Ed S, SE Nebr

So, on my inaugural road trip on the Unplanned Venture last weekend I was cruising along a rural highway. Nice two-lane, smooth, not busy; and my speed was a bit above the posted limit. What should have been the appropriate gift of appreciation for the driver of the black Mustang who had the opportunity to visit with the highway patrol just a little while before I got there? eds

Did my wife tell you I snore? She's lying. I'm sure of it. eds

Congratulations! It's that good Nebraska air! Have a great and safe trip. eds

They posted an update to the story. The driver - was a pickup - is facing DUI manslaughter. Reminds me to be sure and tell my wife I love her whenever I can. eds

Good to see some comments showing you enjoyed the story. Saturday was a long day, over 12 hours from leaving in the morning to parking that night. I had to talk myself into Sunday's trip. But, I'm glad I did. I can still feel the grin across my face on Sunday as I tapped her into gear, the clutch started engaging, and I felt that torque pulling me away from my shop. What a feeling! I think I might just be infected. So here's a question for some of you with lots of Venture history: What 's the remedy for that feeling of "just not enough" when you are leaving a stop sign and really grab a handful of throttle and are accelerating through 70 as you shift out of 2nd. And then you have to shut her off cuz you just aren't in a place where you can do what you want to do. But, you have three more gears... Do you know what I'm talking about? eds

Some of you may recall my tale of the 88 VR I bought at an auction a couple of months ago for not very much money. I had no intention of buying a bike that day, especially one which may or may not work. But... After a battery and clutch cylinder work I was able to take a short ride. I determined it needed at least a brake mc rebuild. Then, I had to do some farming. I call it farming - just a few acres of brome grass to put up. But since my equipment is old it takes as much time fixing as it does running. Well, I got the brakes working; got it insured, then titled and licensed on Friday. Saturday I took it out. First stop was back to the auction house where I bought it. They were having a sale so I got to show it off. Then I needed to find something to do. My wife had gone to Lincoln with a friend, so I drove there. First stop was to send her a pic of me in front of the new Pinnacle Bank Arena. Turns out they were across the street. So we decided to have lunch. Our son who's in college there came downtown and joined us. Had a great burger with some ice water to drink. After that I was looking for something else to do, and figured I really should have a beer. What better place than on the Missouri Riverfront in Omaha? That's the Omaha skyline over the bike in the next pic. My wife was a bit jealous, so when I got home we took another trip to get a burrito at the taco truck a town over. Sunday came around and after catching up with some garden work, picking some beans and tomatoes, while my wife and our youngest daughter went shopping for her return to college, I figured our oldest daughter, who's in college in Kearney, needed some fresh veggies. So I made that delivery. And stopped in at the Archway monument just outside of Kearney. If anyone's been through Nebraska on any of the East/West roads, you've seen the billboards for Pioneer Village in Minden. I've now given you the view from the parking lot. A couple hours home. An itchy butt, and there's 550+ miles showing on my trip meter. That's a great weekend. And thanks to VR folks for helping to make it possible. eds

Thanks, all. Now that we have that all settled, I think I'll stick this on my 94 Maxima (210K miles) which I rarely drive and is always dead when I want it. The transformer says it's rated at .5A/12V output. Probably plug it in for a couple days every week or so. eds

Probably demonstrating ignorance here, but... After buying this bike for a song at an auction last month I've been working to get it back on the road. Successfully, by the way. I took it for a ride to town last week. The first thing I did was to replace the battery. While doing so I removed what I assumed was an accessory plug cable-tied to the grate up around the triple tree. The leads went directly to the battery. I recreated that in the image called "original". Today, while removing the right saddle bag to get to the brake caliper, I discovered a little 12v power supply. When I noticed the plug on the end of the supply was the male end to the female I'd earlier removed it clicked that this could be a battery charging system which I am not familiar with. Is that right? Does it work? Seems reasonable; not optimal, since the battery is really closer to 13v, but it shouldn't hurt. eds

Should've included this for some background: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87003 eds

