cowpuc

Couple more vids on the new Venture... Waiting for our turn to toss a leg over one,,, checkin em out and in pulls that dinky little new R1 with its tiny 60 inch motor.. My neighbors with their 117 big inch V-Twins HATE my teeny little motored R1 with a passion - personally I LOVE what Mom Yam did with that itty bitty little 1000cc motor,, always have,,, always will!! Cause of that,,, and you will have to pardon me for this,, my attention turns from the new V-Twin air cooled Venture to the R1 at the end of this vid...

I am sitting here waiting on You Tube to finishing processing more of my testing of the new one.. It seems to me that something Star forgot on this new one is the smile factor that comes with riding a motorcycle that comes alive as the R's increase.. If your on a scoot and you wick on it a little,,, even if your an old geezer like me,, ya cant help but smile as you feel the thing get up and boogie.. THAT is something I have ALWAYS appreciated about my 1st Gens - they still have some of that 1st Gen V-Max (ya'll remember those dont cha?) sazzyness left in even though they got dehorned... Dont get what I am saying? Ok,, I will try this angle,, I have owned MANY V-Twins including a LOT of HD's.. I hang out with a LOT of HD riders to this day.. If what I am saying is not important, then why are all the HD riders around here constantly bugging me to help them to get their big twins to have more umphh? Why does it urk them that a beat up ol V-4 Yamaha can run circles around their bike in ANY situation = 1 up, 2 up, what ever? Its because EVERYONE loves to be able to twist the throttle and feel that motor come alive - the more it comes alive = the bigger the grin on the other side,, its that easy!! If what I am saying wasnt real, HD wouldnt have a HUGE Screamin Eagle Performance catalog and a HUGE following of that stream.. Consider that when you consider this,,,,, the new Star Venture has the performance similar to an 88 inch HD IMHO,,, rode em both and thats the way I am calling it till I see different on actual dyno sheets.. Thinking 70 horsish.. Another point,, the guy in the vid mentions going V-Twin because of narrowness... After riding them both,, I would like to see actual measurements across the tanks... Going by memory only here and maybe I am wrong but I gotta say - I honestly believe that my 1st Gen Venture is considerably narrower on the legs then this new one.. Also,, as far as keeping the weight low,, this guy seems to have forgotten about the Yamaha Venture (not the 2nd Star Venture)carrying its fuel under the saddle - the Vmax the same.. Fact is,,, if some of those folks who worked for Yamaha followed them over to Star - there is no way they can convince me that they couldnt have produced a real shaft drive fixed fairing cross country touring bike using a detuned 1700 Vmax motor with a turbo to push the torque wayyyy out of site if thats what the Star Rider Venture riders wanted and ended up with a Touring bike that would have made even the most ardent R1 Sport Bike rider grin from ear to ear.. Ya gotta remember something here folks,, IMHO,,, just because ya got it does not mean ya use it all the time - but it sure is nice to have it when ya want it!! The words I said at the unveiling still stand - ohhhh poop! Puc

Actually,, I got to meet the group of "Star Riders" who were the actual advisors on the new one during the unveiling out at Americade in June. They were all 2nd Gen Star Venture riders (still watercooled, shaft drive V-4's back then though) and,, I am still unclear of why on this one,, those folks clearly wanted air cooled over water and belt drive over shaft.. They stood on the stage at Americade and made this perfectly clear.. I am sure that some of the decision to go air cooled push rod motors came from monitoring Rally's like Sturgis (where the whole "touring" idea has long since gone by the way side - dont believe me? Next years rally, go set on the side of the Interstate and count the number of scoots being trailered in compared to those being ridden in from any distance) but quite frankly,,, it is my understanding from following the whole process in person that, indeed,, it was the group of Venture riding "Star Riders" who Star/Mom Yam listened to very closely on the design and engine direction change on this one...

WAYYYY COOL!!! Ohh my gosh,,, my beat up tired ol body totally misses strapping on the mx boots and rippin up the track,,,,, bouncing the bars off my KX on the tight single track,,,, the feeling of tossing it sideways of a 100 footer,,,,,,, cookin hot dogs at the trail heads up in Northern Michigan and out in the Piute Mountains of California..

Taint no BS,, here's a vid with the one who gave me that name as a little girl (she earned the biker name "Cappy" on that same trip wayyyy back when) after we arrived safely out at her place in California..

Talk about talent = IMHO - this guy was GOOD - REALLY REALLY GOOD!!

