larrydr

Here in Manitoba Canada winter is not done till its over....In 1963 we had 8 feet on snow on some of our country roads( we often had snow banks on our yard 4 feet deep ) ....We woke one morning and we found 1 side of the house dark and snow up passed the windows we had to climb out of windows on the other side of the house to shovel the snow from our exit door ...Temperature was minus 35 degrees ...The temperature here today now is minus 32 degrees

I did not know that anti-freeze was much of a issue ..I am using Dexcool ... Is there particular brand that would work best ??? I don't mind changing the antifreeze if that is the right thing to do

Prayers coming from Manitoba Canada .

I did extend the swing and shaft on the 1995 XV1100 because my wife and I ride double a lot ..The centre of the rear seat or passenger weight is right on the centre of the rear wheel or axle ...The XV1100 has enough torque to throw the handling off when you shifht down to 4th and crack the throttle and at 60 to 70 mph the handling or the front end will drift and is bad in a side wind ..The passengers weight is too far back , with a 2 inch extention the problem is gone . I sold the XV1100 and did buy a 83 XVZ12TDK , I am 74 and the wife and I are planning some out of province trips . Would like a softer and quieter ride......We would ride i29 south of the USA border if Covid goes away ...Have some family and freinds in the USA

I have done a slow but it was not easy . Setup some pine cones and do a figure 8 between them about 10 cones each about 20 feet apart Next lay a 2 x 6 six on the ground about 20 feet long , and ride along the 2 x 6 without driving off it Next practice U-TURNS IN 15 FOOT CIRCLE

Electric Schematics are easy...I spent 10 years inindustrial electronics and robotics ... I found plenty of parts in the USA . The only problem is money exchange and shipping accross the border hard to do ..( .37 cents per dollar and taxes at the border ) As a Liftmaster Operator Dealer linked to Liftmaster Nebraska , the shipping is unreal

Here in Manitoba there are guys that cruise the country side looking for bikes that don't run , and they will buy them just to have as spares ..I spent 10 years in industrial electronics and robotics , I am sure that I can find a way of getting the job done ..I belong to a antique club check us out...www.amcm.ca I started with old bikes in 1960 , it has been a fun time

XVZ12TDK did not come with a compressor ...I looked for used components and did find some of them but at a crazy price about $450.00 for most of them and not all of them ..I know I can build my system for that amount on money ...These components were in the USA ,,I have bought a lot of stuff from people in the USA before covid ...I am still waiting for some peices 6 months ago ...The customs is a crazy piece of work ...I bought a starter for my Venture on Ebay from the USA for $156.00 and the shipping cost me $187.45 in USA dollar X $1.34 to get to Canadian...$326.22 Canadian

When friends and pass it always hurts , but have faith that we will see them as we pass on too. We need to remember and celebrate the good times , Our son passed of cancer on October 30 /2020 , It hurt then and it still does and we are finding that it is a process . .I keep on telling myself that he has just gone home up ahead ...

I know the ball was back in place . The oil I used was Castrol SAE 20 - 50 ...Just checked the specs on the back of the battle and I did not see specs for use on a wet clutch .... I may switch to Lucas oil.....If it does not work in a couple of days , I will pull the clutch again ...The travel of the clutch plate is 5/16 of an inch when I pull the clutch lever ... I have a spare clutch basket and plates on hand . I have back wheel off and am trying to find a seal , no numbers on it so my normal part suppliers I use for my industrial parts cannot find me one . I will call Yamaha in Winnipeg tomorrow .

I drove up the lift and all was fine , except for the dirty oil ..I changed the oil and ran the engine till it was warmed till the temp gauge up all the way . The clutch was fine in all respects. Turned engine off , waited till the next day and started it up , and that the clutch would not release enough to put it into gear ....This makes no sense , I serviced engines anything from Deisel to big hotrods .....What don't understand is how an oil change can do this.

