BigLenny

2.13 here. Being close to the gulf and all those oil rigs has it's priviledges.

Thats a crazy story, Puc! Man, I'm sure glad that story ended okay. That couldve been way uglier than it was. I bet her inusrance company will go after the untility company for payment.

Holy Messes of Britches!!! That scared the crap outta me just reading about it! Wow! The thing that I'm mostly impressed with is you had the heart to console the young girl. She's somebody's daughter, and it sounds like she experienced a lesson learning moment.

St Charles was my first VR.org event to attend, and due to vacation days restrictions, I was only able to be there Sunday afternoon and Monday. However, I really enjoyed meeting so many of the folks I have never met. I was actually already looking forward to seeing where next years event would be so I could plan to attend. But, if there is going to be a change, I would agree with Ragtop's idea; have the International every other year. That way it would be a special and unique event. The old rule of absence making heart grow fonder would probably come into play and the attendance would be more. Especially if it is in an epic place/area. BigLenny

Vzuden, So we can make the correct suggestions, are you saying you and your wife are going to have a week to travel after her business meeting? Or, how many days are y'all gonna be able to travel and sight see?

rbig1, Great to meet you. Sorry I had to head back Tuesday morning and didn't get to ride with the group. Hope to see you at a gathering in the future.

Fearless Leader, Just wanted to let ya know that 9 of us went out to eat last night here in St. Charles at the local Texas Roadhouse, and we all came to the conclusion that since it had all the appearances of a Venturerider group meal, we went ahead and charged our bills to your Freebird Venturerider expense account. We told the waitress that Freebird was kind of a big deal, so she abliged. Oh yeah, I almost forgot; We had to make a quick run to the Emergency Room for a certain member who drives a bat mobile looking thing, and we charged that visit to the Venturerider health insurance plan. Giving you a heads up so you won't be shocked when the bills start rolling in next month. Big Lenny

Right underneath Bikerjohns screen name and the words User Gallery is what he is riding. Usually most of us will have the bike we ride listed there. Just tryin to help. Glad you're here Cruiser.

Cruiser, Your 1997 in fact is not a 1st Gen. 1st and 2nd Gen's are referring the Venture bike. 1st Gen was from 1983-1993, 2nd Gen was from 1999-2013. But, your bike being a 4 banger Royal Star qualifies you to be adopted into this whacky family called Venturerider.org. There are a substantial number of us on this site that do not own Ventures. I own a 2007 Royal Star Tour Deluxe. Go up to the top of the page and click on "History" and read all about the different years and bikes that this site is dedicated to. You will find it very interesting. But, as others have already said, we really don't care what kind/brand of bike you ride, just hang out with us and have fun.

Welcome Cruiser! You have stumbled onto an awesome site. You will find a plethora of helping hands and voices for issues concerning your bike, your job, your family, your health, your cars, your house, your etc etc etc.... Yes, there are a lotta Christians on our site, and you'll routinely see prayers sent up for needs. What you won't see is; anybody debatiing religion. Don't have time for it. Cowboy Church huh? Man, those type churches are growing here in my state of Arkansas. Glad you're a member of it. Now, dive in and get to know us all. Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you think they're silly. No judgemental folks here. Okay, I lied, there are a few, but all families have them. LOL. Freebird is our fearless leader. He owns and runs the site through a labor of love straight from his heart. He's as cool as the other side of the pillow. I only have one warning: Be careful when you're dealing with Flyinfool. He has a huge snow blowing machine, and don't underestimate how far he can use it. He lives waaaay up yonder, but has been known to throw snow all the way down to us southern folk. he primarily uses it to pester Cowpuc, but sometimes he loses control of it and blows snow all over the country. Hence the deep freeze our nation experienced this past winter.

Intimidation might cartainly be a factor, but the second half of Habfans comment could be right on the money. Maybe the RSTD isn't really the bike he likes, but he doesn't want to tell you. Most RSTD riders I've known and seen are older, cruiser type people. Your son is youngin. His taste might be a tad younger looking than a big ole 800lb cruiser with chrome all over it. Just a thought.

Well, I've decided I'm gonna trailer it. Two reasons. 1. I still don't have all of my stamina back from the two kidney surgeries I've had, and that makes me a tad concerned about riding 7 hours each way in these high temps. 2. Something that has developed today; I have to meet with a customer Tuesday on my way back, and I have to look the part. It is a large university, and they wouldn't be keen to me showing up on a motorcycle hot and sweaty from riding. I'm coming up Sunday, and as soon as I get to the hotel I'm gonna yank the bike off of the trailer and ride across the Mississippi to Illinois so I can check that state off on my ride map. See y'all then.

Sorry bout that Bongo. Lol. Didn't mean to take a jab at ya. You have a good reason coming from way up in NY. I'm only talking about me trailering 400 miles. That's such a short distance, it just feels weird for me to trailer.

