2000 rsv

[darthandy]

Went to look at a 2000 RSV today...only has 71,000 km on it ( about 44,000 mi.). It looks and runs like new, but there was a problem. The intercom didn't work. The radio plays through both headsets as did the CB when someone started using channel 6 nearby, but the intercom just wouldn't work. Switched headsets front to back and the same problem. I thought the radio and intercom shared an amp and therefore if one didn't work, the other one didn't either. Anyone have any ideas? The bike is gorgeous but my wife really wants the intercom...so she can make useful suggestions as we ride along!

[LilBeaver]

You are correct in that the main radio amp is responsible for all of the audio on the bike and it is quite unlikely (but still possible) that the radio and CB would work abut the intercom does not. A few additional (simple) things to check would be if you got audio out of the headset from the radio. If you do not get audio through the headsets from the radio then there is an issue with the cable between the radio amp and the headset (possibly just disconnected in the fairing or under the passenger seat) or a problem with the radio amp itself.

 

Easy checks are done as follows:

with the radio or CB ON press the middle (select) button a few times until you see either SP or HS come up on the display. When you see SP (provided the audio is coming out of the fairing speakers) press the UP or DOWN arrows to select HC as this will route the audio to the headsets. Now check to see if you can hear the radio through the headset

 

Another check would be for the intercom system itself. The intercom system has its own and INDEPENDENT volume control. Using the middle 'select' button again, cycle through the menu until you see the 'IC' prompt. It should be 'IC' followed by a number (based on your current description, I suspect that number is '0'. Using the scroll wheel OR the UP arrow turn the 'IC' up to say 10 or 15 and try the intercom again.

 

I sure hope it is something simple like this! If not and the bike is in good shape otherwise, maybe you can still work it out; keep in mind that the radio amps used go for ~300 USD and new for ~1200 USD.

[Owen]

There is an intercom volume setting on the control head, we run ours at about 11-12. The passenger volume also needs to be turned up...

[LilBeaver]

There is an intercom volume setting on the control head, we run ours at about 11-12. The passenger volume also needs to be turned up...

 

Right, I forgot about that - on the left 'arm rest' for the passenger, there is a dial for that. Good call.

 

For what it is worth I usually have mine set between 10 and 14 depending on how windy it is outside and who is riding with me. One of my frequent passengers speaks really softly [and I am a little bit hard of hearing in addition] and she just won't speak up.

[darthandy]

Thanks for the tips. In fact, we did make sure the intercom volume was all the way up to 20 and that the passenger volume was all the way up as well. As I mentioned in the original post, both the radio and the CB were playing through both the headsets but there was no intercom. I don't suppose the amp from my old '87 VR would fit , would it? Just a thought! And the bike is really nice, although not inexpensive. But compared to prices of other RSV's around here it is reasonable, given the age and mileage and it's quite a bit less than a comparable Goldwing. And I wouldn't have to spend the first two hours of maintenance removing plastic to get at anything...just saying!

Edited July 3, 2011 by darthandy
Added a bit more.

[LilBeaver]

Thanks for the tips. In fact, we did make sure the intercom volume was all the way up to 20 and that the passenger volume was all the way up as well. As I mentioned in the original post, both the radio and the CB were playing through both the headsets but there was no intercom. I don't suppose the amp from my old '87 VR would fit , would it? Just a thought! And the bike is really nice, although not inexpensive. But compared to prices of other RSV's around here it is reasonable, given the age and mileage and it's quite a bit less than a comparable Goldwing. And I wouldn't have to spend the first two hours of maintenance removing plastic to get at anything...just saying!

 

Oops, Sorry I did not read your original post as carefully as I should have!

Another thought is that they had some sort of 'mic-mute' setup installed where you may have to tap the 'push to talk' button in order to activate the intercom system. I think it would be awfully strange for the mic portion of the headset system to fail on BOTH driver and passenger side.

Since you had the AUDIO through both headsets and the mics just didn't work, it has to either be something in the amp (REALLY unlikely) or there is a mic-mute like system installed and it would be a matter of figuring out how to work it or remove it all together.

 

Sorry about my mis-read! Sometimes I am a bit slow - maybe I spend too much time in canada, eh? :stickpoke::witch_brew:

[darthandy]

Sorry about my mis-read! Sometimes I am a bit slow - maybe I spend too much time in canada, eh? :stickpoke::witch_brew:

 

No, no...it's that you don't spend enough time in Canada! You'll find that after a while you really speed up! Or then again, it may be that things keep slowing down and you only seem to be speeding up while actually going slower...or something...ummm. Anyway, it's a really nice bike and I enjoyed riding it...with or without the intercom. There's another one nearby with about 20,000 more KM (About 12,500 mi) but asking $1,000 less, that I hope to see tomorrow...then I get to choose...assuming the other one is still available. I wonder if his intercom is working?

