cowpuc

Indeed Rick,, it is BEAUTIFUL down there!! And those Hoosiers are great folks!! It would be neat to see Indiana on a list to vote on!! And Jerome,, oh my gosh,, and that the old road from Jerome thru Sedona to Flag,, OH MY GOSH... "If you build it they will come":bighug: Puc

Epiphany,,,,, wonder if thats why I couldnt see anything in the mirrors on my 78 Shovel Lowrider between 10 and 70 mph,, hmmmmmm,, never thought of checking inside the tires.. I would also take into consideration the type of environment the repaired tire is gonna be ran in,, desert tarmac does some really strange things to tires, even those without patches or plugs,, just a thought.. Coming home from a few weeks of touring out west with kid in tow, rear tire was getting pretty narly.. Stopped in Sturgis at the very end of the rally.. They have tire specials out there every year and always have MOUNTAINS of take offs stacked in several locations from their vendor specials.. FYI, really good place for a freebee on road tire swap.. I noticed when tire shopping the piles that a couple HUGE piles had tires (AND SOME WERE LIKE NEW) that had been drilled (thru the tread - not the sidewalls) - obviously with the intent to keep the tires from being reused.. I happen to chat with a vendor who did the drilling and inquired.. They used a drill motor with an 1/8th inch bit in it for "ruining" the tire.. In his words, "our insurance company requires us to destroy take offs and once a motorcycle tire is punctured they considerate it destroyed and are no longer liable if someone gets hurt if they are crazy enough to try and fix one"...

And so,, once again I nailed it,,, no Eds - your wife didnt have to tell me you snore - I could tell right away you were an L-3 just from your posts, pretty sharp for an old geezer eay (learned that "eay" word from some L-3 Canadians that YOU would love!!) Now you REALLY let the cat out of the bag my friend - now I know your wife is also an L-3 cause it sounds like she's one of those people running around with a tee shirt wrapped around her head in the morning None from Wisconsin thats for sure!! Hmmmmmm,, take that back,,, if snow is a symbol of purity,,, than I wonder if someone who can make the stuff may fall into category 1 I gotta stop tossing puc at you Flyfool,, at least till I get over and meet you and earn the right to do so:backinmyday:

Just thinking out loud here so dont no body get all poochy lipped on me.. I wonder if we oughta start having stated levels of mannerisms for Meet and Greets and Rallys, especially for new comers on the sight.. Sometimes I think we scare off potential victi,, I mean new family members by making it sound like they might come back to camp and find others people clothes hanging on their clothes lines, a gas tank or seat missing or someone might snitch their ice cream or something.. We could make it as simple as appointing a site Santee Clause (knows who's naughty and nice) and the new comer would receive a list of folks to steer clear of until they got acclimated.. I nominate YammerDan for this position, he knows everyone but himself.. Or, we could provide a rating system for all Rallys and Meet/Greet/Eats that the new comers could go by to allow themselves time to get corru,,, I mean used to some of you guys.. They could choose a prospective Rally from one of 3 categories: Level 1 = a select few VR Members trained in thoughtfulness, kindness, gentleness, sincerity, good table manners, capable of not stretching the truth, good body hygiene, proper attire, paid up in their VR dues and polished bikes.. Level 2 = straight shooters, good with directions,, semi clean bikes, good body hygiene, prone to not stretching the truth but more leeway for embelishment, willing to abide by level 1 standards if necessary.. Level 3 = a highly combustible mixture of couples, singles, pirates, old bikers, new bikers, scalleywags, 2nd Gen riders wishing they owned the faster 1st Gens, 1st Gen riders wishing they owned the prettier 2nd Gens, Harley riders who wish they could keep up with either a 2nd or 1st Gen rider, 1st and 2nd Gen riders wishing they had a Harley - Honda - Suzuki - Ural - Kawasaki or even a Chinese Moped as long as it had a CD Player, Honda riders who just wanna have fun and dont care what others ride, people that snore and dont know they snore, people that know the other people snore and are willing to wrap an old teeshirt around there heads at night just to be near the snorers, homemade wine makers and drinkers, people that know better than to drink the homemade wine, people who see things from drinking the wine, people who wish they could see things, people that laugh to loud at night, folks that will cram 20 people under an awning and all sit at a picnic table meant to hold 6 people and no one has had a shower in 3 days, highway lovers, highway haters, over eaters, under eaters, over achievers, under achievers, quiet spoken, over spoken and everything and anything between the above... Something tells me Eds would fit right into Level 3..

