cowpuc

Good question Mike. My wife Tippy and I have asked the question of "will Yamaha ever come out with a new Venture, maybe using the new V-Max motor?" all across America. The most often response we have gotten is "probably not" and usually when pushed for more, that answer is backed up with "if/when they do take another serious shot at the big touring market it would make more sense for them to use the Strat/Roadliner platform to build on".. I got into an extensive discussion about the whole thing last year while out at the rally in Sturgis S.D. waiting for other VR members at the Yamaha shop. One of the sales guys there noticed our older, slightly used 83 and said "looks like you folks are due for a new scoot" . While I could tell "Tweeks" (our bike) didn't really care for his comment - it did inspire a very good discussion when I replied with "just waiting on the new V-Max V-4 powered Venture". He shot from the hip and said it probably wont happen for a number of reasons. Main reason being, the major trend in the touring market being the huge draw to much lower powered, belt drive V twin motors.. Mentioning the fact that everyone even remotely interested in building a touring bike to sell in today's U.S. market is basically chasing a piece of the Harley pie. Then he mentioned something else that I had not even considered,, he was telling how much of a hard sell the new V-Max has been,, less then stellar according to him. He asked me how many of them I had seen on the road - had to admit, in all the thousands of miles we have covered riding cross country I have yet to actually see one on the road.. He made the point that the target market of the new Max is really slim, it does not fit into the Sport Bike market, the Sport Touring market and the cruiser market is flat out owned by under powered Harley's (he was comparing a 75 horse HD to 175 horse Yam Max) or their clones (like the Strat). Bottom line, could see where/why Yamaha would be hesitant to intro a new Venture when it would probably face some similar dynamics in its own way. A real bummer for those of us who LOVE the Yam V-4.. So, what is a person to do.. Definitely see your point with the Kaw's and Honda's,, GORGEOUS.. I also really like what Harley has done with the modern day Twin Cam - getting it down right dependable now that they got the cam chain tensioners ironed out. The new Indian is and the Victory line has also came a long ways from their catastrophic beginnings. Rode a newer Beemer a while back - talk about amazing MPG and good rider in its own right.. In the end though, knowing the prices of all the afore mentioned,, I still think I would do some serious shopping for a new "left over" RSV and expect to not pay a dime over 12 for it, just going with my gut that they are still hiding out there somewhere. I know this may sound crazy but I look at it this way,, I know these Yam V-4, shaft drive driven scoots are good for 300k. That would be 300,000 miles for 12,000 dollars.. If I had to spend 24,000 dollars for a new bike (that is not that unusual if you price em out) then I need to see a verifiable 600k motorcycle with no major work like swapping out expensive drive belts or replacing crank shafts. I LOVE threads like this, thanks for posting it!! Puc

Rock on GW!!! :guitarist 2::banana: Actually I spent a fair amount of time playing on the ice with my KX500 back in the day, it did a great job and was a ton of fun BUT,, I actually think ol Crud the V-Max would make even more chipped ice for the snocone party afterwards - look at the trench that puppy makes Looking/listening to that Youtube vid, sure looks like familiar pipes - :think:even sounds familiar:cool10:! Thanks brother!!

I usually leave at least one scoot in the garage upstairs all winter for those "just in case" moments. Thinking it might be the V-Max this year

Also may get ahold of these guys and see if they know of a small shop in the area who work on older Metric street bikes. Never know.. By the way, all the best to your neighbor on what ever he decides Eck! http://huntsville.craigslist.org/mcy/5288195054.html

Sad to say cause those were really fun bikes but I am with Carl.. If it has to go to a shop and have the carbs gone thru it will probably not be cheap. Something he may try is checking out Craigslist in the Motorcycle Parts section. I know around here there are back yard mechanics who advertise in there from time to time - of course you usually get what you pay for, gotta keep that in mind.. Could even run a quick ad "Looking For Mechanic To Repair Honda V-45 Carbs" - ya never know.. Also, something else to consider about putting a lot of money into it. A lot like our early 1st Gen Yamaha's and the second gear issue reducing the value of them, Honda had some issues back then with top end problems - cam failure in both the V45's and the 65's that may or may not affect the final selling price of it. That was a shame too because they had hydraulic lifters which should have made for a great high mileage scoot.. On the same token though, if it is an extremely low mileage scoot and in perfect condition, who knows.. Just some thoughts..

