twigg

lol ... Look two posts above Owen's report

Good Job, well done! Nice write up and great pics Glad you have the first one out of the way, because now it starts to get serious

You can fix that warning on the dash by jumpering the reed switch in the CMU

I was born on the 4th July, 1959. I am 53.

Float bowls can only overflow if too much gas is getting in. That can only happen if the needle valve isn't closing. The system is pressurized, so even a tiny leak on that seat will cause too much to be pumped through. So you have a dirty valve seat, a faulty needle, a faulty float or the mechanism not assembled correctly. I can't think of another reason off the top of my head

Part One: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73786 Part Two: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73853 Since writing Part Two of this series both I, and another Forum member have competed in a Long Distance Rally. Rather than simply go down the path of looking at the different aspects of LD Riding, I thought that for this one I could bring the subject to life and take you on a rally. At some point it might be useful to look in detail at planning a rally, but we are riders, so let's go for a ride: It has been made clear to me that my Blogging platform of choice is not welcome on this site. That has caused me a good deal of extra work to bring this to you, and it is not as good as the original in terms of layout and readability, and you have lost the many excellent comments left in the other place. Anyone wanting to read it as I intended it to be seen is free to email me for the link "Steve went to Prada, and all I got was a lousy photograph" - Jodie http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-8dfFkhS/0/M/DSCN0943-M.jpg "Prada 'Marfa'" is a piece of installation art. It is on a deserted highway in Texas, close to Marfa, TX and the Mexico border. The structure was built at a cost of $80 000 and is designed to be allowed to degrade and crumble with the ravages of time. It's sole purpose is to demonstrate the return from modernity to the earth from which it was created. Prada gave their blessing, and stock, for the store. I was there because it was a bonus location worth 1405 points in the Big Tex Rally, a thirty six hour motorcycle rally entirely within the state of Texas. From the start I was determined to make a significant assault on this rally. Despite my motorcycle inhabiting the territory known as the "Hopeless" Class, in previous rallies it has acquitted itself decently well, and surprised more than a few folk. This time the rally was a little longer, a little tougher, and I was determined to find out just what it could and couldn't do. Incidentally, "it's the rider not the bike" is an old homily which was going to be put to the test too. In the end it was a mixed result. For reasons that will become clear I decided not to finish, yet what I did accomplish, what I learned and what I will share that others may benefit too made this a truly worthwhile endeavour. *** It was dark at the Rider Meeting, at a gas station in Denison, TX. The event was due to start at 6 am and we would have no daylight for at least another ninety minutes. Denison was one of the four stating locations for the nearly fifty entrants. I will say right here that I am not a big fan of multiple starts. The Rally Master and his staff, who do a wonderful job in all things, cannot level that playing field. They can probably get very close, but they cannot make them equal. The Cape Fear Rally has three starts, and publishes a different finisher list for each one. That said, about half the field was starting from Denison, and clearly they each had identical opportunities. I had arrived the evening before and met up with a few riders I had met on previous rallies, and some new guys. It is always good to meet old friends and acquaintances, and we wished each other well as is the norm. These events are more "friendly rivalry" than competition. Sure we all would like to win, but there can be few who don't simply admire the achievements of those who exceed your own efforts; especially given that your own efforts were prodigious! The Rally Pack had been distributed three weeks earlier. About half the field were newcomers to the sport, and Wayne, the Rally Master, was keen that everyone had a chance to plan routes carefully. We were told that there would be some new information that would be given out at the start of the event, but nothing that would cause riders to alter their basic routes. This was very good to hear. The last thing new riders need is to plan for three weeks then have to scrap and re-plan on the clock. So it came as a bit of a surprise to read the supplementary information and realise that one of the biggest bonuses available would require me to completely alter my route! This was not going to happen. The supplementary pack gave me an additional 7500 points without changes, and I decided to live with that and look again at the overnight stop, to see if I could make hay with the other stuff. That 7500 points gave me a projected score of maybe 58 000 points for the event. What I now know is that had I been able to take advantage of that "extra" multiplier, the 58 000 could have become around 67 000 points ... a very respectable finish. However, we are getting somewhat ahead of ourselves and I don't really do "what ifs", nor do I ever bemoan my own misfortune. Every event like this is unique. What is important to me is that I learn from each one, and incorporate those lessons into all future events. If I can share what I learn, and that helps others, then I consider that to be an added bonus. