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autopilot

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  1. autopilot
    bump.....just in case somebody missed it.
  2. autopilot
    Don, buddy, I know EXACTLY what you mean. Good going my man! God bless you guys with many more!!!
  3. autopilot
    Cap'n, I'll be around as far as I know. I do live here after all. My niece is going to be in town with her hubby & their 3 yr old ; they'll be at my other niece's place here in the area . She's got one Saltydawg...Don't sweat the local bears. The move to Hard Rock will actually simplify some of their job. The Harleys guys were likely lobbied big time by Hard Rock to move their event over there from the Convention Center. If anybody has their britches in a bunch, it's the Convention Center mgt (IE- the city). They lost a wad over that one. The cops got other things to fill their time with than worrying about that.
  4. autopilot
    I don't understand Yamaha Corp. I had wanted to take a look at a new Venture just to get a better idea of the bike, in person. Of course they didn't have one, nor did they have a new RSTD. (If memory serves, I didn't see a Vmax either) I stop by there periodically and thinking about it, it struck me that they never have either one of them. They have a full spread of crotch rockets and V-twin cruisers, but no RSVs or RSTDs. Now I should note that this is one of those consolidated dealers, where if they can get the licensing they'll sell it. So the place has Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki bikes of all sorts. They have a Concourse 1400; they have one (maybe two) ST1300s; they ALWAYS have a Goldwing or two. Then there there are the innumerable 4wheelers, jet-skis and dirtbikes. Since I was the to see my friend in parts, I was talking about my observation and their lack of "our" kind of bikes. He said they only get about 2 a year! 2!! So I'm thinking to myself, WHY? More importantly, why would they license a store that clearly doesn't represent their product well, in an environment where they can easily slide a customer into the high-priced spread of any one of their competitors? I clearly don't get it! It wouldn't make sense to allow the store to completely dictate the inventory for their brand at the expense of their flagship model. Or is this Yamaha short supplying their product? I dont know. I disagreed with the multiple brand dealerships when some car sales went that way, and I disagree with it for bikes, especially when they don't even keep a sampling of the entire line on the floor. That's not to say they have to have one of every color and different ones with different options. On top of that, the closest shop that has test rides is about 60 miles away. Are RSV and RSTD sales so limited that they just keep them in the mix for apperances? Clearly, they haven't been making the changes & upgrades that have been discussed here so many times before. It's almost like they don't want to really "compete" in the touring market. I learned a lot from my mentor about sales in my first job, that sticks with me to this day. (1) Know your product and know it well; and (2) if you want to sell them, you have to have them to sell. Point of sale and emotion play a large part and neither can come into play if you don't even have the product to sell (or in our case, to buy) So, whoever it was that was taking notes for Yamaha, send them this one too. What ever. I'm tired and I'm going to bed.
  5. autopilot
    MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm.............TOyyyyyyzzzzz!!
  6. autopilot
    I could do that with my eyes closed!!! 'Cause you sure couldn't get me on it with them OPEN! Reminds me of this dumb video game my son used to have that I'd play once in a while. Those guys are just nuts. (They're probably scared of LOW places )
  7. autopilot
    ??? Just an observation, but, it seems to me, that if a spark plug is manufactured to the same dimensional and heat range criteria stipulated by a vehicle manufacturer, I question how such damage can occur. The only scenario I believe plausible would be one that improves the ignition (spark) to such a degree that fuel mixture adjustments that are not made to compensate (particularly a lean condition) would then potentially cause piston burning as described. (basically, they picked the wrong plug) I would expect such an improvement in the effectiveness of the spark would show up immediately in rpm change, possibly exhaust odor, engine temp, etc. Looking at the advertising for the Pulstar, the difference in available spark voltage would be SO pronounced that I would think the mixture would surely have to change! Conversely, if there was that much improvement in combustion, the potential improvement in fuel consumption/MPG with re-tuning might well make it worth taking a hard look at! I don't know, that's all my conjecture. I probably wouldn't, just on economics. I think the things go for $35 apiece or some such. I would also like to see more empirical data from actual use, before I went too far with them. That's my take on it, such as it is.
  8. autopilot
    Glad you had a good outcome. I'm curious, though! How long do they typically have you stand down from strenuous activities. If anything like my hernia Dr., I couldn't touch the scoot till he said it was ok. Some nonsense about manhandling and 800 Lb. bike.
  9. autopilot
    SO happy that injuries were minor. Hate the hassle now, having to settle up with ins. & get the new scoot (although the actual "getting" of the new scoot will be fun). Good luck and get well.
  10. autopilot
    I've seen 'wings with blue seats, red seats, oxblood seats. The MM Venture has tan. and these Valkyries..... I think your guy is off-base. Besides, it's a personal choice...preference...it's your bike. have what you want.
