cowpuc

Thanks to all for the kind words, its always a pleasure reading and writing about our lives and things we have been through!! As always, the pleasure is mine folks!! Tooch, I do wear my shirt on special occasions, usually something to do with when the kids are all home. Its really fun when the wife and kids (with boyfriends/girlfriends) get dressed up for a family dinner date and I go strolling into a resturant with my "biker" shirt on!! Your idea of framing it is excellent!!! Tippy read that and said that is exactly where it will eventually end up!! Thanks for idea!! Puc

Hey Pick,,, selling girls clothing on the beach at Daytona sounds like a good way to take advantage of Eck's advice!!

Stock seat off one of those 1st Gens ya got sittin there bro, problem solved!! Lots of advantages - your butts already formed in that shape, the seats already formed to your butt AND putting any 1st Gen parts on your 2nd Gen is definitly gonna make er faster:happy65: Wonder if anyone has tried that yet:confused24: I LOVE the looks of those pillow tops too - real pretty!! Hey, why dont cha keep an eye on Craigs/Ebay and see if you can find one on the cheap?? I know one thing, I wouldn't swap out nuttin till I put a couple thousand miles on it if it were mine,, may find that you and Don have the same size back side:crackup:

Ohhhh brother,, here we go,,,,, WHY 896??

You young whipper snappers have gotta slow down some,,,, I am still stuck back here on this one,,, been staring at that thang for 24 hours straight and I still cant see a motorcycle in there....

bad form,, bad form AND DONT BE TRYING TO HANG NO CHADS THERE NEITHER BIG GUY!!!

Good one Ruffy HILARIOUS!!!! Caught the kids :680::680:singing "When the roooooll,, is called a peeeee on her,, when the roooolll is called a peeeeee on her" in Church many many years ago,,, this thread sure brought back some interesting times... Thanks Puc

Hasta la vista, baby!!!

:rotf::rotf::rotf: Just lead the bull thru the kitchen, knock off the horns, wipe its ass, and serve it.. LEAD EM IN, KNOCK EM OFF, WIPE EM DOWN, SERRRVVVVVE IT UP,, RAWhiiiiiide,,, craaaack I am with ya Flyingfool!! if it aint bleedin its burnt,,Yeeeeehaaaw

Ya know Ruffy,, I really thought Spenda would have it least made it to the finals too!! I guess there are a lot more hard core on here than you and I tend to be..

Man ya got that right Squid,, gonna take some doings to change directions on this one!!! Still not to late though, never know with the voting public - especially with this bunch of Oh yea, thanks for pulling this back up!!!

Oh yeaaa,, that worked BIG TIME Lewis!!! Sitting here on the couch with Tippy next to me. Both eating a piping hot bowl of home made Salmon Chowder (made with salmon we caught/smoked last fall - man can she cook).. You know those sounds you hear from people when they are watching a good display of fireworks,,, kind of a "ooohhhh ahhhhh"".. Think of that tossed in with a number of yummm yummms for the chowder and thats what our living room sounded like while viewing your pics!! Yep, hearts as warm now as my belly THANKS FOR SHARING SOME WARMTH!! Oh yea,, LOVED THE BANNER!!

Good question, never had one apart BUT I can tell ya that I rebuilt MANY a 350 Honda cam guides AFTER the cam chain got so sloppy in my 1st 69 SL350 that it wore a slot all the way thru the casting between the jugs,,,,, freeking oil POURING all over the front of the motor... They gotta be tightened somehow cause I am sure these V-4's aint gear driven.. Hi-Jacked another one,, my bad...

But how would you like to be the guy on the 2nd Gen trying to keep up while staring down the barrel of that puppy YEEEEEEEEHAAAWWWWWW,,, cant believe I just said that:ignore:

Seem em in the field, squeeze on the back, nail em with the front and cookem to medium rare with the middle,,, all we need is Garlic Salt eay Ben!!!!

Peace of mind is worth the trouble checking on it - GOOD ON A FOR LOOKIN BILL!!! :thumbsup2:Did you bother to check the inner tensioner too(for the chain on the cams)?? I can relate to your comment about the improvements HD continues to make, I did a build on an 02 (stuck a gear driven supercharger on it) a few years ago and KNOW that HD has made major improvements with this system - starting in 07!! IMHO, the Hydraulic system now used is a major improvement over the spring tentioners in the 88's, resulting in twice the life of the shoes! I have helped with a couple of HD's while traveling that had the shoes fail, which resulted in major engine failure because of loss of oil pump.. All of these were being ridden in extreme temps and the riders didnt know the difference between a spark plug and a brake shoe, much less the differences that using proper lubes could make.. Oh yea,,, and HD is miles and miles ahead of the old AMF Shovels,,, makes a guy wonder why those old wrench magnets still bring good money...

