Miles

Thanks for the tip. That bike is really a 1972 Norton. He calls it a 1973, but...it is a 1972. In 1973 all Norton Commandos were increased to 828cc, and were called 850's. It may have been a late 72, possibly titled as a 73, but...a real collector would know. Thanks,

Celt, I will have to take a ride up to Barbours, and have a look. I agree that Barbours are usually a lot higher priced than other shops. That Black '74 Norton 850 Commando is an Interstate model, meaning...it has the large fuel tank. Okay, usually I would go for a largere fuel tank, as I seem to always add an aux. fuel tank to most of my bikes. But...in the case of a '74 Norton, I would relish the idea of stopping more often than I normally do, and getting off the bike. And, it would be used for more local rides, and not long distance. The Roadster model, which is what I had back in late '73 has the smaller tank, and looks better. It is easy to change tanks though. The other Norton they have, that '69 750 Commando S, in Red, with Scrambler pipes...that is a must see in person. I will have to call Boarbours and see what they want for that one. Thanks for the tip,

Wade, thanks for the tip...BUT...it is an Interstate model of the 850 Commando, and it is yellow. That means I would have to buy a Roadster tank, and paint the entire bike either black or red. I appreciate the lead, but I will continue to look.

Joe, that is a fair request, however, you are asking me to post a link to the source of "my opinion". Okay, the source of "my opinion" is me. Here is a picture of me: If you were asking me to post a source of a validated study, or technical data, then I would need to post a source. Given that I stated it was..."my opinion", it alleviates me from naming any source, other than myself. Okay, going forward. Of course Seafoam is going to promote their own product. Does anyone believe that Seafoam is going to say...do not use this as a regular fuel system additive, ON A DAILY BASIS ? Of course they will not. They want to sell their product. I am not saying their product is bad. I have never said that. I have used their product, and will use it again in the future...IF the need requires that I use Seafoam. What I did say was that there are a lot of posts on this forum of people (some making jokes of it, and most people kidding around) but people that promote using Seafoam as a regular daily dietary regimen for their vehicles. Even Seafoam does not say...YOU SHOULD USE THIS EVERY DAY. Now, the bottom line is: If you like it, use it. If you like something else, use it. I am not going to stop you from using Seafoam. If you have a good history of using it, that is great. But, just as others have chimed in with their opinions about additives...it is "my opinion" that Seafoam is a much more harsh additive than some others, and should be used sparingly. Given the choice, I would use Chevron Techron. And I would "not" use that on a daily basis either. My posts have said I use it once every 3 or 4 months. Contrary to the experiences of some others here, I do not keep bikes for 25 to 30 years. I wear bikes out in a year or two, and after 100,000 plus miles on my bikes, I either sell them or retire them. I have some bikes with well over 200k on them, but they are retired bikes. So, there is a 100 % possibility that I will never have to rebuild any carbs on any of my bikes, because the few that I have that are carb'd, are museum pieces. The only one that is carb'd that is being ridden, is my '06 RSMTD, and after another year or two, it will be retired to being a sidecar rig sitting in my museum of bikes. Please folks, use what you want to use. Your opinion is as valid as mine. If you are happy, then please...continue to ride in peace. As always...

The Great Pacific Northwest Meet & Eat gathering has now been posted on the forum page for Meets & Eats. Please go there for further info. BUT...for those of you from the country north of us, the event is being held in Lacey, WA., which means...anyone on Vancouver Island or other islands that connect with Vancouver Island, can take the ferry across to Port Angeles, WA. and ride down from there. It will be faster and shorter than going over to The Big Stink (Vancouver) and taking I-5 all the way down. Please go to the Meet & Eat forum page, and please rsVRp there. Thanks,

Fortunately for me, I do have other riding plans at that same time. I say...fortunately...because I am not a fan of the heat and humidity of the southest. Lived there too many times, ridden there many more times, and I would rather do 1000 miles a day in cold weather, than to do 500 miles day in the heat and humidity. But hey, ya'all have fun.

