Squidley

I'll toss this in fwiw... I had one of the Houston crews '05 RSTD while he was in Joplin MO with FEMA. He wanted me to ride his bike to keep it up and I did just that. I rode it every day and performed all the maintenance on it for 6 months. It never got good mileage, ever. It was synced properly and the bike ran great, lots of power. I have always wondered why it never got as good mileage as say an RSV or even a 1st gen which is usually in the upper 30's low 40's. The bike at best would get 35 and 32 was the norm. It might just be the nature of the beast with the RSTD's

Brian, I am trying to visualize which bolt you are talking about. Could you take a pic, or post a link to a parts breakdown. My 1st thought is to install a helicoil in it, but I really am curious as to which one your talking about...

All the best with your surgery, I hope you can get the relief you need

Happy Anniversary You 2!!!

Add 4 more on to the 4 that Lonna spoke for, so 8 of them between the both of us....Thanks Bro

All the best to you Paul, I know you'll get through it all, the time has come my friend

Dave, Check your starter button, mine sticks on my '83 and this will make it where the headlight and dash lights do not come on. The bike will start and run just fine, but no lights. The button gets sticky and doesn't fully come back into the neutral position and thus keeps the circut from being complete...

I agree with you Brian, doing what you love and going out that way isn't a terrible thing. I'm sure it was quite fast and probably not much suffering.

I know it's what Don would like for us to do, y'all had a special place in his heart as well

I like this idea Dan, we can pick a date and as many of our VR members in different states can set up a M&E and we can all ride in honor of Gunboat....great idea!

Annie....we can work on that, lets see how things play out. I have to get ahold of customer relations at Blue Bell and I'll fill them in on what we are planning. Let me see how it all will fit together and if we can accommodate it while your here in Texas, we will.

Hal, His hand still guides us, he will always be with us, especially this Houston crew, he was our patriarch. I totally believe you, it's just like you to make the wrong turn (GPS guided) and pull up next to that, that is so funny I had to laugh out loud! We wont be doing a ride immediately, we'll let things settle down and we'll plan something towards the middle or end of next month.

I have been pondering this all today and yesterday, and nothing has really jumped out at me. I'm leaning towards renaming the exceptional member the Gunboat award. I also think we should let this run for a bit, not every good idea comes in a few days. Don did embody what the exceptional member award is all about. Someone that goes above and beyond to help a fellow member. Don will always be a hero to me, he has set the standard high for who I need to be, and I will strive to be like him in as many ways as I can....

That is a great idea, I'm not sure right off the top of my head of the criteria, but I absolutely agree that we should have one!

Here some pics of that breakdown Jerry, it turned out to be his battery. We were leaning towards the R/R and I took the one off my new '08 that I had just bought, that wasn't it, so we swapped it back and I took my new battery out of that same bike and thats what the problem was. I remember I told him that if we couldn't get it fixed that I was going to take my trailer and drive him back to Texas....I remember that like it was yesterday

Good luck for his team and their quest for the gold

Paul, After I got a better grip on this yesterday, I started thinking along the same lines. I spoke with Lonna and Monkey Boy about it last night. There WILL be some sort of a memorial ride in Don's honor. I am actually thinking of making it an annual thing. Don was bouncing around the idea of a M&E ride to Blue Bell Ice Cream plant in Brenham Texas. I am strongly leaning towards that being the memorial ride in his honor. We'll get past this and then we'll figure something out, but we will make something happen.

I want to share something with y'all, Monkey Boy and I were just talking on the phone. Many have mentioned here that Don would want us to celebrate his life, and they are absolutely right. I know many of us are still reeling from this, and this is to be expected. Dave mentioned about 3 of us, that were given a gift by Gunboat. There were actually 5 of these gifts given, but only 3 were delivered to the final phase of the gift. Don baptized 3 of us in the Brazos, as master of ceremonies, he applied the soaking. When Dave mentioned this it made me laugh, and cry at the same time. I am so very fortunate to have been able to call Gunboat my friend, he really was like my 2nd father, and I loved him dearly....I still do. So I wanted to post some "Fun" pics of Don being....Don, and blessing, David, Lonna and myself in the Brazos to make us officially Texans! BTW: The other 2 Passports were given to Gary N and Bruce Iller from Ontario Canada

Thanks Gary, here are a few more of Don... The 8th pic is from L to R Kenny Branton (Kbran) Myself, BoomerCPO, Owen, and Gunboat The last picture is a rare one as it has from L to R Gunboat, Ponch, Don Hiltabidle (TX Venture, who left us almost 3 years ago) and his wife Linda when they came to Lonna's mothers and sisters houses to give the kids a Christmas.

To y'all that are on the road, PLEASE be careful getting back home.

I just received the news from Dave, and like many of you, I'm devastated. Don was one of my best and most trusted friends, he is the main reason we are here in the Houston area. To say I am numb is an understatement, the tears come and go, as I'm sure they will continue to. I'm usually good with expressing things, but right now words escape me. I have lost one of my best friends and there is a huge hole in me. As we find out more details and such Dave or I will come on and keep y'all informed. Please keep this Texas crew in your prayers, Don meant quite a lot to many of us....God Speed Pop....

Thanks Y'all, you shouldn't have Doodle. We just got home a short while ago from dinner. Went to Red Lobster and had a great meal and are now like a couple of beached whales! we've trained eachother for 16 years today, seems to be getting a bit easier Thanks again for thinking of us

Happy Anniversary Carl and Dorothea!!!

You Stalker!!

Looks great Jeff, you deserve to get some miles on her, all the best bro