LilBeaver

Excellent question! Hopefully someone can answer this...

Oops, sorry Don. I didn't intend on making you do more work. I had my doubts when I posted it but I thought we all could handle it... I guess I fell into the trap of 'if you doubt, don't do' and did anyways. I'll try to be better in the future.

I guess I have not studied them very hard, but to me they don't look [cosmetically] much different than this last generation of wings.

Okay so just ignore the lady in the video - she's kind of an idi...well, lets just say maybe the editing of the interview made her sound rather uninformed on how these things really work. Beavers, like many animals, play their part in keeping the natural balance that occurs in nature. As for the riding with the friend - no it doesn't really. My "nickname" - the 'beaver' or the 'little beaver' came from back in my high school days and has stuck with me since. The friend pictured above is the one that sent me this link. Sadly, I have not ridden with her in a few years. Maybe it is about time for another road trip to resolve that - although I KNOW for sure her b/f wouldn't like me showing up to give her a ride... I would need a small camera crew to capture THAT hilarity. Lets just say we have a tad of a history.

She used to ride with me a lot, but then I moved away EDIT: Sorry, I am a bit slow today, no this is not "THE" friend or the "other friend". This is another friend from a few years back. My "nickname" - the 'beaver' or the 'little beaver' came from back in my high school days and has stuck with me since. The friend pictured here is the one that sent me this link. Sadly, I have not ridden with her in a few years. Maybe it is about time for another road trip to resolve that - although I KNOW for sure her b/f wouldn't like me showing up to give her a ride... I would need a small camera crew to capture THAT hilarity. Lets just say we have a tad of a history. By the way, it was about 40 degrees at the time this picture was taken. I believe it was a late November day (around thanksgiving) in lower Michigan (Walled Lake). We only did about 60 or 70 miles that day. I was living in the U.P. at the time so 40 was nice and toasty compared to what I had come from.

I took the vent out of my clearview (when it snapped off) and I did notice that there was a ridge that was all the way around the edge of the vent hole. maybe 1/4-1/2" in width and about 1/8" deep. Because of that the vent sat in near perfectly. I have a few pictures although it doesn't show very well.

Good info. Thanks!

A friend of mine sent this to me and thought I would share here too. This 'international beaver day' goal is to educate folks on how important beavers are to the ecosystem. http://www.wktv.com/news/local/42613472.html

I bet that is how he was able to snatch all of those pic-a-nic baskets and get away from the ranger... Oh wait wrong bear.

Nice shot off of the Mackinaw bridge too (if I'm not mistaken).

:happy65: Well congratulations!!

RIGHT ON! I guess my statement wasn't as carefully worded as I had thought... Or maybe you just have enough experience to know better

Nice, although you really should have warned us that it was going to be pretty nekked! Looks like you've got a nice trailer setup too

No kidding! No worries though. Yea, it seems I have finally found a friend that actually enjoys riding maybe as much as I do Oh oh oh oh *raises hand* I noticed!! But I guess I probably don't really count on this matter, eh? BUT, that doesn't mean anything other than my other friend didn't want to go. She doesn't like the 'longer rides' and if it wasn't so freaking windy we would have put on another 150-300 miles or so. I will say that it seems our conversations take a different tone when it is just the two of us...

My Motorola i560 has been working for...um.... a long time. It takes a beating and makes phone calls. So yes, my phone works

As far as how high will the fuel prices get before it affects my riding? Well, my bike is 1) My primary form of transportation 2) one of my ONLY sources of really being able to get out and relax so as long as the extended weekend rides financially fit I'll still be riding. Sadly, work is piling up and my 'free time' is getting less and less as time goes on; but again, riding helps me keep whatever little sanity I have left... Ditto to my F-250 (well I believe it is only a 36 gal tank). Luckily I don't drive it much anymore (although I do love driving that thing - boy oh boy is it comfy on long hauls... and getting 600+ miles to a tank and only stopping for fuel makes for a nice and efficient travel - although it really takes a toll on the bladder) and I don't have that big 'ol trailer I used to either. With that said, averaging 18 mpg on a long haul with that big ol cab and all that comfort is nothing that I am gonig to complain about. After all it is a heck of a lot better than my 94 F-150 that would get 14mpg driving 55 with a tailwind downhill...

Shhhhhh.

I have noticed slight variations as a function of ambient temperature (we're talking the differences between it being 40 in the morning and 95 in the afternoon) but again, these differences are slight. I just checked my fronts a few days ago and they are right where I set them 6 months ago - surprised the heck out of me.

Please let us know how you like it once you get it installed. Specifically I'd be interested to know the following: 1) Difference in clutch pull 'stiffness' 2) Difference in the size of friction zone 3) Difference in the location of which the friction zone starts/ends Obviously these are all subjective, but a reasonable attempt at descirbing the differences would be appreciated. I know various members have discussed this at length, but it is always nice to see as many observations as possible on such a topic (especially given the wide range of observations that have come out of such an installation). Thanks!

