twigg

They have up to the middle of August.

There are some potential problems here. We have balance weights inside the handlebars which would have to be removed or reduced in size. The version that goes under the grips has few advantages over cheaper alternates. They are horribly expensive for a couple of tube heaters and a controller, but on the plus side they look good and I like that controller. You get to keep your own grips and some would prefer that. I don't know how well the throttle side heater would work given that the grip is insulated from the bars by the throttle tube. The Oxfords have been around for ever. They have three heat settings. The lowest is pleasantly warm and the highest would burn your hand except when it is very cold. The Oxfords restrict you to the Oxford grip, but I got mine for $60, the grip was fine on my VFR, and it's fine on the VR. So you have choices

I fitted Oxford Heaterz (Hot Grips) to my 1st Gen. I have previously fitted them to other bikes and would recommend them to anyone.

I have to thank everyone for their terrific replies. When I started the series I was aware that all I can do is write down the conventional wisdom, and how it is for me. When y'all contribute you make the information so much more valuable for all those reading.

Good points. Probably not worth it.

I don't necessarily think they should always be easy to get. For example, if you chose a lighthouse I would think it a terrific subject, but I live 600 miles from the nearest coast so I would either hunker down for a long ride, or simply wait for the next location. It's your tag to set so you set it

I was looking at the SCMA finisher list today for another reason, but I don't actually know your name so I wasn't aware you had done it Here is what I would do, given that someone has suggested a toy run. I would find a local kid who could use some cheering up. There are hundreds in every town, the news is full of the heartbreak. Then I would go buy a really nice Teddy Bear. I would take that Bear and run the four corners getting the bear in all the pics, then give the bear and the souvenier book the SCMA provides to the child, with the story of it's adventures Best of all worlds, but I'm just a big softie.

You still have time for a Four Corners Tour. If you do Blaine and Madawaska first you will get San Ysidro and Key West in warmer weather. It's a busy 10 days, a relaxed 15 days and a flower sniffing 20 days

This is correct. To ensure they will fit you need two measurements. The "size" of the speaker is the diameter of the cone, the dimensions of the hole pattern tells you if it will fit the location. The good news is that those hole patterns are generally standard sizes, so most 4" round speakers should fit. Speaker depth can sometimes be an issue as well.

For a modestly priced battery ... As well as the traditional lead/acid batteries, Walmart also stocks a range of AGM batteries for motorcycles. The regular batteries are about $40, and the AGM ones maybe $70. At that price they are a decent buy. Make sure your battery charger has a circuit for these batteries, the regular chargers can damage them because they supply too high a voltage.

Maybe the wires are for the throttle position sensor .... You can probably simply leave them tied back and disconnected if your ignition relies on vacuum instead. I don't know these bikes so I am guessing, others may have a better idea. The other possibility is that they are for heaters. Again you could probably ignore them .... or find out how they work and upgrade.

I'd be in favor of sticking with the basic premise of the original target and dropping the passenger requirement. A "State" sign ... you and your bike in front of.

Hmmmm! That might be a potential route to a car tire on a 1st Gen.

Sounds like a plan .... I always somewhat resent paying for a motel room for four or five hours. Especially when all I want to do is sleep, and I am pretty good at sleeping most anywhere

Thanks Truck Stop showers tend to run about $12 .... That's a lot unless you can reduce the bill somehow. The washrooms are free. On a multi-day rally I would try for a motel every other night, with the option to take one any night if I felt I needed it.

Just a note .... If you sleep on the ground next to your bike on the sidestand, please sleep with it leaning away from you. The Lowes/Homedepot idea was mine ... If anyone has seen that article, the VR peeping around the side of the sheds is mine too Those stores close at 10, and you will be gone before they re-open. The sheds are warm and dry. Much cheaper, and faster to set up home than a Motel 6

Thank you Sir .... About that article in the Iron Butt Magazine .... I wrote it So I was on a rally a couple of weeks ago. It was only 28 hours, but had a compulsory rest stop of at least four hours. Loves, in Denton, TX is where I got three hours solid sleep: http://twigg.smugmug.com/Motorcyling/Rallies/Autumn-Equinox-2012/i-mFQ4V42/0/M/DSCN0893-M.jpg

They probably didn't. Most likely they were fitted by a previous owner and there are several possibilities. There is a switch that you haven't found They come on with the main lights but there is a problem Check the bulbs and trace the wiring. It should go through a relay and to a fuse ... either may be faulty. Let us know what you find.