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-wnBqVCS/0/M/DSCN0931-M.jpg At the start I found myself next to a guy in his first rally. He was clearly a mix of excited and nervous. He wanted to chat about what was to come and there wasn't much I could say to him, and I knew exactly how he was feeling. I suggested that he simply take it very easy for the first twenty miles or so; that is when the adrenalin will kill you. Suggested that he might remember that whatever the objective, all he was really doing was going for a ride on his rather nice Honda Gold Wing. That is it ... it's just a motorcycle ride. Enjoy. I didn't catch his name but I really hope he did well and had fun. Six am duly rolled around and we were off. I was the second or third bike out of the parking lot. I had a long, hard day ahead and I wanted to make some good early progress. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-5ph3FtQ/0/M/DSCN0933-M.jpg The first target was the grave of "Machine Gun Kelley". I took a wrong turn almost right out of the gate which cost me just a few minutes and I arrived about 100 miles later at 7.50 am. I was maybe the fourth or fifth there, but it was apparently on many schedules, and was a busy graveyard at that early hour. The location was easily found and a few minutes later I was on my way again. This time another 130 miles to the home of Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian. This is always the phase of a rally where I settle in and get on with the task in hand. The initial rush is passed, the sun is up and I can take stock. The bike is running well and you can make good time on these Texas highways. The speed limit is 70 mph, and much of the time that is doable. I have a route that demands that I ride 1030 miles before my overnight stop, and along the way I need to hit some time checks. I am heading for El Paso. It was a bit disconcerting to pass a sign as I left Sherman saying "El Paso 545 Miles", and I wasn't even going straight there! I never let my head go to the entirety of the route, but simply ride from one planned location to the next. Those are bite-sized chunks that never seem too far yet add up to a total plan. I was scheduled to be in Sanderson, TX at 11.30 pm, there I could rest but for now there was the small matter of bonuses to hunt in the Guadalupe Mountains, and other places. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-j6LX39h/0/M/DSCN0935-M.jpg This bonus benefitted from the supplementary information. The original requirement was a photo of the front gate, which was easy enough. For an additional 2190 points you also needed a picture of the typewriter that the novelist used. It is obviously inside the house, and equally obviously might prove tricky. I am the first to arrive at this bonus, but I am confident that the enormous number of points would attract many riders. The house is locked up so I went around the back and found an open door and two little old ladies doing some filing, or something. Well they wanted chapter and verse, and I have only budgeted five minutes for this stop. I indulge them as politely as I can, and get my photo. As I am leaving three more riders arrive. Nicely primed the ladies are likely to delay them for rather less time, yet I don't begrudge the extra few minutes one bit. We are ambassadors for our sport and making a favourable impression on little old ladies is simply part of the job. Plus, they are usually very nice to talk to I was fortunate they were there. Usually the place is locked, and you have to call a number and wait for someone to get there to let you in. Some later riders might find this to be a bit of an obstacle. It might have cost me five minutes, but I was grateful to them for choosing that Friday morning to do paperwork. I needed gas next, and I would need gas again before the next bonus. As I plan on gas every 250 miles that is a long way between stops. You sometimes just have to hunker down and ride. Five hundred miles into my day I make it to Wink, TX. Here is the home of the Roy Orbison Museum. Again it is closed and you have to go to the City Hall a few doors away to gain admission. The lady tells me that a few riders have already been through. I imagine they were nearly all from the Anthony, TX start location. Few from Denison were coming here as far as I knew although I had been passed on the road by a BMW GS. That incident was instructive. I am a decent rider. I can push where I need to, and throttle back when I have to. I do not worry about taking my 900+ pound beast down unmade roads, or up mountains. I had been pushing hard yet this guy simply rolled by. I am beginning to understand that my trusty mount is playing out of it's league. Realising this, which is a feeling that has been growing, is a bit dispiriting and I ponder that for a few miles. Meanwhile, I hit Wink on time and get a stupid photograph wearing some "Roy Orbison" sunglasses. (I have been informed that these are actually Roy Orbison's glasses. Donated to the museum by his