Venture n Dixie

I am familiar with that smell & the sensation on the hand. When I was 15 & 11 months dad let me buy a 63 MGB that needed a little TLC. The plan was I could be doing bodywork & upholstery until I got my license. I successfully installed beautiful black carpet from Warshawsky, recovered the worn out door panels with black Naugahyde and applied the 1st gallon of Bondo to the rear end. I thought working 2 inch deep craters of Bondo was an "art form" and I was Michelangelo. I was pleased with my effort and decided to reward myself. Everyone knows that the most important part of any vehicle is the music so I rode my 67 CB450 to Lafayette Electronics, bought an 8 track deck, speakers & wire. Carried them home in my newspaper bag. Get home & I'm so excited I cant wait. I run the power wires under the new carpet to the batteries that are behind the seats. Can't wait to hear my beautiful (to me) car scream Led Zeplin II, groove to The Rascals and philosophize Let It Be. To heck with mounting everything. Let's just get it hooked up with the deck & speakers laying on the concrete driveway. GOTTA HEAR THIS MACHINE MAKE MUSIC NOW! Well I'm rockin out & I see Dad down the street driving the Rambler home from work. I'm STRONGLY suspecting he ain't gonna like me squandering my money & effort on this crappy stuff I call music so I've gotta hide everything quick! Yank the cart out of the deck to quiet things down. Grab everything... tapes, deck, speakers, wire & boxes. Throw it in the as of yet unupholstered floorboard behind the seat & throw leftover carpet over it to hide the evidence. Meet him at the car, show him some of my expert carpet installation & escort him away & in to the house as fast as I can. I come back outside to a new strange smell I've never encountered before. There's blackish/grey smoke pouring out of the MG (top is down). I run to my poor baby & the smoke is coming from that pile in the floorboard & the new carpet on the driveline hump! I reach in and grab what used to be my brand new power & speaker wires that have now magically transformed in to toaster elements! The monsters have cut my brand new black carpet in half. I learned that if a wire is hot enough to cut carpet it's also hot enough to brand you. I also learned that 63 MG's have a positive ground and all normal electronics have a negative ground. I also learned that "ground" means ANYTHING metal on the vehicle is ground and that includes THE FLOORBOARD! I learned a lot that day but it cost me a new $50 tape deck, carpet & burned hands. I look back on it now & think kids brains have a short circuit. I was spending MY money on MY car. If I'd been playing something Dad liked he would have probably helped me finish the job properly. Instead I bought a hot LEER 8 track deck, wrapped it in an inner tube & mounted it with plywood. Every time my keys hit it sparks would fly! Puc I hope we never meet. They'll lock us up on the 3rd floor of the rest home for sure!

I probably wouldn't know the Venture existed if it weren't for that group. Early 80's I had surplus sunglasses to get rid of. My wife's cousin had cardboard cutouts of Dolly Parton, Ronald Reagan & a Polaroid camera. We went to Pigeon Forge TN for their rally. Don't know if it was V Daze or Family Affair. There were thousands of Ventures. He sold a lot of pictures. I sold a lot of sunglasses, but the memory that really stuck was the demo ride. I left my license at the room & had to ride shotgun behind by cousin n law. I was blown away that the bike never broke a sweat & rode like a Cadillac. Was hooked. 30 years later I have 2 in the driveway asking me why I've abandoned them.

From watching your project it looks like your passion is customizing bikes. Be nice if you could pursue that.

I'm impressed with the parking garage that must have a movable elevator on rails.

From the iPhone I get a message that I've got to log in. I am logged in.

On iPhone and kindle fire the chat room button is isn't accessible. I can see part of it but it's covered up by the search window.

Piece of popcorn under the 8 key!

Interesting. Barbers did a presentation on this bike Wednesday. First bike that was ergonomically designed. Controls, seat and suspension were adjustable. Motor was stressed frame member. Designed for quick removal of front end for easy engine access. Rear wheel had sprockets on both sides allowing different gearing for side car by turning the wheel around. Everything could be done on the 2 side stands. Good on the straights. So so in the curves.

What really gets my goat is when I come across one of those HF impulse buys under a pile of stuff unopened still in the bag. Take it to the tool cave and guess what, there's already another unopened one there. Yeah I really needed that..

Ouch! I come through Moody on my drive in and home. Need me to provide some extra grunt just let me know.

http://www.hannigantrikes.com/products/honda-f6b-trike-conversion/

Another rainy morning down the drain. Puc you are our long lost replacement for Saturday morning cartoons! My father-in-law had an 85 when I came onboard. I only rode it 3 times and never opened it up. Wasn't worth the risk to wreck his pride & joy. 1st time out he drove with me on back and I quickly discovered he didn't have the same respect for me! Exceeded any amusement park ride ever. Jumping out of a plane is all can imagine that would top it.

This thread made me curious about the difference between standard white tape and yellow gas tape. Looked it up and yellow is thicker. Some say to seal imperfections and others say to just use one layer. I'm going to bed feeling satisfied that I'm an enlightened person now. Goodnight!

