Venturous Randy

The Blue Ridge Parkway is closed north of Asheville to Mt Mitchell due to road cracking. RandyA

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First pic looks like the bike is laying on the ground. Hurts my neck to look at the picture. Other pictures show a nice looking bike. RandyA

EWWWWW... been there, done that. This is part of the maturing process. Well, by 3am, at least when someone says you are "full of it", you can say "NOT!!" RandyA

Many will disagree, but on all the oil changes I have ever done, I have never replaced a crush washer and I don't ever remember one leaking. RandyA

This was on the local news and pictures showed the road cracked right down the centerline. The crack was pretty good and up to eight feet deep in spots. They did not give any date when it will be fixed. RandyA

Also know as "talking heads", and this is why. RandyA

Well, I just filled up after the first tank running with the V-Max rear on my 83. I got right at 44 mpg's, which is a little down, but most of the riding was 1 up, where I usually do get less mpg's. In this case, I expected to be down some as I am still dealing with the throttle giggles and that has been fun. I also did some riding at 65 mph in 5th and I do have to say that the desire to shift up one more time would not go away. RandyA

Sure, I just put a V-Max rear end in my 83. I seriously doubt I will see any gas mileage improvement for awhile as I can't seem to get past the throttle giggles. I do not expect the gas mileage to get any worse for me in my 2up riding around the mountains and I routinely get about 45 mpg. Now, if I am going to make a 75 mph run down the interstate, I may see a little drop. The reason I went with the V-Max rear is I have another 1200 engine that I installed an 02 Venture transmission that the gears are wider spaced. This way, 5th will be about 5% higher, but 1st will be about 10% lower. I just need to get my butt in gear and get the engine swapped out. To use the V-Max rear I had, I had to go to an MKII driveshaft and a different dust cover/shield on the wheel. Other than that, it was a straight swap. RandyA

From the Zimmerman trial, one thing that we all should consider is we never know what can happen when we get into a confrontation. For example, as I have gotten older, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to deal with road rage is to just get away from the situation. This was hard for me, as when I was younger, I had a problem with road rage. It did not take a lot to set me off and it probably was a good thing I was not carrying a gun at times. Fortunately, I have matured some. Folks, let us all think about taking a step back when a confrontation appears to be building up and just keep in mind that you may not know how crazy someone else is. You just never know when something relatively innocent can become a tragedy. RandyA

With the media, it is all about money. The media does not care about the facts. If the media can stir something up and get more people watching the news and can charge more for advertisement, that is all they care about. RandyA

If you don't like to wear your seatbelt, you better stay out of Tennessee, as you will get pulled over in a heartbeat. RandyA

it cost me about $17 for the bike and Tennessee does not have a state income tax. The car is about $25. RandyA

As I have said before, the position of the throttle pretty much dictates gas mileage. If you are pulling in one gear and downshift and either began to accelerate or let off the throttle to maintain the same speed, you are bogging below the power band. Getting back in the power band will improve your engine efficiency, therefore improving your gas mileage. If I am getting less that 45 mpg while running around 2-up, unless running down the interstate at 75 mph+, I am wondering what is wrong. And I don't baby my bike. RandyA

I'm retired. I just take off in any direction that strikes me at the moment I finally decide to get up and get going. RandyA

Good for you and Alan, Annie!!!:cool10: I wish Linda and I had been able to see you this time. RandyA

The Wisdom of Fords Two well-known Fords celebrate milestone birthdays this July. Former president Gerald R. Ford would have been 100 years old on July 14, while American industrialist Henry Ford was born on July 30 exactly 150 years ago. Both men hold significant places in our nation’s history, and both have left us with many notable quotations that might or might not inspire greatness in us all. On self-improvement: Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you are absolutely right. – Henry I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators. – Gerald On effort: The harder you work, the luckier you are, and I worked like hell. – Gerald Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it. – Henry On things existential: Things are more like they are now than they have ever been. – Gerald I see no advantage in these new clocks. They run no faster than the ones made 100 years ago. – Henry And, on things, well, you tell me: People can have the Model T in any color – so long as it’s black. – Henry I watch a lot of baseball on the radio. – Gerald I guess it is comforting to see that even some of the greatest minds can say some crazy things sometimes. Gives hope to the rest of us, don’t you think? Anyway, happy birthday Gerald and Henry. Thanks for these words of wisdom. RandyA

