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timgray

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  1. timgray
    Great document. I wish there was a way to force uneducated moped riders to read it. We have a LOT of really really uneducated or untrained moped riders around here that ride with their feet on the ground dragging. It's mindblowing.
  2. timgray
    Gassy Gifford Pothole Jumper Ok, howd' they know I like to eat Chili?
  3. timgray
    From my point of view.. I used to be a die-hard Pontiac guy. I've owned pontiac from the day I could get my first car, my dad was a UAW worker at a GM plant, he made the engine blocks. WE had Oldsmobile and Pontiac. After the last 2 Pontiac new cars I bought, I'm not touching a GM car ever again. 3400 engine has defective intake gaskets, GM finally admits this after 5 years and then issues a recall that they make sure they dont have to fix any of the cars.. Under 50,000 mile waivers on 5 year old engines. Yeah. BCM computers across the line are defective and GM tells us "too bad for you" etc... This is my experience, GM basically told me that I was dumb for trusting them to build a quality car that would at least last to the 100,000 mark. Gm did it to themselves by using substandard parts from suppliers in china. Also, the ONLY way to buy American is to buy local. If you need plates of silverware, go find a local artisan and have him/her make them. Need a shed? dont buy that nice china made tupperware one at Costco, pay a local builder to build you one. Same for furniture, etc... Anything else is china made or has china parts. The only thing you can not buy no matter how much cash you have is an American made computer or laptop. Someone assembling a bunch of china parts is not american made in my book. There are tons of local craftsmen and women that can make stuff for you that is made in america. Hire a seamstress or tailor to make your clothes... Buy at the farmers market not the supermarket, small butcher instead of Walmart. The textiles industry left for china years ago. All other industry is fleeing the country for higher profits. Greenville, MI is now a ghost town because the main employer decided that paying living wages is not worth it, they moved to Mexico where they can pay $12.00 a day to the employees instead. That story plays out all over this country, every one of us here has heard it and saw it or felt it.
  4. timgray
    It "technically" is my first time painting a bike. I have a great friend who is a hotrod artist, Kind of like the Boyd Coddington of Michigan who let me use his shop, and helped me with it. I learned a whole lot in a short amount if time. He taught me how to spray the different kinds of paint, how to do the airbrush and other effects. etc... He was the one that after my blue paint showed up showed me a test panel with the current colors on it and then said, you still want blue? I learned enough to do that kind of paint job again, like how spraying the metalflake is one ofthe most frustrating things in the world among other things. So I might have had some over the top professional help. Last night when my wife and I went for a ride to the local harley dealer shopping for new leathers, every rider there said they loved the paint and even some, "what is that bike? Yamaha? 83? you're kidding right?" I was also told by one guy, Nice Ducati! That one confused me a little.
  5. timgray
    Yup feels like a new bike. I love the rack on the tank as well. A buddy of mine copied the stock trunk rack to make a tank rack for me. Did not have it chromed.. The local chroming place wanted $350.00 to do the rack, so it's silver instead.
  6. timgray
    I'm all over that one, I'm in for a Condor Superbrace!
  7. timgray
    As promised here's the photos of the bike. Not bad for a guy's very first paint job attempt. It's all lacquer except for the clear. That's a new type of urethane that I cant scratch even with the keys and has so much UV additive in it that it was slightly yellow tinted. Firemist orange with gold and red metalflake in the clear. The graphics are painted on I sprayed a taped off black, then did a plastic wrap erriedes perl effect and then airbrushed in red and yellow candy over the perl in the stripe. The photographs simply dont show off the look or the color. Getting the old emblems off the bike really updates the look. I found a set of the newer Yamaha medallions for the saddlebags to cover the injection marks. I am still trying to decide if I want to re-logo the bike or not... It looks really good without the yamaha logos and venture logos on it. About 30 hours sanding the panels before priner, 15 hours painting and sanding, and another 8 hours sanding and polishing out the clear. I know, faded blue is the fastest color... I'll have to live with riding slower
  8. timgray
    On my second oil change away from MC oil and on the new silver cap Mobil 1 15W50 without the energy saving. Bike is still running better than before. My transmission shifts better than when I used the Yamalube. If anyone is wondering if it's safe, go for it. No clutch problems, and honestly the transmission runs far better than it ever had. less noise, easier shifting. This is on a clutch with 40,000 miles on it.
  9. timgray
    dead on. Get out and walk more and exercise more to get stronger for the bike. It really makes a big difference. After my winter of being a couch potato hiding indoors I cent move my bike as easily as I did in October when I put her up for the winter.
  10. timgray