Yo hoooo - Mama - time to stop watching those muscle bound bikers on the Street Glides and turn again. Oh yea, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we gotta charge for this service (nothings free in Water World ya know),, for my portion of the collective fee for this friendly service please pass on the info of where in Ohio that picture was taken - definitely looks like my kinda place:stickpoke:

Tip is standing here doing dishes,, in my own defense I read her what you wrote Steve, she laughed and said "tell Steve that I still think my position on Tweeks as Navigator is pretty safe"

and a little more on EagleEye's super sharp new scoot!! Brother I LOVE those side cases and the protective engine/tank guards - nice stuff!!

Your more than welcome Steve, glad I could help out! Now that you got that gorgeous V-Strom with its excellent fuel economy maybe you will let me lead us to the next gathering we attend together:missingtooth: Hey,, as long as your in Ohio would you mind stopping at East Side Honda in Maumee and grabbing a new Wing for me:Im not listening to:big-grin-emoticon: Check this video out,, pretty cool memories of when our friendship was more than a one way friendship

To which the Warden gently and tenderly replied "NO - but now that I know that's what your thinking - it does mean you can knock off this silly Detective business and get back to work on the new property AFTER you go find Don and Eileen and return their plane tickets to them".. The crowd listened intently as Yammer explained all this to Squid while searching over the huge gatherings of vehicles, attempting to locate the Freebird families new Avalanche. Remembering the Warden's last words and unable to locate the Avalanche, Yammer restarted the Blue 1st Gen, turned the lights back on and took off in hopes of locating Don and Eileen at the local Dairy Queen. Little did he know that Don had spotted him at the Meet and Greet and was now

Hokey spamokey,, ya got that right brother!!! Glad your ok 10spd!!!

Phew,,,,, OUTSTANDING to hear from you Steve!! Must be two great minds thinking alike cause you posted this as I was typing out my note asking folks to keep an eagle eye look out for you:big-grin-emoticon: WOW ZZZZZZZZZ WOW WOW WOW that bike is GORGEOUS:178:!! :clap2::dancefool: Congrats again on the find my friend! CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE YA ON IT NEXT SUMMER AFTER ADD EVEN MORE GOODIES TO IT:big-grin-emoticon:!! Tip says hi, thanks for the well wish, sorry she missed ya and apologized for not being up to give ya good directions. I am just happy you made it home ok and happier then a 1st Gen crossing the desert that you stopped by and showed me your new scoot Beautiful brother,, just flat out gorgeous!!

Doorbell went ding dong real early this morning, went to the door and there stood one of my long lost dear friends and fellow VR lop eared varmint member - @eagleeye. Had a great visit!! After yakking bikes for a while Steve announced it was time for him to head around the pond - that must of been,, sayyy,, ohhh,, about 10ish (a.m. - that is a morning hour for those who didnt know). Before he left he asked me for directions back to U.S. 31. I started to explain some secret direction's around Chicago that I know like the back of my hand but EagleEye said "if you can just get me back to 31 I can find my way around the Windy City". So, I showed him the road beside our house, pointed down the road and said "go to that stop sign and turn right - when you come to the stoplight turn right again and that will take you to U.S. 31". Quick hug between brothers and he was off.. Walked inside, got yapping with Tip, told her we had a good visit and I gave him directions home. She gave me her stare,, wondered why and then it dawned on me, I had given Steve the wrong direction - it was suppose to be the SECOND stop light - not the first one,, ahhhh ohhhh!! I knew he had turned his phone off cause it's battery was low so I jumped in the car, went and looked and looked and looked and could not find my friend:95:.. Got back home, Tippy scolded me cause she know's how I am with directions - double that when I am giving them - and then asked why I didnt get her to tell Steve how to find the hi-way (and to think, we actually still have friends that think she is always with me on the bike just cause we love each other). Then she said not to worry about him cause he always seemed like a person who was pretty level headed and good with directions and she was sure he would find his way back to Wisconsin ok. She reminded me that EagleEye had safely gotten both of us (he and I, Tip stayed home) down to Don's MD earlier this year and had done so in less then 8 hours, a trip that would have surely taken me 2 days to complete. Reminding me of that settled me down some. Until now.. Now its gotten dark out and I havent heard from him since this morning. I thought it would be best to post this on here and see if any of you maybe got a glimpse of him? I am including a pic here of my buddy, the only thing is he was not riding his RSTD this morning - he was driving a redish colored truck. Please be on the lookout for him, thank you!! PS - sorry about that Steve,, if your still in the area and happen to still be looking for the hi-way, stop back here - Tippy and I are eating fried chicken and have 2 pieces and some califlower here for you:fatsmiley:!!

