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dynodon

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Everything posted by dynodon

  1. dynodon
    Well, finally quit raining here in my part of IL. Now if the wind dies down, I can get a pic of a temp in the 40's.
  2. dynodon
    Well, after a bit over 2 years with my first gen Shark Evoline,I am still in love with it. the cheek pads have loosened up some. Bought one for my wife, and she loves hers. The Gen 2 solves most of the problems with the Gen 1, the slide-down sun visor is a bit deeper and easier to use. the face shield seals a bit better. The locks for the chin bar are a bit easier to use. I may upgrade next year, but so far, I still love it. I intended to not use it in the summer, but now ride with it year round as my only helmet. It can be a bit warm on 100 degree days, but with it open, and my Baker wings aimed at my upper torso, I don't notice it much. Still love having full protection instantly in a rain storm or when wind/bugs become a sudden problem. I think some people get a chuckle if the happen to catch me putting the chin bar down because I bring it down, pull it down to make sure it is all the down, then PUNCH my chin bar to seat it, maybe a second time to make sure. Must look funny from the other side!
  3. dynodon
    For the most part I drive my '05 Chrysler 300C hemi. It is mostly Mercedes underneath, and about the finest car I have ever owned. At 65,000 miles it is solid and gets good MPG, 24-27 on the highway. Like the car better after $12,000 repair when a full size 90's buick pulled out in front of me. No injuries to persons, but the LF corner of the 300 was gone. Shop did a good job though and instead of being my "new" car that I have to obsess over, it is just a car now, and I am enjoying it more than ever. Boston sound system is really good too. Two pics, one after the wreck, and one before, but it looks the same after the repair.
  4. dynodon
    I bought an '04 Wing to go with my '86 VR. The Wing has a lot going for it, but overall, the VR is a more modern bike believe it or not. Suspension on the VR is WAY ahead of the Wing. Love that big ole flat six though, so much power. Enjoy your new Wing, and just ride, most of us here don't really care what you ride, as long is you are happy with it.
  5. dynodon
    Trevor, on my '86 VR, I went to the trouble to find working side covers. I find that with the vents open, I get noticeably more heat on my legs, so I close them off in the summer, and open them in the winter. It is not a huge difference, and many like the look of the engine through the opening. I doubt it makes any real difference in cooling of the engine though, there is plenty of room for air to move around the engine and air cooling isn't of any real help in a full water cooled engine.
  6. dynodon
    OK, bike #13 in the diamond slot formation was out of line by 15". FIRE the SUckah! Heck my STAR chapter riders do that all the time while I am lead bike, only problem is we are doing all that and don't intend to do it!
  7. dynodon
    Darn, zapped by the old "never offer a suggestion or you may wind up doing it!" trap. May get a ride in today but will be in the 50's so if I get a pic, it will not be hard to beat!
  8. dynodon
    Jay, May I suggest that a time limit be put on this target. Otherwise, we could wait till the dead of winter? Maybe a week after the first posting? Two weeks? or just a week till resetting the target again?
  9. dynodon
    Maybe the hunters among us are all busy. Maybe time to set a different target?
  10. dynodon
    I used Plastifix http://www.urethanesupply.com/plastifixhowto.php to fix the trunk on my '86 VR. Think it is about the same as similar product mentioned. Isn't really expensive. I got a small kit, and it did my entire trunk, and it was about in three big pieces with lots of other cracks besides. Still have enough left to do most of it again. That was several months ago, and the repair is holding where any number of epoxy and ABS glues did nothing or didn't last long. The procedure looks time consuming, but once you get going, it doesn't take long. I did the inside of my trunk in about 2 hours one day, let it set overnight, then did the outside in about another two hours. Can be sanded and painted as they show in the video at the link. I highly recommend this stuff.
  11. dynodon
    With your welding/shop capabilities, you should be able to buy a simple mount from a trailer/hitch store and build what you need. For instance, you can get a square tube receiver part, and weld the rest to that, and then use any ball mount. Another idea, is buy a 6" DROP ball mount and just turn it sideways (need to drill a new hole for the pin) and then cut the mount off and re-weld it to the now bottom (former side) of the mount! For instance here is a mount: http://www.hitchmart.com/commerce/product.jsp?prodId=1365&catId=182 If you can cut the mount off and weld it to the side, then any Class 1 hitch receiver that mounts normally to your bike would work. I know nothing about the store in the link, it was just the first one that had the thing I was thinking of, so look around. Most areas have a good trailer hitch/supply store that has these things in stock, so you can look at it in person for an idea how hard it would be to reconfigure. Hope I have helped.
