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Snaggletooth

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  1. Snaggletooth
    What's that old saying? "The sum of its parts is greater than its whole........?" Well, probably on the insane side of the line. Mike
  2. Snaggletooth
    This is on my '84. Dat's all I gotta say.
  3. Snaggletooth
    Yep, been there. Here in Nebraska it can be 40 in the morning and 80 in the afternoon. My bags look like my closet. The trick is to keep a swim suit wrapped up in my thermal liner so I don't miss any chances to enjoy the weather. Mike
  4. Snaggletooth
    Got to look into the DEKA AGM's. Tough stuff and American made! More cold cranking amps than about anything out there. And for less $$ than most the other options. Got three years on mine and still as good as new. 12.8 volts everytime I hit the switch. Check Bohannonn Battery or PM skydoc_17 here on the site. He sells them also. If you haven't swapped for new spark plugs I'd go with that first. Makes a difference. Mike
  5. Snaggletooth
    Welcome to the site. Right place to ask questions on these old girls. I'm going to throw in for the Avon Venoms. Some have commented on cracking issues but I have had no problem with them. Great all round tire and do really well on wet roads. Just sticky enough to let you enjoy the twisties. I've run the current set to 21,200 miles and still have some left. I have a new set standing by for the next change. Just my Mike
  6. Snaggletooth
    An '83 with that many miles is barely broke in. But then again, it's got to be gummed up. The Sea Foam will deal with most of that. Run the SF for a while and then swap out the plugs for new. The SF will bust up the gummy stuff but it does end up fouling the plugs. Fresh plugs will make one heck of a difference. My '84 had been stored for 9 years when I bought it. The SF and freshening things up brought her back to life. As said, don't be afraid to run up the revs. These bikes are built to run all day at highway speeds without complaint. Enjoy the ride. Mike
  7. Snaggletooth
    Being in the business he is in I would guess he's been up to his nostrils working and now trying to finish up for the season. It usually takes him a day or two to get back when I PM him. Granted it's been a while since I chatted with him last but I'm sure he'll get back with us soon. Mike
  8. Snaggletooth
    That is sad news. Hate to hear that. Thank you for following up on him going missing. Mike
  9. Snaggletooth
    I have to ask as you said you have had the bike four years. How did you know where the oil level was when you changed it? How much oil do use use during a change. Is it possible that the oil is over full, over the top of the sight glass. Is the glass cloudy? Or is it dark? One trick I have used in the past for dirty sight glasses is adding some Marvel Mystery Oil to the change. It does break loose a lot of grime on the inside of a case. Mike
  10. Snaggletooth
    And maybe a couple layers of masking tape on the sealing surface where the filter seats until you get the mounting nipple tightened down. I ALMOST gouged mine while installing it. Just a precaution. No special tools needed. Mike
  11. Snaggletooth
    Good luck tomorrow Tom. Should have you up and rolling again soon. Mike
  12. Snaggletooth
    My '84 is rolling up on 62K miles. It had been stored for 9 years when I got it at 40K so it's getting warmed up for the next 100,000.
  13. Snaggletooth
    Don't make me come up there Trader.
  14. Snaggletooth
    Just use the stock steel spring washer with the nipple so it seats inside the spring, then the PVC on top of that. The 1" PVC might be a bit long, if so, cut it down to what ever size you are comfportable with and you can use SS washers as shims to add more as needed. I ended up with 3/4 inch long PVC and a couple of washers on each side. Still a bit of a fight getting the cap started. Just make sure not to cross thread the caps. Mike
  15. Snaggletooth
    I've ran through a few fork tubes over the last few years and I ran across one oddity. The one on the bottom was from the original set out of my '84. If they were the original OEM that were in the bike new, I don't know. (notice the taper at the bottom) The top one is from a set I bought supposedly off an '86. The other two sets I bought were the same as the top one. One set was off an '84 and the other an '87 according to the sellers. Other than the taper, they are identical in all other measurements. Never found a real reason for the taper on the one set other than a suggestion that it may have been an experiment by Yammy on anti-dive flow. Just info Mike
  16. Snaggletooth
    Yep.
