Venturous Randy

Gary, I just called and all D section is open. I just booked D 21 again. Call the 828-686-3121 number. Skid, are you staying Fri and Sat? They only have you booked thru Thursday. Randy

Hey, it made for some good snuggling in that little camper when it was raining. We've not been in much rain in the Time Out camper yet. Randy

OK, we are on the calendar for August 17 thru 21. This appears to be the only weekend not have any rain according to the Farmers Almanac so you can make your plans now. (Ewww, I hope don't regret that) Randy

A couple years ago I picked up a used 2nd gen starter from Pinwall for about $49. It has worked great and on several occasions it started the bike when it was hot where I know the old one would have had a problem. Personally, I would rather have a used 2nd gen Venture starter than some off brand. I do realize that Pinwall has gone up significantly on their prices lately. Randy

Up under the fairing, there is a short crossbar on the frame that I use with ratcheting straps. I will pull the bike up against the front of the trailer and put it on the side stand. I will then hook the strap on the side stand side of the bike to an attachment point on the front corner of the trailer and snug it. I will then go to the other side and hook the strap and ratchet it down to the point that the bike will pull the up vertical. I will then connect to the top of the rear crash bars and to the trailer to the point they are pulling the bike toward the front of the bike. The last thing I do, since I don't have a wheel chock, is to wrap the ends of the ratchet strap around the front wheel where it meets the trailer frame to make sure it does not let the wheel move side to side. The thing I like about this is I am connecting higher than the forks at a solid point. Even though it is up under the fairing, the strap does clear the fairing. It also makes it safer for me when I am undoing the straps to reverse the order and not have the bike want to be pulled over. Anyway, this has worked for me for 20 years with this bike. Randy

Linda and I sure hope so. Randy

I always like to give a little time to see if a week or so earlier or later might help those that may have kids starting school or another conflict that may make it difficult to attend. I sure hope you and George are able to make it. Randy

Sounds OK to me, but if a different date would help more folks getting there, PLEASE speak up. BTW, Asheville is the funnest and most laid back rally and the best riding roads of them all. Randy

1st of all, are you sure that you are loosening the correct bowl drain screws and not the air mixture screws? Another thing when trying to fill the carbs is to turn the ignition switch to on and cycle the KILL switch instead of the ignition switch. This also makes it easier to hear the pump if you have several keys. To me, it seems very unlikely that all four carbs would get blocked at the same time. On my 83, if the bike has set for a long time, I will have to cycle the kill switch 15 or 20 times until the carbs fill up. Another thing about many of these bikes is to not give it any throttle while cranking. When mine gets a little cranky(no pun intended), I will choke to full choke and while cranking slowly move to off choke. If it does not start, it will usually always hit a couple times. Randy

At about 6 in the morning, we will have the first full moon on Christmas since 1977. We won't have another full moon on Christmas until 2034. The last time was during the Star Wars opening. Randy

Hey Eck, you need a nap. I bet you were up all night. Randy

And why does this not surprise me? Randy

We are past the winter solstice and the days will start getting longer. Randy

Yep, I would say it's totaled, but, it looks like it done its job protecting them. Do you know what happened yet? Randy

How about Limpy Fool? Randy

I did it a long time ago on my 83 and it was a BIG improvement. I recommend it highly, BUT, it is not as easy to swap it over as you would think it would be. The best way to do it would be to find someone parting out an MKII and get all the pieces necessary. It has been a long time since I did mine, but I will try to go through what you will need: Headlight assembly Trim around headlight Complete adjustment assembly Left side upper frame Frame that holds dash Lower brace that connects the fairing halves together You can use the chrome trim from your MKI, but there will be about a 1/4 inch gap between the trim and the light trim, but it looks like it was made that way. Like I said, there is a lot more to this than you would think it would be. It is not hard to do, especially if you can find a bike to get all the parts from, but if you have to buy all the parts individually from ebay, it could get costly. Again, I will say that it is a great improvement and well worth it. Randy

