Red1

Yeah, there's no more scraping the floorboards with a hack. I originally considered adding a car to my Venture. Interesting idea on the V-max rear end - good to know. Did you have to do any other suspension or front end changes for the car?

There has been some activity if you check the post in Regional Rallies, Bubber. See ya in few days

NURD - National Ural Rally Day. Check the Soviet Steeds web page for other details, but here's a link to IMZ newsletter. No cost to enter - looks like a blast. https://www.imz-ural.com/national-rally-day

Mike - did you get signed up for the NURD Sept 9th? And you are welcome to come to the Pork in the Pines pig roast this weekend in Bemidji. Here's the Facebook post - https://www.facebook.com/PorkinthePines/ Red

Excellent Tom! Looks like it could be fun. I haven't done a charity ride in a long time - group riding not really my thing. But this seemed like a good cause, eh? See you in a week +.

Ahhh - that's because I'll be riding this -

I recently found out about this ride - I thought it was for a good cause(s), I checked out the foundations where the money will go and it all looks pretty good. It's a world-wide ride on Sept 24 to raise money for mens' health issues - prostate cancer & mental health in particular. If you have a "classic" motorcycle and can participate - GREAT! There is probably a ride near you. If you cannot attend and would like to help me raise funds - you can go to my Donations page on the Gentlemen's Ride web page - https://www.gentlemansride.com/fundraiser/RedSimpson148109 I promise to wear an actual suit (I own 2) and will submit a picture for your amusement - that ought to be worth a few $$$. And I will attend - rain or shine. To learn about the ride itself and the Movember Foundation - the programs they fund, the style guide & FAQ's - https://www.gentlemansride.com/

I no longer keep ballast in the car - just take it extra easy on the right hand turns. Most places recommend 50-100# ballast to start, reducing it as you feel comfortable. That's a wide car, so it should have less tendency to fly. I also have a 2000 Venture and was considering adding a sidecar to it. I looked at your profile pic - looks like it seats 2 dogs! Did you buy the bike w/ car, add the car yourself or have it done? How do you like the Motorvation II ? BTW - if you have wife on the pillion seat and the dogs in the car - you should be adding ballast anyway. Unless your wife is really tiny & weighs less than the combined wt. of the 2 dogs - you should add ballast so the wt. in the tub is greater than the wt. of your wife. The car should always carry the heavier passenger and since you can't put 1 dog on the pillion - you need to add ballast to balance the rig.

But - the Ural is also much lighter so it doesn't take as long to stop. And while the tires are skinny - remember the "contact patch" - the small oval of rubber that is actually in direct contact with the road surface - for your Venture is likely not a lot bigger than the Ural - and you have 3 instead of 2 contact patches. AND - you can really break pretty hard on these rigs and they won't go into a front wheel or rear wheel skid like a 2 wheeler. I've locked up the rear brakes (on purpose when practicing) and it goes pretty straight. Same with the front. Practice HARD braking in an empty parking lot - you'll be surprised, I think.

LOL Yeah, someone sent that to my Facebook page already. I'll stick to the yellow lab, I think.

Congrats on finding a hack! I have found the Soviet Steeds website & forum to be very helpful in answering any maintenance Q's that may crop up. Russian Iron also has a forum and other info. I've book marked a bunch of sites for parts, info, etc. - let me know if you need something. I've got about 1000km in the saddle of mine now and have yet to have a major issue (knock on wood). It's been a blast to ride some of our dirt and gravel roads and be able to take the dog along. Watch the speed in the right hand turns. What's your user name on the other boards?

Q - A - A horizontally opposed twin. This is about as "retro" old tech (maybe no tech) as you can get in a "new" bike! Nyet with the Ural bashing!

Somewhere in the vast commentary above where features and bells & whistles are being debated, someone had a "back in the day" post - how bikes and bikers used to ride. Not to get too far afield, but a couple of book by Mark "Tiger" Edmonds - "Longrider" and "Ghosts of Scootertrash Past" are worth reading. If you like that sort of thing. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Mark+Tiger+Edmonds&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Mark+Tiger+Edmonds&sort=relevancerank

I did not take the time to read all 11 pages of this post, I confess. Personally - I would never buy a brand new, first model year of anything. I'll give it 3-5 years to get the gremlins worked out, read the reviews and road test comparisons, then sit on them and see which ones I can touch the ground on and wait for the lightly used one of my choice to show up on Cycletrader. I am not a "brand loyalist" nor a "brand basher". Every machine has issues & problems - 'cuz it's a mechanical machine. Most of these new touring bikes can last a lifetime if cared for. Most will break down somewhere sometime. Most have all the power you will ever need, plus. I don't really care about styling features or color or chrome levels or the name on the tank or the amount of electronics in the dash or what bike my buddies ride. I like my 2000 RSV, and I've had great luck with it, put a lotta miles on it ~ but if I was buying another bike - I'd check them all out. The used ones, that is. Reliability, handling, can my feet touch the ground safely, price and does my wife approve of the rear seat - those are the selling points for me. Probably should have moved the "rear seat comfort" up the priority scale. The rest is eye candy. Just my $.02.

I'm not a computer geek by any means. I have a guy who is. When I was wanting to upgrade a few years ago, he recommended I from XP to Windows 7 because Windows 8 sucked. But - I have several programs I really liked that would NOT run on 7, so he installed a "virtual machine" that runs Windows XP and all the XP programs. I access it thru a desktop icon. Don't ask me how to do it - I just know it can be done. If you are interested, I can give you his phone # - he might be able to do it remotely. I have Windows 8.1 on my tablet. Not a fan. Especially of the "subscription" software. My Office Suite no longer works because I refused to pay the annual extortion fee. I've switched to Libre Office - an open source program - I run that on my tablet and PC.