cowpuc

I had one of the LED headlight bulbs with the little fan on the back of it given to me a couple years ago (friend in the hood felt sorry for me riding next to his new HD, his new scoot came with those SUPER bright HD LEDS and he said: "That old beat up Yamaha's headlight is like riding by a birthday candle, try this = Happy Birthday" as he handed it to me. I did the RLU jumper by using the pigtail off an old RLU so I could easily snap my RLU back in if I decided I didnt like the LED. Have been running the LED for a couple years now and REALLY like it. As you stated, the LED is by no means up to the standards that a full LED swap complete with LED bucket would be. I am pretty sure this is due to the fact that the "mirror" reflective interior of the stock 1st Gen is not meant to reflect LED light like one designed for an LED bulb but,, it is much better than stock IMHO. If you toss a volt meter on the + lead hitting the LED and are reading +12 there, I think that is the best your going to see. I am not sure how you would go about increasing the voltage to the headlight and not sure it would be a good plan anyway. On a side note, the way mine came out after jumpering the RLU is that the White headlight warning light on my dash is now the high/low beam indicator. I think back when I did the jumpering I read that this is a normal outcome. I didnt do any addition figuring or dismantling of the dash to swap leads around in there to get it back to "normal" as I am old and lazy but I am sure if a person wanted to do the work, even that little outcome could be changed fairly easily. I did get kind of tired of seeing that white light staring at me so I dimmered it down with a hunk of plastic off something while we were out CTFW half way across the States and glued the plastic down with a dab of E-6000 and, as far as I know,, the dimmer screen is still on Tweeksis..

Could have just put "fastest of the Yamaha Venture line" and instantly covered all the bases ..

I love the "shifts well" comment Duey. My V-4's always use sticky, notchy shiften to let me know they are ready for an oil change if I get so takin in by the beauty of the miles that I over run the last change. I think if I were switching over to Synthetic I would pay xtra special attention to clutch hook up when she comes up on the pipe in higher gears while 2 up and loaded just to make sure my clutch plates liked the stuff.. Besides,,, an occasional romp in that exciting V-Twin slaying go fast land can be good for the bonding between the machine and the 2 riders along for the ride:big-grin-emoticon:. on the ride brother!! Still wayyyyy :snow::snow::snow::snow: here for that routine.. Dad gum Fool,,, its White Washing AGAIN as I type!!!!

Well that is really interesting Duey.. I used Walmart's SuperTech (my 1st Gens LOVED the stuff) for many many years - did all my on road oil swaps in a Walmart parking lots using their wayy cheap, 1.50 a quart 20/50 SuperTech dino and they always loaned me an oil pan and a place to dump my used = the PERFECT plan! A number of years ago Walmart stopped selling the SuperTech and went to the higher dollar alternatives and, of course,, I went elsewhere looking for another consistent supplier of my 1st Gens love for cheap 20/50 (on tour oil changes can get pricey when riding cross country) and found "Dollar General" stores to fit the need perfectly. Most (not all,, some places are not biker friendly) Auto Parts stores will allow parking lot oil changes even with carry in oil, and invite waste oil so the lack of an auto lube attached to Dollar General problem was solved.. I have, almost exclusively used Dollar General 20/50 since then but did know that Walmart finally did return to SuperTech oils as you pointed out. No idea on the higher dollar Synthetics but I can vouch for SuperTech's consistency in their dino's.. Never a problem one running the product, even running extreme desert temps at high speeds, two up and full packin...

Ya know Sly,,, shooter related related waiting for's are to shooters what Christmas presents are to 4 year olds,,, you know that don't cha?

and YOU know em ALL,, nah nah dee boo boo!! :moon::moon::rasberry:

,,, quoting from one of my all time favorite history books,, Mathew 7 verse 1,,, Judge not ye lop eared varmints, lest YOU be judged

Back in the 70's I was Machining for a large machine shop in Grand Haven Mich. Working 3rd Shift (I LOVED workin 3rd) with about 70 other chip makers and only 2 adults (back then we called em Bosses) allowed us evil children to have some pretty good times,,, got our work done but still,,, we had some pretty good times.. Stuff like Dykem Bluing found on the backside of Turret Lathe handles was an every night event,,, you know what I am sayin Jeff,,, shop life.. Anyway,,, one night the day shift Maintenance gang left a door open with easy access to the company Oxy/Acet torches and it caught my eye. As we were headed atta way and I was pulling a "balloon" out of my wallet () I asked my partner in crime (buddy), who had joined me to see what I was up to, if he had ever seen what a good mix of oxy/ace would do if inflated into a little 3" kiddy balloon and then lit? He shook his head nahhhhhh.. I was AMAZED at how HUGE the particular "balloon" I carried in my wallet became after I tweeked the torch tip to a perfect cone, knocked the flame out by touching it to a steel welding table and stuck the tip into the "balloon".. We both watched as the "balloon" filled to well over 3 feet in length and a foot in diameter.. When we got out side the building, with only a concrete wall seperating us from the 70 plus other employees who were sitting at the lunch tables filling their faces, I pulled a roll of masking tape out of my dark blue machinist apron and taped the "balloon" to the concrete wall ,,, then I ran good 6 feet of masking tape "fuse" from the roll, stuck one end of it to the bottom of "balloon" and left the other end hanging.. My friend was as I lit a Marlboro Red and then stuck the flame of my Zippo under the end of the tape that was hanging just above the ground. Without haste I said,,, lets go back inside.. As we approached the lunch table there was this LOUD,, thunderous KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOM that actually made the salt n pepper shakers on the lunch tables bounce.. The lunch room (wasnt actually a room, it was just a bunch of tables set up behind a group of #2 Warner Swasey Turret Lathes) went deathly quite just before someone said "HOLY SPAMOLEY" (spamoley replacing the word that was actually spoken) and then someone said "I think the offices just blew up".. I told my buddy that,,, ok,,, THAT really was a bit of an overkill but ya gotta admit,, it is AMAZING how powerful a touch of a good mix of Oxygen and Acetelyne can be!! Soo,, @Flyinfool,,, which of us is gonna spearmint with figuring out how many seconds of mix its gonna take to launch the drum and not blow the sides out of it in the process