  11. autopilot
    You beat me to it!!! I started to say it would take all of them to pull that thing. Grass sure is green!
  12. autopilot
    Ditto on the BS...... Now if it were a fifty year old Jacobs radial, they could also rightly tell you that it would smoke for a bit after she starts, but that isn't what we're talking about is it? sorry...................
  13. autopilot
    Man oh man, it sure comes in buckets doesn't it. Goodness!! Kurt, prayers are up for you from here, brother. Heal and get well soon. There's ridin to do!
  14. autopilot
    OH YEAH!! I remember that paint....I wanted to buy something just to get that. It has some serious metallic in it.....bordering on metalflake. I like it....yessir, I sure do!
  15. autopilot
    Hey Gary! I have too tell you..(and I don't really understand this), obviously I don't know you and didn't know Leslie, but I kid you not, I think about you (and a couple of other members, but mainly you, buddy) every single day! Don't ask why 'cause I couldn't tell you if I had to. Neither, can I nor would I say that I know how you feel. I have a sliver of an idea based on my personal experience, but that's all. What I do know, from here in the forums is that you are an exceptionally strong person. Maybe that's why I like you so much, not having met you. I also know that there will always be good days and bad days and that as time moves forward, there will be more good than bad. Grief isn't fun, but it is healthy for us, if we don't allow it to control & drive us. It shows us that we're human. So, my brother, I will think my thoughts and say my prayers for you and know what I know.....and look forward to the day I get to meet ya. In the meantime, God Bless you! You'll just have to excuse me gettin all serious and gushy. There are times I do & times I don't. I'm generally not the one that makes the choice which, if you know what I mean? Hey, I'm (almost) strictly a point and push kinda guy. OK, stick a fork in me 'cause I is done!
  16. autopilot

    Tough call

    autopilot replied to a topic in Watering Hole

    I too am sorry you have lost your friend. He had great taste in bikes, 'cause that's a pretty one, for sure! He obviously thought very highly of you as well, to leave these possessions to someone he knew well, considered a friend and knew would appreciate & care for them. Sounds like he cared a lot about you. Take solice in that! Those kinds of friendships are to be cherished and remembered throughout our lives. You are fortunate to have had a close friend, such as this! For now, I would keep it, ride it and remember my friend! Let some time pass, then think about what to do with it. Although, I tend to agree with tx2stugis; keep it for use around town & such. But, if that conflicted with how you use your RSTD, then go ahead an sell the RK after a period of time and take a portion of the money and make a donation to an organization or charity he would have approved of. Another option: I don't know the legallities involved, but you could have a raffle among like minded folk (like here at vr.org, as an example), so that you know it would be well cared for and appreciated. As before, I'd wait for awhile, then worry about it. "God [is] our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1 "And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was great calm." Mar 4:39 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22
  17. autopilot
    OK, So how did it get up there....really?
  18. autopilot
    Forgot all about the shock problem. That could absolutely be the culprit. I think it would take several good licks or a couple really substantial hits under a heavy load. You would get the exact kind of force application necessary to do the type of damage present. The question is: What combination of weight and shock loading (force not shock absorber) would do it! This would be a neat problem to solve in the lab. Ahhhh! This has been invigorating. I haven't devoted this much brain time to solving real problems in years. Short of actual experimentation, I think we've done all we can here. As long as some of this stuff helps DMooch get resolution to his situation, then it's OK!!!! Color me gone!!
  19. autopilot
    Gary, I agree with you about the suspension , but only to a point. You've got both the trailer and bike suspensions (bike to a lesser degree due to tie-down) taking up the jounce & rebound, so I still don't believe that could cause or contribute to it. I stick with my original assessment. A poor design for sure, but I believe a singular problem limited to this bike. DMooch, I think you're being too polite. I've seen couples without counting bag & trunk contents doing better than.........Let's just say I know guys that are 275-300 by themselves! We owe you a big thank ya, sir, for being the discoverer of this potential problem. If it is present in other ventures, I for one vote that the fix carry the name of it's discoverer. "The DMooch Weld"!! Has a ring of sorts!! Brakepad, Sorry, man, I can't get there from here. (A) There's no evidence of arcing. (B) The metal in the pics is physically torn apart in tension. © In my experience, I can see no feasible way, electrical arcing could be the cause or even a contributor.
  20. autopilot
    Dude, if they ain't on this site, I wouldn't pay much attention. (nothing personal) If you have a Venture or an RSTD, you're here ostensibly so you DON"T get steered wrong. Yes? Folks here aren't going to tell you to do stuff that's gonna hurt your bike! (If there is a chance of it, they'll tell you and let you choose) If somebody thinks it's wrong, rest assured somebody will say something. This stuff has come up time & time again, which is OK. It's called learning. But...to be perfectly blunt. Either go with people that own bikes like yours or ...........somebody else! That's your choices!