Bonneville Speedway always see's stripped down stuff,, I thought I would treat it to the true test of running as is.. There was a bunch of folks with motorhomes back by the entrance onto the salt.. I tried to get them to join me for a "campers on ice" (that salt sure looks like ice) race but no one would join me.. THAT would have made a great video!!!

Hmmm,, Dale,, Dale,, Oh yea,, Dale (just kidding) - of course, and I still remember you brother!!! Some folks are unforgettable my man!!! You and our friend Doug are a couple of great Canadian folks I will never forget!! THANK YOU both for introducing yourselves - that was AWESOME and you two made it very easy to befriend you!! Problem is, with the number of folks there were there, that little introduction at the dinner table was the only chance we had to even meet some of the folks and that is where its difficult.. So many new friends, so little time it always seems.. Not sure about the link problems Dale, I click on it and it pops right up.. I noticed there have been 17 views of the vid so people are getting there,, hmmmm.. I just recopied the link,, try this please

ALRIGHT Big Guy!! Now we are talking :cool10: I can smell, feel and taste that gorgeous Montana Mountain air brother!! You guys are making good time!! Hmmmm,, camping behind a Best Western,, wonder if your spot comes with a Continental Breakfast:080402gudl_prv: SHELBY = AWESOME!!! Wishing you two a safe and fun ride to your reunion!! Puc

AWESOME report Randy - THANK YOU!! Looking at my crystal ball here,,, its kinda shadowy but I think I see a little ol man and a pretty sharp young lady riding a bike set up like you are describing.. I REALLY agree with your thoughts on that 10 percent drop in 1st being a BALL in the woods and fitting our application really well !! We shall see!! THANK YOU my friend for doing all this testing and reporting of your findings!! Its stuff like that that makes VR a wonderful family to be part of!! Great job Randy, you da man!! Puc

I am terrible with names so it pays big dividends for me to carry my small camera with Video while touring.. This vid is of the VentureWest Rally riders and it is priceless for me.. Not only does it reconnect me with some fantastic people I met along the trail, it brings back some really great memories of things that happened in a place called The Dalles.. Thought I would share it here to give those folks who attended some inspiration to recall that great ride and maybe a chance for those who couldn't make it an opportunity to meet some folks that they missed meeting up with.. Also, here is a chance to one up ol Puc. I missed a few introductions in this Video (gettin slow on the trigger - I plead old age on that) for which I apologize.. Lets see if any of you can identify those I missed, give the location they are sitting and there screen names.. Got a warn ya though,, dont try to trick me,, my memory isnt completely gone!!

Good question Nado,,,, you are the first Sturgis Rally goer reporting in, aint heard a peep from those other Sturgis goers and been watching all week for some stories and pics... Last thing I read about the Meet n Greet out at Sturgis was it was gonna happen yesterday (Wednesday).. Also, I think TXSturgis was talking about riding his Ural out there.. Maybe yelling "any Ural riders in here" would have worked:cool10:.. Could have not understood the answer you got,,, Russian,, "dah" means yes (not to be confused with our kids saying "dahh") and "nyet" means no,, but could mean "not yet" I guess.. Thanks for touching base, hope all is well with our other buddies too! Ride safe! Puc

I hear that Kev, just as normal.. What you described in your post is the way it happens most of the time with me too.. Always wish I could pull a great big blimp behind my bike with writing on it that says "HEY, YOU ON THE VENTURE, WHO ARE YOU, GO TO VENTURERIDER.ORG AND LET US KNOW".. On another note, I wish it would have been Tippy and I you saw,, we would have at least at you:rotf:

CONGRATS to the two of you!! Hoping you folks have a wonderful time in those Black Hills celebrating together!!

