cowpuc

I hear ya Sly!! Here in Michigan a very popular ear tickler of a slitherer (didnt really expect me to refer to a snake as a "lop eared varmint" did ya:happy65:?) is the Blue Racer.. They are soooo cool! We also have LOTS of grass snakes! It's often over looked by those who have learned to fear that which slides gracefully throughout the farmlands and cities here that these reptiles serve as HUGE purpose of pest control as well as how entertaining they are to play with/watch.. Like you, I have always been intriqued by them. On the other though, if I lived in an area where the presence of such would be a threat to my family, I would consider controlling them in my family home/yard area (catch and release if possible) as well as educating my offspring about watching where they step/swim/camp and so on. Personally, I have actually gone looking for the fanged things in far off desert regions not to kill but to enjoy seeing one = I am a little weird too brother Wanna hear a short CTFW snake story? Of course you do Tip, Tweeks and I were camped in the Everglades right off Alleee Gator Alley - about midway between Miami and Marco Island.. It was beautiful back in the swamp, laying there listening to birds scream as gators chomped on em in the middle of the night,, the kind of sounds that good movies have hidden in em.. I hadnt bothered to set the tent up, just dropped it on the side of a two track a couple miles in off the main road and laid there in the warm Floridian night with Tip curled up beside me and Tweeks stickers glowing in the moonlight,, a real honey moon of a honey moon if there ever was one.. After one particular loud SQUAWK and bone snapping incident, Tip curled in close and says "are you sure them Gators aint gonna come up here and nip us?" to which I replied "naww,, why would they leave the smorgous board they are enjoying down there in the swamp to nibble on us".. Then she said something I hadnt even thought about = "isn't this the area where they are having all the problems with Python's = some over 20 feet in length?".. ,, took me less than 2 minutes to finish popping the tent up

Yeahh,, that Tim Conway was nothing short of amazing IMHO.. He was always one of the few that could make even the sourest of the sour laugh and even the best of the best comedians could not help but break down in mirth and crack up completely out of script from even just a glace at him in his purist form of funny. The world definitely lost a smile maker when we lost Mr. Conway! Godspeed and RIP Sir! Thanks Boss for posting this!

Sounds like a lop eared varmint HOOT of time Corporal Newkirk!! Wishing you nothing but the best of the best journey and very little actual sore saddle time as seek to complete your endeavor!! Hopefully the tales you spin (with a pic or two for us lop eared wannabe biker varmints) after you complete your journey and report back in will nothing short of AWESOME!! Ride safe and have fun out there Daws,, ohh,, and say howdy to your daughter for us if you do get a chance to see her!!

I am gonna be monitoring this thread with interest.. My experience with air over hydraulic shocks has been that the oil serves as a dampener and the air controls ride height by assisting the shock spring when adding weight (basic interp) which allows the shock to see full travel after adding weight. That said, it does not seem like your scoot should drop in height as long as its maintaining air pressure even if the oil escapes.. If we were talking about an 83,, I think I would be advising you to look closely at your frame (broken frames can cause similar symptons) but on these newer fangdangled 2nd Gens,, no idea.. Why is it that I have that feeling that I am about to be schooled on new techology again If the 2nd Gens rear shock has a spring that carries the weight that is assisted by air, maybe it's a spring issue? :scratchchin:,, count me clueless

Right there with ya brother :fingers-crossed-emo:fingers-crossed-emo:thumbsup:

Thanks Grubs but I assure you,, any form of wisdom about bikes has more to do WITH my years than it might appear = at least thats what my beat up, tired old worn out body keeps telling me .. IMHO (and, like any other lop eared varmint, that's all I can ever offer - no more, no less) the saturated HD market has a HUGE impact on all other breeds of iron too and is therefore a good way to monitor bike sales and predict values. When HD sales are soft, the metric market follows suit. If HD used bikes take a hit on resale, you can pretty much count on the same thing taking place in the other breeds circles,, at least thats what I have seen thru the years. I always priced my used bike sales by factoring in the ups and downs (on a %age) of HD's market and always found it amazing how good it worked. This may sound crazy but even my Honda Mini Trail restore sales were subject to this. Back in the late 90's and into the early 2000's when HD dealerships had people waiting for +1 year for an ordered bike to come in and used HD's were being sold for +MSRP of new, I was seeing 5 to 8 thousand per restored Honda Mini Trail (the early hardtails). When the bottom fell out and rallies like Sturgis started showing a huge decline in attendance (another really good indicator for the bike retail businessman to monitor and predict future sales IMHO), my profit margins on even those Mini's got thinner and thinner.. As an example of how HD's market shows up across the board,,, I have been out of the game for a while now but if I were a betting man I would say that if a person bought a brand new Polaris Indian Roadmaster and paid 32k for it, titled it and road it for 2k miles, then took it to a HD shop (or back to Polaris) and wanted to off it for cash, my money would be on him being fortunate to see 16k for it (1/2 of new). On the open market? Probably +16k, maybe more, but that would depend totally on bumping into the right person at the right time with the right $$'s burning a hole in his pocket = just like your example though, more likely than not, the person selling that "new" used bike is gonna have to play the same game you did!! It's not right, it's not fair but it sure seems like thats the way it works.. Make sense?