Here you go Gary!! Great info with some awesome pics - that @GeorgeS saves the day again,, THANKS George (and Freebird for posting this many years ago..) http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?3365-Anatomy-of-a-Muffler

So he dont do like these guys do..

The rider smiled and so nah,, not this time,, and the Warden packed my tent poles and gave me some other things to do but I cant remember what those were.. Squid stared at the rider and yelled Danny my boy,, is that you? The rider looked around, his head and said "I'm not Dan" which,, for some strange reason, caused the entire gathering to go into an uproar of laughter. The crowd gathered around and listened closely while eating Black Death and drinking Hot Dogs as the Squid inquired with Yammer Dan about why he had flashing lights on his Blue 1st Gen. Yammer and until a :lightbulb:seemed to come on,,, oh yea, well its like this Squid. I had a bit of rough spring on that gull derned Silver last spring, got to thinking afterwards that I might have to get on a Trike if I wanted to continue touring West By God, counted my nickles and dimes, came up short so I came out of retirement and took a job as a Detective. Got old Blue out, stuck on some lights and then stuck my ol .45 here my side (Squid ducked that rascal Yammer yanked out his trusty rusty side kick to give everybody a quick lesson in good Detectivizing). Been kind of fun too cause earlier I thought I saw Eileen driving Don's new Avalanche so just for kicks I turned on the lights.. She took off and, thinking she wanted to race, the chase was on. Later in the race an envelope flew out of the truck window and landed across my eyes so I could not see, which caused me to lose sight of Don's Avalanche. I went home to have some Fried Chicken for dinner, the Warden noticed the envelope sticking out of my shirt pocket and asked about it. Told her I could not remember where I got it from. She opened the envelope and said "Daniel,, you get right back on that bike and

Right there with ya Beachy and I gotta say,, that would be one of those rare occasions where, if that Bum took ya up on it you could probably forget the forum pic rules:big-grin-emoticon:

Well,, I am no lectrician like a lot of these geniuses but it seems to me that resistor's are used in electronics to control/change or manipulate voltages. Of course, most resistor's used in electronic's are little gizmo's filled with who know's what (engineer's who design those things are some crazy people - only they know for sure whats inside those things). Only reason that matters at all to me in your case is cause everything from corrosion in a circuit board to broken wires to dirty contact points in a relay to a loose connection can cause resistance = resistance is resistance = its all about resistance. I think if it were my bike Middy I would get out my Ohm meter, make some kind of a long reach probe with a real sharp point on it and just start tracing wires looking for the source of that resistance. Gotta be a Before = 1 volt higher - than after connection = 1 volt higher in there somewhere.. Just connect the ohm meter direct to battery ground so ya got a good known ground and go to poking into wires leading into the horn area. Schematics can be a good help cause they are excellent electrical road maps (not trying to funny - just seems that way to me) but I have solved a number of electrical issues like your talking about without one just by probing with a probe. Another thing I learned (and have had to learn many times over cause I am pretty stubborn) is that isolated grounding issues can also cause the problems (I am thinking resistance doesn't really care where is located in a circuit - can still have the same affect).. Maybe take a test cord, just for kicks, and from the horn ground back to the battery and see if that helps.. My thats probably only worth half that,, or even less:big-grin-emoticon:

and we would just SHHHHHHHHMMMMMOKKE the little cheater slick on that go fast mini bike right into the pavement eay bro!! who would have thought such good little boys like us could melt down a tire like that so fast.... Quick Dan,, toss some more beach water on it..:big-grin-emoticon::big-grin-emoticon:

