BlueSky

I use a weld tip cleaner to poke the carb holes. Something like this. Maybe try another type carb cleaner. How about the spray carb cleaner? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Welding-Torch-Tip-cleaner-Carburetor-Cleaning-Tool-TCSTDI-13-Rods-W-File/163498661071?hash=item26114794cf:g:7d0AAOSwleRcRkeq

I'm doing more of the fixing things. The 26 yr old garage door opener had been getting jerky and finally quit. The motor would hum for a few seconds and quit. The plastic gear about 3" in diameter was worn and jamming against the worm gear on the motor. I lubed it and it worked until the new plastic gear came. Now, it works really smooth. The temperature and compass indication on my 2002 F150 ceiling console didn't work and had not for years. So, I took it down and resoldered a couple of resistors and now it works again. Sprayed the grass with atrazine to kill the weeds. Charged the dead 7 yr old riding lawn mower battery and it took a charge and mowed the grass or rather weeds. That atrazine is really working after a week or so. Took my el cheapo Black and Decker rechargeable screwdriver apart to see how to change the batteries. They wouldn't recharge any more enough to use the screwdriver. Gotta see if the wife will let me out of the house long enough to buy some rechargeable AA batteries. They have to be soldered in place. She doesn't want to lose her sugar daddy I suppose. I gotta do our tax returns. I gotta pressure wash the driveway. I gotta paint the house exterior. Polish the Magnum's headlight lenses. I have some work to do on the 07 RSV and a lots of work to do to the 89 Venture. My old Kawasaki seems to be the most reliable bike I have. Replace the plugs in the boat motor and clean it up. It's past time to take it down to the wet slip. The list is never ending......

Remember 85 and 86 when Bill Elliot's Ford Thunderbird was a sure winner on the high speed Nascar tracks. At one of the high speed tracks, he lost a tire and made up the 2 (2 1/2 mile) lap loss under the green flag. Some guy in Texas had come up with heads for his engine that had a swirl type combustion chamber that could be used with compression ratios up to 18 to 1 and it extracted more power from combustion and the exhaust gas was much cooler than normal. GM jumped on the bandwagon with new "vortec" heads for their cars. This is when he set the all time track record of 212mph at Talladega. Not long after Nascar limited compression ratios to 12 to 1 and used restrictor plates to reduce speeds. Nascar also disallowed Ford engines built on the Cleveland engine block forcing engine builders to use engines built on the Windsor block. This curtailed the room for building high flow heads since the Windsor engine was a small block and the Cleveland was more of a big block engine. Passenger cars are not allowed to run too high compression ratios because it increases Nitrogen oxides, a pollutant.

With the piston speed equal to a Formula 1 race car engine, it would cost way too much to build it, so not much chance of it being put into any vehicle that consumers buy any time soon. Remember those Honda race bikes that would rev to about 23,000 rpm?

The smallest F150 engine is the 2.7L V6 ecoboost. 0 to 60mph I think it is the quickest of all the F150s, even quicker than the 3.5 eco to 60mph. From what I've been reading the ecoboost engines are fairly reliable. The 3.5 eco has been on the market now for 10 years. The Mustang hotrodders have been testing the limits of the 2.3L 4 cyl ecoboost and it's supposed to be a good engine. It's the only engine option for the new Ranger. I'm old school though and I'm still hanging on to my 2002 F150 with the 5.4L 2 valve V8 that is a very reliable engine. One of those in a van lasted 1,299,000 miles before it blew. Google Million Mile Ford Van to read about it.

I got dizzy just watching! Looks like a skilled rider.

Oh NO! Ford will be putting one of those tiny turbo engines in the F150!

Freebird, Please give us an update! We are all concerned about you and wish the best for you!

Puc, you, Tippy, and Tweeks have made some epic trips around the country! I have really enjoyed reading about them and seeing all the photos and videos!

In the Army they taught us to did a trench around the high side of our tents so water would flow around instead of through the tent.

I rode my RSV about 25 miles today to wash the carbs. I realized my rear brake was barely functional if at all. I kept riding anyway. I did have the front tire shrieking in protest at one stop light. Tomorrow, I'll check it out.

There isn't but so much we can do. Even retirees like me have to go out sometimes and buy food, go to Dr. appts. and other necessities. I went for a ride today on my Kawasaki enough to wash the carbs. I rode for 10 miles or so and then bought gas touching the gas pump, and then went to the Pharmacy to pick up one of the necessities of life for old codgers, drugs!

Tweeks is the greatest!

I'm an old coot in the category that is the most vulnerable but I'm more worried about what this is doing to our economy. We could have a economic depression caused by all the precautions we are taking to prevent the spread of this virus. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. All this money being printed and tossed around is not all good.

The rear brake on the RSV is too powerful as it is stock. So, it doesn't need anything that improves its braking power. Quite a few riders have gone down after hitting the rear brake too hard. The front brake could use some improvement. I have a 2007 RSV with 23k on it and the brake pads are still good. On mine for now, I just flush the lines with fresh fluid and try to be aware that I shouldn't hit the rear pedal too hard.

I went to my annual physical exam today. The outfit I go to is a large company with several offices and many doctors and PAs. All of their offices usually see walk-ins who are usually sick and also handle family care such as annual physicals. At the local office they were only seeing people who had appts and were not sick. Sick people/walk-ins were redirected to two of their other offices trying to prevent the spread of Chinese virus. I thought that was a good idea. The result... at almost 76, I'm still alive! I impressed my lady doctor so much she didn't do her usual medicare bs such as memory test. They usually ask questions like, "Where are you right now?" I always answer, "Golden Corral", since the building used to be a Golden Corral! They probably failed me on the test!

Power for everybody who is riding with you too!

The good thing is that riding shouldn't be risky as far as contacting the virus except for gasing up. So, we can ride all we want! My wife is 17 yrs younger than I and she's trying to keep me at home while she does the shopping which pisses me off a little. But, there are plenty of things I need to be working on around the house. So, now is a good time to git-er-done! We usually keep lots of everything around the house. I don't like running out of anything, so we were well stocked before this crapola. That includes guns and ammo.

I got "walking pneumonia" back in 1967 when we spent 3 nights in the woods during basic training. It was 20 degrees at night and the Army sleeping bags were not adequate. I went on sick call the next weekend and spent the weekend sleeping almost around the clock in the Ft. Bragg hospital. Monday I went back to the training camp and finished basic training. Every time I get a chest Xray, the doctor will comment about the scarring in my lungs. I've never noticed any negative after effects of the pneumonia. Never smoked.

If found the test of the corded compressors.

Evidently, the guy did a test of plug in types before and he compared the winner of that comparison to the battery operated compressors in the attached video. The winner was the Harbor Freight compressor. I couldn't find the plug in comparison when I searched his site.

Hey, 150 million folks in the USA have been killed by guns. One of our senile presidential candidates said so.

From what I read a while ago about a police motorcycle test, the Harleys were deemed okay if the oil did not exceed 400 degrees F which is astounding to me. But today's oils can take a lot of heat I presume. The NOAC test is performed at 450 degrees F if I remember correctly. Evidently, Yammy knew what they were doing when they built the new Venture.

Here is a video of inflators testing that may interest you.

Where's my beer?! I need a beer! Thanks for this video Puc! I love CCR! I keep a CCR CD in my truck's CD changer so I can listen occasionally.