Found this bike while searching for a starter at Pinwall. Here's the link to the starter. http://www.ebay.com/itm/96-Yamaha-Royal-Star-Tour-Deluxe-Touring-XVZ1300-1300-STARTER-STARTING-MOTOR-/381233248998?hash=item58c345bae6 and here's the interesting part about the fuel injection... THIS CAME OFF A RUNNING 1996 YAMAHA XVZ1300A ROYAL STAR/BOULEVARD WITH 57912 KNOWN MILES ON IT. VIDEO TAKEN OF FRONT AND REAR LIGHTS AND GUAGES. ELECTRICAL THAT IS WORKING: HEADLIGHT HI AND LOW BEAM, BOTH FRONT SIGNALS, BOTH REAR SIGNALS, TAIL/BRAKE LIGHT AND HORN. CHARGING SYSTEM WAS NOT CHECKED DUE TO NON RUNNING CONDITION. ADDITIONAL NOTES: UNIT HAS BEEN CONVERTED FROM CARB TO FUEL INJECTION. MOTOR WILL CRANK AND HAS SPARK BUT WILL NOT START DUE TO NO SIGNAL TO FUEL INJECTORS. TECH DID PERFORM COMPRESSION TEST ON ENGINE. L.H. FRONT CYLINDER@ 149 PSI, R.H. FRONT CYLINDER @ 137 SPI, L.H. REAR CYLINDER @ 137 PSI AND R.H. REAR CYLINDER 2 165 PSI. KEEP FUEL INJECTION KIT PARTS TOGETHER. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH VIDEOS OF THE BIKE RUNNING, PARTS WORKING, ETC. PRIOR TO DISASSEMBLY so since the video doesn't show it running can we assume whoever tried the conversion got frustrated & gave up?

Interesting Puc! But that link is for the "Austone" ??? tire. The Dunlop is $221. https://www.universaltire.com/catalog_filter/?ftire_size=175R16

I just remembered a tip from dad's Popular Mechanics mag from the 60's or 70's. It was about cans of paint I think but same idea. As you use the contents add marbles to displace the air. They also act as "shakers". Now the problem is... where can you get marbles?

31 cents for regular? I was paying that in 1969 when I started riding. 29 if they were having a gas war.

Assuming the bike runs good, would it be a decent price if it had 120000 miles on it? Is that the original seat?

14 years old. Paper route in 1969 paid for my Honda CL 175. That got me on the road. Upgraded to Honda CB 450 a year later then a 63 MGB before I turned 16. Then Dad gave me the "Son, you've got to decide what you want to do with your life." speach. As a 16 year old idiot, I thought I was gifted with intelligence only reserved for folks like Jesus, Dylan and the Smothers Bros. So while living amidst the children of German rocket scientists and IBM developers and programmers in The Rocket City I proclaimed, "I think I want to be a farmer!" Dad had a lot of connections (and he grew up on a north Georgia farm during the depression) so the county extension agent set me up with Monty Davis, a cotton farmer that leased northeast Alabama (literally). After 2 months of getting up at 4am, driving my MGB 30 miies listening to the Eagles on 8 track wide open to stay awake, riding the front of a highboy tractor with 3 other field hands in 100degree heat, spraying Johnsongrass and cuccleburrs with something I'm sure has been banned now, and spraying each other when it got too hot, we came to a time called "laying off" which means you stay out of the fields and let the cotton do it's thing. Well from day 1 I had decided this was as close to hell as I ever wanted to get. Even worse than the hated paperroute. All summer I had been devising ways to break my arm so I could legitimately quit this "gift of a career". Our first assignment was to paint a 5 mile long white fence at the main farmhouse. When we finished there were 3 barns/buildings to paint white. Suddenly the answer to my prayers was mathematical! The widow next door needed her house painted and I knew I could get $250 and do it in a week. At $40 a week on the farm I wouldn't make that the rest of the summer! It was a raise, a few weeks vacation and escape from the career from hell all in one! By the end of the week I swore I'd never paint another house. Another broken promise. At least I did get a couple of weeks off before school started back. Don't remember what I did though. Funny thing is I still waste my time and money every spring to try and grow a few tomatoes and such. Something about watching a seed come out of the ground and producing something edible just fulfills a basic instinct. Kind of like going to that "special" narrow country road, taking the helmet off and cruising 45mph. Not a lot of noise, the wind blows the hair and the nasties from my mind and you can't beat the smell of the country. That what you were looking for Puc?

My pee c and iPhone log off after 30 minutes. My kindle fire stays logged in all the time.

During Vintage Festival the museum is SECONDARY to the event! 60's Honda CB 160 class racing on the track. A HUGE swap meet. All kind of bikes everywhere. It's like a dream!

The week before is my 2 favorite events. Crusin' the Coast in Mississippi Oct 4-11 http://cruisinthecoast.com/ and Barbers Vintage festival http://www.barbermuseum.org/events/barber-vintage-festival/ in Leeds AL, Oct 9-11. You need to take off longer!

Not exactly. Many owners swap out for VMax diffs for lower gearing not mechanical failure.

If you have your Rx there are plenty of online (Chinese) companies with cheap glasses like these for $36. Wife and I have had good results.http://www.zennioptical.com/703318-prescription-wind-goggles.html

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/video-the-kawasaki-ninja-h2-and-h2r-placed-in-the-barber-motorsports-museum/ 300hp Kawasaki. Not a touring bike though. I was standing next to the bike when the Brit was shooting this video.