Would these baffles fit over the stock speaker too? Do you notice a big difference with and without the baffles?

Sorry about that - I just noticed a string of folks coming along with some general questions that I had thought I had remembered were already well written up by you in this FAQ. I had meant to add more of a note to it (because I had thought that I had recalled a more complete FAQ somewhere but I couldn't find it) but I got distracted... Do I still have time to back away slowly?

Cool cool. Thanks for the update.

bump

Just to think that I complain about MY fuel economy riding to and from events... Hope all turns out okay with your cabesa; scary stuff. Thoughts and prayers are with you man!

Well folks, despite 30+mph winds with 50mph gusts, we still managed to get out for a ride. Alarm went off this morning around 730 and despite the neighbors yapping dog attacking the tumbleweeds... or more accurately the tumbleweeds chasing the yapper as the yapper barked itself backwards, the morning was off to a good start. Just about 12 hours before, I had finalized plans with my friend. I got up and got ready to go. Went out side and double checked my oil level and to make sure there were no leaks (I changed it the night before and did do a quick test ride, but I always like to make sure). All checked out fine, lowered the bike and took off my handy dandy Carbon_One lift adapter, checked the tires, my lights and then geared up to head out. Rolled up to our meeting spot right on time and there she was, next to her bike sitting on the curb, ready to go; smile and all. We chatted a bit and then discussed the weather forecast and route that we ought to take as a result. After presenting the options she shrugged and with a smirk said she didn't really care. With that in mind I smiled back, confirmed she was ready to go, saddled up and took off. Headed northeast out of town, lower 60s, light breeze, broken clouds and two bikes rumbling down the road. First stop was in ~60 miles as it was going to be another 100 or so before the next fuel stop (thank you Texas Panhandle). Some minor chit chat, she seemed a bit down, shrugged it off on being tired, but said she was really excited to be out riding. We both fueled up, chattered a bit more then again, saddled up and took off. The wind was picking up a bit more as we continued to ride on (we knew the afternoon was due for sustained winds of 25-35mph and gusts up to 55mph, which is why we decided to try to be back early afternoon). We finally made it to some not straight roads that dipped down into some canyons, so that ~25 mile stretch made the whole ride worth it. We got near a decision point, going left took would add ~50 miles on to the ride and stay weaving around the canyon a bit more, right would get us headed back home. By this time the wind had continued to get stronger and we decided it would be best to start heading back. Pulling up and out of the canyon back on to the flat roads surrounded by farm fields the winds were a lot stronger. Riding back with a mix of a strong headwind and cross wind we stopped again at the next fuel stop (her tank is only ~3.5 gallons or so, so on a normal day she hits reserve somewhere between 100 and 135 miles). With this headwind, it was questionable as to how well she would do on fuel. It also gave us a chance to chit chat a bit more. I wanted to make sure she was doing okay since the wind got a lot stronger (a lot sooner) than we had expected. After topping off we decided, after A LOT of coercion from her (as one might imagine) that we stop for ice cream. By coercion I mean she said "hey, you want to stop for ice cream?" We rolled in there about 2 minutes before the 'retirement home field trip' showed up. Good timing. Well, for what I figured would be a quick stop ended up taking us... At least an hour, maybe more. I sort of lost track of time. Lots of good conversation despite the ruckus from the elderly folks (). We made some plans for some future rides (I'll keep those under my hat for a little while longer) but she was pretty pumped about it so we'll see if they come together. I suppose I can give a hint as perhaps an impromptu meet, ride and possibly eat may be coming about around San Antonio area some time . A few other areas in Texas too but I'm quite sure that we do not have any (or very many) members in the other areas so I'll keep those under my hat for a while. Anyways, after realizing how long we were sitting there and hearing that the wind was picking up we decided that we ought to hit the road to boogie on back before we get blown away. Contrary to our plan of taking off right away we ended up chatting some more out by the bikes before taking off. Finally we saddled up and hit the road. She pulled ahead this time and led the last ~50 mile stretch home. As we got closer and turned down the road to her street we pulled up to an intersection (4-way stop), she hesitated so I pulled up next to her. She looked over with a huge ear-to-ear grin on her face and pulled away. Pulled up to her house, she parked her bike and walked over (grin still there) and I needed to take my jacket liner out as it was far too warm for it (temperature was ~95). More chit chat ensued as we made plans tentative plans for another ride. Exchanging mutual pleasantries (ie. good byes, thank yous and 'had a good time's) I saddled up and headed home. Total mileage today was just shy of 200 miles and as I write this it sounds like the roof is going to lift off my house. Boy oh boy is it W-I-N-D-Y out. Other than the wind forcing us to cut the ride short; it turned out to be a pretty good ride, a good day and in good company. Sadly, I now need to get back to work for a while yet today... It never ends. 'Til next time... :fnd_(16):