And,, the speed limit on the Trace could make one think something like this would be highly unlikely (as mentioned)..

Lunch time prayers up, blessings down!!

Oh my gosh,, THAT is horrible! My heart goes out to all those great people living out there.. And to think just a very short time ago we were riding those exact spots,,, just hard to believe!! Prayers Up for all those involved and for their homes!! Hopefully some of that Portland sea fog will come along and douse that puppy ASAP!!

:rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

Buddy, please forgive my boldness in this matter, just trying to help you out here in understanding the base problem of whats going on.. I was Plant Superintendent for years and worked closely with HR on a lot of this sort of thing.. Spent many many hours in both Corporate and Divisional Management meetings discussing this topic.. Anytime you have a violation of a Federally Regulated item, like Cigarette Packs, that are compromised, the Company stands to lose millions of dollars in fines and restitution.. We found that defacing any mandatory print like "WARNING - Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health" to be a Federal Offense.. Something no Company wants in their history.. I had several Supervisors who just couldn't overcome this habit (the writing on those packs of smokes) and found the solution to be having them empty the packs, turn them inside out and refill them.. Now they not only are staying within Federal Guidelines but it also gives them a much more readable surface to write on.. Hope this helps! Puc P.S.,, if the thought crosses your mind to write a letter to R.J. Reynolds asking them to put their labeling on the inside FORGET IT!! They wont respond,, trust me!

SlowRoll, soooo sorry to hear about this!! Please KNOW that your wife, you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.. Hoping and praying everything went well and she has a full and speedy recovery! Godspeed Puc

Kev, Kev,, Kev,,,,, how many times I gotta tell ya brother,,, when ya see's another Venture, your suppose to drop everything your doing, chase em down, get their names, sign em up for their trial period on VR and then leave the rest to the family here on VR.. Once ya got the hook set and got em in the boat, you can trust us - we wont let em get away

WOW Coff,, sounds and looks like you had a great ride out there!!! LOVE THE PICS!!! Its amazing the really neat folks you can meet along the trail if ya just take a second aint it? Sorry you missed the Ghost Town that rescued us.. Here is a map shot of its location.. https://www.google.com/maps/@38.0181803,-117.8891329,2966m/data=!3m1!1e3 Something tells me that you had the other intersection of 95 and 16, the one closer to Tonohpa, BUT, as always, its the search that is the adventure and YOU certainly proved that,, again!!!

You make me proud Son-shine! Ride careful and keep an eye out for those stories of Ventures of past!

Sounds like your running lean Eck, try some Seafoam on those injector's. All's good here...

Oh yea,, I know EXACTLY what your saying Eds!! Here is short vid of something that helped me over come that "feeling" while touring out west a couple years ago.. Funny thing is,,, your not that far away from the location!!

Got the same thing going on around here Joe,, got a well known auto tire shop that will swap em out for 10 bucks.. $40 is the cheapest bike shop price in the area for same service.. I have swapped out a lot of tires out of town and have yet to find an auto shop willing to handle the swap, thought Muskegon Mi was rare for it.. Glad to hear that its not uncommon..

Dont assume you have a nail hole, put some air in it and check the valve stem, shrader valve and bead for leaks.. I have had my share of flats on loaded up touring bikes with a passenger on and I gotta say,, I dont much care for that sick feeling of having to tell the passenger to sit still cause we have a flat tire.. Plus the hassle of dealing with it out in the middle of nowhere.. I dont trust plugs or patches for just that reason.. I have plugged a LOT of car tires and had em last till the tires are bald BUT, bike tires are different, I plug em but only to ride em to get to my tools to swap it out.. I feel for ya bro,, I HATE when a perfectly good new tire picks up a nail!! FYI, if its a $ issue, I picked up a very cheap Full Bore tire off the internet while out in California this year.. Seems like it was $70 bucks shipped.. It did a GREAT job and more peace of mind than running around with a plugged tire,, IMHO of course.. THANKFULLY it went flat while sitting in the garage!! Puc