family). http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-8swmqqf/0/M/DSCN0936-M.jpg Here I make a plea to Rally Masters. Please do not insist that riders include themselves AND their Rally Flag in photographs, unless it adds something to the necessary bit of proving that you were there. In this instance it clearly did, and was fun. In others, not so much and is a requirement that adds nothing to the task, just makes the picture harder to get and to what end? This is my story, and I'll tell it the way I want to, m'kay? That said, the next picture did actually turn out quite well even if it did take longer to frame than was necessary: http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-HrSqsr5/0/M/DSCN0937-M.jpg We are now another one hour and forty minutes down the road, and still on schedule. This bonus was just three miles after bagging the Passport Stamp for the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I nearly had a complete disaster at the Visitor Center there. I pulled into what appeared to be a perfectly ordinary parking space, but I had badly misjudged the camber. As I came to a stop the bike started to fall to the left. The world goes in slow motion for a split second as a whole train of thought rushes through your head. Can I hold it? No ... It's too risky, Okay, then how can I minimise this situation? Left foot firmly planted, keep hold of the bars and allow the bike to lay gently on the crash bars. Step off and scratch head. It's hard not to laugh, and even harder not to cry. I haven't dropped a bike for maybe twenty years and I picked a fine place to try it again! There is another motorcyclist in the parking lot. He comes over and thirty seconds later the bike is safely restored onto it's sidestand. No harm, no foul. It is 104 miles to the next bonus. Actually it is three bonuses within a mile of each other worth a combined total of 5659 points. They are all in El Paso and they are the reason I have come this far west. At my current location I have a "get out". If I am too far behind schedule I can miss El Paso and head south, shortening the route. I would lose the El Paso points, but could make some of them up with the shorter distance and extra time. I am at Guadalupe Peak bang on schedule though. My GPS is estimating arrival at the next National Park at 4.58 pm, two minutes before it's official closing time. I said I was attacking this rally, so I decide to go for it. And "go for it" I did. Across the bleak uplands through the Guadalupe Mountains. The roads are fast, generally straight with very little traffic and as I ride I am able to watch my ETA become closer. I had it at about 4.50 pm ... I had built a ten minute cushion. In the end it was worth it even if I missed the 690 points in the Visitor Center, the nearly 5000 for the grave of James Wesley Hardin were sufficient. A complication was the 1000 point Call-In Bonus. We were now on Mountain Time, and right in the window to call the barn. I couldn't do it. Even stopping every few miles to check for a phone signal there was nothing doing. No stores, and few householders would relish a mad English motorcyclist banging on their door asking to use the phone. I eventually came across a lonely "Craft" Store that would have a phone I could use. It was 5.05 pm Central ... Too danged late! Then I hit the outskirts of El Paso. Mile after mile of urban highway. Where the hell did all that traffic come from? Traffic lights every ten yards, and every one of them red. My ten minute cushion became seven minutes late by the time I arrived at the Chamizal Visitor Center. When this kind of thin happens seven hundred and fifty miles into your ride, it can be a severe blow to your peace of mind. As I head, less than confidently, to the center I spot a young woman from the Park staff. She tells me that the door is still open. It isn't and with little hope I banged on the locked door. To my surprise, a guard opens the door and tells me, in no uncertain terms at all, that getting the two Passport Stamps inside is absolutely no trouble! The Gods of Motorcyclists are smiling on me today, and in a short while the smile will deepen and broaden into a positive grin! http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-n8f22xB/0/L/DSCN0941-L.jpg As I leave for Concordia Cemetery, the final resting place of James Wesley Hardin, I decide to take a few moments while there to take stock. The location is only a couple of miles from Chamizal, but that couple of miles takes over half an hour. I get firmly and inextricably lodged in traffic. It appears that every truck in North America has chosen this time to head into Mexico. The lines are solid, every intersection completely snarled up, and my engine boils over ... twice. I have lost the best part of an hour from my schedule and when I finally arrive at the cemetery, it is closed! Closed three full hours before the posted closing time of 8.00 pm, something I carefully checked before leaving home. There is a guard at the gate letting the final few stragglers out. I can see my target maybe fifty yards away and I wonder if he will let me in. All I need is a quick picture. No, he won't, at least not without the permission of the owner who is right there. Apparently they are preparing for some James Wesley Hardin Commemoration the following day. She hears my tale, gives permission and the friendly guard took the