RedRider

Congrats. Now it's time to start looking at LD rallying. There's your next addiction. RR

Yup. Sign is at Lolo Pass on Hwy 12 in Idaho.

Well done. RR

Upon further review, the part I was showing is the CB control. Hmmm. Here we are. In the manual it is referred to as the Radio Main Control Unit. On the Yamaha phish it is referred to as Amp, Power. This is the part that goes in the faring - correct? Again, at Pinwall Radio Main Control Unit also $150. RR P.S. I was just teasing with the $12 comment - kind of. Don't recall the issue coming up with your friend previously or I would have helped at the time. Yes, it must be frustrating to have a machine with a reputation for reliability cause such expensive problems.

That kind of money was spent because he didn't pay his $12 for VR.org. Pinwall Cycle to the rescue. $150.00 Oh, and FYI - Hagan Shocks replacement/upgrade - $400. Rebuildable. Usually in stock in the US.

I doubt it is due to running out of fuel. I run an auxiliary gas tank and change to the main tank when the aux runs dry. The notification of the aux being dry is running out of fuel. I do this often. RR

FYI - I have 122k miles on my original fuel pump. Points still have their crosshatch on them. (However, I carry a spare fuel pump with me just in case.) RR

OK, looked at Boats.net for the fork slide bushings. I was able to locate the designated 'Metal, Slide 1'. Am not able to find the 'Piston, Front Fork'. Boats.net Link Some help here please? RR P.S. This is for my son's '83.

Easy to reinstall. Make sure the spacer is in the right position. While the wheel is off - Get some Honda Moly 60 and lube the splines and the pins. The splines are easy to see. They are on the inside of the pumpkin and the outside of the wheel drive hub. It is handy to have an old tire around for this next step. Laying the wheel on an old tire keeps the brake rotor from hitting the ground while working on it. The pins are the drive mechanism between the drive hub and the wheel. Look at the end of the hub next to the splines and you will see a snap ring. Remove this snap ring and lift the drive hub off the wheel. You will see 5 (or 6 - don't recall) 1/2" or so pins that look like they have some rust on them. Wipe them down and clean them up with some emery cloth or fine sandpaper. Look down in the holes where these pins go. You will see surface rust in there also. A 20 ga. shotgun cleaning brush is a perfect fit to clean these up. Perhaps a little fine sandpaper around a dowel. Coat the pins with Honda Moly 60. I suggest getting a pair of latex/nitrile gloves for this operation as the Moly 60 is a pain to get off your hands. Reassemble. You may want to replace the snap ring if you bent it while removing it. Ride, ride, ride. RR

Doesn't UPS deliver there? Buy on line, have your local dealer install (if they choose not to stock the appropriate size). RR

Thank you for this. I learned something today. RR

Russell Day Long. No substitute if you want to do some distance. RR

Twigg bailed out of VR when he got his FJR. I can get ahold of him if you need. However, since your wife no longer rides with you on this bike, why don't you mount the tank on the passenger seat? I have done that on my 2nd gen and it works great. RR

I bought the Corbin, used it for one long weekend (1000+ miles) and sold it. I apparently do not have a Corbin butt. Purchased the Russell Day Long. Just completed a 6 day, 5500+ miles run and my butt feels fine. There is no substitute for the RDL if you are going to put on some serious miles. RR

Check with Corbin if they will rebuild it. If so, buy it for a song, have them redo it, and you will have a Corbin for very little money. Win-Win. And yeah, this is kind of an old thread. But I am still around. RR

Last post before the bonus packs are distributed. Beginning miles - 115407 Next post will be Saturday, 7/12 RR out