You may find this helpful: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66227

Yes, it's perfectly safe with a modicum of care and good sense. Except maybe when someone shoots you for admiring their GPS, because they thought you might be trying to steal it. The simple truth is that violent crime against strangers is still very rare, even in the United States. There are small areas where the dangers are higher ... avoid them.

I think the '87 was only available as a "Royale" ... It will have decals that say so, but I believe they all had the full electronics pack ... Radio, Intercom, CB, CLASS and Cruise control. The plastic is ABS. It is thin, and cracks easily. It will be a rare bike that doesn't have some cracked plastic and missing tabs. That's not a problem because they can all be fixed but major damage and missing bits can be an issue because getting decent replacements can be tricky. The fairing panels do not suffer from UV degradation, because they are painted, but the black dash panels are vulnerable. There are some very thin sections and they crack. I don't want to overstate this ... Look, and you will see. Personally, if the guy says it hasn't been started then I wouldn't even try. I would try only to ensure the engine wasn't seized solid, but beyond that I wouldn't want it to run at all. There is a lot to do before you run a motor that has been sat for years, and it's a job best done in your shop. Sounds like the price could be low .... Non-runner, sat around unwanted ... go in under $1000. Especially if it looks good under the dust.

Yes. There are no major known faults on the '87. The frame failures and second gear issues affected early models. Look out for all the normal things when buying a vehicle. It starts, runs, lights and electrics all work ... Audio system works? The biggest problem is plastic. If it is tatty you will have to live with it or prepare to spend money. I live with mine. No, 2nd is fine but test it anyway. Accelerate hard to the redline in second ... It should stay in gear. You will be going quite fast by 7500 rpm Most parts are available, some, many from Yamaha ... some are extremely expensive. All service items are available, and reasonable. Price? How long is a piece of string, but it would have to be truly exceptional to persuade me to part with more than $2500 ... I paid $1400 for my '86, and that was too much. Take a good look at it and post back what you find.

How identical are they? The RSTD has a 15" Rear. Will it fit an '86 VR?

I will talk about those things I don't know about superior riding skills. I have a lot of miles in my 37 years riding, but I am aware that my reaction times are not what they were when I was thirty. I guess what I lost in speed of thought and action, I gained in experience which lets me ride more carefully, but make better decisions. There is nothing exclusive about that. This Forum has few members who have not been riding for many years. Having said that ... LD Riding is a specialist skill, and it has to be learned. That is why 50% of first time BBG attempts fail. You learn from that and add it to your own bank of knowledge. Most of the LD Riders I meet are happy to share anything they know. Speed is trickier. I meant what I said in the OP. Most would say something broadly similar. They are riding bikes well capable of safely handling three figure speeds for many hours, yet the law does not permit that. Generally people will ride at the quickest speed they can get away with, commensurate with traffic conditions. Usually that means going with the flow, maybe + a few miles per hour. It's a sweet spot. However .... If it is 2 am and you are on Highway 50 and the nearest car, town or police cruiser is sixty miles away, then it is a matter for the rider but you still have to be safe. The point is that you simply cannot ride ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED MILES, then go out and do it again the next day, if you are behaving like a hooligan. You will die if you do that, or at least end up in hospital or jail. So whatever they say in the bar, the fact remains that they are alive and well, and must be doing something right

