YamahaLarry

Thanks guys. I'm headed to the interwebs to see what I can find.

Thanks! And I've enjoyed trying to do a little catch up over the past few days. I noticed a familiar face no longer on here in Cowpuc. In doing a little catch up on reading it has prompted me to make a personal commitment to do a couple things to my bike that I've been putting off with the top one being installing a relay on the starter switch wiring. After my little ordeal this weekend in thinking that it could have been the ignition switch, I realized I need to get that done sooner rather than later. @Heartbeat mentioned the voltmeter. That's something that I've always wanted to do but have never came up with a good location other than mounting it to the handlebar.

Been riding RSV now for 9 years and over 8 of those are with ONLY the right nut on the seat and it is a nylon wing nut (1/4-20) from Lowe's. Sometimes I ride with it not on there, but most of the time it's there.

Running two up on open highway in 5th gear you won't get very good mpg. I haven't done it for great distances, but I would guess mid 30s at best. I do run interstate a lot and average 36-38 mpg, but I do run it pretty hard at times. Only thing I can say on windshield is that I've never experienced that with stock shield.

Winner winner. But, what's puzzling still is it's a lead acid battery, and even stranger is if you put it on my battery charger it shows 12.6/12.7 volts and charges up to 14.4 volts. But when you turn on the ignition switch it drops 5.5-6.5 volts and kinda bounces when the front LED driving lamps come on and off. Put in a new (AGM) battery, double checked all connections as well as the ground from the battery. Turned on ignition and hit the start button and VROOOOM. I am 65 years old, been a mechanic for much of my life and always piddling with cars, trucks, small engines, bikes, boats, etc and have never had a lead acid battery go so strangely bad sitting for a couple hours. I'm still learning.

Thank! I am hoping that's what it is. As fate would have it, it's pouring down rain here this morning and bike will just have to sit in the church parking lot til rain goes away around noonish. Plan is to take a few tools and multi-meter with me and check what connections I know to check and be prepared to have to pull the gas tank off if needed. Really really hoping it's the main ground (or battery).

Same here. Nice and snug and never vibrates loose.

I checked connections and even ensured they were tight. I thought possible ignition switch but when I turn on ignition power does go to dash. Speedo does it's standard display and headlight comes on but very dimly lit. And I am not sure how a bad ignition switch would act. It may do what's happening here. Never experienced symptoms like this before. I will be back over there in the morning to try to get it started. Right now all I know to do is put the battery back in the bike and begin checking all the connections that I know to check. Another note is that the audio does not come on now. Just the dash and the headlights. What's so frustrating is that I've never had an indicator of any problem. I had started the bike 2 times prior to this today. Ignition switch has never acted up. Signed, Grasping for straws in Moody, AL.

It's a standard lead acid.

First off, hello everyone. I haven't been around much because the '09 Venture has been running so well with no issues. But, I've got an issue that has me scratching my head. Hopped on the bike this afternoon to run over to my daughter's baby shower for a bit. All was great. When I got ready to leave I turned the ignition on for a few seconds so my other granddaughter could hear some music and then turned the ignition off. She was startled. Anyhow, got my gloves and helmet on, straddled the old girl, turn on the ignition switch and everything was normal. Hit the start button and heard a little click and everything went dead. I thought maybe main fuse. Turned the ignitions switch off for a few seconds and decided to try it again and turned it back on. The panel did it's normal thing but the audio didn't come on. So I hit the start button again and noghting. At this point I'm thinking battery. So I got off the bike and turned on the ignition and checked the front lights. The headlight was so dim it was barely visible. The 2 driving lights (LED) were sorta flashing. When I hit the ignition switch again all went dark. So I'm still thinking battery even though it is less than 1 year old. And yes, I did check the connections and ensure they were tight. Pulled the batter and brought it home leaving the bike in the church parking lot. Hooked the batter up to my larger roll around charger and put it on the 2 amp charge. It started out at 12.6 volts and got to 14.4 volts in less than 5 minutes. So, NOT the batter. I've got to get over there in the morning and try to get it out of the church parking lot before 10 am. In my mind right now I am thinking that possible ground issue???? I'm wide open for any suggestions and appreciate it in advace.

I don't think it's any backlash/slack in the u-joint. Out of curiosity and my own sanity, I tested it again yesterday while out riding. On current bike it occurs while easing out on the clutch when rolling very slow, about as slow as you can roll and keep it upright. Clutch is barely getting enough friction to move you forward and as I continued to ease out just a little at a time, it reached a point to where there was a noticeable engagement of the clutch and I could hear this sort of a faint click in the drivetrain, like maybe a point to where something in the basket engages at a more rapid rate than the easing out of the clutch lever. Anyhow, enough on that. Gonna continue to run it for a while with the new oil change with no MotorKote additive. Hopefully that's the issue and not the discs. Either way, I'm prepared. Just not looking forward to that little wire that looks like it can be aggravating to put back in.

Wow. You guys are getting deep. I've owned 2 RSV's over the past 8 years, both 2nd gen. I do love the stock clutch, but like I said, I am one that goes thru the gears as one should and rarely take off like a bat out of hell. But, when I do, its mostly in group rides especially when I'm performing blocking duties during escorts or when showing that Harley guy he aint got nothing on me. In these rides, I also have to do a lot of slow rolling and both of the RSV's I've owned do me well when feathering the clutch and rear brake. Answer me this: I've noticed on both bikes that as I ease out on the clutch, there's this one point that you feel and hear this sorta like a little click and the clutch friction changes. Does that have anything to do with that wire and the plates behind it? I don't think I want the Barnett upgrade if I do have to replace my discs. I may go ahead and order a new spring plate and replace that while I'm in there. The current bike is a 2009 with approx 60k on it. BTW, thank both of you for sharing your brilliant minds.

Aiight guys, I'm back. Got a question that may be considered silly by some, but it's one that is puzzling to me. First off, my clutch slipped a couple times with me on hard take offs a week ago while leading/escorting a charity ride. It was concerning. I normally don't ride hard except when doing these charity rides and having to handle intersections. During my normal riding since then, clutch hasn't slipped but I'm sure I can make it slip. I do add MotorKote treatment to my T6 every couple oil changes, and that could be the culprit. Gonna do an oil change without treatment, run it a few miles and test. If still slips, will be replacing the discs (I have some on the shelf that I've had since my last RSV). Saying that, I took the time to watch a couple videos and saw that silly little thin wire. WTH??? I've replaced clutch discs is various drivetrains during my day, but never seen a wire inside a clutch assembly. FTR, I've searched the forums trying to find out if this thing is really necessary? I will not be upgrading to Barnett, but will be replacing the spring plate while in there. This is my 2nd RSV and have ridden the over 100k miles and first time that I may have to replace a clutch. Up to this point, I've only had to replace a rectifier and a fuel pump (well, several tires, brake pads, etc along the way). Not sure there are many bikes that can deliver that kind of service.