camos

Dunlop has not updated their website yet to include the new Elite 4. You got a link to any information on them?

Sorry to hear you are downgrading.

Does that mean you are moving again?

Their makeup goes on faster in the left lane because it is easier to see what is close in front when gazing at their face in the rear view mirror.

There is no sign of overheating on the rotor or the rubber brake line. It is my belief the right brake was hanging up and with normal traction the wheel was turning well enough to overcome the drag. However, when the wheel hit the icy spot there was not enough traction to overcome the excessive drag. Today I removed the caliper and pushed the pistons out far enough to clamp the two back to back brake pads then cleaned them really well. The pistons slid back in quite easily. Unfortunately, they still were binding after applying pressure. At that point I gave up and replaced the caliper with the one from the 90 VR. Have not taken the bike for a test spin yet but the front brake seems to be working properly now. Will give a test tomorrow. Looks like the caliper might need a rebuild but does anyone know if the part that relieves the pressure after applying the brakes is in the caliper or in the master cylinder? It would be good to know what parts might need rebuilding. @syscrusher: Thanks for the offer of a trade, I'll consider it but I've been thinking there must be a better design for the crash bar that will provide enough clearance to also protect the upper corner of the fairing that always gets damaged in a tip over. The part of the guard that was scraped flat would not be necessary, just the part that bolts to the frame and supports the chin fairing mounts. Everything in the States costs too much for this Canadian these days, even shipping.

A caliper alignment issue does seem to be indicated since the thick pad shows almost no wear with the pistons almost fully extended. Not sure how that could happen but will be checking it out shortly. The plastic should not be too difficult to fix although it might be a bit harder if the fairing frame got torqued. There is no question as to whether I will keep it. The MkII Venture is the only bike that does it all for me. Do I wish it was less top heavy, yes but otherwise, it's perfect for my needs. I feel like a king when riding in it.

Indeed, Victoria Parking Enforcement has way too many bylaws that are either embarrassingly intolerant or are unenforceable in a court. We ignore them but, what were they thinking, stupid politicians. I know texting blitz's happen here but can't say how often. Probably not as often as needed to make much of an impact on the number of idiots doing it. I have seen a "moving violation" squad doing it's thing at chronic places such as no left turn and school zones. There likely needs to be more but as you said, not enough resources.

Before getting to my question, last weekend I tried to put the 89 on the centre stand but could not do it. My thought was "Holy smokes, am I ever getting weak. What's up with that?" Can't remember why I wanted to put it up on the stand but it was not really necessary. So Monday morning, on the way to work, hit some black ice and went down. It's sad to say my 89 Venture is no longer beautiful. Apart from ice being slippery, the primary reason for going down was the right front brake had somewhat seized up so when contacting the ice enough traction was lost so down we went. Today I bled the brakes because I couldn't think of anything else to do. That was not the solution to the problem. Should say also that again I could not get the bike on the centre stand but this time I knew why. The front wheel would not roll back enough to raise the bike up. Pulled the right front caliper off and was able to easily get it onto the centre stand. Here is my question: Look at the pic, the pads are unevenly worn but curiously, the pistons with the thinnest pad are also the farthest in. Seems backwards to me. The pistons were cleaned about 6 months ago but I can't think of any other reason for such uneven wear. Lost the light today so I'll try cleaning them tomorrow. Just trying to make some sense of what they look like. Any ideas? Guess I should also say that I was not hurt at all. Was only going about 30 mph at the time so slid a few yards while watching sparks fly from the crash guards. The damage is heartbreaking. Looks like the 90 VR will be turned into a donor bike. I suspect it could have been much worse though so perhaps there is a silver lining in my cloud of sorrow.

I don't know what "they say" about opinions but the article is certainly is one person's opinion based on one enjoyable trip that has been generalized to apply to all Canadians which is a somewhat faulty base to work from. My personal experience has not found much difference between US and Canadian drivers in similar traffic situations. During rush hour or high volume traffic there is not much point in moving over to let someone pass just to get 4 or 5 car lengths ahead before getting stopped again by the pack. In medium traffic however it is very nice when drivers do keep right except to pass. It makes for a more enjoyable commute even though the time differential is only 5 - 10 minutes. The problem with those types of laws is that they are difficult to enforce in court. Having spent a great deal of time in traffic court due to my job, I've seen the police lose about 60% of the time. The easiest tickets to prosecute are for speeding, all the other ones are difficult to impossible to win consistently. Anything requiring an officer's opinion is almost impossible to successfully prove in our court system. It's pointless making a rule that cannot be reasonably enforced, something the law makers don't seem to realize.

Came across this article and thought it might be interesting to pass it along for comment. http://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/enthusiasts/the-problems-with-the-american-driver/ar-BBnNawm?li=AAggFp5

Easy yes but the tow bill would be a killer. Congrats, you came up with the easiest and the funnest solution.

So, I decided to go with filling the fuel up to the absolute top... at least for the time being. If I ever get around to putting the 90 on the road again, draining the tank from the petcock does appear to be the easiest method, barring a visit from my good friend David Banner of course. Thanks for the helpful insight and the not so helpful ones as well.

I decided to drain the fuel tank on my 90 VR because it hasn't been run in about a year and does not look like it will be run any time soon. The fuel has been stabilized with Seafoam but not sure how long that is good for. After a quick look I'm thinking removing the hose at the petcock should work OK. In a somewhat pathetic attempt to reduce the time spent in my not so warm shop I thought I would ask before tackling it. Since some of you have probably done this before it might speed things up.

