Freebird

As we await spring to arrive, it was suggested that I revive this thread. What do you folks think? Do we have anybody here who is really good at organizing such things that might be able to take the lead on this?

That's a good question. To be honest...I've never seen any being sold alone. Can't say that I've ever actually looked but sure haven't happened upon any. I just did a search on Ebay and came up empty.

First, WELCOME again, we are glad you are here. I do not have the vents and the pegs on my '99 but I've seen others here that do so I know that they will work.

Hey..I told you that I would accept the bid of $1550.00..so...what is the problem. Seriously, I'm glad you have found us and I certainly understand about entering the wrong amount. I've done it before myself. Thanks for bidding though.

Got this by email and found it to be very interesting. A little harsher language than you will see here but a good read. Real biker or just crazy? You decide. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6123596&postcount=445 and this is how it all started http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230898

If I had to guess, I would bet that it a bogus email address and re-routes to another one somewhere.

This is a good report. I'm not too smart when it comes to wearing the proper gear and like my denim jeans. Also, these are EXPENSIVE. For those who like the best though, they sure sound good. http://www.webbikeworld.com/r4/motoport/police-kevlar-pants/

I love it. It is certainly one that I would have been attracted to. I'm sure you will be very happy and I am very happy for you.

Please note that somebody is trying to scam possible buyers in regards to the Guardian Bell auctions being held for Cliff. Here is the message being emailed. I want to sell this item as BUY IT NOW so please contact me right now with your Best Price so we can clear this deal today. Nice doing business with you! bcontacter@aol.com is the name being used. If you get such a message that appears to come from Ebay, it is a SCAM. I am NOT sending out any such messages. Thanks

Well....if anybody is really interested.....my '99 may be for sale. I won't know for sure for a couple of days though.

This should help. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3905

If you read the description, he mentions factory upgraded paint job, passing lamps, wrap around fender rail, custom exhaust, much more but the bike has none of those things....... hmmmmmmm http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-Royal-Star-Venture-1999-Yamaha-Royal-Star-Venture-Star-Upgrades-20k-Mi-EC_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ50045QQihZ020QQitemZ300190103313QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I thought this was interesting. At $15.00 each, not a bad way to go. http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/motorcycle-led-brake-lights/

I am really looking forward to receiving mine. Sounds like a really great CD.

Well...I have a policeman story from last night. I am embarrassed to even tell it but here goes anyway. Yesterday my son got out of school early due to him finishing him mid term exams early. Since he has no school today either, he called and asked if he could go to a friends house. We told him yes and then I went to pick him up around 10:00 PM last night. I picked him up and was headed back home. Came through the little town of Oberlin around 10:15 or so. Oberlin is pretty much deserted that time of the evening so there was really no traffic at all. As I was just getting through town, probably the last traffic light, my son said "you know...you just went through a red light". It startled me because driving is a very big part of what I do everyday on my job and I am typically a very safe driver. When he told me that, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw a car quickly pull out onto the road behind me. I knew it was a police officer. So, I pulled over just about the time that he turned his flashing lights on. Took my driver's license out of my wallet and waited for him. He came to my window and said "how are you tonight sir". I greeted him in a friendly manner and told him I was fine except for running a red light. He said "man, you ran it big time. It had been red for a while before you approached". There was nothing I could say except "yes sir, I know. I'm sorry and have no idea where my head was". Now I wasn't speeding, the speed limit there was 35 MPH and I think I was probably driving about 25-30 MPH. Very casual, wasn't in any kind of hurry at all. The policeman was very professional and friendly. Probably in his early 30s. I simply told him that I knew I ran the light when my son told me. That I had no idea why I had not seen it and that I had no excuses. I told him that I had a clean record and was usually a very safe driver and that I was simply sorry. He took my license and asked me to wait in the car. He went to his car and ran my information then came back. He said "Mr. Nelson, you are sure telling me the truth. You have no violations of any kind on your record". He said that he was not going to give me a ticket nor even a warning because he said "we all zone out at times" and your record is proof that this is not a usual thing for you. He told me that there was no reason to punish me with a ticket for making an honest mistake and that the real punishment would have been if another vehicle and crashed into me and injured them, myself or my son. I thanked him, we shook hands, and I went on my way. I felt very bad about it but at the same time, I am thankful that if I had to do something that stupid that I was glad there was no accident. Since there was no accident, I am sort of glad that my 15 year old son was with me. I was able to demonstrate to him how to show the proper respect to a law enforcement official. He was able to see that officers in general are nice and professional people. I told him as we headed home that I hoped he learned some lessons from the experience. First of all, that you should always be respectful to law enforcement people. I told him that even if I had gotten a ticket (I fully expected to) that he should always maintain that respect and courtesy. That I was guilty and if I had received a ticket that it would have been nobodies fault but my own. I told him that being courteous and respectful would NOT always...maybe not even usually...get you out of a ticket but that was not the point. The point is to admit and take ownership of your mistakes and not to place the blame on a person who is just doing their job. I think it was a good lesson to him. I'm thankful that the officer did not give me a ticket but even if he had, he was a very professional and nice young man. I know that not ALL are and yes, I've had one or two run ins in my life with some that were not but they have been the exception, not the norm. Thanks to all that you do and I truly do respect you for what you put up with.

