skydoc_17

Congratulations J.B.! Both Jean and myself wish you both the very best and many good rides in the future. Best Wishes, Earl and Jean

Hi To All, When I purchased my 87' VR at the beginning of this year I was not new to the First Gen. VR but now that this bike is 21 years old I have had to dig into her a lot deeper than I had on my other VR. While changing out the old battery the dreded "Battery Fluid Low" sensor fell apart in my hands. After crying the blues on this site, danob11 sent me his old one for free! Well now I had a part but being a Machinist by trade electrical issues are like Greek to me. A short time after that I received an invite from a small group of riders from this site that live in my area, so after traveling about 50 miles from my house my Fusebox fell apart at 55 mph. My brother came with the trailer and drug me home and I missed the ride. After some paperclips and crazyglue I again started out for West Virginia to make it to the WV Skid-In, this time with the bike fully loaded and with Jean on the back. We didn't even make it out of the state of Pa. and again the fusebox crapped out! I whinned on this site again:fiddle:, and Lonestarmedic sent me pics of his fusebox replacement, answered all of my questions and assured me that even though I am all thumbs with wire, I could do this! I bought a soldering gun, a new fusebox, a s***load of wire, and over the weekend of the 4th installed the battery sensor and the new fusebox. I only burned myself about 50 times, and I also found out that a soldering iron lights my cigars really well, but doesn't work for soldering after that without a good cleaning! So many problems went away after the new fusebox install, from poor charging to excessive amp draw when the brake lights were used to just flat not running! My most humble apologies to the riders I stiffed on my first outing and to Skid and his wife for not making it to the Skid-in. I also owe an apology to my wife Jean for dragging her to Bedford, Pa. and making her push me on the VR! Thank you once more for the help and friendship on this site, As I have gotten older I have found it harder to accept help from other people but the people on the VR.org site have softened my heart and I just wanted to say so. I posted a few pics of the new fuse box, If anyone has any questions about where I got the parts or is struggling like I was, or needs some brackets made, Please just ask! I feel I need to "Pay it Forward" for the kindness you all have shared with me. Ride Safe, Earl

Hi Brad, I had a similar problem on my 86' VR. After a new front tire, steering bearings tightened, front brakes checked, etc...etc... I sorta' gave up on it for a while and one day decided to take the front fork brace off to polish it and discovered that two of the mounting holes were cracked. I couldn't see it when it was mounted but sure enough after replacing the fork brace, all was well. Just a thought, Earl and jean

I agree with 93, try a new set of plugs. George has some good Ideas, but I think you will find the plugs are shot. I never use the throttle on a cold start, if it is chilly outside, I use full choke and if it is warmer, I use 3/4 to 1/2 choke. After a minute or so I turn the choke off. I just use the stock ngk plugs, so if I get "sloppy" with the choke It's not a big deal to replace them. Earl

Hi Condor, Great Post! The front and rear brake rotors are different on the 86' thru 93' than on the 83' thru 85' models. And there was the stator oiler on the 86' up models as well. Earl

Hi Wayne, So far I have swapped out the 1157 bulbs in the tail light, and the 194 bulbs in the light bar on the trunk of my 87' VR with out any problems what so ever. I have been using an imported brand called GP Thunder for all of my bulbs because you can order them with just a few led's or many. I went for many. One thing to keep in mind is that colored lenses (ex: red lense or amber) work best with a colored bulb. For some reason the light from a colored bulb passes thru the colored lense better than a white bulb. I wasted a few bucks to find that out. The other issue I ran into was with turn signals. When I replaced the rear 1156 bulbs and the 194 bulbs on the trunk light bar and the front 1157 bulbs in the fairing they drew such a small amount of amprage that the bike acted like I had a burned out bulb. Basically no flashing, just a buzz. I purchased a pair of 7ohm 50 watt resistors from the company I bought the lights from and that solved the problem. The cost of (2) 1157 amber, (2) 1157 red, (2) 1156 amber, all with 39 leds, and (6) 194 bulbs with 5 leds and the (2) resistors was about $70.00. The last project I want to do is to replace all of the 194 bulbs in my trunk mount light bar with a pair of led light strips, they cost about $37.00 for the pair and at that point there will be no incandesant bulbs on the bike except for my dash lights and fog lights. I will try to take some pictures Sunday and post them so you can see them as far as brightness goes. Hope this helps. Earl

Dave, I just checked my e-mails and was shocked to hear that you went down yesterday! I didn't make it to the skid-in this weekend, I have the brakes off of my 87' and the fuse box out. I will take a vacation day on Monday and come over and we can take a look and make a list. I was so glad you weren't injured very badly. Don't worry my friend, we'll get the old 87' up and running again. I hope you were wearing your helmet!? You are usually so good about that! With all that silly plastic fairing and side covers we should be able to get to that exhaust collector pretty easy now! I'll send you a PM to work out the details for Monday. Hang in there Buddy, Earl and Jean

Hi All, Does anyone know if these floorboards and heel-toe shifter will fit the later First Gen. models like 86'-93'? The listing says 83' to 85'. I have an 87' First Gen. Thanks and good luck! Earl

Hi Karen, When I am riding two up with Jean, she complains about left turns as well, I am left handed and tend to "swoop" a little lower on the lefties. Here are a few simple things that I do when making any turn: 1) I look ahead where I want the bike to go. 2) I tighten my abdomen and "squeeze" the sides of the bike with my legs to connect myself to the bike, like riding a horse. At this point I feel secure on the bike and confident that this machine is under my control which is different than riding as a passenger. In the begining you will have to think of these steps, but soon it will become a fluid motion. So the more you do it, the easier it will get. I hope this helps, Earl and Jean

Boy, I hope Jean doesn't see this one! I have her fooled into thinking riding a VR is a complicated thing, If she thinks a monkey can do it, where does that leave me!!!? :rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf:

Hey Todd, Glad to here you weren't hurt to badly, what a shame about your bike, good luck getting her back together. Time to break out the "back up" bike! Earl and Jean

Hey Randya, Your VR was one of the nicest I've seen, I am so sorry to hear about this. I hope you will be able to return this wonderful motorcycle to it former greatness. Please let us know if there is anything in the way of parts that you need. It would be a pleasure to help you fix your VR. Thank heaven you wern't injured!! Earl and Jean

I just wanted to add that most solvents that will remove the gunk from inside the tank will do a fine job of removing the paint from the outside of the tank as well, if left on there long enough. Earl