Anyone have "little known secrets" about 2nd Gen

[Venturous]

You can not engage cruise control above 80mph... HOWEVER... you CAN engage below that speed.... then use the accel to speed up to beyond 80mph and keep cruise on.

[Venturous]

Hockey pucks make the perfect 'adapter' for using a Sears motorcycle jack on our Venturers.

[coast_of_maine]

Took me a year to find out i had a clock on the bike. A friend asked me why i had stuck a cheap dollar store clock on the dash, when i had a clock on the bike already....

 

Showed me how to get to it...Hold down the odometer reset button for 3 or 4 secs and you get the clock display.

 

Then there is the one on how to set cruise without the bike slowing down and then jerking to get the speed up again. I will let someone else explain this one.

 

This just saved me from buying a handlebar clock this very minute.

[coast_of_maine]

Forget the fingernails .... use a nylon putty spreader ... the kind you'd get for smearing bondo onto a vehicle.

 

Also, you can use WD40 instead of goo-gone.

 

12 volt aux plug ... many "nubes" don't know it exists ... it's inside fairing, left side, down a ways (almost hidden).

 

Good grief! I just went out with a flashlight to see this! Yay! Now I can charge my phone.

[midnightrider1300]

The 12 volt aux plug inside fairing only has 5 amp fuse. Will blow if you try to use a mini compressor or anything with big amp draw.

Fuses are located in lower right side cowling.

There are many articles in the Tech Talk section under Second Generation that will give you lots of good tips on how to do fixes, upgrades, etc. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=9

 

Also check out Tech Library Second Generation

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14

 

 

Now you tell me........just blew mine using a mini compressor......

[revinger]

This just saved me from buying a handlebar clock this very minute.

Shoot the Yamaha dealer I got my venture from swore out didn't have a clock. I found out otherwise pretty quick online. It's a small but old dealership, was disappointed that they didn't know their product better.

[Drfrog]

This is my reply about Handicap plates on a motorcycle.

 

Why should you be scared, I have them on my Venture. I have a degenerative disk problem with my back and I ride every chance I get so it helps me to be able to ride and still enjoy it when I am able. Also when I am riding, I have no problem, when I stop and park if often becomes a different matter. It comes in handy when some idiot is not parking in a handicap zone and I do not have to walk as far as I would otherwise. Yes, I also have to use a cane that is tied down to my luggage rack with Velcro.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Drfrog

[gggGary]

does your G2 tank run out of fuel on the main before the low fuel light goes on?

[Freebird]

A lot of people leave the petcock on reserve all the time. I don't. In bright light I often don't even see when the light comes on so the sputtering is my warning that I am low on gas. To answer your question, NO, the light does NOT come on before I have to switch to reserve. It usually comes on just a couple miles later.

[Larry1963]

Not sure if this is a secret or not, but they are awesome

[Larry1963]

I like this post, what made this sight worth money to me. Last year when I got my bike and got on this forum, some guy called me, cannot remember his name now, and I went out to my bike and he talked me through, where the 12 adapter is, how to make cruise control work better, the setting and resume at the same time. I already knew about the folding antenna, I had a Goldwing before this.

 

someone that is smarter, more organized than me, could put together a book, with pictures, for dummies like me, and post it.

[gggGary]

Has anyone shortened their main inlet tube.

[VentureFar]

Has anyone shortened their main inlet tube.

 

In the gas tank? Why would one do that except to futz around?

VentureFar...

[gggGary]

In the gas tank? Why would one do that except to futz around?

VentureFar...

 

Well futzing is rewarding in it's own right. But wouldn't it be handy if the low fuel light came on BEFORE the motor stumbles?

I am religious about trip reset at fuel up anyways. stumbled at 176 and went to 198 before fuel.

 

PS thanks for all the secrets! The cruise set/speed drop thing had been bugging me already.

 

I'll guess the cruise set up down rocker is supposed to "self cancel" return to the center position? Mine doesn't, it sat in a very windy dusty area for a long time. Dousing with garage door lube didn't "fix" it, hey a guy can HOPE.

[Guest Jamsie]

Only the volume control is active when riding. to change stations the bars have to be at full lock ( uk spec bike ) . The headset has to be set manual , press settings once then up/down within 2 seconds to change from speakers to headset

[VentureFar]

I run to reserve all the time. I catch the fuel miles count up within 1 to 2 miles and switch to reserve. FYI if I get gas immediately I fill up with 4.2 gallons exactly. Which left me about 1.5 or 1.6 gal.

Also did you see the hole punching of the filler neck to get an additional .4 into the tank?

VentureFar...

[gggGary]

4.29 gallon at 197 miles about 20 miles after stumble sent me to reserve. never saw the light come on. (wife can verify....) It was my first day on the bike. Will look for the overfill cheat thread, Thanks. My old XS650 doesn't have a "neck skirt", topped off just before motel, parking lot was quite angled, hot, sunny. Fuel overflowed and stripped the decals off a very nice paint job.

 

 

Mr paint got it looking good again.

[Holly]

A lot of people leave the petcock on reserve all the time. I don't. In bright light I often don't even see when the light comes on so the sputtering is my warning that I am low on gas. To answer your question, NO, the light does NOT come on before I have to switch to reserve. It usually comes on just a couple miles later.

 

 

Mine depends on my riding, on the slab @ 75 mph or better, have to switch to reserve before the light comes on, around home short hops, the light comes on and can go up to 20 miles before needing to switch to reserve.

[gggGary]

Is some gear "whine" normal? varies with throttle, especially at slower speeds?

Found the power outlet, thanks for that. Dual USB port installed in it although I may put in a 3 amp hard wire USB, the phone sucks serious juice when it's doing GPS routing. Anyone "double deck" a phone mount above the audio controls? Not quite ready to yank the radio stuff out though I did on my last bike.

[Holly]

Yepper, that is normal, and it varies bike to bike, they say mine is really bad, more annoying than anything. There is a different clutch basket you can try, or can go the route one member did by plumbing an oil line to flood the gear that is the culprit!

[Semi-retired]

Is some gear "whine" normal? varies with throttle, especially at slower speeds?

Most people say to "learn to live with it"............"suck it up"........etc.

 

I thought that was all BS in my early ownership days.................but now I find either I've mellowed, or the bike has settled in to MY rhythm. Not sure which is the case....but we seem to "get along" much better now. The sound doesn't drive me crazy, and/or she doesn't seem to be making quite so MUCH of it! :-)

[gggGary]

Oddity; If the back up fuse in lower left fuse panel is blown the trip meters rest to 0.0 when you shut off the main switch.

Got a little too aggressive with the wire cutters when everything audio related came off the bike. The back up circuit keeps +12 fed to a bunch of components even when the ignition is off.