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I'd be interested in a ride down from Shelby Co.

Make the plans and God willing, I will show up. I am so looking forward to getting back in the groove of riding and socializing with other riders.

I get several emails per day from newer members/trial members asking why they are suddenly unable to search forums, download attachments and various other things. You get a message that says something like "you do not have permissions" to perform certain tasks. Pretty much 100% of the time it is because your trial membership or your supporting membership has expired. I then often get an email back stating something like "thank you but I didn't realize that it was a trial membership". This post is meant to be informative, NOT scolding. When you go to the home page of VentureRider.org and read the introduction, it clearly states that you are signing up for a free 60 day trial. When you get your welcome email, it also welcomes you to your free 60 day trial. I am not trying to trick anybody here. I try to make it very clear that the free membership is indeed for a 60 day trial. I also state that upon completion of the free trial or sooner if you like what you find here, full membership is only $12.00 per year. Folks that is $1.00 per month and I think affordable for most anybody. I hope so. As cheap as it is, if you truly have some serious financial issues just send me a message. I have given a free years to several people who were truly having problems. Now let me say that almost everybody is OK with the answer once they learn that their trial membership has simply expired. I've only had one person ever who got upset about it. He was from somewhere in California and said that he was a retired cop and he knew a thing or two about "bait and switch" scams and that he was never told that it was only a free trial. I'm sorry people, but if a retired cop missed ALL the notifications that the free membership was only a 60 day trial then I'm guessing that he wasn't a detective. So like I said, this post is not meant to scold anybody, well except maybe that retired cop if he even checks things out still, but just an explanation to those of you who might have missed the terms. It is easy to become a supporting member. Just click on "Membership" in the menu bar at the top of the page. Thanks

I’ve been kicking around the idea of hosting a get together for a couple years, the hold up is there aren’t many members in the area. I’m posting the idea to try to gauge interest in the idea. NSA Joe n Debbie came in to Hannigans this week and we rode some and kicked the idea around. I’m looking at Kenlake State Park on KY Lake, the largest man made lake in the Eastern US. Plenty of camping, cabins, lodge onsite, and nearby accommodations. Just across the bridge is Land Between the Lakes national wildlife refuge and good riding. There is also lodging in nearby Aurora with motels and fishing cabins for lower priced rooms. 5-10 minutes away. Timing would probably be late May or early June to beat the heat and humidity of summer here. Please give me some feedback to see if we can get enough people to make it a go. Kenlake is a 20 minute ride from Murray with stores, supplies, etc.

100% agree, Mike is awesome. He not only helped me get my bike running right w/ rebuilt carbs, he helped me getting it looking right too! He will tell you differently on that last point though as we seem to have a difference of opinion on how much chrome is too much chrome. 🤣 He's a standup guy and genuinely cares about helping a brother out. Between @eusa1, @Patch, @cowpuc and the many others who gave me advice, encouraged me and taught me, I'm enjoying the heck out of my Venture now that she's running right!

There was a mod that some of us did to our radio setups and it was called Marshall Mod as a gentleman named Marshall Gammon came up with the idea. It involved adding a second antenna to the setup. Some of the travel trunk racks have a provision added to them at the factory for adding a second factory antenna mount to the left side of the rack. We would add that mount and then add another antenna to the left side and run that directly to the radio antenna connection using a cable with a male Motorola connector to a male PL-259 connector. This bypass the splitter box that is connected to the CB radio and allows that to be removed with the CB antenna connector then move directly to the CB. You might be able to find this cable at a truck stop that has CB supplies for the truckers. I ended up with a couple of 4ft Firecracker CB antennas on each side of the travel trunk with fold down adapters and the correct length of cable running up to each radio. This did improve my FM radio reception. I cant say much about the CB as I honestly dont use it but have left it in place and connected. Every now and then I turn it on just to see if I hear anyone out there still using it. If I was going to do it over again, I would get 3 foot Firecracker CB antenna as the 4 ft ones are a little long.. I hope this helps. Rick F.

Replace the plugs, you'll like it just fine!

