Freebird

Hey Carl....make sure you drag him down to my house for maintenance day.

Leather with Lycra. They say that it is more abrasion resistant than conventional leather and yet stretches and holds its shape as well as being water resistant. Will be interesting to see what comes of it.

I'm in yet another hotel as I type this. I have also come down with a bad cold. Wonder why?

Nope, I don't recall you posting anything that this would apply to. I was actually not singling out anybody in particular. Just sort of a general statement that just seems to be needed every year or so. Please, nobody take it personal. Unless you are GUILTY.

Orrin, I think your post was from the heart and you said it well. Now, I don't agree with every single thing that you said but guess what, that's OK. It doesn't make you wrong and me right or vice versa. It does show that you are a good person with a good heart. I'm not going to get into what parts I agree with and those that I don't, that would turn this into a debate. I'm glad that you are one of us and hope to meet you some day.

Kit, You have it pretty much right. It takes some effort on both sides. I'm not saying that we should entirely abandon any attempts to be politically correct. I'm just saying that it has become WAY too big a deal. It seems that in todays world, you can't say much of anything without making somebody mad. So, I'm simply saying: 1. We should all make our best attempt at trying to NOT be offensive. 2. If somebody does post something that you find offense in, please try to not over react about it. Just move on and realize that it is not usually done with the intent of hurting or offending. Sometimes it's just poor judgment, not thinking something through, differences in backgrounds. Things that society needs to continue working on but not things that we have to try and solve here.

As for the original question about what parts there should be. If I remember correctly, there is only the hitch, bolts and some spacers. At the upper bolts behind the chrome fender strut trim, there is a spacer. It has to be removed so that the arms will fit there. The hitch comes with two thinner spacers to replace it. One will go on each side of the hitch arm. You should have the hitch, bolts and 4 spacers. If they are missing, they would be easy to make.

Hey..no problem. I THINK I've got it set now so that posts in that area do not show up on the home page under Active Discussions NOR in the "New Posts" or "Today's Posts". Hopefully this will help end any confusion. It wasn't just you. I've had several people ask. So you see, you are NOT so special after all.

Are you guys SURE? He is asking about a Hitch Doc, not the Khromewerks. They may have changed now but the Hitch Docs used to be a lot more complicated than that. They had long arms that extended all the way up behind the chrome fender struts. Really a pain to install but a very strong hitch.

Hey....my words...just the season....heck...what difference does it make so long as you GIVE GIVE GIVE. Just kidding of course. It was much appreciated though.

Folks...I'll TRY to shed some light on this and hopefully put an end to any debate. That section of the forum is for the organizers to exchange thought and ideas without the posts getting lost on the general board. It is a good way for them to communicate. They could do it by email but then somebody hits the reply button in their email instead of the reply all button and then somebody doesn't see all the answers and the emails get accidentally deleted and many other things. A place on the forum is a great way for them to discuss it. The original post in this thread was a valid honest question. Fixit saw an issue and asked a question. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. He got his answer and that should have been enough. Why does it need to be a debate? The general forum is a place for public communication. We have no hidden "members only" areas because if you can post here, you are a member. There are no deep dark secrets. That area is a convenience for those in the area of the rally who are working hard to make it a fun and successful event for all who can make it. They deserve our thanks, nothing more. That being said, I will look tonight and try to figure out some custom programming so that any threads posted to that area do not show up in the new posts list. I don't know how complicated it will be but I will do what I can to make sure that there is no trace of those posts to anybody who is not working on the event and has access to that area.

