bongobobny

Unless you rotate them from left side to right side they can't, or at least shouldn't, be flipped because of the direction the cooling fins point!! And, if you change them from left side to right side, the curve will then be pointing the opposite direction then as long as you keep the fins pointing in the same direction!! The outside will then become the inside!

Those are primarily for MK1, '83 to '85, but they could be made to fit MK2 I believe. You should probably keep your front crash bars and take the highway boards off of them, as the stock bars DO protect the bike especially when it accidently gets dropped... I may be interested in them, I have a set on my '84 but yours look to be in a little better condition than mine!

Exhaust leak should be fixed by installing new exhaust "donut" gasket and properly cleaning the mating surfaces...

Going from memory here, but I think the top of the gas tank is still below the level of the fuel bowls anyway, so even if something were to happen to the fuel pump that it became a wide open hose, the level of gas still would not reach the bowls, especially if the tank is less than full to the top! Yes, it is ideal to drain the bowls if the bike is going to be stored for a very long period, like in excess of 6 months. Otherwise, using a good fuel stabilizer such as Stabil is a great practice...

Sorry, from your statement I thought you thought your bike was running hot. I just wanted to point out the difference between the MK1 gauge and the MK2 gauge. On the MK2 the gauge is where you would expect it to be, maybe about 1/3 to 1/2 way up, not 3/4 up like the MK1...

Yes, pull the driveshaft before towing anything more than about 100 feet!! It mostly has to do with gears turning, even in neutral, without any oil pressure!! Also, there is a lesser issue of extra mechanical restriction on the rear wheel causing extra friction, but that is the LESSER issue...

Pretty much all of the petcocks on the 1st Gens were stiff, due to kind of a design feature of the actual mechanical switch. They are known to bind! Someone, a long time ago, came up with a simple mod that helped this out by simply adding flat washers to the screws which brought the mechanical mechanism out a little further to help alleviate the mechanical binding...

OK, Snype, a couple of things. It is a known fact that the MK1 temperature gauge reads very high!! Normal operating temperature is just a tad below the red area! This was fixed with the MK2 gauge! Secondly, it is also a known fact that improperly balanced (Sync'ed) carburetors cause the engine to run a little bit on the hot side...

Well, maybe look at it this way, there's a season's worth of issues all over within one ride...

Hoo Boy!! Did YOU ever open a can of worms...

Only the MK1 Standard, and perhaps only the '83, did not have the reserve. The Royales had the reserve...

No Steamer, Black Death WAS introduced at MD before it became a staple at the WNY Rally...

Before we leave St Thomas, here's a view of a small area of the harbor. Any guesses as to how many millions of dollars there are in yachts alone?? Some people have waaaaay too much money! At St. Johns, Antigua we took a bus tour and the first stop was at an old fort up on a hill with a spectacular 180-degree view. You can understand why it was a strategic point in the defense of the island! From there we went to Nelson's Shipyard! Our tour guide explained this interesting array of three devices that they would tie the ships to one side at a time, and then they would turn the cranks which would draw them on their side while still in the water, so they could scrape barnacles and service the hull if necessary! We were also treated to a free drink at their bar. The ceiling is an interesting graffiti artwork! After a wonderful afternoon of touring and shopping, it's time to get back on the boat. Hmmm, which one was ours anyway?!!? Next stop, Castries, St Lucia...

We've even had cagers come!!!

Well, here we are in St Thomas! We went to Blackbeard's castle where we met a pirate who told us a tale... [ATTACH=CONFIG]108920[/ATTACH] We were offered a guest room but we kindly refused... [ATTACH=CONFIG]108921[/ATTACH] Later on, in town, we stopped for conch fritters at a place called the Beer Gardens and were entertained by a local musician warming up for an evening gig elsewhere Here's something I want to show you from Cozumel, Mexico! Here they have truth in advertising!!! I applaud them for this advertising!!! Next stop, St Johns!!!

Two VERY good questions!! Without the Ivan's and reshimming the needles you still should be getting around 40 MPG! Chances are, due to being stored for many years, and if the carbs were not drained and/or having any kind of stabilizer in the fuel, the carbs will most likely need disassembling, thorough cleaning, and rebuilding!! Chances are you have plugged jets or passageways and varnish buildup. Ethanol is a very nasty thing for carbs to bear for an extended period! As far as Maintenance Day goes, yes indeed there is some actual maintenance going on with some skilled people present. It is primarily for minor scheduled maintenance but there is also some more major maintenance done in the past such as clutches, forks, etc. No, there has never been a complete engine rebuild done there, but we have seen some serious issues come up and resolved there. Maintenance Day was started many years ago by our site owner Freebird as a get together with a few friends to get their bikes ready for the summer, but continued to grow and grow! At its peak, I think there were close to three hundred people in attendance! Nowadays it is just as much a social event as it is a maintenance event with a M&E dinner on Friday evening, and there was a talk of a band being there this year as well but I'm not sure if it is going to materialize... So, welcome aboard, and if you haven't gotten your issue resolved before then, maybe there will be a carb specialist that can help you out! Regardless, it is a great event to learn things and to meet some of the members here!

Also, if either your clutch switch of the brake light switch is misadjusted, or if the levers are not coming completely out, this could cause it to drop out...

Did you loosen the pinch bolt on the nut side??? Sometimes taking a screwdriver and prying apart at the slit is needed...

Actually, just a couple of pounds of air pressure is a good thing to prevent the fork oil from foaming...

Yup! My feelings exactly, just leave the petcock on the reserve position! The 1st gen petcocks were stiff to begin with and you pretty much needed az pair of pliers to turn them! There was a "mod" using washers behind the screws to remedy this...

On May 11th I am having surgery on a toe, so I will be unable to ride for a while myself! I'm thinking Marcarl's M&E will be out, but hopefully I'll be good to go MD...

Yup, you have to change at least the fork lowers. The bolt spacing on MK1 is 87 mm whereas the MK2, along with the R1/R6 is 100 mm...

Due to man unfortunate double booking, the WNY NE Regional Rally dates have been changed from Aug 10 - Aug 13 TO August 17 - August 20!! The schedule will remain the same, just the dates are changed!! We regret this inconvenience and hope all of you that were planning on attending can still attend!! The original calendar entries have been deleted, so you will have to resubmit your information on the calendar. If you have not already signed up on the calendar, now is a perfect time to do so!! http://www.venturerider.org/forum/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=493&day=2017-8-17&c=1 Sorry for any inconvenience folks, this was out of our control!! See you at the rally!!!

In Western New York (Not in the NYC area) it generally starts in mid-November but it is not totally unheard of to see snow as early as September but that is very rare. Snow is usually gone by the end of March but it has snowed as late as May, and I even remember once seeing snow in June, but it didn't last...

OK, I left off at the Ruins in Mexico. Well, besides the ruins... we also saw a monkey in a tree!! Coming back from the shore excursion, I wonder how these guys liked their expedition! On the way back to Tampa at the end of part one of the cruise, we went under the Tampa Bay Bridge. Talk about just clearing... After doing pretty much nothing in Tampa, the next stop was Key West, FL. We had been there a few times already so all we did was walk around. It was St Patrick's Day weekend there (Hey, Key West finds ANY excuse to party) so the party crowd was out in force! We stopped for some corn fritters and spotted this radical bike... I think he has some kind of alignment issue here! Next stop, San Juan, Puerto Rico. They had a rather unusual choice for their motorcycle cops! We shopped in the afternoon, and in the evening we saw a latin traditions show. The guitarist is a world famous flamenco guitarist and even was on the Ed Sullivan show! Next stop, St Thomas...