BratmanXj

I went Hagon and it's sitting in the "spare parts" bucket, so it was really just and FYI question. Was not leaking when I purchased the bike but definitely worn out and pogo-stick ride. Bike is a '99 and I purchases with 40k+miles, otherwise very well maintained bike. I had 20w on hand from my previous Harley shock rebuilds and only had the bike for 2 mo. with the "repaired" shock before I went to the Hagon. It was still loose and pogo'd even with 20w.

I'd assume once the Pogo has begun the internals have been damaged beyond "external" repair? I purchased my bike with a damaged rear shock and did a 20w recharge to finish out the riding season. While it helped the bike was still a bit tail-happy until I put her up for winter repairs with a Haggon shock.

Born and raised at the southern end of Chicago so "it's all in a day's ride" for me. I've done the lake loop, Wisconsin lake front, Michigan lake front each multiple times. Take your time through the UP, absolutely beautiful up there.

It has been mentioned elsewhere about doing EITHER the 130 front or leveling links, but not both. I did not have an issue in the 4-5k miles with the 130-R18 before the shock was installed. With the H.D. Hagon rear shock pre-load set for 2up riding I didn't have the wobble when the wife was on, only solo. I think my steering geometry is right at the cusp that rear tire size being a 1/2" difference between brands could cause the problem.

You don't mention your height / inseam but there are a few ways to help with getting your feet on the ground if that is the issue. There are a few places to have your factory seat modified for less than the cost of a new Corbin. They slim out the nose of the seat for better "reach" to the ground. They can do any number of additional services to sculpt the seat to you as well as add comfort like gel pads. Lowering the forks in the triple-trees is a matter of an afternoon in the garage turning wrenches with no further cost. I believe you can get about 3/4" before the air-valves interfere with the fairing. This will both lessen the reach to the ground as well as change the steering geometry (decrease rake) for "lighter" low speed steering. Personal experience, DO NOT do to many of the modifications of the tires/geometry. I have a Hagon HD rear shock that raised the back 1/2" from stock as well as a Stratoliner 130-r18" front wheel and I have to be very careful on my selection of rear tires, certain tires are larger diameter with a taller V-shape to the tread. Those tires will make the bike unstable above 65 mph with a constant weave. If I switch back to the stock 150 front wheel the weave goes away. When modifying the handling characteristics of these bikes there is a line in which you can go to far.

Didn't to the Eclipse, but buddy and I are planning the Lake Michigan SS1000 Loop later this month.

HD's highest selling bike is the Street Glide...a lowered "custom" looking touring bike with less touring amenities than a comparably priced FLHT Classic. Why? Because it looks cool, and its not like the younger people are buying them to actually tour on. Like you stated they have become bar hoppers and you get weird looks from those people if you want to ride more than 100 miles in a day. You in MI see the same "local" affect I do with our proximity to the Milwaukee home-base of HD. Most cruiser/heavy tourer riders around here don't even realize there are very qualified touring bikes outside of HD or Goldwings. When I go out riding with my buddies (who are all HD guys) most people we run into have never seen/heard of a Venture.

Well, HD has killed off the mid-priced Dyna line and moved the "popular" models up to the Softail line that is going water for '18; I believe all touring models for '18 are water; The 500/750 line is water...that only leaves the Sportster line of Evo based engines as air cooled. HD is to rooted in the single crank-pin offset firing order V-Twin to go 4cyl...but it looks like the future is ALL water for them.

SpedoHealer shows the same part number from '96 - '13...so bit the bullet and buy the SpedoDRD Y1 for my '99.

Well good timing...I was looking at the healer over the weekend but didn't pull the trigger yet. I assume the 2005-2014 listed on the 12oclocklabs.com website is the same for a '99-2004 since these bikes went virtually unchanged?

I don't have the manual in front of me, but is there a formula (X height at Y distance) that you aim for with these bikes. I know cars you usually do 25' distance.

Hardhome Depot?

It has to "build up" a flame; the spear hit it in the throat as it was building a flame causing it to erupt in its throat and not spew from it's mouth. Martin had previous children's novel "The Ice Dragon" that defeated the fire-breathing dragons....

