petekadish
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Everything posted by petekadish
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Lat week, we road from Utah to the Northwest Star B.Q. in Post Falls, Idaho. On the way back (on Sunday), we were passing Missoula, Montana when my buddy noticed that his rear tire was showing thread. Of course, since it was Sunday we knew that most everything would be closed - except the Harley dealer. So, I gave the Harley dealer a call on my cell phone and all that I said, was that we were passing through town when we noticed that my friend's tire needed replacing right away. No, I didn't tell the person on the phone that my friend was riding a Yamaha. The person on the phone sounded very sympathetic and told us to come right over. When we arrived, the dealer absolutely refused to help out my friend because "their shop wasn't authorized because of insurance reasons to put tires on anything besides Harley's". At that point, the people at the Harley shop just pretty much turned their backs on us. They wouldn't so much as offer us suggestions for local help. Well ..., we couldn't find any help in that town that night. Fortunately, we were all geared-up for camping, so we spent the night at the KOA and waited for the local Yamaha dealer to open-up the next morning. It was unfortunated that we just couldn't find a helping hand that Sunday. We knew if we could just locate some of the people associated with STAR, or like the rest of you on this site, that we would be okay. I even had the Venture Riders Assistance List, but found that many of the numbers on the most recent list were no longer valid. So, I empathize with you. If I were able to assist, I would do all could to help. Even if you road a Harley and were stuck, I would still offer to help. And, I hope that if you have to buy a new tire that the dealer gives you a fair price. My friend had to pay $230 for his tire from the Missoula Yamaha dealer and $100 for the install. I purchased the same tire from Southwest Mototire a few weeks ago for $130. And, it shouldn't have to cost $100 to install a tire on a V-Star 1300 (belt drive). I just feel badly when people get stuck in tough situations and you know that solutions are available, but they just can't seem to connect to get the help they need. I'm sure that we have all been in those kinds of tough spots. My wishes for the best of luck. Have faith. It'll all work out. Pete.
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The whole set is $675. But, maybe they just really just want $600 for the dual-touring seat, and they'll let me have the backrest for $75 - but, I don't have very high expectations for this. I don't think my wife really cares about replacing the stock backrest anyway. She likes the stock one. But, I would like it to match the other seat. However, I expect that it would be better to keep her happy - then I'll be happy. Pete.
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Hey that’s cool! I am in the market for a matching, Corbin backrest. I had my seat replaced last year, but not the backrest. I will get in touch with them to see if they are willing to wheel and deal. Thanks! Pete.
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I think that store employees would get a kick out of it. Now, if I were to take my daughter's nail polish to use for my bike stuff, then I would probably get a frown. I would suggest taking in your helmet in to correctly color-match it. Pete.
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Yep! We did the same thing. I covered the bolts with some little rubber plugs I found laying around in my junk drawer and that fixed it for potential future scratches. As far as the scratches in your helmet are concerned, I suspect that they are kinda deep and not just a surface-level stuff which can be rubbed-out. Right? This is what I did. There's a beauty supply shop near of home which sells just about every shade of nail polish, and a lot of them look just like little samples of automotive (or bike) paint. And, they even have these tiny, bottles for a dollar. So, I bought one and used it to touch-up the scratches in my helmet. It worked really well too! Remember . . . your dropped helmet will hit the ground in direct proportion to how new it is, and how much it cost you. Pete.
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My wife Sandy & I are going. Pete.
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Any idea who manufacturers this flag holder?
petekadish replied to petekadish's topic in Watering Hole
Thanks for the answer. I got it figured out soon after my post. It's made by Pro Pad. Thanks! Pete. -
About a year ago, I bought this nice flag & holder from a local Yamaha dealer. Unfortunately, I no longer have the packaging and I can't recall who the manufacturer is. I'll check with the dealer if no one here knows the answer. It's the exact same product as listed in the most recent JP Cycles catalog on page #54. It's listed as a "Tour Box or Saddlebag Flag Mount" (item #1500455). I'll attach a picture of it with this post. My problem is the flag pole is designed to fold down at the push of a release button and then lock in place when it's raised up. Well, the mechanism which locks it in place when it's raised has failed and now it won't lock in to the raised position and flops down by itself. So, I wondered if the manufacturer might be able to help me either fix it or replace it. It was pretty pricey so I don't particularly want to have to purchase another brand new one if this one can be fixed. Any suggestions? Thanks! Pete.