A few years ago I helplessly watched a friend and brand new rider fall over on their bike in an intersection. This person had invested a substantial amount of time and money into both the State Motorcycle Training Course as well as Harley Davidson's beginner riding schooling let alone the costs of bike/gear. As we sat near the intersection where the tip over occurred, chatting and letting the adrenaline wear off, I mentioned an idea that had occurred to me about a safer way of teaching us riders to be more alert on the road - maybe something strongly aimed at intersection navigation.. I mentioned how cool it would be to have motorcycle simulators - surrounded by screens with busy intersection activity playing on them and computer recording all the input from the simulator as things like a shadow under a car makes movement or the front wheel shows the car creeping forward as your moving into the corner or a car is approaching with its driver looking down at their phone or oil/gravel can be seen in the intersection or, or, or... Could also completely monitor and assess the riders throttle, clutch, braking, lean angles and all longggggg before they ever get their motor running and go heading down the highway.. The link below makes me , be kind of cool if bike dealerships had something like this with a free hour or two of play with all sales just to check our abilities... http://www.motorcycletraining.com/team-arizona-supplements-rider-training-offering-with-motorcycle-simulators/ http://www.motorcycletraining.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/simulator.jpg

correct to the tail spin after spelling the "on air" message for their friends below. Jonas and Greta accomplished a perfect landing in the landing zone that Squid and the 500 hungry Meet n Greet bikers had carved out in Squid and Lonna's back yard and had just gotten in the chow line when everyone heard the ominous sounds of a 1st Gen off in the distance and saw flashing lights breaking thru the darkness in the distance. Staring at Don and Eileen, everyone at the party knew it was

Oppsss,, my bad Big T,,, having had Ice Cream all over it I just thought.... You know,, now that I think I about it, I stuck that NY check in Tweeks trunk when we were pulling out for a Michigan Meet n Greet where other ice cream finger covered lop eared varmints were present,, hmmm... PS,, thems not pigeon toes,,, them there's 1st Gen feet from years of wrapping my toes around Tweeks front cylinders while I am holding on for dear life while she is puttin it to them 2nd Gen's back yonder

Dont know squat about Dish TV stuff, always been a free TV antenna kinda guy. Will say this though, I had a chat with our phone provider repair guy (came for some service work and company made em tell me about their "TV" offerings) about all the "Streaming" stuff.. He was saying that things like "Ruku?" are having a big effect on the whole market - his words not mine.. I do know this though, if I were gonna go looking for some kind of TV provider I would definitely figure out what the heck he was talking about long before I signed any kind of long term contract with anyone.. Be kind of cool to end up with some super high speed internet system that allowed me to do everything thru it :bikersmilie::bikersmilie: As soon as this thread gets some time on it (being fair to @93 venture and not be an obnoxious hi-jacker) I am gonna hi-jack this thread and tell you guys about my antenna ordeal..

Now we're getting down to spittin watermellon seeds Sylv, pickup a scoot, have a build it party with the buddies then enjoy the fruits of our labor!! And I am right there with ya brother, nothing puts on an endess :big-grin-emoticon::big-grin-emoticon::big-grin-emoticon: like a :bikersmilie::bikersmilie: after a job well done!!! More of this and less of this is enough to make any lop eared varmint :thumbsup: About the next best thing would be to see some 's of the XS!! (dont miss a lick do I )

that read "dont be skeerd down there, it's not the wicked witch of the west, it's me and Greta looking for clearance on runway 4, I will share some Black Death with you if dont let them lop eared varmint's eat all the food before we land". No one touched the food and all eyes were on Jonas and Greta as Jonas's beloved co-pilot grabbed the pigtail on the other side of his helmet and twisted his opposing ear just enough to