Just passed tech inspection. :dancefool: They confirm the registration, insurance, and the bike have the exact VIN listed and are all current. Insurance with sufficient coverage, MedJet subscription, DOT helmet, and under 11.5 total fuel capacity (I measured out at about 11.3, but they were overcalculating the aux tank using external dimensions. If it would have calculated out over the limit, then they would spend a little more time being exact in the measurements.) They also confirm a solid mounting structure for the aux tank, proper venting, and proper electrical grounding. Lots of spaceship dashes here. Multiple GPS's, SPOT, radios, and phone mounts. Clocks, timers, writing tablets, various clips and fasteners. Lots of 'been there' stickers on panniers. Mostly sport touring bikes (FJR, RT, GL/GT, ST). Also several GS's and a handful of HDs. We have a couple from Zambia (they are Aussies living in Zambia), a couple from Germany, several folks from CA, TX, OK, Philly. Many I haven't meet yet. Will try to get some pictures, but most bikes are covered until tomorrow morning's launch. Time to lounge about, nap, and get ready for 'multi-day rally rookie' orientation at 4:00. Then dinner, cocktails (will witness the LEAST amount of alcohol consumed at an open bar by a bunch of motorcycle riders), and passing out of the rally pack. Then run to the room, plan 3 days of routes, and get some sleep before taking off at 8:00 Sunday morning. I am getting a bit nervous. Lots of Big Dogs here (at least Big Dogs in the LD community - admittedly, a fairly small dog park) including several Iron Butt Rally finishers and a handful of IBR winners. RR

The Garmin software is Basecamp. BC replaced Mapsource a couple of years ago. The newer versions ('11+ IIRC) of Microsoft Streets and Trips will interact with the Zumo directly, although it is easier to interface with BC. There are several tutorials on BC on www.zumoforums.com. Link here: http://garmin-mapsource.wikispaces.com/BaseCamp S&T is much more intuitive. You can export a .gpx file and then import into BC. Further manipulation with BC is available, but you might want to just have it calculate a route and download it to your Zumo. RR

I have a 5 gal auxiliary gas tank. Total range approx 350 miles. Fuel is not the limiting factor as to when I need to stop. Darn this being over 50 stuff. RR

Tomorrow I take off for Minneapolis to begin the Butt Lite 7 Long Distance Motorcycle rally. Butt Lite rallies are run in opposite years from the biennial Iron Butt Rally. BL is similar to a mini-marathon relative to the Boston Marathon. It is a 6 day scavenger hunt type rally that will take the participants to the far reaches of the US and back to Minneapolis. While there are 68 bikes (2 are going 2-up with a passenger, total of 70 participants), most, if not all, of us will be riding alone on our own routes. There will be a checkpoint halfway through at a currently undisclosed location. The field contains many Iron Butt Rally finishers and several international participants (at least two have come in from Australia that I know of). I am the only one running a Venture. It begins Sunday, 7/6, at 8 am and continues until Saturday, 7/12, at 8 am. My expectation is to cover 7000-ish miles in that time span. The top 10 riders get a no-draw entry into the 2015 Iron Butt Rally. The winner get a PAID entry in the 2015 IBR. My goal is to finish above the middle of the pack. There is a blog being written about the event by one of the organizers. Generally, there will be at least one update per day. Some contributions have been added by a couple of participants discussing trials and travails of preparing for BL7. http://buttlite7.blogspot.com/. New tires, fresh fluid, new brake pads, ready to go. Wish me luck. RR

Jeff, That is a beautiful solution. Really like the brake trigger idea. One time I had my HID go out at night. Fortunately, I was in the middle of Iowa at the time and there wasn't a curve in sight. Had forgotten to turn on my running lights also. Pitch black. Major pucker. However, I grabbed the brakes. That would have triggered it back on. As it was, I cycled the ignition and it came back on. Perhaps next winter. I am done working on the bike for this year. Time to ride. RR

Problem is two fold. It doesn't take much to blow out the fork seals and the typical regulator is not very accurate at low pressures. Secondly, there is so little air that goes into the forks, confirming the pressure with a gauge will change the pressure dramatically. The zero let-off is important. However, if this procedure works for you, all is good. RR

It is really close to the same price to purchase the HD branded Progressive pump and the Progressive branded one. Most HD dealers carry it in stock. Just stop by and pick one up from them. It will work on both the front forks and the rear shock. Good, solid, zero let-off pump that has survives thousands of miles in my tool bag stuffed in the right saddle bag. RR

Yes, I have the heavy duty suspension as I am a wee bit (OK, a big bit) over the limit. Worth the extra. RR

Me too. And a link to purchase (my Google-fu is weak this morning). Never mind. Found 'em. RR