  12. dynodon
    Good idea staying away from the interstates. I haven't done the atlantic route, but hear it is good, but slow. In the center of the state, away from interstates is some good open riding. Everyone stays on the super slabs and if you get into the country, you get some good easy riding. Even in the southern tip, known as "flatistan", there is fun to be had. When down to the Keys, plan on crossing to the gulf side. But first take the road from Homestead down to Flamingo and back. Then cross to the West on 41. At 29 turn south to Everglades City and eat at the Rod and Gun club. WELL worth the stop. Then keep going on 29 to Chokoloskee. ON the way back, take 29 north to Ave Maria, a Catholic community that is worth visiting. Brand new, interesting food and shopping in the town square. I am not Catholic and found it worth the ride. Then cut over at some point to Marco and Naples. Wander back to the interior and go to the south end of lake Okeechobee. Although it may look interesting to ride all the way around, don't, not much to see, but visit the dam and park on the south end for a nice stop and break. Those are some of the places I have been on a few visits. have fun, explore!
  13. dynodon
    I don't know if it was here or somewhere else, but someone had mentioned Plastifix to repair the plastic on bikes. I bought some when nothing else would work to prevent the trunk on my '86 VR from becoming three (or more) pieces! http://www.urethanesupply.com/plastifixhowto.php I bought the stuff, used a Dremel tool as recommended, and when I saw the method to apply the Plastifix, I thought it would take forever. But in two days I had the trunk back on. All my problems were hidden from view and in black areas, so the black product worked fine, and I didn't have to paint. If you have to paint, add that time to anything you use. But this stuff WORKS! It is easier (and kind of fun) to use than you would think, and the result is as strong or stronger than the original item. Plus you can even recreate parts with it. I haven't tried that, but it seems simple enough. Really, I tried all kinds of stuff, and Plastifix works.
  14. dynodon
    don't let the wax just sit...wipe it off! If you don't, it will collect dust and when you DO wipe it off, you will work in more of that dust in the spring. Better to wax it like usual, and that will protect the parts pretty well. don't start the bike and run it from time to time. Modern seals and stuff won 't harden over just a few months, and even if you think you are warming it up enough to get rid of condensation, chances are you aren't. Reving the bike just puts more fuel into the system, and washes down the cyl walls. Better to just let it sit till you can take it for a normal ride of about 1/2 an hour at least. Use a Battery Tender as mentioned, Watch liquid level if not sealed. top off at beginning of "sleep" and again in the spring. It may not need it but you should check it. Won't hurt the tires to sit still for months, they will round out nicely after a couple miles in the spring. I have stored old cars for well over a year from time to time, and the tires always become round again after a little use. Fresh oil just before storing, use a fuel additive if you want. No need to change oil again in the spring if you leave it alone.
  15. dynodon
    Darn we trapped two possum's recently and I could have used that for the pic. Other than getting rid of varmints in the horse barn, we don't hunt, so I am out of this one.....unless we get that groundhog that has been tunneling next to the foundation of our house! Any thoughts on how to get that one?
  16. dynodon
    Trevor. Only real rule for oil is make sure it is for a motorcycle with a wet clutch. Don't put anything in it that says energy efficient, fuel mileage improvement etc. (there is an official term, I forget it at the moment). The reason being that auto oils intended to help get the manufacturers an extra .5 mpg have an additive that can cause a motorcycle clutch to slip. the clutch in most (but not all, for sure in our Yamahas) motorcycles is bathed in the same oil the engine runs in. That is another reason not to run the oil for extremely long times. The additional wear of the clutch will contaminate the oil sooner. Most major brands of motorcycle oil will work just fine in your bike. Yamalube is a fine oil, but I personally run Amsoil motorcycle oil. But there are many others that work well, and many examples of people having different experiences. I have the same accessory trunk light as mentioned here. I used a small screw under the lip of the frame to screw into the lens to make sure it didn't come out. I didn't glue the lens back in, I used a dab of silicone tub caulk, which is kind of like a glue, but just a few dabs to hold the lens in till I could get the screws in. I also went through the bulbs available and found basic bulbs (not LED) that are brighter than the stock ones. I am not a fan of LED because their light is so directed. I find LED's don't light up the entire lens like a regular bulb, and also they aren't easy to see off-center, like in the corner turn signals. Maybe some of the new ones solve this but I haven't seen any that really are visible from any angle like a regular bulb.