I went to grab a shirt out of my closet today and noticed this old shirt hanging there.. Took it off the hanger and the memories started to roll.. This shirt is something that my oldest daughter had made for me a few years ago for a Fathers Day gift.. It made me cry when I opened it then and still brings tears to my eyes to this day - all "good memory tears" of course!! Back in the 80's I started taking my kids (I have 4) cross country motorcycle touring on my first 1st Gen. My second born got the ball rolling (she was/is the most daring of the bunch). After experiencing places/things like "Santa's Village", tital bores, a HUGE moose statue on the Atlantic, diggin clams in Nova Scotia, riding down the east coast and watching a space shuttle launch in Florida, her and I rode route 66 and she discovered why I have a deep love for the hot/dry/bugless riding/camping of the west.. We were out in Needles California, sitting in a resturant letting the rubber on our tenner shoes re-solidify, when we met another biker who inquired about our trip.. He introduced himself with his "biker name", which, a couple days later while camping on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, my daughter started sharing thoughts about.. After I explained to her the bases for colorful "biker names" she says,, Daddy - we need "biker names" cause we are real bikers too.. At the time, she had very very fine blonde hair that caused a major problem for her keeping a wet dew rag on,,, just plain slippery... She almost passed out a couple times in the 118 degree heat trying to wear a helmet.. We found that a wet dew rag with a ball cap on backwards fit the bill perfectly - she could easily ride sunup till dark pouring water over her head out in the desert heat!! I named her "Cappie".. She named me Cowpuc cause I had a nasty habit of finding cow manure to step in every time we camped.. When we got home from that trip and got caught calling each other by our biker names all the other kids wanted biker names too.. After thinking about it, I told the other kids that I thought after at least a week in the saddle, sleeping in the tent and hitting some western trail, they too would find a "biker name".. IT WORKED!! The next year my first born daughter made her first trip, we rode out to Washington, spent a few days at Yellowstone outrunning big groups of Harleys, did some Arizona ghost towning, got kicked out of the Badlands for tenting on the rim, and ran real low on gas near a Casino on the way home up in North Dakota.. We ended up camping in a small cornfield a couple miles from the Casino's gas station that opened at 7:00 am.. When we woke up the next morning the Morning Doves were singing their song "aaahwaahooo".. My daughter laid there sawing logs, deeply sun tanned from miles and miles of biken, snoring a song of her own that sounded a little like the song of a Morning Dove and thats all it took, she went home with "Awawhoo" for her biker name.. My son and I were headed out across Northern North Dakota headed toward Glacier.. We got low on fuel and ended up in some little cow town named "Butte" something or something "Butte".. Got yapping with the guy who owned the only gas station, resturant (had pickled eggs and crackers) and repair shop.. He answered a bunch of my sons questions about "free range cattle" and they some how got off on the subject of Prairie Dogs.. This got my son started in watching for those little critters everywhere we went... He was also fond of Star Fish living on a jetty in the Puget sound, had issues with "Goat Head" pickers (NASTY SUCKERS) camping in New Mexico/east Texas and enjoyed panning for gold with a hub cap near Kanob UT.. Any of these experiences could have produced a pretty good biker name for him BUT, after spending a whole day watching him play with the "P-Dogs" at the east entrance of the Badlands National Park, none of them seemed as appropriate as the name he came home with - P. Dog.. It took a few years for my youngest daughter, being considerably younger, to get into the biking mode.. It finally hit shortly after my 3rd 1st Gen followed me home.. Interestingly enough,, even after experiencing the west and visiting her sisters, her favorite biking area came out to be the "Tunnel of Trees" that her and I discovered up in Northern Michigan!! Perhaps it was the deer that came out and chased us down the road, or maybe it was the "Tunnel" affect for miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline,, or, maybe it was knowing she was getting closer to sleeping in her own bed.. At any rate, she came home with TOTR (stands for Tunnel Of Trees Rider - we pronounce it Totter) as a biker name.. My wife of 34 years, Cheryl, spent weeks on end watching over our home while one of the kids and I were chasing the wind.. Her and I had spent many hours doing exactly that before we were married 34 years ago and she knew first hand of the "bonding" that takes place between two people on a motorcycle, sleeping in a tent and chasing the road.. Because of this, she always encouraged me to go "bond" with the kids.. Ok,, maybe she wasn't to happy with me at times when the kids came home with slippery stories of the Sturgis Rally, or getting kicked out of Cemetery's for camping, or almost getting arrested for my 10 year old son playing the slots in Vegas BUT she still always encouraged us to go!! She was and still is a treasure.. Shortly after all the kids left home and empty nest started playing mind games with us, she announced her intent to occupy the saddle anytime the bike left the driveway!! Since that time we have made several trips out to California, done countless National Parks, chased bikes around the Sturgis Rally a couple times, followed the Cannon Ball Riders (1929 and earlier bikes going from New York to Frisco) across the country, rode the Dragon a couple times, and even FINALLY got a chance to meet some new friends from VentureRider last year!! Even after countless 16 hour days in the saddle watching the sites go by, coasting Kings Canyon for 37 minutes and 29 miles (a record coast for us), running out of gas a number of times, hail storms in Utah, 121 degree heat in Death Valley she has NEVER complained and ALWAYS finishes the ride season ready to stay on the road.. Cher IS a true treasure and thats why her biker name is TIP,, which stand for Treasure In Person.....

