Wrench

I took my truck and "topped" off the tank yesterday for $1.99/gal. It still took $40.00 and it had almost a 1/2 tank. The prices in town had already gone to $2.39. Kinda looks like when we're finally greeted by warm weather the gas prices will rise like the temperature.

So was this in the southeast part of Tennessee? That old store looks familiar to me. When we took our trip last year we took a right at Sevierville, then up thru eastern Tennessee, that was some beautiful riding. I like taking the roads less travelled too, you always wind up somewhere new. If you get the chance ride up thru Cumberland Gap and go up to the Pinnacle, it's worth the trip too.

Yes Marcarl, THAT'S the one that tripped me up yesterday, I love that color. The salesman went into detail with the changes they have made, moving the radiator forward, driver floorboards, the mileage improvement. My right leg is still kinked up, so it wasn't going to be a comfortable sit yesterday anyway, but it is a different riding position than the Venture. The $$'s are a definite thing now since I'm not working yet, but I'm sure liking them,,,,, A LOT!!

My '99 had a little gear noise when I bought it back in 2012, I switched to 20W50 oil and it's all but gone now.

"So what do you do? You have to die of something, life is dangerous. I don't want to spend my life being afraid of what might happen and never enjoy the life that God gave me. This has been heavy on my mind since the accident, and I have gone back and forth about riding again, but I have found that I really love to ride motorcycles" My surgery wasn't nearly as serious as your accident, but now with 2 titanium hips and 3 fused discs I have pondered the same question as you. I think that you summed it up perfectly, there's no "gimmes" in this ol life so I intend to make the most out of it for as long as I can.

I went to pick up my freeze plugs at a local dealer today. I knew I was headed for trouble when we pulled into the parking lot and there were 3 Spyders sitting there. I probably would've made it to the back of the store to get my parts if the wife hadn't been with me. They had like 5 RT Limited's for me to slobber over,,,,, then I sat on one. All I can say is that is a sweet ride. The salesman invited me back for a demo ride when I get some more of this back issue taken care of. The one we fell in love with is Cognac in color, looks like a burnt orange to me. That's the first time I've actually been close enough to drool on one, I see now what you guys that have bought one are talking about!!

Went up to $2.26 from $1.84 in Elizabethtown on Wednesday.

I got a Battery Tender and a nice, big, shiny new workbench with 3 drawers and some kind of a board on the back with all these little round ventilation holes in it. (?!?) I think the wife means for it to be used to organize my garage. The shiny new hip I got as an early Christmas present is doing good, but my back has started acting up so I gotta go do some p/t on it to get it loosened back up. The cold weather is REALLY hard on these metal joints too, but it'll be warm soon, especially if the cold goes by as fast as the warm did!! Looks like 'ol St. Nick was good to a lot of us with some nice goodies, but being able to be with family is what I like most.

Just think how close that left thigh would be to that open primary pulley!! It's pretty cool, I like things like that.

Good to hear Jeff, just keep that 'ol ticker tickin'!!

I've got an adapter for my jack and it works great. I THINK she was of the thought that the lift would be higher than the jack, making it easier on an old man with 2 titanium hips. I don't mind getting down on the floor, it's the getting back up that's still a little rough.

I have a question for anyone that's used one of the Harbor Freight lifts, pros/cons, good,bad. I think I remember a post where someone said they were a little "tipsy"? They have 2 different models, a "motorcycle", and a "motorcycle/atv" which is 12" longer. My wife thinks that it would make my life easier with one of those vs the regular m/c jack. Hey, I'm all about something new for the garage. Thanks in advance.

Finishing up my "towing package", adding a couple of LED strip lights to the rear, probably going to have to put a rear tire on it too. Just a general go-over to check the little things that might have gotten by this summer. I'm thinking about the Baggershield windshield, anybody got any pros/cons? I've got a shorty tinted, but kinda like the idea of being able to switch pretty easy. Hopefully I'll be able to start on it pretty soon, the hip is good, just gotta get a little more bend in it before I go rolling around on the garage floor.

Cool video, the GoPro's are a sweet little deal for riding. I noticed you've got a windshield bag too, where'd you find it? I've been looking for one and can't find one that "fits" the Venture.

That's great news Jeff. I'm sure they'll find the right combo to work for you. See, you'll be around here aggravating folks for a long time to come!!

If you bought it from a dealer have them check to see if there are any outstanding recalls on it. If not then I personally would say no to buying the extended warranty, unless like Jay said, they make you a very good deal on it. I'm on my 2nd Venture, a '99 I've had for 2 years now, prior to that I had an '04 Midnight for 5 years. The only issue with either was dry drive splines on the '04. Just keep the oil changed regularly and ride the heck out of it. Welcome to the site!

Yep, doing my therapy like a good patient. Moved up from the walker to a cane over the weekend, that's sooo much better. Can't wait to get these staples out, they're itching me like crazy.

Before I was scared, now I am terrified......... Even I am having a hard time coming up with smart ass comments about this....... Hey Jeff, sometimes there are things like this that come along and just jars us to our core. My pre-op EKG came back all funky so I had to do some scrambling to get to the bottom of it. Everything turned out fine and I'm on the mend from my surgery now. We'll all give you a pass on the snarky comments, but look forward to hearing them again soon. Take care, you're in our prayers.

titanium! Got my new hip on Monday, the 13th. Still pretty weak in the right leg, but getting better every day. The doc did this one a little bit different than the left one, only one 10" incision down the outside of my leg, and it looks like my Speedo days are over. There was a lot less deep muscle to cut, which has given me more strength initially. I get the staples out, all 31 of them, on Nov 3rd. Hopefully a test throwover with the bike won't be too far off. He said he wanted me to wait 6 weeks before attempting a ride, so I'm hoping for a nice, warm Thanksgiving.

I've got my issue narrowed down to a bad battery. Took it to be load tested, tester read it was too low to test, even though the bike is starting fine. Brought it home, charged it, load test now shows it's bad. Not that it matters I guess, but it's a Parts Unlimited AGM that was installed 3 years ago last Saturday. Thanks for all the help.

That's what I'm going to do, may be a loose plate in it. Hard to track down something that only happens every 4-5 months. Thanks!

Wow! you covered WAY more territory than we did. Yes, we were definitely on some of the same roads. Glad you made it home safe too.

"I'm never lost, I may not know exactly where I am, but I'm never lost"

This is the second time I've had this particular issue, and have not been able to find anything definitive. We were heading back from our trip Thursday and stopped for gas, everything was fine with the bike. After gassing up I hit the starter and it wouldn't even turn over. I had bright lights, turn sigs, everything seemed fine electrically except it would not turn the motor. Got some jumper cables hooked up, and it took a minute to get enough charge in it to start. Rode it on home, about 120 miles, and it's started fine ever since. Voltage checks are, 12.5 at battery posts, drops to 10.4 under starting load, then runs up to 13.5-13.7 at idle. It did this same thing back in the spring and I checked every wiring connection I could find and no problems again until Thursday. The battery is a 3 year old AGM. Any assistance is appreciated.

My wife and I and another couple were through there last Sunday afternoon, we love riding the Gap. We hit some rain for about an hour over around Fontana Dam, not heavy, just enough to put on the rain suits. Glad you had a good trip.