Flyinfool

OK I know that this has been discussed in the past. most recently that I know of, at [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2536]Turning left on a red when the light won't change. - VentureRider.Org[/ame]. Most of this info is in that thread, but that thread is a discussion on the legality of a left turn on red when the sensor does not see you so this info is kind of lost. While at the WI MD (thanks again Jeff) this subject came up for discussion. First some background. What got me started on this was a newly built intersection near my house that I need to go through often. I tried every trick that I ever saw for trying to get that light to change for me, since the pickup coils are under the nice new pavement and were put in before the final layer of pavement I have no clue to exactly where they are. I have tried; Lining up on where I think the coils are. Side stand down. Center stand down Turn off engine and restart. I wussed out on the one that says to get off the bike and lay it down on the coils. I tried all of these in many locations to see if I could find a spot and method that worked. None did. I tried calling the city to see if it could be adjusted and was told that it is adjusted per spec and that increasing the sensitivity to "see" a motorcycle will cause false triggers from large vehicles in the next lane. This intersection is so busy that it can take 10 minutes to find a hole in traffic to legally shoot through on the red. I have done some experiments with the concept of adding a magnet to the bottom of the bike. There are some commercial units available for this purpose, and some have tried mining old hard drives for the Rare Earth magnets, or use magnets from the hardware store, none of these have shown much promise or benefit, they are just not strong enough. The magnet that I used is a 2 x 1 x 1/2 inch N52 rare earth magnet. The magnet that I used is http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BY0X08-N52. It sounds small but it is rated as capable of lifting 195 lbs. Watch your fingers while handling this and think twice about where you set it down. This magnet will pull the picture on a monitor or TV from 2 feet away VERY possibly doing permanent damage, There are warnings that people with medical implants like pace makers or defibrillators not handle these magnets. I mounted this magnet to the center stand on my 1st gen since that was the lowest point on the bottom of the bike and I wanted to keep it away from all sensors and electronics on the bike. To date I have noticed no ill effects to the bike. I rode to the intersection from hell and as Murphy would have it a cage pulled up on the other side of the intersection to trip the lights for me. I went around the block and tried this 6 more times and every time a cage pulled up at the same time from across the street. Where the heck were all of these cages when I really wanted the light to change??? Finally I arrived at the intersection alone and within 20 seconds I was looking at my very own green left turn arrow. I did this 5 more times and every time I got a green arrow. So just to be scientific and make sure that there was not some other factor involved, I removed the magnet and left it a good distance from the intersection, and spent the next 20 minutes trying every trick in the book to make that light turn green. Nothing worked, just like before. The next test was to put the magnet in my sock and walked up to the light and I still got a green arrow, at which point I beat feet before the man in blue showed up and I would have to explain why I was stopping traffic on a busy highway by messing with the lights. I put the magnet back on the bottom of the bike and have not been held up by a signal light anywhere since last April when I got the magnet. I do still have to line the magnet up with where I think the wires are. If I pull into the center of the coil I still will not be detected. This is a minor issue that I can live with. I know that there are doubters. I know that even Snopes says that this will not work. I am just relating my personal experience. As a possible side benefit to this very strong magnet, I have found nails and screws sticking to it that may have been destined for my back tire. OK that was long, I'll shut up now.

Jeff I hope that it was not all of those rumballs in one night that made you function slowly in the morning. I tried to warn you......... And those were the mild recipe. It is Monday already and I still have a smile leftover from Saturday, that was a great time. I learned so many things there it will take a long time to implement everything. My ride home in the dark through deer country was pleasantly uneventful, I even got to watch a fireworks display that was straight ahead for about 10 miles. But I can see more lights (maybe a lot more) in my near future.

I get gas at the next station after the warning light starts to blink. So it is always different stations and diferent brands. I always use premium cuz it just runs a whole lot better. At Jeff's Maintenance day that he was so kind to host, I did get the carbs synched. they were very close to start with. That has not made any difference in the vibration. As long as I stay under 3K or over 4K the engine is smooth as silk. at 3500 the keys are bouncing up and down on the dash. Is there some kind of a mechanical timing advance that might be sticking and messing with the timing in that RPM range?

Just to add a few thoughts here; The bad battery can be a symptom of the real problem and not the cause. If the rec/reg is not working correctly, the battery is one of the components that can/will be damaged by the high voltage. The diodes in the rectifier can fail either short or open. There are 6 of them. they convert the 3 phase AC from the stator into DC. If one or two diodes fail open, you just lose available electrical power, and the power will have a ripple. This is the most common failure mode. If 1 or more diodes fail short then you can actually get AC into the electrical system. AC in the system can do a lot of damage to anything electronic. If the lights were getting super bright, the only thing that can cause that is a problem with the rec/reg system. Start looking there. Since it is intermittent ( I hate intermittent stuff) it most likely a wiring issue, like loose or corroded connections. These loose or corroded connection could be inside of the rec/reg unit. I would disconnect (not just turn off) all electronic stuff that is not needed to run the bike while you are troubleshooting this. Many electronics still are connected and using power even when turned off and could still be damaged by bad power.

