dynodon
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Everything posted by dynodon
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Use the better list, since that one list of states is just wrong. MOST states they are legal. I run a Valentine One. It has as good of detection range within a few % of the rest of the best, and those arrows are worth everything. I don't use it to run excessive speeds though, I usually run about 5-8 over the limit if at all, but I love to know what is going on around me. That is why I also run a CB, they are still one of the best road devices for conditions/traffic, in addition to police. My detector is most valuable in heavy traffic. If I know a radar trap is over the hill, I can back off so the car WITHOUT the detector won't be a danger when they crest the hill and see the cop, and inevitably slow down way below the speed limit, even if they are at or below the limit to begin with. Stupid drivers that don't know what the limit is or what the rules are, are dangerous, so the detector keeps me safer. I have run a detector for decades, and never had a cop come after me because I had one. I drive so I don't call attention to myself, that is a key factor. If you weave, stay in the left lane, drive a sporty red car, or just be a jerk, THAT is what will call attention to you, not the detector. I do agree though, that if stopped, and you have a detector in sight, chances are you won't get a warning, but if you are warned in advance, and drive with some skill, you shouldn't have to talk to mr/mrs Police person! I find that driving within 5 or so of the limit lets me arrive within a few minutes of the fastest road hogs, and I arrive fresher and more alert, with less stress. Oh, and you get better MPG>
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Just a thought...........any activity that gains huge widespread popularity or attention, will inevitably get the attention of the regulators, if for no other reason, that they can find a way to make more money, or spend more money or both! With motorcycles and scooters getting more popular, and becoming part of everyday life, even in the "cold" climates (at least during the warm part of the year), you can bet that there are lots of government types on both the state and federal level putting together legislation that will effect us all. Also prices on most things motorcycle related will probably go up. If there is a way to screw the consumer, someone will find it. As stated, I wish our hobby would self-regulate on noise levels. If we don't, for sure the government will. Even the head of Harley posted a letter stating Harley owners should cut down on the noise, before they are forced to quiet things up.
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As someone that has put on or helped put on 16 car conventions, I can say that Southern Indiana is a great place to hold an event. Smooth roads for the most part, and the entire southern half of the state is virtually all state park, or looks like it. It isn't mountainous, but does have hills, and oh so delicious curvy roads, and traffic is light. Camping? Did I mention all the state parks? There is fun in Nashville, IN and for a home base, you could consider French Lick IN. Home to Larry Bird (NBA star from a while ago) but also home to two of the most spectacular resorts in the country, French Lick and West Baden Springs. And you are a short hop from Louisville and all the river activities. Jump up to Indy for the 500 track and museum, and some great go-karting if you wish. I have put on two conventions there, and can give you a rally type route that will amaze anyone. Easy to get to, great roads, friendly people and generally low prices. And centrally located. I would offer my help if needed. Oh, and I live in Illinois, and am recommending Indiana! I love Illinois, but Indiana has always been special to me.
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If I want a Harley, i will buy a Harley. I have the Royale because nobody makes a bike that I like except the old ones! New Wing is closest to what I like, but I don't like the ergonomics. Everybody else sells Harley Look alikes. At least the Royal star VEnture had a V4 water cooled. I would be surprised if Yamaha goes with a big V-twin, but it could be.
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my 86 was missing everything. I bought the owners manual and some other stuff on e-bay. Wanted a stock took kit and tried and tried, but it seemed one guy was buying all of them, and the last 3 I saw went to the same guy and he paid 120+ for them! I thought that was WAY too much. The one listed here, went for I think near $60, that was a bargain, but it was missing a couple of sockets I think, and was pretty grungy, you could tell he had buffed the tools to get rust off them. I bought a tool kit from a guy with a newer Venture (harley style) and added some other things, plus my own bigger modified adjustable wrench. Have a small air pump (12V) from Wally world, and a tire plug kit and some other stuff.
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To clutch, or not to clutch. THAT is the question.
dynodon replied to Schlepporello's topic in Safety and Education
I usually use the clutch all the time. But one day, for some reason, I was going through the gears, and I think between 2 and 3, I just stabbed the shift lever and rolled back the throttle at the same time, and forgot the clutch lever! Went into gear slick. Surprised me. I would think not using the clutch, and doing the pre-load thing would wear the parts quicker than using the clutch? -
The problem is costume characters are rarely in the parking lot. Maybe time to reset the goal to something easier. The scavenger hunt will go away if people lose interest because the goal is too hard or too obscure. Don
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back to the sticky seat
dynodon replied to PBJ's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
I think you have a vinyl cover that has been damaged by sun, or maybe improper chemicals. Chances are nothing will help it permanently. (disclaimer) I run a small business selling detailing products, and have found that a product by Lexol, called Vinylex is best for vinyl including seats, vinyl tops, and truck bed covers etc. Any of these products can leave a seat a little slicker than before, but you can make that better by applying the product in modest amounts, wipe off with a clean dry cloth, and then wipe once more with a clean cloth slightly dampened with just water. This takes away some of the protection, but removes most of the slick feel. Vinylex is better in this reguard than most products I have tried. Also this method works well for applying products to the dash, where you want to clean and protect it, but don't want it real shiny, as then it will reflect worse in the windshield. So try wiping down as a last step with a slightly damp cloth. But in your case, find a local upholstery shop, buy a better one on e-bay or the classifieds here and on other Venture sites, or send it off to one of the many good motorcycle seat places. -
what the heck is that? I could only see one image, too small for my old eyes to tell what it was.
