Venturous Randy

Yep, about six months ago my Infiniti I35 was totaled when a guy in front of me slammed on his brakes because a pickup in front of him lost about a 10 foot fiberglass ladder that was not tied down. There was about 20 cars merging on to the interstate and it is normal for some brake lights as people are adjusting getting up to speed. But for someone to slam on their brakes and come to a complete stop was not expected. If I had just a few more feet, I would not have hit him. I was not given a ticket, but the pickup driver was ticketed for not securing his load. Farm Bureau determined that my damage was too extensive and totaled it and then sold it back to me. I had full coverage insurance. I found another black Infiniti and bought everything I needed for $550. The headlights for these things cost $900 each at Rockauto. I was lucky that we all did not get run over by an 18 wheeler. Randy

Hey skid, you coming to Vogal? Randy

There are those days that you will never forget. This will be one of them. I pray that you and your family to have the peace and strength to endure this difficult time. I lost my mom when she was 67 due to a brain aneurism. I will be 67 next month and she died 21 years ago. She had the aneurism the day before my birthday and died the day after. Yep, some days you never forget. Randy

It has been two years since I have even tried to start my Venture. A few years ago I could not imagine getting off my bike and even upgraded many things on the bike. But, when Linda confessed to me that she was getting less and less comfortable on the bike, especially from a safety standpoint, I had to evaluate my feelings also. Then, I found a nice Miata for her birthday and enjoyed it so much that I got me one, then my son got one and then my grandson got one(we all have 1st gen Ventures too). I considered trikeing the 1500 Goldwing I have, but when I started looking at cost, I could buy a couple of nice Miatas. They are fun, easy to work on and in many ways, like a Venture. Sometimes it takes being realistic on what works best for you when you go thru the maturing process and some folks really don't mature mentally fast enough and it can get them hurt real bad and when you get older, healing up is even worse. I admire you for being able to make this decision and I appreciate you sharing your feelings about it. It could get others to think about their situation and it may even save their life. OH, and today we jumped in my Miata and rode over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and with this cool spell that has moved in, the views were clear and you could see for many miles. It was a beautiful day. And, when it started getting cool coming across the mountains, we rolled the windows up and turned on the heater. Randy

This is probably the biggest reason it has been two years since I have been on my Venture. There was some thought about trikeing the 96 Goldwing I have, but with the cost, I added one more wheel and got a Miata. It is still very vulnerable to people not paying attention to what they are doing, but a Miata is also good at dodging problems too. Randy

I guess of all the feelings I have ever had with my old 83 Venture, anemic was never one of them. Randy

On our last camping trip to Mt Pisgah on the Blue Ridge Parkway between Asheville and Cherokee, NC, I decided to take the scenic route home, rather than go around Asheville and up I26. This took us around Maggie Valley thru Hot Springs, NC. Everything was going good as we were trucking up the mountain on 209 with me trying to keep my speed up until we came to a VERY sharp curve I had forgot about. The Miata made it thru with all tires squealing, but the camper didn't. It rolled over and came loose. Not only did it come off the ball, but the latches I was using on the safety chains that are spring loaded virtually straightened out. The camper rolled about 3/4th the way over and then rolled back on its side. Fortunately, there was no traffic coming in either direction and I was able to push the camper back on its wheels. Also, there was a wide area of grass on the outside of the curve that I was able to push the camper into and then back the car. The only damage it did to the camper was it destroyed one of the hoops that are used to support the floor when it is folded out and scuffed one of the corner aluminum strips. I was able to call Time Out Camper and they sent me replacement parts, so I am OK there. I was able to hook everything back up except the safety chains and when I got down into Hot Springs, there was a hardware store that much stronger attachments, so I feel better now. One of the kinda weird things that happened was we had a round watermelon in the trough behind the seat laying on the top boot and it decided the g force was too much and it hit the road and busted. The weird part is that the only thing that came out of the strapped on top carrier was a spoon. So, I kicked the loose pieces of watermelon out of the road and there was about a half of the watermelon still good, so we took a break and had some. We were lucky. There was no traffic near, especially motorcycles, the camper was OK and we were able to make it home a little wiser. I am attaching some pictures, but in my haste I did not take any of the camper laying in the road. You can see where the watermelon hit the road. I was also replacing a burned out bulb signal light bulb. Randy

This afternoon in my Miata, while crossing a five lane, I just about got it. I was on a two lane that at the intersection it widens to three lanes where the left lane is the on coming traffic, the center is left turn and the right is straight and right turn. When I came to the light, I was first in line with a 350Z behind me. The way the lights work is on each side, the two lane lights work opposite. One side is on with a turning light then all goes to red then the other side comes on with a turning light, then the five lane lights work. When my light turned green, I proceeded into the intersection and heard a loud horn and then an SUV went screaming inches behind me and in front of the 350Z. I even looked up and could still see the light above me was green. About 500 feet up the road there was a wide pulloff and I pulled over and the 350Z pulled in beside me. I asked him what the hell just happened and did I run a red light. He told me that not only did I not run a red light, but was a little slow on getting started. He said if I had cut a close light, he would been right behind me and he would probably got t-boned. So, we both had a lucky day. I almost did a U-turn in the middle of the road, but the SUV was booking it. Randy

