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Trucks are crazy right now, luckily I found mine close by last spring. We went all the way to St. Louis a few months ago to get the wife's Jeep. Now I'm looking for a small car for my oldest since we moved her so far away from home. Her's went into limp mode for a few miles on the way to Florida with no warning lights set, it's a 2012 Nissan with 140k on it and I'm getting a little worried about it. Everything I'm seeing is 2500-3000 above MSRP. Used prices are just insane.

Yes @cowpuc I do know what you mean! I’m born and raised just outside of Philly but moved here in 2014. I’m about 30-40 min north of Salt Lake City next to Hill AFB. Even in my well developed neighborhood we have kids riding the main streets on quads and dirt bikes as you describe in Salina! The salt lake valley isn’t all that big and once you get out of it and off the super slab, gas stations can be few and far…that said even IF there is a station you need to factor in if they are open. After 6pm or on a Sunday and you’ll be camping out or pushing…or begging because the owner lives within earshot of his station. It is a different culture and way of life out here, as you say for the risk takers / adventure seekers. On the flat screens at the gas pumps or over the slurpee machine in town they’re advertising extreme sports like dirt biking, hang gliding, jet packing…red bull kinda stuff as if that’s what you’re off to do once you fill up…and many are! if you stick to the beaten path gas availability is a slim issue, but start connecting those backroads and you can quickly be SOL. On a side note, living out here I’ve learned it isn’t the thermometer reading that’s dangerous as much as the intensity of the sun. For that reason I’ve added a compact umbrella to every vehicles emergency kit. Until you’ve experienced it it’s hard to explain how difficult something as simple as swapping a fuse is when you’re dripping a pint of sweat onto the project at hand.

I installed this 2 gallon gas tank under the trailer years ago. Never have needed it, but it is comforting knowing that it's there. Where it's located between the wheels doesn't upset the tongue weight at all and it is mostly out of sight. Not the most convenient location but it sure beats walking.

Your welcome Pasta. You living in Utah, especially if your not like cruising all over Salt Lake City, is truly a whole different living experience. Life in Utah is, well for lack of better way to explain it, like stepping back into a time when the American experience was more for the risk takers I reckon. I love it out there but I was always a desert rat. You pull into Salina to get gas when your following the 50 = Loniest Highway In America (got a sticker - its cool. Rode 50 from Ocean City all the way over to its end at my daughters in Sac and lots of other times in portions) and watch as trucks pull in with a 30' trailer behind it and a 16' trailer with a boat on it behind the trailer and BOTH trailers are on ball hitches. Ask the guy pulling them if thats legal,, he says - out here where America is still America it is lol. Kids come riding down the road in Downtown Salina on their quads, ride past the cops who wave at the kids as they are pulling into the gas station to fill their quads and the gas can they have in their left hand. Its a site to behold. Point to the mountains off in the distance and say,, heyyy kid,, you think I could make it up there on this beat up ol touring bike to camp on that mountain top? Kid looks at me and says I guess it would depend on how good of an off roader you are. Then say,, well how do I get there? Kid says, ya just ride across those fields between here and there LOL. Now @Pasta Burner, being from Utah you probably know exactly what I am talking about. Here in Michigan, and in most states, cutting off road is strictly forbidden except on designated trails. State/Federal lands here at home dont really belong to the tax payer anymore BUT out there, in some places it still does. If I LIVED out there and was still riding like I use to,,,,,, heck yeah,, Tweeks would carry a 2 gallon tank on a hitch as you show 24/7 more than likely, along with that water jug I always carry on her side. Consider the source though too cause a Helmet probably would not even be found in my riding gear either lol. I LOVE the West and ohhh how Tweeks and I miss it. Yeah,,, mount er up and hit the desert!

That reminds me of the ford pintos gas tank in the rear. Getting rear ended id bad enough without the explosion.

After over 17 years, Friday was my last day at Veeder-Root! We laughed, we cried, we ate cupcakes! I chatted with so many people that had become a part of my life. I'm Happy and Scared to death at the same time. I am looking forward to what life puts before me as I join the ranks of the retired. Honestly, there were times that I thought I wouldn't make it, but here I am, on day one of my "New" life. Wish me luck!

So many of you probably know I’ve been complaining about the lean angle of the beast when on its side stand. I’ve messed with the kickstand and did some adjustments with little results. Well, the other day I stopped at the auto store on my way home from work to pick up some brake pads for the cage and they had a promo that if I bought rotors too I’d get %20 off even if I return the rotors. So being thrifty I took the bait. Anyway when I got home I got off the bike and it was pleasantly not leaning too far at all. Knowing I put the front rotors in the right saddle bag I figured I was onto something…sure enough when I took them out the lean came back. So out of convenience I keep my tool bag and emergency supplies in the left side probably further exaggerating the lean. I’ll be moving that to the right.

@Leland That rig is impeccably clean! Nice job with the Jerry can too.

Just saw this very happy no one seriously injured. See what the buy back is on the truck than calculate how much aluminum duct tape and spray cans it will require to fix it. You could end up ahead of the game.

