videoarizona

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed the ride! Note: It would have been quieter though if you had closed the vent...lots of wind through that little vent! My personal feeling mirrors yours. I know the noise coming up from the tires, the road and the motor are magnified by the fairing and sent right to our ears. The noise got louder when I lowered the forks, making me tilt the fairing upward/forward a touch to make clearance room for the rubber isolators that isolate the fairing from the handlebars... Ah well...but I sure liked the handling better with the nose lower....

Here ya go Scott! I'll send the rest private message to you... I love this pic...you, Tip and Tweaksis watching the sunset over Lake Michigan. This is what we were looking at... Love ya back, Bro...

Back to the topic this morning. Since I woke up early to see if riding buddy was up for an early morning ride...(wasn't), and since I couldn't go back to sleep...got dressed, put the gear on and decided an early breakfast was in order. So, checked the tires (thanks cowpuc) and they were right where we left them in cowpuc territory. Off to Rio Rico to Nickels Diner for that omelet of theirs. Pile on goodies, one price. Yum! On the way home...took the back road....dropped in to see if I could renew my scoots annual National Park Pass (free to humans but scoots pay a teeny fee for a decal). The decal allows you to ride in without digging your pass and ID out. They weren't ready for me...too early. So just stopped at my usual haunts and took pics for youse all! Beautiful day.... Santa Cruz Spice Factory. Quite the place for outstanding spices....even a tasting table that you will regret using after one bite! But oh so good....they are on-line...just in case. Where I buy my annual passes. Not open yet. Tubac. Tourist trap but really good stuff for the most part. They were still sleeping too.... The scoot ran wonderfully, but MPG's still low around 33mpg. Not much wind on this tank. Before the trip, new oil and filter, new air filters, cleaned and gapped plugs, etc.. So I'm curious what's up. Others have complained about low MPG's but starting, idling and full/partial throttle responses are excellent. I'm thinking plugs....can't hurt and they are cheap. I'll gap them tight as cowpuc does, since they do tend to open up a bit with wear. But that's what I did with my Venture this morning! Oh, forgot... I took the Scorpion EXO 920 helmet out for it's first run on my head. J&M installed their latest speakers and stuff in it 2 days ago. What a nice helmet. Much quieter than my 6 year old 900 it replaces, better airflow too! But the real smile...is the speakers. They are outstanding. Everybody knocks the RSV audio system and yea, the speakers and amp are weak...but through the headphones the system is quite good.

Practice. The only true solution.

I made it easy to check the air pressure on the rear of my RSV by having the tire guys install a right angle valve stem. Only I had them put it so it was pointing to the right. Right at the brake rotor. Yea it's a pain to use a long gauge on it with the rotor there, but I'm happy cause I can see the darn thing! I still have to lay down to check/add air, but at least I can see where the valve stem is/isn't by just walking away.

I do like Kerrville area of Texas. Wine country. I think I've been to that rest area! Thanks for the pics!

I guess I'm not understanding this post. It's 4:20 in the morning...so maybe it's just me up to early. I have both the 1st and 2nd gens. The engine is the same. The sight glass is in the same position. My manuals read the same. We are supposed to level the bike, THEN check the oil level. I use the mirror on a stick. Each of my bikes carries one. Easy peasy. I get on the scoot, center her up off the side stand, put the mirror down and find the sight glass. Oil level should read 1/2 way to 2/3rds up as that is where the manual says it should be when you interpret it and see where the markings are. On both of my bikes...if the oil level is correct when upright, it will look low (on my VR) when on side stand. Because the sight glass port is on the right side and the oil moves to the left when leaning to the left on the side stand. My mirrors do not turn the image upside down but even if they did, I would set the oil level to halfway and be done with it. Oh...I have the wheel chock from HF and with the stock front tire, I can't get the RSV off the chock by myself. That tire is to fat. Boo hiss on HF for that. With the VR, it works fine. So if I'm understanding all this, yes you can read the sight glass on a 2nd gen using a mirror while sitting on the seat. Yes the procedure is the same. And yes, camos is right...once you have your bike set up for you, ride height, etc., then you can check the oil level when straight up...then let her back on the stand and see where the oil level is there. That would be an easy reference. But for my RSV, since I lowered the front end using the "drop the fork tubes free" method, my oil level on the stand is zero oil. The problem for me is where is the oil! Grins! I have no way of knowing if it's to low. Regardless, finding the sight glass is a tad harder due to the exhaust pipe but it is viewable from the seat with a mirror. For the 2nd Gen I use a mirror with a tiny LED light on it. That helps. I'm going back to bed. I got up to see if there was a breakfast ride this morning. Nope...so...ZZZZzzzzzzz.

