AKRefugee

I almost had to learn the hard way that knowing when to stop is probably the most important part of ANY ride. I have ridden my Venture cross country between San Diego CA and Charlotte NC several times. It usually has taken me 4 days. That is averages out to about 630 miles a day. Some days I did 750 miles and some day I only did 450 miles I have had no problem doing that ride in that time because I always made sure I was eating properly, staying hydrated and getting a good nights sleep of at least 8 hours or more every night. I never felt stressed or fatigued. Now lets take a different trip I made of 500 miles. I did not sleep well at all the night before (maybe 4 hrs), wasn't eating right (fast food for several days) and was not properly hydrating. . I had been gone from home for 5 days so I had the "gethomeittis" disease, there were Thunder Storms approaching my route I wanted to beat and my ego said "you've done 750 mile days so you can do this measly amount". (can anyone say three strikes). At about the 400 mile mark I "woke up" while riding and realized that I could not recall the last ten miles. None of it! Let me tell you when that happened it scared the crap out of me. I realized that while I was still functioning I was not "awake" during that ten miles. I knew I was tired before hand but had put pressure on myself to keep going. It could have easily cost me my life, but even more important it could have cost my family the lose of a husband and father. When I realized all this (which was amazingly fast considering my condition) I got off the highway at the next exit and went looking for a place to take a good nap. It was in the middle of nowhere and there were no stores, restaurants or motels. I finally found an old church with a covered porch area, threw my sleeping bag in the corner, called the wife to tell her I would be much later getting home and got a few hours of sleep. When I finally woke up the Thunder Storms had moved through, the traffic was lighter and I figured out I was only 50 miles from home. I was well rested and easily able to make the remaining miles quite safely. Let me tell you I learned a lot of lessons from that trip. 1 - "Better late than never". I am 100% convinced that had I continued riding that day I probable would have run off the road or into someone else and seriously hurt, if not killed myself. My family might get irritated if I am late but what would they feel if I never got home. 2 - "Just because I did it before doesn't mean I can do it today". The conditions were vastly different. The weather was different, my physical and mental condition were different and my pre-ride planning was different. 3 - Make darn sure you are taking care of yourself, both before and during the ride. You are the weakest link here. Get enough rest before the ride, if you can't or don't then plan a rest stop for a nap. Eat properly before and during the ride. Your body and mind need those all important nutrients to operate at their best capability. Hydrate well before the ride and make sure you are properly hydrating during the ride. The wind around your body is removing a lot of fluids from you and you have to assure you are replenishing them or you will get fatigued much quicker if you do not. 4 - Whether the distance is 2500 miles or 500 miles before you throw your leg over that bike take a moment to pre-plan your ride. Think about all the things mentioned above. Just because it is a "short" trip doesn't mean it is not creating a demand on your mind and body. 5- I think this one was the most important lesson. "a plan is just that a plan" and "always be ready to change your plan". A plan is the place from which you start, it is not the end all. If you find yourself not meeting the goals of your plan because your not making the speed you expected or maybe you didn't plan for bad weather and you are trying to get ahead of your plan to beat incoming weather or maybe you are finding out you are more tired than you planned then it is time for a new plan. Think of it this way, if you change the end time for your plan and decide to slow down or stop for that extra meal or find a place to rest for a while you will have actually completed your planned ride because your "new" plan is now your ride plan. The "old" plan is just that the old plan. You didn't fail to meet your "old" plan you just used it to start your "new" plan. Just a few things I learned the hard way. Hope this helps someone else.

There's an indoor shooting range you can shoot a fully automatic gun Ride Happy, Ride Safe

"Photoshop"? Yeah, right!!! Ride Happy, Ride Safe

The newer "economy" cars are set up for best economy in the 45 to 55 mph range, kind of the average for a daily commute vehicle. Vehicles like your Jag and the 1995 Mercedes S420 I have are set up for cruising and get better mileage on long higher speed runs. Bet your Jag is not getting anywhere like the 30 + mpg you are getting out on the open highway when you use it to run around town. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I have had some extremely wonderful opportunities to fly in a lot of different airctraft in a wide variety of situations. Thanks for sharing this video it brought back memories of two great flights. One was in a PBY off Lake Clark in Alaska. Wow what a rush to be in that much aircraft flying on and off the water. Got to sit in the top bubble and it was a view I shall never forget. The other experience that this video brought back was flying in a KC97 fire bomber in the 1980's on a fire drop run. Holy cow let me tell you them fellers earn their pay and at least half of someone else. I have flown in some pretty wild turbulence in the Aleutian Islands but man that was the absolute wildest for me. The winds are so squirrelly you never know what direction that aircraft is going to go next. You can get a tail wind, a down draft, a head wind and then a up draft all in about the time it took you to read this sentence out loud. You see some of that in this video when they are making their drop runs. It's not so much that they are flying the plane as they are trying to prevent the plane from crashing itself. Those are the kind of folks that should get a free beer badge. Any bar, anywhere free beer, for life.