A little disagreement on your take, Kerry, motorcycles are indeed inherently dangerous. Starting with taking them off the kickstand they will fall over if not held up. Let one tire lose traction and get into a slide and there is a greater than 95% (just a guess) possibility they will crash. It can't be held against motorcycles that car drivers do increase the risk factor substantially but there is no getting around their influence when riding the roads they seem to claim dominance over. You know, getting out of bed is also inherently dangerous and the danger increases dramatically when leaving your home. It's all a matter of perspective. The article is not really about the danger of riding but about what leads to the enjoyment of riding which is somewhat the same and somewhat different for everyone. The author seemed to capture some of the wonderful feelings attained while travelling a good road through a beautiful countryside. It made me wish it wasn't winter.

All of you might enjoy reading this article: http://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/ownership/motorcycles-are-dangerous-so-why-the-hell-do-i-keep-riding/ar-AAfJsOx?li=AA8hc8

Only thing I can think of is a selection on the eBay Communication Preferences tab. Sign into your account on eBay. See tabs with Activity, Messages, Account Click on Account Menu on left: Communication Preferences Check the list to see if anything on there looks like it might be sending notifications. This one is probably the one sending you info on Ventures: Click on Activity tab Menu on left Find Searches you follow Should see a list of searches you follow, Venture???? On right click on More Actions then unfollow

So rather than spending $100 +, just figure out how to reassemble the OEM lowers. I removed them on my 90 because they interfered with my legs when using the highway pegs. When riding my 89 home for the first time with the lowers attached I found the highway pegs could be adjusted so there was no real need to remove the lowers. As for looks, I liked the 90 without the lowers on but I now like the 89 better with the lowers on and the side panel vent totally removed. The body work seems better balanced and there are glimpses of the engine without displaying the rather homely horizontal brace. Leaving the lower vent open does not seem to cause an issue with cold air on the legs. Not having the side panel vents in does allow a little extra heat for the legs but rather marginal so far. It's only been just at freezing around here so not that cold. During the summer, on days at 80 or above, while in traffic, some extra heat could felt on the legs but not enough to cause any discomfort. I never ride with bare legs so perhaps that has something to do with the perception. In my opinion, the 1st gens do not need a windscreen vent of any kind. The dash vents and the open area around the steering head provide enough air flow to dissipate any vacuum forming behind the screen. Since most of my face is above the screen no extra cooling is needed either. Of course, I'm not riding around in Hades either... oops, I mean Arizona.

Condor USED to make the brace but, no longer. There were some 1" thick braces available on eBay perhaps 6 months ago. I have one and it works very well. The Super Brace will likely still be available on eBay, it is 2" thick and costs twice as much as the one I bought. A thicker brace is a good thing but probably not the first solution to try. I didn't see the original question so here are some things to look at: My 90 VR had a loose head bearing when I got it, that only showed itself when crossing from the road to my driveway at an angle and when travelling in a curve at over 65 MPH, but not in the parking lot or other slow speed maneuvers. The head bearing should definitely be set, takes a bit of time but it's free. As Puc said, a dragging front brake could cause a bit of wobble. My suggestion is to lift the front end and spin the wheel. It should spin freely and come to a stop smoothly. If the brakes drag the spin will either not happen or will end abruptly. The forks may be out of whack, uneven oil level or plugged valves. Older bikes with no service record should have all fluids changed which includes the fork oil. (every two years?) If the wheel and axle are removed the forks can be extended and depressed individually which might indicate a significant difference in their action while a subtle difference probably would be difficult to notice. A subtle difference is not likely very critical at slow speeds but might be more so on bumps at speed. The rear swing arm and linkage bearings/bushings are often neglected and can become excessively work from lack of grease. I think this would likely be most noticeable in a hard turn at speed. Cupped tires can act in a manner similar to uneven road surfaces and cause slow speed steering deflections which might be described as a wobble. Can't think of anything else to add to what's been said before.

Seems to me the biggest con is that the LED light does not place the light source at a point that is compatible with the housing reflector. Making an LED replacement bulb for the halogen H3 should not be such a difficult task and yet, for some reason, no one has done it.

After re-reading your original post a couple of times I'm still not sure what info you are after other than a comparison between the OEM shunt R/R and the mosfet R/R. The OEM R/R keeps the stator charging at full output, depending on RPM of course, and any extra is shunted to ground. The mosfet R/R turns down the power to the stator to control output which should put less stress on the stator. The OEM R/R needs to be attached to a heat sink in order to help out heat dissipation beyond what the rather inadequate cooling fins can provide. The mosfet does not get hot and can be mounted anywhere. In my opinion, the mosfet R/R is superior to the OEM R/R and does a better job in several ways with less stress on the stator, more accurate voltage regulation, particularly at lower RPMS. The mosfet is newer technology and not so different in price from the OEM ones which are getting more difficult to find. I don't know if this is helpful and if I got something wrong someone please chime in and say so.

So opting for the expensive choice of a tent trailer or nothing and then absconding with the cheque book huh? Did it cross your mind that perhaps it was her way of telling you no more camping? Might be worthwhile getting a clarification. Just saying.....

As soon as you get rid of it, you will need some... I guarantee it.

I bought a pair of H3 LED bulbs for some projector fog lights I have and found they are physically too long. Haven't tried them out yet but the LED output does not look to be in the correct position as compared to the incandescent H3's. Success might depend on how the bulb is oriented to the reflector.

Here is a pic of the pump: The power connections can be seen sitting on top of the pump. The adapter at the end of the cord with the side connection is the power to the float. The pump cord plugs into the float adapter which then plugs into the power cord. Haven't looked into it yet but it seems likely I could get another float switch with a similar adapter connection. Just have to sort out how to make the connections as per the relay schematic. Alternatively, it may be possible to just extend the rod for the float slider which would really make it simple.

While sorting out changing to all LED's begin by converting the guard lights to LED's which will reduce the load and not require the addition of a turn signal resistor.