I am hearing ya on that one Daws,,, Tip n I are putzzn across Montana a number of years ago,, after a long morning of CTFW I feel a tap on my shoulder... She says,,, 115 all morning is a bit much sweetheart.. I told that her happiness in our rides was of utmost importance to me,, I then asked her for comfortable and perferable top speed at which I would gladly stay within.. Her reply,, 100 even.... I have rev limited to 100 ever since that day when two upping,,, yes, she has caught me n Tweeks several times when chasing down the occasional HD taillights that appear out of no where on the horizon (we, Tweeks n I, LOVE sneeking up on em and then BLASTIN past em with her water jug flyin in the breeze as together we test the boundries of the "H" rated tires on her rims) but generally speaking,,, 100 on the long haul across those long lonely stretches of vacant, open desert has served us well - matter of fact,, I have discovered that Tweeks LOVES 5200 R's in 5th as much as a kid loves ice scream,, she just runs n runs n runs there.... Wonder if Tip n Tweeksis got a conspiracy of some kind happening.

ROCK ON!!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: NOW we're cookin with hot grease brother!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup: YOU done got BLESSED beyond measure - WHAT A GORGEOUS FAMILY!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup: 3 weeks out of surgery to remove a grapefruit sized tumor from my abdomen and BINGO - LOOKY LOOKY TY - ol Pucster done got blessed too!!!! Me and that Grandson of mine are BOTH wearing diapers in this video!!! LIFE IS GRAND!!!

I'd fatten it up on the metering rods at least by two notches if your metering rods have e-clips.. If not, I would accomplish the same task with nylon washers (used as shims) to raise em 1.5 mm to start with.. I would also CAREFULLY examine the diaphrams for ANY pinholes - look carefully along the area where the diaphram meets the carb body under the cover.. Also,, double check for those little o-rings under each cover.. You should be able to dial out of it with the meter rods IMHO...

WAYYYY COOL TY!!!!! You should be thankful your little daughter didnt give you the biker name of Cowpuc cause she didnt want to swear and say cow poop after watching her daddy always step in the stuff when stepping out of the tent.... Having to explain that one is always something I do with pride though,,, but still,,, cow manure???

There was no wire involved with the actual Yamaha Update for the Stator that I know of - what you see in that video is what Yamaha came up with and sent to their shops for doing the update.. I have done several of the updates thru the years myself and have not used a wire splash BUT - not saying it isnt common around here.. There are many engineers and very intellegent folks and such who may have came up with their own remedy for what was a disastor on those early stators where they simply burned up from lack of proper cooling..

Ty,, here is a little vid from a few years ago that you may or may not find helpful.. Might want to take a moment and watch it in its entirety.. The way the splash plate works is oil is forced from the orfice in the bolt holding the rotor on and hits the added splash plate and it showers those coils on the stator with oil.. It was an update from Yamaha.. I remember when a good buddy of mine who used to own the Yamaha shop in our area threw out BOXES of those update parts - not sure where you would find them now,,, maybe someone here has a setup sitting on a shelf.. Another familiar update was the water pump impellar.. The 83's had plastic impellars that would disengrate fairly quickly.. The updated impellar is still purchasable cause they used it all the up to the 93's (maybe even the Gen 2's) as far as I know..

Good eye,,could be brother,, very well could be... I LOVE going back over these vids and catching stuff I didnt see when there.. THANK YOU for pointing that out!! YOU DA MAN JACK!!

Middy,,, you do a fair amount of two uo touring, any near triple digits and on hot tarmac? My beads are in and Tweeksis is ready to roll.. Gonna spin er up, maybe tomorrow.. Give er a couple hundred for break in on the new tire and will share my thoughts.. Thanks for the encouragement = really really hope your right!!! Puc @jakester,,, got a quick question for you if you happen to find this.. Could you take a fairly precise measurement of your rear tire on your Wing for me? I need a good measurement on tread width and a good one on tire height.. Also, any idea what width of rim your wing has on it? I have been informed that a Car Tire will not fit on my 1st Gen by several sources BUT - given the results of those measurements, I may alter an old swing arm or sub frame if needed to try out a car tire like yours.. THANK YOU buddy,,, will let you know how I come out!!

TOTALLY 100% AWESOME BOB - SOUNDS LIKE A RIOT!!!!! On the "have you ever been" note,,, didnt have to... Did you not notice the teeny tiny zoom knob under the left arm of your Superman suit when you tried it on??? I was bouncing and zooming that xray vision off all kinds of cell towers and even some space debris when I had it... See,,, thats the problem with that kind of thing,, alllll these ney sayers telling ya it looked wrong and stuff - got cha all rattled so ya didnt even look the suit over real closely... Thats one of the REAL advantages to really not caring what it looks like or what others think - Superman was more of function over form kinda guy.. Betcha if you look closely you will even find other little knobs hidden on that puppy as the REAL Superman and rightful owner of the REAL suit!!!