Ah man....wish I would have known. I would have met you in the Tucson area. Ah well...next time! Ride safe!

Good job Lewis! Always liked those Maxims.....

I just came back from Tucson and a visit to J&M. Always like to go there as Pete, the front office sales guy, is always on the ball and good! He sold me the 291 series system with the enhanced speakers and they are very good. Takes a bit to drive them, but very nice sound. Tested them on both the VR and RSV and they sound fine! Installed on my new Scorpion EXO 920. I love those deep speaker pockets on the new Scorpions! 920 and 950. They are into their 40th year! Congrats to them! By the way, bet you gun/ammo guys and gals didn't know that the owner, John Lazzeroni, makes custom rifles and ammo. http://www.lazzeroni.com/

I like Rotella...a lot. BUT for all 3 of my bikes (89VR, 06RSV and 09Vstar 950T (sold)...they all loved Yamalube 20-50 the best. We don't get that cold in the winter to warrant anything "thinner", and we do get a "bit" warm in Spring through Fall. All 3 were quieter and shifted smoothly, even in 100 plus degree heat. But the only reason I mentioned the above oil is it's price/availability being from Walmart. If it's as good as the Yamalube, then it's worth it by far. Besides it's a product of Mercury Marine...and I've never heard anything bad about their stuff. (Whether they make it or not I don't know). I'm not trying to start an oil war...just wanted the group to know about this stuff. BTW, I spoke with some people at Yamaha about running 20-50....and they were fine with that. That's what their 20-50 Yamalube was made for...their engines. And the V4 was mentioned specifically as well as their larger VTwins....I assume that's the Strats, etc.. I'll try it and see...then let you all know my thoughts. Another way to look at it is these engine do have some miles on them.... OOPS: Just noticed: This new stuff is totally synthetic. Well...guess I'll try it and see. Cheaper than Mobil 1...let's see how good it is....

Yep...my RSV did the same thing. Went from dino Yamalube 20-50 to Rotella T6 15-40 and she got noisy right off the bat. But after my 4K mile trip, she now shifts smoothly but is still noisy...the Rotella seems to be a good oil. Have to change oil shortly...going to go back to dino 20-50. Just to see what happens with shifting and noise. Found this stuff: JASO certified! Walmart.

Ow.....

Steve has made a couple of harness setups for me. This is a picture of the connectors he made up that allowed me to add LED lights to the front forks and power for the XM radio. Then I asked him to make up a harness that would allow me to power a Garmin and leave me with 2 connectors for future use.(LED spots) He suggested using the 12volt Cig lighter tap as a starting point then go from there. He made up this nice plug and play harness that allowed me to power the GPS and left me with 2 plugs for the lights. All I had to do was unplug the Cig lighter factory plug, plug in the harness and plug in the rest. There is a lot of wiring on the right side of the picture...all plug and play now. Just to show you this stuff will be an easy thing for you to do as soon as you get the bad stuff repaired...

Ray, I'm interested in the passing lamp bar if it's still available.

Robert, Well....in your shoes....I would keep an eye out on the forum here for a gathering of Venture riders in the central Texas area....then ride on over and say "Help!". I bet someone there could help you. If you wish to try this on your own, and I would encourage you to do so, there are lots of videos on youtube to teach soldering and one of our members Steve @M61A1MECH has or can make up a simple wiring harness for you so once you repair your wires, then you can plug in Steve's harness or connectors and be good to go. Plus, I bet you can find a small scoot shop that can help you as well.... But I would recommend you get rid of those connectors and repair the wires...

Hmmm could it be? Maybe? A solution?

