saddlebum

I will there. Caging it most likely. Will keep an eye out for Carl in case he drifts over this way and needs redirection.

Actually can am was formed in 1972 as a spin off of Bombardier Inc which was founded in 1942, started by a guy who patented a design for the first dual track snow machine in 1935 and created the first skidoo in 1959. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can-Am_motorcycles

Decided to do a major clean out of my back shed and this old girl which I bought brand new in 1975 surfaced,

Figures @Marcarlwould come up with something twisted

I can do the 15th

If you look at my previous pics you will see white tabs. they were formed by taking a mold with the putty that comes in the plastifix kit then placed in place of the missing tab, filled with plastifix and reinforced with fiberglass cloth imbedded with more plastifix. BTW I repaired and painted the bike in 2007 and has held up since.

16th is good for me though I can do either.

Which side do you need the inner for. I may have an extra one. Plastex/Plastifix do wonders for repair. Inlaying some fiberglass cloth or stainless wire mesh really reinforces the repair. I even made one good fairing out of too bad ones by cutting out the bad sections and combining the good sections by joining them with plastifix and reinforcing with fiberglass mesh.

Sorry to hear you gave up the bike. Hope we can still be friends though I would not want you to get jealous any time you see me on my scoot.

Welcome back Lenny. Seems your not the only one of the old guard getting lonely and sliding back into the VR site. Goes to prove what a great site @Freebirdhas maintained and what great folks this site has brought together. That however has not stopped @MarcarlWho can't leave well enough alone from spreading pieces of his spider all over the garage. BTW I heard there is another recall on the front sprocket of some models (not sure which years are affected) but they are still replacing it with the same sprocket because they have not completed redesigning a viable replacement.

I would definitely remove the bags. I have ridden my bike many times without the bags. @dogman would just have to sacrifice some bottle space in his tent trailer and loan that space to his son if that were to occur.

I would be up for that as well. Hopefully my MC will be up and running in the next couple days (she won't be pretty though). I am currently on vacation as well returning to the grind on the 18th so until then I too am flexible. After that I would only be available on the weekends. ( unless I can wangle additional vacation time LOL)

A few years back a motorcycle cop here in Ontario was killed while training a group of new MC cops when he was struck by a Canada goose.

I am in full agreement and as a mechanic for 50 some years I have seen the changes and how they effect the trucking industry. the increased amount of time that these trucks spend in our shop compared to years ago and the repair bills I have to hand customers are brutal to say the least. Now we do not just replace a $2 headlamp but a $1,200+ headlight module. Due to increased use of data link in our vehicles wiring issues can take days instead of hours to resolve and pretty much any issue that may occur can no longer be repaired on the side of the road. Ninety percent of breakdowns now either have to limp in or get towed in. Where I used to see 3- 4 tow ins a year I now see them on a monthly bases sometimes even 3 in one day. It may be great for my job security but my heart sure bleeds for the poor truck driver, specially the independent who only has the one truck. Ninety percent of this stuff only satisfies gadget crazy people and the manufactures. at the end of they day your still only riding or delivering product from A to B.

That was my 1st thought as well.

One should also keep in mind the different effects of a CT tire on different bikes may also have to do with the rake/caster angle of the front forks. Because of this difference some bikes may be more accommodating to a CT tire than others.

Old school it may be @cowpucbut not outdated. This method is still factory spec on some trucks, using kingpins that incorporate tapered kingpin bearings to adjust kingpin drag ( which by the way is not unlike the setup of our steering heads) and some still prefer using this method to set tapered wheel bearing rolling resistance versus using a torque wrench and setting a preload. In truth it is more accurate while the preload method using a torque wrench can be quicker and is more convenient.

Not only should radials and bias NEVER be run together on the same vehicle be it 4 wheel or two wheel because of the difference in tire roll and foot print, but in many places such as here in Ontario it is illegal. The only exception to that rule is a commercial vehicle were you may run radials on the steer axle and bias on the eight drive wheels. @cowpucis correct when he states tire pressures should be checked when the tire is cold this has as much to do with consistency between tires as it it does with taking the expansion of air in the tire as it heats up into account. As a rule of thumb for every 10°F that a tire temperature increases it gains 1 PSI. This can vary slightly by driving conditions and initial tire pressure. An under inflated tire will heat up more than an overinflated tire due to increases flexing of the side wall which creates internal friction. This is why you often see tires that are run semi flat for too long blow out the side wall, which we call zippering. When we do alignments or at least those of us that do not cut corners, the 1st thing we do is make sure the cold psi on all tires are set to spec. NOTE A word of caution when inflating tires that have run flat for a long time there is the risk of what we call the zipper effect so if you ever reinflate a tire that has run flat for an extended time stay to one side. Over the years I have known of technicians that have been injured loosing a knee or even killed as a result of the zipper effect and have seen tires being inflated while laying on the ground become air born often injuring someone standing over the tire at the time.