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Better check to see if my bike is still in the shop, but it didn't have whitewalls. I was wanting to put them on when my tires need replacment. I think they look pretty good. Wonder what size/brand they were?
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The factory front tip fender plastic piece on my '86 came off in my hand when I pulled on it a little while messing with the brakes last month. Got some new 3M automotive trim quality double stick foam tape and re-applied. Won't come off so easy next time. Sorry to hear about the loss of the trim piece, I would believe just some kids, or maybe it just fell off before I would believe a biker at an event took it, but even though MOST bikers are honest, there are some scumbags out there.
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Best time to check air pressure
dynodon replied to a topic in Royal Star Venture Tech Talk ('99 - '13)
Tire experts will always recommend you set tire pressures when cold, best to check early in the day (see below). Tire pressures will change approximately 1 psi for every 10 degrees of temperature change. So if you have a 60 degree morning and set the tire to say 36 pounds, by afternoon in the summer if it is 90 degrees, that same tire could be 39 pounds. That is also why you don't set tires to the MAX pressure on the sidewall, because you can seriously over-inflate on hot days. use the recommended pressures for the load and conditions,set by the bike manufacturer for the size of tire recommended for your bike. If you want to go up 2-4 PSI over that, that is usually just fine, but much more and you risk damaging a tire. It CAN happen. Don't let air out of a hot tire, because when you get back on the next morning, you can be seriously underinflated, and cause real problems till the tires heat back up. Thus check in the morning, and if you MUST check or add air when the day/bike/tires are hot, then do a little h ead math, and add a few extra pounds if checking when hot. -
WANT TO TALK TO ANOTHER BIKE w/o AUDIO
dynodon replied to TESchoener's topic in GPS, Audio, Electronics
Go with a CB, the J&M is not cheap, but works well, and with the CB you have the option of joining in with other groups, and also getting traffic info that you can't get with other systems. -
As a rider, I am ready for the police to crack down on loud exhaust. Heck, I had a drag car with open headers and I swear it wasn't as loud as some street bikes I come across. There is no safety factor, I can't really hear them when I am on my bike or driving a car, till they get next to me and then they are doing real harm to MY hearing if I don't plug my ears (in the car) on the bike, it still hurts but the helmet helps). Taking it easy in town etc doesn't help much. I live in a fairly quiet small town of 12,000 people, on the edge of town. Because if you make noise in the country, I can hear some bikes for miles and miles as they leave town. Heck I can hear some when they come to a curve four miles away! The constant drone on nice weekend nights is ruining the reason I live in a small town. There are nights when I look forward to winter to quiet things down. Yes, bring on the LEO and crack down on loud pipes. Also cars with loud music systems. There is one guy that comes by our house every night at 10:15pm. I can hear him for miles too. The only positive thing is that all the people with loud pipes and music will be buying hearing aids real soon. I am buying hearing aid stock! Rant away all those that love to disturb the peace! You will love it when I put headers on my car and park in front of your house for hours on end.
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I went through Ontario in 1996 as part of the One Lap of America event. Had my car covered with decals, which Brock Yates called: "watch your speed, because all your cars are cunningly disguised as a RACE CAR". We had a scanner, CB, and a V-1 Radar detector. Had the remote display though. Never turned anything off, and drove over the limit a lot. Went through customs and they never blinked. Guess they figured if we were stupid enough to drive in a car looking like that, that we would not do anything illegal. Or we just got lucky:innocent-emoticon: Anyway, I would think if you remove the fuse, and if the unit comes out, wrap it up and put it where you can't possibly reach it from the seat, and if you get stopped, I can't imagine them taking a detector from someone out of country, on vacation with a device legal in their home area/state/country when you have made a good faith effort to disable it. Of course, not getting stopped in the first place is your best offense! Have a fun and safe trip.
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As has been mentioned, talk to another dealer. Also, talk with an attorney. I am not saying sue everyone under the sun, but if Yamaha won't cover items that are supposed to be covered, as in the final drive, then maybe a letter from a lawyer will get things moving. Do this as a last resort, because sometimes it can really harden attitudes, but it can work when nothing else is going to.
