Venturous Randy

Aluminum melts around 1220 degrees, but to cause an engine to melt like that it would take 1220+ degrees for an extended period of time. There is not enough fuel there like tires or anything else to create that much heat for the time it would take to melt an aluminum engine. It had to have been that hot in that area. There are now 10 confirmed deaths from the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. Randy

The coolant drain plug is actually a valve that bypasses the thermostat. To be in the correct running position, the tops of the letters should point toward the 5 o'clock direction. This is a pretty typical leak, especially as it gets colder. There is an o'ring that needs to be replaced. There is a small screw on the side that has a small spring and ball that holds it in place. If you take it apart, be careful to not loose them. With a mileage of 40K, you are just starting to get into the window of the very typical 2nd gear failure. There is a too soft thrust washer that the more it wears, the less engagement you will have and it will get so bad that if you don't fix it, you will pretty much loose 2nd gear. I really love your enthusiasm and wish you the best on working thru the various issues on these early bikes. I have really enjoyed my 83 and have put more than 150,000 miles on it. They really are great bikes. Of all the money you will spend on your Venture, your best investment will be the $12 to join and have more access to more info and help. Randy

We are doing pretty good here Dan, we got a couple of good rains and have been very fortunately that with all the mountainous terrain that we did not get any fires locally that got out of control. This whole summer and fall, the rains did come close, but stayed north of us, more in your direction. Personally, I am struggling with trying to get in the mindset of dealing with winter. At least I am not having to get out and go to work before daylight and come home after dark. But I still do wake up at around 5 o'clock in the morning, but by 10 o'clock I am ready for a good nap. Linda and I have had a good summer and fall and probably put close to 2,500 miles on the Miata while camping in NC, SC and TN. I hope you and yours are doing good. Randy

We are now seeing some pictures from some of the houses up on the mountains around Gatlinburg. Of all the vehicles I have ever seen that were burned, I have never seen melted aluminum rims and engines. Randy

I too think that Big Red is just part of you. You have put a lot of work and love in Red. You have probably touched almost every bolt on this bike. Randy

In looking at the obvious damage, much could be fixed with upgrades. The area around the headlight damage is a good opportunity to upgrade to an MKII headlight assembly. This is a big lighting improvement. If the forks are bent, good time to pick up some MKII forks, rotors and R6 or R1 calipers. Big improvement in brakes. If the trunk bottom is broke, this a good time to put a plate under the trunk and stiffens it up a lot. I have done all these upgrades on my 83 already and recommend them highly. Randy

With the extreme drought conditions we have had in the south and the current high winds we are having, we have a major fire situation in Gatlinburg, TN. The latest news is saying at least 30 buildings are burning and one is a 16 story hotel on top of the mountain above Gatlinburg. We are having some rain move into the area, but with a really hot fire, unless there is a lot of rain, it does not help that much. There have also been a lot of trees down and some also brought down power lines, making the situation worse. I thought I would post this because I know a lot of our members are very familiar with this area. Randy

http://www.wimp.com/the-worlds-shortest-train/

And it can happen real quick too. The worse I have been hurt on my bike was a tip-over where I was pulling out up a slight incline and stalled the bike and went over to the right. When I hit the ground, my right arm was under my lower chest and spent a couple months with sore ribs. X Rays did not show any breaks, but I was told I could still have some cracks. I know it sure hurt to cough. Randy

Wow, this is not what I wanted to wake up to. But, it obviously could have been worse. Please keep us posted on what is going on and we all want to know what happened. I am about 4 1/2 to five hours from Nashville, assuming traffic is moving there and could come that way. Where is the bike now? I would think most holding yards would give you a hand, but you may have to secure it. I sure hope you are going to be OK as I know your business is very hands on. Randy

I again had the Window's 10 update interruption yesterday morning about 6:30 and let it run with the twirling balls and black screen until about 9PM tonight. I then did the safe mode startup and spent another 30 minutes getting back to where I was. This is such a PITA. Randy

