Venturous Randy

Now it makes me wonder if I could mount a trailer hitch on my 4X8 trailer I haul my bike on and hook my little camper on to it that I usually haul with the bike. RandyA

The other day I saw a pick-up pulling a big 5th wheel camper and connected to the camper, he was pulling a trailer with a Harley on it. This is the first time I have seen this and was wondering if it was legal? I know that it is common to see the tandem trailers being pulled by a truck, but not sure about this set-up. With all the rear view cameras and monitors available, at least the MC trailer could be seen. RandyA

When I look at a bike that I am being told is really low mileage, the first thing I do is look at the rotors. If there is a very noticeable lip on the rotors, I suspect the bike has turned the odometer over at least once. Sure, the rotors could have been replaced, but most likely, they haven't been. RandyA

And with Gary, we also get a world of knowledge and help to go along with his unit. RandyA

Thanks, that's what I was thinking also. I got an MKII driveshaft off ebay last night for $19.99 and about $12 shipping. When I get everything together, I will try again. RandyA

How will I know if I need a shim and if I do, how much shim will I need? RandyA

I painted mine Twlight Royal Pearl, which is a soft purple/pearl years ago and still get a lot of nice comments on it. RandyA

It looks like the V-Max rearend I have has the same coupling that the MKII's have that has the machining for the seal. At least the MKII drive shafts should not be as rare as the MKI's since most of them are worn out from lack of grease on the splines. Thanks Dingy, for telling me that the MKI and MKII swing arms are the same. Dingy, I was thinking you had a V-Max rear end on Tweety RandyA

Happy Anniversary to two of the best people I have ever known. Hope you have many more. RandyA

Before I put the engine in my bike that has the 02 Venture trans in it, I thought I would first try the V-Max rear that I have, which is off an older V-Max. I have run into a problem with my MKI driveshaft being too short. The coupling on the V-Max rear is recessed where the splines are and with the driveshaft I have, there would be very little, if any engagement. Do I need an MKII driveshaft, which I know is a little longer, to make this work? I know there are guys out there that have a V-Max rear on their 1st gen, but I don't know if they are a MKI or MKII. RandyA

To disable the cancel, pull the strip on the back of the speedometer that has the two wires running to it. This reads the magnetic impulses to do the cancel. I don't think I have heard anyone wanting to disable the cancel before. RandyA

Now that is funny! RandyA

Hey Barry, good to see you on here. Yes, Barry picked up a nice 98 RSTD that needs a few parts and I told him he can get a lot of help on here. I have known Barry about 25 to 30 years and he is a good guy and will fit in with this crazy bunch well. We went riding over the mountain last week to Asheville, NC and coming up the mountain I had a chance to play around with his brother-in-law's Harley V-Rod. I was right proud of my old Venture. RandyA

Wow Scott, I sure did not want to read this, especially with you being told there is little hope of recovery. Do you have any vision at all, or is it completely black? I can say that it is a bit of an aggravation at times, but you can adapt and go on with your life. Riding is different in that the depth perception seems a little tricky, but you will get used to it. I have probably put about 15,000 miles on the bike since then. My vision loss in my right eye started Sept 23, two years ago. I had a Vitreous hemorrhage and then a detached retina. At this time I have no usable vision in this eye as I can only see a small area and it is very distorted. I do better when I use a patch or black out the right side of sun glasses. Please keep us posted as you know more as there will be a lot of us praying for you. RandyA

I have a Markland hitch I bought for my 83, but it would not work with my lightbar and my other one did. There was some surface rust on it and I sanded it and painted it silver and it looks good. I have about $80 in it and don't need it so if anyone is interested, make me an offer. I also have the mounting hardware that goes with it. RandyA

When I pulled my 83 apart and swapped to an 86 trans, I had the problem of the orange 0-ring coming out. The way I fixed my problem was to put it back together and used safety wire to hold the galley securely in place. What causes this is to rev the engine when it is cold. The galley is not real rigid and will lift a little allowing the 0-ring to slip out some. You don't want to run an oil pressure gauge on these engines unless you want to see about zero pressure when idling hot. RandyA

I think we will see a couple of years off on the Venture and see a return with a detuned V-Max engine. I say this because Yamaha spent a lot of money on the V-Max v-four to just sell it in the few V-max's that are sold. I believe the big factor will be the economy and how much fun money will be available for the masses. If sales are down on most items that are more for recreation than necessity, it may take a awhile. Not to be political, but I believe the world is waiting around to see what is going to happen with our health care system and what the cost is going to be and like many, I am concerned it is going to cost us all a lot more. RandyA

The one I remember the most was an encounter with one of those Big Dog type Harleys. We were making a left turn on to I26 with two lanes turning left, He was on my right as we were waiting on the light to go green. He was sitting there rapping his throttle and it was VERY loud. When the light changed, I paced him and when we straightened out to go up the long on ramp, which changed to one lane, he nailed it. So did I. With him having a longer radius, he had a bit of a run on me, but I was right in the middle of the sweet spot of 1st gear. By the time I was in 2nd, I was pulling him. By then, we were getting fast and going to have to merge and there was a car at the top of the hill in the front of me merging, so I slowed with him right against me. As soon as I made sure there was no one else coming, I swung to the inside lane and again pulled him. Since I had already done more than I should have, I shut down and let him go on with him wide open. Yep, you guessed it, he would not look over at me when I waved at him. RandyA

It's called; Making memories. RandyA

I converted my 83 to MKII many years ago and it was a great improvement. Unless you want to do some welding, you will need the frame area on the left side of the bike that holds the dash assembly in place. This is where the light adjuster mounts and it is different on an MKII. You will also need the metal strip under the headlight that holds the upper fairings together. This where the headlight sits in rubber grommets and pivots when adjusted. You will also need the frame that the dash mounts in as this where the top of the headlight mounts. As far as the trim, you will need the ring that goes around the headlight, but you can still use your MKI chrome trim and it works fine. There will be about a 1/4 inch gap below the trim, but it looks fine as it looks like a normal air vent. I just put some black tape under it so the white plastic of the headlight does not show. I personally liked this better than then MKII chrome piece, as to me, the MKII chrome piece is very big. I know all this sounds like a big job, but once you take off your upper fairings, you just unbolt the frames and replace them. You will have to undo all the relays hanging on the dash frame, but that is no big deal. Also, if you have never greased the bearing from the inside of the speedometer where the cable comes though, this is a good time to do it. The trick to this changeover is to have availability to the parts you will need from a donor bike. If you can get all the parts, you will be vary happy with the results. I will look a try to find a picture from the front of my bike. RandyA

This is another good time to warn others to check the play in their side stand. If you let the bolt get loose, it WILL become a problem. With the bike on the center stand, check the play in the side stand and if you have as much as 1/4 inch play at the end, you need to do what you can to tighten it up. Dingy, ya done good. RandyA

Even our illustrious Al Gore admitted to the big push for ethanol was to get the Iowa vote. I have yet to see anything good come from ethanol. And yes, this is political because as said, we keep electing politicians that are more interested in "what's in it for them, rather than the American people". RandyA

Happy Birthday Mini. I hope Ohio is up to it. Maybe that is why the Muffinman really stayed home. Have a great one, you are only a half century old one time. Randy & Linda

Maybe next, you can go Venture Southeast and do the Blue Ridge Parkway and see some of our area. Good luck on your adventure. RandyA