Mark, Trailering my bike seems almost blasphemist to me. Lol. But I'll consider it.

Something that crossed my mind tonight as I was rethinking this issue. When I start my bike and we're getting our gear on. Most of the time, I'll have the choke still on whenever we leave the house and are riding through our subdivision heading out to the main street. By the time we get to the entrance/exit of our subdivision I usually reach down and push the choke in/off. This afternoon though, I for some reason pulled out onto the main street with the choke still on and was going to push it off after I got up to speed. I wonder if my problem was, the choke was on, and I started throttling up getting out on the main street, and both of those combined flooded too much gas in the carbs? Hmmm. I'm gonna hafta stop that stupid bad habit.

Hi Puc, Never have noticed pressure in my tank when I open cap. Never noticed any fuel from overflow valves. The plugs have 6000 miles on them. When it's cold I have to choke it, but it fires right up and runs fine at a brisk idle until i push the choke in. Or, let me say this; I don't know how it starts with no choke on, because I always turn the choke on before I start it when its been sitting for overnight or a number of days.

Earlier today I bought a cooling vest at Cycle Gear with the idea that it might help me handle the 100+ temps on the way to and from the International. Got home from work and it was 99 degrees outside. Convinced Teresa to go with me for a ride so I could test the vest, and grab a bite. Started the bike and let it warm up. put our riding gear on and hit the road. The bike ran as good as it always does as we were driving through our neighborhood heading out. Got out to the main hwy, turned her right and took off going through the gears. The bike suddenly started spitting and sputtering and not wanting to run. I finally pulled the clutch in and she died. I coasted to a Sonic parking lot and there we sat. She would crank but not fire. Finally after cranking her for 5 minutes or so she slowly started to fire and run. I decided to go right back to the house and yank the seat off and check the battery posts and connections. She ran fine on the way back to the house. Everything looked fine and snug, but I still took the cables loose and cleaned them and the posts. Put our gear back on hit the start button and she fired right up and ran great for the next hour and a half to and from dinner. Puzzling to me. It acted like a fuel issue. It cranked strong but wouldn't start. One note: when I was cranking it at the Sonic, it smelled like it was flooded, and the smell was like tired gas smell. I wonder if a patch of bad gas went through carbs and shut it down. I'm wanting to ride her to the international, but I ain't wanting to hafta work on her on the side of the road in blazing heat. Any thoughts?

Dats a lotta watta Cat! I drink pretty much nothing but water during the day, but i'm not thinkin I'm hitting the 64oz mark.

Great! Sounds like you're used to it. Those of us who have lived here all of our lives kind of have a love/hate relationship with it. We, by our southern nature, don't really look forward to winter, but when the dog days of summer get here, whew. well, we just tolerate it.

Zzyzx, There are a ton of great roads I could recommend in that area. I'll bring an Arkansas map and a riding guide to the rally. I'll be getting to St. Charles Sunday night and will hang around the camp and hotel Monday and go eat with everyone Monday night. Then I have to head back home early Tuesday. I'll be sure to catch up with you there.

Wow! I just took a gander at y'alls temps you've been having in Canada. You folks are gonna be stunned when you get down here to the mid south. Hits hotter n blue blazes in this part of the country right now.

Well folks, I booked my room at the Comfort Suites for Sunday night and Monday night. So, I'm planning on making it up there to meet as many of ya as I can Monday and Monday night. Hafta head back Tuesday morning early. Wish I could stay the whole week, but as I stated above, this isn't the year for excess vacation days due to surgeries. Now, I gotta make up my mind if I'm gonna ride my bike, or drive my truck. Lemme see here: ride the bike wearing riding jeans, riding jacket, boots, full face helmet through 100+ degree temps, oooorrrr, drive my F150 crew cab with the a/c blasting while wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. Hmmmm. Not sure yet. The next 9 days here in Arkansas are forecasted to be over 100 degrees actual temperatures. Only a week and a half out since my last surgery, Gotta be a little careful yet. See y'all there!

Zzyzx, If you had the time, I highly recommend you spend some time in Northwest and North Central Arkansas as you make your way to the rally. That area has some of the best motorcycle riding roads in the south central states area. I can give you some specifics if you're interested. Have a great trip!

Wow! Well above 900?? Never heard of that. For years the highest credit score possible for anybody to get has been 850. Both mine and my wife's are over 800, but, if it's possible to get over 900, I wanna try for that. I just googled it and all the FICO sites I'm seeing still say the threshold is 850. Maybe they bumped the new threshold to 950 or something.

Go to the FRogg Toggs website and look at the different levels before make your purchase. Many people just buy a set from a sporting goods store and when they don't work like they should they proclaim Frogg Toggs as not a good product. You have to buy the right Frogg Togg product for the activity you're doing.