,, :detective::detective::biker::biker::biker::biker::biker::biker:

Looks like somebodies been riding around with his toe resting on the shift lever

WOWZY WOW WOW WOW Happy Mom's day Eileen,, looks like your well on your way to having a DANDY!! :lightbulb:Not sure if Ohio Law permits multiple wives their bossman but if you'ld be a little more patient in my case and wait for the big motored SS,, Tip said she wouldn't mind if I scatted down there and you and I got hitched,,, as long as I came home with a big motored convertible Camaro Nice rig brother,, you gotta a lot of class brother!!

,, I know,, dont cha just LOVE IT!! It's like a great big 3D jigsaw puzzle that, when finished, and if ya get er right = ya get to go out and CTFW on it ... Life as a gearhead is indescribeably delicious You'll get er done Maddy,,, we're all rootin for ya!!!

KC, IMHO, the Orlin and Sharon MD (or ANY chance one gets to drop a bag at their campground and explore the region and explore the wonderful companionship that that group up there offers) is a dont miss if ya have the chance.. Truthfully,, some of the most down to earth - wonderful people you will ever meet!! Also, some VERY knowledgeable folks if you have V-4 questions IMHO. If you do make it,, Orlins pretty easy to convince to at least give good directions to the back roads leading to The Wisconsin Wildcat.. If Or doesn't include this on one of your awesome rides/tours, ya might wanna take a shot a getting him to direct you, via the backroads, to this worthy ride,, just another IMHO's my friend:

That's excruciating to even read Jack! Sorry for your HUGE loss my brother!! THANK YOU for the thoughts/prayers, condolences and sound advice here! Only this time, I wish it weren't a case of advice from life's experiences = that is sad brother. I deeply appreciate it none the less though my friend! Putting one foot in front of the other, thanking God that my brother is no longer suffering and I will see him again! Puc

:sign yeah that::confused24: From what I can tell thru all the BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEPin Jack, it sounds like a stock HD "8". As I recall, the noise levels, including exhausts, are accumulative sound by Fed Regs which in the end caused HD to run super muffed muffs, drop on a set of after markets and whamo,, Return Of The Tater! IMHO, HD got away from the Evo's and went Twin Cam partly because they found the angle of the push rods reguired to line up with the camshaft was to severe (caused issues) so they developed the Twinkie to widen this. One of the awesome things about the Evo was it was gear drive on the cam with a small slide on gear at the end of the crank = very durable. After release of the Twin Cam and all the way up to the 2010 Twin Cams, HD then chased cam chain tensioner issues with the Twinkies. The '10's and after were GOOD motors IMHO. Looking at the "8",, it appears that that design has potential for both the severe push rod angle issues and the cam chain issues.. Personally,, I think if I were lookin at HD's I would look at a later 103" TC and give those risk takers buying the "8" now a chance to figure out what the future of the design amounts to,, in other words, let someone else to HD's beta testing. Besides, with the market being saturated like it is,, later model 103's can be had CHEAP, leaving lots of CTFW $$'s in the pocket of the person doing the CTFW..

THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH AGAIN!! Dougs funeral and burial services went very well (hard/difficult but VERY WELL). It was wonderful reconnecting with friends/family I have not seen in years.. Of course I am numb (feel like a piece of me is missing) but also feeling like I have been once again reminded of the importance of seizing every moment of everyday and living life large by not over looking opportunities to connect with those we love while they/I are still here below. Make the phone calls, "friend" them on VR and on FaceBook, do what ever but try to tell em ya love em = time is short. Also,, let Saigon's be bygones, forgiveness is healthy stuff.. There ya have it in a nutshell. I feel like I owe each of you a HUGE hug of gratitude for the outpouring of love,,, PLEASE dont be shocked if I skip the handshake and proceed directly to a healthy love filled ,, it's just me showing my love:happy34: Puc