[LilBeaver]

No, no...it's that you don't spend enough time in Canada! You'll find that after a while you really speed up! Or then again, it may be that things keep slowing down and you only seem to be speeding up while actually going slower...or something...ummm. Anyway, it's a really nice bike and I enjoyed riding it...with or without the intercom. There's another one nearby with about 20,000 more KM (About 12,500 mi) but asking $1,000 less, that I hope to see tomorrow...then I get to choose...assuming the other one is still available. I wonder if his intercom is working?

 

 

Nice. Don't forget to check that rear shock out! Any oil on there and you'll have to replace that dumb thing... ~500-800 bucks later!

[darthandy]

Nice. Don't forget to check that rear shock out! Any oil on there and you'll have to replace that dumb thing... ~500-800 bucks later!

 

Will do! The one I saw today was almost as clean on the bottom as on the top. How do I know? Well the neighbors are probably still wondering what the old guy was doing in a push up position next to the bike! I plan on giving the other one the same kind of inspection. Hopefully, I won't miss anything.

[LilBeaver]

Will do! The one I saw today was almost as clean on the bottom as on the top. How do I know? Well the neighbors are probably still wondering what the old guy was doing in a push up position next to the bike! I plan on giving the other one the same kind of inspection. Hopefully, I won't miss anything.

 

Haha, yeah. I stopped to look at one at a local dealership a few weeks ago and the salesman came out chuckling and scratching his head trying to figure out what I was doing.

 

Anyways, so what is the verdict?!?!?!?!?!? Do you have a new-to-you bike or what? Just remember the two-tone greens are the fastest and hold their value the longest.... mwa ha ha.

[darthandy]

Just got off the phone with the owner (He lives about 60 miles away - all small two lane roads to get there so it's an hour and a half drive...calling was easier). We've agreed on a price and I should have the bike by Tuesday a.m. Then I get to do a bit of checking for the intercom problem and figure out how to stuff it into one side of the garage since I have my Triumph in there with the old VR hanging from my hoist while I work on it. Once I'm done with the VR I'll be putting it up for sale.

 

I also get to go to the luggage store to see what I can find that will work as a liner in the bags and trunk. We have a trip to Pennsylvania coming up next Friday with my riding club...we're Chapter 2 of a U.S. club, which is Chapter 1. An international riding club as it were! That's why I wanted a newer bike with lower miles (Or kilometers in my case). Having three old bikes to work on is getting to be too much...especially with that '87 VR which was not going to be ready by then. That fairing may protect well, but it makes working on the front of the bike a living hell...at least for me. The only fairings I've dealt with till now were small "empty" ones.

 

As an aside (I do talk a lot, don't I?) the other 2000 RSV I went to see was nice but had more miles, less chrome and obviously had not been as well cared for. It had some odd scratches and paint chips on the top of the fairing! And the owner said that since he and his wife didn't use the intercom, he had disconnected it and rolled up the wiring under the fairing and trunk!?! Why not just leave off the headsets? Especially since we're not allowed to listen to music on helmet mounted headsets in this province...although people do any way. Still, the whole thing seemed a bit odd. And the bike had a set of BUB slip-on's which weren't too terribly loud, but I want my wife to enjoy the ride and being closer to the business end of louder mufflers didn't seem like the best way to keep her riding! In the end, I probably paid $1,000 to $1,400 more for this one, but considering the miles and condition, it was worth it...to me anyway. And of course, had my wife complained about the noise, the cost of replacement mufflers would have quickly reduced that difference! Plus, in my mind anyway, those little touches of chrome on the bike I'm getting, make it that much prettier (Is that too girlish a thing to say?) to look at. I've included the picture from the ad. Note the chrome trim around the trunk and bags and gas tank. I really like the way it looks.

 

I'll update the goings-on later.

 

Andy

[darthandy]

I'm curious...how did you come by the handle LilBeaver. In your profile picture you look neither little nor like a beaver. Then again, I don't look like a Sith Lord at all.

Edited July 4, 2011 by darthandy
Selling...again!

[LilBeaver]

Wow - Good looking scoot! I have never seen one of the red 2000's in person, but it does look sharp in the picture. The 'chrome' accents around the lower cowlings, saddlebag lids, fuel tank and the trunk sure does give it a sharp look!