I had a great time with Jeff and all of you that were there. I learned a lot at this event, not just about the bike it's self but about riding in general. I also may have learned some bad things...... time to warm up the soldering iron....... This was my first ever bike event and I had a blast. Thanks again Jeff, Your hospitality was superb.

Back in the early 70's a buddy of mine had one of those. I thought it was a Honda. He had it apart more that it was together.

Baking is done, bike is packed, maybe some sleep tonight. I'm too wound up for my first bike event/trip.

I guess that means that I need to leave at 7:30. Exactly where on Hampton will you be?

And what was really scary was the fact that my house is the closest house to that 186,000 pound tank of anhydrous ammonia that was in the middle of that fire. Because of that tank, they evacuated a 1 mire radius around the fire, 17,000 people had to get out NOW. I just looked at the weather, I guess I will have to see what I can dig up for water proof and warm digs to wear. That fire started on the 5th and is still not out.

Wooo Hooo! Talked my way out of my other commitment for Sat morning. I will be meeting you at the Mine Shaft at about 9. The mine shaft is about half way there for me. I know it is not much for some of you iron butts, but this will be my longest bike trip since '85 when I went up to the EAA show. Ok so I'm wimpy....... Now I have baking to do tonight so I can bring one of my famous treats. I just hope it does not disintegrate on the way up. See you all on Saturday. I'll be the one drinking the caffeine free soft drinks. Mike I will be coming up 45 to 41 to 60, If I don't see you or Dan on the way we'll meet at the mineshaft.

OK here is an update. I did get a can of SeaFoam to add to a tank of gas. While the SeaFoam was in there it ran great. Got 50MPG out of that tank driving the same route back and forth to work that accounts for 95% of my riding. I really thought that that did it. Till the next tank of gas, then it ran like pooop and sucked gas like crazy, was down to about 25 mpg on that next tank. So I checked the diaphragms and could not see any pinholes in them so I put them back in. Now 2 tanks later, it is running good, the vibration is barely noticeable, but still there, and my mileage is back into the mid 40's. I am planning to make the WI MD up in Fond du Lac put on by RedRider. I hope to learn how to do a carb sync there to see if that helps clear anything up.

I'm going to try to make it up there on Saturday morning. I will not be staying overnight. The beer is safe from me, I have a violent allergy to beer (the hops) including anything cooked in or with it. I've never done a carb sync on anything. I would like to see/get that done. I can bring some more venison polish sausage if you think you might need it. I'll also bring the wimpy stuff that I have to drink instead of beer. I've never been to a gathering of bikes before, I'm looking forward to meeting some of you. If it is permissible at a veture MD, I may get a follower on a HD.

A riding friend of mine WAS wearing shorts AND was a passenger teaching his better half to ride, when a wasp went up his shorts, he was stung 15-20 times where you really do not want to be stung. As a passenger you need to convince the driver to pull over FAST. Now 20 years later when we talk about it, It was hilarious.

Glad you will be ok. Hope the bike does well at the doctor too. As an avid deer hunter in WI I am doing all I can to make the roads safer. I put 6 deer in the freezer every year. The only meet I buy is in restaurants. Last week in the middle of town I ended up with a deer trying to become my passenger while I was going under a bridge. That deer was seriously freaked out being trapped under that bridge with traffic in all four lanes. This was 4 hours after sunrise. If there is one thing I learned in the last 30 years of hunting is that deer are totally unpredictable and can be anywhere at any time, always watch those shoulders.

I would have liked to jump on this but I already have unchangeable plans for that weekend. It looks like a case of the grass is always greener........ You are going "up north" for the weekend, I will be going "up north" for the weekend but I will be near Ladysmith, not to far from where you are starting out. Have fun.

That is like the deal where a bank can fold and you loose your savings except for the first 100K insured by the FDIC. But that same bank folding, none of your mortgage will disappear. Enough of the bank will remain intact to keep taking in your money, sell your loan make a huge profit and the customers are the only ones that loose. I think I need to start a bank, I can then legally rip people off and make big bucks doing it. Naa It wouldn't work, I'm to honest to make big money at anything.

I'll bet that this can be more accurate than a mercury setup simply because the working fluid weighs less so it will move farther for a given change in pressure. Did you make the change to bigger tubes at the bottom for faster response time? Did it help? I would think that smaller diameter measuring tubes would also give quicker response time.

When I get to that point I think that might be a good idea. Time to start shopping for a spare SS.

