Venturous Randy

I probably kill my bike 90% of the time by putting the side stand down with it in gear. The only drawback I have had on doing this is to remember to turn the ignition switch off before I walk away from it. RandyA

I have been wondering about installing a relay on my 83 that would go around the Computer Monitoring System (CMS) and reserve light unit (RLU) and be activated by a jumper from the normal hot wire to the light. I would still leave the wiring hooked up as stock, but run a wire parallel from the battery thru a relay. I wonder what this would do to the the rest of the system? Has anyone ran a hot wire off the battery and touched it on the light prongs with the light connector hooked up? If you did, was the headlight any brighter? I would hate to bypass the RLU, but with power to the bulb going thru the CMS and the RLU, I know there is some voltage drop and voltage drop is lesser light. RandyA

and get back to your request. RandyA

We had a problem in Spruce Pine NC at a Western Steer where some people got sick from something off the salad bar. After being closed for a couple of days and reopening, I told Laura that I wanted to eat supper there. She gave me one of those "I'm not sure about that looks." I told her that it was now probably the cleanest restaurant in NC. Had one of the best steaks I believe I have ever had there or any at other restaurant. RandyA

They say that confession is good for the soul. In this case it is a good reminder also. Even though it has not caused me to tear a bunch of stuff apart, I have had a moment or two of anxiety when everything is dead and I'm thinking "Now what?" It is a relief to look up and see a tiny sliver of red where the kill switch is just barely raised up. So again, good post oldandcrotchity, this story and reminder may cause some of us to take a deep breath and look at the obvious. Now, does that make your miss-adventure a little easier to live with? RandyA

I sometimes envy the larger bags and trunk on the later 1st gens, but I also like the SPORT touring look of the early ones. From the back when sitting beside a later 1st gen, my 83 looks like a lot smaller bike. I have ridden a couple of later 1st gens and for some reason mine feels more toss-able as I feel like I can just toss it around easy and the later ones did not feel that way. That also may have been mostly due to the familiarity with my own bike. I know that I enjoy my bike and get a lot of nice compliments, especially from women. They seem to particularly like the purple color. And, it is neat to tell some middle age woman that she was just a young girl when my bike was born. They really like that and can not believe it at first. Either way, 1st gens are neat bikes and a lot of fun. I know that with 112,000 miles on mine, I would not hesitate to take on a long trip today. But, I also know my bike pretty well and have have been thru most of it. RandyA

As far as shims, I take what I have to the local bike shop and swap out shims for free. Even the local Yamaha shop traded for free. How tight are your's RandyA

Hey, when you get that bike fixed and want to make another trip down into Tennessee, come toward the east end I will buy you a steak dinner!!! You deserve it after surviving that ordeal. RandyA

I get Road Runner as I won it as a door prize at Vogal. I also get a couple of others like Motorcyclist. I really love Road Runner because it is not so much about a specific road test, but it is about the journey and the quality of the magazine is superb. My problem with most of the other bike magazines is it seems about 90% of the stuff in them is about crotch rockets. Occasionally, there may be something else that I enjoy. RandyA

It is hard to think you are lucky to have been involved in something like this, but you two were sure lucky to have survived it. From the pictures, it looks like you were still moving at a pretty good clip when it plowed under. Many times when you lay it down in grass, the vehicle may actually stop a lot quicker because it digs in. Sometimes making memories can be tough. RandyA

\ Kind of like the boys at Duke University where there should have been a lot of apologies. RandyA

At least A 1st gen don't have fake fins.....that leak. RandyA

I use the Fram 6002 from Advance Auto for about $4. I always look at it good for any metal particles or what ever and I have never seen one coming apart. I use Valvoline 10w40 in bike and it seems to do fine. RandyA

I went for about a 50 mile ride today. Temps here in east Tennessee was about 57. Supposed to be in mid 60's tomorrow. RandyA

My 1st gen will be 25 years old in April. Just think, when your 2nd gen is 25 years old, it will just look like another worn out old Harley!!! RandyA

Some of these old guys would be tickleded to death if they averaged once a month!!! RandyA

Clay, I will also agree that Todd is most likely on top of this one. It is a real common occurance on the 1st gens for the Computer Montoring System CMS to have a bad solder joint. It is not a hard fix and there are instructions on here somewhere on how to do it. I have posted a time or two the basic steps in doing it. If you can not figure it out, let us know and someone will walk you thru it. RandyA

Hey Dan....there are....uh...certain ways your....uh...wife can....uh...help you relax ....enough to....uh...get to sleep. I wont say what it is,butitreallyhelpsmegetsleepy! RandyA

