vanion2

Never mind. I took the side cases to a locksmith and I am glad I did. They tried to make a key which surprised me because my research turned up just making a duplicate was a challenge. As expected they were unsuccessful. Next was trying to pick the lock. Also unsuccessful. Apparently the Givi locks are no joke. Finally it was drilling the locks out. If you choose to do this be careful and take your time. You need to go at a slight angle towards the top of the case and don't go too deep. There will be a slot on the bottom that a flat head screwdriver can be used to unlock the case. I

So I have 2 x V35's that are locked closed and no keys to open them with. Any suggestions on how to get them open without damaging the cases? I already ordered a new set of Givi locks with keys so I don't care if the current locks are destroyed but I need the cases intact. TIA!

Today was a glorious day. Yesterday was a fresh oil and filter change so nothing would be in the way of my first two wheel therapy ride. Sunny in the mid 70's F. Little to no wind. Even the traffic was light. It was time to ride. A quick stop at the gas station and I was off. East on I40 got the bike warmed up nicely by the time I hit the Tijeras exit for a S14 run to clear out the cobwebs in my mind and body. My focus was on riding smooth, not fast. Of course, by the time I cleared my favorite S turns it was easy to see that smooth equals fast so I took it down a notch b

I wanted to add a few more things here. I ran across a couple riding the R1250RS. It was impressive to look at so I asked the pilot how he liked it. He said it was a great bike and his only complaint was replacing the rear tire every 3000 miles. I wasn't clear on if that was due to the fun factor or always 2 up riding. To be honest though my next bike is going to be a used Goldwing. I made the mistake test driving 2 different ones after testing an FJR1300. You can lean those a lot more than you think and the weight being so low was even easier to handle than my 02 VFR. Sea

Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX. I got to sit on one and it felt just right. It's also light. I could see myself putting miles on that bike comfortably.

I finally got the last of my issues sorted out yesterday and took her for a test drive. Came back home with a ridiculous grin on my face. I drove her to work this morning even though it was crazy windy and in the mid 30's F. This week I am doing an oil change and then she's all set for the riding season. As for the house, they just started on it this week. I need to get in touch with the contractor for more details. I will keep everyone up to date on both the road adventures and the house progress. Thanks for all the well wishes and for those of you who think the back end of

Sorry. I didn't upload the photos correctly but they are all there now. Unfortunately they are in the reverse order so start at the bottom and work your way up if you want to follow chronological order. 🙃

It's been a while since I have been here. A lot has changed. This forum, my life. I figured I would drop back in now that things have settled down for a bit and catch you up on my VFR's recent life experiences (you thought this was going to be about me? 😄). I hadn't been riding much as I made a move to a new department at my work and finally got into something I loved doing (IT)! My poor VFR sat in the garage after I spent the summer getting a lot of maintenance done. New chain, sprockets, upgraded the RR, and new tires. Work has been busy and never ending because I am essen

Yep. I just recently had to order a part for a Goldwing that I damaged when my bike tipped over. Saved me about the same for the part and the Goldwing owner was completely satisfied with his new OEM Honda part that matched the paint perfectly. This was after doing some comparison shopping around a few of the websites that usually offer good prices. As long as Keith keeps offering those competitive prices I will keep shopping there at Mason City.

The way I do it for google maps is the same but less steps. Just make your map as HS describes, copy the link, then paste it to your post and add the map tags. Keep in mind sometimes Google maps misbehave and the link you end up pasting doesn't work. When that happens I try resizing the map and copying the new link into the map tags. [map] [/map] Actual example: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212604679972371715183.0004d99cdeb98ec63ffcc&msa=0 Now type the map tags on each end as shown above: Full Size

Wow. Nice first post. This should be interesting to watch. Good luck (maybe PM BLS to get his attention?).