  21. autopilot
    Gary, I don't think two people together could apply enough force even with leverage to cause that kind of damage with tiedowns. One slight modification to my dissertation as regard stress over time even with normal loads. I happened to recall my '79 Corvette. I bought it used, thought I had checked it thoroughly enough. NOT! It had been in a substantial wreck that required the lower control arm attachment to be re-done. Somebody botched the job and the mal-position of the pivot points on the lower control arm was enough to cause the mount to literally tear itself out of the front lower crossmenmber, bringing part of the crossmember with it. I was having some work done and my mechanic called me, I went and looked and it was literally within 1/8th of an inch of tearing out of the cross-member completely. So, if the pieces were mal-positioned, it could happen over time due to over-stress at the weld. DMooch, If you're getting flex while riding and you obviously have something approaching 1/2 inch space sitting still...then without this end fixed in place, you are applying that moment arm (leverage) somewhere else, to some other component that shouldn't be seeing stress like that. Somebody told me one time.... "You don't push a bad position". (probably when I was in a fight, getting my butt handed to me on a plate) OK, I'm done again.
  22. autopilot
    Two causes in my opinion. I'm sorry, but I'm thinking design deficiency is partly to blame. There is a huge moment arm (lever) created with a pivot point essentially at the weld, by all the mass (what ever it happens to be [bike parts, passenger,etc.]) from that point rearward. Looking at Cougar's pics, the location and weld looks to be incredibly awkward even for robotics. They don't look well thought out either. (looks almost like butt-welds, which would NOT be a choice for that location, IMHO. Pieces could also have been mal-positioned for welds, creating a stress-riser at the weld sight. [kinda like leaning into a punch- a knock out waiting to happen]) Shoot, it could've been a bad piece of tubing! Secondly, Repeated loading within the guidlines under nominal road/riding conditions would likely never show up, even with the welding and stressors present, as I'm sure Yamaha's testing confirmed. However, my opinion is that this damage is not necessarily due to repeated overloading over time. Were that the case there would have been indicators on any bike of similar design--ie, all of them. Yes, I feel substantial overloading was involved. But, I also feel that this was a catastrophic "shock" type of impulse force to the frame section; as in the previous rider/passenger got momentarily airborne with the bike and the landing shock load was just too much for it. These sorts of things usually would have something in the range of 200+% safety factor for strength designed in, so if one assumed design & weld were ok, then the frame took a hell of a shock load to do that. ALL things considered, while the design at that spot leaves something to be desired in my opinion, empirical evidence tells us that these bikes are overloaded regularly and sometimes substantially, without incident. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that this is a one-off happening for reasons we probably won't ever know with any certainty! Who fixes it is anybody's guess. OK, my brain's empty now so, I'm going to excuse myself!!!
  23. autopilot
    Like the others, I would also question the wisdom of waiting. That said, I must assume that the question came up when you were told that it had to be done. If the Doc approves, fine, if not..well it will at least ONLY be the toe. Yes? Whatever you decide, my prayers are up for you. Good Luck with it.
  24. autopilot
    Freebird, Just disconnecting some jacks won't necessarily fix the problem. I deally, each jack is wired in a "home run" to the junction box where the service attaches. You probably have one or more that are daisy-chained (paralleled), which would be a problem. Unless you can isolate a specific jack and insure that none else connect to that run, it would be problematic. SO, I also say run (or have run) a NEW cable to wherever your computer's at, from the DSL j-box on the outside of the house. Anything else gets too much signal loss and or noise (You touched on one point...the DSL jack has to be dedicated and no other phone device is allowed on that line.) BUT.....If y'alls DSL is anything like ours, upload will be extremely limited on speed which in and of itself is ok if you aren't sending up larger files like pictures and such ( then you can change plans...$$). Download is speed-limited as well (usually, irrespective of which plan you get). Yeah, it's better than dial-up, but not near as much as they tell you it is! I even looked at satellite, but it was slower because of all the transitions. (land to sat & back) I almost wish I had kept my cable-modem. After 6 months, I was investigating how I could get Time-Warner out here to install Road-runner (can't). If I could get my provider to put 2-way cable I'd do that. The ONLY thing that keeps me from pushing it is that they are in the process of running fiber-optic all over the place in the county, here. When they get the fiber backbone far enough along, I'll finally get the magic d/a-modem box on the back of the house with fiber up to it (like all the NEW houses in subdivisions) and I'll be flyin. But, I digress... You're obviously tech-savvy, so I likely haven't said anything you don't already know. I admit surprise, though at you just now getting DSL:stirthepot:
  25. autopilot
    And, as always, we must HAVE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!! Of course...congratulations as well!!
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