  17. Snaggletooth
    Ok, I'm gonna start chasing people. My daughter called me a week or so ago and asked me where I was going in such a hurry. Seems she had been following "my" bike on I-80 and was trying to catch up. Didn't happen. Thing was I was in the rack at the time but but walked out to the garage just to make sure. Nope....not mine. So in the last few days I have seen a nice Blonde MKII 4 times in Council Bluffs and Omaha ALWAYS going the other way either on the Interstate or a road I couldn't do a quick turn around on. Three time solo and the other day two up westbound on "L" street. So.... Bill W., was it you? I can't remember if your's was a Blonde or not. If not, I'm gonna snag us a new member pretty soon. 1st gens are pretty thin around here and ones in nice shape are even thinner. There is one I see quite a bit and it looks like he's added more duct tape every time I see it. Pretty soon it's going to be "that gray Venture". Anybody we know? Mike
  18. Snaggletooth
    City kids! Can't tell the difference between a Yamaha and a Cowasaki. Geesh. I can't say nuttin. The first time I took my daughter to a friends farm she was greeted by a young calf. She started petting it and said "That's a BIG puppy." Too bad one of the culprits didn't get caught between the bike and the truck to cushion the fall. Would have been fun to catch one like that. Mike
  19. Snaggletooth
    Some response? LOL! Turn it all the way around! I think I read somewhere that the rated top end speed was 135 mph. Maybe I'm wrong so don't hold me to that. But, living in Nebraska we have a never ending supply of roads that don't bend, turn or curve for miles upon miles. Last spring I ran across a 12 mile stretch of newly resurfaced county road that was smooth as silk. Road it out and turned back and let the old girl stretch her legs. I got to say it was a smooth ride at the top. Speedo was past the 115 mark so after that is was no help. When I checked the GPS it showed 121 mph. The bike didn't feel any different at 121 than it does at 70 mph. Don't think I'll be needing to do any more top end tests. I'm happy with what I know it can do. Mike
  20. Snaggletooth
    Frank, got a simple question. How tall are you? I've sat on the 1200, but didn't get a test ride. Haven't parked my butt on a 1600 yet but that's will happen before the end of the season. If your shorter than I am, 6'2", I'm going to have some problems with the fairing issues to. Just curious. Mike
  21. Snaggletooth
    It ain't just the Canadian Military, the US Army is nuts to. Years ago I had to pick up a prototype of the M-60 tank to transport to Balitmore to send to the Paris Air show. Got it loaded up on a drop trailer and the commander came out and instructed me to tarp it up. Well, I'm not geared to tarp a tank so they radioed for a crew to come wrap it up. Sixteen guys, 23 seperate tarps and God knows how many bungie straps and 3 hours later it was done. Weird. It still looked like a tank. Tarp a tank? Guess they were worried about the paint job. The CB chatter was interesting on the trip. "What ya got there?" "Well I don't know for sure but they told me it was NOT a tank!" Have hauled some strange loads in my life but that chopper is cool. Mike
  22. Snaggletooth
    At 3,500 rpm you are right at the bottom of the power range. These bikes come alive around 4,500. You can accelerate at 3,500 but if you want to pull away quick drop a gear. I rarely hit 5th until I'm pushing 70-75 mph. I've caught myself many times in heavy traffic on the Interstate running 60 - 65 mph in 3rd gear. But then again, it's pegged the speedo a few times in 3rd to. Not hard to do. If the bike has issues getting to 85 mph you may well be running on 3. If you have been, you'll know it when it's on all 4. Mike
  23. Snaggletooth
    Saw a clip on the news last night that they were losing a home to the fires at the rate of one every four minutes. Hard to imagine. Thoughts go out to everyone affected. Mike
  24. Snaggletooth
    I picked up a new Ultragard 1/2 cover two years ago off eBay for $26.00. It lives in the saddlebag and gets used every day during the riding season. The bike gets covered at work rain or shine. It's not stated to be waterproof but it's damn close. With the rains we have had this year it has been well tested. I have the lambskin cover on the seat and it's always bone dry under the cover. I'll admit after the last two years it's starting to show some sun fade in spots but not too bad. No weak spots or tears and it's been out in some heavy winds. Packs down tight to a little smaller than a football and takes less than a mintue to throw it on. I'd buy another one when this one gives out whenever that might be. The brand seems tough enough. Mike
  25. Snaggletooth
    Yep it was me. I found the brushes and rebuild kits I found on eBay were very low quality carbon. I bought a set of two brushes for about $8.00. Kits of the same brand ran about $25.00 with brush plate, brushes, bushings and such. It cost me a starter. It did work, and worked fine for about 1 season. Then the brushes wore down and shorted out destroying the starter. Crispy Critter destoyed! So figure the OEM brushes lasted about 25 years and were only worn about 25%. The new cheepo brushes were gone in less than a full season. Quality product? D'oh! So if you are looking at about $50.00 for a set of OEM brushes, I'd go ahead and spend the money on a used 4 brush starter. Earl hooked me up with a 4 brush and it's been in since. Problem fixed. Mike
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