twigg

While it is apart, replace the fan. They are just a few bucks and the bearings go ... Also, the plastic blades lose efficiency and it can't be returned by cleaning.

Congrats on the Memorial Ride. I almost got involved myself this year. I don't know that I can explain the desire either .... My Ride Reports are popular, and people say nice things about how they felt they were on the ride ... that sort of thing. So I just try to tell it how it is for me and people take away from that whatever they can. Also, there are people out there with a great deal more experience than I have, and much to contribute. All I am is the person who decided to write it down, hopefully simply as the basis of a discussion where everyone has a chance to contribute.

You pronounce it ... Yoo-ral A few years ago a Ural completed the Iron Butt Rally. Just!

Having ridden across Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, I'd take Oklahoma. A ride West through the OK panhandle is quite something, very different to the almost endless "sameness" of the other two.

Good comment. The title of the next in the Series is "Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em". Knowing when to stop is by far the single most important thing here ... and we will look at examples, and what the signs are.

I'm a great believer in "something for everyone" I once wrote an article that included the phrase "and who the hell wants to ride across Kansas?" ... I can still hear the howls of protest

On the less extreme IBA rides there is plenty of time to get off the bike and rest, walk around etc. 1000 miles in 24 hours is only a moving average of 43 mph. Sixteen to eighteen hours riding is about average for most who do it. The extreme rides are trickier, and for those you need to prepare both yourself and your bike ... We will cover that. The IBA will not allow anyone to claim a Cert. for an extreme ride before they have completed one of the easier ones ... I use the term "easier", advisedly On my last Rally I completed an SS1000 during the event. That included very little Interstate, lots of bonus hunting and even seven miles on a dirt road. It also included a five hour rest stop. I got the timed receipt two minutes under the 24 hours having covered around 1030 miles.

The amount of time a person spends doing ANY activity is a matter of personal responsibility. Professional drivers face outside pressures that leisure riders do not, and limiting their driving removes that external influence. There are many activities that other people might consider dangerous, including car driving. As motorcyclists we are no different to any other road users, and we need to resist efforts to single us out for special treatment. There would be far fewer motorcycle accidents if car drivers paid more attention, and while I don't have actual figures I have never heard that fatigue is a major cause of motorcycle accidents although it is a significant factor in car accidents.

I'll expand on that a little ... It would be very reasonable to suggest that the "per mile" risk to LD Riders is minute compared to the general riding population. It is also true that one is exposed to that risk for a much greater period of time than the average rider. LD Riders are amongst the most experienced, and most competent ... and many of the miles are Interstate miles, which are the safest of all. But accidents do happen. Often fatigue is blamed, yet there is little evidence for this and the whole sport is continually discussing ways to manage tiredness, and ride within your limits .... and knowing what those limits are. We will come back to this because it is key.

Y'all deserve an explanation for that point ... I generally believe that LD Riders, by virtue of all the things said in the comment, have better accident rates than motorcyclists generally. Indeed I have said as much before. Recently, however, there was a protracted discussion on the LD Rider List that cast some doubt on that belief. While I personally still believe that we are generally safer, I was not prepared to actually make the claim and stand accused of putting too good a gloss on the real situation. The sport is really too small for significant accident stats to emerge, and they don't always measure the right things anyway. When people ask me about riding 1000 miles I generally try to put them off. I need to be persuaded that they really are up for this, before we start talking about "how". So you may be quite correct. Please excuse my caution on this matter.

