Venturous Randy

I run a radar detector on my bike for one reason, not for speeding, but because a 1st gen seems to be pretty stealthy. Due to this, if you are coming toward radar and if you have someone a distance behind you, like a big SUV or truck, the radar will read them instead of you. Radar does not read who is going fastest, it reads the strongest bounce back of the signal. Occasionally, they will set up the radar units with a big screen beside the road to show how fast someone is going and I have found that I have to get pretty close before it will read me, if I am alone on the road. If traffic is a quarter mile behind me, I can slow down below their speed and sometimes it will not pick me up at all when I go by. When my radar detector goes off, I will check my speed, but usually, I will try to see who is behind me and see if they are speeding. RandyA

Good for you. You were able to mourn in your own way and put things into perspective. RandyA

I have had a couple of almost new rear tires that I have rope patched on the road to get home and as soon as I could, I would break the tire down and put a good patch on the inside. I have run them until they needed replacing and never had any leak downs. RandyA

Wow, again, thanks. This is a wonderful story and not only are you happy about this, but you took something that was very dear to them, that they were obviously somewhat stressed about, and were able to assure to them that you understand how important the future of this bike was to be. Again, if there was ever an example of good karma, good things happening to good people, you are it. RandyA

Happy Birthday, our Ambassador. RandyA:cool10:

That is so fascinating and thank you so much for sharing it with us. Puc, you must have some really good Karma. RandyA

After going back and looking at the part numbers, I now realize Masterguns did have the correct parts for the better segment. What I had not realized before is the better segment has all the different pieces as I thought it was a one piece unit. So, I learn something every day. Dingy, I am sure glad we have you to keep us straight. RandyA

Wow, that is a great story. I hope you get many great miles on YOUR Midnight. RandyA

The later 2nd gens have the one piece unit that does not have the pins. I looked at the parts diagram and it shows the one with the pins, but you don't want that one. See attached: Not sure what the part number is. RandyA

If you made it in mid August, you could come to the Asheville Rally. RandyA

I would be concerned about putting something on that has an adhesive backing. That stuff does not usually stick very good to things that get hot. RandyA

Yeah, it's snowing on a couple robins in the front yard under the white dogwood tree. It was 85 here Sunday. RandyA

Wow Dan, that's not a good way to get started on this riding season. Looks like you are also pretty beat up. I feel for you as with my tip over last September when I broke a rib or two, it was about four months before the pain was gone. This year, I have taken about four good rides of 150 to 200 miles and I have caught myself being so careful that I am almost too paranoid. I have dropped the bike once each of the four years with Linda and I can still vividly remember every detail of what happened and what I did wrong. Every time I dropped it, it was because I was not completely focused on what I was doing. Were you able to get the bike picked back up without hurting yourself even more? We will be thinking about you and hope you heal up fast. RandyA

I changed my plugs yesterday and it took me about 20 minutes. I use a plug socket for motorcycles that uses a 17mm wrench. I break them loose and after several rotations, I can use my fingers to unscrew them . I always blow out any debris and also use spark plug anti seize. I will also run the bike a minute to warm the head without getting it too hot to put my hand on the head. This helps as aluminum expands more than steel. I can not imagine it taking an hour to change a spark plug. RandyA

We put about 200 miles on of back roads in SW VA near the KY line and we saw 86 degrees of sunny riding. Could not have asked for a more beautiful day. RandyA

Adding another on repairing the howling speedometer. All these should be added in our 1st gen library. RandyA

Yep, we have already had two local deaths. One was doing about 110mph in a 45 zone and a car pulled across in front of him. RandyA

I have an 83 that I have put 141,000 miles on and I usually ride in shorts(yeah, I know), and I have never felt any real discomfort from the heat. I also cut my side panels to the bikini style to have it even more open and still never have a problem. As Bob suggested, start with a good sync on the carbs. Also, it might help to get it analyzed to determine if it is running lean, which makes it run hotter. Any bike in a sitting position will create heat on the rider, but these bikes are usually pretty comfortable. RandyA

How much air are you running in the shocks? RandyA

Front: Avon Venom Rear: Dunlop E-3 Best handling you will get. RandyA

Black wires are generally ground wires. RandyA

Wow, that is a nice bike and I have always liked that color combination. RandyA

Also, bike should be level to get a good reading on the sight glass. If on side stand, you will overfill. Also, welcome and when asking a question, please include year and style bike. You can put this with your avatar at the top. RandyA

If you are going to be staying in Tellico, there are some real nice cabins on the river just before you start up the mountain. You go past town and there is a bridge on the left that you cross and you turn right at the service station and the cabins are on the left side of the road. I have a card somewhere if I can find it. RandyA

It was probably closer to 4:30pm and we then ate at the Fish/steak restaurant on the west side of Black Mountain. Wish we could met up with you. RandyA