BigLenny

I would think Yamaha took a long hard look at what happened when Kawasaki heeded the desires of their Voyager lovers and gave them a cool looking redesigned bike, only to see it slowly creep out of the stores. This was a chance for Yammy to see what would happen if another relevant Japanese company took a stab at the touring market with a new bike. I bet it caused them to go hmmmmm about the Venture. And another thing. In my humble and very often not correct opinion, Kawasaki appeared to take a half way approach when they redesigned the Voyager. If Yamaha is going to do that, they might as well not bother. If they are ever going to upgrade the Venture, they need to offer at least the same features that are currently being offered on HD, Victory, Honda, BMW, etc. i.e. Heated grips, heated seats, bluetooth hookup, a GPS option, 6 speed tranny.......... Harley owns 40% of the US motorcycle market, and 60% of the US touring bike market. Yamaha might be looking at it like they aren't willing to invest a large sum of dough to duke it out with Victory, Honda, BMW, Kawasaki, etc, for a small piece of the 40% that HD doesn't have. AND, now that HD has introduced their new water cooled bike, that 60% is only going to grow. But, it doesn't keep us from wishing, does it?

Here is a YouTube link. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgwmuZuJ02I]Nord-Lock Demonstration Video - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks Kevin and Gary for posting the link and the pics. I should've done that. As stated above, these aren't viable cost efficient options in a high volume situation because they would be way more costly than throwing a dab of Loctite on the threads. However, they are perfect options for certain situations that you absolutely do not want a nut or bolt backing out due to vibration, and you also want to be able to remove the nut or bolt without having to use heat or a severe amount of torque. And, you can reuse them, which in the end knocks the cost down a little. They do come in stainless as well as carbon steel. Gary, I also have a few of those bottle opener demo units. They're pretty cool to hand to customers and watch them hand tighten the wing nut, and then try like heck to hand loosen it. They can't believe something they've just hand tightened can't be reversed by hand, they always have to get a wrench or pliers to loosen it. LOL. These are mainly sold by wholesale distributers such as Grainger, MSC, Fastenal, McMaster Carr, etc. However, you can also buy them on Amazon.

I have posted about this before with not very much response. I think folks think I'm joking or something. But, after reading some recent posts about people wondering how to use Loctite and other liquid threadlocker, I thought I would offer this suggestion again. Some of you know that I am a sales rep for Grainger. Grainger is one of the largest sellers of threadlockers in the country. I sell so much Loctite, I keep my Loctite factory rep's number in my contact list in my phone because my customers are always questioning whether they are using it right. People use Loctite and other liquid threadlockers because they've been using them for years and years, and, well, they work, kinda, if you know which one to use. My point of this post is to suggest another alternative that a boat load of my customers are switching to. Everytime I demo this product to a customer and they try it, they immediately stop using liquid threadlockers for most of their serious, can't have a bolt come loose applications. The thing that my customers like most about this product is, to loosen the bolt, all you have to use is a wrench or socket/ratchet. No more fiddling with a torch to heat the threadlocker, or having to put so much torque on a bolt head that your wondering if the head will snap. The name of this product is called Nord-Lock. It is a revolutionary designed lock washer system that is more unique than any lock washer made. Most lock washers have serated teeth or burrs that dig into the flat part of whatever they are applied to with the hope that they will stay dug in enough to not back out under vibration. Well, as we all know, traditional lock washers are horrible under vibration environments. The Nord-Lock system is a double washer application that has small cams between the washers, and for it to loosen, it has to climb those cams, and that becomes a physical impossibilty. So, the bolt stays as tight as you apply it for as long as you want it to until you want to loosen it. You do that by apply strong pressure with a wrench. You can use the same washers over and over with the same performance. I stumbled across this product at a tradeshow that Grainger holds each year for us sellers to attend in Orlando so we can learn more about the products that are offered in our catalog. Nord-Lock was doing live demonstrations showing how normal lock washers back off under vibration, and how threadlockers can do the same in high heat environments. Not to mention the mess of using threadlockers, which one to use, and the heat neated to release them. I have bunches of customers that use these washers to hold all kinds of vibrating motors in place in their factories and facilities. They absolutely love them. I have a little demo kit that i carry with me. All it is is a hand held metal plate with a threaded stud sticking out of it, and a wing nut that you screw down onto the stud. You put a Nord-Lock double washer on the stud and hand tighten the wingnut down. You WILL NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT be able to hand loosen it. You have to get a pair of pliers to get the wing nut off. Thats how good they work. So, you can imagine how strong they are when you actually tighten a bolt or nut down with a wrench using strong torque. I know it's not a perfect application for all places on a motorcycle. Some places you don't want to see a washer between the bolt head and the surface it's bolted to. But, you might try using it in an area that asthetics doesn't come into play. Anyway, just a suggestion. Maybe if y'all are interested, my next subject will be about an alternative to v-belts on fan motors. LOL.

