cowpuc

Yep,,, that business is a real flaw in my character... I too wish you would reconsider here American and accept my open apology for any form of personal attacks that you may feel that I committed toward you. I assure you that I try to not let that happen in my but I do know that I get out of hand at times - I am sorry if that has been the case here. Concerning my opinions of the new scoot, truly,,,, I have had discussions with MANY club members here and other than a couple of them - most of them think I am nuts.. VideoArizona rode his 2nd Gen here and stayed with us last week and he and I went round and round like a couple of teenagers in the V-Twin/V-4 debate - it was a BLAST.. Nothing personal,,,, just differences in opinion concerning a machine... I say we just accept each others differences of opinions, shake hands and then you come up here to Michigan for an all you can eat Hot Dog extravaganza ON ME!!!!! Ride that gorgeous new scoot up here,,, I'll give you "Star" billing (pun intended) and do everything in my power to get a good turnout for the event so you can show off your bike.. VentureRider.org is an amazing place full of really great people and, personally,, I think you would be missing out on a lot if you let my opinions about anything stand in your way of hammering out a good relationship with the people here.. I wouldnt let me stand in my way of developing something really special if I was you,,, did I say that right

,, now your catching on American!!!!! It's ALL about a difference of opinion about a machine,, you have your opinion and I have mine and,, IMHO,, that's not only OK but quite frankly, it's what make the world a fun place to live in. co I'm there Carl,,,, another lonely month of probation and in the penalty box.. Sure is lonely in there without Yammer though,,, wowzy I miss my friend... American,, I do extend a hand of apology to you for anything personal I have said/done against you - my apology is extended. I truly meant nothing personal by any of my comments concerning the new Venture,,, yes - my distaste for what Mom Yam decided to do in design changes on the new bike does come out in all my thoughts on the bike because I love , , and bikes,, I'm an ardent v-4 lover/rider because the platform has treated me and my family very well over the years and, IMHO, Mom Yam did a huge disservice to anyone whose backside is shaped like that familiar 1st Gen seat by not continuing the bloodline. I am sorry that you, and by the sounds of things other 3rd Gen riders too, are somehow taking my opinions of the new bike personally, that was NEVER my intent as they are nothing more than just my opinions.. And @Marcarl ,,, before the door to the penalty box slams shut on me,, again,,, I got one thing to say to you = Adam was no Canuckian either

American,, I dont know you from Adam and I am only spring boarding here off your early admission that you are this "REDVIC" person over on "the vog". If that is true (and I am not saying one way or the other because I really have no clue who you are), our readers and club members need to be made aware of the fact that it was actually you (or if "redvic" really isnt you as you had claimed earlier - if I am misunderstanding something here and you are not Redvic - I apologize for making a statement that may come across as accusitory in nature) who drew our club/myself into your discussion on "the vog" about all this and had done so wayy back on May 18th. Personally I have no problem with you having done so but I do take issue with you thinking you have some special right to do so and then, if a person like myself does the same thing, it appears that you have no problem making a big deal of some sort out of it.. Another thing that I highly take issue with in you referencing our club members stand on the subject of the new Venture over on The Vog is when you clearly misrepresent us as a group and have no problem in doing so as long as it somehow supports your agenda - Redvic, American or whoever you are - IMHO, doing that is flat out wrong. I wonder if a close reread of Redvic's thread over at The Vog that I reference here in this post would reveal a past history of having done this on the vog site too.... It's too bad we cant debate/discuss openly the pro's/con's of motorcycles without things going personal my friend.. Here in our club, our forum rules are such that we are not allowed to discuss Politics or Religion for (as far as I know,,,, perhaps we should ask Freebird if my assumption is correct in this) exactly this reason - people tend to respond with personal attacks when they are personally attacked for sharing their opinions.. It would be a shame, IMHO, if our club got to the point that we could no longer openly discuss/share our opinions now even about the Ventures that we have come to love... Here is the copy/paste of the quote I pulled from The Vog that I am speaking about.. Personally,, I hope I am wrong in this and that I am the one who will be eating the crow here - I am use to the stuff and frankly dont mind the growth factor that is usually associated with a good heapin helpin of the stuff.. Below is the copy/paste from the vog and is dated May 18th, is post #473 of this thread: http://www.thevog.net/threads/yamaha-star-venture-trans-continental-is-a-torque-monster.144689/page-32#post-2912353 """"Half_Crazy said: ↑ My friend, the article with the dyno graph I posted was from Webby's post... before I ever replied in the thread. I didn't go looking for anything. Dynos vary. 109 or 112 Tq... 77 or 79 HP... is that really enough of a difference (3 and 2) to do battle over? If I hurt you feelings, I'm sorry, but I'm not the one making accusations here. Enjoy your new bike...""" """To which "Redvic" responded: Your the one who started in about passing vehicles and started the stock bikes can't pass safely so you are stuck behind traffic. You have never ridden a Star Venture or Eluder so you don't have a clue as to how quickly these bikes accelerate, I have no problem getting around traffic. You want to find out how this bike really is go over to the VentureRider. Org forum and find out what people say who actually own the bike. None of them are complaining about power. A lot of the first and second generation owners are not happy that Yamaha went with the V-Twin instead of the liquid cooled V-Four like in the past but the ones who actually own the 2018 bike are pretty happy with it. This Star Venture Transcontinental out accelerates my old 2013 Victory that I did do some work on and was able to get 107 lbs feet torque at the rear tire out of it and it out accelerates my 2016 Harley Ultra Limited Low which I did a full stage one system on it with tuner. I would not call either the Victory or the Harley a dog but the stock Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental out preforms both bikes. Yamaha clearly has done their homework on this bike. A demo ride that is controlled is not a real review of just how good this bike is. The demo routes are all preplanned to control the riders. The handling of the bike is the exact opposite of what people think, the bikes weight is not a handicap with this bike, it flat out handles like a dream."""