What,, you dont play outside any more ya Varmint?? I do,, I even play outside without my shirt on still... nahhhh nahhhh deee boo boooo

BEEEEEEEUUUTEEEEFUL PICS = thank you for sharing SPDer!! Looks like some GREAT riding you got yourself into down yonder!! How were the temps and how was the traffic? Got a few lop eared VR varmints roaming around down there yet I think - bump into any of em or did cha have it pretty much to yourself?? Thanks again for sharing!! Puc

Is it snake oil?? Only one way to find out IMHO = GO FOR IT!! You gotta know though,, I had the beads in my hand for a couple months now but I just could not take the chance of having a back tire bouncing its way all the way to California or even back out to Sturgis so I defaulted back to my lead weights for those trips.. Now its time to give em a test,, yep,, gonna put the snake oil in the water and give er a shake.. If it works - OUTSTANDING - if my mirrors shake at speeds over 80 - you will see a big ol and ol Puc will go back to the lead weights of yesteryear.. and here we go!!

Ohhh,, a few hundred :rotf: Actually Snype,, I used to LOVE writing instead of video blogging my trips.. It was fun and I was driven by a daughter who begged me to continue on so my off spring would have memories of me to fall back on in years to come.. She even worked with the other kids to put together a book of stories going all the way back to her childhood.. Then,, a number of years ago this disease called DUpentrens set in and took over my hands,, I know you know about that.. So I fell back on video's,, turns out you tubing is really fun... My Grand Sons in California are the REAL drivers behind that now - the older one (who can be seen in a few of my CTFW West series from July of this year when we did the West Coast CTFW and I am wayyy behind on finishing for him) LOVES his Grampas video's.. Anyway,, thanks for the compliments on the vid blogs my friend,, seems to be getting less n less interest here on VR of the stuff - probably cause people are busy or just getting older like me.. Your youth and enthusiasim over the dieing art of CTFW is encouraging Snype!!

Well,, gotta tell ya,,, lets see,, how do I say this,,, OH HECK NO!!!!!!!! First place,, I do not know of even one fixed fairing scoot that I consider purdy,, not one (looking over my shoulder to see if Tweeksis is creeping up with a fry pan ).. Fact is Snype,, I think these 1st Gens are one ugly mud sucker of a scoot.. Another interesting point, do you know what a HD Road Glide/Tour glide is? They are HD's version of a true touring bike - they had/have the dual headlights. Few years ago I got into shipping AMF HD Shovelheads to England for resale - real lucrative business.. One of the few scoots that I simply could not touch (because they had no real resale value - even in England the fixed fairing - dual headlight Tour Glide were not welcome - even the Europeans thought they were ugly).. If I were ever going to get into another V-Twin, Air Cooled, belt drive scoot to hop around town on (no,, I do not consider them a "touring" bike but I do think think as a "cruiser" = heck yea,, BAD TO THE BONE) it would definitely be another HD.. You see that little 4 page accessory book I put up on the Yam? The HD is x1000 that book.. One thing I LOVE about the air cooled motors is how simple they are to work on,, about 45 minutes and I can have the cam cavity open and cams out of a Twin Cam.. HD has a Screamin Eagle parts book that, by itself, shames the Yamaha book to death.. I know,, I know I know,, the Yam is brand new - gonna take some time = right? Was told that at Americade,, which I calmly walked away shaking my head from cause I KNEW that the basis of that new motor was the Strat motor and guess what I found out in Sturgis? I was 100% correct.. The techs out there told me that the "new" motor shared the top end/crank and cam chest cavity with the Strat (they would NOT admit this in NY).. To the folks who really dont care about what happened (you know,, that Mom Yam got sold out by a bunch of Star Riders who told her that a V-Twin belt drive would be better than the water cooled 1700 V-Max motor that they already sitting on the shelves) its no big deal but to me,,, in my way of thinking,, Star/Mom Yam or who ever Yamaha is now coulds/shoulda had at least a performance parts catalog out by now - if they are seriously gonna take on HD.. Also,, if I am I gonna pay BIG dollars for "soul" without the bike earning it like my 1st Gens have done,, its gonna be an HD.. IMHO,, every V-Twin air cooled scoot since Indian went under in 53 is a "clone" of the company who has kept that arciac design alive.. HD OWNS that market!! All that and we have just scraped the surface,, havent even started on bling.. Also,, you ever look closely at paint detail on those High End air cooled scoots?? Tell ya what,,, if it aint gonna be a real deal genuine shaft drive, keep my honey from burning her pretty legs, flat out touring bike like a Wing or maybe a Beemer and its gonna be a scoot I am gonna polish and clean and ride around the hood to show off on - there aint NO ONE that Paints a scoot like them boys at HD = period!! Also,, you ever look closely at parts prices on some of the bling stuff? Might wanna check cause the last time I did,, Polaris was most expensive and seconded by HD with Polaris's ROI on a resale of the same being wayyyy behind HD if you had to sell off.. Looking at the Yam prices in the Accessory book = thinkin Mom Yam thinks those HD folks are gonna be jumping on the parts prices like they are suppose to be accepting of the MSRP on the 113 Venture going toe to toe with Polaris and HD.. Nope,, if I did Snype,, it would DEFINITELY be a HD,,, but have no fear,,,,, there are TONS of 1st Gens out there sittin - just waiting for me to wear this one out and hop on another...

