Bummer
-
Posts
1,533 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Bummer
-
Glad to help out, Jerry. The blister went away in a day or two.
-
Nice to see you're having a good time! Keep it up!!
-
It's not the ride, it's the companionship. I certainly can't fault you for wanting to take a cautious path. It's a lot easier facing tough economic times with no extra bills. Shame it's the bike, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Now, if you guys quit Meeting and Eating, well, that'll indicate a real problem.
-
Congratulations to everyone! I'm just glad I was holding onto the mouse as I read it all.
-
The wire didn't come preinstalled in '05 or '06. I ordered the CD changer when I bought my '05. It took 'em six months to get the thing. It came with the clamp, some serious double stick tape, the vibration damping sleeve, a special pass through plug for the hole in the floor of the trunk, and the custom sized wire. It also had the Clarion mounting hardware and a really long wire with a straight plug on the end. As far as I'm concerned, the custom wire with the 90 degree plug and the trunk plug are the most valuable parts of the system. The mounting clamp and vibration sleeve come next. Of course, like most of the folks here I use a music player (iAUDIO) hooked up to AUX and the CD is sitting over in the corner collecting dust.
-
Wonderful sentiment there Beer. Thanks for the thoughts. We here hope everyone out there has a truly Happy Thanksgiving!
-
I think that writing style can become a problem too. I've been doing a lot of writing on the Venture Wikis which has lead to a somewhat stiffer writing style. I am concerned that this can be misinterpreted to mean anger or huffiness. That is not the case at all. The absolute last thing I want to do is offend any of my brothers on this site. In fact, when I feel grouchy and want to p*** people off I go to Topix (message board) and do it there. The point being that if I've offended anyone it certainly hasn't been intentional.
-
Actually it's Global Climate Change. The overall average temperature is creeping up enough to melt the ice caps while weather extremes swing wildly. Very cold winters and very hot summers still average out to a half degree annual rise that adds up over time. Ask the Polar Bears. Along the way storms are getting stronger and more frequent. Should be interesting since nobody's gonna believe it until a Cat 5 tornado in a place there's never been a tornado before sucks them and theirs up to OZ (sorry guys, not Austraila).
-
I don't actually know anyone who's privy to the business plans of the Big Three. I'm not even aware of being able to access the business plan of the parts supplier that I work for. As a consequence I do not feel I can hold a rational opinion about the contents. The union I'm in has given big concessions in each contract for the last fifteen or so years. Under the current contract new hires come in under $15 an hour. It takes ten years to max out at $18. Benefits have been greatly reduced as well. Medical is at 80% of what the company says they'll pay. There are two levels of copay. One for each incident, and one for the year. All persons in the treatment stream must be in the network or you pay that portion in full. For retirement it's 401(k) or nothing. Since that constitutes gambling on the stock market it pretty much represents handing your money to sharks. I personally expect no retirement at all and I've been there ten years. While the retirement funds should be separate, they are not fully funded or protected from raiding by the company. The most valuable benefit is layoff pay, most of which comes from State unemployment. People have some amazing opinions about the situation of the unions. Not much of it seems to be based on the reality I'm living. Every time my union gives back to the company they give a year's worth of that to the President of the company to reward him for squeezing us. He got a $2 million bonus for coming up with the company slogan: Bold. That's the stupidest %$@&*^$ slogan I've ever heard. Pretty bold thing to say, isn't it? Bet that's not what he had in mind. Average upper management pay in all fortune 500 companies is currently at around 800 times the top hourly employee's pay. Some are even higher. Every big business in the country has some basic conceptual problems revolving around greed. One need only look at AIG for an example. Private investors carried these companies until the stock market crashed. Now nobody can get money. That's the whole point. The government, both Democrats and Republicans, broke the economy. That's why the auto makers are asking for the loans in the first place. The argument that if the money is paid back the people won't see any benefit from it is a complaint against government, not the union or management. I don't disagree, mind you. I just see that as a fine reason to vote out every Democrat and Republican in office. My neighbor's dog could do a better job and he's been dead for a couple of years. Keep in mind that the Democrats created a loan guarantee system and the Republicans deregulated the system. Either could have been ok, together they represent a recipe for disaster. Both parties need to go. I must admit I'm a bit confused by one point. The companies should file chapter 11, which puts them under court (government) control, yet government control is a bad thing. Seems to me a loan, with interest, forces the companies to get their acts together without placing the government in control.
-
The auto manufacturers are asking for a loan, with interest, not a bail out. The bankers who caused this mess got the bailout, and they didn't even have to ask, or pay it back. Are you all as mad at the fat cat bankers and the financial sharks who got a free ride as you are at the automakers who just want a loan? Just wondering.
-
I ran the wire for the tender out the right side between the frame and the plastic behind the seat, then wire tied it to the top of the right side saddlebag guard.
