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Venturous Randy

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Everything posted by Venturous Randy

  1. Venturous Randy
    Have you changed the spark plugs and caps? These bikes are very sensitive to spark plugs that have had a lot of Sea Foam and stuff on them. Are all the exhaust pipes about the same temp after it has been running for a minute or so? Yes, check the sync if you can and as noted, check the diaphragms. RandyA
  2. Venturous Randy
    Man, that just ain't right!! RandyA
  3. Venturous Randy
    Several years ago I made a trip to Birmingham on the bike to visit Laura, who was with her mother. I came upon a hard rain and stopped under a bridge along with a couple of cars. It was raining hard and everytime a big truck would come whizzing by, it brought a bunch of water with it. After several minutes of being blasted, I finally decided I had had enough. The car in front of me moved out and I decided to take off too as I was already soaked. I had to be careful as it was so dark and grey. I took off and within a half mile I was in bright sunshine and a dry highway. If I had not stopped under the bridge, I would not even gotten wet. Those pictures look just like what I raced coming from Birmingham a couple of years later. I ran from Gadsden to almost Chattanooga and did not get below 90mph and that was over my left shoulder. RandyA
  4. Venturous Randy
    The one that goes into the engine after the "Z" shaped linkage. RandyA
  5. Venturous Randy
    Great pictures, and sounds like a great ride up to the driveshaft part. Thanks for posting. RandyA
  6. Venturous Randy
    In our local paper today, we had the obituary for a Retired Lt Col. Eckener "Eck" Pandzic who was 81 years old. He was a very decorated soldier. So, now the world may be down to just one. RandyA
  7. Venturous Randy
    Each of the shafts have an arrow on the end to show where the split goes on the shaft. RandyA
  8. Venturous Randy
    Man, you must be one patient person. After about a week, I would have been jumping up and down and be damanding a replacement bike similar to mine to ride, or another bike to replace it. With that attitude from the dealer, I would not let them touch anything I have. RandyA
  9. Venturous Randy
    While you are changing tires, grease everything back there. On my 1st gen, I have had Avons and Elite III's and I like the Elite III's better. RandyA
  10. Venturous Randy
    Wow Art, Keep up posted and you all are in our prayers. RandyA
  11. Venturous Randy
    It also helps to give it a little throttle to take the pressure of the adjustment screw while you are making the adjustment. RandyA
  12. Venturous Randy
    I agree with this 110%. When I was about 14, my dad bought a new 64 Chevelle. As soon as we were on the highway, he was putting it under a load. It was a straight shift, so he was going up hills in a higher gear under heavy throttle. He told me the same thing about the combustion gas pressure behind the rings was what would seat the rings. I remember that 283 was one screaming engine later on. I have always used this principle on any engines I have built and it works good. It is also better on the camshaft to keep the rpm's up for a while on a new engine. Starting up a new or rebuilt car engine and letting it idle can ruin a new camshaft. It is harder to put it under much load if a car has an automatic transmission, but it can still be done. This can also help gas mileage. RandyA
  13. Venturous Randy
    Would this fall under the saying of "Being screwed without being kissed"? If you have not done it yet, make an appointment at your local IRS office. Believe it or not, some of the offices have some real people working there. RandyA
  14. Venturous Randy
    The possibility of you needing 16 shims is about the same as me winning the Lotto, twice in a row. You may need a couple and you may also be able to use the ones you took out at a different location. If you have a local shop, many times they have a stash of shims and will trade for free or very little. Even though I have traded shims at the Yamaha shop, I do better at the local independant shop. It is amazing that with 100,000 miles, these shims will still be like new. And, these shims fit a lot of different bikes. RandyA
  15. Venturous Randy
    Could you be contributing to this by your technique? I ask this because some people have a tendency to shift too slowly, allowing the gear dogs to grind. When shifting, make it a quick, firm transition from one gear to the other. You don't have to slam it, but don't be too slow. On my 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th shifts, I routinely shift without using the clutch and it is almost always smoother than using the clutch. Usually you would not even know I shifted without the rpm change. RandyA
  16. Venturous Randy
    I stopped by an electronics store today and bought a pack of five 40 amp fuses. These are like the round glass fuses, but are about as big in diameter as your little finger. They are used in these souped up audio systems in cars. I took the ends off and put a hole in each end of the fuse strip and used the original holder and screws. I checked the red wire down to the reg/rec and did a little rerouting and put some tape on a couple of questionable areas. I took it for a ride and paid close attention to the volt meter and did not see any spikes or drops. Everything seemed to work fine. If the weather looks good in the morning, I am planning on taking it to work. RandyA