and here is Pt 2 of the vid on the Yam 113..

Because the Venture motor isnt into the actual hands of those who will be using it to CTFW,, its kind of hard to do a really good detailed analysis,, that said - below are a couple of vids found on You Tube that show the cutaways of each motor - does that help?? I have ridden both and can tell give you my opinion (like MANY others).. Performance wise - I think the new Star is gonna have its hands full with the Polaris 111. The Yam is a big heavy scoot, the motor (and this is a guess,, Mom Yam chose not to give HP detail on this one - though she does claim 126 Ft/Pds of torque) feels similar to an 88 inch HD to me (I owned several of the HD's and even did a gear driven supercharger on one) which brings it into the 70 horse range = putzy at best.. The big Yam doesnt come up on the pipe (sorry,, ol two stroke talk) until 3 grand and she stops dead at 4500.. The Polaris motor is much more spunky IMHO... Doesn't make any sense either cause the Yam is 4 valve and the Polaris is 2 - sure seems like the Yam would be way better equipt for developing some HP up on top but it dont - again,, IMHO.. Build whys, I think they are pretty close in nature.. I do really like the helical cut gears in the Polaris, I KNOW - straights have always been known to be stronger (and they are) BUT - helicals are KNOWN to be a LOT quieter.. One of the things that I REALLY dont understand about Polaris is why on earth they didnt go with oil cooling jackets in the jugs of their 111 like they did with the 106 that they had in their Victory line.. Makes sense to me (and I am probably wayyyyyy out there in being wrong on this - I am NO professional mechanic or engineer like a lot of the folks around here) that doing so would have not only increase longevity on the 111 overall but would have made it quieter.. I have heard, in person, some extremely rattly 111,, REAL noisy motors.. I have a vid on youtube of the 113 Yam idling and my camera right down in the engine so folks can hear it - I can get it for you if you would like.. That 113 is a lot quieter IMHO.. Getting wordy,, sorry,, way to opinioniated.. Anyway,,, here's those cutaways,,, enjoy.. Puc

Absolutely, undeniably, irrevocably BEEEEEEUUUUTEEEEFUL MiRider - thank you for sharing those AWESOME pics and story!!! Glad you two lop eared fellow Michigan varmints made it there and back again safely and that you folks had an awesome time CTFW!! Candy,,, hats off to you you great big beautiful hunk of motorcycling fun you - THANKS for doing it right by yours and our friends - YOU da scoot!!! And Dave,, if you go back and reread my comment about not riding a trike - you might take notice that I clearly stated "PROBABLY" - like you,, I have learned to never say never :rasberry:

Not me,,,, I aint sleepin in no tent at your place,, no sireee,,, I am gonna cop some zzz'ss on your couch but only after I dig around in that freezer in your garage, dig out those tee bones your hiding in there,, dump some of that charcoal you got hidin from me in the corner of the garage into your grill,, strike a match and thaw the steaks on the grill while the those coals get hot.. Then I am gonna search thru those cupboards and find a tater,, wash it and stick in the micro till its soft and HOT!! Then I am gonna peel the steaks off the grill with just the right amount of blood still running off em, slice open the tater on the dog dish I am using for a plate so I aint gotta wash no dishes (my mama didnt raise no dummy) and let the steak grease soak into the bottom of the tater to add some flavor to it.. Then I am gonna dig around in your fridge and find some butter,, plop a glob of it on the tater,, salt the whole mess to perfection and CHOW down... Then I am gonna go back to your couch - lay down and when you come stubblin out of your bedroom where you was snoring in your Superman outfit,, look at me with that funny look on your face like I been up to something I will look back at you and say,,,, "what"..... You will be so tired from dreaming about being Superman that you wont even notice the toothpick I sticking out of my mouth that I stole from that little jar sittin on your counter next to your stove.. The End

You KNOW that will happen brother!!