BratmanXj

When I was searching for my Ural sidecar I happened to visit a local Vanderhall dealer that had a used bike I wanted to look at. I did check them out and I dig the "classic British car" vibe these have vs the ultra-modern style of the Slingshots. There are a few Vanderhaulls roaming the streets of greater Chicago and I've seen 3 in the wild. I have a very indecisive lawyer buddy who "wants" to be a gearhead, but doesn't know what end of a screwdriver to use. He's been getting mad at me shooting down all his ideas.... Cabin Cruiser on Lake Michigan - what do you do when you break down out on the water? lets keep it on land. 60's MG / Triumph - you wouldn't know what to do with Lucas electronics He didn't like the Mazda Miata idea cause its to common. He throws out the idea of a Slingshot but that's not really his style so I turned him onto the Vanderhaull this winter. He wants me to go shopping with him come spring, its an idea we both finally agree on.

I bought the bike in '13 with a few maintenance issues. I rehab'd the back end in Sept '13 with the Hagon shock to replace the blown factory, pulled the swing arm for a full grease and torque. It's checked every year as part of spring maintenance. The Straoliner front wheel went on in the Spring '14 with a new Michelin tire. Front end was rebuilt Winter '15 with new bearings, up-rated spring and fresh fork oil. Previous owner had the neck WAY to loose and there was a noticeable "detente" in the steering. CT went on in 2016. The Hagon shock raised the back end 1/2" higher than stock, the front end sits about 1/2" lower than stock, plus the narrow tire just didn't site well with THIS SPECIFIC tire. From what I understood in my reserch the Nexan is slightly taller than stock and I think I just pushed my rake/trail numbers to far with ALL the modifications. I do plan on trying the BFG at some point as it's slightly shorter than stock.

I had the same issue with the Nexan and tried everything from 30-45psi and couldn't get rid of the vague wandering feeling at highway speeds. I also have a Hagon HD rear shock, 130-18" front wheel from a Stratoliner, and beefed up front springs. I assumed my issues of wander were due to the higher suspension setup and narrower front tire. I did a December Toys For Tots run in 2" of snow and the CT stuck like hell. Braking was greatly improved, handling was great solo or two-up for anything under 65mph. I ended up with a Dunlop E4 for my next tire, I still have a 2nd rim sitting in the shed and will probably try the BFG CT next go round. As noted, it sits lower than the Nexan and that might change the rake/trail geometry of my bike back to something stable at highway speeds.

Years ago when my father had to go on a CPAP machine for his snoring they said to stop sleeping on your back. My mom stitched up a t-shirt with pockets on the back to put racket balls so my dad couldn't sleep on his back.

Not stronger, but there is an easy way to strengthen the bars as they are. I drilled and tapped the middle of the foot board bracket and extended a small metal arm to an extra bar clamp on the crash bar, giving it some triangulation support. I'm a big guy and I use to feel the highway pegs flex when riding, ever since they've been rock solid. I had a very soft tip over one time in the garage and the bars took the weight of the bike with no ill effects. I thought I had a photo, but I can post one later. I believe someone in the vendor forums still sells the kits for the brace.

I've been looking at a few at my local gun shop, full kit with sling, bayonet, and canvas ammo pouches for $259. Not that I would be shooting it much, but the history to have it along withe my "military" Ural Russian motorcycle would be cool.

The stock 150 size front? I went to the 18" stratoliner wheel with a 130, so again not stock. I bought the bike with a few issues and when I changed out the rear shock I took the whole rear end apart and repacked and torqued the swing arm bearings. I loved the traction I had with the tire and want to go back, just still trying to find my issue and bantering with people who have the same setup helps. Most shops around Chicago are like that as well. I have a rear tire mounted on the front of my bike and it took 20 min of explaining to to the independent shop how forces work for accel/decel, tread design, and why to mount it backwards, then was told to leave. Thankfully I found a good independent who will do this stuff for me so long as I pay cash, he's come to realized these are MY decisions and I'm not going to come after him.

What tire to you have out front? Otherwise stock suspension? I really want to go back and try with the slightly shorter BFG Radial T/A and hoping my ill high speed handling was from modifying the rake/trail to much with a tall tire and all my other suspension upgrades. I still have that spare wheel in the shed with an old Shinko 777 on it that could get a quick and easy swap.

Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 full synth year round in the Venture. "Air Cooled" 20w-50 for summer and Shell T6 5w-40 for the winter in the Ural air cooled flat twin. Garden Tractor also gets Shell T6 5w-40 year round for summer mowing & winter plowing.

You can still make a 2-wire side marker blink. I did it on my C10 Kawaski Concours so that the side markers glowed with the front markers lights and then flashed on-off opposite of the front turn signals. I believe I wired them in-series with the hot leg of the front marker light and they "short" out when the turn signal flashed.

I will agree that road signs tend to light up better from the LED, and now that I re-read what I wrote I definitely did not present my complaint very clearly. With the LED bulb installed in the Venture headlight: Good forward throw "into space" but very little light illuminating the road. Signs and reflective markings pop'd but the pavement surface was still dark. High beam gave me enough to illuminate the pavement so I didn't feel like I was riding into "fog" but then you'd have a lot of sidescatter and blind oncoming traffic. I played with the mounting orientation and aim with no real improvements, thus I went back to a standard Halogen. I put in a 7" LED Projector Headlight housing in the other bike and the beam focus is better at illuminating the road in front of the bike.