This will be the final video about our valiant attempt at making the ride to Oberlin for this years Maintenance Day. We had a LOT of fun visiting with and getting to know my friend from Arizona here in West Michigan but, as happens sometimes in life, we had to change our plans about riding down to the big Venture Rally. Maybe next year will be different!!

Here is a copy/paste from another thread that I responded to today that I want to toss in here: """"American,, I think you (and possibly others) may be misjudging my video clip and the context in it concerning exactly what I was trying to accomplish there.. That video, where I ran the SVTC up to its rev limiter thru the gears, was not about trying to see how fast it was (as in a drag race), what that was about was I was trying tx mo demonstrate the new bikes top speed in each gear for comparison to the my 1st Gen. If you listen carefully, I clearly state what appears to be the top speed of each gear.. I totally agree with the concept that if a person wanted to get max light to light or 1/4 mile performance from this new bike, because of its narrow window of top torque and lower hp - probably short shifting would produce the better times BUT,, and this is always a problem IMHO when dealing with high torque - low R - low hp motors when looking at elapsed times - you have to shift a lot more then the higher HP, faster revving bikes which utilize a much wider rpm range and therefore less shifting is needed.. Again,, I am FAR from being any kind of an expert in any of this stuff as compared to folks mentioned earlier but I do know from racing "pipey" early model 2 stroke mx bikes that in order to be win races/be competitive with short power zones a person has to almost use your tranny as a throttle and that can/does make getting performance from such a designed machine a little tricky. Concerning some of the name calling/personal attacks here... I am the first one to admit (this actually makes me chuckle) that Tip and I are TOTALY amatures when it comes to motorcycle touring stuff.. We ride for fun and certainly NOT for professional status and are farrrr from anything even close to someone like "Long Haul Paul" who I totally :bowdown: to when it comes to touring experience and motorcycling in general.. I dont know Long Haul personally but I do know that there are others within our club that I also :bowdown: too both in ride experience (one of those, a member here by the name of VentureFar, actually did an extended test ride and authored and excellent article about the SVTC found here: https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/201...-star-venture/ ) and also as gear heads,,, bottom line - I TOTALLY agree with the fact that I am truly an AMATURE!! But,, even us amatures should have the freedom to speak our opinions (as long as we are not personally attacking someone as a person and getting into name calling - that is just plain wrong and should not be tolerated - especially on a pay site IMHO). I find the contreversy over this new Venture and what it is and what it isn't to be amazing.. I recently found another website that is not a controlled pay site like ours that appears to be going HAY WIRE over exactly what we are discussing here. Ironically, it isnt even a Yamaha site but, get this,, its a defunct Polaris site called "The VOG".. There is thread on that site = found here: http://www.thevog.net/threads/yamaha...onster.144689/ where apparently one of the Vog members (named "REDVIC" = perhaps meaning that at one time or another - he/she owned a Red Victory?) stepped out and grabbed a new Venture and then made a post about their new Venture being a "Torque Monster" to which some of the other VOG members stepped up and took issue to. At this time, the thread has 59 PAGES of heated discussion about the reality of the new Ventures stats and there are some (IMHO) pretty sharp guys in there (one named "Hard Core" especially) who really do know their stuff concerning what the new bike is and what it isnt.. It is a very good read that, even the Moderators over there have refused to shut down because of its relevance even with all the name calling and misleading information (there seems to be a lot of a person trying to justify his purchase, possibly even still trying to convince himself that he made the right choice thru convincing others that he did). My own personal point in bringing this up is to demonstrate to our readers here at VR that we are not the only ones debating the subject..""

