Jump to content

Seaking

Expired Membership
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,307

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Seaking

  1. Seaking
    However you'll save 70% if you get the non-HD branded pumps.. ; ) But putting at least 45 lbs of pressure in the rear shock alone will stiffen the ride a bit but make the handling noticeably better.. Cheers
  2. Seaking
    Hey, if you make it after Memorial Day Weekend, I just might be able to make it as I will be in Washington DC for Rolling Thunder!! This "Blue Noser" would love some Venture-ing time with fellow riders =) Cheers
  3. Seaking
    Sorry Man, I'm only a scientist, not a magician.. However your problem with women of any age is resolved by a simple axiom: Women are always right: Men are always Wrong.. When men are actually right, they are wrong, because women are always right. Once you learn to appreciate, embrace and live by this axiom, the universal mysteries of life will open up to you and you will find eternal peace with yourself. Oh and as far as math goes, the only thing you need to know is that the shortest distance between two points in life is an angle.. ; ) Cheers
  4. Seaking
    That is true.. On OEM windshields, because of the materials used, RainX and Pledge may and can turn your windshild milky and haze it up over time. The good thing about the Clearviews is that it's made out of materials that will accept amonia and petroleum based products, these are the ingredients that can cause the haziness.. ; )
  5. Seaking
    Two things you need to know about electrical work on any bike: (A) FM Principle of Electricity and (B) Theorem of Electrical Smoke. In regards to (A) this one is simple and is merely an observation and statement: Anything and everything electrical is simple FM (Freaking Magic).. Once you learn to appreciate that statement, everything else comes to you much easier. In regards to (B), the Theorem of Electrical Smoke is easily explained that smoke is what makes electrical components work. If you let the smoke out of anything electrical, it will cease to work, and porportionally so. In other words, the more smoke you let out of an electrical system, the more work and more expensive it will be to replace that smoke in order to make it work properly again. If you don't believe me, try it someday.. start touching stuff inside your stereo with a metal bar and see how expensive it is to put all that smoke back into the system to make it work again, eh? See, I told you. Hopefully, in your case, the amount of smoke that was allowed to escape was miniscule and won't be expensive to replace.. There is very little smoke trapped inside a fuse, luckily..
  6. Seaking
    Oh cool, I'll have to check to see if I can spot others around here like that.. Cheers
  7. Seaking
    I dropped my first bike ever with the 06 Midnight.. after 38 yrs of riding that was the first time I had ever dropped a bike. I was taking my daughter to her grad night (she wanted to ride in style on daddy's bike) and wouldn't you know it.. at the top of a steep hill they put a new stop sign and the bike was high spotted when I came to the stop.. oops, feet dangling and nothing but hollow below them.. oh crap.. So I calmly told my daughter "We're going down" as the bike leaned over.. way over and she simply stepped off the bike. This was in the middle of the intersection (3 way stop) and there's my daughter in her grad gown over her leather jacket and helmet, while her old man, less than 2 weeks out from major upper/lower jaw surgery now had to figure out how to get this beast back up as I had never practiced it yet.. Ergh.. But simply put, ya stick your hip into the passenger hangon bars and hands on the grips and push up with your legs and voila, the bike is up. Needless to say this is very difficult to do when on a steep incline though.. egads!! Motorists at the intersection were very nice about the situation, wanting to help out and were patient enough for my daughter to hop back up on the bike once we got it started again.. (thanks guys!) But everyone needs to take their bikes out on soft grassy area and 'drop' their bikes so that can practice getting it up on their own.. Better to do the figuring out in your own time and comfort zone than to look silly in front of a crowd. Luckily for me I had practiced on other bikes, just not on the Venture.. Remember, lift with the LEGS, not the back
  8. Seaking
    The cover is chromed and oval shaped? That's the adjuster access panel.. and be gentle with the screws, they can strip out easy.. which is a pain if you adjust the valves a lot.. ; )
  9. Seaking
    I just got mine installed a coupla weeks ago and lovin it.. and also had the bike at high speeds. Anytime I have the shroud off the bike I'll be having a look for stress fractures and crazing on the carbonates. Just out of curiosity, was your vent open or closed? Wondering if the pressure build up in front and behind the shield was a contributing factor? There is a lot of surface there for sure, wondering how comon of an occurrence this is.. Let us know the company's response to this.. Good hear to hear you survived..
  10. Seaking
    I did Laconia last year and to be honest, wasn't too keen on it.. a few custom bike builders, tons of vendors selling the same stuff, a lot of traffic but the scenery around the area was fan-freaking-tastic.. Got to do the top of the mountain run in the most beautiful day ever. Cops who pulled us over didn't know what to make of our 'exagerated accents' from the east coast of Canada "aboot wot eh byes?", well it got us out of a ticket anyway.. ; ) There are a lot of fun people who attend these things and a lot of posers.. Last year we did Port Dover Friday the 13th in July and Rolling Thunder in May.. Next year, I hope to be able to do Rolling Thunder, Laconia, Sturgis and a bunch of these Venture group gatherings I'm reading about.. sounds like a lot of fun.. ; ) I just need to find a way how to stay connected online enough to get my work done.. can't be away for more than 10 days at a time max. sigh
  11. Seaking
    Remeind me of buddy telling us how his only indication that someone had side swiped his wide trailer was a sharp tug on the bike.. he thought the ball hitch had come undone and the tug was from the safety chains catching the slack.. but in fact an oncoming car caught the corner edge of the trailer and poof, it was gone.. All HE saw was a cloud of debris in his mirrors.. Needless to say, good thing something was weak in the hitch system etc.. "Dang, I thought that car was coming in close, but not THAT close!!"
