Venturous Randy

I must admit Mick, that is one 2nd gen that I would love to have. It is a really beautiful bike. Did you get you something else or are you getting out of biking for awhile? Hope you and your wife are doing ok. Mick, I just looked at the ad and my only suggestion is to show some pictures that are more close up of the paint. That is the most beautiful flame job I have ever seen and I have seen a lot. RandyA

Just got in from a ride this evening and still had one bar left and had put 178 miles on the bike. Usually, when I have one bar left and getting ready to start blinking, it will take about four gallons and that would be about 44mpg, which is about right. Most of the riding was 2-up on two lane twisties and like that, the V-Max rear doesn't seem to hurt mileage. RandyA

Hope you have a great Birthday on a beautiful day!! RandyA

Yeah, I thought the same thing. Also, when he stopped, not a lot of people clapped. I know I would have. RandyA

The auto paint store we have here carries a special two sided tape to hold emblems on. Not sure what the name is, but it is not as thick as most two sided tapes and is made to handle the various weather conditions. If you have an auto paint store, it may be worth checking out. RandyA

I did something today that probably very few people have ever had the opportunity to do. My son, my grandson and I got to go for a ride today. What made it even more special was we were all three on 1st gen Ventures. My son on his 87 Royale, my grandson on his 83 Royale and me on my 83 std. We rode to a general store established in 1902 that is now a country restaurant and had a great meal. We did do one little run on a straight country back road, but both my son's and grandson's bikes were not running that good, but it would not have mattered anyway. I do have to admit that I think I had a smile on my face the whole time. I felt it was a really neat thing for us to enjoy a ride on a great bike, ranging from 27to 31 years old. RandyA

I enjoyed this. RandyA http://www.wimp.com/professionalpianist/

Years ago I had a set of Avon Venoms on my bike and it really handled well, except from about 70mph and up, while one up, I started getting a tail wiggle that got worse the faster I got. Not that all 1st gens with Avons did this, but there were several that had this concern. When I replaced the rear tire with a Dunlop E3, I did not notice this problem and I still felt the bike handled good. When I replaced the front tire with an E3, I felt I lost some of the nimbleness that I had with the Avon, even though it was pretty worn. After putting 22,500 miles on the front E3, I just replaced it with another Avon Venom. Even though I know the E3 was worn and probably did not handle as good as when it was new, I can not believe how much better the bike handles. It feels much lighter and that nimble feeling is back. I have commented before on how I felt the Avon front/E3 rear was a good combination and I again want to suggest this combination for those that would like their 1st gen to handle as best it can. I know some do not like to mix tire brands, but to me, as long as you are not mixing radial/bias, I don't see a problem and in this case it works very good. RandyA

I started to suggest looking in his shoe. RandyA

With the bike on the center stand, how much play is there at the end of the side stand? You should not have more than 1/8th inch. If you have more than that, you WILL have problems at some time with breaking something. It sounds like someone has already had problems with the side stand and I suspect that is where your problems are. This is a good time to again warn everyone to check their side stand for not having too much play because I will tell you that it is not much fun to be on a trip and have a problem with your side stand. You think it is difficult to handle your bike now, try getting off and on without a side stand. RandyA

I did my side panels many years ago and have enjoyed it very much. Being inseam challenged, it really helped me in using my highway pegs without the lower faring hitting me on the inside of my leg. As far as heat, I ride in shorts most of the time and I have never felt that heat was a problem. RandyA

If you are having significant whine during deceleration, you may have a broken nut on the pinion gear. During acceleration, the load will cause the ring and pinion clearance to be where it is supposed to be. But during deceleration, the clearance will be too little. With the way these final drives and drive shafts are set up, if the nut breaks, the splines will still be engaged. You can check this by removing your right muffler, left bag, pull the axle and caliper bracket and there should be enough room to remove the four nuts on the final drives and pull it off with the wheel/tire still under the bike. If this is the case, these final drives are usually pretty cheap on ebay as there is not much demand for them. RandyA

Yes, this is something I see all the time. Lights on bright in the daytime is a must for me. RandyA

Just received my new Avon Venom for the front today. I am going back to an Avon on the front and an Elite 3 on the back. In the past, this was the best handling combination I ever had. But, that is a good price. RandyA

Maybe you need to sell first come, first serve tickets in the neighborhood. Sell as many tickets as you can and put on the tickets that for each event that only the first ten that arrives get to go in the shelter and there will be no reservations. If they don't like that arrangement, sorry and good luck. The tickets will be good for one year and then for those interested, they can renew. This would be like buying an insurance policy. If they don't pay, they are not covered(no pun intended). Another option would be to become a salesman for the shelter company and make some money that way. RandyA

Yes, undercut is doable and worn gears that have the corner rounded off the dogs need to be brought back sharp. I did this about 15 years ago on mine and put 60,000 more miles on it before I picked up a 86 engine that I used the gears from. Forks can be an issue as they get bent when the dogs are popping out and pushing against the forks. Transmissions pop up on ebay occasionally, especially 2nd gen transmissions. If you get serious about this, lets us know and we can help you work through the details. RandyA

When I wired my camper for the bike, I used a six pin connector and had separate lights for brake and signal. That way, I did not need a converter for the trailer and I also put LED lights I got from Harbor Freight. It works great. I have gone thru several converters on cars over the years. RandyA

So far, everything is going just barely north of us going north east. Got a car in the garage that Shane is pulling the engine for a friend, so it is full. I have the bike on the carport and may have to move it to get the Infinity out of the hail. RandyA

I did not see anything as I was actually looking for Daisy. RandyA

While on the ride Sat thru Harlan, KY on a four lane thru town, there was a girl texting while beside of us. I hit my air horns and she did not look up. I hit them again and held them longer and she looked over at me and I pointed at her phone and she looked at me like she was caught. She laid her phone down in her seat. It showed how distracted she was when I had to blow my air horns twice when we were going about 30 mph and I was right beside her. RandyA

This is what you planned and made the investment for in your tornado shelter. Hopefully you won't need it. This is typical when you have temps in the mid 80's one day and then snow flurries the next. RandyA

With what you are describing, you may need to check for vacuum leaks before you try to sync. Get some starter fluid and spray around the base of the carbs and the manifolds with it running and if it speeds up, you have a leak. If you have a vacuum leak and try to sync, you will just include that into your readings. RandyA

Sounds like someone may have been driving distracted. Sad day for everyone involved. RandyA

Be careful when syncing carbs that you do not have any vacuum leaks anywhere. If you do have a vacuum leak, you will be trying to compensate for it while syncing that carb. RandyA

There is only ONE idle speed adjustment and it is a thumb screw wheel under the carbs on the left side of the bike. The other screws are for syncing. The air/fuel screws are under the diaphragm covers and if they have not been messed with, will have covers that will have to be removed. RandyA