This is odd,,, another one of those mysteries of mysteries,, as strange is this is gonna sound, I find myself once again in alignment with Patch:scared:. IMHO, there is a very chance that you have a partially plugged mainjet/main jet system and possibly the same on the low speed side. This is what I would do. I would start the bike cold. Either take a laser thermometer (cheap and best way to do this) or spit check (works great - have used this method for years) and while the bike wayrms up off idle and NOT touching the throttle so the mains remain closed, check header tempts as the scoot warms up. If all the headers come up to tempt evenly, thank your lucky stars that the low speed system is open and operating/functioning properly cause there is a good chance you wont eventually have to clean the carbs by removing them. Now ride the bike or rev the bike (riding is better cause you can open the mains by riding it and keep a load on the engine while maintaining off idle revs) for a few miles. Run a short distance down a highway at 70 mph - sayyyyy 4 miles, pull over and reshoot your headers.. If you have a partially plugged main (lean condition) you will noticed a difference in header tempts right away - you gotta quick on the laser when you stop = dont give the headers a chance to cool. Ever notice on an inline scoot where some of the headers are discolored and some are not? While more common on custom bikes, this malady is generally due to improper tune and that improper tune involved the bike not being jetted properly = a little "fatter" in inboard pots than on out side pots. On custom V-Twins it's very common for a builder to run fat on the rear jug to keep this from happening. If it were mine and I found out that what I am talking about is the culprit in this case I would pull the carb diaphram/slide assembly and check it condition/activation. All looking good there, I would find out what size main jets I was dealing with and I would pickup a set of jet cleaners (similar to torch tip cleaners) and one new main jet of the size in the bike. I would then take the carb cleaners and work thru them to find the one that fit the size of a new main jet. Even if I had to alter one carb cleaner in the set to fit the new jet perfectly = I would. Next I would run the cleaner thru the emulsion tube where the metering rod on the slide enters the main jet cavity. I would carefully feel my way thru the emulsion tube and into the main jet and clean it that way without having to remove the carb = make sense to anyone? After this I would spray carb cleaner into the emulsion tube, let it sit for second and redo a few times in an attempt to open any emulsion tube cross holes that may be plugged.. Now I would button er back up and redo a highway check with my lazer temp gun and see if it fattened back up..

Visitation went ok, lots of my brothers friends (and of course, family) attended. What an incredible person Doug was, his memories are far reaching. Today is his funeral. If you have a moment please think of and/or pray for us as we work thru it. Doug asked me to speak at the service. I will be speaking about my brother's amazing ability to forgive. Please pray that the Lord will sustain me and that His words about forgiveness will come out, all of Him = none of me. My nephew Ben is a Pastor and will be sharing the Gospel. Please pray for Ben in the same direction. Also please pray for those in attendance that, thru the grief that we are in, some/all will hear what is said. THANKS AGAIN FOR BEING HERE AND FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! Love you all Puc, Tip and the Barnhard family

Been out of the restores for a bit but it used to be that the metric scoot necks/steer stems were pretty much interchangable one scoot to another. A little digging research may show you could swap on a front end off a Vulcan or Intruder or even another VTX of different size if you wanted (may require steer stem bearing swaps) = be warned though that HD uses a larger stem and non interchangable = otherwise even a Sporty front end would work. Simple as pulling the stem nuts, dropping the front end and sliding on a different front end. There was always a "standard" in OEM fork height/length = 30 inches from center of axle to top of triple tree comes to mind so fork height may even be completely interchangable. Get the whole thing as a set and you wont have to worry about tube diameters and all that = just note what bike it came off from for future parts purchases. There are numerous bike yards around, I may be able to find my rolodex somewhere from my shop desk of yesteryear that had lists of them if you need some names but I am sure google would work nowadays. Also, if you look in a current Auto-RV in the crashed car section, some of those yards list totalled bikes and not all the totaled scoots have twisted front ends.. In our area (Grand Rapids) there is a big yard that has TONS of scoots and they advertise in Auto Trader occasionally. Just some thoughts 40.. Glad those In-Laws of your daughters are ok brother!! All the best in getting the VTX back on its feet while they work on healing of their own! Puc

We just bought a new truck = 4 speed manual with creeper gear, manual transfer case with 2wd - 4wd hi - 4wd low, lock out hubs, 3/4 ton with floating rear axles, over load springs (rides like a TRUCK), manual windows, big inline 6 banger that purrrs like a kitten (just tuned it = put NGK v-power plugs in it - purrrsss like kitten).. I am a little let down it didnt have split rims (use to love swapping tires on splitters when working for Goodyear when I was a kid) on it but I guess those got decommissioned before 1982,, oh well,, cant have everything, but you can try!!