Not sure how much difference it would make, But one way you can go about running separate antennas for AM/FM and CB radio is to remove the radio consul on the left side and then the black cover from the top of the side fairing you will see the radio tuner and amplifier. Disconnect the antenna lead from the tuner, you will see it has one of the commonly used automotive antenna connections. Find yourself a quality automotive am/fm antenna with the same connection end and a cable long enough to run from front to were you plan to mount the antenna. Mount the antenna and plug the end directly into the short antenna connector on the tuner. tape up the old antenna end and just tuck it out of the way. This will by pass the antenna matching box on the right side and give you a direct hook up from the tuner to the new antenna. If you wish you can also use a second CB antenna mounted on the left side for this purpose. In this case instead of a pl259 connector on the end of the coax you will have to install a male Motorola connector on the coax ( If you wish to preserve the CB function and by pass the splitter box completely simply remove the antenna cable from the splitter box (this is on the right side by the CB) cut the end of the cable and replace with a PL- 259 connector and hook directly to the CB .You need to use an SWR meter to adjust the CB antenna's length to get the correct standing wave ratio or you could damage the CB when you hit the transmit. button. This should be done well away from buildings and wires to get the most accurate adjustment. The AM/FM antenna can be mounted on the opposite side and requires no adjustment. A PL-259 connector https://vetco.net/products/uhf-male-solder-connector-for-rg-8-pl-259 A male Motorola connector https://vetco.net/products/car-radio-antenna-motorola-connector-plug-best

I am not much different from you in that sense. I like to creep down slopes sometimes, in parking lots even use the clutch/throttle/brake combination to hold the bike at a stand still while maintaining balance. More importantly creep extremely slow into the parking lot at work so the girls looking out the office windows get to admire that guy on the good looking Venture or was that the good looking guy on the Venture (never could quite get that figured out ) as I slowly slide by. Whether having the carbon fiber clutch versus regular friction material is the difference I am not sure but I was informed by the experts at Barnett if I did a lot of slow riding that their carbon fiber was the way to go over their regular friction material as the regular could not take slip clutch as well as the carbon fiber.

Hiya @saddlebum!! What I was referring to as "slow riding" was what I posted in the video.. Take a peek if you havent.. The position of the lever when engaging is one part of the difficulty of slow riding like that in my case as is the sudden hook up of the Barnett as apposed to the softer hook up of the OEM "wired".. Totally NOT not doable (as shown in the vid - that was with a Barnett system as I recall) its just that the rider has to be a little more sensitive with clutch control as the Barnett (or not wired OEM conversion/converted to all full plates maybe? - that is what I was wondering about) if he is wanting to slow ride in the bush, down side walks around people who are walking, thru crowds at Sturgis and on and on.. Ben I also found that standing on the pegs like you and all dirt bikers KNOW is THE way to slow ride with full control also complicates the control with the Barnett engagement when slow riding as shown in the video,, at least in my case. Took a lot practice on my part (my learning curves tend to be wayyyyy longer than most) to learn to control that long reach, quick hook up Barnett when standing on the pegs like I love to do...

@cowpucI assume when you mean slow riding it is not far of from what I refer to as softer engagement. In my case I replaced my Clutch with the Barnett clutch ( Keep in mind here when one says they used the Barnett clutch that Barnett has a variety of clutch friction material and spring strength options ). Now in my case I purchased the kit with the carbon fiber clutch which has been recommended for slow riding and is used in many police bikes for that reason. The carbon fiber has a high wear resistance to slip clutching and yet when fully engaged there is no slippage even when pulling a heavily loaded trailer. With regards to clutch feel I myself found or at least I think I found I had better clutch feel with the Barnett carbon fiber clutch over the OEM setup. You do however require a bit stronger grip for the clutch lever since the springs are heavier so for some it is possible that the softer spring may give them a better feel over the stiffer spring. Not to make this sound the wrong way, but for a tradesman like myself who has spent their life working with heavy tools or someone who works out your grip does tend to be stronger than someone who for example works in an office type job and/or does not work out, in which case you may want to consider wether or not a stiffer clutch is a good idea. On the other hand if you do opt for the stiffer clutch your grip will strengthen over time from working the clutch, so there are a few things to consider such as the points cowpuc mention in his post and the points I have raised in this one. for example if your ride one up and never pull heavy there may be no need to go to a heavier clutch.

Crazy how that works ain't it?

This is for 2022. School ends late May so the first weekend in June is what I’m thinking if it doesn’t mess you up for MD. I plan to make it to MD too. Late June, July, and August here are very hot and humid so they’re out.

