new owner needs advice

[NightRob]

hello folks,

I am a new member of this site and recent owner of my 2005 RSV. The previous owner of the bike encouraged me to check out this forum and so far I love it. Very awesome.

Now being a new owner I was wondering if anyone had any advice about the bike or maintaining it, anything I should keep an eye out for, maybe some recommended upgrades? (already put a new windshield on it lol)

Thank you

[Phoneman1981]

Welcome.

[The Beast]

Good to have you on board. I have been riding my 2003 Venture for 2 seasons now and I can tell you this, this space is invaluable and the people even more so. Get familiar with the site, read some of the old posts because if you have thought it, it has been talked about 15 times. the threads don't get old because the dam bikes are the same year after year so if someone has an issue or talked windshields, lowering your bike, getting poor gas millage, what tire is the best, it is all there. And the knowledge that all these great people have is overwhelming. I have gotten so much info and ideas from just reading the posts.

My 2 cents

[buddy]

Welcome !

Much like the Goldwing the Venture motor pretty much bullet proof !!

If this Venture is from this family then it's more than likely been kept up and in good shape

The Venture doesn't have all the bling like H-D or Goldwing which is fine with me less cleaning to do lol

But if your looking for some up grades look in the classified section in our member vendor and see if there's anything you might want to add if not already on your ride ?

Our Family vendors here are some of the best hands on fab.work you will ever see and top notch items no cheap made over seas items

 

EUSA1 has diamond cut fins for our motors that he installed for me at the B2mom&B2dad meet in TN really top of the line steady handy work ! Motor really stands out

 

Carbon_One has several items as well and I installed a skid plate he hand made looks MFG it's that good ! for our motors as I live on a gravel road this is the best investment I put on this motor as I lost a Goldwing motor due to road debris

 

Also but probably most of all make some meets we are having in the Calendar section and meet some folks you will Fine that we are not all that crazy lol one we are having is the Eureka Springs AR meet Labor Day weekend and chk several of the other meets & Rallies in the calendar that may be to your likening

 

Buddy

[GAWildKat]

Invest in seafoam...you'll need it! (well someone had to say it!)

[etcswjoe]

Welcome!!

 

Here is a link to about any problem you may ever have with the bike nothing serious or hard to fix yourself.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=87

[Sailor]

A loud horn. Stebel or Wolo are good.

[Eck]

Hope you get the bike maintained and ready for some of the upcoming rallies and events we are having. This way you can attend and meet up with a bunch of family members here.

Click here to see what is coming up:

 

http://www.venturerider.org/rally/

[NightRob]

Thank you everyone for the information, very useful.

The previous owner already put a nice horn on it and it already saved me from a car almost merging right into me the other day.

I would love to check out a rally, never been to any kind of rally just ride with a small group. I would just hope one happens on day I have off work.

[Jimbob66]

My advice is to buy a sturdy bike stand (unless you already have one)_ and buy the jack adapter for it. I believe a member sells those on here.

 

Also, read, read , read. The tech forum is absolutely awesome and has helped me through several maintenance jobs.

[NightRob]

My advice is to buy a sturdy bike stand (unless you already have one)_ and buy the jack adapter for it. I believe a member sells those on here.

 

Also, read, read , read. The tech forum is absolutely awesome and has helped me through several maintenance jobs.

Actually the bike came with all of that, the previous owner bought the adapter off someone here.

[Long Tall]

A loud horn. Stebel or Wolo are good.

 

YOUR FIRST OPTION!!!!!!!!....WELL MAYBE YOUR SECOND SINCE YOU ALREADY DID THE WINDSHIELD>>>>

 

Long Tall

Lynchburg, VA

[eusa1]

Welcome Rob!!

I am about 2 hours west of you along 88 if you get out and about I will buy you a root beer!

ask plenty of questions and jump into the deep end... you will find some wonderful folks here and a great deal of information.

 

enjoy the ride!

 

ride safe..ride often.. Mike:cool10:

[Barrycuda]

Welcome Rob!!

I am about 2 hours west of you along 88 if you get out and about I will buy you a root beer!

ask plenty of questions and jump into the deep end... you will find some wonderful folks here and a great deal of information.

 

enjoy the ride!

 

ride safe..ride often.. Mike:cool10:

 

I would JUMP at the chance to take mike up on his offer. he is extremely well liked, knowledgeable, funny, smart and can help you a bunch, just like many of the bunch here. Some other things to consider:

learn to take on/off windshield, take(split)fairing, change own oil and filter, learn carb synch and air pressures. all can be done from reading and studying the tech forum info sites. if the bike has been maitained and not stored in a rusty garage on a dirt road, then fill er up and ride.....

oh BTW...welcome

[Venturing Sole]

If yours doesn't already have them, the passing lights are a significant safety feature (in my opinion). Cars see bikes when they have three lights up front. A single headlight can often be confused as one of the headlights on a car behind you when seen from the front. I was creamed by a young girl on a rainy day when she pulled out of a side street in front of me because she didn't see my bike (instead she saw a car farther back and my one headlight was aligned with one of the two headlights behind me - optical illusion). Have never had a problem after putting passing lights on my replacement Venture.

[BratmanXj]

Hell, I'm 15 min from you just over the boarder in Munster, IN. If you need some help with checking over the bike PM me and we'll try to get together. I have a '99 RSV and am a mechanic on the side.

 

Check the rear shock, notorious for leaking/internal failures. If the bike rides like your on a pogo stick you may need a new one.

 

I did an "Big Brake Upgrade" with R1 sport bike calipers. HUGE improvement, 2 fingers to slow a big bike down vs the stock needing to grab a handful. If you want to see (and ride) let me know.

 

Bleed the brakes till the fluid runs clean, don't know how old the brake fluid is.

 

I flushed and replaced the front fork oil, I think the bike still had the original NASTY fork oil. I'm a bigger guy and went up to 15w oil for better dampening.

[NightRob]

Welcome Rob!!

I am about 2 hours west of you along 88 if you get out and about I will buy you a root beer!

ask plenty of questions and jump into the deep end... you will find some wonderful folks here and a great deal of information.

 

Hell, I'm 15 min from you just over the boarder in Munster, IN. If you need some help with checking over the bike PM me and we'll try to get together. I have a '99 RSV and am a mechanic on the side..

 

Thanks both of you, I will have to take you up on your offers. Im not in the dixon area to much but I do have a friend I ride with all the time in Munster. So next time im in either area I will try to get ahold of whomever.

And of course thanks again to everyone who gave me advice, Already used some of the information of this forum.

[djh3]

Dont want to overwhelm you with things or make you scared of your purchase. There are some things I would call "fine tuning" or improvements. All things fellow have discovered while owning these bikes that just makes them all that much more reliable. I can suggest some things, but everything is subjective. To me it might be important, but someone else may feel another mod is more important. You being new to the bike reading all this stuff may think "holy crap what kind of POS did I buy" When you look at things I would say kind of brake it down into sections, something like Safety-Mechanical keep me from fixing on side of road-Mechanical makes drive better-Nice to have and looks good.

I'll stop now just a suggestion. Welcome and dont be afraid to ask questions. Try to search for your questions first time around as most likely someone has asked something similar.