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Wow, my close friend owns a real Ferrari, but it is raining the next three days! Bummer.
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Been long enough, let the last person to get one, set another target?
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my 86 VR had some extra play in the driveline the last couple thousand miles. Took it to the shop, and tech says the bearing on the pinion gear shaft is bad. Says it caused some unusual wear on the teeth, and recommended a new final drive at $900 for parts only. Is this a lot for this part? Also, could the wear from the bad bearing be so bad that if we just replaced the bearing and seals and set the clearance again, that the gear noise would be bad, or it would fail again soon? My thought is that unless the wear was real deep, that the wear pattern would work into the new alignment eventually (another thousand or so miles) and be just fine. I will try to inspet in person next week, and have time to order the new part or just the bearing. Tried to get a used unit on E-bay and was out-bid. Am I being too penny pinching with this repair? The cost is about 1/3 the value of the bike, and will come close to the total value with the other repairs also being made. I love the bike, and wanted to keep it going for a couple more years, it only has 30,000 miles and everything works and looks good. Thoughts?
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About the bicycle turning into the "quiet" Wing. Did the rider fail to look when quiet cars went by? This could be looked at as a problem created by the loud bikes because they changed the dynamics of the normal road situation from fairly quiet vehicles that the bicycle rider would be aware of to two abnormally loud motorcycles masking the one legal vehicle. Loud pipes are an annoyance to residential areas, and can be heard for literally miles in rural settings. They can startle drivers of cars and other bikes, and do actual physical damage to hearing. In this instance, they caused the wreck with the bicycle by masking the following bike that was legal. As someone that loves an internal combustion engine with a great sound, I appreciate some tone, but cars are not approved or appreciated with open exhaust and that is what most motorcycle loud pipes are, just straight open exhaust. My bike sounds great, and my cars have some nice tone without being annoying or dangerous. Loud pipes are a nuisance.
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Everyone be careful when picking something to remove these types of marks. You don't want anything marked "compound" and I would stay away from stuff labled "scratch remover". Actually, you want something that is called Glaze or Polish for very fine scratches. These are not exact terms and quality and effectiveness can vary. One way to go is to use a "cleaner/wax" like Johnson's Kit or Turtle Wax. Now I run a small detailing products business and don't sell these products or recommend them for regular waxing, but they do include a fine polish and can remove fine scratches very well if you don't have the correct individual products. For regular waxing, once the finish looks right, and I recommend a glaze for this, you want a pure wax, and you can go with either a quality Carnauba or the newer polymers. A true glaze or polish has zero paint protection properties, it just enhances shine. If your finish already looks good, stay away from anything that says it removes oxidation or paint problems, it isn't needed and will add wear that isn't necessary. Also, traditional "chrome polish" can have very harsh abrasives to remove rust from very old chrome. Better to use a specific chrome wax or newer product designed to just protect and clean chrome rather than remove rust....Unless you WANT to remove rust, and then use a rust remover product ONLY in the area with the rust, because it has very harsh abrasives!
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Rick, Can you post (or send me) pictures of the back of the bags and how they mount? I don't need them for my Gen I Royale, but my wife's Honda Shadow Ace Tour needs some more storage like this up front. I wonder if they will mount to a handlbar or to a windshield bracket?
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MY VR is still my first love, but my wife's Honda Shadow Tour is a sweet ride, and at highway speeds, just crusing, the engine is smooth as silk, actually less vibration than my V4. I love the better protection on the VR though, so while I will borrow her twin for some rides, I will always come back to the Royale. But I do start to understand the attraction of the big V-twin power pulses as something to enjoy from time to time.
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Tom, Congrats on stopping smoking! I smoked for 10 years starting in college. Quit when i thought I had lung cancer, but refused to go to a DR with a pack of cigs in my pocket. Quit cold turkey, waited a couple months (yea, not a good idea in retrospect if I DID have the big C) and got a check up. X-ray and other stuff showed me healthy, DR. said go live a life and don't start smoking again. I grew up when smoking was just starting to be recognized as a bad health hazard, but it is dirty, smelly and has NO redeaming social value whatsoever. Take the money you are saving and buy more chrome, and remember that 30 days out you still will still have cravings but after about a year, at least for me, that all went away. Glad the Chantix worked for you, sounds like a good solution for most people.
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Just for giggles, I joined the local Gold Wing club and went on a ride with them for the first time last week. I have to say I had to work my VR really hard to keep up, and it just wasn't straight line acceleration, these guys (most older than me) were going through curves MUCH faster than any group I have ridden with to date. May have to take a GW for a ride soon to see what it is all about.