I also agree with what others have said. I have had my bike for over 17 years and had bought it after it had sat for awhile. After buying it, I rode it home and it ran terrible. I did not know what to expect as I had never ridden a Venture before. With this being before I had the internet, I basically was on my own with repairs. I did take the carbs off and clean all the jets and found out later that clogged pilot jets were what were making the bike run so bad. I then replaced my fuse box with a blade fuse setup as my box fuse holders were pretty bad. After I got everything back together and took it for that first ride, I knew I had made the right choice on this bike. It was strong. The bike had 23,000 miles on it and was 13 years old when I bought it. It now has about 162,000 miles and is still running great. I did go through the 2nd gear issue and first did an undercut on the dogs and then 60,000 miles later picked up an 86 engine that was not repairable and used the gears out of it. I try to change the oil about every 3,000 miles, but I have to admit, I have gone a lot further than that at times. With the amount of miles I have now, the bike still does not use any oil. I don't use fancy oil, just the cheap Rotella T diesel oil and it works fine. Also, my bike is not babied. I have pulled a 450 pound camper around the mountains of TN, NC and GA. It routinely is subjected to 8,000 rpm's and loves it, and so do I. The big difference from my original situation and yours is you have access to a great group of folks with a vast amount of knowledge that love these bikes and enjoy helping others. That in itself is a great thing. RandyA

I usually check the mileage on every fill up. The best was a tad over 50 on a trip to Cherokee from Asheville and back. This trip went from about 1,400 feet elevation to about 6,000 feet. The one thing I made a real point of on this trip was to not lug the bike at all. I kept the rpm's up and was easy on the throttle. I filled up yesterday with a mix of riding, some with the V-Max rear and it was a little over 46mpg. After filling up yesterday, I put about 115 miles on it and saw that it still had three bars left when I parked it, so that looked pretty good so far. That was through the NC mountains, two up. I personally believe that many would get better mileage if they would drop a gear when pulling. My contention is if you drop a gear when pulling and have to let off the throttle a little to maintain the same speed, you are lugging the bike a little. Higher rpm's do not necessarily mean less gas mileage, throttle position does. Ever since I did the washer mod on the needles, I have routinely gotten from 45 to 48 mpg's. I also am not easy on the throttle and routinely see 7,000 to 8,000 rpm's, especially when riding alone. I mean, it is a MKI, ya know. RandyA

I made a set of arm rests for mine and I don't think Linda could ride very far without them. She can take a nap as we ride. RandyA

Hey Andy, I wish we could have gotten together. I would have liked for you to have ridden my 83. I have a Corbin seat that I modified and it is like sitting in a bit of a bowl. It is also a lot wider for the passenger. It made a world of difference in my long distance rides. I also have the Kuriakyn pegs that are adjusted just perfect for me. Another thing that will have a big effect on long trips is riding conditions and riding with a few feet visibility is a miserable way of getting anywhere. If you had been with Linda and me on the ride we took yesterday, you would not have wanted to go home. Keep in touch and maybe we can get together. Glad you made it home OK. RandyA

I feel blessed to be from NE Tenn. I can be at 6,000 ft in less than an hour on those hot days. I know roads that are more curvy than the Dragon and the speed limit is 55 mph. There are some real good eating places that have about anything you want and I know some real good friendly people. And, I have a riding partner that loves to ride. Like I said, I feel blessed RandyA

I carry a rope kit and have used it twice to get me home. Once between Vogal and Dragon and once from nearby town. Both times rear tire. On the Vogal one, I used my cheap HF pump to get enough air in it until I could fill it up. This is over a 17 year period and 139,000 miles RandyA

Grandkids are great. Shame we can't have them first. I was a granddad at 38 and a great granddad at 57. We all grew up together. RandyA

I don't think you could have picked a worse time for your trip. Here in east TN, we have a train of rain all the way to the Gulf moving this way. Not just rain today, but hard rain at times. Give me a call if you get close to Johnson City and you need to dry out for a while. RandyA