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Dave77459

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Everything posted by Dave77459

  1. Dave77459
    I asked my navigator what she does, but couldn't find this post to reply! Now that I see it, our conversation was like this: Me: (Quoted original post) Any advice? She: Look a little to the left, then a little to the right. Maybe her seat on the touring bike is not far enough back. I get to see other things besides the back of your helmut. Me: Can you see to the front? Do you try, or do you just look out the sides? She: When I want to see to the front, I just lean a little to the right. But its not something I do a lot of the time. That’s why I don’t see all the stuff you see. I was struck while listening to a conversation between passengers on a recent trip, at how much they see that I don't. They talked about all these sights they saw... for example, all of them saw the cool barn with three deer in front. They all saw the old man fishing in the stream. I didn't see any of that... I was piloting the bike, enjoying the driving. I have frequently wondered why she likes to ride with me. I have concluded it is because she enjoys the things she can do while riding, like I do. It's just a different list of things. Dave
  2. Dave77459
    I do believe that on the way to work last Friday, I was way past the legal limit on the freeway in 2nd gear. My RSTD (and I guess other 2nd gens) handles far different than other bikes I've had. And it was very difficult to learn to do it... until I put on Road King pipes. Suddenly, winding it out sounded like an F1 race car, and it is thrilling to do so. One of my favorite moments from a group ride to Arkansas a week ago was when I was leading on the way home. All weekend one of the riders on his anniversary edition H-D kept talking about how he'd gotten performance upgrades, etc etc. I pulled out rather quickly from a stop on backroads in OK, and I guess the H-D took it as a challenge. He whomped it and I heard him bleat, so I twisted the throttle while still in first gear. He did inch up until I was near the rev limit. I put it in 2nd and he gave up far behind me before I was wound out. So much for his fancy bike and upgrades. Plus, he got to listen to my F1 sounds, which are loud when on throttle. Anyways, the point is that these bikes are just different. As for the max speed, I think that big windshield makes the bike a bit wonky over 100mph. Er, or so I've heard. Dave
  3. Dave77459
    Wish I had that deal. In a year, I've had the 16K service, the 26.6K service, and am fixin' to get the 16K again soon. I'll have recovered that $900 at least twice inside 18 months. Dave
  4. Dave77459
    Did a drive by yesterday to see if there was a good meeting place near the first exit on 45 south of BW8. There is a McD's there, and a Shell adjacent. Then, a quick on-ramp just past. Only thing is, that there is the airshow this weekend and this is the Ellington Field exit. Weaves could be a problem. Should we relocate our meeting place? Dave
  5. Dave77459
    Very interesting alarm. A few things struck me as interesting, but I don't know if I understand completely: New Mini siren included with optional input for bike horn - I like the idea of having my air horn go off when someone screws with the bike. THAT will scare the crap out of people and certainly get attention. Is that what this feature means? Built in starter disable - Does this mean that when I walk away, the starter won't work? Separate dedicated siren and horn outputs - Does this mean that the remote will sound the horn? Not that it has ever happened, but I like the idea of being able to find my bike at a rally when there are zillions of other bikes and I forget where mine is. Is this thing a PITA to install? Dave
  6. Dave77459
    When I take my work computer home, I boot into Linux using an external drive. Can XP boot off an external? That's easy. Sometimes at the office when I need to do things like burn DVDs (yeah, our corporate licensed DVD software doesn't have a version for XP64 so I am S.O.L.) I use a flashdrive. Dave
  7. Dave77459