Hey Rick and Dan you all need to get with it man. Haven't you heard Pink is the "new Blue". Dan as a personal favor I will come up there with the Krylon and help you get them first Gens to the proper color so they will be fast again. Riderduke, sorry but that there is not the "real deal". In fact that there is a girls bike as anyone can see because you can step through it while wearing your skirt. I will leave it for you ;-) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Well, you see what happened was is that Mini swore to me that is was a pre-release of the 2013 Venture cause after all it did say Yamaha on it. Of course I WAS a "little bit dubious" about that claim from her because when I inspected it I couldn't find the cassette player but she insisted. Now I know that Mini, being the sweet innocent person she is , wouldn't pull a fellers leg about something that important right? So all I can say is HA and HA again. I got to ride the 2013 Venture before any of you Thanks Mini :bowdown:

I am going out to look for a case of brain bleach right away cause this ain't gonna be pretty Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Yeah and you could easily fight the ticket. Just take a picture of your car in to court with you, show it to the judge and say "this little car did what? yeah right.". The judge would never believe the officer after that lol Ride Happy, Ride Safe

That was a forum discussion that showed the screen that was appearing because of the virus. If you scrolled down it shows you how to get rid of it Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Some viruses change settings on your computer to hide files and even move files to temp folders. This forum might help you find the temp files and correct the problem http://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=85715&st=0&p=434006entry434006 This link will take you to a forums I have found great answers on removing a virus before. Might take a little searching on there but I have always found the answer I needed to remove any virus and restore my system. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ Hope you get rid of it.

Hey Earl congrats on getting moved in. Sure looked like a bit of work you had to do there. Next time say something on here and we can all show up with hammers in hand to "help out". Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I will be leaving Indian Land SC around 3pm and stopping in western Charlotte to meet TDunc ( if he can get off). We will leave there about 4pm and ride via I85 US321 I40. If anyone wants to join us IM me or even better call me. My number is in my profile. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I just spoke with Mary. The boys are there with her. She was going to post something on the forum this morning but just could not do so. Arraignments have not been made yet but once they are she will let us know. Needless to say we need to keep her strongly in our prayers. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I just spoke with him Tuesday and all was well. He said he was thinking about coming down Charlotte way next week. I am totally stunned. I will head up that way this weekend to check on his family and see what we can do for them. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Ok I will change the target then Next target your bike your passenger and a Welcome to ??? State sign or Entering ???? State sign for a state other than the one you live in and at least 1 hour from your home. Don't forget it's still your passenger not you. Enjoy the ride.

I've got 36 inch inseam and have had to pick my 2nd Gen up more then twice by myself. Your legs do not have to be directly under you all you have to be able to do is getting a bend in them. Once you do, it is the same technique butt against seat, arms extended straight, knees bent. Push up legs until knee is straight. Walk backwards with arms kept straight and but against seat. You are essentially using your arms to hold the bike straight and your legs to pick it up Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Happy Birthday Dan. Yeah I know I'm late but I figured at you age you probably have forgotten it was your birthday anyway. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

A awesome and touching demonstration of respect for their fallen Brother in Arms. Thank you for sharing this with us.

I thought the wife had told you "don't BE a bear when you wake up on the morning" not "don't FEED a bear when you wake up in the morning". Guess you need to work on that listening thing. ;-) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Just watched a commercial for the new Malibu Eco and the punch line immediately made me think of the Venture. This guy pulls in to the dealership in his new Camry and the salesman says "trading the old girl in are you?" to which the guy says "this is a new Camry and I just came over to see what the new Malibu Eco looks like". He then gets out of his Camry and goes over to look at the Malibu. While he is looking it over the salesman is checking out his Camry saying "this is new?" and other derogatory stuff. Finally he bends over and looks inside the Camry stands up and goes "hmmm". Another salesman standing next to him ask what he was looking at and the salesman says . . . "I was looking for the cassette deck" I wonder why that made me think of the Venture lol. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Have you tried condensed milk? Works on radiators I am told so it should fix that tire right up don't you know. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Wonder if I could convince the Sweetie I need one of those for our yard? Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I use to make the run from San Diego to Lake Havasu AZ a lot. The stretch from Desert Center to CA64 on CA177 is about 37 miles. You go 13 miles straight then about a 30 degree corner to the left then 2 1/2 miles straight then about a 30 degree corner to the right then a 22 mile straight to the stop sign at CA64. I have heard (from a friend of course) that there are no cops out there and that these bikes enjoy running at 100 mph plus for those 37 miles (or so I heard). I do know that you have to remind yourself how to make a corner when you get to the stop sign or you will swing wide (cause I seen someone else do that . . . yeah that's it I seen someone else do that) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Glad you made it through that one buddy. Hell of a way to be reminded to keep the significant other up to date about what to do if it ever comes to it. Ride Happy, Ride Safe