Another routine problem with these starters is the rear bearing getting dry. A good cleaning and greasing will usually help a lot. And as noted, change your cables to #4 wire. If you can not find any or do it yourself, most towns have a starter/alternator shop and will have wire and ends available. Just take your wires off and use them for length. A good trick is to connect a piece of wire to the old wire and when you pull out the old wire disconnect the wire and use it again to pull the new wire back thru. RandyA

JB, one of the routine upgrades on 1st gens is to go to #4 cables. This really does help the hot weather starts also. There are several post on here about the cable upgrade. RandyA

Dan, as fixit and I can attest to, it is doable without being expensive. Most of the parts you have will continue to be good for a long time. You may have to tweak some on the parts you have, such as forks and gear dogs, if you don't want to buy everything new. Just let us know what you want to do and we will be glad to walk you through it. RandyA

Ya know, I been wondering the same thing. As you may know, I did the under cut thing and it worked so good that when the soft thrust washer wore out again, it still did not skip during a hard pull. It began to rattle while on the side stand. I just wish I had replaced the soft washer with a new harder one, rather than just flip it over, but I did not know the new one was improved (and neither did the local dealer). I ended up replacing my gearset this past summer with one from an 86 engine that I had picked up and it is working real good. I also want to encourage those out there that have the 2nd gear problem that it is fixable and it does not have to cost a fortune, but it does require some wrenching. I spent about $28 fixing mine the first time and put 60,000 more miles on it and as I said, if I had spent a few more bucks and replaced the thrust washer, it would still be going strong. Again, thanks fixit, and I hope this may help some make that decision to fix 2nd gear because there is nothing like going thru the first three gears on an early 1st gen Venture at WIDE OPEN THROTTLE!! RandyA