Hmmmmm..... All of these posts about too much lean angle. I am always worried that my 88 V1 will tip over to the right side when parked on the side stand. What is the "correct" lean angle? When I stop I have to lean the bike to the right past the CG to get ground clearance to get the SS all of the way down. It only takes about 10 lbs of force to bring the bike up off the side stand to the CG. A 5 year old girl has no problem tipping it over on the right side with one hand. Unfortunately I learned this. When I park on the side stand I always have to pull the bike hard to the left after the SS is down to raise the suspension as much as possible. I always worry about the wind blowing it over to the right. There is almost no slop in my SS, the bolt is tight and not bent, and the SS does not appear to be bent, but I have nothing to compare it to. I do still have all original springs and shocks. Where I live I have no garage just an 8x10 steel shed and the windshield just clears the door top by less than 1/8 inch. I had to remove the pan head screw in the middle of the door frame for windshield clearance, it is that close. The bike handles and rides fine with the suspension as is, if I put in new progressive springs or raise the shock pressures, it will sit higher, and lean better, but NOT fit thru the door to my storage shed. It can not be left/kept outside overnight or the insurance co will be very unhappy with the replacement cost, and I really do not want to cut the top of the windshield or door frame either. I was debating milling off the bottom of the SS and welding a new pad on a little higher to get some more lean angle. I can also then make the pad a little bigger to help when parked on grass or very hot asphalt. (Yes I do carry a 4 inch round chunk of sheet metal for parking on soft surfaces). Anyone else ever mess with this issue?

I rode the Venture in to w$%k today. Only saw one other bike on the road in 21 miles. As long as I can get to work dry I take the bike. I don't have any rain gear yet. If its hot out I don't care if I get wet on the way home.

Living here in Milwaukee WI, the home of HD, it sure seems like 90% of the bikes on the road are HD. Due to those kind of numbers they all spout that as the measure of quality and "reliability". My standard answer to those that try to pick on my poor old '88 Venture is "When Harley technology is finally good enough to make a shaft drive, water cooled, smooth running, quiet motorcycle like every other brand has been doing for the last 30 years, I'll consider one." But then the rest of the world may have moved on to magnetic drive or some other cool technology. I'm not that way, I will ride with anyone as long as any LOUD bikes are behind me. When a good friend says that he will lead on a ride, I just remind him that his 1 year old HD does not have enough horse power to lead my 21 year dinasore anywhere. We have a lot of friendly banter over brands. And I do a lot of

I don't know about anywhere else but in Wisconsin a trike with 1 front and 2 rear wheels is a motorcycle, and a trike with 2 front and one rear wheel is a car. At least as far as your drivers license is concerned, I am not sure how each vehicle is registered. In my book a motorcycle has 2 wheels, period.

I found a Osram 100/90w bulb but not a 100/80w. While looking, there is also a 75/70w, and an 85/80w that will still give more light than stock but be a little easier on your electrical system. Lots of options here I used to run the 100/55w on an old Yamaha 650, so that my electrical load was normal for most of my driving but I had the power to see once I got away from the city lights. I could not run the High beam for more than about 45 minutes without switching back to low beam for a while to recharge the battery. One interesting thing with this bulb that I had to be ready for was that it took about a second for the high beam to come on, so when I switch from low to high I was in the dark for a good second. A second can seem like a very long time at 70MPH.

If you ever watched someone drive down a dusty road you have seen how the exhaust will be a solid cloud behind the bike. For the safety of you pup I would make the trailer wide enough that you can have the air intake out in the fresh air to the side of the trailer. Possibly a snorkel out the side would work as well, it will just look funny. Even though you may not be getting a lethal amount of carbon monoxide inside the trailer, there likely will be some and it is not good for the dog. I would also have a window of some type so that you or your passenger can see the pup while under way. Watch your trailer spring sizes. The stock springs are designed to handle a certain weight, if you are well under that weight the springs will do little to soften any bumps. Take into consideration the orientation of the dog compartment and make sure the the front of the dog compartment is well padded in case you have to hammer the brakes in an emergency situation. As you can tell I have no concern for aesthetics here, just the poor pooch. What ever you come up with for a final design, please do some testing without the dog. Load the trailer with the anticipated traveling weight including something fragile and expensive to simulate the dogs weight and do not tie it down. Put a battery powered CO monitor in the dog compartment and go drive a hundred or so miles including some bumpy roads.

I have checked all of the bolts that I can get to without major disassemble, they are all still rusted solid. I have not been able to find a local source for SeaFoam so I have not tried that.The bike is just coming off winter storage where I do use StaBil in the gas, The second tank for the season is almost gone so a fresh fill might help. (fingers crossed) All of the air box clamps are tight. I guess I will need to acquire/build a set of synchronizers to check that out and do some reading up on the procedure. I will have to read up on how to check the diaphragms. I know that there are some good threads here on the diaphragms and sync.