WAYYYY COOL!! I have a hunch that if one of the 1600cc Beemers would have entered the scene even that AWESOME new Wing woulda been shot down pretty quickly.. That is until the speed limiter on the Beemer tapped 101 mph and shut it down,, then the new 1800cc Wing woulda went sailin by,,, until its speed limiter dogged it at 108 mph,, then a putzy little motored 1st Gen Venture with 2 people woulda passed em by on its way to its cruising speed of 115 ... Another interesting thing (IMHO) is that a puny little 1000cc R1 with stock gearing will spin up real quickly to 103 mph,, in 1st gear ,,taking out the 1st place Beemin fastest of the touring crowd before shifting into 2nd and then topping the 2nd fastest of the Wing of a touring bikes top speed, the new Wing, easily with it's 2nd gear,, and then, having 4 gears left, the teeny little 1000cc putzy motor sings along singin it's song to a top speed 176 in 5th,,,, and who knows what lays beyond as ya shift into 6th ..... This motorcycle business can be a confusing matter thats for sure:scratchchin:

Now THATS the spirit my friend!! Words to live by for sure!! continuing Prayers Up on the knee trauma my friend!! That shingles stuff can be REALLY nasty,, glad your puttin a whoopin on it and keepin on - keeping on!!

Awe,,,,sorry to hear about the bug that found you @WRIDR,,, all the very best thoughts and Prayers Up for you my brother. That not feeling well aint not fun AT ALL!! You are more then welcome on the induced ,, it's the least one lop eared VR club member varmint can do for another! Get well! Puc

Yeeeehawwwwwww,,, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ON THE AR15 556 w/ 22lr drop in conversion. Only thing we are waiting for on this now is 1 - QD sling adapter for the stock... What a FUN winter!!!!

Speaking of bling and accessories,,, I got a PILE of bling for the 83/85's. Lots of Chrome dooo dads... I wont post the ju,, stuff here cause I am a VR law abiding citizen who don't want penalty box time (scary place) but will be posting "the batch" up in the Accessorizing zone come spring..

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: +1

,, put a 55 gallon drum full of parts and stuff on top of the boomer bottom, touch er off at 15 degrees due east,, INSTANT quick, CHEAP shippin!! Matter of fact,, may also be an affordable and fun way to commute from your house, across the ocean, to my house Jeff! Notice I didnt say the other way around

Exactly Jack!! You see that lid disappear? INCOMING Years ago,, before the Empire took over,, back in the days when rat shooting at open dumps was a thing (talk about FUN), Dynomite was available at our local hardware stores. When I was a kid I actually got to see a car door disappear into the sky (like an arrow shot skyward out of a Compound Bow ) under the influence of 1 stick oh Dynomoe.. This video reminded me a little of those long gone by days.. By the way,,, the reason I found this video is cause Tip noticed one of those "double barrel" tacticle shotguns at the gun shop yesterday (the DP-12) and we played with it some. Found this vid while showing her it in action on youtube. While not that impressed that much with the performance of the 12 (prefer my mag fed AR 12 gauge wayyy over this one:thumbsup:) , I was THRILLED to see the drums fly!! Pretty cool!!

CHECK THIS OUT!! WHAT A HOOT!!

:crackup::crackup::crackup::rotf:,,, hey,,, wait second here,,, what am I laughing about here,, ,, I think ya might be sinuating the Pucster is just another one of ya bunch of lop eared twisted brained VR varmints.. On the other hand though and just an FYI saddlebum,,, Tip did indeed write that on my behalf:guitarist 2::guitarist 2::guitarist 2:

Been looking closely at conversion kits for my 45 and noticed this... Wayyy cheaper than a full blown, flat out conversion PLUS,, wouldnt even have to monkey with my shooter to jump from one caliber to the other... Wonder if its Mil Spec full size framed to keep the shootin eye/hand in memory check... Could get interesting... Anybody got one? Thoughts? Opinions? https://www.gunbroker.com/item/800215224

