DragonRider

Sorry for not being on the site lately, but things have been hectic here. Charlene was supposed to have a nerve stimulator implanted to ease her back pain but it had to be canceled till further notice. Was hoping she could spend more time on the bike, but Murphy put his 2 cents worth in and not gonna happen for a few months, but I digress. We will not be staying in the park this year because the cabin rates have soared to the stratosphere. We will be staying at the Seasons Inn in Blairsville. Also since the event has been so lightly attended the last couple of times so if everybody is in agreement instead of having a cookout at the park, I propose a breakfast and lunch ride on Sat instead of being at the park cooking. I will be set up at the park as in the past for people checking in and will stay there till about 5 pm then we will leave to check in to the motel. We will meet later in the evening for a dinner ride to Fatz or maybe somewhere else. Leave that open till we gather. We will have a ride to the Dragon via the Cherahola parkway on Fri. as usual. Thurs. maybe a trip to Helen or maybe to Suches. We can plan that after we arrive and are all together. I will have t-shirts available. Looking forward to seeing all of you there. Be safe and God bless.

No question about it.................Fatz on Wed. nite and maybe another nite also.

The rental rates on the cabins have gone up once again at Vogel so for the first time we will be staying at the Seasons Inn with the rest of you there, that seemed to be party central the past few Vogels.

Aug. 14-18, 2019:thumbsup:

Your right Skid........the eclipse was the third weekend so moved it to the following weekend. Will move it back to the 3rd weekend this year.

Located in Blairsville, Ga. in the north Ga. mountians. Date has not been set yet. More to come later.

Mount for a Go Pro or other type sport cam. I have them on my trike.

Doing pretty good for an old fart. Thanksgiving was good as usual, only bad Thanksgiving I had was when I had 4 wisdom teeth removed 2 days before TG. Getting cold here, but not quite as cold as you get. We have had a few below freezing mornings so far, most have been in the low to mid 40's. Those trickle chargers will save you big bucks in the long run. I have one that I rotate between my two bike and the lawntractor to keep them at peak charge. Have a Merry Christmas!!

How you doing Yama Mama???

PM answered..........Thanks.

Looking for the lower section of a 2 piece headset cord.......misplaced or lost one somewhere. J&M headsets.

Congrats Puck and Tippy and the new parents too..............

Looks a lot like Freebirds old scoot...................

Great job by you guys in NY. Ya'll did good.

Congratulations on the new bike. You must have the patience of a saint!

I should turn it over to you and let you get it looking like you did with your two restorations...........then it would be beautiful!!!

Havent spent much time on smaller bikes ever since I graduated to Ventures. The seat isnt too bad and don't feel too crunched up on it on the test drives I have taken. I will gradually work on seat time once its licensed and insured which will be in the next few days.

Well I made the decision to keep the XJ and parted ways with my 87 Royale. The XJ650 is now road worthty, just have to get it plated and insured. Dont think I am going to miss my 87 because I still have the trike. It didnt take long to sell the 87, I had plenty of interest in it, I could have likely gotten a little more for it, but I wanted it sold so I could finish up on the XJ. Next time I ride the Dragon it will be on the XJ650.

Well that is the problem, sell the Maxim which is a blast to ride, which was my intention to start with or keep it since Charlene wont ride on a 2 wheeler anymore, she just likes the trike, or sell the 87 Royale which I ride whenever I get the chance and is fun to ride and keep the Maxim which is even more fun to ride, back to basics like I used to ride in my much younger days. Actually when I first got back into riding after moving here from NOLA, the first bike I restored to ridding condition was an 81 Maxim 550. It was a fun bike to ride but a little small for the both of us. I rode it for a while then I purchased a running but cosmetically poor looking Seca 750 Tour which I fixed back up to a nice looking and running bike. Sold the 550 and rode the Seca for a couple of years. I use to ride nothing but Honda but found the Yammies to my liking also. The rest is history and now I am on my 3rd Venture and I kinda want to keep the Maxim. My friend gave me this bike after I convinced him I could bring it back to life and sell if for him and split the profit. So I think the Maxim will sell faster than the Venture, but I think the Maxim will bring more........Cant find many Maxims for sale anywhere, so I have no comps to go by. NADA list it at 2100.00 high retail. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.............................................:crying:

Two of my riding buddies here have them. They rave about them and now I know why. They both had two sets and let me use one. The sound quality and clearness of the voice was just like they were sitting right there talking to me. What I like is not having to key a mic to talk. We were all synce together and could talk back and forth freely. I am now looking into getting one myself. But there are other on the market that work the same way and the bluetooth standard make them all compatible. I was amazed at the sound. Unbeatable. The Sena are more expensive than most, but if you look on Amazon they have all the brands and some are very low priced and supposed to work the same. That is the way I am leaning.

Eck, anything you would do to it would put me to shame. Of course I didnt take it down to bare bones like you do, I just had to clean 20 years of dirt and grime it accumulated sitting in my friends garage. This was one of the easiest one I brought back to life. Of course its meant to be a daily rider not a showroom or museum piece like yours deserve to be.

Finished up the Maxim today. Started cleaning and polishing all the chrome and parts that needed to be spruced up. She came out looking pretty good for an old girl. Waiting on the new front brake pads to come in on Monday then she gets new shoes and will be posted up. Not real sure I want to get rid of it........contemplating selling my 87 Royale and keeping this one for solo riding. It is a blast to ride it....getting back to my roots of riding when I was much younger. It is so light an nimble, makes the Venture feel like a tank. Pictures attached.

1981 Yamaha XJ650G that was sitting in my friends garage for almost 20 years. Everytime we went and visited him and his wife in La. I would pass by it in his garage and I would ask him when he was going to do something with it. Well he finally broke down and bought a used 2012 VStar 1300 Tour. He was going to donate the XJ to chairity. I convinced him to let me fix it up and sell it for him. What he did was sign it over to me and we brought it back to Newnan. It sat in my shop for a few months waiting for me because I had another project I brought home at the same time for my grandson, so that one took priority. Started on the XJ about 4 weeks ago and starting slowly tearing it down to bare everthing. It was a pretty straight forward job. Rebuilt carbs, new throttle cable, new battery, refurbished front caliper, still waiting on the new brake pads. Finished up the carbs yesterday and today reassembled it after she came back to life. Fired right up, took it for a spin and was impressed at how well it ran. Had to tinker with the brakes a little more but it now stops just fine. Still have to put the rubber boots from the carbs to airbox back on and start taking care of what little surface rust in on some of the chrome.

A few pics with Dan at various Vogels over the years.

I am at a loss for words.......Dan was a unique person and thats what made him so special. Dan had a love for life and tried to live it to the fullest. I know Dan had been looking for a trike for a number of years and finally was able to fulfill his passion on three wheels. Dan was the first VR member I met back in 2005 at the very first Vogel. He arrived at the park before Charlene and I did and the rest is history. Dan was always there for you with parts or information and was always ready to pitch in and lend a hand. Our prayers go out to Patsy and his family at this time. RIP YammerDan. You will be missed by many.