saddlebum

wonder how many of the bikes they passed ended up on their sides

What somebody talk'n overtime on that confounded 3W contraption

I don't see a moon or an arrow other than the moons @Flyinfoolused to post on chat. And I'm not even sure if his moons are PG rated.

I don't know who the photographer was but finally there are more of me in some of those pics than just the top of my head.

So! I now have run my E4 tires through two seasons Date code on tires is 2017, Initially tires ran great with excellent road holding and braking as well as great ride. Some have found the tires noisy but I have not found this to be the case with mine. The tires still have 50% tread left on them with approx. 7,000 km on them. Here however is the issue. Near the tail end of this summer I started noticing the back wheel would occasionally slide out on me during turns in intersections specially right hand turns and yet they still seem to be holding well in the curves. I believe this to be a case of hardening of the rubber. I had the same issue with the E3's getting over 25,000 km but having to replace before they were worn out due to slippage. I think my next tire change will be leaning towards trying the shinko 777's. I have read good things about them in regards to ride and road holding. Though they may wear faster than the E4's what does it matter if the tire gets scary before its worn out making the actual usable life span about the same but at double the price.

I did all my repair work with plastfix also known as plastex. and fiberglass cloth

Don't listen to @Patchor @cowpucJust Replace the bike less hassle

I use the TOMTOM GO app on my phone. It has a lot of good features like choosing winding road of various degrees hilly very hilly or not hilly. avoid interstate highways and or dirt roads (should get @Marcarlon this since he has trouble avoiding dirt roads). and daylight visibility is far superior to my Garmin 660 and so far has been more accurate then my Garmin. About the only thing I use my Garmin for any more is to record my trip for future reference. Did however have a quick look at Calimoto and it certainly looks to be worth further study.

If you look at all the unacceptable conditions on the chart you will see why I do not use it since 9 times out of ten it is the unacceptable conditions that take place. Pretty much the only time you get an acceptable result is when using new and perfectly clean oxidation free wiring. The method I use as explained earlier is much more forgiving and reliable specially when working with older wiring.

In winter I also drop to 10w40 dino for cold start ease. You will find I believe the majority of members here use rotella

I agree with the theory that you have a stuck open or not fully seated float. If it is coming out through the exhaust (does not necessarily mean a bad exh valve as suggested the engine could just be on its exh stroke were by the valve would be in its normally open position. Normally if a float bowl is overfilling the gas should be coming out of the overflow tubes unless they are pinched closed or plugged with dirt. If the gas is coming out the exhaust then it is also getting into the crankcase. Don't bother checking the oil just drain it because it is likely contaminated with gas. Shut off the petcock (or pinch the fuel line if the petcock is seized). Pull the plugs and crank the engine to get rid of any gas in the cylinders. Put a rag over the plug holes because any gas coming out of the plug holes will shoot out pretty good. Check your overflow tubes to the float bowls and make sure they are clear, if not clear them. Open the petcock or unpinch the fuel line and watch for fuel coming out of the overflow tubes. You may have to turn the key on several times to run the pump. If fuel leaks out remove the carbs and perform the necessary repairs If no fuel comes out and your sure you have all the gas out add a table spoon of oil to each cylinder and crank it again. finally replace plugs and install new oil and filter. You should be able to fire the bike up and let it idle watch your overflow tubes again for any gas coming out while idling. If at any point you notice gas coming out you will have to remove the carbs and properly repair them.

Snowmobile suits work great. That's what I always use in winter riding. I have used both the 2 piece and one piece and both work great. Make sure to squat and that your ankles are still covered while doing so, when trying them on so your sure to have enough leg length when sitting on the bike.

Back in the sixty's I knew a guy that worked for shell research. They would have test cars and run it extremely way past its recommended change intervals and he told me back then already that oil does not wear out it only gets dirty and looses its additives. Back then it was recommended that you change oil filters every second oil change and he said that philosophy was actually backwards that the filter should be changed every so many miles and the oil changed every second or third filter change. Based on what he told me I would change my filters at regular intervals adding oil as needed and replacing my oil once a year. I drive my cars or trucks until the body's are shot and have always got 300,000 miles give or take out of them and never lost an engine. Not that I recommend this practice just saying I got away with it with no ill effects. Now in the case of our motorcycles with wet clutches I fully agree with @cowpucthat you have to consider the wear material from the clutches, specially if your doing a lot of city driving and or doing a lot of low speed slip clutching. I which case I see no advantage to spending the extra money for synthetic, plus as I stated earlier the engine valve train etc runs quieter with dino oil hence my preference for dino over synthetic. On another note when I was fleet manager for beeline carriers I ran Rotella 15W40 in all the trucks. These were 400 hp caterpillar diesels which hauled 48 ft dump trailers from dusty quarries to construction sites so probably one of the worst environments to run an engine in. Our normal practice was to change oil every 20,000 KM. I was also randomly sending oil out for analysis. One thing I noticed was that the test results always came back stating good for 10,000 more km. So I took two trucks and started extending their oil changes. With each oil change on these two trucks I sent out samples. and each time it would come back good for 10,000 km more and each time I would add 5,000 km to the oil change interval. eventually I was up to 45,000 km and the samples were still coming back good for 10,000 km more. After this experiment I extended oil changes to 30,000 km without any ill effects. Considering the fleet had 165 trucks (freightliners and western stars holding roughly 30 litres (10 gallons ) of oil each it resulted in a quite a savings with no ill effects. Again this is just a point of interest and my personal decision. In no way I am I telling anyone to follow my example.