I have used both spray brake cleaner and carb cleaner interchangably for most, if not all of my degreasing needs thru the years. I buy the stuff by the bulk (cases) when Menards has it on sale and go thru lots of it. I use it on everything from electrical, rubber parts and metals ect. I am careful around paint and clear coat finishes - just pretest a small area before use to see how it will react. One of the nice thing about the stuff is its evaprotive qualities,, it evaporates fast and you can increase its evap by hitting it with air. For cleaning a lockset like we are talking about, if it the switch were mine I would pack the area around the switch with rags, toss on a pair of glasses, spray the internals down with the cleaner and then hit it with air real well. Maybe do a couple times. Then I would lube the tumblars/switch with something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/GRAPHITE-SPRAY-8OZ/129989581?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1122&adid=22222222227054437779&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=155012749152&wl4=pla-266420391561&wl5=9017502&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=101593696&wl11=online&wl12=129989581&wl13=&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjw_MnmBRAoEiwAPRRWW9yJZiagxI1wORhKDoQ-i_8JCeLNTMQ_uFCSLeK4d6KiXLL1WSpo4xoC-FcQAvD_BwE I like the graphite that goes on wet cause, IMHO, it gets into tiny bits and pieces a lot easier/quicker. Just a quick shot, then put the key in and turn the ignition on and off a couple times to work the tumblers and remove the key. SHAKE THE CAN lots before spraying, then spray a shot on a rag to be sure your getting lots graphite in the airasole before spraying a shot into the lockset. Let it set for a few minutes and test it again.. Speaking of carb/brake cleaners. The really good stuff disappeared from the shelves of suppliers. The stuff that would get under a wedding band and instantly made it feel like the area under there was on fire = stuff was an AWESOME cleaner = very strong!! I loved the stuff cause WOWZY WOW WOW WOW did it clean!! Then something must of happened with Federal Regs or something cause all of a sudden it disappeared and now all you can find is sissy stuff, IMHO of course. Anyone else experience this?

OUTSTANDING JOB JOE :dancefool::thumbsup: = VERY WELL DONE!!! While I am saddened that the Hawk's Nest Cafe burned down, it still looks like an AWESOME ride with only having to travel another 16 miles to keep from starving.. DEFINITELY now on our bucket list to take Trooper on!! THANK YOU for sharing this awesome spot with us brother!! Puc

I have eaten Rattle Snake before and WOWZY WOW WOW WOW is it good!! It's a little saltier than chicken but really does taste like it. It also has a much better meat texture IMHO,, sort of like Shrimp with that snappyness to it.. Good stuff!! Years ago I pulled up beside a ranch truck on one of my first gens out in Wyoming and there was a loaded (I could see the rounds in the cylinder - it was a Nickle Plated 357 revolver) handgun laying on the trucks seat. I asked the rancher if that was legal.. He laughed and said ohhh yeah, if you see a ranch truck out here be assured it has a shooter in it. He also said they dont ranch without one cause the Rattlers are so common and that he had shot over 100 Rattlers the year before.. Later, while eating lunch, I sat next to a group of Wyoming State Troopers and asked about the legality of carrying a loaded handgun in a ranch truck. Their response matched the ranchers response. Another time down in New Mexico I had dropped tent at the entrance of an old abandoned rest area while CTFW doing Route 66. I camped right next to the fence,, nice spot! About 7am a rancher in another old truck pulls up to see if I was ok. After chatting a bit, he was telling me his concern was Rattle Snakes. Apparently they had to close the rest area because of them!! I was sort of disappointed because in allll my years of CTFW in the western deserts I have yet to even see one in the wild!! @videoarizona knew that and sent me a video of one that came to visit a camp spot he was inhabiting,, for a lop eared varmint, he sure seems to be a lucky one!!

See why I jumped on the opportunity to spam your spammin backside before our anti spammin bossman got cha by the nap of the neck and tossed ya back into the dumpster Jerome? I KNEW that was coming.. Thanks Don for all you do! YOU DA MAN!!

Me too Sly.. I am running a top oh the line, high dollar Dunlop E4 on Tweeksis right now. While it truly is amazing how it is lasting (mileage) goes, it still causes me pause to think of what would/will happen when it comes time to try and dismount that tire.. I ran the cheaper tires for many many years and, even though I did have to swap out tires numerous times while out CTFW because of the lower available mileage on the cheaper tires (like the 230 Shinks), I always appreciated the fact that I could spoon em on and off fairly easily/quickly.. That is DEFINITELY not an option with the E4 IMHO..

Sounds like a fun build Sly!! I think I would also consider adding a couple of those 45 degree drop down pictannies to your rail so you can slip a flashlight on the 500, maybe a lazer on the other side or even a set of flip up open sites so you can roll it up on its side a little and instantly have good ol open sites come into view.. Those Mossbergs are cool shooters IMHO..

A retro is something old but still cool,, early Honda hard tail Mini Trails fit this category but so do "F" head HD's if talking bikes. Bate refers to anyone who gets takin in by the lure of the retro being talked about.. There are wayyyyy to many things to get lured in by so you cant just call someone a Bate, that dont work.. Ya gotta have a Prefix or the Suffix has no meaning so to speak,, at least IMHO,, ya lop eared retrobate varmint Jack