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I bought one of those sets, here is a current pic.

Was just looking at Yamaha's website. I am totally amazed that they no longer have any touring bikes or even cruisers. Have they completely given up on the big bike market? Most of you know that I had bought a brand new 2018 Star Venture Transcontinental. To be completely honest, I actually loved it. The only reason I sold it is because I just wasn't riding. It set here for over a year and I finally just put enough miles on it to do the first oil change. I know that most here weren't crazy about the fact that Yamaha went with an air cooled V Twin but it was truly a great bike in my opinion. It had about everything a person could want on a bike. Yes, there were a handful of folks that had some small issues and even fewer had some major engine issues but few new models are introduced with no issues. That being said, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't bashing the Star Venture because it's certainly not my intention. But, do you think that if Yamaha had listened to us. The long time proponents of the Yamaha Venture, and come out with a new Venture with a modified version of the 1700cc Max engine that it would have done better? I don't know but I feel that it would have. Imagine that new Star Venture with the Max engine. Water cooled, abundant HP, ability to REV like most here enjoy, it could have been an amazing bike. Unless Yamaha has something up their sleeve, we will never know. My real question is. Do you think that Yamaha is completely leaving the large bike market or do you think that they are at the drawing board, deciding what mistakes were made, and will be coming out with another line in a few years? It will probably be to late for most of us old codgers but I have to wonder what they are thinking. Last thought on this, at least for now. I feel that Yamaha and most of the other Japanese bike makers have tried too hard to emulate Harley and to some extent, even Indian. I feel that the V Twin is essentially an American Icon and the majority of riders who want a V Twin are going to go with Harley or Indian. Let's face it. V Twins are certainly an old technology. Some of us actually like the low RPM torque, great sound, even a bit of vibration but you simply can't provide a great argument that they are as technically refined as the 4 and 6 cylinder bikes that are on the market. With electric vehicles, even motorcycles, that are being brought to the market, I seriously wonder if any manufacturers will be dumping large amounts of capital into big touring bikes. That's sad and to me, virtually signals the end to the cross country riding that many of us have enjoyed. I wonder how much money Yamaha lost on the development of the Star Venture and Eluder. There is no way that they recouped their investment.

A fix for all those missing 10mm’s. Ole Harbor Freight figured it out.

I had to go to Harbor Freight today to pick up a couple tools for a stairlift install tomorrow. I actually picked up that set while I was there. I figure that will get me by for about a month.

I too fit this category and also get accused by my boss who is younger than my 1st three kids and used to be my apprentice, of being resistant to change. However I am a big advocate of keeping life simple and comfortable rather than complicated and having to constantly keep up with change. I like stuff that is self repairable and even though I am more than capable of working on the higher tech stuff it is the fact that A) it can not be patched on the side of the road if need be and B) most of the high tech stuff each require their own specialized additional tools and software (plus the means of working with it) beyond that found even in the most extensive average tool set. The technical world is removing our ability to be self sufficient and forcing us to be dependent on stuff we did perfectly well without in the past and really don't always need to exist. That is not to say I am against all advancements as some advancements, specially in medicine are a good thing but where do we draw the line. Obviously there are those who disagree and love nothing more than to indulge in every new gadget that hits the market but that's not me. I'm totally content to manually turn my lights off and on, lock and unlock my doors or use an old fashioned key to start my car.

Today, Eileen and I took our first two up ride on the trike. We started to not go because it was raining pretty good but we put on the rain suits and took off. Only about a 4 hour round trip down into Amish country. A lot of twisties and it rained all the way down and about half way home. I learned a few things. I learned that it is going to take some getting used to in the twisties. I was cautious today because I couldn't see very well in the rain and I don't know the limits of the trike. We did ok though. Also, I'm getting some head shake at low speeds, I mean 10 to 20 MPH or so if I hit some rough payment. I'll check my head bearings to be sure that they are tight but I've been talking to Jeff, @1BigDog , and he tells me that some head shake is somewhat inherent to these trikes. He gave me some air pressure settings to try so I'll do that along with checking the head bearings. Not a big deal now that I'm aware of it. Just have to make sure you have a firm grip on the bars if you get onto rough rides and are going slow. Easy to prevent if you know about it. Otherwise, it was a nice ride. Especially after the rain finally cleared up a bit.

Well, I've finished about everything I wanted to do to the trike. Installed a Bluetooth receiver inside the fairing that plugs into the aux. wire going into the radio. Works great. Connects easily and allows me to play my music and here directions from my phone through the audio system Installed a LED headlamp bulb and it's super bright. Very pleased with it. Installed LED passing lights Installed drink holders. They work very well. Installed a phone mount with wireless charging so my phone stays charged while riding. Installed the Baron's 2" handlebar risers and though they were a pain to install, I am very pleased with them. They work as well as the Flanders and Road Star bars that I had put on previous bikes. That's actually all I needed. There are some things that I would add if I run across then at fair prices but that is not easy to do. Would like to have the front fender rail and the chrome air cleaner covers but they are very difficult to come by. I'll keep my eyes open for some but am not going to pay 2 and 3 times over MSRP which is what I've found so far. I can easily do without them. It is comfortable for me now and that is the main thing. I MAY have a line on some new old stock aftermarket accessories. Hopefully will know in a day or two. If so, that is great. If not, I will leave it as is. A special thanks to @1BigDog for his patience in answering my many questions about the trike and his recommendations. People like him are what this site is all about.