 

Hopefully the intercom issue will be pretty simple and straight-forward but regardless - when you get it, there are only a few things to check and it ought to be pretty clear once you get into it. If all else fails, maybe you can 'the force' your way into a working intercom system

 

As for your last question, my handle came from high school days. In one of my classes we were working on producing a Native American 'mandela' for ourselves. Part of this included choosing an animal that we thought represented ourselves. As soon as that aspect of the project was described to us a few of my female friends had turned to me almost simultaneously said that my representative animal is a 'little beaver'. Their justification was because of my short fuzzy hair, hard working attitude, that I was 'cute' (however the heck that one worked out, I still don't know) and a few other attributes. As for the 'little' part, that was slightly meant as a joke because while I only stood a measly 5'8", I pushed 200lbs and was in pretty decent shape (I wrestled, and was pretty athletic). So for the remaining 3 years of High School and well into my adult life I have been referred to as the 'little beaver'... So it has stuck since then. Not a very exciting story, but there it is.

 

So what makes you a sith lord?

[darthandy]

So what makes you a sith lord?

 

Well, after falling in love with the original movie in '77, I found something about Darth Vader that was compelling ... there seemed to be something "deeper" to the character which was born out by the 2nd movie and made obvious in the third. I guess I fixated on the really cool uniform and fighter (Oh God, here comes the buried nerd!) and his overwhelming confidence. I guess you could say I identified with some parts of him and the promise of more character development made him seem more interesting as a character than Luke or Han (at least to me.) I realized that I had perhaps "over defended" him when my youngest daughter tried to get me to get a tattoo and jumped at the idea of my getting a Darth Vader tattoo. Haven't done it , but she still occasionally mentions it. So, to try and shorten along and boring story, although he (And his friends) were rather evil, the character was interesting so I drifted to the, well..."gray" side ... I'm just too honest to go full "dark".

 

By the by, the owner of the bike called me and said that the intercom now works. He had been fiddling with the wrong volume controls which I had sort of suspected, but I didn't want to embarrass him right then and there. So all seems to be good other than it will need a new front tire soon...this looks like a job for the Motorcycle Superstore! Got a set of Michelin Road Pilot II tires for my Triumph last year for about the same price the dealers here wanted for a rear tire alone. And there's no duty on motorcycle parts coming into Canada!

 

Thanks for the interesting story about your handle, by the way. I'm a bit of a trivia nut and things like that always make me curious. Like finding out why the 1963 Corvette was the only version of that generation that had a split rear window. Who knew?

 

Andy

[SilvrT]

I'm curious...how did you come by the handle LilBeaver. In your profile picture you look neither little nor like a beaver. Then again, I don't look like a Sith Lord at all.

 

Whatever he responds to this is untrue ... it's actually coz he comes up to Vancouver, BC and hassles me. The Beaver part is the Canuck thing and the Lil part is coz his feet are so small ....

[LilBeaver]

First of all, glad to hear that the IC works fine. I was going to be awfully suprised if that was the only part of the audio system that went haywire!

Very interesting about your 'handle' too - certainly logical. What you ought to do is come home with a temporary tatoo of Vader and show it off as if it is real - just for grins.

 

Whatever he responds to this is untrue ... it's actually coz he comes up to Vancouver, BC and hassles me. The Beaver part is the Canuck thing and the Lil part is coz his feet are so small ....

Riiiight. That is it. Don't believe a word this souperstar says - he is just upset because he recently had to share some of his toys with a grandchild... Oh yeah, I never, and I do mean NEVER hassle, harass or 'rib' ANYONE. Nor do I EVER use sarcasm. :banana:

[dunsonaventure]

Nice looking ride. You will enjoy that baby and get plenty of looks going down the road.

[Trader]

Looking good!

Hope you have many happy and SAFE miles on her!

[darthandy]

...guys. It will be getting its "trial by fire" this coming Friday when my riding club heads out to Wellsboro,PA for the weekend. We plan on taking the 2 lanes for as much of the trip out as possible, then get in some touring when we get there. Hope the weather cooperates but we've got our rain suits along anyway.

 

Well Beav, I'm glad to hear you're the responsible sort who doesn't resort to sarcasm, ribbing or any of those other methods of "obtaining someone's goat". I, too, would never dream of being so immature and silly...even if they're bragging wildly about their, uh, "swine" and assuring one and all that nothing can outrun or out handle it. And they'll prove it too, as soon as it cools down enough so that they can start it up again! Oops...did I say that out loud?

 

 

Andy