Christmas day last year we had an extremely rare 12" snowfall here in Little Rock. Locked the whole city down for several days. We didn't have electricity for 5 days. Anyway, on the second day I was outside scraping snow off of my vehicles when I heard a motorized vehicle coming down the street of our subdivision. I almost didn't look at it because I thought it was just an ATV. Everyone and their grandmother has a 4 wheeler/ATV down here. Your status down here is often judged by how nice your truck is, and how expensive your ATV is. So, I glance over at it, and it is a dude riding down my subdivision street in Little Rock, Arkansas on a freakin SNOWMOBILE!!!! He might as well have been an alien on a spaceship. After I stopped him to take a gander, he said he was from Minnesota and had brought it down when he moved for a job down here. He said he could hardly make it very far in the neighborhood because people were stopping him wanting to see this contraption called a snowmobile. LOL. I swear, about an hour after he left, a dude came down my street on a pair of snow ski's. Ski poles and all. Kinda felt like I was losing my mind or something. Love it when the Northerner's come down and bring their fancy stuff for us to gawk at.

I've been a member here for 4 years. This might be the most unique question I've ever seen here. LOL.

This is just an idea for you satellite subscribers out there. My Mom who is 70 and lives by herself, has Dish Network. She loves it, with one exception. When storms or even just heavy rain comes, she gets the blank screen thing. Arkansas is always in the top 5 of states that get tornados. Having a TV screen go blank when the weather man is tracking a tornado headed your way is not an option. It's about life or death. So, I went to Best Buy and bought her one of those new High Def antenna's. There were several to choose from. I chose an RCA brand one that looks like a square plate. I screwed it into the TV input on her set, and after programming her TV for the channels, and moving the antenna around until I found a sweet spot, she now has the ability to watch NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, WB, and a few other channels in High Def coming free over the air. The major networks are clearer through the antenna than they are through Dish. She watches TV on the Dish Network 90% of the time, but if a storm or heavy rain comes, she switches the input to TV and watches the free stuff. It makes her feel safer. Just a suggestion. I'm sure some of you have already thought of this.

Another thing that kinda makes me go huh. At the rally, Yamaha, Victory, Harley, and Indian were there with their corporate bikes letting people do test rides. Victory, Harley, and Indian were set up where all you had to do was have them scan your license, put a few entry's into an iPad and you were ready to wait on a bike to ride. Very high tech feeling and looking. Very streamline operations, with plenty of bikes to ride. At the Yamaha event, you had to sit down with a clip board and a long ass form to fill out, and then go through two different peoples approval to get in the que to ride. AND, they had so few bikes that it was an eternity to wait on a bike. It felt so archaic and slow. Very embarrassing.

That would be awesome! And we all know Yamaha has the know how to pull it off. It comes down to do they have the "want to"?

I forgot to tell you all. I went to Bikes Blues and BBQ last weekend and the Yamaha factory truck was there doing the test ride thing. They had all the same boring bikes they've been trying to push for some time now. I mentioned to the head guy there that it is sad that Yamaha has decided to abandon the full dresser market. I told him I don't understand Yamaha's strategy. Lets say a person starts at a young age riding yamaha dirt bikes, then graduates to street bikes as he gets to be an adult, then as he's become a Yamaha loyalist, he is forced, when he gets to the point that he wants to tour this great country, to look at another brand because Yamaha doesn't seem to care enough to provide an updated touring bike and keep their loyal customers. His response was for me to not go anywhere yet. He said he knows for a fact that Yamaha is doing a redesign on the Venture. He said he knows people that have seen the prototype, and it will be very nice. I told him with all do respect, Yada, Yada, Yada, Yamaha loyalists have heard this too many times before.

Haven't heard of that before. So.....what is it for?

Very good point. However, I realize now, after looking at my post again, it comes across as me suggesting to him to not have a girlfriend. I worded that wrong. I fully believe he should have one if it helps him heal, but moving off to another state with her while the kids are left with one parent to pull the daily load of raising HIS kids, is in my opinion a no no. Additionally, you are very right that having exes bickering back and forth is obviously not good for the kids. I probably should've stated if he stays in town, DON"T BICKER WITH THE EX. Not really sure what you meant by "putting his life on hold". I've never really thought of staying close to your kids, being there for them as they experience growing up, assisting them with challenges they might face as, "putting ones life on hold."

