Venturous Randy

Took a ride yesterday with a friend on an RSTD on the BRP from about Fancy Gap in VA down to Grandfather Mountain in NC. It was an absolutely beautiful day, clear, with temps in lower 70's and very light breeze and very light traffic. We could not have ordered up a more perfect day. The downside was after a while, I could not stand much of it any more. There are parts that are very rough with big pot holes, but in many places, especially at bridges that will about launch you and your bike. The entrance to the newly built bridge going south as it crosses 421 should never have been approved as it is so mismatched that is literally crashes your suspension and launches you. There are many sinks, dips and pot holes that can

Glad you are ok and it was not worse. Whether I am mowing, working out in the garage by myself or riding, I have my cell with me. It is too easy to get in trouble and not have access to help at your fingertips. When my grandson Shane had his motorcycle crash, and being out of the view of traffic, I have no doubt that he would not have made it without his cell. He had to have about six units of blood immediately and altogether received 18 units. Is your lawn tractor hydrostatic drive? RandyA

Yep, that's it. I ended up having to use a flat tip screwdriver to break mine loose for the first time. RandyA

Kevin, that's a great picture. I may try to save that for future reference on here. ltl, try setting your idle up to see if that will help stabilize things. Also, these bikes are very sensitive to spark plugs and run good on cheap Autolites that are available at most auto parts stores. If you change your spark plugs, try to blow air around the plug first to blow out debris so you don't get stuff in the cylinder. Also, with having the carbs apart and removed from the brackets, there is no telling how bad they are out of sync. This may be your biggest problem. RandyA

Wires are probably from someone having a trailer hitch on the bike at one time or some extra lights. You may be able to see the rear of the tank by taking the fender cover off. Are you sure the fuel is not coming from one of the overflow hoses from the carbs? RandyA

Do not put a lot of pressure on the drill bit as you do not want the drill bit to hit the adjustment screw when it breaks through. I thought I had better say something as you seem pretty excited about the drilling and screwing part. RandyA

With the side bags off, there is a 12mm bolt on each side of the seat. Take them loose and lift the seat off. For your carbs, take off your side covers and the tank cover. Pull the airbox off and you will see four hoses that come up from the back. Pull each one off and turn the key on and cycle your kill switch to activate the fuel pump. One of the carb vents should squirt out some fuel. On that carb, go to the bottom of the carb and you will see a Philips head screw. Loosen that screw and fuel should drain out of the hose below the diaphragm cover. Once fuel stops, blow some air into the fuel inlet for that carb. Put it all back together and go for a ride. RandyA

I guess it looks nice, but I will have to take your word for it. RandyA OK, now there is a picture.

Sounds reasonable. When I come in from the garage, sometimes I will repeat what I am coming in for, or I will have go back to the garage and start all over again. Otherwise, I will just stand in the kitchen and try to figure out why I came in, so I usually start with a snack and then maybe a nap. RandyA

On the rubber manifolds that are between the carbs and the heads, there are O-rings that are under the base of each. If you have a leak in this area, when you sync the carbs, you are adding that air flow into the sync process. If you then plugged the vacuum leak and then went back and checked sync, it would be off. RandyA

Heather, this sounds similar to what I am dealing with on my 2nd gen trans/engine swap. The bike starts and runs good, but in comparison, it just feels like something is not right when I crank it on. It almost feels like it is dropping a cylinder or something, compared to the old engine. I also did not do anything to the carbs as the bike was running good and I did not want to add any more variables at the point of startup on the new engine. But with me, I had some carb problems because I turned the carbs upside down and replaced the drain hoses. With the engine up to temp, spray some starter fluid around the base of the carbs and see if you have any change. RandyA

Yep, that's about right. RandyA

Dan, there is nothing that All the King's horses and All the King's men could do to help you. Sorry. RandyA

Looks to me like the film car braked hard and actually came to a stop to not hit the bike. RandyA

As you can see, I have added Randy to Venturous. I had taken over the name Venturous when the previous owner left for a while because at that time I was RandyA and we seemed to be getting several Randy's. So, maybe this will cut down on any confusion we may have had. RandyA

The first thing I would do is verify that the bypass valve is in the correct position. This is the hex below the radiator and the tops of the letters should be in the 5:00 position. RandyA

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/nc-topless-rally-move-more-visible-location Do you think we would get more of a rise in attendance? RandyA

I went to an auto paint supply store and bought some trim/badge insulation tape. It seems to be very strong and weather and heat proof. RandyA

Thanks Authur, I wish you could have been there. Several folks asked about you and you were missed. I hope you are doing ok. RandyA

This might be a real good thing for the 96 Goldwing that I have that has reverse. It has to be a lot cheaper than the trike conversion and I could install it myself. I tried to look at their store for a price, but did not see one. RandyA

This is from Chimney Rock and on the BRP.

BUFFET Big Ugly Fat Folks Eating Together Yep, that about says it all. RandyA

It is hard to believe that Asheville 2014 has come and gone. I want to thank everyone for coming and again, we had a great time. We had some absolutely great rides in some of the most beautiful country in the world. But, what made this so good is all the great family we have here and the opportunity to get together. When I see how many miles some of you trek to get to Asheville and then turn around and ride every chance you get and then load up and go home, it amazes me. I have always strived to keep the Asheville Rally a very laid back and fun event and again, I think we succeeded. I just hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. We rode great roads, we ate very well ( thanks ladies), we had fantastic weather even though the mornings were a bit cool, some of us tweeked on our bikes and we had great conversation. I just can not think of anything that could have made it any better. Linda and I got to meet some new friends and see some old friends. I feel we are so very lucky. RandyA

83's are the same and you can even use an 85 if you want a larger trunk and can get the mounting rack. They are like the 86/93's but they have a different mounting rack, I think. RandyA

I bet that was interesting as there are very few signs that actually point to Vogal and you have to know where they are at. That was also before we had Google Maps we could look at and even look at the entrance at street level like I do now. Dan, I hate you are not going to be able to make it as I was wanting you to ride my bike with the V-Max final drive and the 2nd gear trans conversion. You wouldn't be real impressed with how strong it runs as it is still down on power compared to the old engine, but I think you would like that lower 1st gear and the higher 5th gear. RandyA