Jump to content

Rick Butler

Supporting Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    681

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Rick Butler

  1. Rick Butler
    Hey Guys, After having completed my seat modification to over a dozen pillow top seats since the first of the year, I thought I'd give you all an update on my progress. I think I have come up with the best process for this seat, since it's foundation foam shape is like no seat that I have ever encountered. If you take a look at your OEM pillow top, you will note a slight forward pitch and the back of the seat is flat which creates a pressure point at the back of your butt just above the tail bone. When you take the cover off and pull loose the 1" layer of foam that creates the pillow top effect, you will see two bumps at the outer edge of the seat. I have no idea whey they chose to put these bumps in the molding, except to possibly provide more support to the outer edge of the seat? Anyway I have attached 5 pictures show the main steps that I go through in modifying the pillow top seat. 1. My 1st cut is to the back if the seat to put some curvature to sit back into. 2. the 2nd mod is to cut those bumps off and slope the base of the seat back a bit resulting in lowering the seat about 1/2" at the back. 3. Then I narrow the neck and cut my tail bone relief in. 4. Once I get it roughed out, I take my right angle pneumatic grinder with a 60 grit sanding pad and smooth the seat out and shape it to fit the butt better. 5. Now it's time to replace the 1" of standard foam with a layer of 1 1/2" memory foam cut to the same shape with the same cuts to keep same the pillow top effect. The memory foam keeps pretty much the same shape of the original seat. But when you sit on the seat you will feel that your butt fits the seat much better and the memory foam does not resist like standard foam and lets you sink down into the pillow top to the new foundation. So there you have it and if I can help you with making your pillow top more comfortable I am here to help. Maybe a few of the guys whose seat I have done will speak up as to what they think of this change? And I've also done a couple of passenger pillow tops, where I mostly just narrow the neck and cut in my tail bone relief before replacing the pillow top with memory foam. The last picture is to show a modified seat on the bike with a stock pillow top sitting on the rear seat. Rick (aka Butt Butler) Oh, if you don't know I have an ad (Butt Butler Seat Mod) in the classified section of 2nd Gen Parts with more info.
  2. Rick Butler
    Folks, In all reality, I have never been satisfied by the manner that Yamaha only has one real bolt hole in their shields with the remaining holes being sloted. This means that if you inadvertently loose that screw (or the bottom part of the hole breaks out), then there is nothing holding the shield on except the pressure of the remaining screws and it's going to be in-your-face. In fact mine was one of the first 6 that Clearview built with their new design. And when I was talking to them about what size I wanted, I made a special request that they provide 6 holes rather than 1 hole and 5 slots like the OEM shield. And when I received it, I found that the holes were not circular but elongated. This worked out well for aligning the screw holes. And there are 2 other changes that I made to the mounting: 1. I got a set of stainless replacement button head allens that were 20mm long which gave more depth for the thicker shield. 2. I got a set of small 3/4" fender washers to allow better disbursement of pressure from the screws. 3. Between the screw head and fender washer I added a small lock washer to help keep pressure on the screws to keep them from inadvertenly backing out. I'm not sure but I think the standard holes that Clearview puts in these new shields is the same as the OEM with 1 hole and 5 slots. It would be my advise that if you order a shield from them for a RSV, that you request that they provide 6 holes instead which will most certainly keep the shield in place. Hope this helps, Rick
  3. Rick Butler
    Josh, Like you have seen from others, this bike is more than enough to pull a trailer. However if you don't already know it, pulling a trailer will void your factory warrenty in case you have a final drive failure. Now if you have had your final drive serviced regularly and are using a good synthetic hypoid then you should not ever have a problem with your final drive. But in case you do, pull the trailer hitch and wiring off before taking it to the dealer. But having a good working relationship with your service manager will most always help, where they will often look the other way in situations like this. But I do have a few pieces of advice when pulling a trailer: 1. DO NOT pull an empty trailer 2. Load the trailer with all of the weight over the axle and in front of the axle. More tongue weight is better than not enough. Having the tail (trailer) wag the dog (bike) is not a good feeling. 3. With the RSV, be careful not to get aggressive with the rear brake. This bike has a very powerful rear caliper and brakeing hard with the rear brake while pulling a trailer will result in a rear wheel lockup. And the weight of the trailer will only add to the bike jack knifing sooner. So start using good brakeing techniques by using your front brake to scrub off speed and go easy on the rear brake while modulating both of them. Regardless this bike has plenty of stopping power when pulling a trailer. Hope this helps, Rick
  4. Rick Butler