With help from the good folks in the 1st Gen Tech Talk forum and a few hours in the shop I was able to go "around the block" on my VR this evening. This is a bike from an estate auction a couple of weeks ago. I went without any intent to buy a motorcycle, but couldn't pass it up for what it was going for. It was "as is", non-running, so a complete gamble. I'm out in farm country where our "blocks" are a mile on a side. For lots of reasons I was kinda nervous: 1. It's been a long, long, time since I've ridden 2. This bike is BIG! 3. Gravel roads 4. Bike's been sitting since at least 2009; probably not more than 2000 miles in the last 14 yrs. Tires might be bad. 5. I just rebuilt the clutch master cyl and replaced slave. 6. Knew I had at least some front brake. Not sure about rear. 7. Custom pinstriping is really pretty 8. Not even sure if it would go 4 miles. 9. Between reading about the VR here, and working on it for the last few weeks, I think I could like this bike. I made it. If I'd not been dumb and in such a hurry to give it a try, I'd have cleaned the windshield, which might have let me see the gravel ridge as I was heading into the sunset, and I might not have gotten a little sideways. In the end all that happened was a heart rate spike and probably some extra squeeze marks on the grips. Not sure whether my riding skill came back all of a sudden or the bike's pretty stable. (Actually, I know that answer.) So. That was fun. Hope to do it some more. eds

But, some good things to add. Here are some images of the pinstriping. Holy cow! What talent. Looks like the signature is "Kafka '89". eds

Here's another image, this of the back page of the owner's manual. There are no other maintenance records in the manual. I assume the PO (who was either a good mechanic, or an extraordinary tool collector) had recently purchased the bike and changed the oil. Right now the odometer shows just over 90K miles, so that's 2K in 14 years. If this is accurate, and there's no reason to think it wouldn't be, I'm much more concerned about the tires.

While waiting for parts to arrive I've done a bit of poking around. I believe the canister in the middle means this is a California bike. I don't plan to do anything to or about it, though. eds

More good info. Don't get in to Lincoln much, but this is good to know. Thanks, Dave. eds

Thanks. This helps. I'm at work, half an hour from home, and was hoping to pick one up today. We're not working tomorrow and if I can save a trip into town... eds

I need to buy a cylinder hone to use when rebuilding the clutch MC. Probably should plan to do brakes, too, at some point. How small does it need to go? I saw a reference to 5/8" in another post. I recall the MCs on my KZ 750 being somewhere around that size, maybe smaller. Thanks eds

Cripes. I hope they interchange. RonAyers.com's parts list shows the 11-00 slave for my '88. The BOATS link you sent earlier shows the 10-00 number. I have the 11-00 on the way. Maybe that part is designed to go back in easier!

The rubber cover IS inside the dashed line for the kit, isn't it? Thanks eds

Working on getting the bike I bought a week ago on the road. See this post for some background: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87003 In short, it's been sitting for maybe 5 years and I have $550 in it so far. When I squeeze the clutch handle there's no resistance. So, while I can start the motor, I can't disengage the clutch to get it in gear. After some looking it seemed to me like the slave was the most likely cause. I got that out this morning and it looks like I was at least partly correct. The pics show how nasty it was in there. After cleaning up the cylinder I see a tear in the outside seal. I'm guessing the brown-sugar-looking junk is what old brake fluid turns in to. Most folks say rebuilding the slave cylinder is not worth the trouble; I'm going to agree, especially looking at what I'd be starting with. The shop near me says a new slave cylinder is $100. Sound right? RonAyers has them for $70. Rebuild kit for the master cylinder is $20 online and $30 in the shop. What else? The rubber cover over the bleeder seems ok. When I first pulled it off I thought it had disintegrated and lots of it had stuck to the case. But it looks like the PO had RTVd it. How about that seal into the clutch case? Doesn't look like this is leaking and I hate mess with something if I don't have to. At the same time, I'm already in there... I'm not ready to stick money into new hydraulic lines just yet. I still don't know if this thing's going to be ride-able or is going to go for parts. Thanks for your thoughts. eds

Maybe this pic will help. The ticket from the auction.

Thanks. Feel better now.

So, do I ask some questions about my clutch actuator repair here, or would a new thread be better? I pulled the cover off the the left side - the middle gear case cover. The shop manual says "be sure oil does not leak out of the case" but doesn't say any more. Maybe that means, "be ready, oil could come out and make a mess." Or, maybe it means, "if oil comes out you've got a big problem." I had maybe 4-5 ounces of oil come out. It did make a mess. Do I have a problem, too? In the meantime, I'm struggling to get the slave cylinder worked out. It's really dirty in there.

Yeah. Hoping it doesn't come to that, Pete. But, thanks. We'll see how this clutch thing comes out.

Looking forward to the Loess hills, Rosie. (I learned how to pronounce that word from my soils prof in Lincoln. He was Swedish; said it something like Lursh, but more European-like.)

Haven't seen a scarecrow, KIC. Will keep my eyes open, though. Someone's trademark?