Buddy and I split a set from Amazon that seemed to be the "go to" model a year or two back. It wasn't bad, I had to run high beam on rural backroads to get any real forward throw of light but then you'd get to much side-scatter. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FJS9WVA/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_XXN7DbFDG1E0E

. http://www.thediamondcutguy.com/about.html

Any suggestions for a complete driving light kit - including the light bar, LED driving lights, wiring harness, switch, relay, hardware, etc.? Will I be able to use my existing turn signals or should I just put LED bulbs in the turn signals? As far as the headlight, it looks like just replacing the bulb with an LED bulb is the way to go rather than replacing the whole front light with a 7 inch LED. I can do any wiring changes myself. When I installed a passing lamp bar on my '99 3 years ago I researched and found out the OEM Yamaha parts were the best option. There is a model for the Venture that has the holes for lower deflectors and there's a model for the Tour Deluxe that doesn't have those holes. I found a used RSTD and installed OEM Yamaha passing lamps since they had the proper hardware to reuse the original turn signal housings. You can use a generic spot lamp setup but would have to fabricate mounts for the factory turn signals or switch to aftermarket. I installed a H4 direct replacement LED bulb but was less than impressed with the light scatter in our stock reflector. I recently went back to a bright white halogen bulb with LED spot lamps. There are instructions on the form of how to "gut" the original headlight and glue in a Projector LED housing. I also want to replace my rear brake light and side reflectors with LEDs - any suggestions on this? Would like to add a strobe for the brake lights - where can I find information on this? Custom Dynamics made a direct replacement LED board that fit inside our Tail/Brake housing and plugged into the OEM socket. Last time I checked I did not see it on their page for sale, but you might try reaching out to them and asking about it. They also make drop-in boards that plug directly into the 1157 rear turn signals and are held in place by the cover screws. You'll either have to install a solid state flasher unit (and loose self canceling turn signals) or load-balance resistors.

I want to say it only cost me around $65 with a little bit of internet shopping. I think the rebuild kit and hone would have cost me $45 but I'd still be dependent on my own abilities. $20 was worth the "guarantee" it would be replaced with a good working part. About an hour 1/2 to replace and bleed out, one difficult to access bolt but otherwise straight forward.

Bass Pro Shops & Cabelas usually run them for $329 a few times a year, I think the last go round also included a $25 or $50 store gift card that brought you down to just under $300 adjusted. The local gun shop will reasonably match prices as well. I had a lunch & learn a few weeks back at the gun range that came with a few free boxes of ammo. The instructor for the class is also a semi-pro shooter. He's got a Springfield XDM9 with a modified 1.5lb trigger that he uses for 3-gun completion, don't blink or you just pushed off a round but it was a fun toy to play with. He just picked up a SIG 365XL and this was his 1st time out with it... My 1st shot went a little wild but the next 6 were perfect grouping. I'm seriously debating ditching the M&P and find myself one of these.

Why I usually tell people 1st Gen Road Star Warriors ('02-05) or 2nd Gen Road Star 1700cc (not the 1600cc) as they either black or silver calipers. I have a '99 venture in the 2-tone silver/champagne and the guy I bought my calipers from painted them Hurst Oldsmobile Gold....win!

What brake pads did you load them with?

I guess they are the same as the RoadStar. The early 1600cc bikes have 2-piston like our RoyalStar, but the later 1700cc have the 4-piston. I've only been around 1 Roadliner and it's been a few years since I hung out with that guy. I know the RoadStar and Warrior line of bikes pretty well as I ride with and maintain a few. The 4-piston calipers are factory matched to the 14mm master cylinder. The factory 2-piston are matched to a 5/8" master cylinder. As I've said before, I don't have the exact math in front of me but the point is to have the same master-to-piston ratio for optimal lever travel and feel. I did test my 4-piston with the stock 5/8" and it feels pretty good. To me personally, the 14mm master gives you a little more "take-up" on the lever to gently apply the brakes vs a quicker take-up on the 5/8".

The Roadliner & Stratoliners (same 1900cc bike, just different options) both appear to have the same 4-piston calipers as the Star Roadstar & Warriors. I believe the hand controls are more sculpted "art deco" style and not a match for our clutch master if you want to add the matching 14mm brake master.

You need to unbolt the caliper AND the bracket from the fork legs and the R1/R6 will bolt directly to the fork legs. I don't have any better photos at this time but can get some more this evening with the old caliper next to the current setup.

I've always liked the Honda ST1100-1300, they seem a bit more relaxed riding than the other Jap sport-toureres and more like a BMW. In the Chicago market they are usually double the price of a comparable FJR1300 so it just wasn't justifiable.

I'd go with a plastic polish. I've used this on helmet face shields, motorcycle windshields, safety glasses with good results. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UCYRZU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't have all the information (bore & stroke of Master & Calipers) in front of me to show the complete math....but the simple explanation: When you change from the stock 2 piston to the 4 piston you've changing the VOLUME of fluid necessary to move all the brake pistons a certain distance. The factory sizes the Master Cylinder to the Calipers on the bike with the proper ratio of master volume to caliper volume so that brake lever travel is consistent across the entire throw. You CAN USE the factory 5/16" master cylinder and it will work. I previously owned '07 Road Star Warrior, and still wrench on it to this day after my buddy purchased it from me. I know what the factory Warrior brakes feel like in terms of braking power and feel. My experience on the Venture with 4-piston calipers and factory 5/16" master was better braking power but the feel (modulation of braking effort) was severely lacking. You'd have a soft lever for the 1st part of the travel until engagement of the brakes, then a small window of modulation until hard braking. With the matching 14mm master you have a more consistent "feel" throughout the brake lever travel.

You can also look for '02-'05 Road Star Warrior or '07 and newer 1700cc Road Star bikes to get the calipers and also get the matching 14mm master cylinder to go with the calipers