picture. Like I said, I am destined to do well in this Rally, and I am earning it the hard way but now I am very concerned that I do not trash my motorcycle nine hundred miles from home. I make my way slowly out of El Paso, well behind schedule and am rapidly calculating the damage, which amounts to ninety minutes (1350 points) lost from my Rest Bonus and a sick motorcycle. I make it to a gas station where I need a few minutes rest. I am up around eight hundred miles for the day and the last hundred have been very hard on both of us. At this point I don't need gas, just a few minutes off the bike before I head into the mountains again, and into the night. I hate this bit. I started the day in the dark and am now faced with another two hundred miles or so, in the dark. The lights on the bike are decent. They are not quite what I ultimately want, but they are good enough to run a fairly fast pace on these roads, mountains or not. By chance I look at my auxiliary gas tank and I notice something wrong. The gas cap is missing, as is the bulk of the five gallons of gasoline I thought it contained. I realised just how lucky I was. I was heading into wild territory thinking I had five more gallons of gas aboard than I actually had. That was a certain disaster averted but now I could only run my main tank. This immediately compromised my second day plans because I had to again run fast through country where gas was going to be hard to find. The loss of that cap and the nagging worry about the engine was bringing me to the point of simply riding for a finish, with no guarantees that I would even get one. http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-8dfFkhS/0/L/DSCN0943-L.jpg I make it to the eponymous "Prada" maintaining my predicted pace. I am an hour and a half late but have not lost any more time. Here is a bonus where the requirement was for a "non-pretentious picture of you in front of the Prada store". This was one where I happily agree that getting the rider in the photo adds value. I loved this bonus. Being in this place, at this hour was a surreal experience. In my six or seven rallies to date this has become my favourite bonus location and if you are ever in the area please stop by. I promise that you will not regret it. It is vital that you never let your plan take over from your common-sense, and decision making. Your rally plan is a target to aim for, and must never be allowed to rule your judgement. If any newer riders are reading this, I cannot stress the point enough and right now I was at decision time. The next bonus, and the final one of the day was at the McDonald Observatory. Unfortunately, they tend to put these things at the top of mountains. While I felt reasonable confident that the road up would be manageable, I was rather less confident of my ability to go up safely. I was tired and I knew it. Riding to my planned rest stop maybe another 130 miles was one thing. Detouring up a mountain at midnight was quite another and I make the only safe decision I can. I cut the bonus and the 3000 points that go with it. Even then I hit a wall. No, not literally, the figurative "wall" that is a combination of poor sleep the night before, nine hundred miles riding, the darkness and the stress of El Paso and the lost gas cap. I called Jodie when I filled up with gas and we talked briefly about the 97 miles left to the rest stop. I was confident that I would be okay and indeed I was, but not without a lesson that I will share with you all. When I am tired and riding, I do not generally suffer from my eyes closing. What does happen is that I lose focus, literally lose focus, my eyes go blurry and I have to force my concentration back to the task. That is a clear and unambiguous sign that I need to get off the road, and get off the bike and I NEVER ignore it. Neither should you. There comes a point, and we each are different, where we recognise those signs. It is not clever or brave, or admirable to ignore the signs. It is stupid, dangerous and has no place in LD Riding. I felt that happen about thirty miles into the last leg. I needed a safe place to stop and there wasn't one. That road is wild and desolate. There are no houses, no towns, no gas stations just a ribbon of tarmac with nowhere to stop. If I stopped in the road I would be in danger from the next tired idiot driving up behind me. Somehow I had to stay alert until I could safely stop. I yelled at myself, I ate candy, turned up the music and had as much air flowing as I could manage. I was prepared to continue only as long as it was safer to ride than stop. Eventually I hit a small town called Marathon, TX. This was about twenty miles passed my "signs to stop", and about forty miles from my planned stop. I pulled over in a parking area, got off the bike and lay down on the sidewalk. This might sound a bit extreme but it didn't seem at all odd at the time. I was in a safe place and could use a short "power nap". I got one and in about twenty minutes was feeling pretty darned good. There was nowhere to take my official rest break so I hopped back on the bike and completed forty uneventful miles to Sanderson, TX. All along I had planned my rest stop carefully and deliberately. In the last rally I entered I stayed at the Iron Butt Motel (sleeping outdoors for those who don't know). This time I planned the same. Truck stops are a