I know Jack,, its discusting aint it?? Vaz is actually one of only a few people who really knows the depth of what I am about to tell you here and he is still on the road so I will just give you the short version.... I've been picking and choosing what I do with my limited "up time" for a while now and, basically,,, putting my "shop" back together has been back burnered for way to long.. That little noise maker has actually been a life saver though cause my kids regularly use Dads garage and until I get the big one plumed in and fired up,, it still does the job.. The good news, for which I am VERY thankful, is that I am still here and actually feeling better and looking forward to PERMENANTLY shutting that noisy thing off (gonna give it to my son ) and getting these air hoses ran and plummed in... Day by day,,, one step at a time brother!!

While preparing to test a regulator on my Yamaha 1st Gen Venture, my friend and brother VideoArizona asked me to share my opinion of the difference between Torque and Horse Power and how those differences apply in the real world of motorcycles. Here is video clip of what my pea brained, untrained, strickly amature (I was told that I am strickly an "Amature" recently and guess what,,, I actually agree and LIKE that!!!) version of the difference between Torque and Horse Power came up with!! Feel free to jump in here with your own idea's and concepts!! ------------------------------------------------------------- Hp = (Torque x rpm) / 5252 On a dyno chart, "5252" is a crucial point and is a given constant of where the HP curve will always cross over and rise above the torque curve.

I had something similar happen like that once where I had a tank vent plugged and it was building high pressure against the float needles.. I know,,, I know I know,, I am weird,,, normally a plugged tank vent will result in the tank forming a vacuum (trying to get a step ahead of the nay sayers here) and the carbs NOT getting fuel but under certain circumstances = the opposited can happen - at least it did to me. Is this like a 2nd Gen - tank over the top of the carbs? Maybe try shutting off the pet cock and starting the scoot, let it run until its not flooding and then slowly opening the petcock to the point that it will meter only a certain amount of fuel thru and keep the carbs from flooding out.. Maybe you can ride it like that to get home on?? I would even try disconnecting my fuel pump and running off gravity feed... Lots of options,, just gotta dink around till ya find one that will get cha back on the road.. I once lost a fuel pump on a 1st Gen out in the middle of the desert and ended up blowing pressure into my bikes vent hose with my mouth to pressurize the tank and force gas into the carbs,, worked GREAT - rode almost 2k miles like that to get her home (I would rather ride than wait for parts if I can)... Fiddle with it,, you will figure out something!!

