Semi-retired

Thanks for your kind.......but scary words of advice. And I must add, the only thing scarier than having your tap twist off in your hands is looking inside your tank in the spring (after sitting for four months) and seeing nothing.......then looking in your oil level viewing window and realizing that all your gas has drained into your crankcase BECAUSE you didn't turn the tap off for the winter. DOH. That's what happened on my old 82 GS1100 one time.......and I've been nervous about "which way to go" ever since! Like everything in life.....there's pros and cons to every approach!

If you follow our sport IN or TO the province of Ontario, you know that Port Dover (nestled on the North shore of Lake Erie, about 1/4 of the way from Buffalo toward Detroit) becomes our own "mini-motorcycle-mecca" every time there's a Friday the 13th. It's a "natural" result of triskaidekaphobia (fear of all things 13) combined with paraskevidekatriaphobia (fear of all things riding a motorcycle) that bring together all things EVIL in one poor little "innocent" town in Southwestern Ontario. Men wearing leather....women wearing NOTHING! Well, not on top, anyway. Hey, the Supreme Court said it was OK, so, just do what you think is "right"! Sometimes it happens three times a year...sometimes as little as once. Never four.....and never none. So, did any of you fools....er, there I GO again......did any of you outstanding representatives of our hale and hearty sport attend the event today? If you did, you've got bigger spherical appendages than I do. It was a chilly one, to say the least. Let's see those pics, Carl. WHAT? You didn't go? Come on, man......you're CLOSE!! Isn't that just a hop, skip and skid down from your place?

Am I the only dufus on the continent who has ever turned off his gas tap....for the first time of the season, cause now it's ALMOST WINTER....then had an "Indian Summer Opportunity", only to find the damn bike won't start? Cranked that sucker over about 100 times (using good, non-starter-motor-burning bursts of no more than 15 seconds cranking at a time, mind you)....only to find that, holy crap....not only is there no gas coming from the tank (Doh....forgot about shutting the tap off)......the fuel that WAS in the float bowls must have prit-neer evaporated, cause I think it turned over about 4 times under its own power, then proceeded to drain my battery down to AA voltage doing the OTHER 96 revolutions!! If the gas in the float bowls ISN'T enough to keep her running for a minute or so, where DID/DOES all that gas go? Up in vapour? Or down into the cylinders? Turning the tap on was obviously all it needed, cause after I did, the fuel pump clicked away for about another 5 seconds, THEN she fired up like a nuclear reactor. What gives?

Beer gut!

Well then.........you definitely get an "E" for.......enthusiasm!!

.....and I know that's next to impossible, Carl!!! Ha, ha! (Just wanted to make sure I didn't hurt your feelings........yes, I know THAT's a tough one, too. :-) I had a technical question come up with another buddy, and I think HIS answer is crazy. So, I asked Carl for HIS opinion. So, on this sunny Sunday afternoon (depending on where you are, of course) I'm curious to hear what the "masses" of Venture owners around the country have to say about it. The question is: when you're putting your new oil filter on the bike after changing the old black soup out of it.....after you screw the filter just down to where the rubber o-ring is touching the metal of the engine, how many more turns (or fractions of turns) do you tighten it? Another 1/4.....or a 1/2? Three quarters? Full turn? Two turns? (I pretty much agree with Carl, btw, but am looking to see what anyone else's "standard operating procedure" is!) Thanks, guys.

THAT's the word I've been looking for.........FREE! Works every time. Thanks, kiddo. I'll give it a whirl. Cheers, m

Hey, Patricia, thanks for getting back. I'd have to guess (by your signature, at least) that you seem to be a real "renaissance girl"...not to mention a genuine multi-talented persona. (i.e. anyone who works on computers, likes motorcycles and will get their hands dirty under the hood HAS to be a good person!) Please tell me if the following are true or false: 1. Tapatalk somehow(?) allows "easier access" to vBulleting-powered forums 2. The free version of Tapatalk, however, does NOT accommodate posting....only reading 3. The benefit of using Tapatalk is that it precludes the need to fire up ones browser in order to access forums (or does it apply to entire websites?)

I keep getting "invited" to use Tapatalk to post on vBulletin forums (fora?), like ours. Does anybody use tapatalk? If so, how come I don't see any posts about it? If not, why not? I did a "search every forum" for "tapatalk"....."use tapatalk"......."using tapatalk"........got NO RESULTS. What gives?