decent choice. They are open 24/7, have computer generated timed receipts, and they have coffee, food even showers available. All you need is somewhere to sleep and a quiet corner of the parking area will do nicely. In some places you can even blag your way into the truckers lounge and sleep in a chair. This one was different. It was closed! So, no hot chocolate for me, but the gas pumps gave me a receipt timed at 1.10 am (the correct time). Within fifteen minutes I was in my sleeping bag. As I lay there, cozy and warm I saw more stars in the night sky than ever before in my life. There is no light pollution here, and the view was glorious. I had the warmth from the tarmac coming up through my sleeping mat, and the heat from my cooling engine. Alarm set for six fifteen, I was asleep immediately and slept the sleep of the just! I am firmly of the view that sleeping like that, listening to your bike clink and tinkle as it cools, and gazing up at the stars is one of life's great treats. You miss all that if motels are the only choice you ever make, but even I agree that they do have their place. When the alarm woke me I lay there for another forty five minutes. I had done some thinking and already decided that today was going to be spent simply riding home. I was in decent enough shape rallywise. I had worked out that if I simply rode for a finish I already had sufficient points to qualify. If I was granted all the "givens", and my license was still safely in a sealed envelope, then I had already accumulated around 33 000 points ... more than enough. Anything I gathered in the second day would simply raise me in the final standings. I had planned to hit the compulsory bonus at 8.00 am, and that was still on. If I could make the second day work I was back at the barn for around 58 000 points which should be a decent place. The fly in this ointment was the supplementary bonus thrown in at the start. Not only was it a bonus that I could not reach without re-routing my entire day, there were no guarantees that I could hit a target three times with a .45 Magnum. This bonus required you to be close to home no later than 2.00 pm, and from Sanderson that was not going to happen. As I have already said, I was attacking this rally and that means getting to Dallas no earlier than thirty minutes before penalties. To plan anything else is wasting time that you could have been on the road. It is a minor understatement that I felt that this bonus was breaching the spirit of the rally in more ways than one. First, it did demand significant re-routing. Second, it introduce a points multiplier based upon a skill that has nothing whatsoever to do with motorcycling. I want to ride my bike, and plan my rides. I want to enjoy camaraderie and good fun .... If I wanted to shoot a gun I would buy one, or join a gun club! Don't get me wrong. I am as keen as the next person for Rally Masters to get folk off their bikes doing interesting things. Is it too much to ask that those activities be designed to explore and develop the skill set we need to ride and rally, rather than introduce elements completely unrelated. I would be perfectly fine with this being "just another bonus" that one could choose to go for or route around, but it was a whole points multiplier .... Just didn't feel right to me is all. I'm sure it was indeed fun for those who completed it. All of the above is pure conjecture, and it's easy to ride a rally from my armchair I had the points to finish, but I had already decided that I was going home. My main concern that "home" was six hundred and ninety miles away. I would have liked to have gone via Dallas, put in my score and enjoyed the great company, but that added another three hundred miles, and time pressure to a motorcycle that I was not confident was up to the task. Especially as it would have probably meant routing through San Antonio, Austin and Dallas itself, with a motor that had already threatened to toast itself in city traffic. I called Wayne, made my apologies turned on my GPS, hit "Where To" and "Home" in that order and was on my way. The ride home was at a slower pace and uneventful. Seven hundred miles at a decent clip with only Wichita Falls to slow me down. I was home by 8.30 pm. Tired and a bit achy, but very pleased with my efforts despite the DNF. As a final note ... I would hate for folk to read a few minor criticisms, or personal preferences, and take them out of context. Rally Masters will never know what riders think unless we tell them purely in the spirit of contributing to the development of events. The Big Tex Rally was professionally staged, wonderfully managed and a great credit to Wayne Boyter and his Staff. All the riders, including me, owe those guys a great debt of gratitude. For my own part, I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this awesome event and would not hesitate to enter again. My own trials and tribulations along the way are teaching points, no more and no less. I include them here that I may learn from them, and that others may benefit should they choose to. I rode a total of 1922 miles on my 27 year old motorcycle, at an average moving speed of 64.7 miles per hour. I completed the mileage required for a Texas "In-State" SS1000 and the mileage required for a Bun Burner 1500. The last 28 miles of that were in Oklahoma. It was a good weekend