  17. dynodon
    If talking about the Yamaha speaker I mentioned, it is meant for outdoor use. I would think any intended for that use, would hold up as well as speakers for a motorcycle normally?
  18. dynodon
    Unless you want to cut them into the trunk, you could maybe put them in the lids to the bags. Buy the speakers from a Voyager XII and then wire them in sounds like it might be one of the best ideas, and it came from you! Google "outdoor speakers" and you will get a lot of ideas. Most are pretty big, but here is one I found, and it is made by Yamaha! Yamaha NS AW150 Speaker Hope the link works. A decent sized speaker will give better sound than the tiny things that were in the voyager. Might find something smaller for sure, but I hope it is a thought starter!
  19. dynodon
    I did the dragon the first time this year, also in a car. My son and I took a side trip on the way back from scoping out a location for a car convention, and did the dragon. I drove up, he drove back down. We had lunch at the restaurant at the tree of shame, and then drove the Cherohola? Skyway to complete a really nice side trip. Now I need to get there on my bike.
  20. dynodon
    About dielectric grease, of course it is non-conductive, because if it wasn't, and it got on the connections, it would short stuff out! It is used in a lot of connections, not just on the gasket as mentioned. Stuff like big connectors and light bulbs, you can coat the connectors, and that is what it is for. Light duty connections though, you might want to stay away from coating them, because the grease might be thick enough to keep them apart, but the grease won't ever short out anything. Something like a big spade lug connection, go ahead and coat it, the connectors will easily get past the grease and the grease will keep them from oxidizing and corroding.
  21. dynodon
    Yea, that was going to be my question. What state? Not Illinois. So it wasn't me, hold it I don't have a red bike, hold it, I don't have a 2nd Gen, Hold it I would never have a saddle with those farkles on it! Might have been me?
  22. dynodon
    The techonology is changing all the time, and the wide variety of style and more important, quality is mind boggling. I bought some bulbs for my '86 VR for the brake light, and hated them. From EXACTLY DIRECTLY BEHIND, they were bright. But get off angle at all and they were very dim, and almost no light from about 45 degrees on to the side. I took them back. These were bought at a parts store and did not have any side facing led's as some typical bulb replacements do. The better replacements are arrays of bulbs on a card that are good for only a few bikes. I got an LED brake/run light setup for my wife's Shadow Ace Tour. a ring of clear bulbs that glow red and let the original yellow turn bulb show through. This was a nice safety addition to the back of the bike. The problem with LED turn conversions is they need a resistor or capacitor (sorry, something like that) so that the flash rate doesn't go too fast. That is why you see a lot of cars with LED stop and run lights, but not so many with LED turns. Whatever you buy, try to make sure you can return it. (many electronics items are not returnable). Make sure you can see the lights from the side, because even if from straight on they can be bright, if you are now invisible from the side, you are in more danger than before!
  23. dynodon
    Rick, When are you getting close to or in Illinois? I could use this for an excuse for a ride south to meet up with you and ride back. Give me a call, you have my number when you know your schedule, and give me a days notice and I could meet you in S. Ill or wherever.
  24. dynodon
    Rick, glad you made it through that first day. Getting out of Illinois can be nasty! If you make it to the central area of S. Florida, try to stop by Ave Maria. Catholic Disneyland....no really! I am not Catholic, but the wife and I enjoyed stopping by there. They have this amazing church in the center of the town square, with the entire village (schools, grocery, gas etc) set up so it is almost totally self-contained. Interesting shopping in the stores around the central part of town, and some good restaurants. Although roads are flat and straight for the most part in central Southern FL, it is still good riding. Not worth a huge side trip, but if going through anyway, try to see it. If riding across the southern tip of FL take 41 rather than Alligator alley. A great ride is south on county 29 from 41 to Everglades City to the Everglades Rod and Gun club for lunch or supper. Well worth the ride, then keep going south to the end of the road a few miles in Chokoloskee. Send pics from the Keys, that is one ride I haven't done yet, maybe next year! Safe riding my friend.
  25. dynodon
    Great units! I have about 6 of them, all almost 10 years old, that go 24/7. Don
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