uncledj

I had a friend on a Harley Nightrain, who was next to me on my First Gen at a red light ask...."Geez...is that thing even running?"...and laughed. That was the last thing said before I dusted that bike.

Ya can't keep a good man down. See ya at MD.

Best wishes for a quick recovery... I'll bet Puc can still out-type most of us, even if he's down to 1 finger....on the wrong hand.... This man can put out the text.....and pics.....and video....but always with plenty of positive energy...or good Karma....or whatever you call it, but it's all good. Heal well my friend.

"Tube-steak specialist"???? That just don't sound right. lol Cool trailer though.

A few years back I was rewiring a large Carrier air handler and had 3 bad relays,....new off the shelf. I ended up taking one apart for inspection, and there was a white, chalky substance (oxidation?) on the contacts. I showed this to the supplier when I returned them......The only comment he could make was "Made in Mexico......what'd ya expect". Major brand relay...Mars. In my trade I've learned to question everything, including brand new parts.

I don't think I need one for the second gen, but probably should put one on the first gen. If ya still have one, I'll take it.

I've no complaints. I might talk to him once every couple of weeks. See him maybe 3 times a year. I do my thing, .....do it well....no one messes with me.

T HE F INAL T OAST ! They bombed Tokyo 73 years ago. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/galf-j/flower2.gif [TABLE=width: 800] [TR] [TD]They once were among the most universally admired and revered men in the United States . There were 80 of the Raiders in April 1942, when they carried out one of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders2.jpg Now only four survive. After Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling and wounded, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around. Even though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the United States to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen B-25s were modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. This had never before been tried -- sending such big, heavy bombers from a carrier. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders3.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders4.jpg The 16 five-man crews, under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who himself flew the lead plane off the USS Hornet, knew that they would not be able to return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to make it to China for a safe landing. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders5.jpg But on the day of the raid, the Japanese military caught wind of the plan. The Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out in the Pacific Ocean than they had counted on. They were told that because of this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety. And those men went anyway. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders6.jpg They bombed Tokyo and then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed; 11 more crews bailed out, and three of the Raiders died. Eight more were captured; three were executed. Another died of starvation in a Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders7.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders8.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders9.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders10.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders11.jpg The Doolittle Raiders sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and to the rest of the world: We will fight. And, no matter what it takes, we will win. Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national heroes, models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride." http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders12.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders13.jpg Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to commemorate the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In 1959, the city of Tucson, Arizona, as a gesture of respect and gratitude, presented the Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet was engraved with the name of a Raider. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders14.jpg http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders15.jpg Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned upside down in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn witness. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders16.jpg Al so in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac. The year is not happenstance: 1896 was when Jimmy Doolittle was born. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders17.jpg There has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders, they would open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades who preceded them in death. As 2013 began, there were five living Raiders; then, in February, Tom Griffin passed away at age 96. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders18.jpg What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane over a mountainous Chinese forest after the Tokyo raid, he became ill with malaria, and almost died. When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat missions. He was shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner of war camp. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders19.jpg The selflessness of these men, the sheer guts ... there was a passage in the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Mr. Griffin that, on the surface, had nothing to do with the war, but that was emblematic of the depth of his sense of duty and devotion: "When his wife became ill and needed to go into a nursing home, he visited her every day. He walked from his house to the nursing home, fed his wife and at the end of the day brought home her clothes. At night, he washed and ironed her clothes. Then he walked them up to her room the next morning. He did that for three years until her death in 2005." http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders20.jpg So now, out of the original 80, only four Raiders remain: Dick Cole (Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They have decided that there are too few of them for the public reunions to continue. The events in Fort Walton Beach marked the end. It has come full circle; Florida's nearby Eglin Field was where the Raiders trained in secrecy for the Tokyo mission. The town planned to do all it can to honor the men: a six-day celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner and a parade. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders21.jpg Do the men ever wonder if those of us for whom they helped save the country have tended to it in a way that is worthy of their sacrifice? They don't talk about that, at least not around other people. But if you find yourself near Fort Walton Beach this week, and if you should encounter any of the Raiders, you might want to offer them a word of thanks. I can tell you from first hand observation that they appreciate hearing that they are remembered. The men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a later date -- sometime this year -- to get together once more, informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there are only two of them. They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets. And raise them in a toast to those who are gone. http://www.shangralafamilyfun.com/2014/raiders22.jpg[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Their 70th Anniversary Photo

WOW !!! Looks Great !!!

A well reasoned, expertly articulated response to this situation....whatever it was.... I don't care what any of y'all think.....I KNOW that my 06 Black Cherry RSV with the pillow top seat is the best lookin' production cruiser ever built !!! That's not to say there's some real lookers out there, but I never fell in love with them like I did with my RSV. Differing opinions welcome.

I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

I suffer from these problems, same as many of you, but I find the worst thing I can do is to put something somewhere "special" so I'll remember where it is later...... I may as well throw it out.... The bad thing is I keep doing it, thinking this time it won't be a problem......it always is.

Can't remember where I saw it but there was a fella who cut a hole in the top of his saddlebag big enough for his little dogs head to fit out of, but not big enough for the dog to climb through. Put the dog in the saddlebag and close the lid....dog sticks his head through the hole and he's stylin'. .....was a pretty good idea.

I'm teaching my dog to ride my first gen...I'll ride the second gen right alongside him. He's very smart.

I wouldn't be comfortable doing it, ....but that's just me. We still have a few freedoms left in the ol' US, and one of them is to do things that others may not consider wise. Assuming that's the kids dad, it's up to the dad (within reason) to determine what he wants his son to get away with. Heck, you could make the case that it's irresponsible to let a kid have a dirt bike at all....or play sports.....or leave the house... I was 6 when I first shot a .44 magnum. My older brother was right there with me....then made me put on his motorcycle helmet first, which was a good thing, 'cause the recoil came back and the hammer put a nick in the helmet right where my forehead was. I'd say that he took reasonable care letting a child (me) fire that weapon. The result, all these years later is that I'm comfortable with, knowledgeable and respectful of and proficient with firearms. If you keep kids in a protective bubble, they'll miss a lot in life. I'm sure that ride was illegal....but then there's pretty much a law against doing anything these days. Discretion of the prosecutor in this Nation of Men. Anyhoo, I wouldn't do it, but am not upset that they did...and happy that it turned out OK....as far as we know.

I always tell the young folks I run into that if you're gonna get your hands dirty for a living, it doesn't get much better than what I do. (Commercial / industrial HVAC {sometimes refrigeration} service). Best to get a Union gig, but not the only way to go. Pay scales vary, but generally 60 -100 k per year, a fair share of freedom, respect, and a decent pension / retirement waitin' when you're done. I've been around a bit before I committed to this trade...it was a good move. Just sayin'.

Just got home. Okie dokie, I won't worry about it until I hear otherwise from you. For what it's worth, I literally have buckets and boxes of controls, transformers, contactors, relays, temp / pressure switches and the like. Lately I've been thinking about giving the stuff away to make room, so don't worry about me needing something after I get rid of it.....I'd be sure to have a few more lying around somewhere. Anyhoo, best of luck. I wish you lived a bit closer....a modification / upgrade shouldn't be a big deal for someone familiar with this stuff.

Are you sure you're not having a line voltage power problem? Something fishy there. Heading out the door now, but I'll take another look at the info for that control. I think that if it's not too much trouble it may be worth putting in a newer style controller. I should have parts laying around that you can have to do it. Transformers generally don't have low output unless there's a low input. They also generally don't fail unless they're grossly overloaded to the point where they heat up and eventually short out.

Motorcycles and mud or gravel just don't mix. Been through my share of mud on dirt bikes, but never liked it much. That's an environment best tackled on 4 wheels. I remember once on my Yamaha TT500 going through a pond too deep for the bike, so I was trying to get through it by staying near the edge. The water was about 18" deep where I was, so I couldn't see what was under the water, and the front wheel found something it didn't like and I went down, with the entire bike going under, except for one end of the handlebar. I must've been right on the edge of the deep part 'cause I went into the pond and went completely under. I got up, pulled the bike upright and started pushing it through the pond. Very tough to push, but that's when I was young and strong. I got it to where the motor was out of the water, and figured what the heck, and gave it a couple of kicks and to my astonishment, it started. (kinda) It was sputtering and spitting but I rode it the rest of the way out of the pond, and after about 10 minutes running it on dry ground it straightened itself out. I was pretty impressed with that old Yammy. Hell of a hill climber too.

Looks completely out of it's element. Get that baby clean, warm and dry.

When I was young, (early 20s) I worked as a union laborer, and was working on a dam renovation. The backside of the dam was sloped about 60 degrees, and we were tied off with harnesses and would repel up and down the dam drilling holes and inserting rebar that would help hold the new concrete facing on. I was doing my thing when the big guy showed up. (Company owner) He was a real pr**k, and everyone knew that when he showed up you better be busy or be hidden. I was hanging maybe 40' down from the top and was climbing back to the top when he happened to show up. I could tell he was agitated when he walked up to me and asked if the rope I was using reached all the way to the bottom. Figuring this was a safety question, I said yes...He said "Gimme that rope".....which I promptly did. There he was in slacks, dress shoes, shirt and tie and started climbing down the dam. I later found out he was trying to get to the bottom in a hurry to fire an operator he had an issue with. Well, of course...the rope ended about 20' from the bottom...OH S**T...!!! He was in his mid 60s and couldn't climb back up, but had plenty of energy to scream expletives up at me while others scampered to get a rolling scaffold up to get him. I figured I was done, and was scared, but still trying not to laugh as they brought him up where he proceeded to ream me for 15 minutes or so. I was kind of the dumba$$ hero of the day, and at the end of it, he didn't fire me, but went down and fired the operator, who was back two days later anyway. (Unjustified firing,....Union brought him back)...Turns out he just didn't like that guy, and figured he could fire him for some made up reason....didn't work. I knew the operator, and he was an old timer just biding his time until retirement watching over the air compressor. Good guy. Anyhoo, That was in the mid 80s and that story still goes around all these years later..lol.

WOW !!! Good for you....Congrats. I'm SOOOO jealous. 13 years to go. Hope I can make it. The ladders, toolbags and motors that I'm taking up on roofs seem to be getting heavier every year. sigh.....

Welcome. You've stumbled upon the best resource available for these old gems. We've some very knowledgeable folks who can get ya an answer to virtually any question about a Venture. With an 86, I'd say it's a First Gen, MKII. Looking forward to your posts.

​ Allrightie then.

My niece lives in San Miguel? (I think that's what it's called), about an hour and a half North of Mexico City. She drives back and forth to Central Ohio a few times a year, and says Mexico is very safe, until you get around the US Border. She says she gets gassed up in Texas and doesn't stop until she's at least 2 or 3 hours South of the border. Once she's well into Mexico she's safe. Anyhoo, that's what she says. She's been living there for about 7 years or so.