Have heard that worn plates in a wet clutch lose their ability to lube themselves

WHEN i BOUGHT THE 83 I knew that it would a bunch of work ..Which is fine ..but OIL OIL OIL ...I drained the oil to repair the clutch basket , new bushings . I have been running Castrol 20 - 50 in many a bike with wet a clutch ...After assembly changed the oil to Castrol 20 -- 50 ...Only to find the clutch does not want release as it did before ..Previous owner was running s synthetic 10- 30 .....Anyone else running synthetic ....I have been buying the Castrol diesel semi- 15-40 blend oil for years ..to run in everything that runs on my yard .. What is the best oil for the 83 XVZ12TDK

In the book of Matthew Jesus says he wants to hear from us and to ask for help ...We are to faith that a miracle will be coming ..We should gather in prayer for GODS grace and healing ....I do know that GOD answers prayer...

I am in the proccess on installing a compressor with automatic leveling system on my 83 XVZ1200 ...I will be installing a logic board that drop the air pressure in the suspension to 0 psi when bike is turned off when engine is not running , when the eingine starts again the air pressure will return to preset pressure ..Trouble I am having is finding the air switches that compact enough ....I have seen the same system on a newer Honda Goldwing , to buy the parts have a hugh cost...I am not going to buy a new bike because I like old motorcycles

When I bought the 83 from the guy he gave the back wheel he had removed ( after reading this topic I can see why the wheel looks like it does ), problem does looks like it was caused by the lack of grease ..I can see why I will have to go over a couple things before my 83 is ready for the road ..When the 83 is on the centre everything feels good when turning the wheel by hand , I can tell you now I will pull the wheel and check whole drive assembly

I have hunted all kinds of game in my time and enjoyed it very much .. Some of it great weather and some in nasty weather , the 7 X 61 Schultz and Larson capable of 220 grains /200 yards at 2889 ft per second .I loaded ammo for the local law enforcement as well for RCMP Provincial force . On my last hunt i spent 4 weeks in Northern Albert ending on November 15th .. 5 of went in the bush land 40 miles from no where ..We walked in the last 20 miles to a Camp ...On the 4 day I got lost while tracking a moose ...I fell through the ice and near drowned , I stuck my hunting knife into the ice to pull my self out , I was hurt and could not walk .. I the story is way to long to say it all now . I sold my firearms and I gave the last 2 away , which turned out to be near impossible ...Canada had set up a registration process that anyone could be arrested for owning a firearm..( all because some crazy nut killed 30 people ) in Quebec ...I live in Manitoba and the head government office was in eastern Canada .. As I was trying to give the last 2 away I called the head office to explain , I had all the correct paper work ..The Woman tells that Manitoba is not in Canada ...I answered back to her and said yes it is ...I said you get into car and head west you will get to Manitoba in 8 days ...After 4 hours on the phone and her getting help from someone else in their office it finally did work ...At the end of the call I said to her that this registration process is flawed is set up so that anyone can be arrested charged under the firearms act , Her to me oh I know that the government is trying to eliminate all firearms in Canada ..Fortunately the governing Liberal Party in power got dumped the following year and some of the laws have changed .

I have my 83 Venture getting near to put back on the road ...As I read this entry it hit me this is what I needed to do , as always is the time you spend on little things like applying grease to splines and fittings can save you from some major down ..I now know what I will be doing tomorrow ...I normally have used a light coating of grease on the drive shaft splines or is there something that is better than ordinary automotive grease