    I run Windows XP64 at the office, and Linux/Ubuntu at home. My 800Mhz 1GB 5-year old home computer feels more nimble in about every way compared to the 2.39Ghz Core 2 Duo office workstation with 4GB RAM. My 3 year old kid's computer with the 1.2Ghz processor and 2GB RAM runs circles around this IT-bloated P.O.S. XP64 machine. All the other computers were running Linux except the kids'. They felt they needed Windows to prepare their reports for school. They also felt they needed to run Limewire and other malware. When they begged me to buy them a new computer, I bought a new hard disk, made their existing disk the second drive, and installed Ubuntu. They were amazed how much a difference there was in speed. They use and like OpenOffice (to replace MS Office), and they like the music player better than iTunes. They even like the screen saver better. There have been -0- complaints, and it runs for months without rebooting. I don't recall needing to go to the command prompt, even though I am an command line guy from CPM and DOS times. All that set aside, like I said I am running XP64 here. It is like Vista64 but with none of the benefits. I have to hack everything to get it to work. For example, iTunes refuses to install because it does a version check and XP64 just fails. So I hack the installation script to let it install. I search for half a day to find a printer driver whenever they change printers. Is there an upgrade path to Windows 7 from XP64? I might ask my office to let me go outside the normal channels and be their Win7 tester. That will be a tough sell, since IT knows so much more than me and they have a fortress mentality. But I also have one of the handful of 64-bit machines out of 30 or 40,000 computers. Dave
  8. Dave77459
    If they drove in the rain yesterday, they should love our weather today. It's a Chamber of Commerce day! Dave
  9. Dave77459
    I like your solution. I don't have a problem, but your solution is neat. It would be tough on my housingless RSTD. But I have been thinking about one of these Master Cylinder Cover Accessory Switches. I am getting shorts in my passing lamp, and it always traces back to the on/off toggle on the lamp housing. I might rewire, and I'd have two other buttons. Dave
  10. Dave77459
    -and- How come when I added it to my cart and went towards checkout, they added $47 in shipping...? Ah! I accidentally upgraded my shipping to 3-day. Standard UPS residential is free (+$5). Thanks for all the good information! Dave
  11. Dave77459
    Have a good, safe trip. Send up a flare if you need something when you arrive. Welcome to Texas! Dave
  12. Dave77459
    Thank you everyone for your comments. You learn so much here! Thanks for the link. Including $47.62 in shipping, the tire is $172.61 from Dennis Kirk. I wouldn't pay shipping for the local tire, but with taxes it is $166.69. In possibly 10 days. I'm not sure I've found the best deal yet, but I do appreciate knowing that someone has a supply. Dave
  13. Dave77459
    WTH? Looking at the link posted above, I see you are right. I wonder what he quoted for me that would take a day or three to arrive???? This place has always seemed so reputable. Maybe it is just the fellah I was dealing with. SWMototires is also out of MV85HB-15 E3s. Frustrating! BTW, the tire I have on now had a Motorcycle Superstore sticker on it when I bought it. Dave
  14. Dave77459
    I was riding with V7Goose when he cut his circumnavigation of Texas short because the read Avon was shot. I sorta knew it, but I didn't expect the tire to expire so blamed quickly! I am having trouble locating online sites that have the Elite IIIs in 150/90HB-15. The Motorcycle Superstore has an MV85HB (== 150/90HB) in the 15 inch rim and it is out of stock. It is $130. I wonder why the tire guy would say it is? Thanks for the info. Dave
  15. Dave77459
    I had an emergency tire change this past weekend while on a trip in Arkansas. I had checked my Avon Venoms before the trip, and with 6000 miles on them I thought I was golden. At the Queen Wilhemina Hotel on the Talimena Parkway near Mena, AR, one of our group spotted cords. And not just a few. I had mistreated the tire, letting it run low on a trip. I knew it would have a shortened life, but in 500 miles it had gone through the bars and into the cords. The one tire I could find in Mena on a Saturday was a 150/80-15 IRC Wild Flare. So I am running the wrong size with a tire dubious effectiveness. (Anyone every heard of this tire?) I don't think the Avon was defective, but I am ready to try something new. My local shop here doesn't stock Dunlop Elite IIIs (they called them GoldWing tires??). It will take 5-10 days to get one for $153.99. That seems like a decent price, but I want to ride next Friday. When I inquired about getting an Avon Venom, I was informed that they were replaced with the Avon Cobra. I can get one for $147.99 by Saturday. What is the difference between the Cobra and the Venom? I was told they have an extra channel to improve wet performance. Should I wait 10 days for the Elite 3, or is the Cobra a good tire? Dave
  16. Dave77459
    Do you want to depart from there around 9? Earlier? I think last year we got there pretty early and had breakfast. We were there early enough to get free parking! Dave
  17. Dave77459