Linda and I took a ride across the mountain to Chimney Rock, NC and had a wonderful day. Not on the Venture, but the Miata with the top down. What was also neat was just after we parked and walked across the street, I heard someone shout out and looked around and it was Rooster. We had a great visit and I got to see his latest toy. He got rid of his Porsche and now has an absolutely beautiful Mercedes MLK convertible. It is the one about the size of my Miata with over twice the horsepower. Hmmmm. As we were standing there talking, a black 2nd gen passed by, but we did not get a chance to see if we recognized them. We watched to see if they were going to loop back, but never saw it again. I hope those that had a chance to get out this weekend were able to enjoy it and were safe. I know that I saw a lot of motorcycles today. Randy

Puc, I have always said that timing is everything. In this case, going to the ER and seeing the right doctor at the right time was great. Best wishes to Tippy and you from Linda and me. Randy

There are probably a lot on here that would love to ride at the combined rate that you noted. And their bikes probably would like it too. Randy

Years ago I was coming up the interstate from Birmingham back to east TN alone and I encountered a funeral procession moving along in the right lane. As I was moving past the procession, just slightly faster than they were going, I came upon the Hurst. As I got close to it, I could see that the casket inside was covered with Old Glory. As I slowly passed, I stood as best I could on the foot pegs and gave a sharp salute. I sometimes wondered if any of the cars following noticed what I did. Randy

So, you are on a two lane road and top a hill and meet an approaching funeral procession, what do you do? Here in the south it is real common for people to stop in the lane until the group of vehicles pass. Some may pull off the road if there is room. And with so many cars having daytime driving lights, it is difficult to tell who is with the funeral procession. If you are on an interstate and come upon a funeral procession that is going the same direction and a little slower than the speed limit, do you pass them? Just curious about what others think. Randy

I have not seen him on here lately. Randy

One of the things I do occasionally when I am playing around on the computer is to go to Google Maps and go to an area of the country I have never been and pull up the map and drop the little gold man down on the blue marked roads. It is amazing how you can drop down on a road in the middle of nowhere, or stop by a quaint little town and go up and down each street and see the houses and places where people live. Sometimes I will go to the Rockies or the Bad Lands and just ride along. Sometimes I will go to places I have been, such as Okracoke Island on the NC Outer Banks. It is so neat to ride around the little village and see neat houses and curvy wind blown trees. Sometimes when I am looking for a place to take a ride, whether on the bike or in the Miata with the top down, I can still find a road that I have never been on not too far from home. I can look at intersections and landmarks to help me on my adventures. Sometimes I will click on some place to eat or spend the night and check the reviews to see if I want to make that part of my adventure. Sometimes if I am looking for a particular address, I can go to street view and see the house or business and maybe get an idea how best to get to it, as sometimes my GPS will take me to hell and back if I just follow it, especially if I had it on "shortest distance" If you have not spent any time doing this, I think if you will, you may enjoy it. Randy

saw $1.72 in Greeneville, TN yesterday. Randy

My 83 with 160,000 miles on it had what I suspect was the typical 1st gen whine. It was a little noticeable, but not to the point of being irritating. Before I replaced the engine, I ran some Rotella 15-40 for a while and it did seem to make a little difference. Since I had picked up another 83 engine with 30,000 miles, I decided to put the 2nd gen trans I had bought in it and see how I liked it. I did not have the original clutch basket that came with the 2nd gen gear set, so I used the one from the low mileage 1200. When I got it together, I was surprised at how loud the whine was from about 2,500 to 3,100 RPM,s. I then pulled it apart and used the clutch basket from the high mileage engine. The noise was reduced noticeably, but is still too loud for me. The amazing part to me is how much change there is from 3,100 to about 3,200 RPM,s in how much quieter it is. It just does not make sense that it could change SO much, given that the same set of gears are still in operation. I did some research on gear whine and read a lot about frequencies and stuff, but not anything that I found as useful that I could use. And yes, I have also thought about sacrificing a clutch basket to a Dremil grinder to see if it made any difference. Randy