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All missing socks are reincarnated as extra Tupperware lids.

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.

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.

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.

I understand. I didn't have the '18 Venture long enough to comment on how long the belt would last. I can say that having owned 3 Harley's, '86 FXRD, '13 Road Glide Ultra, and '08 Ultra Classic, I've never had to replace a belt. The heat on the 107 CU Road Glide was very noticeable. The '18 Venture was almost as bad. The '08 98 CU wasn't nearly as bad unless you got stuck in traffic as we did going to Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. My right thigh got pretty hot during that traffic jam. I did find the '18 Venture to be very comfortable on the road after I got my backrest, highway pegs, and handlebar risers on it. Same options that I always add to my bikes. As for price, I agree that they are way too high. I lucked out though. I bought my '18 Venture brand new from a dealer in New York who also sold Honda. He just couldn't sell the Yamahas. I bought it brand spanking new at the end of 2018, I think it was, for 18,000.00.

Main thing I miss on the 18 and the Harley is fuel injection. Even though I’ve never had any major issues with the carbs on the RSV. I just have to remember to turn on the petcock. Yesterday after we left on our ride, a few miles down the road I felt the bike losing power. I quickly remembered that I had turned it off when I parked it. Reach down and turned it on before it died so didn't even have to stop but I'm no longer used to having a petcock.

Looks like a great trip. We plan something similar when the school marm retires.

Anyone that wants to join in is welcome. There is a few Venture riders coming. And staying here at our place with their campers. If the cool nights don't bother you bring a tent or camper there is plenty of space. We will be riding Friday and Saturday, We will head out of our place at 9:00 ride untill lunch and then finish up the afternoon with a ride and back here to cookout and set around a fire and visit. I will be putting the rides together this week and next. As far as I know all of the motels are booked for that weekend. There maybe some local cabins or bed and breakfast places available. If you want to come we are 6 miles East on Hwy 56 Viroqua Wi. Orlin

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

Yep, you will needs it, keep looking or delink the brakes, which means that both front rotors work off of the handle bar and only the rear is activated by the foot pedal.

I just think an air cooled engine is the wrong choice for a big heavy touring bike. Years ago I remember reading a Los Angeles county police test of potential police bikes and they tested everything including oil temperature to see if it stayed within the manufacturers specs. The spec for the oil temp on the Harley was 400 degrees F! It was 300 for the BMW R bike and about 260 for the water cooled bikes. It just seems to me that 400 degrees is pushing it too far. And the Harleys came close to the spec limit in their testing.

Hit and miss on pain. But last 7-10 days have had back pain and been wearing a back brace, (one of them elastic adjustable jobs by ACE) to work. Surprisingly it has worked well on the bike. My back rest sits a bit to far back and I slouch on the bike. But with the brace it has a pad on it that takes up the space and it fits well and makes me sit more up right. I'm not a big believer in the copper fit thing but hey, for the price I have seen them they could be a choice.

It was hard for me to grasp why they went Air Cooled vs water cooled. Harley and Indian both have had to add or build water cooling to their bikes to meet emissions. Higher head temps to bur gasses. So it puzzled me why Yamaha didnt stay with an engine they new would be easier to meet emissions with. I am riding a V-Twin Victory, mainly because the heavy feeling weight of the RSV. Here in Fla with the temps we have had is miserable. I was having some issues with my bike and was seriously a trade. I was looking toward BMW touring bike. What I have noticed is they're seems to be a lot of interest in the ADV market. Being vertically challenged it can be a challenge to find a bike I can touch ground with.

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.

Weird how that works. Whenever I see a bunch of sockets at a flea market or such...I sit there and go through it trying to find (quality) 10mm sockets. Must go to that same dimension where all the missing socks go. I'm missing some 12mm as well.

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

I agree but actually think it would have been easier to meet admissions standards with a water cooled V4. I have heard that Honda is continuing only their DCT (automatic) version of the Wing because they can more easily control the emissions on it than the manual.

@RDawson@FreebirdI agree with both of you altho I never owned either of these BUT have driven quite a few just to try them out (Harley's on test drive and new Venture at New York rally) Really liked Venture for power and performance thru the mountains design was OK BUT I didn't like the belt drive system as I had too many problems when I owned a 2000 Road Star 1600(V twin belt drive) nice sound and power but not enjoyable for long rides! Most problem was had to replace 2 belts at around $800 each time in 1 season. Still don't know why! They said that Harley used them for forever! I never beat bike or drove down many gravel roads to pickup any stone excreta to cause this break! Another thing was way too much heat on the Harley's which made it uncomfortable to ride any distance. Mostly PRICE was the MOST and defining object for NOT buying either and led me BACK to the 2012 Venture I bought new! Both were OVER $34000 Can here and could afford the $ 20000Can with $5500 trade(which Harley wouldn't take in--trade but their friend would give $3000Can)

Good topic ...I started my on ride on the street on Harley 45 in 1963 , and although I have a 1983 venture I do miss the V-Twin design ..I will be turning my XVZ1200 into a trike , I will keeping a old version of the Virago as a 2 wheel standby ..I spent time on dirt bike on and off the race track , where handling is a first ...The same goes for riding the 500cc flat track , and at 76 years old seat height and handling come first ...90 percent of the guys my age here in Manitoba have traded in their import version of touring bike ( Yamaha ...Honda ..BMW ) for a Harley ..As far as technology goes Harley has made a move to the electronics system for control ...Which has brought a bunch of growing pains for Harley , because of updates their control system needs...

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.

Oh. And it’s not just Yamaha. I’m hearing that Honda is also dropping some models. Word is that they are dropping their manual transmission Goldwing models. The predominant thought is that they are doing so because they can more easily meet future emission standards wit their automatic models.

Wow! Make me jealous, glad you arrived home safe and sound!

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.

And those of us who still have our health miss the ones who can no longer get out.