From the invention of the motorcycle there have been two areas of riding that can be considered to be the extremes of the pastime. Those who want to ride them faster, and those who want to ride them farther. The way motorcycles are used in day to day activities varies from place to place. In the UK, and in much of Europe, the motorcycle was often the primary form of transport for working men and working class families. When I was a child we didn't have a car, our houses did not have garages. My Dad had an elderly BSA 650 with a Canterbury Double-adult sidecar. He went to work on it, took Mum to the stores, and we would use it for vacations traveling from the north of England to the South to visit with family. That was a journey of nearly two hundred and fifty miles. Dad on the bike, Mum and kids in the sidecar and it could take upwards of ten hours including driving right through central London. I guess my introduction to long journeys on motorcycles started at an early age. My first recollection of riding my own bike a long way was at age 17. I had a BSA Bantam D175. Even then that bike was older than me. I once rode it 450 miles in about sixteen hours ... maybe eighteen. Top speed was close to sixty miles an hour. Compared with what I ride now, that journey was tougher than any Bun Burner Gold or SaddleSore 1000, but I was young, and more than a little foolish. In the US motorcycles have pretty much always been leisure vehicles. Yes there are people who use them as transport, but in the UK they were principally transport and it led to different development paths for both bike and riders. I have friends who think little of riding eleven thousand miles in eleven days, and others who love their motorcycles just as much, but who wouldn't dream of riding more than a couple of hundred miles in one go ... a distance that wouldn't even come close to emptying my gas tanks, yet each is as valuable to the sport as the other. It would be a grey world if we were all the same. There are those who think that riding 1500 miles in under 24 hours is foolish, even dangerous, and others who can't comprehend what it takes to do such a thing but would like to hear more about it. To deal with the safety aspects briefly, because it is a subject we will come back to. Riding a motorcycle is not the safest way to get from A to B. That is reserved for aircraft We all ride, and we know the risks yet choose to accept them. We live in a risk-averse society, yet we also realise that life is a continual balance between risk and reward. We could quit riding motorcycles and take the truck, or SUV, but the price we would pay for that is too much for most to accept. On the other hand, let's not get stupid about it. I have a wife and lots of kids and wherever I roam, they want me back in one piece. So we are going to be looking at not simply how to ride a long distance, but how to do so in as safe a manner as possible. It is notable that the accident statistics for LD Riders are about the same as for all motorcycles. The accident severity is generally less because of the insistence upon All The Gear, All The Time (ATGATT). The other thing that should be said upfront is that LD Riding is not about speed. Every Certificate Ride on the IBA website can be completed within the posted speed limits in the US. Indeed, it makes sense to keep your speed at a moderate level because the stopped time for gas outweighs the time gained by speeding once the speed creeps up to 80mph and beyond. "Performance Awards" from State Troopers are unwelcome expenses and many Rally Masters will disqualify riders who pick up too many tickets. The safest, and least tiring way to make progress is to ride at the speed that has you doing the least work in terms of over-taking and being passed. On most roads that trends towards the speed limit plus a few mph. It varies from place to place. The real secret is not to ride fast, but to keep the wheels turning as much as you can. If you are riding with a friend at a steady sixty miles per hour and you stop for ten minutes, it will take you one hour at seventy miles an hour to catch up with him ... You see how that can work against you? On this site we have broadly two kinds of bikes. The "slow but new" and the "slightly faster but old". We have the first and second generation Yamaha Ventures. The first thing to note is that they are all quite capable of doing anything and everything I will describe in these articles. When we look at buying and choosing a bike, the Venture might not be the first or best choice, but they are the bikes we have, and they are quite capable. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, we need to look at why anyone would do this at all. It is part of the human condition to explore our environments and our personal limits. People choose to do that in any number of ways. Some seek maximum financial gain as a measure. I once heard a billionaire say that the money was irrelevant other than a way of keeping score! Folk run marathons, play sports, write books or find some other hobby in which they strive to excel. Endurance has long played a part in our make-up, and I choose to explore my own limits on a motorcycle. What I am sure of is that many of us need to do "something", because forever sitting on the sofa is simply akin to "waiting for God". There may be readers who do not wish to ride long distances, but simply came here looking for tips on how to make their chosen journeys more efficient or more comfortable. I hope we can help you too. Riding for Certificates, or simply bragging rights is a solitary pastime. It brings it's own rewards. I well remember watching my GPS tick over 1000 miles. I was on a 1977 Yamaha XS750. It was raining hard and about 40F. I was thoroughly wet, very cold and I was into hour 20. The mixture of misery and elation I felt as I counted down the last mile, in tenths, would earn me a fortune if I could bottle and sell it. http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/twigg2324/IBA%20Saddle%20Sore%201000/IMG_0421.jpg Arriving home at end of Saddle Sore 1000 - March 2010 Beyond Certificate riding is a whole world of Rallying. These are like scavenger hunts on crack. The bonus is that you will get to meet many folk from all over the country in a spirit of fun and friendly rivalry. Again, the only prize is satisfaction. We will look at both. The principles are the same even for those simply going on vacation. You still have to manage the miles. You still want to be comfortable, well-hydrated and free of pain. The main difference is that generally the time pressure is removed and you are free to relax and stop where and when you fancy. ** I may edit this. A limitation of the Forum is that I can't save a draft so if it appears to grow in length, or sprout pictures you might want to scan through for stuff I added Part Two: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73853 Part Three: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74050

