world raising kids. Next summer I announced that I was looking for a rider to go out west on a motorcycle trip,, 1st born has always been the timid one, a precious little girl just a little timid,, always liked to let her younger sister "test the waters" before she would bite.. Looked at the 2nd born and teasingly said your too little,, still remember the look on her face http://i.imgur.com/BV4YY.gif - We packed up, headed west, my 8 year old, always the brave one of the bunch,, little crazy like her dad, daughter of mine and I. As we cuddled up in a tent under the stars on the rim of the Grand Canyon we got chatting about biker life.. One of the things we talked about was weird biker names we had heard mentioned along the path.. She was really intriqued by those colorful names she had heard.. We decided we needed biker names and talked about "finding" them before the trip was over... One of the weird things that always seems to happen to me when I am touring has to do with cows.. I always manage to find and step in cow manure when we camp - still happens to this very day!! My daughter always laughed at me shaking the stuff off my tennis shoes.. Our kids were never allowed to swear, even "questionable" words like poop or crap were not allowed as youngsters (think thats bad - they were even forced to call adult neighbors by Mr. or Mrs. - addressing an adult by a first name was a no-no around our home).. My daughter had a "lisp" back than,, it was om more than one occasion that she pointed and yelled "dont step in the cow pucky daddy",, somehow I could never miss all of it and,,,,, it stuck... One of the problems we had while crossing AZ headed toward Needles while on that trip was keeping a hat on her little head... I wasnt about to force her to wear her helmet in that heat (+115) but she had really really fine hair that absolutely had to have a cap of some kind.. We finally managed to figure out that one of my caps on backwards with a couple rubber bands poked thru it and wrapped under her chin worked!! I named her "Cappie" - that stuck too.. Other kids all wanted "biker" names but each understood the "biker code" = they had to "earn" their names,, 3 days of touring or more... Now Tip and I have an "Awawhoo" (1st born - woke up out in North Dakota with her singing to the Morning Doves), "Cappie" who you have met, "P-Dog" - son LOVED looking for and playing with Prairie Dogs, "TOTR" (pronounced Totter), last born LOVES the Tunnel Of Trees up in Northern Michigan = Tunnel Of Trees Rider and TIP,, that Tippy earned her name after the kids were grown,, she stayed home many many times and watched over three little kids while the 4th one was out chasing around the country with ol Puc... She has been, still is and will forever be a "Treasure In Person".. Many years ago my oldest daughter had a shirt made for me for my Birthday.. I only wear it for very special occasions cause it means a lot to me .. She has taken it and added the shoulder patches as my youngest and Tippy earned their names.. You will notice the name "K-Puck" on the back,, a result of a young girl not wanting anyone to think of her pappa as poop.. Later in life she offered to change it but,, aint no way,,, aint no how.....

So,, Skidder,, seems how ya spoke up,, lets see if we can drag ya in a little farther Lets say your back working as an LEO (I know, this is hard but bear with me),,, the Slingshot is not "legal" in the State of where ever your E'ing the L.. A really cool looking with his foxy looking snuggled next to em goes cruising by ya while your sitting in your r ..... You know for a fact the craft cannot be licensed in your state but notice that there are plates on it from a State that you also know has deemed it legal.. Cause its your job,, you go , get the plate number, run it and it comes back registered to some really great folks from Michigan, clean record and all that stuff... Folks are obviously oblivious to the fact that their 23000 dollar vehicle cannot be legally registered within the State you represent.. So,, do you until they stop and then send them , do you "Ok 99,, and try to figure out what the legislaturing dudes got to say about it or do you overlook the whole mess and go back to watching for maniac ...

Good one bro,,, down by one,, the one you missed is a little 71 Honda CT70H that you can just see the handlebar sticking up to the left of the yellow one that is sitting to the left of the one that looks like its pooping on Tweeks seat:scared: Could not agree with ya more Goat,,, they sure look pathetic when ya get all the bling off em dont they ,, almost like an anorexic motorcycle.... One on the left is a Honda 550, the other is the 750!! GOOD EYE AMIGO!!!

Yes you are..............