I don't even know where to start here. There have been a number of threads lately that went from fun to tense to downright confrontational within a few posts. Some should probably never had been started and others were fairly innocent. It seems that some folks are just sitting by watching for anything that they consider ever so slightly politically incorrect and just POUNCE as soon as they see it. That kind of attitude will destroy what we have built here if we allow it to. When I started this group, I set some very basic guidelines and so far, they have worked fairly well. Basically the guideline is that this is a PG rated site. No nudity, vulgarity, dirty jokes, etc. The vast majority here have respected that and I thank you all for it. It gets borderline once in a while but when it does, a short note is all it takes to get things back on track. Another thing we have done here is to try and keep discussions of a political nature, religious differences, etc. to a minimum. To some, there may seem to be a disparity in regards to religious talk. There are many posts here asking for prayer for a member and other such things. That is perfectly acceptable and I'll NEVER try to stop it. What is NOT encouraged are arguments about different religious beliefs or even about whether or not a member does or does not believe. It seems that political correctness has also crept more and more into the objections here. Are people just LOOKING for a reason to be offended? I've seen several fairly innocent jokes that one or two people have been offended by. Actually, I sometimes think that they aren't truly offended, just trying to get something started. We have to all work together folks. If you read something that is not completely politically correct, sometimes you just need to be adult enough to just move on. Let it go. We don't need to make a mountain out of every mole hill. The hyper-sensitivity to political correctness has to stop. None of these issues are major at this point. All sites go through these things as they grow. The more members you have, the more chance that there will be people of drastically different opinions about things. That is especially true when the group is made up of people from all over the nation and world. Political beliefs vary greatly. Differences include politics, gun control, nudity, religion....pretty much everything that touches our lives on a daily basis. Here is the bottom line folks. I love what we have built here. I count many of you among my best friends. You are MUCH more to me than an online community. I would not want to lose a single member due to somebody being offended about a post and/or what types of posts are acceptable here. At the same time, having a LOT of members has never been the primary goal of VentureRiders. I would honestly rather have 500 members who truly are happy to be here than to have 5000 that are fighting and bickering all the time. Being the largest Venture club around is just not important. The friendships are what is important. I will continue, with the help of our very few moderators, to run this site the best way that I know how. I started this club with a general idea on how I thought it should be run. This club exists because of my disagreement with how some other sites were run. I have always tried to get a feel for, ask for, understand your thoughts and opinions. I have always tried to put the desires of the MAJORITY of our members above all else in how I run things here. I will NEVER please everybody. So, I hope that each and every one of you will continue to find something about VentureRiders that you like and will stick around. I hope that we can all be adult enough to ignore those things that we don't like. Move on and just realize that the site is run to please as many as possible and you are NOT going to agree with everything and everybody. If you can't do that though, consider doing what I did when I was unhappy with the clubs already available. Start a new one. Do exactly the same thing I did. Register a domain name, purchase hosting, build a site and run it the way that YOU think it should be run. You decide what to allow and what not to allow. Maybe you have that perfect knack of knowing exactly how to please everybody all the time. You are even welcome to post the link to your new site here. I'm not going to compete with you. This site is free. If somebody leaves, it bothers me because I feel that I have lost a friend or a potential friend but NOT because somebody leaving here costs me any membership dues or may result in us not having more members than another club. The fact is, if you are REALLY unhappy here then it's not worth it. Find some place where you can be happy and if you can't find such a place, build a new one. Maybe there are MANY others who feel the same way you do. Heck, if it turns out that you are truly that much better at this than I am I may even shut this site down and join yours. (not likely though, I'm pretty happy with what we have) I made a mistake before starting this club. I spent too much time fighting with a handful of folks in an attempt to change a place. In doing so, I made myself unhappy and caused others to be unhappy. We are what we are and will try to please as many as possible. If you can be happy here then I am really glad. If you can't though, I'm truly sorry and hope that you will find a place where you can be.

I did come up with a simplified logo for some of our earlier caps. Maybe not the best and I'm not suggesting that it be included in this patch, just thought I would let you know. Here is a picture of it on a cap.

Yes, it does exist. People who have used it have reported good and bad experiences. If you are out away from a dealer, they can be very slow to respond. You should receive a card that has the number on it. Some have reported it taking MONTHS before you get the card. My bike is long out of warranty so I don't think I have the card any longer and therefore, don't have the number either. Somebody here has it I'm sure.

It really doesn't bother me one way or the other. Condor makes a good point though. In the early days, it was a way of helping people find us. We have become fairly well known now among the Yamaha riders and it may no longer be necessary. Just so you know, I did that on the bells. They will have VentureRider on the front but no .org. Don

No problem and certainly nothing I care to argue about. We will just have to agree to disagree on this one. In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy mine.

I'm not saying that it justifies the price but there are MANY more differences on a Bushtec than just paying for the name. They have a patented suspension that is the best I have ever seen. These trailers just will not bounce whether loaded or empty. The larger motorcycle type wheels and tires are not back there not spinning like crazy to stay up with a bike running 70 MPH, no big deal but I like it that way. Their color matched paint jobs are superb...very close to any factory paint job you might have on the bike. Great swivel hitch system and heim pin coupler. The tires are very heavy weight. Many reports of people getting flats and being able to ride into the next town because the sidewalls are so strong that they really don't even feel flat. Not to say that ANY of this justifies the entire price but to each his own. You can pretty much apply the same logic to many things on the market. Why is a Cadillac so much more than a Chevrolet...they share many of the same components. The bottom line is, it's your money, spend it the way YOU want to. I love my Bushtec. Don't know that I would have it had it not been for some crazy VentureRider members but I still love it.

I'm not saying that cleaning the contacts is not fine but I would caution you all that it is probably a temporary solution. Most electrical contacts are plated. Sometime nickel, sometimes copper, etc. I don't know if the contacts in this switch or solid copper or copper plated but if they are plated and you clean them enough to actually remove the pitting, I can assure you that you are only buying some time. They are copper plated to improve the conductivity. Once that copper is removed then the resistance between the contacts will be greater, arcing will be greater and you will get pitting again but sooner and worse than before.

oh...I'm sorry.....did I say that out loud?

Very nice bike but I DO think it is a repaint. If so, it appears that they did a very nice job though.

They are a bit of a tight fit to put on but mine worked well once I DID get it on. Here is the article that I wrote for the tech library about it and there is also a link there to the kit at Dennis Kirk. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=497

Well....I think the article said that the conversion was about 11,000 euro...that would be USD $16,245.27. They need not hurry on my account.

Interesting story. I KNOW it's not necessary...but I would sure like to ride it. http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycles/triumph-rocket-3-turbo/index.htm

I merged the two duplicate threads.

Yea...just what I have to do to pay the bills. I was in Buffalo, NY this week and will be somewhere else next week...and the week after that...and the week after that.......