    one album

    timgray replied to bj66's topic in Watering Hole

    Audiobook: US navy survival guide "survival evasion and recovery" Heck with music, I need to listen to track 4, "plants you can eat" a few more times. I figure the navy survival guide would have more island specific stuff in it.
  11. timgray
    It was incredible. Felt like a mid summer night. The bugs felt it too, I had a nice splattering all over the front and my helmet. Going to take photos today. I just hope the next 2 days are really nice so I can get the brakes bled, the pads changed so I can get in a serious ride this weekend. I need it ready for the blessing of the bikes in Baldwin next month.
  12. timgray
    Yup, Had a family plow into the rear of me at a stop light at nearly 30mph 4 years ago. rearended me and nailed the car so hard I was 30 feet past the intersection. when the officer arrived I pointed out that the 3 tiny kids in the car, and asked, where's the car seats? He said that he cant write them a ticket because he did not see the kids in the car when it was going down the road, I could not believe that.
  13. timgray
    This is not always true. My sister in law has rolled her car 4 times, hit a motorcyclist, been in several accidents that were her fault. None of those have her driving any safer, she just rolled her Yukon again a month ago, took a turn at 50mph while on the phone and not paying attention while in a "hurry". P.S. she is not dumb, she has 2 masters degrees. It's just that some people should not be allowed to drive, but it's really too easy to keep your license when you are wreckless and a danger to everyone around you. My sister in law is one of them, and she will hurt someone again.
  14. timgray
    After being at my friends for 5 months, torn apart, stripped naked, painted, reassembled.. I was going to wait and fix my brakes at his place, but having 65 degree weather here today, I had to bring her home. too dark to take any photos, The wife and daughter are speechless, they did not expect the change to be that dramatic. The change from the faded old scratched burgundy is drastic. I'll take some photos as soon as possible and post them here. What bothers me.... The box that has 4 left over screws... Why does that always happen, having spare parts left over.....
  15. timgray
    I've accidentally had mine up near 10,000 rpm. If it has a rev limiter then it's set higher than 10,000. P.S. 10,000 rpm at WOT sounds really neat.
  16. timgray
    Free super strong magnets can be found inside any old computer hard drive. Typical 2 of them that are dangerous to get near each other without mounting. Rip one open, harvest the magnets, stick it to the bike underside. Hobby lobby also sells some "super strong" magnets as well.
  17. timgray
    I recently (3 months ago) did the "donate" thing here. I bought a set of rotors with a donation attached, instead of $10 I put in $15.00. And yes, this place is unlike any other. I was on the "other" venture site for a while but liked the feel and openness of this place so I sat myself down here. All of you have helped me a lot, yes even you 2nd genners that like to stir the pot! Don helps me in almost every thread I start here. I am one who will gladly pony up, and as far as I am concerned I really hope that more than the regulars here do as well... This is not just a website.. WE are biker brothers, The Ventureriders. We stuff the hat to help a downed brother at meets and rallies, time to stuff the paypal hat of our latest downed brother.
  18. timgray
    Do it like we used to in the old days. Write him a letter and send him a 5'er in the US mail. They cant track CASH yet.
  19. timgray
    If it's 15W50 then it's probably OK. I have yet to find any that weight that is energy conserving. Problem is that it's not car oil. It's Diesel truck oil. Well maybe a Diesel car would use it.. but I'd never call it car oil.
  20. timgray
    After researching and looking at photos and an actual 86+ headlight for the 1st gens. I cant see a way to upgrade these with the projector headlights. The simplest way for those bikes will be to replace your headlight with a 83-85 unit and then use the plate and lights I will be making and sharing the designs for. Yamaha decided to save a lot of money simplifying the headlight assembly and in doing so reduced the modify-ability. I am moving forward on my 83 retrofit to newer headlights. More updates as I get further!
  21. timgray
    On the CMU board if you follow where the headlight wires go they go through a coil of wire that wraps around a a glass device. That glass device is a "reed" switch, They close in presence of a magnetic field. The coil makes a magnetic field when the headlight is working. if you short that glass device the CMS thinks that the headlight is still working and happy. The same setup is used for the brake lights as well. I was hoping to find a pinout of the CMS unit so I could write up a document on how to bypass alerts and other problems. If anyone has a DEAD CMS I'd be willing to disect it further to get more information for everyone about it's operation.
  22. timgray
    I see the same. My rear pads are down to paper thin while the front left is thick as the right one. I'm thinking it's because of air in the system going to the front causing the rear to grab more than the front (air acting as a relief spring at the triple tree point), After a full fluid change and bleeding I'll watch how my new set of pads wear.
  23. timgray
    I ordered a set at the price of 1 set of EBC I'll give them a try, Heck I need lots of practice changing brakes and bleeding.. any idea where they ship from? I cant find their location anywhere.
  24. timgray
    The luggage is all ABS just like all the other parts on the bike. ABS solvent with ABS filler fixes cracks really well. I fixed a few on mine before repaint. IF you go lightly you can fix the cracks from the inside and not warp the paint and surface on the outside. My front fender was split from the center rivet at the mudflap to the center top. I was able to repair this from the inside of the fender.
  25. timgray
    All that is already on the list... new Pad's showing up in 3 day,Got the springs waiting for later next month, I have a spare rear Resoivoir I bought lat year getting ready to go in case I blow mine apart. Someone already did that on this one, they welded up the all the cracks, I might just take it out completely and clean it out just for fun!
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