And this is why I'm happy to have the Chicago IMS motorcycle show reasonably close. I don't even bother looking at the dealers, I go straight to the venders and try on gear I've been looking at all year. It's worth a day trip if you have a LARGE dealer you can visit that has a healthy variety of products that they stock.

Skid Lids are the thinnest DOT helmet I know off but they still sit fairly high on the head.

When I bought the bike you could ROCK the clamps in the bearings they were that loose. I accidentally over-tightened them when doing my 1st round of maintenance after purchase but slightly notchy was better than ridiculously loose. I finally did the bearing this spring after 3-yrs of having the all-ballz in the tool box. Its all better now but I still need to do the 1,000 mile "check" on the stem torque. Book calls for 37 ft-lb initial seating torque, back off, then 2.2 or 2.4 ft-lb final torque. By reference is "a bit more than book" 4 ft-lb, 8 ft-lb, 12 ft-lb?

Similar luck with Dekka even though everyone swears by them. 2-ish years while using a tender and then just dead over a weekend. Yuasa have always given me 5+ yrs.

Thank you. This is the only RSV (or TD) I've ever been on and don't know anyone else locally with one who I could "check their bike" against mine. As I stated it was better with my Stratoliner 130-r18 front wheel but didn't go away. I threw the stock 150-r16 back on the bike and I forgot just how sluggish and rubbery the steering feel is. I've gone through everything logical on the bike both front & rear and nothing seems out of sorts. I don't have issues with the bike at speed but just vague at around-town speeds.

Swing arm was cleaned and greases 2 1/2 yrs ago, re-torqued over the winter while doing the front end. I don't have any oscillations at-speed, the bike rides straight and true. My issue is the front end feels "loose" like the forks are rubber and allow side play at a stand still when you jostle the bars; it makes tip-in for turns feel very vague. I guess it's time to take down the front faring and double check the whole front end again.

When the head bearings were replaced the whole front end went back together with torque wrench in hand... This problem existed before the work and after the work, just feels worse with the extra weight of the 150 front tire vs the Strat 130 front tire. I do need to double check everything thing again now that I've got a few miles on her.

I've never had the front forks apart on this bike, and only opened up 1 set in my past (dirt bike). So can you please elaborate further? P.S. This sensation is when sitting on the bike at-rest. Push hard one way on the bars and stop abruptly and you'll feel the oscillation.

New bearings in the stock wheel 3 yrs ago when I bought it and did the 1st tire change, for ease of swap I put new bearings in the Strat when I purchased that rim & tire. I did not think of air pressure when I put up the post, thank you. I did do head bearings over the winter and probably should double check them for torque now that I have a few miles on the bike. This is something I always noticed with the bike but forgot just how much worse it is with that big tire out front.

I've owned my '99 RSV for 3 years now and the front end has always seemed very "loose" in terms of fork flex. I recently put the stock 150-R16 wheel and tire back on the front after having a Stratoliner 130-R18 wheel on and it it seems to have made the front end even worse. The easiest way to explain what I'm feeling is if you give the handlebars a quick shake left-right-left you can feel the oscillations continue for 2-3 more times after you hold the bars still, like playing with jello. Is there something I should be looking at that could be wrong with the front end? I put new head bearings in over the winter and torqued everything to spec. Is there a fork brace for the 2nd gen?

Agreed, LOCTite will eat the ABS plastic, I use blue RTV lightly on the threads to keep the windshield screws in place. What height are people running for the Clearview? I like to look OVER the shield an was shopping the 19.5" GT Medium seems the same as my current 13" SlipStreamer.

Indiana (and I believe IL) requires "drivers licensed age" to operate power-craft on the water, i.e. a PWC or Boat. You can operate a fishing-craft under 10 (or 15 hp) with a boater safety class at 12. I've never had an issue putting my 3 yr old in front of me on the Jet Ski technically in the drivers seat or sitting on my lap with the pontoon, but I don't go out and act stupid on the lake. I know people on the same lake who have been ticketed for similar instances of "minor at the wheel" so it all depends on the day of the week.