DragonRider

The 87 is now running and runs really strong. Changed out the spark plugs and she started up first crank. Still some cosmetic work to be done, replace a couple of missing tabs, little spit and polish and she will be ready for some long distance riding. I took her out and put her through her paces and she ran great. Have to find out why the temp gauge is not working, I might have knocked the connector loose when I was putting her back together. All is all a very solid ride and handles well. I am taking the rest of the weekend off, started out cutting grass this morning and then got on working on the bike. Just came in about 45 minutes ago..........I am pooped!!!

Thanks Scott, will try the drain method, I have tried tapping on it to no avail. I am about to give up for the night, will do that tomorrow.

87 Venture, question is, when you turn the ignition on should you hear the fuel pump prime or even feel it vibrate when you turn it on. Bike wont fire, has gas, but I think the fuel pump is the problem.

Thanks Sonny, even if only you guys would have shown up, it was still have been a great time. We actually did call them, but they dont take reservations, but they knew we were coming, next time a different place with a room for all of us. It was great seeing all of you and a big thank you for the leathers that you and Joe brought. Looking forward to seeing you guys again and just us crazies going for a ride, in your neck of the woods.

Dan, I love my trike, but I love riding 2 wheels also, the wife feels more confident on 3 and thats why we bought it. Mine has the motor trike conversion which was done in 99, and it is a solid axle, it rides great but some of the bumps can be pretty jarring with that axle, I would rather have IR but right now, cant afford it. Its a tough choice to make, but you have to do what is right for you and your family. I looked at their website and they do have ir suspension now.

Did not know about Sierra, but I think it might be working now, I dropped it after opening it up and looking at it and it still didn't work, then before I could set it down, it slipped out of my hand and hit the floor, it is now working for the time being, but I will keep them in mind. Thanks.

I am having a problem with the CB on the 87 I just bought. I thought I had another laying around but I cant find it. Was wondering if anyone had a spare they wanted to part with. Not looking for a freebie, but dont want to spend an arm and a leg like they are asking on Ebay.

Its now free and sitting in my garage waiting for the weekend and I can start pulling her apart and get started on making her roadworthy.

Thanks Woody, we were so happy you guys made it, as for the t-shirts, those will always be there, they are how St. Jude thanks us for the donations, in fact as soon as the donation is made they will send me an order form for more, and they are different every year. Patches, up in the air on that. We did well with the donation box and we had far less give aways than past years, but more than I thought we would have, and that is thanks to all the generous members who donated them, I didnt purchase any of them. I thought it worked well and if everybody liked it then all is good.

Yes it does have the bling, I am the 3rd Venturerider owner as far as I know. I have been doing a little work on it with K-rider right after he got it. So I am not expecting any surprises, I know its problems and they are minor.

Dan jump on it, there was a Victory trike at Vogel and it was beautiful. Dont waste time, go look at it, if it runs buy it.

Just got home from K-Riders place, went there to pick up my new to me 87 Venture Royale. It needs a little tlc and some tinkering with the fuel system, such as new fuel lines, but I know she runs and runs well, we did a carb snyc. before we went riding a few months ago and she ran perfect, he decided to change fuel lines from the pump to the tank and that's when the trouble started, so that's where I will start. Something to keep me busy in retirement. It shouldn't take long to get her back to her thoroughbred status.

Bubba was being very shy this year, he didnt want to show his face for some odd reason, thats why all you saw was the back and top of his head, for those that dont remember him, here is a vintage video of him in his prime at MD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dMOvKjQOv68

Tricia, that goes without saying, next year we will not be going to Fatz, too many complaints about service, even from me...................

Tom hope your rally is as successful as Vogel, the crowd was small but that didnt dampen our spirits any, great time looks to be had at yours, wish we could attend, but Dr. appt.s keep getting in the way and heck we are still recovering from Vogel. Annie is bringing up some Cruisin' For St. Jude t shirts for your event. We look forward to seeing your attendee's in them.

Great video and pics, sure hate that we missed it, but never fails, something always gets in the way, one year we ill make it.