    I was amazed to see that on page 11 of the December 2009 issue of Motorcycle Cruiser, my "letter" to the editor was published. The amazing thing is, it was a tweet. That is, I messaged the editor via Twitter, and it was published! Dave
  18. Dave77459
    Echoing what V7Goose says, from a different direction, I cannot recommend the Motion Pro Syncpro. [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38904]Discussed here[/ame]. Dave
  19. Dave77459
    Thanks! That's my daughter and she gets her good looks from me. Dave
  20. Dave77459
    I'll say this: I left home at in the pre-dawn and left Texas at just about sundown. I rode all day and I was still in Texas. LOL If I head west from Houston, 1000 miles puts me around Tucson, AZ. 1500 miles puts me in San Diego. Submit your documents and prepare to wait. They say there's a 2 month backlog, or more. Congrats again! Dave
  21. Dave77459
    This turned out to be just what they did. The service manager lifted on the front of the cover while the mechanic unscrewed it. The manager pulled up harder than I did... thus the success. Having four hands seemed to help, too. The manager also thought they might have overtightened it when it was in for service. His advice to me: "don't tighten it" when I get it home. I will be taking it off when I get home. I originally wanted it off to give a good coat of wax. But when it was in, the service manager pulled off the rubber tank mount boot. So now the tank goes off so I can reattach it properly. *sigh* Thanks for the suggestion. It worked! Dave
  22. Dave77459
    Congrats! You did it in 3 hours less than I did. I find it interesting to see where an ironbutt will get you. Mine was from Houston to Denver. Yours was from NJ to Orlando. You just seemed to have gone so much further. Dave
  23. Dave77459
    First of all, great choice of bike! The '06 Midnight Tour Deluxe is the sexiest. So, if it wasn't clear, what is done is that the stock turn signals end up hanging below the passing lamps on a new curved bar. (Before/After photos below) You buy the mounting bar (P/N STR-1D635-40-00) and then choose either sealed beam (STR-4NK35-10-00) or halogen (STR-4NK35-10-01) lamps. I bought the halogen and I am very happy. I was not so happy about the installation by the dealer, which turned the lamps off when I turned on highbeams. Lots of advice here on this site about how to do it properly using a relay. I'd snoop around until I understand. (Took me a while!) If I might suggest projects for you, I would first install an auxiliary fuse box under the seat. Then you can branch out to the front and back, and have a solid place to grab energy from. Good luck, and have fun! Dave http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3079/2770920679_c54131da7d.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3066/2831465795_181a9626a7.jpg
  24. Dave77459
    I'm calling my dealer tomorrow because of issues caused by my last service. Caps were left off the large screws holding on my fuel tank, and had I not checked, the rubber boot on the right wide would be a goner. It was hanging by a thread. The front right screw holding on the ignition cover is [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41855]not coming out[/ame]. It looks to have been overtightened. I want them to remove it... if someone is gonna screw it up, it will be them. Oh yeah, three out of the four clear plastic washers are now missing from there. Seems like small things to complain about, but I have no doubt that little bolt caps and little plastic washers are $15 parts at Yamaha. More serious is the damage I got on my first visit to the shop. They seemed to have backed the bike into something, so my right saddlebag is deeply scarred on the corner. I didn't notice it until I got home, so I couldn't prove they did it (didn't try, tho). On my first longish trip, my shifter fell off. The bolt wiggled loose. I used one of the spare screws from my fuse cover to hold it on. I asked the dealer to replace it, since they had done all the service thus far. They claimed it was improper maintenance, but they had done the maintenance immediately before the trip! Anyways, after bugging them for the "special screw" for months, I took it in for service. When I got the bike back, they had installed a new bolt... a regular hex-head, not the special screw. That's when I started doing my own maintenance except for the unusual heavy stuff. And that's when I discovered they either didn't do a carb sync or did it wrong--it was way off, fresh from the shop. In short, I know there are good Yamaha shops, but mine isn't one of them. Dave
  25. Dave77459
    Your route got a nibble of interest from the organizer. Is 215 paved all the way to Hwy 23? Our maps show it turning to a country road, and then unpaved? Dave
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