-
Absolutely get the first one and read it. More is good but the original is the best. I'd personally place Street Strategies between the two in overall importance. I carry my copy of that one in the trunk. I like to read a scenario ever time we stop at a rest area (I don't always, but I try). The stuff you don't notice in the pictures is amazingly important. I started reading David's articles in Road Rider. When they went belly up I continued reading them in Motorcycle Consumer News. When Proficient Motorcycling came out I got a copy. I loaned it out and had to get another copy. I skim it all over again every winter. I always manage to find something to go 'Hmmmmm' over. Possibly the single most important book any rider can read. What did I learn? Sorry, it's been way too long to tell. He explains a lot of the science behind riding in a way that'll help most anyone. He gives lots of advice about stuff that'll kill you, and how to not let it. As Rick suggested, the MSF probably wouldn't even have a class to teach if it hadn't been for the information that David presented while he was an instructor. (This is a somewhat controversial issue that he's spoken out about over the years. Seems he's not all that happy that they've copyrighted info he developed. Can't say I blame him.) While Ride Like A Pro is an important source of info on how to ride slow and well, Proficient will keep you alive. I had my sister read it when she bought her V-Star. I had my grandson read it when he got a scooter. It's getting cold out. Time to read it again. Hmmmmm. -
That looks sharp! As an added plus nobody's going to be able to say they didn't see you coming.
-
Congratulations to the happy couple and the proud families. By the way, one does not actually smoke a cigar. One holds it while it burns. The puffing part is just to keep it going. Hey, all you have to do is inhale once and you'll know this is true. Well, it's worth a try...
-
I certainly respect him. I got picked off by an uninvited visitor from the south. His bumper crushed my left leg below the knee and totaled out my '05 Midnight. I ordered my '06 over the phone from a hospital bed. When it was time to pick it up I went hobbling in on my cane and took care of the business end. A couple of the guys there asked who was going to ride it home for me. I told 'em I was. They rolled their eyes. I just smiled, went out to the bike, folded up the cane, put it in the side bag, and rode away. Sometimes it's easier to ride than walk.
-
If you've actually read this thread you should know which company I work for, so I needn't go into that. The Union I'm in has been giving back for twelve or fifteen years. Last year at this time we were on strike to try and reduce the amount we had to give back. We lost. When it was over they gave the top couple of management guys a years worth of our give-back as bonuses for reducing work force compensation. It's happened every time. Currently new hires come in at $15 and change. It takes ten years to get to what they used to hire in at before the give-backs started. Benefits have been cut heavily. The price of engines has only gone up. Upper management pay has only gone up. While a Union is only as good as it's local leadership, which can be pretty bad, they are not the problem. They're just an easy target.
-
Lynn, The front and rear latches is why I asked about that. He also sent me a pic of his Phoenix bike, with the new style bags. Pretty, but obviously not very stock.
-
Squeeze, I corrected it to a variation of what you wrote. Now I have to find the videos I got the other info off of. There were definately two butterflies in each throttle body/air run that staged differently. I'm guessing, from some more reading, that they may be there, just not actually part of the YCC-T proper. Now I really wish I'd bookmarked those videos.
-
And the bus driver's not going to be yelling about the windows being down too far.
-
I haven't added them. No particular reason other than time. I am aware of their origins and change over the years. It seems to me this would be best put on the Venture Royale page as an historical note. I don't want to get into listing every motorcycle group out there. That might be best done on its own page. You can check out this page and go from there to see what all has been done with each page. It's something of a Yamaha Venture index page.
-
Tazmocycle, Pegscraper, and any other RS riders, please check out the RS Wiki and let me know how I'm doing. Have I gotten anything wrong? Is there something else unique that I need to add? I plan to add a picture of an RS Tour Classic once I get the details ironed out. Thanks.
-
Not a problem. I can use all the help I can get.
-
I guess timing really can be everything. Glad to hear you're ok!
-
Right you are my friend. Plus I had to take a day off to do some actual life stuff. Gaahhh.
-
First off, let me state that this started because I've had a First Gen and two Second Gens, and know a little bit about them. It has snowballed from there into less familiar territory. It appears that there were two machines that have been called Royal Star Tour Deluxe. The first was based upon the original Royal Star with a horizontal shock absorber. The second is the current model, which seems to be mostly a Venture without the fairing and trunk. It appears that the current Venture based RSTD came out in mid '04 as an '05 model. It also appears that the original Royal Star based model ended with the '01. I'm trying to figure out how to phrase all this and on just which page to place what. Let me assure you that I want this to be as accurate as possible. As such, it would seem I'm no where near done. Of course, all corrective info is welcomed, but please be patient. Question: Did the Royal Star based Tour Deluxe have hard bags? If so, did they latch differently than the Venture based Tour Deluxe? I believe I've received a pic of an early (First Gen, so to speak.) TD. It has hard bags that latch more like the MK2 First Gen Venture. I also note that it has Tourdeluxe on the front fender - one word. In time I'll know a little about the TDs as well. Anyway, thanks for the info.