  12. Seaking
    I practice a lot of "slow" riding with all my bikes.. trying to creep along at the slowest possible speed possible without putting your feet down, and leaving them planted on the floor boards, not dangling like outriggers.. You'd be surprised at how many looks you get in a line up when HD's and cruisers and are the only one still up on the boards, almost at a standstill.. Yes, it CAN be done.. but man it's difficult and not always attainable lol.. You have to remember it's better to gracefully place your feet on the ground than do the wild twistchy jerky handlebar swings and clumsily crash your feet to the ground hehe.. Throttle, clutch and rear brake playing at the same time will keep you upright at a painfully slow speed. Besides, it helps kill time when stuck in traffic.. ; )
  13. Seaking
    Thanks M8.. I might well try to make it a go for next year.. catch some sights along the way.. Shame how I used to live in Saskatchewan to the north and never made it to Sturgis.. Now that I live on the east coast it's that much farther.. Oh well, the ride should be fun =)
  14. Seaking
    The boards on these bikes fold up so that when you over lean the bike, the boards come up out of the way.. the sound of the scrape scares you into levelling up the bike. When you're used to doing scrapes you learn the right angle to make it happen and push hard on the boards to get the sparks flying. Of course, this is extreme and take practice and is very very risky (one man one kit).. But once you add the titanium bolts to the bottom of the board to make contact first, you get an early warning AND a spectacular display of sparks =) The Boards on the VStar and Venture are 'almost' the same, you can interchange them but the VStar boards have the sacrifice skid pad. I no probs exchanging mine with newer VStar owners who could then pretend to have the look of someone not afraid to lean their bike.. made them look less newbie lol.. Thanks for posting the Baron part numbers.. might be worth the while..
  15. Seaking
    I hadn't been able to do much distance travelling this year due to surgery the other month but I am planning on doing some big runs for next year, Rolling Thunder in May being the first one.. I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada (that's up and to the right of Maine for you Yanks I had always wanted to try Sturgis but always felt it was a hard core HD event where anyone not riding an HD is shunned and not made to feel welcomed.. Until I came to this forum where I see some people had gone and plan to go again. What's the story there? Do you guys do a Venture group ride in kind of thing? I'd love to hear more about it.. Cheers
  16. Seaking
    lol.. hi Ken.. if you strip down a Goldwing it doesn't look like a Valkerie (nice bikes those).. A stripped down GW looks like a bike frame with an engine on it.. I had seen one in the shop and it looked quite naked without it's clothes on.. Cheers M8
  17. Seaking
    I'm 5'8" with a 30" inseam and went from a 1100 Vstar which is lowered 2.5 inches with 4" extensions on the floorboards and 4" pull backs on the wide bars.. I literally sit lounging on this bike as I scrape my way around corners at high speed and turn on a dime in parking lots.. you simply have to look to where you want to go and the bike wants to go there.. But on the Venture.. whooo what a difference in bikes this is.. wow. If you're coming from a low bike to a Venture, a lot of this will make sense to you.. First of all, it's a touring bike, not a cruiser.. It is also very top heavy compared to your previous bike so it will certainly appear and feel scary with all that top heavy weight.. But you quickly adapt to it.. PRACTICE with it and don't feel bad if you drop it. The bike will land on the bag and engine guards and shut itself off. I know this by experience because in the 38 years of biking I have done, this was the very first time I had ever dropped a bike in my life.. "It's not IF you drop a bike, it's WHEN" People who are used to bigger bikes won't think it's too top heavy as they are more like minded and are more readily to accept the change. But for us low cruiser types, the change is huge and takes more to adapt to it, especially in mindset. When I first got the Venture this summer, I knew I was stepping up to a larger bike and yes I knew it would be top heavy and yes I knew I wouldn't be able to toss it around like I did my modded VStar. However, after 4200 miles of riding the venture in 2 months, I'm scrapping the floorboards and carving the corners with this large, top heavy, lumbering(?) bike =) You'll hear advice about raising the rear, lowering the front, doing this and doing that to the bike to improve the overall handling of the bike. The only advice I can offer is to do the simplest and cheapest first and then work your way up from there.. Cheapest and simplest to do is to have zero air pressure in the front shocks and 45 psi in the rear shocks.. this basically changes the geometry of the bike's trail - rake to make it easier to handle. Proper tire pressure makes a diff as well.. (book receomendation is for 180 lbs biker, if you're bigger or load the bike, add more etc) Cheapest but mechanicaly involved is to do the lowering of the front forks, people like this one as it doesn't cost money and relatively simple enough to do. Easy enough but costs is to install leveling links that raise the rear of the bike, basically once again changing the geometry of the bike but this affects short legged people.. And the most expensive option is to have the whole meal deal, front and rear lowering kits installed.. it lowers the overall height of the bike while keep the front lower than the rear doing the same as leveling links but bringing your assets closer to the road. In final (long notes eh?) I would say that if you love riding a long time and enjoying the ride, you're going to love the Venture.. I can honestly say I was questioning my purchase in the first 2 weeks but all of a sudden it started to grow on me.. and now? I hven't ridden the Vstar much this summer except to get it lubricated lol.. turn the wheels kinda thing. You'll love the Venture.. take the time to learn how to handle it properly.. and yes, you will drop it.. now if.. when.. ; ) Cheers M8
