Venturous Randy

It's not a big deal to put a V-Max final drive on an MKI. You will need a driveshaft from an MKII as it has the MKII coupling that feeds oil to the coupling, rather than having to manually grease the coupling on the 83/85 bikes. There is also a difference in the plastic dust cover that mounts to the final drive and I assume it is the one from the MKII as when Denden sent it to me, it was still in the original plastic bag and I just took the one that was on the final drive off and put the new one on. As far as the rear wheel, I am not sure about the spacing or if the dust cover works. When putting the V-Max final drive on a 1st gen, you will need to saw off the shock mount stud as it will hit the swing arm. Randy

I usually average 42 to 45 and have got as good as 50. This was riding around the mountains of east TN/western NC. If I am running the interstate doing 70 it drops to the low end. Randy

Yep, the plugins are the same. Also, the boost sensor is the same, but with the later TCI, the boost signal reads opposite and that is why the pickup point for vacuum is below the carb and on the 83 above the throttle plate. It is as close to plug and play as you can get. BTW, I have a later model TCI on my 83. Randy

While you have the guard off, grind the corner off where it is close to the elbow and you will have a lot more clearance and a tip over will not damage the elbow. You can more than double the clearance by doing this. Randy

The TCI from a, 84 to 90(?) works fine on an 83. All you have to do is move the vacuum hose from the carb to the intake port. Just plug the carb intake port. Randy

Young drivers may have a real good understanding of the laws of the road, but they may still be lacking in understanding of the laws of physics. Experience is what makes drivers understand things like wet road traction, both in curves and stopping. I told my son and grandkids that they may get by occasionally violating the laws of the land and not get caught, but when they violate the laws of physics, they will get bit big time. One suggestion I have is to take a new driver out on a rainy day and find a safe place and have them stop as quickly as possible. They also need to understand how ABS brakes can help. but there are still limitations. Randy

I hope this will come up ok. Randy

Years ago, before I lost about 60 pounds, I used the C-PAP routinely. The weird thing is there were times I could not wait to go to bed and put it on and then there were times I absolutely dreaded it. I really could tell it made a difference. Now, after gaining those 60 pounds back, I probably need it more than ever. One of the problems I have now is I sleep on the couch as much or more than the bed. I also seldom go to sleep before 2 or 3 in the morning and still wake up about 6:30. Then, I will usually take a morning nap from about 10 to 12. What has got me into this cycle is Linda is absolutely not a morning person. She can easily sleep until noon or 1pm if we don't have plans going anywhere. Retirement can be tough. Randy

Well, I am working thru my 3rd day and feeling a little better. I am being able to breath a little, but still almost need to sleep sitting up. I did talk to a pharmacist and he said taking Flonase would be ok as it is a steroid and not the same as the Afrin type nose sprays. We are hoping to go camping up on the Blue Ridge Parkway next week at about 5,000 feet up and I hope by then I will be doing good. I am also getting ready to go back on my C-PAP, which I have not used in a long time and hope that helps my sleeping. I really do appreciate the encouragement and hope this will help others in getting off nose sprays. Randy

Hey puc, if you ever want to take a south east ride and come thru Johnson City, and you know where that is, you would not have to camp as you would have a bed here for you and Tippy. Randy

Hey Yammer Dan and Skid, you guys OK, as I know there is a river near you? Randy

Nope, not tobacco or booze, but nasal spray. For the last three years I have had some spring allergies. Part of fighting it was me using nasal spray and this year it got me. I now have gone thru Afrin and it is no longer effective and then another one and I am now at the point of not being able to breath thru my nose at all. I had been told I need to be careful, but it was just so easy to take a snort and almost instantly, I could breath. After doing a little research, I am learning that the more you use it, the more IT causes what you are trying to help. So, for the next week or so, no more nasal spray, other than maybe some saline nose spray. So, in about a week or so I should be feeling better. I am already at the point of dreading trying to go to sleep, so this should not be much worse. Randy

That's not gonna buff out. Randy

I just finished wiring up my Infinity and trailer to the five pin connector. I had already wired my Miata and camper to the same five wire setup. I have used the converters before on several vehicles and invariably, I would loose one of the circuits and be down on part of it. The one I used looks just like the four pin, but it is just has one more wire connector. I got them at Wally world and it is not much more than the four wire setup. On my camper and trailer, I added LED yellow turn signals and they work good. I had used a similar setup on the bike and Travelite camper, but it was actually a six wire rectangle connector. Randy

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. I could keep going, but I think you get the idea. Randy

Just don't forget to bring some of the good stuff. I have spent the morning cleaning up the Time Out and mounting a car carrier on top of it. That big bag I had at Vogal got carried off by a bear and I had to chase him down to get it back. The only damage was some teeth marks. I will be able to unstrap the car carrier and put it on the picnic table and strap it down at night. Linda is sitting here drinking her morning(afternoon) coffee and talking about how much she is looking forward to seeing Katrina, and you too. We were trying to figure out whether we are going to pull the camper down with the Infinity or the Miata. The big advantage in taking the Infinity is she will be able to load up some of the girls and go thrift and antique shopping around the area, as I know some of the girls would like to get off the bike some. Also, if we take the Infinity, we will load the camper on the trailer, as in the past, and have it there if needed. Just as sure as if I don't have the trailer, it will be needed. I am not sure how many are coming, but however how many, we will still have a good time. I always enjoy the familiar members, but I would like to see some new members that have never been to Asheville before, or to any Venturerider event. For the folks on the east coast, Asheville is about as centrally located as you can get and some of the best riding in the country. Randy

