New Venture Rider with questions

[DONATALIE]

I am 42 years old have been riding sport bikes and mid-size bikes all my adult life. I recently purchased a 2000 Royal Star Venture, which by the way, I LOVE! Although I've ridden them for a while, I never really got into the mechanical/technical end of things. I recently joined VR and it seems that many of you may have answers to a couple of questions I have.

I bought this big bike so I could take my ten year old son, Danny for rides. He is severely mentally and physically handicapped, and can not speak. But, he LOVES to go for rides. He screams and giggles the whole time. However, he is HUGE for his age. He is 5'4" tall when we hold him up, and ways 170 lbs. He also has little lower trunk and leg control. This sometimes makes the bike wobble in the back as we go down the road. I was wondering what you all think of the Voyager trike for the Venture. Has anyone ever tried one? They just seem like over-sized training wheels to me, but if they work, I'll gladly put up with the embarassment. I know my wife would be alot happier. Any thoughts?

Secondly (and finally), when I bought the bike, it had the BUB slip-on mufflers on it. The loud exhaust seems to bother my son, mostly during acceleration from a stop. I bought a set of stock, OEM's off of Ebay, but the bike has K&N filters and a Stage 1 kit in the carburators. Does anyone know if I have to go back to the stock setup to use the stock mufflers? The local Yamaha dealer says yes, but I don't usually trust dealers. I don't want to spend the extra money if I don't have to. Any and all replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Don M. from Harrisburg, PA

[muffinman]

Frogman picked up a 99 last year with the voyager kit on it and seems to be very happy with it.Look ath the towpac kit as well.

Jeff

[Yammer Dan]

Just see how it runs when you go back to the stock pipes. It shouldn't make a lot of difference. There are some members here with a lot more knowledge about this than I have but just put them on and see what happens.

[Squeeze]

Hi and welcome to the Fun Board.

 

As for the Carbs, i'd say if the Stage1 Kit is properly mounted and adjusted, you have to expect Problems when going back to stock Mufflers.

 

Depending on how much Difference in Flow the Mufflers create, the Stage1 Kit can be readjusted to the stock Mufflers. But, mounting them is no big Deal, i sincerly would recommend testing like Yammer Dan said.

 

If you like the Result ... fine ... if not, depending on the temporary Outcome, go back to the BUB's and silence them or tinker with the Carbs Settings. There are probably Noise Eaters available from them or some Aftermarket Silencers can be utilized.

 

You have to accept, that the Stage1 Kit is designed to make use of Aftermarket Exhaust and better Airflow on the Intake. That's what may bring up Problems when going back to not so open Mufflers. But anyways, give the stock Ones a try !! !!

[Freebird]

Another thing, the Bub's will always be louder than the stock mufflers but there is also a good chance that the need to be re-packed. They have fiberglass packing and do burn out over time. They can be repacked though. You have to drill out the rivets that hold the tips on and then drive the baffles out from the inlet end. They are probably a lot loud now than they have to be.

[Squidley]

Another option too is going with a set of H/D roadking mufflers. I have a set that are drilled out and they aren't anywhere near as loud as the Bubs. As far as the trike kit, perhaps a sidecar might also be an option. Your son would have an unobstucted view and I would think that they could be somewhat easily removed...just another thought.

 

BTW welcome to the site, were glad to have you here

[Yammer Dan]

Squid's idea sounds like it might be better in your case than Trike. Have you thought of it?

[DONATALIE]

Thanks to all for the input. I got some good suggestions to try. I'm gonna try just putting the stock mufflers on and see what happens. I'll let you all know how that works out. As far as the sidecar/trike kit goes, I'm still not sure what to do. Squid suggested the sidecar and that was backed up by another post. The only thing that concerns me there is tip-over. I've never ridden a bike with a sidecar on it, but I've heard some horror stories. The reason I was considering the Voyager kit was because it leaves at least three wheels on the ground, even when turning or cornering hard. At least the company's promotional video on their web site shows that it does. Anyway, I'm still considering both options. Thanks for the advice. Don from Harrisburg, Pa

[nats]

One difference between the trike and sidecar is the ability to make eye contact. Being able to see each others face may make your rides more memorable.

[SteveW]

I really like the sidecar and so does my wife. It takes a few hours and a few miles to get use to but now its a blast. I keep 100 lbs. of weight in the car at all times and that makes it much more stable on right turns.

[muffinman]

One difference between the trike and sidecar is the ability to make eye contact. Being able to see each others face may make your rides more memorable.

The other advantage of a sidecar is you can take someone else with you.The only thing about the Voyager type kit is it is easily removed for 2 wheel riding.If you are thinking about a side car check out this site.

http://www.hackd.com/sidecargoodies/sidecarmagicdesigns.html

Jeff

[Gearhead]

Regarding the jetting, look up the instructions on the Dynojet website - they post PDF's. I've installed Stage 1 kits on my old Interceptor and my Virago. In both cases, they say the kit is recommended for a stock bike with either stock filter and pipes or K&N filter and aftermarket pipes. Both kits came with 2 sets of main jets, and recommended the bigger of the two for aftermarket pipes. However, the sizes weren't that much different and in the Virago with Jardines I've tried both and can't tell the difference. The needles are adjustable for mid-range and might be better at a different setting for different pipes.

 

I don't think these kits are usually installed with much attention to precision tuning, which they really require to fully benefit from them. In other words, the adjustments are probably not totally optimized anyway; the kit was probably just thrown in with the default settings. Just a guess of course. I find it likely you won't notice the difference. But even if you do need some work, all you'd probably need is to change the needle height which is easy to get to on these bikes and FREE, and maybe 4 new DJ main jets for something like 3 bucks each. (They are, however, a little harder to get to than the needles.)

 

Jeremy