I am far from any form of a guru on this stuff (perhaps @skydoc_17 could shed some light on the point I am about to make) but here is something to ponder. IMHO, it all depends on what you want/expect from your clutch and its finer workings. All of my MK1's except for this last one, number 6, I have stayed with the wire and it's functionality for several reasons. 1st and most important in my case I always appreciated the "feel" of its engagement and location of the clutch engagement/disengagement spot in the throw of the clutch lever. On this latest version of the MK1's I am riding the clutch throw is right out at the end of the throw. This makes it extremely difficult to slow ride (I am not talking about what people like Jerry Palitino of ride like a pro calls slow riding, I am talking about doing what I demenstrated for @VentureFar in the video below). I always found slow riding as demonstrated to be much easier with the stock OEM setup including the "wire" design. The engagement zone was perfect on my prior bikes where, where the Barnette plates and no wire engagement zone makes it much more difficult in my current bike. With no wire design, at least on my current MK1, you have to handle the clutch friction zone with extreme micrometer like precision to attain the level of confidence I am used to on the MK1's. I will say this though, the Barnette with no wire has NEVER demonstrated any form of slippage no matter how much its abused. The MK1 wire design was known for unwelcome slippage, especially in it higher gears while hauling lots of extra weight (think 2 up, fully loaded for cross country touring) - I am sure triple digit touring in high tempts of the desert did not help much. My theory,, and that is all it is, is that the narrow surface of that 1st in half size fiber plate was/is the weak link in the design (just not quite enough surface area?). Maybe what Mom Yam should have done back then was doubled the surface area of all the clutch plates back in the early days? Or maybe one of us,, me, should not have tortured these MK1's like he did :).. Earl, if your reading this,, I am wondering if you have found that all unwired, fully filled baskets with NO 1/2 FIBERS have a tendency of tossing the engagement zone out to the end of the clutch throw?

definitely interested.

No plans for a MD this year. We truly plan to kick it off again next year. I would like to make the one in Kentucky if the dates work out. Just can't promise at this time.

Robin says yes! so I guess I have to show up too. You might want to check with Don to see if he is going to plan a maintenance day for June so the dates don't over lap.

Tell B2Dad happy birthday from us. Good to hear that he is getting older.

Sounds like there is some interest. I’ll check with the park about their rules and pavilion use. I’m thinking the first weekend in June if it doesn’t conflict with MD.

Paris is only 30 minutes away from us.

Sounds like a great idea. Lisa and I would like to attend if you can work it out.

Sounds like fun. I'll give it an early yes. Been in the area before and wouldn't mind going back. Not to far from there this weekend, we're in Paris, TN helping B2Dad celebrate his 75th birthday this weekend.

Kris and I would do our best to make it.

I ride almost 800 miles to the WNY rally, 550 to Freebird’s, and trying to fit Vogel in my schedule at 350 miles. I don’t know how many can/will travel this far. If we can get the turnout it can be anything from an MD type thing at my place to a rally. Lots of good riding here for short rides or long, we can plan a tour of the Hannigan factory, or just sit around and eat and tell stories (assuming the border is open). TN highway 232 (West TN Dragon) is 30 minutes away. Ky lake is well known for bass and crappie fishing, 20-30lb catfish caught regularly with occasional up to 80 lb. May/June cats are biting from the bank. Civil war fort and history nearby.

How did I know you were going to say that?

We have had a saying here at VRO, plan it, and they will come. Give plenty of notice on the date so folks can work their schedules. If 1 other rider shows up, it's a success 👍

Not saying I would attend, would like to though, but I think you have an awesome idea!! Go for it!!!

Just throwing this out there but could have been some bad gas

Hey RD, I think the view from the rear gives us an optical illusion. What I can gather from looking at all of the pics is that the overall length of the trailer appears to be about 16'. About 6' of tongue and 2 sections of bed at 5' each. As a rule of thumb the axle would be placed 60% of the length of the entire trailer from the tongue or about 9.6' From what I can gather from the pics it appears to be about right. Of course the tongue weight should be between 10% and 15% of the loaded trailer. I would guess the trailer weight at about 500# and the RSV at 1,000# so tongue weight not less than 150# and not more than 225# should work. I believe this tongue weight could also be achieved by moving the load forward or back. These dimensions and weights should be verified by Pasta Burner. I'm sure he will PM us with any questions.

Here are some pictures of the antenna masts.

