Semi-retired

My only concern THERE would be that I know it's sometimes difficult (depending on the pump and or gage) to put in very low pressure readings.........and I figured it's hard enough to get SIX pounds accurately.......without whittling it down to THREE! (Course, I don't have the correct pump OR gage yet.....so, maybe it's easy! :-)

I'm less concerned with "change" per se than I am in just making sure I've got sufficient QUANTITY of oil in there. It's when I started researching the correct emptying/measuring/filling procedures that I immediately came across the post from Venturers that was not only COPIED into our forum....but STICKY'd there.......so, I started wondering how "gospel" and/or widespread the concept of "tripling up" the viscosity had become......amongst other users. I'm a little guy (175lb) in comparison to many of us........and I always ride solo.....with a "modicum" of luggage........so.......I was thinking the factory spec should be entirely adequate for me. Yes/No?

I try not to start quite as many posts as I used to with the fatal..."Am I going crazy, or....blah, blah, blah"......because as often as not, it turns out I AM going loopy. My latest conundrum, is that I've suddenly realized my front end hasn't had its forkoil changed in probably......well, EVER! Reading the post on the Venturers site, copied "here" by Freebird, at http://www.venturerider.org/forum/suspension-tires-handlebars-etc-/57207-changing-fork-oil.html, I see a notation that the original author planned to "up" his fork oil from W5 to W15. Now, THIS is the part where I would normally ask the proverbial question.......but I won't, because someone (I hope) is going to have a perfectly LOGICAL answer for me. Nonetheless, doesn't it seem a "little strange" that TRIPLING the viscosity of the oil in something as sensitive an instrument as a hydraulic fork tube would be even considered a suitable modification? I'm thinking that even DOUBLING it to 10-weight might be a bit radical.....but, tripling it? Comments?

Don't be too concerned about the color, Todd. Where it's coming from is the greater story. If you get down on your back.......get yourself a nice warm "blanky" to lie on.......you SHOULD see the tell-tale drop of oil clinging nicely to the bottom of the linkage on the bottom of the shock. It's always there.....nice a CURSE.....when you've got "leaky shock syndrome"!

Apparently you don't win when going against the feds in traffic court... so I guess we just chalk this one up to (pricey) experience!

Hey Ken, Made it to Front Royal... Stayed three days! Loved everything about the Skyline EXCEPT the pair of $75 tickets we got for passing the horse trailer on the double yellow. He was doing 15 in a 35 zone... We could see for 500 yards of open road... And had zero to 60 capability of 4 seconds. Guess Ranger Yount just didn't like the fact that we were on bikes enjoying our ride.... and he was in a cage, hating his. 😊 Anybody have any experience fighting that one?

Robert, you are SO right about SE Pennsylvania... Rode down from Kittanning today... Down to Front Royal, here in Virginia. Just LOVED the ride down. Some fantastic roads with bendy, twisty, uppy-downies on hwy 56. And 30! Remarkable! Like Isle of Man for "commoners"! Really looking forward to riding Skyline Drive tomorrow! (Thanks, Ken...I think that was your idea!)

Hey, I still like the Hagon I put on THREE years ago! :-) But, yeah.....I got those front end jitters, too.

Funny you guys should be discussing this......I've been meaning to pose the same question myself, Robert.......but it's too late for me to do the bearings OR the springs with my week-long trip departing tomorrow. I'll just have to be careful going over those uneven, off-camber, on the curve railway crossing while I'm away on vacation!! For when I get home, is there a link to some helpful post on the "easy" way to do the steering head bearings? (video even?) Thanks, M

For your OWN health and safety, Kevin,..........I won't show her this post!! I KNEW you were gonna make me pull something off the bottom of that beast. (That's the BIKE I'm talkin about!) Thanks, bud.

Just changed the oil in old Betsy for our upcoming trip (tomorrow!!) Any harm in having that oil-check window filled completely when the bike is standing upright? I thought it took just slightly MORE than a gallon......but, between US and Imperial.....maybe I got mixed up. I COULD pull the drain plug, but is it worth it to offload 3 or 4 ounces? (To answer the probable question.......YES, I did fire it up to fill the new filter, and I'm still at the top of the window......but, JUST.) Thoughts?

Thanks for the info, Ken.......and your kind words about Canadians. We find the same to be true about Americans. Fact is, most of mankind seems to be on pretty good terms with each other when you're on vacation. (It's only those WARS and such that bring out the bullcrap!) No denying, Ontario IS beautiful.....but, this time of year our hearts, thermometers and T-shirts are all thinking SOUTH!! :-)

My CHEAPSKATE nature got the better of me! They had them on sale for $11 and change! I'll suit up today with my leather jacket and see just how "floppy" it is....then decide from there if I'm gonna "modify" it.....or just take it back. Thanks for the tips. Later,m.

Thanks, Dion. I'll keep an eye open for it!

Ah, interesting. Amazed that you actually have those notes in 'analog' format! (Pad and pen on tank bag? :-) Hate to see the word "wrecked" at the end! And on that note, as per our phone conversation yesterday, I went to the TSC store and bought my mother-f'ing huge, HIGH-VIZ, glows-in-the-dark, ORANGE and YELLOW, Velcro-in-place, highway worker, safety vest. They only had XXL in stock........so, I get the added benefit of this thing possibly doing a little FLAPPING in the breeze.......for EXTRA ATTENTION!! (I know 'flapping' is a bad thing on a bike.....but, remember, we're going nice and slow this time......a la speed limit!)