Vogel is over, I think it was quite a success from my viewpoint. What I would like to hear is input from those that attended this year and in previous years as how they compared. Was it too long, too short, did you enjoy the format, with no registration fee, how about the shirts, custom made or St. Jude shirts, do you want custom patches or not, door prizes, too many, not enough, raffles, yes or no, catered meal or pitch money in the bucket or no meal at all on Sat. How about the rides, more or less. This will help me determine what the majority like or want and help me decide on how to plan future events if we decide to continue doing so. If you have any ideas that might make it better I am open to suggestions. We have been doing this since 2005 and have had 7 Vogels since then. We want to make it easier on everybody including me and Charlene. So PLEASE, feel free to help us out here, it would be greatly appreciated. The main focus we have in doing these is helping out the "Kids" at St. Jude Children's Hospital.

Well since he didnt get any air we thought Learn to Fly would be more appropriate.

awesome...............

Report and video coming soon..................The video came from my bike, but we wanted to put something special together, we did and we needed mike to do the editing, I am sure it will be worth the wait, so Mike better step it up and get it completed.

Waiting on an update on Dana, should know something later this evening, he was at the Dr. office back home in N.C.

We made it home at 4:00 pm, safe and sound. Hope everyone else did the same. It was a great event again, and I was very happy with it, I feel that this was the best to date, thanks to our young little visitor. Your guys make me proud be be a Venturerider, everyone stepped up to help not only the Kids at Vogel, but Mary Nicole also. Thanks to the best bunch of people I could ever hope to be associated with.

Tail of the Dragon @ Vogel VII is over, another successful fundraising event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at this years event even with the changes in format. We had a little excitement, a lot of fun, good rides, good food and even had a very special little lady and her family stop by and visit with us. The first ride of the event was lead by Cowboy on an approximate 250 mile loop of the N. Ga. mountains Some of us went over to Helen, Ga. for lunch on the river and watch all the tubers go by. On Friday we rode the Cherahola Skyway in route to The Dragon where we met up with another group that departed later than we did. Everyone made it safely over and back even though there were showers in the area and roads were a little wet. Another group went on a ride after the gathering at the shelter to Brasstown Bald. Now for the excitement, StormRaven, myself, and 86er were returning to the park after our ride to Helen and while riding up 129 over Blood Mountain, when the mountain tried to draw a little blood from Mike aka StormRaven. Going into one of the turns he got into some loose gravel on the road and the bike slid, Mike stood the bike up trying to save it, and almost did when he ran out of shoulder and rode the bike down the embankment and ended up pinned between the tree and his bike. His foot was pinned under his exhaust pipe and was burning his foot through his boot. A good Samaritan was able to help me lift the bike up so Mike could get his foot out. Mike was very lucky, he had very minor injuries, which was surprising to me. It took about an hour to get the bike up, and when we did, it was basically unscathed, a couple of bent brackets for the passenger foot rest, loose mirrors, but no major damage at all. I will post about our special guest in another post a little later. Attached are a few pics of us having a great time. I want to thank each and every person who attended this year, without your participation this would be just another event, but your love for each other and love of St. Jude makes this event a memorable one, and this year this year was, to me the best, but because of our special guest it was extra special to me and many others. I also want to thank all my helpers who stepped up to lend a hand selling raffle tickets, Adrian & Todd, our chef Jamie, Paula and Charlene doing their usual setting up and making sure everyone got served with enough food and drink,thanks also to Joe and Bobbie for donating a beautiful handmade Afghan, to Ken Derret for donating a ton of first aid kits, Joe and Mary for leather goods, Sonny and Donna for more leather goods. and a big thanks to Cowboy aka, Brian Shoemaker for leading a group ride through the N. Ga. mountains. And to Dana and Missy who came even though Dana was suffering with a severe leg infection and spent most of his time at the ER getting treated, thank you for attending and putting up with our torture. We hope it lifted your spirits a little to help you cope with the pain. Here are a few stats about the event. 41 people in attendance 10 trikes 9 motorcycles 3, 4 wheeled conveyance

Vogel is in session, so far we have about 30 folks here and looks to be a fun group, 27 of us had a nice meal at FATZ restaurant in Blairsville. We also had a nice surprise at registration, we had a young couple visit with us with their one year old daughter, Mary Nicole she is a patient at St. Jude Children's Hospital. She wanted to see the bikes so they came over and everybody fell in love with her, they will also be coming back Saturday for our cookout, they were here visiting her grandmother who works for the park here at Vogel. Here are a few pics of the lovely little lady.