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This past riding season, I decided that I have a Shoei-style head. No wonder my HJCs never felt quite right, So I bought a full-face, Shoei-Multitech (Flip-up) and I'm pretty happy with it. However, it's summertime now, and I don't want to spend this summer riding around in a full-face, black helmet. So, I think that I have found a new style which I think that I'll like. It's the Shoei J-Wing. A 3/4 helmet which ought to work well with my communications system. And, the reviews which I have read are all pretty good. Yea, they're expensive, but they fit my big ol' head better than other styles I have tried. So, can anyone help me find a good place where I can buy one now? Both of my local dealers say that they are back-ordered indefinitely. What I am looking for is: The SHOEI, J-Wing. Light-Silver. XXL. 3/4 Helmet. So far, the best price I can find is $331 - $346. It seems that the manufacture has set the price for everyone who sells these. Where are the great deals? I'm also open to suggestions if anyone knows of a short helmet which will work well with a communications system - microphone & helmet speakers. Personally, I hate helmets during the hot weather, but I'm trying to do the responsible thing and begin wearing one more often. But, to be honest ..., if I'm not somewhat reasonably comfortable wearing it during the summer heat, I probably won't. So, I want to maximize my opportunity to be safe and to do the right thing, by finding the most comfortable helmet I can find. Can you help me out guys? Thanks Guys! Be Safe! Pete.
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Isn't that the "Midnight" model? I hear they taste best. Pete.
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This past week, I picked-up my Wiley-X (wrap-arounds) which I ordered them with "Transitions" prescription lenses. I love the style and the fit. The Transitions lenses make it very convenient to not have to swap glasses depending on light. The Wiley-X sunglasses were originally made for U.S. military forces and are built tough. It'll be nice this year to not have to worry about how many pairs of convenience store sunglasses I will have to buy on the road this summer because the cheap ones always break pretty quickly. Pete.
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On Saturday, July 26th, my wife and I will be heading back home to the Salt Lake City, Utah area from Rogers & Bentonville, Arkansas - STAR Days. We need to complete this ride in 4-5 days. The most direct route (as drawn by MapQuest), shows the mileage to be about 1,300 miles, but we're not looking for the fastest route, we are searching for the best ride - but, one which we can complete within 4-5 days. So far, we figured that we would ride through these places in the following order: 1. Rogers, Arkansas 2. Amarillo, Texas 3. Santa Fe, New Mexico 4. Farmington, New Mexico * This is where we're we need some help. Once we leave Santa Fe, New Mexico, our next destination is Farminton, New Mexico. From the first leg of our ride from Santa Fe, it looks like we have two (almost equal?) route choices - See the attached maps - Route 1 & Route 2. We have never been to New Mexico before and we would like to try and plan the "best" choice of route, but we can't decide if it's a better choice to take: The "low road" (Route 1 = down I-25, North-West to 550 to Farmington. Or ..., The "high road" (Route 2 = up I-285, to 96, to 550 to Farmington. Distance wise, both choices look about the same. Time-wise, I have no idea. Is anyone out there familiar with this area or either of these routes? We are also open to any other suggestions we can get about travel in these parts such as "can't miss" or "don't bother" suggestions. There's nothing like the voice of experience. Thanks guys! Be Safe! Pete.
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Utah trip coming up soon, any recommendations?
petekadish replied to Midrsv's topic in Watering Hole
You're going to love Utah (especially if you're well prepared). For example: Carry lots of drinking water when you're out on the road here, and drink it often. If you haven't been to southern Utah in the summer, be prepared to handle the heat - the kind of heat which billows out of an oven when you open the oven door. Moab can feel like a blast furnace sometimes during the summer. Just be prepared! Portable water-misters and a good-quality cooling vest can make all the difference in the world. When my sweetie and I road back to Utah two years ago from Star Days in Colorado, the desert temps. were about 115 degrees. Fortunately, humidity isn't an issue out in these parts, but heat stroke can be. Be Safe! Pete. -
The hitch did not come with Nylock nuts, but that's what I purchased to use with this project. As far as sheering forces are concerned ..., huummm? I don't really know. Im certainly no engineer. But like I mentioned, a number of my other friends have been using this same set up for a long time and throughout many miles with no problems thus far. So, I'm inclined to think that it's a reasonable risk. I do however appreciate the thoughts of concern. I'll be sure to keep an extra eye out for any signs of stress or wear. Of course, if the bolts shear-off, I suppose that there won't be a lot of time to watch anything except my rear-view mirrors. Be Safe! Pete.