Just got back from a 10 day vacation in Ireland and the UK. The roads were "built for bikes".......twisty, turny, uppy, downy, scenic, PAVED! Oddly we saw only about FOUR BIKES out in the country in the 5 days we spent touring the Republic. Not much better in England. All the way from Liverpool (stayed in the Hard Day's Night Hotel, yeah baby) to London, saw maybe TEN bikes. Weird. Once IN London, however, that all changed! Bikes were everywhere; and everything from vintage Honda's to, well, vintage everything else and NEW everything as well. But seriously, if you wanna glue a permanent smile on your face, figure out a way to get on a two-wheeler in Great Britain and hit the back roads. We didn't......and we KNEW we were gonna regret it. And we did. If I can figure out how to post a video, I'll add a couple of juicy jpeg's....once I get over my jet-lag......AND get all the laundry done!

Now I get it! I'm not that brave with hammers around gas tanks! I'll play it stock and just gas up a wee bit more often.

I'm guessin there's a joke in here somewhere.....but, sorry, not getting it! :-)

You had me at It's always great to make new friends, buddy........and I hope I just did!! I'm an old farm boy (emphasis on the "old").......and anything or anybody that has the word "cow" in it can't be bad. Hearty greetings from the North Country.

You must have developed some great thigh muscles with the pushing you've done over the years!! :-)

Is that like ebola....only slowa....as in, 2nd Gens are, SLOWER?

YMMV fer shur! Thanks, Kelly. Now THAT's the kind of scientific research I guess I should have been doing. And now that I think of it......I TOO have a couple of small red cans I could stick in my saddle bags. I guess the trick is to throw the can on board only when I'm down to reserve....then head for Buffalo and back to squeeze the last 50-75 kliks out of her! (I'll feel a beer run coming on!! Beck's at $3.99 for a 4-pack of pints, at Rite Aid Drugstore. And those friendly Canadian border dudes virtually ALWAYS let you bring back 18 cans without duty. Now THAT's the kind of math I can get involved in! :-)

Thanks for getting back, Wayne. I take your comment to mean you frequently ride over 50 kliks on Reserve?!?! Wow. Either you're brave.......or you carry a one-gallon can in your saddle-bag.....or you ride only in "gas-station-dense" terrain! :-)

And..........is that a good thing? I thought I'd seen lots of guys saying they're getting well over 40.....closer to 50. (am I out to lunch on that?....or is 38 in the ballpark for "normal"?)

Thanks, Mark. I think I remember that the last time I clocked about 245 kliks I filled up afterward with 13 litres.......so, that sounds pretty consistent with yours. For some strange reason.....I keep getting the sensation that I'm refueling more often than I should be. (keep forgetting to keep more careful track....and as I say.....not a big numbers guy). Maybe I'm just having way too much fun and putting on more kliks than I think. (I know......THAT's what odometers BOTH OF THEM are for, right!?!) I'll just have to "knuckle down" and pay attention to the details.....maybe on my planned ride up to Ottawa later this month...when I have a good long road in front of me and some NON-stop-and-go running. Cheers~

Wow. That DOES seem good. That's 300 kliks (up here in metric-land) I was under the impression that I typically only get to around 250 kliks before my light wants to come on. Guess I'D better get myself some of that Sea Foam, too!! (Hey, Prairie Hammer, who synced my carbs way back at that MD? Wadn't you wad it?) :-)

Hey, buddy.......while we're on the subject(s) of "clarification".......and, "NOT to be a smarty pants".......I've never had the pleasure to speak with you or meet you....YET. Just wondering if your handle is pronounced "COW PUCK".....or "COW PUKE". Remember...not trying to be a smarty pants here........just going for clarification! :-)

However....I know SOME guys LOVE to do the numbers........so.... Has anyone crunched the numbers on the mileage/kilometer-age range of a full tank of gas? I'd be happy to hear a number from anyone, as long as it's specified in either "miles" or "kilometers"......and defined as "from bottom of filler neck to reserve light coming on".......or "bottom of filler neck to stone, cold, empty!" Just curious how FAR this thing SHOULD actually go on "a tank" of gas. (And, yup, I know it all depends on whether you're hammering it on.....have a tail wind....got big Bertha riding on the back, with Fido and Junior in the sidecar, downhill/uphill, high altitude/Bonneville Saltflats...all those pesky "variables". I'm just looking for "average"....you know, average.) I know there's probably ample conversation buried SOMEWHERE in here....but I appreciate your patience in not making me dig for it! :-)

My wife's sentiments, exactly. But.......I'm not a full-face-fan. The contacts approach might be worthy of investigation. (as long as they don't end up exceeding the cost of prescription goggles!! :-) ) Thanks, bud.

Don't be rubbin' it in now, Carl!!

Yeah, thanks, man........and....I know I can't have it both ways......but I've ALWAYS been an open-face guy, so some kinda goggles HAS to be my solution I think!