Mine does that too after I jumpered my RLU connector. Must be something simple like changing a jumper. Of course, I could always just swap the bulbs in the instrument cluster! But it doesn't bother me... Hi ya Puc!

Me too. Just a tad too much fluid in the rear reservoir for me caused a brake drag then lock up. I know many of us have had the dreaded rear brake lock up from the teeny relief hole in the rear master getting clogged. Doesn't take much the hole is so small. in my case here it was after I thought I had cleaned the system well. Guess not. But yep...a clean brake system will be trouble free for years if maintained.

I dislike both those red things AND the load resistors...

Since in the 1st stop, the meter was at 12 volts...and in the 2nd stop everything was normal. Is it possible you had your brakes on in the 1st instance and not in the 2nd? I know you don't have the electric anti-dives that suck up juice especially at idle...but just wondering what the differences could be. Like a brake light in one and not the other. Other than that, a corroded terminal as mentioned or a loose one...including in the voltage meter...could have caused this...

Absolutely. The weight transfer is a major reason why the rears lock up so easily on the 2nd gen. But to be honest, a 4 piston caliper was NOT needed on the rear...and 2 pot would have been just as good, IMHO. Rick's last post on his valve solution gives the parts needed to make this modification ourselves. I'm sorely tempted to make one as my last panic stop resulted in the rear end swinging out to the right. Thankfully my reactions are still good as once I let off almost immediately, she came back in line. Another second longer and it would have been a high side accident for this kid. But the bottom line here is twofold: 1: The rear brake is very good, we just need to practice emergency stops from speed so your right foot does it's job without panic. 2: For any riders new to the 2nd gens, not to panic about this problem. It's really your foot's problem not the bikes! As far as the front brakes...they are good as well...but here I think the stock pads are weak. Better pads are a worthy investment.

The biggest issue with the 2nd Gen for me is there is no place to do things. Like little pouches or lights! I've explored putting them on the front fender bolt...but can't find a M8x25 bolt with a M4x10 screw hole inside of it. That way I could mount the fender bolt then mount the light to the bolt. The stock bolt is recessed and I'm not to keen on putting a bunch of spacers or washers inside, then use a longer bolt and attach the light bracket there. I know it could work but sure doesn't seem like a good way to do this. Am I making a mountain out of a molehill here??? So went looking for alternatives. I have both the lower vents and the highway pegs on the engine guards...only place left for a light there is underneath. Downside to that is the light output will be lost on the road. Not going to help much locating the dumb deer that want to kamikazi me... Now I could mount the lights on top of the lower fairings. Just drill through plastic, reinforce underneath to stiffen the plastic and mount. Have to put quick disconnects so I can take the fairing off....but at least the lights are up high enough to do some good. But it doesn't look that good! At this point my brain is fried from thinking about this. Have had the lights 2 months and still not happy with any position. Ideas and thoughts appreciated!

There are a few things that will keep the radio from working...although not as you described. First, my 89 doesn't have a yellow light on the radio at all. So if you could let us know what markings are around the yellow light. If the CB is on (right side panel), the radio is muted if the squelch of the CB is set to low and the CB is thinking it's getting a signal to listen to. This is so any CB transmission will override the radio so you can hear the CB. Make sure the CB is turned off...right side panel of bike under the CLASS (air suspension controller) panel. If the tape deck is engaged, the radio is muted. The tape deck has priority over the radio tuner. Make sure there isn't a tape in the deck. Silly thought but ya never know. Disconnect the din plug fron between the tape deck and the radio and clean it...then put it back. See if that does it. The two multipin connectors that Bob referred to can have a bent pin. This is rare but can happen. Gently using a small screwdriver, bend it/them back. The headphone button can be on...this is a green light on my 89 and is located in between the 2 radio control knobs. If this is on, then the speakers are muted and the radio/tape/cb can be listened to using the 2 headphone connectors...one front and one rear. This is the most common reason why the speakers don't work with an owner who is new to this bike. Press the button so the light goes out and the radio is now heard on the speakers. The owners manual and service manuals can be found on this site in the 1st Generation Tech section. OH..send pics of your bike and send your VIN number to @Prairiehammer so he can add it to his list. Hope this helps!