Go West, Young Man

[QBS]

Add spare oil filters to your list.

[Tiger]

 :) Hmmmmmm, a good rain suit should be on your list...like a FrogToggs... ;)

You will need: a tank bag for general stuff, decent size saddle bags, a rear trunk on the rear rack...and all water proof!!! Travel as light as you can...buy cheap T-shirts, jeans, etc, for knocking around in, when you get there...and leave behind what you don't need on your return home.

              8).......TIGER....... 8)

[Raj1988]

:) Hmmmmmm, a good rain suit should be on your list...like a FrogToggs... ;)
You will need: a tank bag for general stuff, decent size saddle bags, a rear trunk on the rear rack...and all water proof!!!
              8).......TIGER....... 8)

Rhyno MC gear i picked up at South works will have to do for the rain and cold. No saddlebags Tiger, I'm going with a well packed hiking backpack with rain cover!!

Add spare oil filters to your list.

Filters added

[Raj1988]

The folks are heading to Cuba today so as they nap before their flight, I disassembled the rear drum. I doubt this has been done since the bike was new. The shoes have lots of meat on them but are pretty glazed over. I use both brakes simultaneously most of the time and the rear for slight speed adjustments and i was not to pleased with the way it felt. Surprise surprise

anyhow, cleaned out the drum with a wire brush and brake cleaner, Spend a good 20 minutes on the brake shoes with a hacksaw blade. They should work fine now.... I hope. Still got abt an hour wait b4 we need to head out, Maybe i'll drop the exhaust
:)

[kev10104]

Congrats Raj.I went to the Mac's because it provided more power.I loved the look of the oem's but with everybody pulling away from me I enjoy the extra power.

[nwrider]

Kev,
Because the MAC pipes gave you more power I'd like to ask a few questions.  First, what baffles are in your MAC pipes and what air filter are you using?  Also, have you changed any jets?  Finally, 82 or 83?  Thanks in advance.  I just installed a new MAC system that had been sitting since the early 80's.  It's baffles are straight through with a little glass wrapped around them and are/were (!) very loud :o

Thanks,
Ben

[Kenny]

[
What route would you recommended in the Spring? Thru the US or Canada 1?
Any tips on what consists of preventive maintenance. Tiger has already replace the fuses with the blade type ones. Any other bits you can recommend? all advice is useful advice.
[/quote]
    I would head up towards Sudbury on the 400 (or whatever backroad ) & go west on hwy 17 this will take you to Sault Ste Marie and at this point you can stay in Canada or head into the US on I 75.  I take hwy 28 west below lake Superior it changes into # 2 west near Duluth & I stay on this through Minot and into Montana. This is a mixture of two & four lanes although it deteriorates in Montana,you can head up north anyplace along the way. I find if I stay in Ontario it adds an extra day as I usually need to stop early as places to stay don't fit in with the day's end.
    Lub all your pivot points,brake pedal, swing arm bearings,cable runs, if you are heading up to Alaska I suggest some gaters on your fork tubes. Also install a screen in your rad shroud.
    I'm not sure what oil you run in your machine,but I would upgrade the diff. oil & engine oils to synthetics. You will also need a tire repair kit (Co2 & plugs), an extra spark plug & cap set along with a few common nuts /bolts, tie wraps elec. wire,steel wire, four or five feet of gas compatible tubing. I have never found the need to pack an extra oil filter as they are not hard to locate on the road & I don't change the oil until I'm back home (10,000 kms).
    Waterproof gear as mentioned is a must, I travel with two hard bags a tank & waterproof duffle on the back seat if camping, speaking of water  I carry a camelpack water container & can refresh myself on the road.
       That's about all I can come up with at the moment.
                           Cheers Ken S.  ;)         

[Tiger]

Kev,
Because the MAC pipes gave you more power I'd like to ask a few questions.  First, what baffles are in your MAC pipes and what air filter are you using?  Also, have you changed any jets?  Finally, 82 or 83?  Thanks in advance.  I just installed a new MAC system that had been sitting since the early 80's.  It's baffles are straight through with a little glass wrapped around them and are/were (!) very loud :o

Thanks,
Ben

Kev' runs a 1983 Vision with standard baffles and no packing in the MAC's, (I put them on!!)...no re jetting required. Carbs were dialed in by Canadian_Lou. I do believe the air filter is stock.... ;)

                        8).......TIGER........ 8)

[kev10104]

The air filter is indeed stock.I absolutely love these.There was no way I was going to switch my stocks because they looked so good but...

[nwrider]

I'm with ya on the looks of the stock pipes.  But, as you say......the power, and the MAC's are so much lighter!  Thanks for the answers.

Ben

[akvision]

Congrats on the Calgary job... let us know which you picked and why.

Looks more and more like the Prince George-Prince Rupert-Ketchikan-Haines-Whitehorse-Dease Lake-Hyder-Smithers loop will happen.
One  or two of my Ketchikan, buddies are peaking with interest... 

"Honey" says after mid August.. 

My Ktn buddies are supurb wrenches,the best to have. 

I need to buy a tent.
akv

[Raj1988]

Congrats on the Calgary job... let us know which you picked and why.

Ah, It was a tough decision.
The one job involved being part of a project that involves setting up a Supply Chain for Marks Work Warehouse which is a subsidiary of Canadian Tire, (large walmart-esq retailer that tends to specialize in automotive stuff but carries EVERYTHING. I had worked with the manager for a short while in Canadian Tire on a previous work term before she was moved to Marks. Brilliant lady and so a great learning opportunity. Also if i ever do get sucked into a corporate job, that is probably what i would want to do for an org. Also seems to be a good focus point for my masters.
The other job with Shell involves analyzing some data recovery methods(BORING) and create an SOP(A Little Interesting) since it it a new department in their company and their efficiency is low. This job offers a good learning experience and an opportunity to stick my foot in the door of a large multinational organization that will pay me well while it sucks the heart and soul out of me.