UNSEE....UNSEE....UNSEE....UNSEE....UNSEE....UNSEE.... Randy

Went to bed Tuesday night fine and woke up Wednesday morning with a bad ear ache. I took some OTC pain meds and got some ear ache drops. BY Wednesday morning, it was worse and all the way down into my lower jaw. I was at my local VA when they opened and told my primary care Dr that I either needed to see her or I was going to go to the emergency room. By this time I could not close my teeth together or open them more than a half inch. Every heartbeat was like getting hit in the side of my head. The Dr had a CT scan done and I was admitted to have an IV for antibiotics. My problem was in the ear canal as it was swollen shut. There was not a problem with the inner ear. On Friday, I was sent to an ear specialist in the next town over and he inserted a wick thing down in my ear and gave me some ear drops. By that evening I had started feeling much better and with three rounds of antibiotics, I was ready to go home. But, later in the evening, I had a nurse or attendant come in with some others and she took a warm cloth and was rather aggressively washing the blood off my outer ear where I had bled during the night. Still a little tender, but much better than the day before, I did not stop her. But then, she must have wrapped the cloth around her finger and stuck it down in my ear. I squealed like a pig. Later, I told the VA DR's when they came by and they looked and said that the wick thing was deeper, but no one wanted to touch it because they did not put it in. So, now I am sitting here in a lot of pain, can not hear anything out of my ear and don't know if I want to go by the VA emergency room or wait until in the morning and drive over to the town where the ear specialist is and see if I can get him to look at it again. I have an appointment with him this coming Friday, but I can not wait that long. Randy

Yep, I did it on my 83 and wish I could have done it a long time ago. Randy

If you really want to make your bike a better accelerating and a better cruising bike, get a complete trans from a 2nd gen bike and a early V-Max final drive, This gives you a 10% lower 1st gear, 5% lower 2nd, 3rd and 4th are the same and about a 5% higher 5th gear. This is a great combination for the early Venture, whether it is for a second gear fix, or just improving the later 1st gens. I did this on mine and love the combination. If you are somewhat mechanically inclined and have some good tools and a place to do it, this is not a really hard job. I still have a complete 2nd gen setup out in the garage. Randy

With a few minutes of searching, it appears that the motorcycle worldwide is healthy and growing. I think there are a lot of factors in the USA that are having an impact as many are still feeling the results of a long term recession, rising medical costs, and few and far between raises. I think that for many, there is simply less disposable income compared to years ago. This article is also primarily Harley Davison related and I agree that with an aging population, there will be less diehard HD disciples who will not ride anything else. With open minded people searching for a certain category bike, when looking at the big picture, HD is competing with a lot of very competent bikes, and Harleys are probably the best bike they have ever been. I think the industry overall is healthy, but with younger buyers out there, times are a changing. I would love to see the new Venture become a market leader, or at least make a dent in the market. Here is one article I came across. ​http://www.bikebandit.com/blog/post/international-motorcycle-sales-surged-in-2016 Randy

WE are looking forward to seeing you guys. Have you made any reservations yet? Randy

Good suggestions so far. I have another one. There is an O ring on the gear indicator that tells you when you have the bike in neutral. It is behind the clutch slave cylinder. These are known to leak and do it on the exhaust collector. Randy

Here you go. Randy http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=35.1594&Lng=-84.8767&Zoom=9&Map='ROADMAP'&OMap=0

Checkout is usually around noon and we usually take at least that long. It is about 2 hours from there to Vogal and I'm sure we will stop and get lunch somewhere. So, if everything goes good, we should be there between 3 and 4 o'clock. Randy

I will be at Hiwassee State Park, east of Cleveland TN, on Mon and Tue where the eclipse will be and then moving down to Vogal on Wed. Randy

Great. By the way, I called you last night at 8:30 your time to talk to you about Vogal. But, it went to voicemail and I did not leave a message. I don't know who is coming, but Linda and I are planning on coming and Woody and Katrina also. I also believe Joe may be able to make it on Friday. So, let's keep this current and see what happens. Randy

Years ago I went into a new KFC in Spruce Pine, NC and when I came out, my bike was just about to fall over. The side stand was about 3 to 4 inches sunk down in the newly paved parking lot. That is when I started carrying a kickstand foot pad. Randy

Upgrade the brake pads to EBC HH for the front at least. Check for any leaks around the clutch slave cylinder. Upgrade the headlight bulb to the best you can find. Put together a good tool bag with sockets, wrenches, vise grip and channel lock pliers, screw drivers, a good volt meter, a flashlight and a small can of brake fluid, sealed real good. Randy

If I ever have another bike, I would like something around 500 to 600cc with a low seat. With my age, inseam and knees, I am getting too uncomfortable in handling an 800lb bike that I can not sit flat footed on. Randy

One thing to consider on the difference from one side to the other on the Chicken strips, may be the difference in the crown of the road. That typical difference in the perpendicularity of the road to the tire, with both turns being the same, would normally show more wear on the left side of the tire. Now maybe I can go to sleep. Randy

It is my understanding we are putting something together at Vogal for August 23rd thru the 27th. The eclipse is on Monday the 21st and everything around that area is booked. We are booked for the 21st and 22nd At Hiwassee State Park east of Cleveland, TN and will be going to Vogal from there. We plan to camp at Vogal, but have not made any reservations yet. Last time we were back in the woods and hope we can camp next to Woody as we did last time. Woody, if you have made any reservations, let me know. Randy

I see the pictures, where is the story? Randy