    Well guys, In all my research the best prices I've seen has been from MR Cycles out of Ashville, NC http://www.mrcycles.com/ And Flatout Motorcycles out of Indiana http://www.flatoutmotorcycles.com/ I just did a comparison on the ignition switch and found: Star Yamaha $122.09 MR Cycles 110.39 Flatout 104.00 Zanotti 107.88 Where it looks like Zanotti also has some pretty decent prices. Now all of these are without shipping which may change things some. Hope this helps, Rick
  5. Rick Butler
    Big Boy, Before I researched the possibilty of leveling up the RSV with shorter links, I first looked at changing out to a 1st gen 16" wheel. And yeah it will work but you will have to make an aluminum adapter to match the two different bolt patterns (wheel and rotor) but also to move the rotor out to match the caliper fitment. If it were me, I'd just go ahead and buy a used RSV wheel if you can find one. Outside of that, there are companies now making custom rims for the RSV. Good luck, Rick
  6. Rick Butler
    Rick, The only purpose of the splitter is so you can use the cb antenna for both your cb and radio. For those of us who have a 2nd gen, you will note that we have 2 antenna's, one for the radio and the other for the cb. Some 1st gen bikes mounted a 2nd antenna and did away with the splitter. Besides it's also a pain when setting the swr for the cb, because not only do you need to set the cb antenna but you also need to match the splitter, which is what that screw is for. I'd mount a seperate cb antenna of your choice and throw the splitter away? Rick
  7. Rick Butler
    Roger, Yeah, the best I can tell what you have is a set of V-Max intakes with a straight cross-over. Or it could have been one of the Tuggs intakes that was available for a while. But with this type of intake, you will always be pulling from 2 carbs on every cylinder. And you will have to go with 150 main jets as well change your pilot jets. Go back and look at the document that I attached from Dave G. And you will need to really open up your air box with more holes. And I threw those heavy junction boots for the carbs away and used the juctions from the cross-overs to attach the carbs to the intake. This not a project for just anyone and it will frustrate the crap out of you at times. Rick
  8. Rick Butler
    Owen, I'm with you in that the heel portion of the shifter just gets in my way when I slide my left foot back on the boards. I don't know how many times I inadvertently I shifted the bike into neutral when I slide my food back on the boards. Yamaha offers a billet toe shifter in a ball or smooth milled finish depending on other billet accessories you already have installed. You can check it out on the Yamaha site: http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/accessories/acscitemdetail/5/4/83/404/all/2/67/0/detail.aspx Flatout Cycles is usually one of the lower priced dealers for mail order Yamaha accessories and has them for $96 where they list for $118. Hope this helps, Rick
  9. Rick Butler
    Eddie, I really feel your pain, especially because I have gone down hard 3 times, twice with my wife with me. And it was always that panic stop resulting in the rear wheel locking up. And after my 3rd time down, I almost decided to let the insurance company have it and get something with ABS. But I decided to go ahead and put an adjustable proportioning valve on the rear master cylinder. And this change did the trick. It will still lock up if you press it down hard enough, but it gives you a second or two from the instant that you inadvertenly stab the rear pedal until the point that you come to your senses and realize you have hit it too hard. It slows the volume flow of brake fluid to the rear caliper and provides you that second or two before the caliper starts clamping hard on the rear rotor. If all you did was go down on one side and did not impact an immoveable object with the front, it is not totaled. I have rebuilt mine 3 times now and the great thing about all of this is that my wife still rides with me. Now it's such a pleasure to come to an emergency stop, but the more important fact is to use the front brake first and then bring in the rear. Look in the classified section or do a search on the Butler Mod to get more info on this subject. I know you will heal up and I hope this helps, Rick
  10. Rick Butler
    Frosty, The frames are all basically the same on all years (99-2008) of the RS Ventures and RSTD. However the 96-? Royal Stars and the early Tour Deluxes are different because of the frame design for carbs and other changes made in 99 for the Venture. Hope this helps, Rick
  11. Rick Butler
    JB, The only problem you will have is finding the balance point. With the bike on the side stand, push the jack in from the right side. I always positioned the left rail on the front pivot point of the center stand with the other rail sitting under the 2 front exhaust pipes. These pipes are double walled and are too strong to be damaged. Just make sure that you push the rails in far enough to catch the left exhaust good. Then start jacking it up and when the rails start pushing up the left side, the bike will start coming up off the side stand. Just hold the right handlebar as you jack and let it level up and come down on the right side exhaust. Then test to see if you found the right balance point. Depending on the weight in the rear, both wheels should come off the ground about the same time. If it feel unbalanced front to back, drop it down and move the jack rails left or right to where it comes up solid. You can strap it down with tie downs if you want, but I never had to. Hope this helps, Rick
  12. Rick Butler
