Ready to Ride

I finished the initial rebuild on the '84 Yamaha Venture 1200cc touring bike we bought in PHX about 4 weeks ago. It needed the usual new battery, fork seals, change all fluids and carb cleaning. It only has 14400 miles. It is 75#'s lighter than the BMW was. Much less top heavy. It is very comfortable. But needs more wind protection.

Although red is not my favorite color I hope it stands out enough so I can avoid some the idiots here. The seat and paint are nearly showroom quality after 24 years. All systems work as of now. The carbs need further tuning. Idle is erratic.

I've got about $3000 invested, it is worth more with so few miles. It is now TTL'ed.

It needs a cruise control they did not have in 1984. Can't wait for Linda to drive it.

With 5 bikes I can still only ride one at a time, but, boy do, I have a choice now. Touring, Sport touring (2), Cruiser and Dual sport bikes. I'm in with the in crowd on any ride. I've got less invested $ with 5 bikes than one of my friends with 1 bike, a 05 Honda Goldwing. It will cost me about $500 a year in plates and insurance, still less than the insurance was on my 99 Corvette, ($750).

Update on projects

Only got 6 bikes around here now. A friend of a friend asked if I would get his 600 Suzuki running. The carbs and tank were the dirtiest I ever worked on. Every jet was plugged with old gas and dirt. Who knows what else it needs. Could be several hundred $ before it runs.

The Yamaha Venture we bought in PHX is 1/2 apart. The water pump I can't get from stop leaking. Wasting antifreeze after trying to fix it 3 times. The gas tank took 2 gallons of cleaner to get the dirt and rust out. Put in 2 new gas filters. The front forks leaked so much they got the brakes soaked in oil too. New seals took 2 weeks to get here. Had to figure how to get everything apart. Needs new fork oil too. The new battery I bought came in and won't charge up. Some gauges don't work. Bought another fuel sending unit, original was bad.

My red 1100cc Suzuki I use on long day trips had the throttle sick open going down TransMtn. I used the emergency stop switch to control my speed. Had to put it on the back of a friend's pickup to bring it home. Loose nut jammed throttle open.

The other red 1100 Suzuki I sold never got good gas mileage, still working on it after a year. The battery died before I could finish it, this time. Waiting a week because we can't by them locally. So I loaned him my 97k brown Suzuki.

But my Yamaha Virago, Suzuki 400 dual sport and the brown 1100 have been running great.

Ride 6-14-08

Yesterday we had 9 bikes and 10 people riding our largest group ever. I tried to get a group together and got one person. Charlie got 6 more bikes and instead of going to Van Horn we went to Las Cruses because it was so hot. 102 yesterday.

Today we are going to Bennigans to celebrate Linda's birthday and do something else. Thursday is actually her B'day but she will be operated on that day.

I'm in the back. But always in the front leading the pack.

Cle's Funeral

It was today. Very disturbing. Emotional day. Only 62 years old. He was a very special friend. Always upbeat, with a positive attitude even when in pain. Everyone liked him especially women. A charmer, his sister said he never knew a stranger, everyone was his friend.

He drove by several times a week. Golfed Wednesday, rode Thursday with us. Was 1 month from retirement. Was going to ride with us Saturdays as soon as he retired. Had a girlfriend, KIM. She is very nice, met her today for the first time, probably the last.

Had to go work in the garage to try and try not think of him. We miss him. Work on Mark's bike trying to reduce his gas consumption still. Then his battery gave out, needs a new one. So I could not road test it.

Worked on my Yamaha Venture. Got the water pump repair kit in. Took the pump off the bike. Then found out the kit was wrong.

Came in, ate dinner, took a shower and had to admit it was "not a good day".

That's Cle's jacket. And him in it, last Dec, too cold for him to ride that day.

Saturday wild ride

We went to Columbus, there was 7 of us. It's a fast ride, 60 miles of straight roads with only a dozen curves so we make it in usually less than 1 hour so.... It was hot returning about 100 degrees. We went over TransMtn on the return.

Going up the mtn. I had a tailgater as usual so as soon as it went from 2 lanes to 4 I gassed it and went around several bikes and cars, it did not have it's usual power. I turned off the throttle and it was still going fast climbing.

I crescented the top and know something was way wrong when with the throttle off, it wanted to go 140 mph down hill. I shut off the engine with the emergency switch and coasted down the NE side to the picnic area before the last sweeping turn.

I restarted the engine and it immediately revved to max rpm. Taking the tank off and tops of the carbs revealed nothing. I made several calls and no one answered.

Finally Mike Portillo did answer, he was just finishing a project. He got there is 45 minutes, very fast. It took 4 of us to load and unload the 600# bike onto the back of his 4 x 4 pickup, very tall bed.

I took the carbs off the bike and a locking nut on the throttle cable was loose, jamming the throttle open a 1/4" inch.

It would have been a wild ride home, if it had happen further away from home. Luckily we took TransMtn., were under a shaded picnic area, closer to home.

Easy fix, all is is well.

New Bike

That's my good friend, Cle, in the picture, who just past away last weekend. I miss him, he had a great attitude. On his Harley Sportster, is real loud.

Went to PHX over the weekend. Met Carolyn and Bill. We went out to eat , ate way too much!. Spent way too much, partied too much, but what the hay, we can't take it with us. Had a great time.


Drove slow, because Benny said his truck only got 17 mpg. But we got 21, hurray. Took and extra 1.5 hours getting there/here each way. Still spent $250 on gas.


The new bike is a 1984 Yamaha Venture, but it's very clean, paint is nearly perfect, has only 14500 miles and it's 24 years old! It's a touring bike. I think it's already sold. Carbs are gummed up, tank is rusty , needs fork seals, battery and the water pump leaks. Gas gauge also doesn't work. I'm sure more needs working on.