Venturous Randy

I have seen on the news lately that the happiest states started with North Dakota and South Dakota. I wonder if they talked to any motorcycle riders? RandyA

Actually, that is on my bucket list. RandyA

We have already had our first local motorcycle death due to a woman turning in front of a 23 year old guy on a motorcycle. He hit the passenger side of her car. I know we all REALLY look forward to those first rides of the season, but keep in mind that the general public has not seen a motorcycle on the road in a while and they are NOT looking for them. If you have to feel that burst of power, do it on an isolated road and don't over drive your bike. If you are in traffic, be extra aware of what traffic is doing around you. Run your headlight on bright during the daytime and try not to put yourself in other people's blind spot. Make yourself noticeable, weave a little when coming up to an intersection. Also, make sure your bike has a LOUD horn. These first rides are great, but they can also be deadly. This is one reason other people do not see us: http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html RandyA

To me, a blown head gasket is a pretty rare thing on these bikes. I wonder if it could be a stuck ring allowing a lot of blow by. How do you know that it is the right front cylinder? How does the plugs look? Welcome aboard and don't be shy. RandyA

Hey, if she would like to be a host at Asheville, we could start something new. We never had a real host there before. RandyA

This is KOA East near exit 59 on I40 2708 US Highway 70, Swannanoa, NC 28778 Reserve: 800-562-5907 If you are going to camp, we stay from D-21(mine) to about D-25 and we have never had a problem with adding a tent or two and the campsites are very big. They also have nice cabins. RandyA

It would be great to see you again Craig, we would love to see you at Asheville. Just make sure you are careful getting gas. RandyA

Who wants to be with a bunch of fuddy duddys on trikes when you can come down and have a blast with us? RandyA

Just try to set your other travels to have August 14/17 free. RandyA

I was feeling sorry for Cooper.............until the end. RandyA

Puc, you just have a way of telling a story that makes me feel like I am right there beside you, and sometimes I have visions I cannot get rid of, no matter how hard I try. RandyA

As Carl noted, you can only adjust the CLASS with the key on ACC. The biggest problem with these units is cold solder joints on the circuit board. You can pull the unit apart and look at the solder joints and usually see one that looks different. Use a small solder gun, like one of the pencil ones and let it get real hot and touch the joints. You may want to put a little solder on the point first. You want to make sure the tip is real hot as you do not want to stay on the solder point very long. This is a fairly common problem with these old bikes. As far as the bump, the best fix on that is to install a set of Progressive springs. I'm sure your old springs are worn out. You may also be low on shock oil. I have to say that I admire your enthusiasm, but it would scare me to take off on any bike without knowing any more than you do about this bike. I would at least change out all the fluids, check the brakes, look at how old the tires are and are they properly inflated, does the bike still have the old fuse block? I have 164,000 miles on my 83 and know it pretty good inside out and would still do a good going over before I would take off on a trip and always carry a lot of tools with me. Good luck on your trip and keep us posted. RandyA

That should have come from where I used to work at, here in Johnson City. RandyA

I agree Bob and I figure from this point on that it will just get worse. I wonder how much of the original car you would have to have left to still be able to say it is still that car? RandyA

They now have retrieved five of the seven Corvettes that fell in the sinkhole. RandyA http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1403-five-of-eight-corvette-vehicles-pulled-from-sinkhole/photo_04.html

Is going for the 14/17 weekend good for you? If it is, we will go for that weekend. Linda says I gotta do everything to keep you guys happy. RandyA

On both ends of the clutch line, there is a rubber hose for flexibility. Between these hoses is a metal section. This is where I had the problem with mine getting clogged up. I think I ended up having to push a wire up into it to break it loose. RandyA

I also carry the little yellow pump from Harbor Freight and a tire repair kit. I have twice fixed a flat and pumped the tire up enough to get to a station. I also use the pump to fill up my rear shock and with the gauge on it, I can put it exactly where I want. I have a digital air gage that I to confirm and it is always where the pump gage reads. The coupon page from Rider magazine sometimes have these pumps for $5.99. RandyA

Happy Happy Birthday and we would love to see you at Asheville!!! Randy & Linda

They are probably going to have to do it like when they are digging up dinosaur bones, real slow. I wonder if they are going to allow people to get down in the hole without being tethered. In the video I saw earlier, it looked like everything was being done by guys in a cage hooked to the crane. RandyA

The Rider magazine I just got, in the My Favorite Ride section, it does a loop around WV. With some of pics shown, it looks like it would be somewhere I would like to ride. This would be the April 14 issue. RandyA

Well, they have now retrieved the blue one and it appears to have minimal damage. After it was pulled out, it was started up, but they had to cut it off because as they pulled it forward, it had a real bad oil leak. The 93 burgundy one was pulled out and put on a flatbed truck. The black 62 was pulled out today and was in better shape than anticipated, but will need a lot of fiberglass repair. I suspect the rest will be a lot worse. RandyA

How many versions of "Venture" can you come up with? RandyA

RandyA http://www.wimp.com/nailspiano/