I have a blue spruce on the front lawn roughly 60 to 70 feet tall and always dreamed of renting one of those to do it up as a giant Christmas tree.

Hey and it breaks down for compact storage.

Leaky valve seats is one thing you can lap in very easily by your self and lapping sticks are cheap (basically just a piece of wood with a suction cup on the end) or you use Puc,s suggestion and using another valve. I just find the lapping stick easier. Make sure you get one were the diameter of the suction cup flattened out is less than the dia. of the valve but not too much smaller Hand lapping does not remove too much material and less than a valve grinder does so you should be pretty safe. Keep the cup and valve surface dry and clean so the cup maintains a good hold and use the lapping compound sparingly. The only compound that does the work is that remaining on the mating surfaces. the surplus just makes a mess and harder for the cup to stay stuck to the valve. You still however want to make sure there are no cracks in the head. Aluminum heads crack easily if the engine was ever severally overheated so it would be my recommendation to have them properly tested. If you prefer to cut corners stay as much on the cheap as you can than at the very least remove all valves (number them so they go back in the same hole or stick them through a length of card board matching their position with the position on the head from were they came). Clean the head thoroughlyd then turn the head upside down and fill the water jackets with gas or diesel fuel Try not to dribble any on the head outside the water jackets you want to keep the rest of the head clean and dry. Then let sit over night and check for traces of fuel that may indicate a crack. I prefer diesel fuel to gas because it leaves a more visible trace than gas due to it not evaporating so rapidly and it is still thin enough to leak through any cracks. You can also lightly dust the head with talcum powder after leaving it sit and then gently blow it away. The dry powder will clear out but any wet powder will stick indicating a leak.

I know who you are and I think you should feel ashamed of yourself for those initial comments. Freebird works hard on this site. Hey @Freebirddo I get any extra points for this suck up ?

Well from my point of view and this is just me I tend to agree with signatures not being displayed on the cell phones. As you stated when it comes to little screens they clutter up pretty quick. I also find it interesting how when you click on a post it puts you right were you left off the last time you read that post.

I did notice that @Freebird and I thought that was great because like you said the old way was subject to the correct spelling and format.

I am inclined to agree with Marcarl. There was a tech bulletin out years back that the second gear was an issue. Yamaha was repairing these under warranty at the time and the tech was required to place the two punch marks after the repair to indicate that the repair was performed

I agree with @Flyinfool and there fore have never been a big fan of these. You need to consider that solder joints are only truly reliable on new and/or very clean wire. If the integrity of the soldered connection is not as good as it should be you may end up with resistance in the connection. Under a heavy enough load that poor connection will heat up and in many cases the solder will melt and the connection will come apart. In the trucking industry wiring is an on going battle specially in places like here in Ontario were salt is used on the roads in winter. So like wise I am not a fan of the one piece crimp connector with heat shrink because often times when you crimp these the insulation gets pierced and as a result I have seen many of these turn green and fall apart. The most reliable form of connection I have used is the bare crimp type butt connectors and for very severe conditions I will prefill the connector with dialectic grease (in a pinch silicone brake lube or Vaseline also work well ) I then slide a piece of dual wall with sealant heat shrink over the connection (slid on to one of the wires prior to making connection ) I have never had this type of connection fail on any equipment regardless how severe the environmental conditions it is exposed to. Crimp connectors; ask @Marcarlwhat my preference is. I once threw out his cheap Walmart specials and replaced it in his tool box with an extra pair I had in the truck LOL. I prefer the type made like the ones made by Klien, Channelok or stake-on.

No Idea as yet. Just know I want to take advantage of the nice weather if the forecast holds true

I am Happy and the next few upcoming day's look even happier since I foresee some MC millage being added to my odometer.