Got home from checking out another house for the daughter, husband and grandson down by Battle Creek late last night (they are living in an apartment and eagerly looking for their first house,, found a basement wall caving in on this one,, told em to offer 1/2 of asking - fix the wall and flip it - make :mo money:the old fashion way = one fixer upper at a time ) to find new shootin arrivals waitin at the door. 1k rds 45, 5 hundred rds 12 ga, 5 hundred 308.. Getting ready for the Bachelor party I am putting on for that California soon be Son-In-Law that's coming to marry my Michigander daughter here back in here homeland... Welcome to West Michigan country where freedom still runs free and clean oh sweet Son-In-Law of mine . On the way to Battle Creek yesterday, running about 45 minutes early, Tip see's a gunshop in a place called "Richland" Michigan,, says - hey,, a gun shop, we are early,, wanna stop :dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool:.. Walked in and I said (outloud for all to hear) = "ahhhhhhhhh the sweet smell of the 2nd Amendment,, smells GREAT in here.. Shopped till we dropped bought nothing but had a blast playing with "Anni Oaklee". Take that back,, on the way out the door after chatting with the shop owner for a few minutes, Tip noticed these and HAD to have one,,,, me too:

WITH 's!! It's the least you can do after teasing like that cha lop eared :witch_brew::stirthepot: varmint!!!

Hope ya told the DMV that you were expecting the next two years to be FREE OF CHARGE since they missed you the first time around Chuck?

Good on ya Corporal for gettin er done and avoiding any form of HD rider induced embarrassment in the process.. I do gotta say though, given the same situation and having not been so fortunate as to having not avoided a nasty dose of that sort of embarrassment, I probably would have proceeded like this: HD riders pull up and start the show.. Keeping calm while listening to the banter,, I would start telling them one of my true to life on road stories. As I'm laying on the ground looking for hinge remains: "Yea,,, I know,, bike problems with these beat up ol high mileage Ventures can be daunting.. I do remember one time my wife, my +240,000 miles stickered covered Venture and I were coming home from a 1 month tour and decided to explore the Sturgis Rally one more time. As we were headed in from the Rally a bike appeared on the side of the road, noting its beet red faced rider sitting in the ditch and his bike sitting there with his helmet clearly visible next to his kick stand (biker code for HELP),, we decided to part company with the +150 group of bikers we were riding with and have a look. When we stopped I instantly noticed a puddle of oil under the less than a year old 88" Twin Cam the guy in the ditch had been riding. When we pulled up I could see the rider was in a world of hurt. We fist bumped and then I asked how long he had been sitting in the +100 degree heat. I was SHOCKED to hear him say "over 3 hours".. I pointed to the back of our beat up old Venture at the gallon jug of water hanging on her backside and said - DRINK your fill and do it NOW! He did. After words he asked if I knew anything about HD's.. I said a little,, then asked what it did before it did. Hearing his description and noting the 20k miles he had on his new bike (bought it brand new in his home town of San Diago), I told him it sounded like the common issue of that HD was having with those early Twin Cams = cam chain tensioners wear out, the pieces of the plastic shoes on the tentioners fill the oil pump, she looses oil pressure and it destroys itself.. Dennis (the owner of the bike) says - funny the dealership never mentioned that . After using our Trac phone to call a tow truck, Dennis asked if I had heard of a "fix" that I would be willing to share. I pointed out the screws to remove to uncover the cams and expose the damage inside and explained that if it were mine, first thing I would do is get it hauled to a HD shop, have them open it up and verify what I was talking about, then I would inquire about instead of installing another weak system, have them check the runout on the crank and if less then 3 thou, snap in a set of S&S gear drive cams and an S&S high output oil pump.. We waited with him for the Tow, talked bikes, he was just finishing the last of my water when the truck pulled up.. Dennis followed Tip and I back to Tweeks who was still sittin on the side of the road smiling at the broken HD in front of her when he hugged my shoulder and said: Ya know what,, after 2 solid weeks of Sturgis, YOU TWO are the very first REAL bikers I have met out here (I looked at my weather worn, tent campin riding partner and then back at Tweeks and acutally started giggling at that). I sat in that (blankety blank) ditch for 3 HOURS in that heat and watched thousands of my "brothers" ride by without even acknowledging my existence,, even with my helmet in the "HELP" position = they went by me and my HD like I didnt even exist. Dennis then gave us his home phone and said that if we EVER needed anything when traveling his area - just call and he would be there!! About this time, I probably would have easily had my Venture back together at the fuel station Corporal and I would have turned on my key, smiled at those HD riders and said - seems the HD culture may have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that sooner or later,, we will all have bike problems if we ride em . Then smiled and left as they disappeared into my rear views with no chance of catching me to put a knot on my head ..

And of course it goes without saying, your tender hearted - fun loving brothers and sisters here at the club get first dibs of that report - with 's and everything ,, when that eventful day happens,, right? Right You see folks,, its not what you know as much as it is who you know:thumbsup: P.S. - I still think my brother VentureFar might be a little spoiled BUT,, thankfully after his new best friend spoils him,, he shares the spoils with us:thumbsup: