pegscraper

Yes, those are the parts. The 32mm Venture carbs are completely different than the 28s that you have, and that I used to have. On the 32s, the pilot screws are on the inside of the carb pack. I swapped the 32mm carbs into my bike and they gave a huge performance increase. I sold off my 28s so long ago I don't remember what they look like anymore. But I think you can get to everything right there without taking the tank or anything off. Someone had already drilled mine out when I got my bike, so I didn't even have to do that. I did get some plastic plugs to fit in the holes to keep dirt out, but the plugs kept falling out, so I quit worrying about it. Then I swapped the carbs anyway. Has it warmed up enough up there in Iceland to start riding yet?

They are on the outsides of the carbs, behind brass plugs. The plugs will have to be drilled out first. Then they are easily accessed. Be very careful not to bugger the screw heads with the drill bit when it breaks through the plugs. Backing these screw out a half turn or so should cure the popping problem.

Looks like fun. And hey, you haven't seen my workbenches. Might you be able to get that done this year, so you can get to adding some more states to your map?

A paddle river boat? Boy, you are looking to kill momentum, aren't you. There won't be one anywhere around me. BTW, how long after winning one can we jump back in and play again? I've been sitting out for a few that I could have gotten.

A lot of us have this video. A lot of us talk about watching the video. A lot of us recommend this video. But I never hear of anyone talking about their experiences trying these exercises. I've been on a handful of rides with others, and I don't get the impression that very many of us are actually practicing these. Is anyone actually getting out and trying this stuff? Let's hear some other's experiences. Today is the first really warm day we've had around here. We could ride around without feeling cold, and come back home and still not feel cold. I've been riding my bike for a couple weeks now. But Lori hasn't been on her bike for six months. She gave up early last fall. Over the winter I acquired a few old tennis balls from a tennis teacher friend of mine to cut in half and use for cones. So today Lori and I went to a parking lot and tried a few of these. I've been riding street bikes, dirt bikes, and three wheelers for the past 24 or so years, and I consider myself a relatively decent rider. Dirt bike experience definitely helps a lot in street riding skills. Even so I would have admitted that I could use some improvement in my low speed handling skills. But good grief. In my very first attempt at this, I felt like I was trying to drive a semi truck and trailer through a miniature golf course. The pros in the video sure make it look a lot easier than this. I got better pretty quick though. Not the best, but a lot better. Lori was doing pretty well too, especially for her first ride of the year. We only got through exercises 2 and 3 though. It was really quite a lot of fun. All we could do was laugh when we messed up and didn't do something right. Success, in that neither of us dumped our bikes either. I'm looking forward to getting out and doing some more of these again. Are some you getting out and trying these? Let's hear how you're doing.

I flat don't remember. But if anything, I'd bet it was from a link on another site.

Hey, if you two put something together down there in Indy, please let me know about it. I'll try to join you.

Here they are. I posted earlier to get myself to get these scanned. This is me about 18 years ago. Man I wish I could still get into that size of pants now. The Gibson guitar is an '89. It had a gorgeous flame top to it. I had seen many flame tops I didn't really like. I had picked up some push/pull volume controls which I was going to use to wire up different series/parallel pickup combinations. But the more I played it, I didn't really see a need. Being a rhythm boy, I seldom played anything but the bridge pickup. I never cut the excess string ends off at the tuning machines, and still don't. The Marshall is a JCM900 lead series. Soon after this pic I sold it and got the JCM900 dual channel model. Both of these had a quartet of EL34 power tubes in them, which were my favorite. These were the first models into which Jim Marshall designed the extra gain stage in the preamp, to design properly and offer from the factory what many customizers were doing a lousy job of in their home shops. That extra gain stage gave those amps some serious balls. The Gibson Discoverer Tremolo was in excellent condition, not a ding nor a tear in the covering anyplace. It was a fantastic little amp. It had a pair of EL84 tubes in it, which when run at their max, man they would really sing. It sounded real similar to the Vox amps, and IIRC it had the same power tubes in it as they do. I replaced the power supply caps in it when I got it, as like most old tube amps, they had gone bad and it would hum loudly. Sometimes I miss this stuff, but oh well, that was then, this is now. What kind of amp do you like to use? I don't think I've seen that mentioned here. With a Stratocaster, I'm going to guess Fender equipment. This vacuum tube guitar amplifier equipment spoiled me for wanting vacuum tubes in all my audio equipment. To this day, my main stereo is a Fisher 400, which I saved from someone's trash pile when I was in junior high. The thing must be over 40 years old. All vacuum tubes. I tried a couple solid state amps in there for a while, because after all, if the latest technology wasn't better, they wouldn't be using it, right? Hah! Solid state sucks. Those things are in my shop now where they get dirty and beat around. It's all they're good for. And the vacuum tubes are back in my audio rack. I'm in the middle of building my own vacuum tube preamp using 6SN7s and 6SL7s, and a class A push pull power amp using some 6SN7s and KT88s. I love those octal tubes. The chassis look nice, but they're not wired up yet. There are a couple other designs I'd like to build also, like a single ended design and also a direct coupled design - no capacitors in the signal path, but I can't do everything at once. I'm glad you and Carson are getting along. That's also a great thing for a teenager. Dad and I never got along, and it never got any better as I got older. We haven't spoken to each other in several years now.

I would either still be riding the '81 XS1100 that I used to have, or else I would have gotten a Valkyrie, probably the red and white '97.

Wow, that's fantastic. I do like the popup info boxes on this board. I use them in other areas, but I hadn't figured that one out. Are these popup boxes a feature available with this particular board software that you purposefully turned on? I wish that other boards had that feature, but very few seem to.

http://web.mac.com/bradandbeth/for_sale/Home.html April Fools day is over.

Wow, what a fantastic opportunity for a teenager, to be able to visit that bus. It looks like you and she have a blast together. I'm a Gibson man myself. I used to own an '89 Les Paul standard with a Marshall 100W half stack, as well as a mid '60s Discoverer Tremolo practice amp. I've been meaning to scan some pictures I have and put them up here. I always liked the fat crunch of a humbucker, and the tone quality that a slightly shorter string scale and slightly lesser string tension of the Les Paul gives. I think the covers on my pickups lasted about a day before I took them off. I never knew what to do with a whammy bar anyway. Obviously I was best at rhythm. I have long since sold all this stuff off though, as life moved on and I just didn't have the time to play anymore. Now I have a Washburn 6 string acoustic that I don't even play enough to keep my fingertips broken in. After reading this post a few nights ago I got inspired to get it out and play, and my fingertips still hurt. Most of the stuff I used to know doesn't translate real well to an acoustic anyway. At this point I sort of wish I had a classical guitar. I would probably do more with that than anything. But I wish a lot of things. I'll see if I can get some pics up here for you soon.

It's rare that I don't see a state flag in someone's post. The problem is that I don't know all 50 states' flags.

I wonder if what you're talking about is the so called "Jason Mod". The idea is to use a short section of vacuum line to connect the front and rear intake boots together through the vacuum ports used for syncing the carbs, and it can be done on any Venture or Royal Star, not just the 1st gen. Jason thinks that this emulates the V boost system from the V Max. The fact is that the V boost passages are 32mm in diameter, and little 1/8" vacuum lines connected to the sync ports can't flow enough air and fuel to do anything more than make the engine act like it has a vacuum leak and idle rough. It does nothing for power or gas mileage. If you'd like to have a rough idle, then try it out. But don't expect any miracles otherwise. Jason Mod = Joke.

A little bit of information on the V Max ignition boxes. Thanks. I can use that.

Well, here's the report on the R1/R6 calipers. I had installed them a couple weeks ago, and put some riding time on them. They seemed adequate. I could feel that they operated differently, but I can't say they felt like any real improvement. The difference I was feeling was that the brakes would engage sooner in the lever travel. It took a lot of hand effort to operate them, which is not an issue for me. But they just didn't feel like they were stopping me any better. I was less than excited. I was beginning to think I was chasing ghosts, that I was simply expecting too much out of an 800 lb. bike. Squeeze had said here that the R1/R6 calipers were designed to be used with a 14mm master cylinder, where our bikes have a 5/8" master cylinder stock (real close to 16mm). What that means is that with our bigger diameter master cylinder, the caliper pistons will move farther for a given amount of master cylinder piston (or brake lever) travel. To say it another way, it means that the mechanical advantage of the master cylinder over the caliper pistons is reduced. Squeeze suggested that I get the 14mm master cylinder with which these calipers were designed to be used and give that a try. With that, the master cylinder will travel farther for a given amount of caliper piston travel, and the mechanical advantage at the brake lever will be increased. So I got one and got it installed today, and went for a ride. MAMMA MIA HOLY MOTHER OF MOSES what a set of brakes! Good gravy! I was beginning to think it wasn't possible for any brakes at all to have this kind of stopping power on a bike this heavy. I did a number of quick stops, and as I learned the new feel of these brakes, I did a few from 60 mph where I braked all the way down to a dead stop. I heard creaks and groans from stress in the front end of this bike I've never heard before. I was half afraid I was going to wind up standing on the front tire. Even one tiny pebble under the front tire at that point probably would have spelled major disaster. The real test now would be to put some time on these brakes, and then go back to the stock setup and see if I thought the braking power dropped. One can often be convinced that they see whatever result it is that they want to see in a case like this. I may or may not do that, but I'll put some time on these first to really get used to them. I really don't think I'm off base though. This is too great of a difference to be imagining things. Needless to say, I'd recommend this modification to anyone who wishes they had more stopping power out of their front brakes. It turns out that my bike already had four piston front calipers. In fact, I learned that they are the same thing as V Max front calipers. V Max owners have been doing this R1/R6 front caliper swap for quite a while now. Second gen RSVs and RSTDs have only two piston front brake calipers. I can't think that they're even as good as what I had. I used R1/R6 calipers on mine. Those anodized colored aluminum bore plugs don't really look right on our bikes. That's a sportbike look. I already had big chrome caliper covers on mine, which will require a little tweak to clear the new hose location and I will put them back on. At the very least one would want to put the small calipers covers on, which are still available. A slightly better way to go would be to use the calipers from newer Roadstars or Roadliners or Stratoliners or even Raiders. Some Warrior calipers may work, but the newest model of Warrior has gone to a different style of caliper. All these calipers from these models already have chrome bore plugs in them, and some of them have the whole caliper chromed. These wouldn't need any covers at all. Some of them have black bodies and some are natural aluminum color. The 'Liners and Raiders have a different style of bore plug than the Roadstars. It's all just a difference in looks. They're all four piston calipers with 100mm mounting bolt spacing. Any of them would work here. Just make sure to get ones that have the same basic mounting bolt and body configuration. If they look like they will fit, they will. There is a newer style of caliper filtering into Y's bikes that will not fit, but when you look at them, it is obvious that they are a different style. I'm not going to take the time to figure out all the years and models which will have the calipers that we need. Just make sure to match up a similar body style. As far as the 14mm master cylinders go, the Roadstars' and Warriors' master cylinders are identical to ours in looks, except that they have the different piston diameter - at least the ones with this style of caliper do. The piston diameter is cast right into the back of the reservoir next to the fluid inspection window, where you can see it from the seat. It will be either 14 or 5/8, so you can tell what you're looking at even if the thing is off of the bike. There are brushed aluminum with a clear finish units available, and the midnights have chromed units, so pick whatever matches your bike. The Raiders' and 'Liners' master cylinders have a different style to them and wouldn't match the looks of our bikes. The only other minor issue is that because of the new brake hose mounting location on these calipers, now the existing brake hoses are a shade too long, and require a twist in them to mount which makes them buckle out a little bit. If it doesn't bother you, then they're fine. But hoses from a Roadstar with these calipers would probably fit against the bike a little better. Now might be a good time to go to braided hoses. The big chrome caliper covers from Show Chrome made to fit our bikes might not fit now with these calipers, because of the new brake hose mounting location. But I'd bet that the model designed to fit the Roadstars that have these calipers would now fit. Now let's see some of the rest of you do this and hear reports from someone else. There's no substitute for good brakes. Just do it.

I'd chalk it up to rider inexperience. A passenger is going to weigh whatever they weigh. What's the difference if the additional weight is a person or if it's a pile of luggage? A load is a load, and a heavy load will make the bike handle very differently. The person - actually any passenger regardless of size - should be advised not to shift their weight from side to side and be careful how they move even their arms around. With a little practice, a large passenger or other heavy load should not be an issue.

That little thing reads the intake manifold vacuum and controls the part throttle spark advance, like the vacuum advance unit on the side of an old car distributor. Under part throttle, it will advance the spark to get better gas mileage. Under full throttle, it will retard the spark to prevent detonation. I saw how to test one once somewhere, and I tested one, but I don't remember where I saw that or just how I did it. IIRC, It requires a VOM and a vacuum pump with a gauge.

There's just not all that much to it.

A half underground house? There is one a couple miles from where the roof goes almost right to the ground. This still doesn't look good though.

Twenty thousand miles out of a tire is absolutely terrible. And I don't know of anyone who has gotten even that much out of a MT. I suppose you do, but precious few get anywhere near that. Fourteen thousand is more like it, and some don't even get that. I routinely get 80,000 miles out of tires, and I've gotten more than that on occasion. On my cars, yes, and they weigh a lot more than twice what my bike weighs. There's no excuse for MTs wearing out as fast as they do. But why should a manufacturer ever put out a tire that lasts longer? They have us all buying them at the current rate. And as long as all us happy campers are buying them, there's no way they'll make a tire that lasts longer. It would only kill their own income. They're gouging us and they know it. And I know it.

Oh no. More Venturerider folks falling for an April Fools joke? And one from another site no less?

They aren't price gouging per se. They are lifetime-of-the-tire gouging. They can make tires last longer than they do and they know it. And I know it. Indeed, pegscraping happens all the time.

That summer air/winter air thing was discussed a while back. It was decided that it's actually better to use winter air all year long because winter air, being cooler, is more dense. I'm going to be getting myself a dedicated air compressor with a large enough tank on it so that I can run it in the winter to pump up the tank and it will supply my tire inflating needs all year long. That way I can run winter air all the time.

Man, I'm never going to live that down. That was a little late in the year for April Fools too. Top the bottle off with gas. Yes, without the gas in it, the stabilizer will go bad. They have a symbiotic relationship. While you're at it, don't forget to rotate your tires front to back this spring, you know, like we do on cars. And get the caster and camber adjustments for the front wheel checked out on your bike, too. Riding the bike with the front end out of alignment will cause the tire to wear badly.