I found this on Pashnit and it was noted as coming from another post, so I am not sure who to give credit to. It is a good story, RandyA From another forum, Great Read! The bike's passenger seat swept up just enough that I could see over my father's shoulders. That seat was my throne. My dad and I travelled many backroads together...searching for the ones we had never found before. Travelling these roads just to see where they went. Never in a rush, just be home by supper. I remember wandering down a backroad with my father, sitting on my throne watching the trees whiz by, feeling the rumble of our bike beneath us like a giant contented cat. A motorcycle came over a hill towards us and as it went by, my father threw up his clutch hand and gave a little wave. The other bike waved back with the same friendly swing of his left wrist. I tapped my dad on the shoulder, which was our signal that I wanted to say something. He cocked his head back slightly while keeping his eyes ahead... I yelled, "Did you know him?" "What?" "You waved at him...who was that?" "I don't know. Just another guy on a bike....so I waved." "How come?" "You just do...it's important." Later, when we had stopped for ice cream, I asked him why it was so important to wave to other bikers. My dad tried to explain how the wave demonstrated comradeship and a mutual understanding of what it was to enjoy riding a motorcycle. He looked for the words to describe how almost all bikers struggled with the same things like cold, rain, heat, wind, and drivers who didn't see them, but how riding remained an almost pure pleasure. I was young then and I am not sure that I really understood what he was trying to get across, but it was a beginning of something. Afterwards, I always waved along with my dad whenever we passed other bikes. I remember one cold October morning when the clouds were heavy and dark, giving us another clue that winter was heading in from just over the horizon. My dad and I were warm inside our car as we headed to a friends house. Rounding a corner, we saw a motorcycle parked on the shoulder of the road. Past the bike, we saw the rider walking thru the ditch, scouring along thru the tall grass, crowned with a touch of frost. Dad pulled over and backed up to where the bike stood. I asked Dad..."Who's that?" "Don't know" he replied..."but he seems to have lost something. Maybe we can give him a hand." We left the car and wandered thru the tall grass ditch to the biker. He said that he had been pulling on his gloves as he rode, and that he had lost one. The three of us spent some time combing the ditch, but all we found were empty cans and bottles. My dad then turned and headed back to the car and opened the trunk. He rummaged thru various tools, oil containers, and this and that until he found an old pair of crumpled up leather gloves. He continued looking until he found an old catalogue. I understood what he was doing with the gloves....but I had no idea what he needed with the catalogue. "Here's some gloves for you" my dad said as he handed them to the rider..."and I brought you a catalogue as well." "Thanks"..I really appreciate it." He reached into his hip pocket and pulled out an old chain wallet. "Lemme give you some money for the gloves" he said. "No thanx" dad replied as he handed them to the rider. "They're not worth anything and they're old anyway". The biker smiled. "Thanx alot." He pulled the old gloves on and unzipped his jacket. I watched as my dad handed him the catalogue and the biker slipped it inside his coat. He jostled it around, positioning it up high, centered, and then zipped it up. I remembered now making sense of why my dad had given him the catalogue. It would keep him a bit warmer. After wishing the biker well, my dad and I left him warming up his bike. Two weeks later, the biker came to our home and returned my father's gloves. He had found the address on the catalogue. Neither my father nor the biker seemed to think that my dad stopping at the side of the road for a stranger and giving him a pair of gloves, and that the stranger making sure that the gloves were returned, were events out of the ordinary for people who rode motorcycles. For me, it was another subtle lesson. It was spring of the next year when I was sitting high on my throne, watching the farm fields slip by when I saw two bikes coming towards us. As they rumbled past, my dad and I waved, but the other bikers kept their sunglasses locked straight ahead and did not acknowledge us. I remember thinking that they must have seen us because our waves were too obvious to miss. Why didn't they wave back? I thought all bikers waved at one another..... I tapped my dad on the shoulder and yelled..."How come they didn't wave back?" "Don't know. Sometimes they don't." I remember feeling very puzzled. Why wouldn't someone wave back? The next summer, I was finally old enough to learn to ride a motorcycle with a clutch. Many an afternoon were spent on a country lane beside our home, kicking and kicking to start my dad's old 1955 BSA. When it would finally come to a sputtering start, my concentration would grow to a sharp focus, as I tried to let out the clutch slowly enough, and bring us to a smooth take off. More often than not, I would lurch forward.....and begin to attempt to kickstart the motor again. Eventually, I got my own motorcycle license, and began wandering the backroads on my own. I found myself stopping along sideroads if I saw another biker alone, just to check and see if he needed help.......and I continued to wave at other riders. But I remained focused as to why some riders never waved back. It left me with almost a feeling of rejection, as if I were reaching to shake someones hand, but they kept their arm hanging by their side. I began to canvass my friends about waving. I talked with people at biker events, asking what they thought. Most of the old riders told me they waved to other bikers and often initiated the friendly air handshake as they passed one another. I did meet some riders tho, who told me that they did not wave to other riders because they felt that they were different from other bikers. They felt that they were a "breed apart". One guy told me in rather colorful language, that he did not "wave to no wussies". He went on to say that his kind of bikers were tough, independent, and they did not require or want the help of anyone, whether they rode a bike or not. I suspected that there were some people who bought a bike because they wanted to purchase an image of being tougher, more independent, a not-putting-up-with-anyone's-crap kind of person, but I didn't think that this was typical of most riders. People by bikes for different reasons. Some will be quick to tell you what make it is, how much they paid for it, or how fast it will go. Brand loyalty is going to be strong for some people whether they have a Harley, Ford, Sony, or whatever... Some people want to buy an image and try to purchase another person's perception of them. But it can't be done. Still, there is a group of people who ride bikes who truly are a breed apart. They appreciate both the engineering and the artistry in the machines they ride. Their bikes become part of who they are and how they define themselves to themselves alone. They don't care what other people think. They don't care if anyone knows how much they paid for their bike or how fast it goes. The bike means something to them that nothing else does. They ride for themselves and not for anyone else. They don't care whether anyone knows they have a bike. They may not be able to find words to describe what it means to ride, but they still know. They may not be able to describe what it means to feel the smooth acceleration and the strength beneath them. But they understand. These are the riders who park their bikes, begin to walk away and then stop. They turn and look back. They see something when they look at their bikes that you might not. Something more complex, something that is almost secret, sensed rather than known. They see their passion. They see a part of themselves. These are the riders who understand why they wave to other motorcyclists. They savour the wave. It symbolizes connection between riders, and if they saw you and your bike on the side of the road, they would stop to help and might not ask your name. They understand what you are up against every time you take your bike on the road.....the drivers that don't see you, the ones that cut you off or tailgate you, the potholes that lie in waiting. The rain. The cold. I have been shivering and sweating on a bike for more than 40 years. Most of the riders that pass give me a supportive wave. I love it when I see a younger rider on a "crotch rocket" scream past me and wave. New riders carrying on the traditions. I will continue in my attempts to get every biker just a little closer to one another with a simple wave. And if they do not wave back when I extend my hand into the breeze as I pass them, I will smile a little more. Maybe their just mistaken about who is a "breed apart."

Hey Brad, we got one cat too many. Can I UPS you one? Just kidding, I think? It is a tough thing when losing a family pet. RandyA

Good luck Lowell. Just keep in mind that smoking is not a natural thing to do. You had to teach your body to smoke. That being said, I need to do something about this eating thing!!! RandyA