As Yamagirl noted, I did not use any preload and no air and I have not had any bottoming with Progressives. I also sealed the air holes in the fork tubes and raised the tubes as much as I could without hitting the grills above them. This is with MKII forks and I have not hooked up the electric anti dives. I do have some timer relays I am considering that can be adjusted up to ten seconds and that would allow me to have anti dives during quick braking, but would not have the constant drain on the electrical system if having to hold the front brake for a longer time. This is the earlier post on the timers, but I have yet to install them. Even with the anti dives not currently hooked up, I have yet to have the bike bottom out. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?96144-Electronic-guru-s-relay-with-a-timer Randy

Ended, reserve not met. The cover looked like it was made for bike. Randy

We know about the Widow Maker as that is the one that Linda had to have replaced as a stint could not be used. Several heart surgeons we talked with did not even want to try to fix it as the stakes were so high. I believe that one is on the back side of the heart. Just remember, getting old is not for wimps. Randy

Years ago I had a beautiful 300ZX Turbo that was black. When I sold it I swore I would never get a black car again unless it was a Grand National Buick. I now have a black Infinity and a black Miata. They look real good when they are clean, but that seems to only last a couple minutes. Randy

Last year I did a lot of upgrades on my 83 with R6 front brakes, MKII forks and calipers and SS lines. I already have the 2nd gen trans and the V-max rear and to me, that is the perfect gearing for the bike, lower 1st gear and higher 5th gear. I rode it about 250 miles and that was solo as Linda has said she is just not comfortable being on the bike and to be honest, I am feeling the same way. With me being so inseam challenged, it is more noticeable than ever to me how top heavy it is to me. Add a passenger and it is even worse. Right now, the bike is sitting on the carport and has not been started since last fall. I have a power draw and if I keep the battery plugged up, it goes dead. In the past, that would have been a quick project to trace it down. But, I guess the biggest thing for now is with having two Miatas, this is now our "Let's take an evening ride" fun, and they are fun rides. Yeah, they may be low and not the easiest thing to get in and out of, but it fits like a glove and putting a lot of miles on seems no more tiring than my Infinity I35. My grandson, who also has an 83 Venture, and almost lost his leg after crashing his CBR 600 thru a fence and down a bank and could have died with the blood loss without his cell phone, keeps me in mind when thinking about some of the remote places I have ridden. He also crashed his Miata when a woman cut through two lanes of traffic into his lane and he hit her going about 30 mph. With the airbag and seat belt, he had no injuries. I have seen pictures of some pretty bad front end crashes on Miata.net where people walked away. But, like motorcycles, people seem to not see them well. I have put over 150,000 miles on this bike and loved it, but will I ever get the passion back to ride like I used to? No, and it is a bit sad because for much of my life, it really was a passion for me. Randy

My experience with my vehicles over the years has been; On my 83 Venture, regular worked fine unless I was pulling my camper up some of the long grades in the mountains and I would get some pinging. Mid-grade would usually help and premium would stop the pinging. On my Infinity I35, it calls for premium and I usually run regular as the engine management takes care of it. But, if I run premium, I feel there is noticeably better acceleration with premium as it does not retard the timing so much. I do feel I get slightly better gas mileage with reg as I tend to run it easier. On my Miata, which should run regular, if timing is too advanced, it will ping a little. On my 65 Chevelle, back in the old days, with 11.5 compression pistons in the 327, I usually ran premium and occasionally mid-grade. The funny thing was, with that being the time of transitioning away from leaded gas and reg was unleaded and mid and premium was still leaded, I found that if I used about 2/3 reg unleaded and 1/3 premium, it was even better than premium. Evidently,adding some lead to the reg unleaded bumped it up a lot. We still have a lot of gas stations around here that have no ethanol. The only problem is usually 30 to 50 cents a gallon more. We even have stations that have about 105+ octane racing gas. I will occasionally stop by the Farmers Coop, which is no ethanol and fill up my gas jug for the lawn mower, an occasionally the bike. It is also my understanding that an engine will run slightly cooler with reg because with premium burning slower, it will saturate the cylinder walls more with heat, as regular will have the heat more in the top of the cylinder. Randy

Yep, ditto for Linda and me too. We were there about five years ago and made great memories. I would love to do it again. Randy

At about 170,000 miles I swapped in a 30,000 mile 83 engine that I put 2nd gen transmission in, but my high mile engine ran stronger. Randy

In the three or four times we have been there, we have yet to have any problem with sharing campsites. The sites are pretty big and we just build a little village. We can always tell them you are one of our kids. Randy