I will just call this what it is: B.S. Bowel Sounds!

Have to agree with riding out West. Going thru Montana I rode for about 70km with the low fuel light on and no bars showing on the dash (2009 RSV). Finally found a gas station and when I tried sloshing the tank back and forth it was pretty much empty. Was on fumes when I filled up. Local trips, no concern with gas stations. Another long tour and I would get a proper container and find a place to keep it....probably on the back of the trailer or on the tongue.

I carry a small gallon can in my saddle bag. Have for years. I personally have never used it for me but have for many others. Bikes and cars. If it is not used within 3 months I pour it into my truck and refill it.

Maybe if you are touring out west where the gas stations are few and far between but for most touring it shouldn't be necessary. That said, our bikes don't have the range of a car.....

My little 10/22 has been labeled a troublemaker. (Or was it the owner???) Was with my uncle while he was sighting in his new Browning in 7mm Rem Mag. when we were out to 300 yards I kept putting holes in his target with the little 10/22. He was getting POed cuz I was getting more hits than he was...lol. You could hear the bullets hit the target, I could get off 6 shots before the sound of bullets hitting the target made it back to us. I only had to hold about 30 feet over the target to hit it at 300.....lol, there was so little energy left in the bullets that they were not making it thru a paper target an a single sheet of cardboard.

WOW,, I missed sooo much while I was down and its sooo good to be back @Freebird. Thankfully they caught that nasty return of cancer when they did my friend, God is good. You KNOW you now have our prayers too as the follow ups on your treatments continue. Back when I was in College I studied "Group Dynamics" and ironically, there are some interesting comparisons about what "professionals" have to say about groups like ours and the reality of living them. I gotta tell you brother, our site has actually done VERY well, statistically speaking, and that is due in a huge part because of the type of people the site attracts due in huge part to your leadership and passion for it. I have a gut feeling that VR is far from over or dieing. Slow spells are common in Group Dynamics as life change happens for people and its more common for things to end than pop back up and keep growing BUT, cohesiveness does have its rewards cause of the strength it provides as a means of survival. THATS where real leadership shows up! As I get back on my feet and more involved with, hopefully, being able to make YouTube vids again I will once again be encouraging people that see my vids and ask questions to give VR a peek. In the past, because I like to yap lol, I was always telling people on the tube to "go check with the GURU's on VR" or "you think I am crazy, go check VR out" and I have no intent of changing that because VR is one of the few really healthy spots left on the internet IMHO. THANK YOU for hanging in there Don, VR has created a TON of great memories for many many people and hopefully it will continue to do so for many years to come! Puc

Congratulations!!!! I’ll be joining the ranks the end of next month.

Welcome back Puc. I enjoyed watching some of your YouTube videos of you and your wife riding those nice EBikes. Glad to see and hear you are as happy as ever. Only way to be in life. As it is said, life is primarily for Living, Laughing and Loving.

Looks close. But I found the invoice for mine..? It was a Kuryakyn... That's a great price if the chrome is any good!

Thanks to BradT for providing us with this manual. This is in .pdf format. RSV Assembly Manual

It comes with a do it yourself template of sorts. It's not particularly hard to mount, but it does take a bit of nerve to start poking holes in the trunk. I followed the instructions from the measure twice drill once school of thought. It came out fine. You think not so cheap now, wait until you paint it. Yamaha is always several years behind on the colors. Either you wait, or do it yourself. I got a can of ColorRite paint and had a local shop paint the wing and a Wagner Grille. Paint and labor for two parts cost over $400. They do look fantastic, though. The lights are in a plastic tube that uses double stick tape to attach it to the inside of the wing where the slot is. If they start burning out they could be replaced, though I have no idea with what right now. There's certainly no aftermarket replacement bulb for something as obscure as this, though individual bulbs are easy enough to get. Hopefully that won't be a problem. They quote huge life expectancy numbers for LEDs. I attached a Back Off module to the wing light and set it up to flash all the time the brakes are on. It works great. The only thing I'm not totally pleased about the light is that the individual LEDs are not all pointed in the exact same direction. There's a very slight spiral to them - just a couple of degrees. That means if you stand behind the bike and look at the light the left side is a little brighter than the right. Until you move forward. The closer you get the further to the right the really bright patch moves. After thinking about this a bit I realized that this aims a portion of the light at the cage behind me no matter how close he is. Now I don't mind. Overall I'm extremely happy with mine. It not only looks good, but it looks right on the bike. A small price to pay to have the most beautiful bike around.

Yea, I've searched for 200 miles. Found one in Cincinnati that was exactly what I wanted, called and it was already sold. Haven't found another one anywhere. Looks like it's going to be a long wait.

I knew that it wasn't going to be easy to replace the truck but it's probably worse than I thought. I've searched a 200 mile radius and no luck. I'm being told that it will likely be 5 to 8 months before I can get what I want.

I know several adventure riders that carry extra gas and one in particular that tells me to only use the fuel cans designed for it. The plastic jug they carried developed a hole and leaked all over their stuff, good thing they did not smoke.