The decision finally came down to $$. The pay in both is avg but Shell will be paying all relocation expenses as well as flexible timings and more Vacation days for RIDING MY VISION. So that, in a fairly large nutshell is why I chose this job over the other one.

My Avon Road Riders arrived today, 3 days after i ordered them. They were at my door at $40 less that the Zednos which was the cheapest source for Avon tires out of the 15 retailers i called. Thanks KEV10104

[kev10104]

No problem at all.Your very welcome.

[Raj1988]

BIKE UPDATE:
Well the temps are hovering about 5-6 deg C here. Brilliant weather to be riding/or working in the garage.
I have finally with Tiger's and everybody Else's help here, managed to BLEED  the damn brakes. Now all i've got to do is wait for my Carbs to come in from rebuild and then i can start outfitting my bike for the long haul. There is an oil leak from the left side cover. Not sure where from. The suspect spots have all been taken care of with black/red RTV. This is starting to concern me because it looks like there is sweating from the center split of the engine. I really hope that tis is just oil that has gradually moved down here from the left side cover. I am going to get down there with a bucket of hot water and degrease , give it a good washing and then cover it with talcum powder.

HUMAN UPDATE:
Not keeping up with school work was biting me in the ass so the put the hammer down a week or so ago and managed to get abreast with all the work. PPft, the hoops you need to jump thru to become an engineer these days! Makes one wish for simpler times. For example,  I am required to take a course on "Human- Computer interactions". A whole course for 4 months costing almost a 1000 dollars to teach me fluff. How a course such as this will help me in my Engineering career escapes me. IMO this is just another way for these organization (Yes a university is not just a center for knowledge and learning anymore, Its a bloody business operating on the basis of profit) to take advantage of us students.

[Brian Moffet]

For example,  I am required to take a course on "Human- Computer interactions". A whole course for 4 months costing almost a 1000 dollars to teach me fluff. How a course such as this will help me in my Engineering career escapes me.

I would have to disagree with you on this one :-)  Based on my 27 years of experience as a computer engineer "from an earlier time"...

At least on the usefulness, not necessarily on the cost.

Brian

[Raj1988]

I hope you are right Brian. My mum shares your views. She is a fellow programmer from an earlier time. I do not doubt the value of such a course. I dont think it should be forced on to people. This also has do do with the generation gap.  Kids who grew up in the 90's are already very comp savvy and its not a culture shock to interact with a computer. Not the same for the gen X. Anyway, just ranting.... aka might not have a very good reason :)

[Brian Moffet]

Just my advice, you can take it or not depending on how you feel.

Go in with an open mind.  Assume that people are going to be using your programs (even as a long time Unix kernel programmer, I could never get out of this one :) ) and this course will at least give you good solid ideas on what other people think.  From there, you have the knowledge to use, abuse, or break those rules.  At least you'll know what you're breaking and hopefully why.

Go get one of Edward Tufte's books and look at it.  Do it before (or at least during) the class.  It can be eye-opening.

And have fun with it. This type of course hopefully allows you to play with the outside world from within a computer program.  It's actually pretty cool when you think of it.

Brian (my main goal in programming now is the big green "make it pretty" button for computer graphics...)

[akvision]

Think of it as a "Broading of the mind".

My educational experience was changed one day... by a guy that said... "So, you think you are here to learn?  Anyone can gather data and process concepts.. It is all about application and learning to think.... applying SOLUTIONS."

Go through the process, and have "deep thoughts".\\ 

I will explain it better on our Cassiar Ride. 8)

[Raj1988]

Think of it as a "Broading of the mind".

I will explain it better on our Cassiar Ride. 8)

Looking forward to it

[Raj1988]

The Tires have been mounted and balanced at the local bike shop. The rear of the bike has been stripped down and cleaned up. New shock installed. A few rust spots had been appearing  under the battery and i gave them a scrub, sand and light paint.

I just got my exam schedule and i have 5 papers to write over the course of 3 weeks. Which means i will have more than enough riding and time to iron out the majority of the kinks. These will involve multiple trips to a certain Visionary.

My bike is a black 82. The tank is a beautiful black on the outside and crap on the inside. It has been responding well to the acid washing. I cannot tell if it has Kreem in it or some sort of Red coat or just plain rust. Anyway i have managed to procure a RED tank in fairly good condition on the outside and very good on the inside which i will use until mine is up and running. The PO painted the tank without bothering to pull the petcock off and so i have a RED petcock

Whilst i was re-installing the front wheel, i noticed that The forks are leaving an EXTREMELY SMALL amount of oil on the chrome pipes which i find odd since they have not been used since they were rebuilt. I will just have to ride it once to know for sure. This warm spell we are having is making me antsy to get out there but my carbs are not back from cleaning so i am forced to reign in my horses and satiate myself by buffing, polishing and retaping already taped electrical connections. It is still not warm enough to paint my fairing. Hopefully in the next few days i can get this done.

Luggage: I'll be carrying 2 rotopax one gallon containers for gas, One mighty hiking backpack with rain cover and a Tank bag, which is basically an old rainproof school backpack that has had its straps cut off. I have stitched a soft flannel type, faux leather backed fabric( Left over from seat recover) so it does not scratch the paint on . The cut straps will also be covered in this material and used to tie it down. I am thinking of some sort of system that works like suspenders do and can clip on to the tank lip.
There's an under $5 waterproof tank bag for ya

UP NEXT: Mounting a throttlemeister made for an FZR1 and canvas strap system for jerry cans