If we are fortunate something like this will commit suicide on our road which will result in this but we usually get stuck with none of these willingly donating their steaks so we have to work our tails off which eventually leads to a fight between me and which always amounts to more work .. Of course, I am never alone in my misery but it can sure seem that way, specially when time to dust off the just before Santie shows up.. Good thing patience is a virtue during Christmas at our house, especially when waiting for some of Tippys smoked salmon chowder .. After eating though, people make up and are happy again.. The End. Merry Christmas

Hi Kaj,, welcome to the family!! Is your bike an 87 Venture? Just didnt see it posted and its kind of important info.. Anyway,, assuming it is a Venture we are speaking of, the petcock is, while sitting on the bike - right side - just above the passengers foot rest.. Keep in mind that these scoots carry their fuel below the seat and utilize a fuel pump to get fuel to the carbs.. So, turning the fuel off is not necessary to do carb work..

She is gorgeous Natty!! What an awesome way to get out, get some fresh air, roll thru some mountain twisties,, leaning shoulder to shoulder with the one ya love - all in classic style!! :clap2: Sure looks like the PO took care of it body wise,, seems like most of em I see around Michigan suffer from body rust pretty badly (probably from folks getting em out on salty roads in the spring).. Beautiful car Natty - CONGRATS!! THANK YOU FOR THE 's If it belonged to Tip n I we would have one of those little trunk lid ski rack things to tie the tent to cause aint no way,, aint no how we could not go touring the country in that puppy!!

In my limited experience, I have found a different perspective in this DJ.. Got an improper helmet ticket in California a couple years ago, no helmet required in my home state of Michigan.. The officer who wrote us a warning ticket did not like the color (white - looked to much like a police officers helmet he said) of Tippys helmet but stated it was just a warning.. After getting home, couple months later we recieved a notice from Sacramento Superior Court that we owed em 500 bucks cause we didnt come down after we had gotten the ticket to give them 250 bucks.. I called and talked to a clerk,, kind of a grumpy person who basically told me that they never issue warning tickets and I owed em 500 bucks.. Said if I didnt pay it within 2 weeks the Michigan State Police would come, take my drivers license and lock me up until I paid that fine plus additional $ being assessed for not paying the 500.. Had a hard time believing what I was hearing so, before I sent payment, I went to our (Muskegon Mi) local courthouse and spoke with an actual Judge about it.. Was told this: Few years ago Michigan signed onto some "pact" that gives the offended state (California in this case) juristiction within a reciprical non-offended state (in this case Michigan) to enforce the offended states laws.. And that those State laws are superior even over federal laws.. The judge than told me that there were only 2 states in the USA who, at that time, hadnt signed onto this "pact".. His words,, bottom line,, you have to KNOW the laws of the state you are in and be in compliance of those laws or face the penalties.. He than told me to pay the fine or there would be an arrest warrant issued, my drivers license would be pulled and, get this,, my license would belong to the State of California and it would be up to them as to when it would be released!!!

What da heck,, I havent even seen one in person yet and gotta say,, I already like em - A LOT... Of course,, I am kind of a gear headed geek who is attracted to motorized stuff, specially anything drivable/ridable, different, artistic or performance related - if it is related to motorcycles I am in trouble... A good example,, I cant tell you how many of my friends think I am wacky cause I happen to have always liked that great big V-8 Chevy powered Boss Hog,, just the way I am,, another flaw in my character Dont make no sense that they arent "legal" in some states,, I can see that if Polaris is trying to tag em as a "Car" than yea - they are not a car but,, tagged as a bike so owners have to follow state motorcycle laws - rock n roll:guitarist 2:..

Actually Ang,,, I would encourage you to rethink that "wont happen again" thingy.. I was one of the respondents in that thread who helped push it over the edge in the politics thingy - sometimes my (and others) goes to far, and thats when our VR family peace keeping Law Enforcement has to step in and get us back on track - doing their job (gotta be a tough one),, keepin us upright... It was obvious from the git-go what you were referring to with the thread - you did no wrong and meant nothing bad.. That said, you cant control the direction any thread is gonna go at any given time, IMHO - that is why we gotta have Moderators and a Bossman...

Trust me Rev,, he is not alone in his suffering!! Sometimes I feel like the Pied Piper of under privileged motorcycles... Now its YOUR turn PB = start counting,,,, where is waldo,, where can that rascal be?? PS,, still waiting to hear who is the closes on counting yours?

Right back at cha Boss!! May the reason for the season with all His love and grace, place great joy upon your household and keep that smile on your face!!! Merry Christmas to all!!! The Pucs