Now thats just plain WRONG!!!!!!! Back in the early 80's I spent 6 months in Germany learning some manufacturing processes to set up a plant back here in Michigan.. They had beer machines (instead of pop) throughout the plant and by noon most everyone was kinda pickled.. I came home with the thought of,, IF YOUR GONNA BY A GERMAN CAR/BIKE, FIND ONE THAT WAS BUILT BEFORE NOON Maybe anyone looking to buy a Toyota should watch out for those cars that were built during this ice storm:moon:.. On the other hand,, having the Plant President on the line may actually increase quality,, one never knows... We are well over 110 inches of powder here on the lake Michigan Lake Shore and still surviving.. I think the big difference between us and our southern buddys is we are equipped for it and mostMichigan drivers grew up with the stuff... Down yonder,,,,, its gotta be a major crisis,, I feel sorry for all my Southern buddys dealing with the stuff!!!

Hey you guys, I just had an epiphany,, what if we set a particular day/time to pray/moment of silence/think positive thoughts (what ever any who wants to participate is comfortable with) on Skids behalf? Kinda one BIG petition all at once!! We could pick an exact day and a exact time to do it, sort of flood the market (so to speak).. Picture it,,, 11,000 VR 's rooting for our hurting brother all at once!!!

Yea Barry,, if I am thinking of the one you are referring too, the one with the unique styled fairing (which I really like the looks of,, hey,, to each his own), good looking bike!! Just curious you guys,, are those shaft or belt drive?? There I go hi-jacking again,, sorry...

I am in the process of wearing out my 5th 83/84 1st Gen.. The bike in the pic (5th one) is an 83, has wayyy over 148k on it (speedo died 2 years ago in Minnesota at 148k), been short shifting it for over 100k (second gear went at 31k) and it is tired!! My first one was a blonde 84 Royale, picked it up in 86 from an estate sale, stator was gone and did the update, the kids and I rode it out to 210k, it also finished its life with no second gear, REAL sloppy front bevel gear, and crank bearings ready to fall out BUT it got me hooked on these outstanding bikes!!! By the way, if you look closely at the pic of my #5 below you may notice the blonde side panels from my 1st Venture on her - ol Pucs a sentimental rascal:smile5: I FINALLY have in my possession an 87 Blonde that I just picked up, no idea whether or not its gonna be a rider but gonna find out!! If it is, it will be number 6 and a real new bike (being a MK2) milestone for Tippy and I - the added plus of riding a 1st gen Venture WITH second gear in it, a working speedo, bigger bags and riding a BLONDE again could prove interesting!!! I have often thought it would be really really fun to own a 2nd Gen RSV (there is something about the MM that has always called my name) but these good old 1st Gens just keep following me home

I recall reading a parable once that said something like this: because of her persistence in asking she received what she was asking for.... For some reason my gear headed brain translated that into: the squeaky wheel gets the grease!! Been doing a LOT of squeaking on Skids behave myself Dan!!

Primary votes are tallied and we are down to THREE names folks!! Thank you to all the contributors who submitted names for YammerDan's new bike - you folks did that gorgeous RSV righteous!! Also, thank you to the many brave souls who, in spite of illness/frost bite/cabin fever and even fear of reprisal, came out and voted in the primary's. Now it's time to turn up the heat,, melt some snow and NAME THAT BIKE!!! THIS IS THE FINAL FOLKS!!

Cause I needed a reminder to bring the voting poll back to the top which might remind you that spring is coming??? Just guessing cause I really have no idea WHY..