TwoStars

Thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow. Hopefully it will get the crap off the roads. We've had our share of snow but right now it's the piles of salt that have my attention. My bikes are still hibernating in the garage and I'm chompin' at the bit.

The website says "You can plug in the cassette deck or directly to the amplifier" so I'm guessing you can place it where you had the CD. It specifically says that you don't need the CD player. It's independently plug and play. I've also heard of power issues. When you power down, you lose memory. It goes back to the beginning of the playlist. The CD picks up where you left off. That's a feature I'd like to have.

I bought a Husky compressor from Home Depot for $30. It's reasonably light weight but draws 15 A so like XV1100SE I had to run a fused line from the battery (found out the hard way). I ran it to the rear trunk, following the CD player cable. It's bailed me out a couple of times. Never leave home without it.

Is this what you're referring too? Has anyone gone this route? http://www.venturemp3.com

You can toggle through any of the CDs and songs. I like mine a lot - but it's only as good as the road you're on. It doesn't like bumps. You may want to consider something solid state (mp3, iPod). I have yet to look into it, but I'm sure someone can weigh in here.

Ordered a T for me.

Well there's only one thing left to do - I'm taking tomorrow off and going skiing.

I took the same placebo. I bought my 2008 with 8K miles a few years ago. It whined noticeably around 50-55 mph. When I changed oil for the first time, I went with Motul 7100 synthetic. The whine disappeared. I have no idea what the previous owner used. I now have 25K miles on the bike and the whine remains a thing of the past.

I have over 10K miles (front & rear) on my V-star 1100. They still look great. Haven't used them on the Venture.

I used the ratchet strap when my Avon rear tire wouldn't seat. Worked like a charm.

That's certainly a nice arrangement. It's nice to have access to all that experience when you get stuck. I've replaced my tires a couple of different ways. I've used a local bike shop who completely botched the balancing - must have used 10 ounces of weights. They got it right after I took the bike back. The next time I put the RSV on my Carbon One stand, pulled the wheels, and mounted/balanced them at a buddies house who's well equipped for that sort of thing. It cost me a 6-pack of 60 minute Dogfish Head. Last week I picked up a nail in the rear tire. My buddy's out of town so I took the wheel and new tire to the local Harley dealer. They'll mount, balance, and add ride-on for $70. I'll find out how that goes tomorrow morning. Hopefully I'll be greasing the splines and getting the wheel back on by lunchtime - just in time to dodge a few thunderstorms.

Good calls on A1A and Ocala National forest. We'll add them to the route. Thanks.

I will do that. I appreciate your input.

Thanks Brake Pad. That's close to what we had penciled in for the return route. I like yours better.

I’m planning a ride from the Washington DC area to Tampa, Florida and back, planning to leave May 1 pending weather. This is strictly a motorcycle ride. We don’t have to be anywhere and have no schedule. The only restriction is having to be back by May 9. We were thinking of hugging the east coast going down, primarily sticking to Rt. 17, picking up Rt 301 north of Jacksonville, FL and continuing on into Tampa. On the return we will reverse that, picking up Rt 15 in SC and taking that through Chapel Hill, NC and on into VA. I know nothing of these roads south of Virginia and am open to comments, warnings, alternate routes, and side trips that don’t take us too far off course.