The extra air pressure most likely helped due to fact that it forced the car tread to round out from a normally designed flat foot print. Which in fact is probably 14 psi above the tires designed max tire pressure range.

I would suspect that your turning issues may stem form the fact that the car tire has a flat foot print across its tread and is not designed to lean the way a motor cycle tire does. So when you attempt to do figure eights you are taking a tire designed to ride only in the upright position with a flat tread to ride up on the outside corners of the the tread, were a MC tire is designed to be able to run on its outer tread surfaces when a bike is leaned over. The feel you get may be the result of conflict between you forcing the tire to run on its outer edge and the tire trying to maintain a flat foot print which would result in tire squirm, so there may in fact be nothing wrong with the bike itself. Also a car tire would have a heavier carcass which means balancing the tire is more critical and were we can get away with static balancing a MC tire, a car tire should be dynamically balanced. a good indicator is when you get a speed related vibration which usually creeps in as you approach a given speed peaks and then fades some as you surpass that speed. Finally since car tires generally run in pairs a single car tire may induce a type of tread wonder and could result in a tail wobble, as could an unevenly mounted tire. On commercial trucks we have often had to break down and remount a tire because the driver experienced a front end vibration from newly mounted tires.

Prayers for Your Mom Puc. BTW I have always loved that song. Coming from you I am sure your Mother feels it in an extra special way.

This is Cowpucs method which he just posted; ON BIKE CARB DEEP CLEANING ""Pull the bikes side covers so carb slide covers are accessible, pull the slide covers on the carbs n remove diaphragms/slides (good time to check diaphragms for pin holes/tears), open the drains on the carbs, go to ag store and purchase large syringe for horses, pick up carb cleaner Pick up a spray can of carb cleaner such B-12 or similar quality cleaner. ( If you decide to use Chem Dip you have to be careful and work fast with Chem Dip!). Inject carb cleaner thru the drain hoses into carbs one at a time until the carb cleaner comes out of the hole that the slide needles go into in carb body one at a time and then close the drain when the cleaner drips out of hole. This will assure carb is filled with carb cleaner. Let the carb cleaner set in carbs for at least 24 hours UNLESS you’re using Chem Dip! With Chem Dip, leave it in for no more than 20 minutes MAX! After sitting for 24 hours, hook syringe back up, open drain and pull cleaner from bowls with syringe and pump syringe to agitate cleaner in carb bowls. After agitating suck cleaner out of carb bowl(s) and discard. Fill syringe with raw gas, inject raw gas into carb(s) until it comes out of diaphragm needle hole and agitate. Suck raw gas out and discard. Replace carb parts, check the slides to make sure they move freely in the carb bodies, put covers back on over diaphragms. Make sure slide springs are same length, make sure the little o-ring under cover is in place. Close it up, make sure drains are closed, turn on ignition and fill bowls with fuel pump by toggling kill switch until bowls are full (when fuel pump stops clicking). Crank her up and spit check headers to see if its now running on all four while starting with cold engine. You may also like to replace spark plugs and clip off 1/4 inch of each plug wire at spark plug caps if corrosion is present before start it up. Finally sync the carbs when done.""

I would also check your front light bulbs. Try removing them one at a time to see if the problem goes away. Sometimes the filaments in the bulb, If it is a dual filament bulb touch causing a cross feed. Also check to see if the bulbs are correct. If someone stuck a single contact bulb in place of a dual contact bulb again you get a cross feed or a short to high which is not the same as a short to ground or low. Also some dual contact bulbs are still single filament used in plastic sockets were one contact on the bulb serves as NEG and the other serves as POS, these bulbs though they have a double contact will only have a single filament. If one of these bulbs were mistakenly stuck in Which is not uncommon you again get a cross feed. If all this checks out than you will need to check your wiring. Start with looking to see if it was ever wired for a trailer. wires that have been poorly twisted and tapped can corrode and the green substance that accumulates can migrate creating a path for voltage to follow also check to see if it once had a trailer harness and check to see if it was cut back and carelessly tapped over some wire ends could be touching. Disconnect the four way flasher switch to see if it has an internal short causing a cross feed. It is a small slide switch mounted on the right side If none of this brings results than your down to using the wiring schematics noted earlier and tracing your circuits paying close attention to connectors which can fill with green corrosion causing cross feeds or were wires may have rubbed together.

The the turn signal switch itself may have to be taken apart. An accumulation of green corrosion combined with wear fillings from the contact could be causing a cross feed of currant. It is easy to do but put an old pile carpet under the bike in case something drops. Little springs and other little things can quickly drop and bounce into oblivion.

I Prefer a full size cap myself. But I have seen Carl's and I would say I would choose similar were I looking for one. You can always but in a Job Box Or similar if you need to lock stuff up.