Beautiful!! I see it even sends some kind of 'ZOMBIE' out that picks off actual "towns of consequence".....so you can see what "real place" (as opposed to a farmer's field!) you could make it too by going that particular distance. GENIUS! Thanks for whipping that outta the old magic sack, Kevin. (God, I LOVE dealing with guys who have as much time on their hands as I do.....but actually KNOW what they're doing!!) :-)

Thanks for your "2cents", Robert. Actually.....the more we look Eastward........the more the "Seaboard" beckons. Something between YOUR suggestion (S.E.P.A.) and Kevin's......may very well end up being the solution..........although Dion's WV looks great, too!! Wow........you guys are almost too good........now we've got more ideas than days. But, heh, ideas are like guns.......Better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it!! :-)

I know the answer is going to be........"It depends", but I have to ask: Since wifey wants to know where we're going to be putting our heads down on any given night......what daily mileage...or "hourage" should we count on putting in.....for comfortable riding days? I know.....it depends on.... What kinda roads you wanna be on? (Not Interstates) How fast you wanna ride? (Speed limits are fine) What time of day will we start and stop riding? (Probably 9 or 10AM till 3 or 4...with lunch break sometime in the middle.....duh!) IS there a number that can be considered an "AVERAGE"? (survey says?????.........)

Loving the looks of that West Virginia stuff, Dion! Thanks very much for the input. The Touring Site is great.....complete with the maps. Haven't seen it before. If weather up here stays cool.......we just may head to "John Denver" country! Thanks again for the link, Michael

That's a great looking Eastern run option. I take it that's one you've done? When Google maps came up, it showed "Avoid Highways".......is that because I had it set that way while looking at something else........or did YOU set it that way to make a more enjoyable trip? It shows up as a 19.5 hour trip.....one way......from here in St. Catharines.......but I'm sure it would be a gorgeous ride. I was out to Loudon (150 years ago) and I remember New Hampshire (Live Free or Die country!) being a biker's heaven. Plus, I guess we could bail out North to Quebec or Montreal if we decided we needed to get back to Canada (or my son's place in Ottawa). Thanks for the tip, buddy. Trust you are all healed up by now? Later, Mike

Wifey and I have a whole week to ride.....and don't really have any particular destination in mind......other than the possible desire to head in a "southerly direction" if the weather up here (in Ontario, Canada) stays as cool as it has been. Things MAY warm up here next week, in which case we might head for 'central' Ontario and work our way over through Bancroft to my son's place in Ottawa. (the operative words being...."MAY warm up"! If we DON'T get a warm spell, we're open to ideas for heading down "toward" Deal's Gap. I say "toward" because I'm not sure riding 6 hours a day for 3 days straight, to get there....then spend 1 day there.......then ride another 6 hours a day for 3 days home is going to constitute a "VACATION". (The reason I say 18 hours, one way, is because we would NEVER want to slab a trip that was supposed to be relaxing. Interstates are great if you HAVE to get somewhere fast; otherwise NO WAY. All that said, if we discard Tail of the Dragon as our destination, but still wanna head in that general direction (chasing the WARMTH, if not the Dragon) does anyone have any other interesting roads/destinations that might be of interest? We've been to Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, down southeast of Pittsburgh.....also to Lake Placid....and those were great....might even consider heading back to either of those.........UNLESS someone's got some other ideas for either a FANTASTIC road that lead's nowhere in particular......or, an OK road that leads to somewhere FANTASTIC. If it were just me...I'd be happy to just hit the road and see what comes up, but my wife kinda like's to know where we're going, when we'll get there and what we'll do/see when we arrive. Carl, from up my way, says a fella name JAYCEESFOLLY might have a few ideas......so, if you're listening, Jim, we're open to ideas. In terms of stats: I'm riding an '03 Midnight...she's on an '04 V-Star 1100 Classic. We like the back roads (let's call 'em secondary highways...for her sake). Like any other bikers, we love the rolling, bending countryside with lots of nice scenery.....we just never get a chance to get out and "discover" our own roads, so any guidance in the quadrant defined by Columbus Ohio in the West, Roanoke VA in the South, Boston in the East and Burlington Vermont in the North is greatly appreciated. (I'll try to attach a jpeg of what we figure is our potential "span of travel", given the time we have 'burn'. (Oh...and ignore my signature.....we're NOT heading West...where the SNOW IS!!)(edit: we're also not camping; motels or B&B are minimum creature comforts :-) Thanks for any ideas, guys!

Your wife has either a) a VERY good sense of humor......or b) NO sense of humor! :-)

Thanks, buddy. I think I'm like a lot of guys when I say that anything having to do with "upholstering" scares the crap out of me. It's just something about getting the fabric to lie straight/flat and getting all the staples, rivets or whatever the heck holds it in place.....just gives me the heebie-jeebies! Maybe I should set my wife loose on it; she recovered all our dining room chairs once....didn't seem to phase her a bit!

Lights on the golf bag, you say?! Why didn't I think of that? I've got a putter I don't use.......would make a nice w-i-d-e light bar! No DOUBT about which way I'm turning then! I wonder......would HAND SIGNALS cut it with the local gendarme?

Got any pics?