Freebird

Some more

Here are some pictures that Eileen took during Freebird's Maintenance Day. It was a fun time and we loved hosting you all again.

Cowpuc, you need to stop referring to me as any type of Guru on the first gens. There was a time when I could have probably helped but it's been about 20 years since I've owned a first gen and that, along with old age, has wiped out much of what I remember about them. Sorry my friend, hopefully one of the others can help.

In an attempt to get this thread back to the basics of how it was intended, a lot of posts have been deleted. Some bad and some good. If you posted a "good" one and it was deleted, that is just because it made no sense after some others were deleted. Just explaining. Please don't open another discussion regarding the issue. Let the thread proceed as it was intended to.

My second gen Midnight is pretty much chromed out but those do look good. Looking forward to seeing them on your bike. Heck of a lot better price than Kuryakyn and look just as good.

OK...now I think I can say "I've seen it all".

I remember those. It's been a LONG time though. What was the other one that was similar....cows tail or something like that. Believe it or not, I saw something in a little store just a couple of miles up the road the other day. CANDY CIGARETTES? I can't even remember the last time I saw them.

Well, I ended up ordering the SPH10. There are a couple of reasons that I chose them over the Expand. 1. It actually comes with two mics that are interchangeable. One is the longer "boom" mic. The other is a short "stub" mic. The reviews that I read stated that the longer mic actually works better when there is a lot of noise as you can get it close to your mouth and it doesn't pick up as much ambient noise. 2. I like the fact that it has the aux input port. Don't know that we'll use it because we mostly stream Pandora or Apple Music but we do have an Ipod with a LOT of our old music on it that we enjoy listening to from time to time. 3. The biggest reason. The SPH10 allows you to toggle between push to talk on the intercom and "VOX" control. Push to talk may work better if there is a lot of wind at freeway speeds but the "VOX" would be great for those slower rides in the country. The Expand is push to talk only.

That is just a very cool looking motorcycle. Too bad that the handling was so bad.

Add me to that location also. It's where I've always put mine. I know they say that they should be low but for me, it's just a fun thing anyway. I'm not very superstitious.

There is a 1998 17' Casita on Ebay. You will just need to run down to Houston, TX to pick it up.

I haven't looked at the wiring diagram but are you sure that disconnecting the tip over switch means that it is good? I would assume that it should be in a normally closed position so disconnecting it would not prove that it is bad. If that is the case, you would need to jumper it out, not disconnect it.

I believe you. That is why I have made no effort to ride one or even go look at one. I know I would want it and just can't justify a new bike. Just not riding as much as we used to. I could sell my RSV and the Slingshot and would still need to come up with probably $10,000.00 more to buy it. I'm pretty happy with what I have right now.

OH...and both of the models that I am looking at seem to have the same water resistance. I think. Maybe one is a bit better than the other but both are advertised as water resistant.

I was looking for something with earbuds but didn't find anything. I use earbuds on the Venture plugged into the Edsets module. It's a wired system though. Did you just cut into the wires to add the earbuds?

I'm pretty sure that is where I found the one that I used.

I've been looking at headsets to use in the Slingshot. Want intercom and music sharing. Looking for the no helmet type of headset. Sena makes two versions. One is a SPH10 or something like that and the other is the Sena Expand. They are close to the same price and I have found no reviews comparing the two models. Any of you have experience with them?

LOL...hey...I gave it my best shot. If somebody finds something they want to use, send me a link to it and I'll upload it. Not TOO big though.

Pretty cool old gun. Sort of reminds me of the Benjamins.

This is the best I've come up with so far.

I've always wondered how well a wheel chock would work. I seldom check the oil when I'm on the road because I've never had to add any between oil changes. I have a lift so getting it upright at home has never been an issue. I also have a "home-made" wheel chock that was on a utility trailer that I bought years ago. I've never used it as a stand but it should work great. Just drive on the chock, get off, check your oil, etc. Seems that it would work very well for changing oil, checking the level, etc. This is the type that I'm talking about. Of course you could buy an inexpensive lift for just a bit more money but this might be even easy for simple tasks when you don't actually need to lift the bike. Just keep this in your garage and drive on it when you need to. https://www.harborfreight.com/1800-lb-capacity-motorcycle-standwheel-chock-61670.html

Looks like everybody had a great time. Wish Eileen had been home so we could have stopped by.

The V-Max rear will make a huge difference. To take full advantage of it though, you will also need to install a new ignition module so that you can raise the rev limiter. When I put the V-Max rear on the '99, I loved it but found that I was then hitting the rev limiter way too quickly. I installed the ignition module and raised the limiter to 7500 RPM and that made a huge difference. The next step, and I never got around to it, is to install heavier valve springs so that you can raise it higher yet. Do those three things, and you would have a tight race.

This is absolutely the one that I will be using if the time comes that I need one. I may even do it anyway at some point.

Actually, there IS one already. Right beside the UK one under Standard Smilies.