PMELAH, Where do I begin? I don't personally know you, other than our conversations we've had here on the forum. Even if I had met you face to face at some bike gatherings, I wouldn't be able to say that I "know" you. So, given that fact, I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I know things are going to get better for you. I would hope and pray for you that they will, but that will all depend on how you react to this tragic period in your life. My wife and I have been married 31 years. That's amazing considering that between my mom and dad, and my wifes mom and dad, there have been 16 marriages. During my youth, everytime I turned around there was a new step father or step mother coming into my life. I have so many step and half siblings now its ridiculous. My wife has the same story from her youth. When my wife and I were married 9 years, we separated for 9 months. We were sick of each other, and had become pretty adept at pointing fingers of blame at one another. I got a lawyer and started down the road of divorce. During that period of separation, through a friend of mine, I made acqaintance with a pastor of a church my friend was attending. I went to lunch with this pastor and I was able to tell him "my story" and what my wife had done, and why I was filing for divorce. His response to my pity party story was shocking, and at the time was a slap in the face to me. He told me that I needed start praying for an answer as to what I had personally done to cause my marriage to fail. He told me to earnestly seek it with an open mind and heart. He explained to me that women are attracted to "real" men. He said it's obvious I was not being a real man in some areas of my life. Look, I'm 6'6" tall, ex athlete, been known to be brash when I need to, ran multiple buinesses, telling me that I wasn't a "real man" didn't sit well with me. I would've been a lot more comfortable if he would've talked about the wrongs my wife had done. Well, for some crazy reason I listened to him and started down the journey of trying to find out what my short comings were. To my surprise, a revelation of who I was, and who I needed to be started flooding in my heart and mind. The changes I put in place saved my marriage, and certainly caused me to not be a victim of the generational curses that had plaqued my parents. So, I can't tell you if your life will get better or not. You might just blow through this bad period and never personally learn what you need to, and wind up in another divorce someday. 3 things I want to address from your post and then I'll shut my pie hole: 1. You mentioned kids. The kids didn't asked to be brought into this nasty world. And they certainly didn't ask for you and your wife to screwup their lives by blowing your marriage apart. Sadly, they're innocent bystanders that will suffer more ways than one from this for the rest of their lives. Moving out of town away from them is a definite no no. You should be in their lives constantly to make sure they stay stable. It will pay off in the end for them and you. 2. The girlfriend. What? Really? Go ahead and dream up whatever explaination you would like, but the truth is it's gonna be in your kids minds that you chose moving to Greenville with the girlfriend over staying close to them. Think about it. 3. "Where do I keep going wrong?" This statement almost goes unnoticed in your post because of all the other stuff, but I encourage you to slow your mind down and truly go on a journey to find the real answers to this question. Who knows, you might do like me and find out your not even close to being the "real man" you should be that it takes to be a great husband, father, person. It sure changed my life for the better. Anyway. Enough of my opinion. Keep your spirits high. Take your steps carefully. And, my number is in my profile, give me a call if you need to talk. Good luck.

Uh Oh! After that statement, you might wanna keep your head on a swivel tonight.

What an unbelievable concidence. Just today at lunch one of my best friends called me to sing praises about this product. He said he put it in his tires before he went on his 3500 mile ride out west last month. He said it totally changed the ride on his bike for the better. He really pushed me hard to go get it and try it. I guess I'm gonna hafta try it. I'm mainly concerned about the puncture protection it provides, but if it improves ride and handling, I'm all for that too.

Really really glad you're okay. That could've been a bad one. I've gotta ask this question though; I know there are a number of bad drivers out there, but is it a possibility that you just happened to be in her blind spot and she just didn't see you? I know that doesn't make for as good a story as the other, but maybe, just maybe that happened. And then, when you went all ape sh*! on her doors, yelling and kicking and such, that she got scared enough to not want to stop and get hurt by you. I know my wife who is 5'2" and 125lbs and mild natured is gonna get scared when faced with a situation like that, and who knows how she would react? On second thought.....she was probably just a dumb ass driver who had it our for you and made you a target and by God she was gonna come into your lane or else. LOL.

Is anyone gonna attend this great rally this week? I'm gonna head up Friday. Looks like I'm gonna hafta ride in rain to get there Friday, but Saturday is supposed to be beautiful.

My wife and I have the Nolan N43 Trilogy's. Love them. We use the chin bar most of the time. Especially when we're on the freeway. The face sheild comes down so much farther than other open face helmets that it knocks the wind off of our microphones and makes things quieter when we're talking.

Hey Shotgun, Good to see a fellow Arky on the site. My wife and I also have a 2007 RSTD. We love the bike, and have ridden it from North Carolina to Arizona and most states in between. After realizing right off the bat that the stock seat pretty much sucked, I invested in rider and passenger seats made by Ultimate Seats. It changed our world. My wife loves her seat. By the way, I noticed on your profile pic that the sissy bar has been removed. You do still have that for your precious wife to rest against don't you?

Is this where I insert my endorsement of the dominating SEC?

So saddened to hear of Steve's passing. Obviously, he was a great man who made a positive mark on the lives he touched. I will keep you in my prayers.

It was a Suzuki Trail Hopper 50 that I got when i was 8yrs old that started me down this path. After I got married in 1982, I abandoned motorcycles for 25 years and went through a series of 3 and 4 wheeled atv's to satisfy the toy urge. After getting all of the kids raised and out of the house, 5 years ago I got back into motorcycling with the RSTD, and it has been a total renewing of life for my wife and I. We love getting on Red (the RSTD) and just letting the road take us wherever. Truly clears the mind. I hope I never abandon motorcycles again.

You took the words right out of my post.

Okay, All this information has made me dizzy. Will someone just please tell me definitively whether I should run all the time with it on "reserve', or with on "ON"? And while we're at it, should I fill up with it on "Reserve", "ON", or "Off"? Thanks so much. LOL! Lynn

Uh ohhh. Somebody must've gotten left on the side of the road by their biker friends.