The answer to your question is: Yes. The B12 is good/okay. But the Techron is much better than the Seafoam. Allow me to use an analogy: Using Techron periodically is like using a small ball-peen hammer to carefully smooth out the door dings in your car. Using Seafoam is like using a 10 pound sledge hammer to bend the frame back into place, when the insurance company has totaled your car, and you buy back the salvage. Every product has its' place, and the correct time to use it. I do think there is a place and a time to use Seafoam. My concern is that I see a lot of posts on this forum from people that are using Seafoam as a regular dietary supplement to their fuel system, and that is not what it is designed for. (no...it is not !) The Berryman's B-12, and the Chevron Techron are better suited for dietary supplement to a fuel system. Given the choice, I would use the Techron. The Berryman's B-12 gets placed in between the Techron and the Seafoam, as far as needs or severity.

Rable, you can ride anything you want to, to our Meet/Eat/Greet. Welcome aboard.

Yeah, Brian...I am that old....(oh no !)

Brian, yes it would. That pretty girl would be blocking the view of the bike, and that is what I would be interested in. It is against the law in most states to buy a pretty girl, but we can buy motorcycles in all states. Maybe Texas is the exception to that rule.

Rick...good question. My "opinion" is that most 18 year olds do not have the maturity to make good decisions regarding motorycycle riding. Yes, there are exceptions, but there is also the rule. As my second opinion stated...I really think it should be only people that are 50 years old, and older, that get to choose whether they want to wear a helmet or not. Why...because most riders out there (the actual number is...93.14159 %) do not have the experience under their belt as to how to safely and properly ride a motorcycle. Yes, again exceptions, as I know of riders that are 30 years old that are 10 times better riders than most that are 60 years old. But again, they are exceptions. It is simply my opinion. That is all. I like the freedom to choose if I wear a helmet or not. And in that freedom to choose, I would choose to wear one 99.314159 % of the time. But I am well past 50 years old, and I am the exception to the rule when it comes to experience. Yes, the argument can be made that 18 year olds can join the military and go off to war and fight for our country. But...in the military, they receive training, learn discipline, learn to respect authority, and those tools help. A typical 18 year old, either still in high school, or fresh out of high school, thinks the only way to ride is full throttle, and doing wheelies or stoppies. When Mommy and Daddy go out and buy their 18 year old son or daughter a Suzuki Hyabusa (sp), and the kid has no motorcycle endorsement, no helmet, no training, and then the kid kills themselves the next week, Mommy and Daddy want to blame the motorcycle industry and the helmet laws for not mandating that their kid should have had a helmet on. That is not fair to those that act responsibly, or educate the kids to know better. (my favorite icon)

Oregon does have a helmet law...for all riders. Idaho does not have a helmet law, for any rider. The entire West Coast states require helmets to be worn by all riders. Going inland a couple states, and you will find that you can go all the way from Mexico to Canada without wearing a helmet...until you reach the Canadian border...and then you better put that helmet on. I wear a helmet 99.314159 % of the time, because that is also where my headset is for listening to music or the CB. But...I also believe that the wearing of a helmet should be the individual riders' choice, if they are over the age of 21. Personally, I would wear one, but I do not want to force anyone else to wear one, after the age of 21. (really, I think the age of choice should be 50, but...I will never gets that past the powers-that-be)

Folks, I do not believe at all that anyone on this forum is trying to decieve any buyers...by posting bad pictures. That was never my intent when I started this thread. The biggest reason I would buy from a person on this forum, rather than someone on fleabay, or CL, is because I have faith in members of this forum, and...I know where to find them. (ha ha) But...I have personally bought bikes and cars from vert far distances, without having seen them in person, because...the pictures supplied by the owner told a good enough story of the vehicle, and I was able to talk with the owner sufficiently enough to be comfortable with the item. I have flow from Seattle to Cherry Hill, NJ to pick up a bike...and flown to Jacksonvile, FL to pick up a bike, and flown to San Diego to pick up a bike. All of these were bikes I could not find anywhere else, because they are no longer made, and these were the best I could find. But the owners supplied me with countless pictures, all good pictures, and I paid the asking price of the bikes, because of good dealings with the owners. All I am saying, and...please do not read anything else into this...is that if you want to sell an item, supply the buyer with copious amounts of solid pictures.