I graduated high school in 1968 and Vietnam was a big part of our lives then. Every evening on the news body counts were given and I lost guys that were school buds or neighbors. Even the guy that my ex wife went to her senior prom with was killed in Vietnam. It was like a big dark cloud over everything we did. My dad joined the Navy at 16 and and was in Times Square when Pear Harbor was bombed. When the war ended, he was in Guadal Canal. I turned 18 in Sept 68 and knew I wanted to go into the military and joined the USAF in Jan 69. A good part of my service was in eastern North Carolina, but I did end up in Ubon, Thailand in 72, which was 30 miles from Laos and 45 miles from Cambodia. It was pretty secure but did get hit by rockets and a group of sabatures came on base to blow up the AC130 Gunships that were giving the Ho Chi Min trail hell. They were killed out on the flightline. As I was coming home and came thru San Fransisco Airport, it was suggested that I take my uniform off. That was not a consideration for me, but did give me a wakeup call on how soldiers were going to be treated for many years. When my son turned 18, I did not even suggest joining the military. As I am getting older, now 66, and look back on my life, I am really glad I gave them four years. I have used the benefits I earned and was able to get a BS degree and about a third of my Masters before I ran out of GI Bill. I also only live about two miles from a beautiful Veterans Administration that has taken very good care of me. It has allowed me to not have to worry about Obamacare, as a lot of seniors do. Also, both my parents are buried there. I want to say that it does mean a great deal to me when I see folks thank veterans. This is so different as to when I got out of the military and I hope it is never like that again. Randy

Just received my December Rider and in the article about Arkansas, there is a MKII in front of the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge, west of Little Rock. Could this be anyone here? Randy

Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight. Randy

Wow, this thread is over seven years old. Randy

After a great camping trip, doing some follow up and appreciate the responses. I just did CCleaner and it looks like I will be going back and redoing passwords as when I signed on here, I had to do that. I don't know if it will help to scan with Malwarebites as is should be doing it automatically and I do have the upgraded version. Randy

We woke to temps around 60 degrees each morning. It was supposed to be about 50 this morning and then 40 for in the morning dropping to 30's for morning for the next several days. Randy

Well, Linda and I spent last night in Pigeon Forge after camping three nights down near Denton, TN on the Hawissee River at Gee State Campground. We had a great site and was almost alone in the campground. We decided to leave yesterday as it was supposed to rain last night and be cooler today. We did eat pretty good in PF, yesterday at the all you can eat seafood place and lunch today at Paula Dean's. Both were good, but a bit pricey. We had great weather in the low/mid 80's and last night was the first time I put the top up on the Miata in a month as it was sprinkling in PF. Randy

I walked into an Arby's and looked at the picture on the wall and said; "I want a sandwich that looks just like that". The guy behind the counter turned and looked at the picture and said; "Yeah, me too". Randy

Thanks for the responses. Getting ready to leave the go camping. No electricity, no internet and where the movie Deliverance was filmed. Randy

Twice now I have encountered a MAJOR problem with a Windows update. The first time, as I was powering down, there was a notation for a Windows update so I clicked on it and it went thru the normal update sequence, then it went to a gray screen window with a set of balls doing a circle thing that lasted all night. The next morning I decided to stop it, which included several hard shutdowns and finally starting in safe mode. I was able to do a system restore and get running again. Since then, when shutting down, I avoid the update button and have been doing OK until yesterday afternoon. This time, right in the middle of doing something, and it may have even been on here, it went into the update mode automatically and I could not stop it, even hitting the cancel button. It took several hours to do the update things that show the % complete then went into the gray screen with the rotating balls and it was still doing this until about an hour ago when I again started the hard shutdown and restart in safe mode. I got it back running again, but I have no idea what to do to avoid this. Any help it appreciated. Randy

How are you going to get 58" on a 48" wide trailer? Randy

Yeah, but the 6 speed is extra. Didn't see anything anywhere about reverse. Randy

It is simply setting boundaries and enforcing them. It is just that simple. Randy

When I was a kid and tried the crying thing, my mom would look at me and tell me that if I did not stop crying, she would give me something to cry about.....and she would too. Randy