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I bought my '07 Midnight Venture last spring, and I just couldn't get used to the stock pillow-top seats. So, while in California this past summer we decided to pay the good folks at Corbin a visit. Corbin custom made the dual-tourer seat for us, and re-covered my Utopia backrest to match our seat. We didn't do the passenger's backrest though - just didn't have enough left in the budget for that also at the time. And, we might get the passenger backrest done sometime, but for for now it looks okay and my sweetie finds it comfortable. I really really like the Corbin seats. For me, they are much more comfortable than the pillow tops. Other people find the Corbin seats way too firm. Anyway, here's some pics of it. Pete.
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Yep! It's a Venturedad and it won't have any problem supporting the cooler rack and or the cooler rack mounted on the trailer arm. I went with Venturedad specifically because I know a number of people successfully using the same set-up. I figured that it was a safe bet. I'm also setting things up so that I can swap the cooler rack between the trailer arm, or just carrying the cooler solo by just undoing a couple of bolts. Pete.
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The party begins as soon as the rubber hits the road. This weekend, it's supposed to be about eighty degrees for our chapter ride. I think this will feel like our first summer-day type ride. It's been a slow-coming spring so far. This morning it even snowed in Salt Lake City. Springtime in the rockies, I guess. Pete.
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Hi Guys! I just got my new cooler rack from Al's Motorcycle Accesories (Wow he does nice work!) Now, with the cooler sitting in the rack it (of course) blocks my turn signal lights. So, I would like to hook-up a couple of LED turn-signals to the back of the rack. My Diamond-R LED brakelight which is mounted under the trunk, takes care my brakelight issues, so now I just need some LED, turn signal lights which look complementary to everything else back there. Hopefully, I can find ones which can be mounted flush against the mesh along the backside of my cooler rack. Power for the cooler rack lights will come from my trailer hitch power plug. Please, let me know if you have any suggestions. I don't want to spend too much on them, but I do want them to look like they were meant to be there. I will attach a couple of pics so that you can get a better idea of what I'm working with. Thanks in advance & Be Safe! Pete.
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For years I have worn the most comfortable pair of cheap sunglasses which I could find at convenience stores when I was out on the road and I was quite happy with them. However, now that I'm almost 48 years old, I have found that I am beginning to need glasses more often than not. Oh well, I have done pretty well so far. So, just today as a matter of fact, I decided to order a really nice pair of Wiley-X (Strikers), with gray, light-adjusting, prescription lenses. The typical retail price on these is pretty high, but I found a new optometrist who is willing to get me in to a pair for $160. Yea, it's a lot. But, since they're prescription lenses and light-adjusting, I believe that I'll get a lot of good riding use out of them. I also like that fact that these lenses are shatter-proof polycarbonate. I realize that shatterproof-proof probably means shatter-resistant. Anyway, after riding a number of years, I have been hit in the face with all sorts of things which splatter and sting. Fortunately, I have never been hit square in the eye (or eye-glasses) by a rock kicked-up by another vehicle. However, it has always concerned me. I know ..., I should always wear my helmet, and I'll try to do better. Besides, it's hard to come up with a good excuse for stupid! Be Safe! Pete.
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How about pontoons? You could float it across. We could call it an Anphibi-venture. It reminds me of trying to take my bike out of the driveway during the wintertime sometimes. Be careful! Pete.