Hello Venture Riders. Patricia and I are back home in Kentucky, after a 25 day, 7500-mile motorcycle trip. We went to 16 different states, a few of them several times, 2 Canadian Provinces, and several National Parks. We talked with numerous people that were simply amazing. After going up in the Space Needle in Seattle Washington, we rode down the Pacific Coast Hiway to San Fransisco. We rode across The Golden Gate Bridge and rode by Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco. We took the Oakland Bay Bridge on the way to Vacaville CA to visit Patricia's niece as a surprise. On this trip we saw many beautiful sights we never thought either one of us would ever experience. We went from sea level to over 12.000 feet in the mountains in Colorado. Rode through the Mojave Desert and went to both the North Rim and South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We experienced temperatures from low 50s to a high of 103. There were so many beautiful experiences we had and saw, it would take several pages and become so boring to the reader that they would run far away. The most important thing is we are home safe and never had a bad experience. Steve S IMG_1537.MOV

I just can't give up with Yamaha just yet. SVTC bikes are loved by many and off course has some issues as well, but easily addressed with Yamaha's 5 Year warranty. I remain optimistic that Yamaha will continue to innovate and put out fun bikes for us to enjoy.

I know. I went crazy on my last RSV and bought about every piece of chrome ever made for it. Won't happen this time for two reasons. First reason is that it's almost impossible to find the stuff and secondly, when you do, people want 2 and 3 times the original MSRP., I don't need it that bad. I did spend most of the afternoon washing one after riding 4 hours in the rain the other day. It's all clean now but needs to be waxed. I'll do that over the next few days.

About done??? Are they ever done? I spent most of the day installing taller bars, longer cables, and all the parts I ordered during a weak moment in front of a Kuryakyn catalog. Grips, bosses, weights, footpegs with stirrups. Shoulder problems started this upgrade.

LOL....I'm allergic to COLD.

An '18 Venture with the VMax engine, water cooled and shaft drive would have been nice. We can all dream about that as being the upgrade for the '99-2013 RSV. Looking at the market now though, with Honda and Kawasaki getting out of the big bikes (European emission requirements from what I heard, as well as poor sales numbers), had Yamaha given us the bike we thought they would rather than the v-twin, odds are that it would now be end of line as well. Touring bikes are a small market and not enough for a manufacturer to continue with. Maybe a V-4 would have taken away sales from Honda but we'll never know. The future is electric bikes. Until they develop technology to give comparable range for a day's worth of riding (600 miles +), big cruisers and tourers will be a thing of the past. E-bikes don't have the capacity to haul a big bike and are going after a small segment of in-city casual riders. I'll be keeping my '09 RSV for as long as I can ride. Nothing out there now or for the foreseeable future compares to the range, comfort, or reliability.

No need for thanks Don. I enjoyed our conversations. Helping each other out was one of the foundations that VR was formed on.

Baby steps Carl, baby steps...

I wholeheartedly agree. The proven reliability of the V4 and lack of vibration were big sellers for me in choosing the RSV. I like to make Harley jokes as much as anybody just as I do Fords, I also enjoy getting roasted about my Chevy’s and rice burner bikes but there’s nothing wrong with Harley or Ford if it’s what you like. That being said if I wanted a V-twin I’d have bought one instead of Yam. My other turn off is the addition of so much tech, I like to fix my own stuff but am a techno-phobe. I already gave up working on my truck but still like tinkering with the bike. I sure would’ve liked trying a new V-Max powered, fixed fairing, water cooled rocket without key fobs and touch screens. Maybe my old boss was onto something when he accused me of being resistant to change🤷🤷🤷

It’s the younger demographic driving this trend. As us geezers slip out the market, the younger ones don’t want dressers. Triumph stopped their rocket touring line when they introduced their new, sportier line. In marketing terms, there doesn’t seem to be enough old timers out there to support continuing with a touring line. At least what we were used too.

No, sorry didn't notice that, it was a waaaay too short for that to happen.

Glad to hear y’all are back in the saddle. We just got back from a few days in Missouri and the Ozarks.

It's going to take about 500mi to get that thing fully under your belt, but you'll like it just fine when you get there.

Awhile back I had thought of taking a ride and just visiting folks from VR that I had not seen in awhile, think I will look into that again.

At parking lot speeds they do have heavy steering, there are ways to offset that. Beyond that they ride great, I would start with tire pressure and fork pressure checks. The forks are not pressure equalized and must be set individually, not hard with a zero loss pump. Funny story on the tire pressure when I bought mine, I test rode it and wouldn’t get above 30-35 mph because the handling was so bad. I didn’t buy it and told the owner there was a problem with the steering. After thinking about it I went back and checked the pressures, both nearly flat. I had ASS-U-MEd any seller would check tires knowing a buyer was coming to test it. Aired them up, rode it, bought it.

It's a venture on what ever you ride

I would go for the air filters first. They need to be there and need to be clean.