hmmm.....are you talking about the Ebay links? I just tried them and they are working fine. Perhaps they are getting truncated on something. You might try clicking on the link from here, then copying the URL directly from the Ebay pages and try posting it that way.

Folks, here is a very nice offer from KR1 (Kevin). You can't be the first to place an order because I've already done it. Here is him email to me. If you want one of these, please PayPal your $10.00 to dnelson@axcesswave.com and put "CD" in the comments box and I'll see that all the money goes into the fund. Don, I would be willing to help move this fund raiser along by donating 50 of my CD's "Freedom of the Heart". This CD is a mixture of country and inspirational songs. Many of the people who have bought this CD have bought it for themselves, or as a gift for parents, or just someone that needs a lift in their life. There are 8 songs on this CD: Let Freedom Ring, Best Friends, American Tribute, Listen to the Whisper, Man in the Mirror, Welcome Home, Proud to be an American, and Homeland. If Ventureriders would like to offer these for sale to members for $10 each, and have the money collected by someone for Ventureriders, they could send me the names and addresses where these need to be shipped, and I would be willing to ship them out and cover the cost of the CD's, packaging and postage. If you're interested, let me know and I will be glad to help out. Thank you. KR

Thank you all so very much. That includes those of you who have bid and those of you who have just sent donations. I'll wait until the auctions end and then send what we collect to Cliff.

That was pretty soon after I sent out the email about the fundraiser for Cliff's son. I kept it short with a link to the thread.

Thanks so much for all that you guys do. I promise to TRY and not ask again for a long time.

