Venturous Randy

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

Wow, looking real good. How hard is it to put the 2nd gen covers on the 1st gen motor? I have always wondered if they would work. RandyA

Linda and I got in some good riding this weekend as it was supposed to be warm and dry. To ride on some unfamiliar roads, I decided to take off to Hazard, KY. We took some two lane, mountain roads and it was a good ride of about 300 miles. Today, we hooked up with a friend that has an RSTD and rode some back roads in the mountains of NC. Again, with the trees and everything budding out, it was an absolutely beautiful ride of about 130 miles. We saw temps of 86 yesterday and 87 today in some of the valleys. I keep putting off putting the other engine in my bike that has the 2nd gen transmission in it. For the type of riding like this, the engine I have along with the V-Max rear is perfect. RandyA

Had a couple of Chevelles, a 64, 327 4-speed I bought in 68 while still in high school. It got me thru four years in the USAF and two more years and then I found a 65 Chevelle body with a 12 bolt, 4:10 posi in perfect condition and transferred the stuff from the 64 to the 65. Parked the car later an rebuilt the motor and put in a 240Z. Sold the body for $125. What I missed out on was a 65 Chevelle Z-16 sitting in a field that was complete. The Z-16's were special built and had the 396/375hp engines as a precursor to the 396 Chevelles that came out in 1966. Only 201 were built and one was a convertible. This one sold for $800 to a guy that turned around and sold it for $3,000. That guy cleaned it up and put a clutch in it and kept it for a few years. Some guy from Ohio found out he had it and bought it for $54,000 and was going to restore it. These things sell for over $100,000 now. For Chevy or muscle car fans, Google Z-16. Yep, missed one that I would have loved to have had. RandyA

The last time I had a front tire leak, it was around the base of the valve stem and I just tightened it up some. RandyA

Soooooo..... you have had so many special days here lately, with some of the bikes that you have acquired, how are you going to make this a special day? Oh, this one won't involve a motorcycle. Hope you have a great day. RandyA

I had the same problem and it was the spring that holds the detent in place. If it is broken, you can feel that the linkage does not have the "click" when it goes into gear. You can check this by getting to the point where there is no binding to go into gear and you may have to rock the bike a little to get to that sweet spot. You will also be able to tell that it will come out of gear easy and without the click. If this is the issue, you will have to take the cover that is over the clutch off and you will see it on the bottom left, up behind the clutch. RandyA