Seems like the interest is there, and plenty of people are making great suggestions. I'll get on it and I will write the thing in a series of "bite-sized" chunks, giving folk time to reflect upon each part. I am not the last word in LD Riding. I can tell it from my perspective, and add in conventional wisdom, but others here can flesh things out from their own perspective which should give a more complete picture.

If the bike is specc'd for copper-core wires there can be problems changing to non-copper. You might want to check that carefully.

Did you look behind the "Old Curiosity Shoppe"?

I could do that, but I won't. It's in plain view if you look around. What I will say is that the specific comment that prompted this thread was not, of itself, a big deal. What the OP was concerned about was a "creeping incivility", which I think is best discussed without pointing fingers at individuals Hope that's okay.

It is possible that ethanol affects rubber, and Venture carbs have more rubber than most. Most simply have the butterfly shaft seals, but we also have the jetblock bungs. I can't help feeling that most issues are more related to age and hardening, and fresh rubber parts would last years before the ethanol really affected them much. If it were a major issue then pretty much all carbs would be affected, quite quickly ... and they aren't.

Apology accepted. The comment didn't bother me in the first place. I try not to worry about the little things.

No, that is not correct. The phrase was deliberately added to a comment to a specific User. You can parse it any way you like, but it was meant as a personal insult. It's not a big deal, and discussing "civility" does not make it a big deal ... it's just a discussion.

You were a little slow getting it

Anyone needing an external gas tank need look no further than their lawnmower Don't waste money on some fancy "motorcycle" tool.

For my own part .... I don't personally mind if people lose it and call me names. None of you know me, or my life, or what matters to me so when you call me names you simply inform all the readers of things about yourself. What I do mind is that such behaviour shuts down discussion that some are enjoying in respectful disagreement. Nothing wrong with disagreeing .... When you disagree with me you force me to consider my own position and either confirm it, or change it. Both happen. When the noise rises above the level of debate then the Moderators step in, and we all lose the benefit of sharing opinions with each other.

Tools are problematic. I take a decent kit and have never used it .... However, I am quite convinced that when I do need it I will not have what I need, or it will be safer to call AMA .. etc I have a very good puncture repair kit and don't even go past the end of the driveway without it. You'll get a different opinion from everyone you ask about toolkits.

As many of you are aware, I have a 1986 Venture Royale. I use it for personal daily transport (yeah, it goes to Walmart), for pleasure rides with my wife on the back, and for Long Distance Riding. I am not alone in this, not even on this Forum where there are several contributors who do the same or similar. It occurred to me that there must also be many who think "Mad sods! Catch me doing that!", and others who actually like the idea but are not sure what is involved. LD Riding is not for everyone but there may be some wondering what it is like, and how they can dip their toes in the water. If there is any interest I would be very happy to write a series of articles describing what is involved .... the bike, the planning, the execution and other stuff folk are interested in. If that would be welcomed, please reply below and if the articles are to be useful, then some idea of the concerns that need to be addressed would be helpful. LD Riding isn't just about Certificates and Rallies, sometimes it is just that two-week vacation you are planning, and want to acheive in an enjoyable way rather that a painful one.

If it is the comment I am thinking of .... cut the guy some slack please. Folk get a bit agitated and probably don't mean to be personally offensive. It happens, and text sometimes fails the humor test is all. just my 2c

You may be entirely correct, in which case the guy was a bit of an ass for walking off with a car that was over-specced for the price when all he wanted was a different color ... He too must have known there was a mistake ... maybe not, benefit of the doubt. The other scenario is when a dealer sells a vehicle "as seen and tested" .... you know, the second hand, no warranty, yadda, yadda .... In those cases the dealer is making sure there are no comebacks if the vehicle turns into a money pit, and if the customer gets lucky ... good for him! ps ... Heh! ... Bank errors are usually "clerical". Computers don't make mistakes, data-inputers do