I do know Covid is a bad one .....In December 2010 I was diagnaosed with Liver Cancer and that if they did not operate now I had 4 days ..underwent 8 hrs of surgery to remove 3 nasty Tumors ...Met with 5 Specialist before the surgery , after my first dose of Chemo they came to see at my bed side ...they told me ...They had to remove the Liver to remove the infected areas ....When I was discharged the Specialist meet with me and said they had found that after 5 years of testing ...VITAMIN D3 did fight infection and promote healing ..They wanted me on 5000 IU per day for the first year and 3000 IU per day after then on .They told me that they were still studying some of the VITAMINS played a role in fighting infection ....I am doing well today in January 2021 and still on VITAMIN D3 3000 IU PER DAY... i keep wondering why there little said today about Diet and VITAMINS to help in the fight against Covid I am 74 and just like anyone else out there have had my challenges in my health besides cancer , and there are 2 things that I credit for my recovery ..First is my Faith in God , second healthy life style .. I still work 3 days a week anywhere from 3 to 6 hours per day ...The human body needs to active , and I hope I can bank enough pennies to ride the full season in 2021...Riding a motorcycle does great stuff for our brain .

6 Years ago I needed a 2 inch drive shaft extension for a swing arm extension on my 1995 XV1100 Virago The stock wheelbase is to short if you are doing a lot of 2 up riding .. First cut the old shaft in the middle and machined both of the cut ends ..The made a sleeve to act like a coupling ...Machined the inside of the sleeve .003 inch smaller than the machined ends of the drive shaft ...They would not slide together ...Put the drive shaft into a freezer for 5 days , next heated the sleeve to near red hot ...Mounted the drive shaft in a jig under a hydraulic press and proceeded to press the sleeve over the machined drive shaft ends .. It a tough job to press them together ...But it did go together after some time of trying ...The Yamaha shaft had spines at one end and gear at the other ..Did a spin balance in a metal lathe ....I road the bike with extension for 45000 K's never a any trouble > It did improve the ride by a long ways and handling had very little change ....The turn radius became about 10 percent larger ...I sold the bike in 2020 April , and because of the safety inspection , I needed to return the bike to the original wheel base ... I still have extension . If you are going to try making a extension do not weld near the cuts on the machined ends of the shaft

It is great to have access to this amount of knowledge available this site on some these topics ..I think that there no better teacher than to do the job yourself . Sometimes I wish that the engineers who designed these products would have to do at one least repair themselves

I rode new bikes from 1965 till 1977 ...I decided in 1978 that I could put a used bike into premium condition for riding. I have riding used bikes since . I spend winter doing a complete overall repair from front to back . My XVZ1200 is turning into such a project . I look at it this I way , my XVZ1200 will end up costing up to $2500 to make good safe ride I don't mind spending up to $1500.00 on $3000.00 bike ...I then know the bike is good to ride a full season .. This is all based on Canadian dollars .. I am sure that bike prices and repaired values are different in the USA. In Manitoba , Canada we have safety / road worthy inspection before we buy our plates to ride . No matter how old or new your bike is you have to have this inspection done . The bike is measured for changes and components measured for specs. I have never lost on my investment , in the past years

I live in Morden , Manitoba ..Have had cancer , 2 surgeries ..Have a cyst on my left lung with difficulty breathing when wearing a mask ....I called to make a appointment to have a Covid test .. It is near impossible to have one done ...They have moved the appointment schedule to the Regional Health Authority ...This makes it near impossible to a Covid test done ...I called today again , because we are a small city the people at the answering don't even know where Winkler and Morden is ...This may be a case of the wrong people answering the phone ...They have a few numbers to call which go no where...There are people out who have Covid or like affects , who have recovered and are doing well ...Their story is the same as mine unable get testing done .

When you look at the big picture of a riding season ...If your budget allows buy a good ready to go ride ....Only thing this once have spent the money , it may turn out to be a major investment ..Can you then recover the cost ..either in a riding season that is worth the cost and it does not matter what the cost is ...Many of the earlier models with some repairs and if maintained can provide you with much the same enjoyment through out the season ...Yamaha over all the years has been building a great product .For myself I will have a total investment of $4000..and I know the bike is good to go . I have been able to recover my investment in that price range by selling it right around $3000..to.. $4000

My hope and prayers for all to enjoy this Christmas and the New Years holiday Would be nice if this bad guy called Covid would go away . It sure would great to enjoy a full season of riding in 2021