I am going to post this as Part Three in my LD Series ... but as you asked: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/22/1148285/--Steve-went-to-Prada-and-all-I-got-was-a-lousy-photograph-Jodie

I'll let someone else test this system. Color me skeptical simply because deer are best known for their complete unpredictability when alarmed. They are just as likely to run straight across the road in front of you as they are to stand stock-still, or run in the other direction.

The way I have always removed them is to put your philips screwdriver in the screw, hold it tight in the "undo" direction and give it a sharp "rap" with a mallet. Do this two or three times and it's a very rare carb screw that won't loosen. It's like a mini impact driver ... go easy.

Congratulations, Owen, on your first Rally finish. That is an awesome feeling and no one who has never attempted what you did understands what it takes to manage a feat like that. My own story on this Rally is a little different. A full Ride Report is coming, and I will make it the third part of my Long Distance Series because there is a great deal of information in it that will help others who want a fast-track to LD success (sometimes failure is the more instructive). I pulled out of the Rally just after the end of my overnight stop. By that time I had ridden 1030 miles with just over 600 to the finish. I had amassed 33827 points for the bonuses I collected plus the static points that would be credited, so my final position would have been determined by the bonuses I managed on my second day. I had issues with the bike, for the first time ever in a rally, and rather than punish it anymore I chose to ride directly home. I did not want to be stranded in the middle of Texas. My ride home was 690 miles, and I made it safely. In total I covered 1922 miles over the weekend. I did the required mileage for an In-State SS1000, and the mileage for a BB 1500. This one goes down as a DNF, but one I am happy to have taken part in. Here is one of the bonus pics. It is the grave of James Wesley Hardin, in El Paso. That city is one of the reasons I didn't finish http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Big-Tex-Rally-2012/i-n8f22xB/0/L/DSCN0941-L.jpg

I cheated and fitted the seals to the sliders before putting the sliders back on the fork tubes. This does mean that you have to manipulate the bushes, etc, past the seal lips. There is some risk doing this, but I got away with it I also think you should be able to get the forks out of the triple tree with the fairing in place. I haven't tried that. *** Edit .... I am working from memory here and it was one of the first jobs I ever did on the VR. I THINK I did it that way. I do know that I do not have a split seal driver and I have never removed the forks ... I did it with them on the bike.

I halted my series of LD Riding posts for a few days simply because I have had my hands full arguing about the Scavenger Hunt , but more importantly preparing for a Rally. The Big Tex Rally is a 36 Hour Rally all within Texas. My start point is in Denison, TX, and I will be visiting El Paso, Big Bend and various other places before returning to Dallas. The Rally begins at 6 am tomorrow (friday) and the finish is at 6 PM Saturday. I have a route that covers about 1650 miles. I will have to add 200 miles from home to the start, and about 250 miles home afterwards. Here is an overview of the full route: http://twigg.smugmug.com/photos/i-NjjQ229/0/L/i-NjjQ229-L.jpg For anyone curious about following progress, the following link goes directly to the SPOT location page: http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=5955507f422e33e1a That link will go active at 5 pm central and stay on until I am home again. I will be sleeping so it will not move all of the time. There are close to fifty riders starting this event from four different locations. About half the field is starting from Denison.

It depends! It depends upon a number of factors, none of which we can possibly know up front. ANY comfort alterations to most stock seats provide relief. Whether or not that will work for you is an individual thing. The Butler seat mod is very reasonably priced and it may be all you need but there is no "one size fits all" in the butt department, and for some it will not work well. In part that may be to do with the distances they ride, and the number of days they do it for. I have read hundreds, if not thousands of discussion posts and ride reports on seats, and there is some braod agreement: Corbin .... Very expensive, look fabulous, are uncomfortable for much long distance work Mayer .... Two different Meyers(sp) ... Each has it's own adherents. Makes a great product and is expensive. Some LD Riders like them, some do not. Russell ... Again not cheap. Almost universally liked with a few outliers. Do not look as nice as Corbin but you can run as many 1000 miles days on them as you want. OTHERS: Including Butler ... Adding gel pads, re-shaping foam, changing densities ... All of these things work, up to a point. You can try it and see, or you could go straight to a Russell or Meyer and pay the $$$ Many people, including me, try all sorts of remedies and end up spending too much money It really is an area where the experience is so variable that all we can do is point you in the right direction. One thing is clear ... Butler will improve your seat. Whether or not the improvement is good enough only you can tell.

There has been much discussion about aftermarket fork seals, and some have complained that they do not always fit well. Mine are not OEM, and they fit just fine but I can't remember the brand. I believe they were Pyramid Seals. I would probably buy OEM next time rather than take a chance, but these were in the trunk when I bought the bike.