  17. Venturous Randy
    I carry a folded up table cloth that is vinyl on one side and cotton fabric on the other. It comes in handy for a lot of things. We can eat off it at a picnic table, lay it vinyl side down and take a nap on it and it is also water proof. There have been several ocassions on the Blue Ridge Parkway I would get the bump on the back of my helmet and realize Laura was napping. We would find a grassy area and take a nap. These things are cheap and tough and don't take up much space. I keep it in one of the larger size freezer bags. RandyA
  18. Venturous Randy
    This also works on your engine cases and front forks. Get some paint remover and spread it on the clear coat. After it breaks it down, rinse it off. This way you still have the same finish that was originally clear coated and it should not need sanding. If you are going to sand on it, do not use any course sandpaper. 400 to 600 grit should be plenty rough enough to start with. I have an electric motor with a buffing wheel on it that I use a polishing compound on a stick. It will take off the clear coat without sanding. Once you have it polished, what I use is an aluminum polish in a can ocassionally and it keeps it shiney. Some people will use clear coat again, but I never have. I polished my handle bar arms and they look like chrome, much shiner than new. A few seconds with a soft cloth and aluminum polish and they look great. Randy
  19. Venturous Randy
    I bet that job can get interesting. Randy
  20. Venturous Randy
    Went for one of those rides this afternoon, the one where you are making a run to the store and then you are 20 miles from home on a back road. Well, as I came to a stop on a hill at a stop sign, the bike died instantly and all lights go off. I turn the switch off and back on and had nothing. I coast the bike back to a level place away from the intersection and pull the top cover. I used my ohm/volt meter and the battery was good, so I checked across the main fuse and got no voltage. I pulled the fuse apart and it was blown bigtime. I used a #16 jumper wire across the fuse and turned the switch back on and everything powered up. I figured if it was still a dead short to ground, the #16 wire would give me a second to check it and would act like a fuse. Since that seemed to work ok, I took the fuse apart and stuck the eyelet terminal into the slot on the wire from the battery and it fit snug. I again started the bike and everything worked ok. Since it was looking like rain and everything was working, I decided to strap the cover to the trunk and take off toward home as it would be real easy to pull the wire apart if something happened.. The bike ran perfect all the way home. So, now the bike is sitting out in the garage with the terminal pulled apart and I have no idea what caused the fuse to blow. The two screws that hold the fuse in place were tight, so that was not the problem. I guess I will have to pull fairings and see if I can find a ground point and I also will need another fuse. Anyone got a suggestion on where to get a fuse, I think it is a 40 amp? RandyA
  21. Venturous Randy
    Your test of putting oil in the cylinder is a good indicator of a ring problem. What you may have is stuck rings. There may be some products out there that may help and you may even could pour some Sea Foam into the spark plug hole and let it set over night. That may break the rings loose. RandyA
  22. Venturous Randy
    This is real common on these bikes and I made a fitting that you can screw on your speedometer and get grease in between the housing and coupling the cable goes into. I got the parts from Lowes and it works great. RandyA
  23. Venturous Randy
    I did not know there was a canadian version of Boss Hoss. The Boss Hoss company makes the 3.8 GM V-6 and a 350 and 454. You can get the 454 with 450hp. There is a 454/450 hp one that shows up at our weekly cruise-in ocassionally and it hits a wicked lick. I talked to a guy with the 350 version at a gas station and when he pulled out on the highway, he brought it up to about 30mph and nailed it for a couple of seconds and it looked like a top fuel dragster doing a burnout. RandyA
  24. Venturous Randy
    I actually have a neat engine for a motorcycle, but it is a V-8. It is one of the 215 cubic inch all aluminum GM engines used in the 60's and later used in the Triumph TR8's. It probably does not weigh a lot more than our V-4's. Of course our engines have the transmission as part of the engine. RandyA
  25. Venturous Randy
    We had two on a motorcycle killed Wednesday when an SUV came around a curve and sideswiped another vehicle and then hit a motorcycle head on. I have not seen any more details, but I was just thru that same road Saturday. The Smokey Mountain area is a wonderful place to ride a motorcycle, but sometimes your paying attention is just not enough. RandyA
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