Thank you I understand. Will P

:sign yeah that::sign yeah that: and again - YEAH THAT!! Another point of interest, IMHO, about our site is that we have no "auto pay" so I don't see how anyone could construe anything around here as a "scam" as far as how Freebird has chosen to operate the site.. Matter of fact,, all of us supportive members are really treated no differently then the Trial Members - we get a notification in our email that our measly 12 dollar a year club dues are about to expire and can freely choose whether we want to put up with all these,,, I mean,, want to continue being part of this amazing family of lop eared varmints at that time - absolutely, positive NO evidence of scamming.. There has been a few instances though where a couple scammers have snuck into and tried to us but they dont last very long.. That Freebird and his staff of awesome Moderator's do a great job of spotting them and :buttkick:ing out in less time than it took em to sign up.... ,,, ,,, = IMHO,, my experience with other Forum's SCREAMS to me that that alone is worth a buck a month!! Thanks Don and Mods for all you do!! Puc

VentureRider.Org was started on July 21st, 2004. The object of this site is very simple. To bring together folks who enjoy friendly discussion of the Yamaha Venture, Venture Royale, Royal Star Venture and Royal Star motorcycles. What started as a very small group of owners has become the most active site on the Internet dedicated to these bikes. Though most of us share a passion for these particular bikes, we welcome all riders who enjoy the company of a friendly community of riders who have a desire to lend a hand when needed, share a cold drink when possible and simply enjoy the company of other riders. On August 15th 2006 there was a major server crash and we lost two years worth of messages and member information. At that time, we had over 3600 folks registered here. After a total rebuild of the site, the numbers are still coming back and the great technical information lost is being reposted as we continue on. This is a very informal group. We don't feel the need for a lot of club officers, rules, regulations. We do have some basic guidelines for our organization though. These are guidelines that the majority of the members reached a consensus on long ago. Edited by V7Goose: The original intent of the founding members was that this site is, always has been and always will be free to all. Don Nelson, Freebird, spends almost unimaginable time and effort personally creating and maintaining this site for the benefit of all members, and for five years he personally covered 100% of the costs for software, hosting, bandwidth, etc. A few members donated to Don in an effort to help out, but they were only a small percentage of the members here. In 2009, Don and his family were beset by some unexpected health issues and large medical expenses that forced him to make some hard decisions about continuing to spend his own money on this site. As a result, the members here were quite vocal that we needed to implement some form of membership fee so that those of us who enjoy this site would all begin to share in the cost. At this time, the forums are open to all to read but registration is required for posting a new message or replying to an existing message. Registration is just $12/year, is easy to do and helps to protect us against spam. Just as important is the fact that this site is PG rated. There are a lot of sites on the Internet where people can look at pornographic materials, use vulgar language, etc. We do not need that here. By keeping this site PG rated we are able to reach a wide range of people. Please respect this simple guideline when posting here. Although we do not have many rules, keeping the PG rating in all things would be Rule #1. We have also tried to keep political discussions to a minimum here. Many people have very strong political opinions, including me. Again, there are a lot of places on the Internet to discuss politics and I've never seen any good from mixing politics with motorcycle discussion. What starts off as a rational discussion always seems to turn into a heated debate and it usually gets personal before it ends. All of the same things can be said for religious discussions. Rule #2 would be that politics and religion are two subjects that will not be tolerated. The last rule, Rule #3, is that all discussions need to remain civil. That is not to say that we do not expect disagreements, and even some "lively" discussions where it is clear that opinions are held strongly by some individuals. It does mean that personal attacks and insults are not acceptable. Our primary focus here is motorcycles, motorcycle touring, technical discussion, etc. This site would get pretty boring though if no other discussion was allowed. We have become much more than a website here. We have become friends and many of us have met in person as well as here on the site. It was the motorcycles that brought us together but it's the friendships that keep us together. As in face to face meetings, conversations other than motorcycles will often come up. We have specific areas for just that type of discussion and we encourage folks to please try to post in the appropriate areas. If a mistake is made and something is posted in the wrong area...it's no big deal...we will either overlook it or move it. The main thing folks is that this site should be not only helpful but fun as well. I hope that we all remember that first and foremost, we are friends. This is the kindest and most considerate bunch of folks I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. There are no cliques here and no secret groups within our group. If you are new here, simply introduce yourself and you will be warmly welcomed.