Looks like a useful tool. For what it's worth, the seals I used (and I can't remember the brand) went in really easily. They needed very little in the way of encouragement. I know not all brands are the same, and some may fit tighter than mine did. Yes, I believe they are 40 mm tubes .... I wish they were 50 mm

Usually a piece of 2" waterpipe is recommended. I have a socket that fitted very nicely, so I used that and a rubber mallet to tap them home. They can be fitted then the bushes inserted past the seal lips, and you can clearly do it without damaging the lips. You have to use plenty of fork oil for lubricant and go very carefully. The reason the waterpipe is recommended is that the correct way to do the job is to put the seal on the tube, then add the lower bushings avoiding any chance of damaging the lips ... Then you need the tube to go over the fork tubes and reach the seals to press them home. I'm not necessarily recommending my method, I'm just saying that it can be done successfully.

I didn't even need to remove the fork stanchions from the triple clamp to replace the seals and dust covers. It can be done with them still on the bike. Gives you a built-in firm grip on the tubes when you use the sliders as a slide hammer ... carefully Either way, that was 13 000 miles ago and they have been fine since.

They are different. That said, they are carbs that will fit and there is no reason why they couldn't be jetted to work well with the earlier model. The 1300 carbs have to deliver more fuel ... and more air to go with it so that the mixture is correct. I think the differences are quite small, but there are others here who will correct this.

Those look just fine. I actually have these: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-3495-11-Inch-Reach-Pliers/dp/B000NQ15ZK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1350514917&sr=8-4&keywords=hose+pliers]TEKTON 3495 11-Inch Long Reach Hose Ring Pliers - Amazon.com@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31mIk%2BW20hL.@@AMEPARAM@@31mIk%2BW20hL[/ame]

The biggest factor in terminal velocity is air resistance. A human body will generally reach maybe 120 mph, then fall no faster. At 24 miles up there is no air, so he would accelerate at 32m per second squared, until he was slowed by the thicker atmosphere. Hence he reached about 700 mph before quickly slowing down. There would be no sonic boom because there is no atmosphere. Yes, he was very close to the maximum. The balloon can only rise while there is something to push against. When he reached 128 000 feet the air pressure was 0.003 Atmospheres. He couldn't have gone much further un-powered. I imagine he is pleased that his team designed and built that capsule and made it as complex as necessary, and as simple as possible. Left up to us it would have been a dustbin and seafoam. Yeah ... He was in a space suit because to all intents and purposes he was in space Without the pressure suit he would have died as soon as he depressurized the cabin. It was an awesome undertaking.

Thank you. That was helpful. I have never "ignored User" on this forum, and probably will not bother now. Once the heat of this subject has died down you may have things to say that I would find helpful in future. So I'll leave it there. Steve

I think you have twice tried to bait me with my screen name, and now have been so abusive as to call me a troll. Pretty disgusting on any Forum, and quite ridiculous on this one. Please bear in mind that all I ever did was ask for a little flexibility on some of the targets. That is not unreasonable, but you didn't like it so now you are name-calling. If there was a "Hide User" button, I would have used it on you long before now. Now I am really done ... Please feel free to continue flaming.

Mike ... Just how flat do they have to be? I'm always up for a decent jig, but I was wondering what the effect is of the carbs not being perfectly flat ... mine always have seemed pretty good holding them tight on the counter top while tightening the bolts.

Nice bait and switch. I raised reasonable points, and I did so politely. You just don't agree and you appear quite as prepared to engage in the argument as anyone else. Please don't try to pretend your stink is less smelly that anyone else's, we are not that dumb. I am so done with this now ... enjoy.

Heh ... I can think of many reasons to fall foul of the conventional wisdom on this board ... but this isn't really one of them. You do make good points though. None of us likes insulting offers, or folk wasting our time yet I look at Craigslist and see wholly unrealistic prices set. Folk are very proud of their motorcycles, so proud they can't sell them. Ebay is even worse sometimes ... especially for parts and it's always the part I want It's a pain when you set a fair price and someone offers you an insulting amount, yet most folk don't really have much of an idea what their bike is worth .... Only what they paid, and how long ago. I paid $1400 for mine. Realistically and knowing what I know now, it was a parts bike worth maybe $800. The seller had wanted $2000. I don't regret buying it, but I did do the guy a big favour. In this instance offering $2600 against an asking price of $3000 isn't really a low-ball offer. It's a starting point and if both play by the rules the buyer gets a small discount and the seller nearly gets his asking price. That's how it is supposed to work