OK folks...I am NOT asking anything from any of you because I know that many of you have given to a number of causes here and I know that all of us, me included, only have so much to give. What I AM asking is that you spread the word among any other groups that you might belong to. ANY groups...motorcycle, car, gardening, whatever other forums, clubs, associations you might be part of....please help spread the word about this cause. It truly is a worthy one. I have listed 5 of our VentureRider Guardian bells on Ebay as a fund raiser for Cliffno350's son. Some of you have likely seen posts here regarding his ordeal and I just feel that I need to make some attempt to help. There is no way that we can raise the needed $15,000.00 among our small group here but by spreading the word to other groups, we may be able to help at least a bit. The following is a cut and past from one of the auctions that I just placed on Ebay. There are 5 auctions that are the exact same. Please forward the links to any and all that you think might be interested in helping. The links to the auctions are at the end of this post. If you folks would post this at other forums/clubs that you participate in, that would be great. PLEASE discuss it with the sites owners/officers before doing so just in case any of them might have an issue with it. If you know anybody who would like to simply donate a couple of dollars to this cause, you can have them paypal it to dnelson@axcesswave.com and I promise you that every dime of it will get to Cliff and his family. I do ask that you put "FOR CLIFF" in the comments box when you send a PayPal. Here is the text from the Auctions. I am selling 5 custom cast Guardian Bells with 100% of the proceeds (less Ebay fees if excessive) going to VentureRider member cliffno350. VentureRider.org is a motorcycle site dedicated to the Yamaha Venture, Royal Star Venture and Royal Star Tour Deluxe motorcycles. Though the site is dedicated to riders of these particular bikes, we have members who ride bikes of all makes and models. VentureRider is a family oriented "PG RATED" site basically dedicated to those who love to tour this great country and other countries on motorcycles of any kind. Cliff is one of our long standing members. His son has been diagnosed with Transverse Myelites. This is something that I knew basically nothing about but there is a lot of information about it at http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/transversemyelitis/detail_transversemyelitis.htm Cliff and his wife are great parents and luckily their insurance has covered much of the expense but not nearly all. The issue now is that they need to purchase him a special therapy bike. These bikes are about $15,000.00 and the insurance company has refused to pay for it. You can see what we are trying to buy here: http://www.restorative-therapies.com/ With all the other expenses, Cliff and his wife simply do not have the cash or available resources to purchase it on their own. With this bike, Cliff's son does have a chance of someday walking again. There is no guarantee but it does give him a chance. Folks, I know that if it were one of my children, I would be doing everything that I can to get them the help that they need. I know that I can't, on my own, raise $15,000.00 for them but I have to believe that together we can make a difference. This is no scam. You are more than welcome...even encouraged...to visit us at VentureRider.org and see that we are real. I am the owner and founder of the club and my username there is Freebird. The site is 100% free so feel free to check it out and feel free to ask there about me. We have over 4,000 members and I will be starting a fund drive there also. I had some of these bells custom cast for our members before the holidays. I have a few left over so decided that I would offer 5 of them here with all proceeds going to Cliff and his family. NOTE: I did not say all PROFITS..I said ALL Proceeds. I am donating my cost for the bells. The only deduction will be actual PayPal fees and I'm only saying that just in case we get lucky and some big spender REALLY bids them up so that my fees are beyond what I can afford. Folks...if we could collect $5.00 from 3,000 people, we could change this young man's life. How often do most of us have the opportunity to make a REAL difference in a particular person's life. Let's do this folks...PLEASE ...let's make this happen. The Legend of the Guardian Bell Legend has it that Evil Road Spirits have been latching themselves on to motorcycles for as long as there have been bikes on the road. These Evil Road Spirits are responsible for mechanical problems and bad luck along a journey. Legend goes on to say that by attaching a small bell onto your bike, the Evil Road Spirits will become trapped inside the bell where the constant ringing drives them insane, making them lose their grip until they fall to the ground. (Ever wonder where potholes come from?) Legend also has it that the mystery of the Guardian® Bell carries twice as much power when it is purchased by a friend or loved one and given as a gift. Show someone how much you care. Offer them defense against the Evil Road Spirits! Give a Guardian® Bell and share the Legend of Good Luck it offers to a motorcycle and its rider! Here are the links to each auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300191677958&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300191678005&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300191678040&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300191678078&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300191678128&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020

Finances, Financial Manager......same thing. I'm STILL not getting one.

WOW...really surprises me that some of you are just now getting them. Sorry it took so long but I guess we can't do anything about the postal system. Anyway, glad you like them. I still have more if anybody missed out and wants some. Here's the info for anybody who may have missed it. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17406

I've still got mixed feelings about it. Wouldn't mind taking one for a test ride though. Doesn't matter, the finances say NO NO NO.

Now that's funny right there...I don't care who you are.