Max

Max10 (old) = Max (current) = greatgrandpa's name. Boring but easy.

Collectors will have a field day. There are more unrestored chevs on island than I have seen anywhere. Talk about resourcefull people. If your a car owner in Cuba, you probably have experience welding, fabricating, patching, modifying and just plain keeping the darn thing running 50 odd years without a shop.

Replaced stock battery 2 years ago with Deka ETX18L CCA 340. Got rid of the 'hot engine' start issue. One less maintenance item checkmark on the list.

used frequently for tech research.

can't argue with 'all of the above' and have to admit 'd' is the deal breaker. if ol' Leafs #7 was around today ...

I don't see much changing, other than my morning cuppa price increase by 10-20% shortly.

I've got 30,000km (18,600mi), 2up, on current E3's with a few mm. tread remaining. Could probably squeeze another 3K, but they're slated for replacement with E3's early spring.

My kinda guy that puc, why take pictures of the Grand Canyon when you can shoot the Colorado.

Must have met the same guy at a mall past summer. Seemed genuine, so I explained they were straight vents. After which he insisted the new Wings had AC. Ok fine, left it at that.

Very interesting, I had no idea there was southern mix. They all seem to get along just fine . Appreciate the effort, email add on it's way.

twin 87's & 89 parts bike VIN in the mail. .. good luck

Tall people and their VR's hmm,,, at 6', my passenger complained that her floorboards were too close for comfort and uses front pegs for long hauls. Front pegs aren't the best alternartive, but they keep her happy and on board. The problem with that was the pegs were too short and caused foot cramps. I had the pegs extended with welded 3" steel rod and wrapped with Gorilla and rubber tape to match diameters. Hey, any port in a storm. Find them more comfortable myself. It took a few weeks to get use to them, they are now a permanent fixture. I would would work on a better design if I had the tools. As far a redesigned arm rest, sign me up. The stock armrest works as long as the bolts are tight. Would be good to have incorporated a positive semi-lock in the up position.

UP .05/litre overnight this way.

Good advice .. .. July 2013 we stayed at the Excalibur for 3 nights averaging $45/night for a basic, clean room, on the strip. Just the break we needed. Played the slots a bit and made out .... well, it's a casino, we didn't go there to pay the bills. Freemont St. holds quite the party at night. Bright lights, loud bands, and action if you want it. Would consider staying there next time. Felt parking at the Ex was a little sketchy for the 87', we decided best near the entrance S/E lot on the strip, covered the blond for 4 days and no worse for wear. Would I return to the Excalibur? Sure, why not. We had a lot of fun, met some interesting people, good times, good memories.

I'd be skeptical about a bike mounted camera concerning road vibration, even with image stabilization. Maybe there are bike mount cameras with gimbals that overcome this. Buddy has a chest mount gopro harness, problem with that is interference from the wind shield. I'd have to go with handheld P&S for reasons already mentioned.

Dave, We took a 60 day trip to the west coast (CA,BC) last year, one bike 2up. All our accomodations were hotel/motels. Expenses were somewhat extravagant somedays, but not cost prohibitive, and after all, it was our 40th. Not much to add to these informative posts. Here's a few things we found helpful ... - who the heck brings a darn computer on a bike trip, the idea is to leave that crap behind, right?? However, we found a small 11" netbook invaluable for finding budget hotels and booking a day at a time ahead by phone or online. Good for booking late checkins to avoid those 'no vacancy' signs. Also provided all the info we ever needed from maps to landmarks. (and of course from our members) We are thinking of downsizing to a 7" wifi tablet for next years trip to save every inch of space. Tried the cellphone/data/wifi thing, found the screen too small & cumbersome for these eyes and fingers. Every hotel has free wifi these days. Having this capability probably knocked about 20% off accomodation costs. - researched hotels ahead of time to determine if they had a fridge/microwave. We picked up most of our meals from grocery stores, some prepackaged and some thrown together. Saved quite a few Benjies doing this as apposed to using restaurants regularly. - the Garmin was an extremely usefull tool. Kept that front wheel pointed in the right direction and didn't let us get into too much trouble on expressways, secondary & trails. Also saved our bacon a couple of times locating gas stations and restaurants along rte66. Snow blizzard outside now, what a mess. Nowhere as bad as our friends in Western NY, but it sucks anyway. (heard sections of Buffalo under 6' of the stuff)

Oh man, day 2 withdrawal and already wondering why I posted on why... going to be a lonnng winter.

If the oil switch doesn't keep the leaks in check long term, guess I'll have to deal with them ,, after a 6 month hibernation . Thanks for replies.

well, winterized er' today and realized this was a landmark first year with no major wrenching or issues!! ... I think. In keeping a long story short.. backtrack a bit,, I've been running Castrol 10-40 'motorcycle' oil since day one over the past 3 years and no oil leaks, till approx 9k miles ago, at which point I switched to Rotella T tripl protection 15w-40. Since switching I have had kickstand oil leaking which eventually got worse and made a constant mess down left side of bike from muffler to sidebag. After a lengthy process of elimination, found leaks at rear shaft drive, some around plastic gear indicator and slight seepage at middle gear wire harness entry point. I finally inserted folded shop towels underneath rear drive area which did a good job absorbing that oil. About 3k miles ago I switched back to Castrol and leaks all but stopped. I checked around leak points today and found slight seepage which looked more normal. Quite bizzare. (Switched brands as the Rotella seems to be the oil of choice for many here,,, I know, if it works don't fix it) Has anyone experienced this and is it wishfull thinking that these leaks will just go away? Could this issue be oil brand related or just coincidence?

Same scenario on tour last summer. First leak was the morning after a Flagstaff - Grand Canyon round trip. Leaked a few spoonfulls overnight. Detected 2 leaks, around thermostat cover and near the bottom of the rad above the throat hose connection. This happened 3 times that week and never so much as a drop since, that was about 20k miles ago. The only thing in common I can think of for the leaks was extreme temps of 115F+ running 2 up and sudden temperature contraction with overnight cooling in the 50's. (Death Valley was predicted to have a new record high of 130f + that week, I don't think it quite reached ) Guess I lucked out, leaks stopped on their own. I since carry a spare plastic thermostat housing & O ring.

well said !!

Yamaha should listen to their customer base... ie. this forum. A lot of folks, like myself, as much as we love our 1st gens, are ready to pull the pin on an updated current model 'now'. Yamaha should remember there are alternative bike stealers around the block. So Yamaha, get with the program, you are losing customers and $$$$$. And that cassette deck oyyye !!

Sorry for your loss Puc.

Thanks Don, great lookin' site. Bookmarks work as good as they ever did.

Good point. My guess would be all my 1st gen 'survival' bookmarks might be lost. On the other hand I would think they would be retrievable with the search feature ?