  18. Seaking
    I simply added more pressure to my rear suspension and it helped a lot.. Not as much as a lowering kit mind you but enough to make the difference.. You know where the big diff is between the Venture and Goldwing? Its when you trip off all the shrouds, fairings and extra plastics. On the Venture, it will look like a large curiser.. on the Goldwing, it'll look like Ma Kettle without her nightshirt.. (poking mind's eye out on that one!) Goldwings, AKA "Geezer Glides", are a class up from the Venture, but right now I'd sooner ride my Venture.. I don't feel I'm old enough for a Gold Wing (or rich enough)
  19. Seaking
    One of the other quotes stated that you can change the angle of the dangle (as it were) on the antenna mounts.. When I fold mine down, they run outwards a bit from the centreline of the bike.. Turning them in a bit would certainly make covering the bike easier and less 'hazardous' ; )
  20. Seaking
    Progressive makes a 0-10 psi pump which would suit the fronts a lot better.. I tried doing mine with the 0-60 psi pump and it's too broad a guage to be super accurate with.. Balancing kit would do well in there..
  21. Seaking
    I honestly didn't notice if mine was busted.. oops.. but it doesn't seem to detract from my windshield at all though.. it sits there solid and yeah, looks great too.. I forgot to mention that the test run last night was in high winds and running roughly (cough cough) 140 kph with nil effects.. nothing I could notice anyway..
  22. Seaking
    This is normal for it to touch and people say it will not be a problem.. you can't use the chromed version as it will break..
  23. Seaking
    Well it took long enough but I have my new tall & wide & vented (and grey) Clearview windshield installed on the bike after waiting a month or so for the delivery.. Mind you, they notified me it was shipped and it showed up within the week here in Nova Scotia. What can I say about it? Damn thing is HUGE.. wow.. you don't realize how much plastic is going to be in front of you until you sit behind it lol.. there is NO looking over the top of this one if I can't see through it.. Wind: My head is no longer buffetted side to side with wind slaps to the side of the head as before. Since getting this bike, I've had to wear ear covers to protect my ears from the wind buffetting. But now it's all gone. My Radio Audio is turned down by 2 notches as there is less wind. However, I now notice more wind coming up my legs onto my lower face. My impression is that when it rains, my legs will be soaked instead of just my knees. Overall the wind situation is better, smoother and more ejoyable. Noise: you can hear better for sure, less wind... you can hear your engine and exhaust better. Visibility: I was quite impressed with the clarity of the plastics used. There is "some" distortion in the peripheral areas but you quickly adapt to those. I haven't tested it in the rain because though it's raining a lot these days, just not while I can go riding. Night time visibility is OK, no noticable difference. Cleaning: Always spray a lot of water on your plastics before rubbing anything on them to remove any grit.. I used poly polish and Plexus to clean it off, using a new microfibre cloth.. Plexus removes the static charge off the polycarbonates to repell dust and other light schtuffs.. Important to keep several clean cloths to avoid rubbing grit into the new plastics. I haven't used any RainX on it yet, haven't gone biking in the rain yet. Installation was a breeze, remember to leave the protective film over the windshield during installation. Two rubber seals fit under the wide wings on the ends. Over all? Though it's only been a day or two since I've gotten it and haven't yet ridden in the rain.. I find the price is right and thus far it lives up to it's expectations. More later as I get more ride time with it.. Cheers
  24. Seaking
    Well I found something that works nicely and I had a lot off laying around the photostudio... Ever see those high density foam mats people use in their shops, like puzzle pieces? I use them in the photo studio for various projects.. I had left over edge pieces and cut them to size and force jammed them into the space so there is a push against the shroud now, and it takes the vibes out nicely.. Though the high density foam can be squished when you press hard on them, they will still compact enough and still give some hardness to hold the equipment in place.. Werks fer me..
  25. Seaking
    I just debadged mine a few weeks ago using the hair dryer to heat it up and spider wire fish line to slide it off.. it will not damage the paint doing this method. If you have any chunks of the glue left behind (grey putty like substance) you can warm it up with the hair dryer and rub it with your thumb and it will roll up into a ball and come off.. No scraping, no hard edges trying to lift the stuff off.. A good rubbing compound and polish afterwards gets the left over residue off.. Cheers
×
×
  • Create New...