American,, I think you (and possibly others) may be misjudging my video clip and the context in it concerning exactly what I was trying to accomplish there.. That video, where I ran the SVTC up to its rev limiter thru the gears, was not about trying to see how fast it was (as in a drag race), what that was about was I was trying tx mo demonstrate the new bikes top speed in each gear for comparison to the my 1st Gen. If you listen carefully, I clearly state what appears to be the top speed of each gear.. I totally agree with the concept that if a person wanted to get max light to light or 1/4 mile performance from this new bike, because of its narrow window of top torque and lower hp - probably short shifting would produce the better times BUT,, and this is always a problem IMHO when dealing with high torque - low R - low hp motors when looking at elapsed times - you have to shift a lot more then the higher HP, faster revving bikes which utilize a much wider rpm range and therefore less shifting is needed.. Again,, I am FAR from being any kind of an expert in any of this stuff as compared to folks mentioned earlier but I do know from racing "pipey" early model 2 stroke mx bikes that in order to be win races/be competitive with short power zones a person has to almost use your tranny as a throttle and that can/does make getting performance from such a designed machine a little tricky. Concerning some of the name calling/personal attacks here... I am the first one to admit (this actually makes me chuckle) that Tip and I are TOTALY amatures when it comes to motorcycle touring stuff.. We ride for fun and certainly NOT for professional status and are farrrr from anything even close to someone like "Long Haul Paul" who I totally :bowdown: to when it comes to touring experience and motorcycling in general.. I dont know Long Haul personally but I do know that there are others within our club that I also :bowdown: too both in ride experience (one of those, a member here by the name of @VentureFar, actually did an extended test ride and authored and excellent article about the SVTC found here: https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2018/03/01/iron-butt-comparison-2018-yamaha-star-venture-vs-personalized-2007-royal-star-venture/ ) and also as gear heads,,, bottom line - I TOTALLY agree with the fact that I am truly an AMATURE!! But,, even us amatures should have the freedom to speak our opinions (as long as we are not personally attacking someone as a person and getting into name calling - that is just plain wrong and should not be tolerated - especially on a pay site IMHO). I find the contreversy over this new Venture and what it is and what it isn't to be amazing.. I recently found another website that is not a controlled pay site like ours that appears to be going HAY WIRE over exactly what we are discussing here. Ironically, it isnt even a Yamaha site but, get this,, its a defunct Polaris site called "The VOG".. There is thread on that site = found here: http://www.thevog.net/threads/yamaha-star-venture-trans-continental-is-a-torque-monster.144689/ where apparently one of the Vog members (named "REDVIC" = perhaps meaning that at one time or another - he/she owned a Red Victory?) stepped out and grabbed a new Venture and then made a post about their new Venture being a "Torque Monster" to which some of the other VOG members stepped up and took issue to. At this time, the thread has 59 PAGES of heated discussion about the reality of the new Ventures stats and there are some (IMHO) pretty sharp guys in there (one named "Hard Core" especially) who really do know their stuff concerning what the new bike is and what it isnt.. It is a very good read that, even the Moderators over there have refused to shut down because of its relevance even with all the name calling and misleading information (there seems to be a lot of a person trying to justify his purchase, possibly even still trying to convince himself that he made the right choice thru convincing others that he did:confused24:). My own personal point in bringing this up is to demonstrate to our readers here at VR that we are not the only ones debating the subject..

I think we should kick the tires and light the fires and head down to Bama and check out this dealership Drewski!!! Thinking about it,,,, I cant help but wonder if we dont have an active member who lives down in the Decatur Alabama area that could stop in and see whats up,,,,, I would gladly do it and even record on video the truth about whether this dealership is for real.. I really truly do still think that in a very short few months, after the 19's are released, left over 2018's will be able to be able to be had for under 20,, may be worth the wait if someone looking for a new Venture wants to play the odds, IMHO...

In this video we learn how to raise a 2nd Gen Venture in the air to change its rear tire without a jack stand adapter, we explore the possibilities of using a 1st Gen center stand on a 2nd Gen (I still think it may be doable with a little fabbing but we were running out of time) and we learn the finer art of falling asleep while spinning wrenches and laying on warm pavement if needed!! Two really good friends making the best of what could have been a REALLY bad situation and turning into a REALLY fun time!! THANKS VAZ for your upbeat attitude,, YOU are the GREATEST brother!!

,, that last go around apparently drew no interest either and it looks like we are going to the super duper DUPER DUPER deal now with a starting bid of 22k and no reserve again!!!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-Yamaha-VENTURE-/202325748550?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

Having never owned or worked on a 2nd Gen Yamaha Venture I had a lot to learn about them and could not have asked for a better instructor/mentor than my friend and brother - "VideoArizona" (AKA VAz). If you take a moment and follow this little video series and watch carefully, you may pick up on some of Vaz's savviness too!!!

GORGEOUS PICS and AWESOME GROUP of lop eared MD riding varmints your shootin at there Raggy!! THANK YOU for posting these up.. FYI,, just got in from my daughters - our grandson that I am sure Vaz told you guys about when he called to let everyone know we would not be making it is doing much better - NO return to surgery = THANK YOU for all the thoughts and Prayers Up from the group down there (wish we could of made it but ABSOLUTELY family first here too!! Obviously Vaz decided to head for home instead of completing the trip to MD. I heard he may have made a stop over in Wisconsin to see if he could hammer out an agreement for next years snow amounts with the Wisconsin White Washer before heading on his way home - hopefully he will jump on here and tell all of us how his journey home went... b Missed cha ya bunch of varmints BUT,, as always,,, will try again in the future!! Puc

After finding out Vaz's new Shinko 777 HD rear tire had picked up a nail somewhere between his home in Arizona and Benton Harbor Michigan (THANK YOU LORD THAT MY FRIEND DID NOT EXPERIENCE A FLAT TIRE ON HIS 2ND GEN OUT THERE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT HE HAD RIDDEN CHICAGO WITH THAT AIR LEAKING AROUND THAT SAME NAIL!!!) and knowing that we were fortunate enough to have made it up to my house in mid-Michigan on the two bit plug we had stuck in it to stop the leak,,,,, we figured we had stretched our luck far enough and decided it was tire change time!!!!2 lop eared good buddy varmints having one heck of a GREAT TIME IMHO!!!