Wayde and Kevin, I am happy to hear that the Eastern Slopes of Washington, and the Canadians will be coming. I am officially choosing a date...right here...right now. The date will be April 27, 2013...at 1:00 pm. That should give anyone and everyone a chance to figure out their schedules and calendars, and plan accordingly. As to WHERE...that is still undecided, but it will be somewhere within 9.314159 miles of Tacoma, WA.

I am interested in buying a 1st gen Venture. I have found some online, and found some on this forum. While I patiently wait for Ken's bike to be listed on the auction thread for St. Judes, I continue to peruse the ones available from members of our own forum. What I would ask anyone that is posting anything that they are wanting to sell is...PLEASE post really good pictures of the item you are wanting to sell. If you post only one picture of a bike for sale, and that one picture is from a distance, then how can you expect to attract a buyer? If the pictures you do post are all in shadows, tilted, out of focus, etc,. then how can you expect to attract a buyer ? All I am saying is...if you want a buyer to purchase your item, then please go out of your way to show your item in its' best light, in focus, in multiple shots, so that buyers are attracted to the item. Whew...some times it is like pulling teeth...

Actually, Condor, I have been in Death Valley, and been snowed on there. It was in April of...hmmm...1984 or 1985...and we spent the night camping out there, and woke in the morning to find we were covered in snow. Only about 2 inches, but it was weird and funny.

I see it, but there are a lot of blank spaces on that vest, so...it shows you should have spent more time riding, than boating. Or do you have a vest of patches for boating too ? That's right, it is a life vest, eh?

You see...unlike those that drink Seafoam for breakfast with their eggs and bacon, I am a fervent believer in using Chevron Techron, and I have cases of the stuff on the shelves in my shop. I am enough that I do use Marvel Mystery Oil...when the time is right, and the need calls for it. I believe in MMO, and have used it for more than 40 years. And, on the rare occassion that a politician in Washington DC actually tells the truth about anything in life, I do use Seafoam in those rare moments. BUT...Seafoam, contrary to what some of these drug-addicted Seafoam users think...is NOT to be used as a daily cocktail for cleaning fuel or oil systems. For what the rest of you use Seafoam for...I have been using Chevron Techron for, for the past 25 + years. In my shop, you will find it well stocked on Techron, and a one gallon red plastic bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil. It makes me cringe everytime I read another post about some rider wanting to use Seafoam as a daily enema, to clean something out. It has its' time and place in the mechanical world, but it is not the fix-all for everything that ails you. Use Chevron Techron, as a quarterly fuel system cleaner, and as a stabilizer for the winter time storage, and your machines will run for a long time.

Yeah !!!!!!

Wow, that was really cool. He made this car from scratch. I love very small cars, but I don't think I would or could build one from scratch. Kudos to the guy.

Brian, are you now saying that the March 30th date would not be good for you ????

Condor, you are more than welcome to ride north. And...a 700 mile ride is not an iron butt ride. That is what we ironbutt riders do before breakfast. BTW, the phrase is not...iron butter. It would be...IronButt'r. Putting the "e" in there makes it sound like we have very iron rear ends, yet...I can't beleive it's not butter. Realistically, it would be a full day ride up here, have a meal with us, and a full day ride back down south. Or...between now and then, I can lead you on some Saddlesore 1000's and a few BunBurner 1500's, and by the time our little shindig happens, you would be able to ride up here in the morning, break bread with us, and ride back home in the evening.

Yeah, what he said, and...I will bump it up another 'hun, to $ 700.00

DragonRider, I thought this was the case, that the auction had not really begun yet. Thought...if the auction were to END on April 11th...that means that whomever wins the auction for this bike can fly to Houston, be picked up by Ken, and then ride the bike to the SE Texas MD in Waller, TX. on the 13th. Personally, I think it would be FUN to fly into Houton, pick the bike up, and then ride to Waller, TX. and meet all those longhorns that live in the southest corner of that big'ol state...and then ride home. Yeah....go for it.

Brian, YOU are more than welcome to drive your car to the M/E/G. And...We can move it to March 30th, to suit the...(wife is out of town) guys. And...Unless someone objects, this so-called Chinese restaurant sounds good. I was thinking of the RAM restaurant, in Lacey, just off I-5, right next door to the HD dealershiup, off of exit # 111, just in case an HD rider shows up and needs parts to be able to get home. But...send me the info on your restaurant, and I will go there and check it out. Kewl, man !