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You K-9 guys out there might appreciate a few more pics I can share with you. 1. The pic with the shepherd in the snow (posing so noble-like), is my current dog (Nitro). He has a very impressive German pedigree and far more potential for being a great working dog than I will ever take advantage of. Since I'm no longer in law enforcement or working dogs, I just don't have the time or the motivation to invest in training my current dog the same way I did my previous dogs. So, I settle for Nitro just having basic obedience skills, although I sure do miss the skill level at which my old dog Zeus was trained. Like a finely-tuned instrument - Sort of like a Venture. 2. The pic. of the Rottweiler, was Sampson. He was my second dog. I can't explain why in the world I ever thought that it was a good idea to get a second large dog (and a Rottweiler at that), except that he was just about the world's cutest puppy. He wasn't a trained working dog (just a pet). But he was as gentle a nice as he was opposing-looking. Zeus and Sampson were room mates for about ten years. Both are gone now, but that's okay. Zeus lived a long twelve years and Sampson ten. Pretty good for big dogs! 3. The third pic. I included because it's cool and there's an interesting story behind it. The K-9 is Iche (Ike?). His handler was Mike from the Las Vegas, NV Metro P.D. Mike and Iche were featured on COPS a number of times back in the mid eighties. They were a sharp team together. Anyway, this picture was set-up and posed to demonstrate how they could conduct street stops and pat-downs. Once a suspect was stopped, Mike would get out of his Bronco and he would leave his driver's side window down as he approached the suspect. His dog would then stand on the bottom of the door's window frame with his two front legs and growl and bark at the person spread-out on the hood of the Bronco. Iche would then walk completely out of window (around the door frame), and out on to the hood of the Bronco where he would eyeball the suspect being searched. Talk about intimidating! I don't know if the LVMPD still does this, but I assume that it was a pretty effective technique. I have also ridden with those guys a few times a number of years ago, and I was thoroughly impressed with everything about them. They are definitely a top-notch operation. Be Safe! Pete.
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That picture was taken during a SWAT Dog training seminar (Winterfest II), in Ogden Utah about 1997. The activity pictured here was learning how to repel from a fire-training tower with your dog. You should have seen the look on my dog's face as I put him in a harness and put him out the window. It was kind of like he was thinking, what did I do to deserve being thrown out of a window? And, believe it or not, I never did have the opportunity to deploy this type of particular training - and my dog was perfectly happy about that. He didn't find this exercise to be nearly as fun as finding drugs or bad guys. However, I thought it was a hoot! Be Safe! Pete.
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I put in my ten years and I was K-9 for the last few. If someone could just figure out a way to eliminate all the unbelievably ridiculous politics which seem to surround all aspects of law enforcement, I could almost see myself returning to it again. But, I left it all about eight years ago, and I have to admit it sure is nice to have my nights, weekends, and holidays again. Plus, I have an awesome job now which I still look forward to going to each day, even after six years. Life is pretty good! All you guys ..., Be Safe! Pete http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j197/petekadish/ZeusTower1a.jpg
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Dave & Mike, you guys are two of four new people who have commented on wanting to get in touch for some sort of an unofficial meet & eat. Unofficial, meaning that it's just a handful of fun folks and friends who would like to get together for a ride and a little socializing. I will be happy to try and organize something like that if we can stir up some local interest. E-Mail me guys. Let's stay in touch. Nothing says that there has to be dues, or an organization to ride together and have fun. And, it's all about having fun, right? Thanks & Be Safe! Pete.
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Hi Everyone! Well, we have received such a great bunch of replies regarding our questions about riding and camping, that we have decided to give it our best shot this summer. If everything comes together as planned, we should be riding through: Begin in Utah (Orem). Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, and then return to Utah. Of course, we have some specific destinations we are headed for, but if you have any suggestions for “can’t miss” sites, please let us know. There are just so many great places to ride and visit in this great country. As part of our summer camping preparation, we have decided to purchase a couple of Cabela’s very nice Alaskan Guide Cots & Semi-Self-inflating Mattress Pads, a Eureka Timberline Outfitter 6 Tent, and a couple of folding camp chairs. I believe that we are well on our way to discovering the art of comfortable camping. Roughing it was fine, back in our teen years. But, this time around it’s all about being as comfortable as possible, while still sleeping in a tent. Anyway, here’s our question . . ., one of the thoughts I had recently (while mentally collecting stuff for our trips), was that it’s bound to be really hot and humid at many of the places where we are planning on riding and camping this summer. That’s going to make it pretty uncomfortable to try and sleep at night. So, our question for you experienced tent campers is, have any of you found a good-quality fan that works well in a tent? We figure that some of our campsites will probably have power outlets which we can plug in to. In those instances, any kind of small fan should work all right. But, we will also be in places where there won’t be anything to plug in to. Someone must have invented a decent AC/DC powered fan by now, right? We would like to find a small one that we can pack in our (pull behind our bike) trailer. I looked on-line, and I found a couple of small tent fans made by Colman, but the reviews I read (for the most part), were pretty poor. People said they were underpowered and mostly ineffective. But, like everything else I have discovered, I am sure that there is something out there which will keep us cool and comfortable – I just need to find it. Can you guys suggest anything to help us out? And, thank you for all of your great feedback! Be Safe! Pete & Sandy