WOWZY,,, I know how feel Riv!! I played with the Wings a bunch back before buying into the Ventures back in 87 to start taking my kids on cross country adventures.. I LOVED those early Wings,,, the sewing machine smoothness of those engines always tickled my innards. Unlike 90% of the touring folks back then,,, I LOVED the "commercial look" of the Venture over the "residential look" of the Wing.. All the neat stuff like adjustable bars/pegs, removable trunk,,,,,,,.... Plus I always admired the better MPG of the 1st Gens and the ease that the same size (CC for CC) Yamaha would run circles around the Wing... The REAL seller for me on the Yam was that no body wanted em so WOWZY,, talk about affordable!! Unbelievable how the Wing had such a strong culture/following and,, matter of fact,,, has held its own very well even in todays market.. Somewhere around here I have some Magazine articles from those early days that,,, seeing your GORGEOUS "Moby" here and knowing well of your 1st Gen adventures,,, I think you might find interesting.. If I can find them,,, I will post some writings up about Moby's kind and their with those early Ventures. God speed Moby!!! THANK YOU for bringing Riv into our club of misfits!! LIVE LONG AND ENJOY THE OPEN ROAD!!

Vaz picked up a nail in his new rear tire that we plugged and got him safely to the house.. Found a new tire locally,, we spooned it on and stuffed it with Dyna Beads, stuck enough air in it that Vaz said he heard the beads pop,, topped her off,,, greased her down, he cleaned the caliper/rotor up, tightened down the axle, left the bags in the garage and Tip - Vaz and I headed out for good long test ride.. All looked well, Tip came in the house, came back out a couple minutes later, handed me the phone,,, grandkids sick again,, all bets are off for Tip and I this year for MD... Not for absolute sure what Vaz is gonna do, we will have time in the A.M. to finish putting his scoot back together before cleaning up and heading down to my daughters,, I will try to post something up to let you guys know what his plans are.. Oh well,,,,, family first.... Hope you lop eared varmints have a GREAT time down there!!! Puc

Crazy stuff,, just plain nuts!!! My brother lives over near Hudsonville where this happened and it definitely was a freak accident. Prayers up for the families and friends who are dealing with such a tragic loss!!!! Thanks for sharing this Don

Years ago I had issues like your dealing with on my first 1st Gen and that was when I discovered that Mom Yam had some kind an agreement with Bic Ink Pen company to allow Bic to provide ink pen springs for fork springs for our bikes - spindly little junk things they were,,, sack out just from sitting!! New set of Progressives set up with an inch of preload and 12.5 weight fork oil, running no air behind the oil and BINGO - no more blown seals!! Another thing you can do, IMHO Case, is double check for play in the fork bushings,,, little movement there can play havoc on the seals too..

I made this clip purposely to show folks why it's important to remember to take the keys out of your bike when your out chasing the front wheel and stop at a friends house to say howdy. This is especially important to do if your prone to falling asleep while sitting on your brothers couch after riding thru 7 States just to say hi!!!

In this little video clip the viewer will get a glimps of my good friend Vaz instructing me on how to properly execute passing a Semi while out CTFW (thats Venturerider.org talk for Chasing The Front Wheel)!!! VERY well done brother!!!

Being from the great State of Arizona and knowing from experience how warm it can get in that desert region I was surprised, honored to be the one to show Vaz but still surprised, that my friend didn't know that the coolest spot in the Honda shop was laying on the concrete floor in their showroom. I really appreciated Vaz's idea that maybe we could add even more coolness by laying under a new Goldwing - WORKED GREAT IMHO CAUSE LOOK HOW COOL WE ARE!!!!

Right back at cha Sly,, right back at cha!!!!!:dancefool: and a couple more of my anti rain dance steps tossed in here for good measure:dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool:

Nahhh,,, been way to nasty here weather wise to head for Oberlin.. We are hanging out at our place, working on scoots and burning burgers on the grill.. You headed that way Drews? How's the rain on your side of Michigan? Working on getting ya up a couple more vids here,,, hold I just a second,, I think one is done cookin:happy34:

Although some lop eared varmints don't seem to mind it 40,, I personally never really cared much for having blow outs on bike tires.. VERY glad you were able to ride er down to a safe conclusion and wishing you the best in getting your scoot back on her feet!!!