Part One: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73786 In part one, linked above, we looked briefly at the motivation one might have for getting involved in "longer than your average ride". Self-satisfaction, friendly rivalry, exploring your own limits ... fun! They all play a part. However, remember back when you learned to ride? If it went smoothly for you, it is likely that before you learned how to make a motorcycle go forwards, you were first shown how to stop it. Logical really. Cover the clutch at all times. The minute you are unsure, pull in the clutch and start to brake. Sure you develop from that with experience, but knowing when to stop is just as important to LD Riders as it is to those taking their first tentative steps on two wheels. There is no shame in abandoning an attempted ride. There is nothing wrong with realising that what you might be attempting is not within your grasp this time. Your wife and family want you home, safe and sound and in a position to try again at some future time. When you abandon a ride, you do not "fail" ... you simply learn one way that it cannot be completed. More than that, you demonstrate a maturity of judgement that you can be rightly proud of because you just demonstrated your ability to ride safely, even when every instinct was screaming disappointment. I am not speaking theoretically. This year I have failed to finish a rally (DNF) when I simply considered it unsafe to continue. I tried ... I even tried to get two hours sleep and maybe that would help. It didn't help, but six hours sleep helped enormously and I safely rode the 500 miles home next day. Equally, I abandoned an BBG attempt (1500 miles in 24 hours) when the time slipped so badly that completing the ride would have required speeds I was simply not prepared to ride at ... even on the Interstate. I did complete 1700+ miles in 32 hours, which is a different Certificate. Sure I was disappointed yet I am still alive, still happy and I am now better placed to make future attempts because I know what I have to do, and how to accomplish it. These things are not easy. If they were easy no one would bother. We do it because it is a very hard thing to do. That is the point. Knowing when to stop is not easy. It is very easy to stop because you want to stop. I always want to stop My hips cramp up after about 700 miles. My back and shoulders sometimes ache a bit (I'm working on that). I want to chat to my wife, have a meal, a drink, a cigarette. I'd give anything to stop. That isn't the "stopping" I am talking about. I am talking about knowing when to stop because to continue would be unsafe. You have reached the threshold below which you are not comfortable continuing. This differs for all of us. Our thresholds vary and what we must do is work out when our bodies, or riding is telling us that fatigue is beginning to negatively affect performance. Remember this is an endurance event, so you do actually have to "endure". That is a hard thing to do but it only becomes an unsafe thing to do if we ignore the signs. So what are they? Well the Iron Butt Association has a very handy "Archive of Wisdom" which lists 28 tips from Iron Butt Rally finishers. Number 12 says: "As soon as you are tempted to close an eye, even "for just a second", find the nearest safe place to pull over and take nap! Other symptoms to watch for: Inability to maintain a desired speed. If you find yourself slowing down and constantly having to speed back up, you are ready to fall asleep! Forgetting to turn high beams down for oncoming traffic. Indecision. Can't decide to stop for gas or continue? Can't decide what turn to take? These are all a result of fatigue." You generally wouldn't start with a BBG attempt, or any of the other extreme rides. Indeed the IBA will not ratify such a ride unless you have first completed one of the easier ones. I use the term "easier" advisedly. So start shorter. Develop the techniques and self-knowledge that will stand you in good stead when the pressure is really on. Learn for yourself the signs you should NEVER ignore. Don't think that because you are fatigued and need to stop that you cannot complete the task. Sometimes pulling into a rest area and grabbing 30 minutes sleep on a park bench, or even on your motorcycle is quite sufficient for you to safely continue. But if you must stop, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones and other road users to stop immediately. You will gain a great deal from taking this point on board. Inappropriate speed kills. All Iron Butt Rides can be completed within the posted speed limits. You just have to be savvy about route planning for some of them is all. Riding much quicker than the prevailing traffic is tiring; riding faster than the prevailing conditions permit is downright dangerous. When you are out trying for that first SS1000, or bonus hunting on a Rally, you are simply a road user. You are not special, nor are you doing anything that has a special dispensation to play fast and loose with the laws. Do it too often and the local Sheriff will no doubt remind you The real key to covering the distance is to prepare your mind and body, to prepare your motorcycle and to plan an efficient route .... THEN KEEP THE WHEELS TURNING! The example I gave the other day was to imagine you are out riding with a buddy. You are cruising the interstate at a steady 60 mph. You stop for 10 minutes and he continues. It will take you ONE HOUR at 70 mph to catch him. You can easily see how this can work against you and it is why I have struggled to develop a routine that means I can gas up the bike in 3 1/2 minutes, ramp to ramp, if I need to. Generally I don't actually need to, but I practised just in case. Have at the safety aspects in the thread. Thjs stuff is important and we need to hammer it out before we move on to the mechanics of how we bring this all together for a successful ride. Part Three: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74050