    Jim, If you want better stopping with your front brakes, just do as Jon Stout suggested and replace the pads with EBC HH pads. Upgrading to stainless front lines will also help. Your rear brake has too much braking with its 4 piston caliper, so just stay with OEM pads and stay light on the pedal if you don't want to deal with a rear wheel lockup. If you really want to get the best braking possible, do as Pegscraper suggested and find a set of front 4 piston calipers from an early R-6 or R-1. But you will need to upgrade to front stainless lines with a straight flat banjo fitting since these calipers mount the brake line on the side. Hope this helps, Rick
  13. Rick Butler
    Tony, You were certainly right to hold them to the $65 because that was the right price to change a tire on a bagger. Especially for Chapter 6 members. I'm guessing that the $100 may have come from the time the mechanic who changed your tire turned in? Which at $80/hr was about 1.25 hours. But you know that to take the rear wheel off, both bags and mufflers have to come off before you can even get the axle out. But if you had taken the tire off yourself and took it in, it would have only cost you about $25. However if you had taken it into Central or even Richardson, it would have cost you a lot more. So like you said, in the future just be a more educated consumer and make sure you get a firm quote on the work and hold them to it. And in the case of Motion Cycle, make sure they know that you are a member of Chapter 6, where you get a 20% discount on accessories, parts and labor. And Motion Cycle is no better or worse than any other dealership, especially if you establish a relationship with them and get to know the guys in back. Even I have to keep Jason honest at times and I have no problem calling him on any issue that I don't feel comfortable with. But in your case, you also have the option of using the "Bike Butler", another advantage of belonging to Chapter 6. Hope this helps, Rick
  14. Rick Butler
    Dave, The only seats for the RS Venture that might satisfy your requirements would be: The Russell Day Long http://www.day-long.com/ Either of the Mayer brothers, whose Dad developed the Day Long before selling to Russell. Rick Mayer http://www.rickmayercycle.com/ Bill Mayer http://billmayersaddles.com/october25homepage.html Mustang does not make a seat for the Venture The Ultimate - maybe http://www.ultimateseats.ca/yamaharoyalstarTD.html The first 3 are the only ones that I'm sure of that would raise you up. And when you go up on the seat with this bike, it allows you to possibly move back some. With the OEM and other aftermarket seats, you are limited to how far you can go back because of the fender. But if you told either of the first 3 what your requirements were, they could certainly build you what you wanted. Not it's going to cost you a pretty penny and I think each one of them will need your OEM seat to work from (or at a minimum use your seat pan). And with modifying the OEM seat you are limited by the material of the cover as to how much you could go up, which would certainly require that you have a new cover made. Hope this helps, Rick
  15. Rick Butler
    Wayne, Ride as conservative as you feel necessary and everything will be just fine and you will get good mileage. Above 65mph, your mileage will start to tail down as you ride faster. However it's true that the engine performs the best around 4,000 rpm but around 3,200 is still in it's range. Hope this helps, Rick
  16. Rick Butler
    Keith, In my experience, if it will start and run only with the choke is on, you have a main or pilot jet gummed up in the bowl and the carbs need to be cleaned out. Especially if it will not take throttle. I'm guessing that you have let the bike set up for a good length of time before now. But, you might want to try a dose of Sea Foam to see if that will help the situation out. Hope this helps, Rick
  17. Rick Butler
    Dakota, If you still have stock springs in your 87, then you definitely need heavier springs with the sidecar. And Progressives would be a good choice. Remember for the most part, the air is only there to adjust the ride height. Even with Progressives, you may still need air to adjust for the weight of the car. Hope this helps, Rick
  18. Rick Butler
    Tom, The best and cleanest CB set-up I have seen lately is the J&M 2003CB. It has a handlebar headset almost like our Ventures with a nice PTT switch. It also has an external antenna with is nice, 5 weather bands, and an input for a MP3 Player. Its not cheap but IMHO worth what you pay for it. If she has a sport bike with a tank bag, I have a friend that is using the J&M Integrator which he mounted in his tank bag that also supports a cell phone as well as CB (external antenna) and MP3 player. Autocom also makes a nice tank bag alternative. Hope this helps, Rick
  19. Rick Butler
    Yes Alex, I have worked on this but linking a front brake on a RSV (with a 1st gen proportioning valve) is more work than it's worth. However I have done extensive work and analysis on making the rear brake on the RSV and RSTD into a kinder gentler brake. I have done this with an adjustable proportioning valve off the rear brake master cylinder with good results that several here have installed. See the Butler Brake Mod in the classified section: http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=979 Hope this helps, Rick
  20. Rick Butler
    JB, To replace the steering head bearings, you don't need to remove the fairing. However you do need to pull your fork legs out to get to the top and bottom triple tree. You need to remove the bearing on the bottom triple tree on the bench. And I'm not sure I would worry about the handlebar mounts and I'm not sure anyone offers a Delran replacement. But you might look into having a set of solid bushings made to have pressed in? And for a 1st Gen, any motorcycle jack that is rated to 1,000 lbs will work. You have plenty of inexpensive options from Sears and Craftsman or Harbor Frieght. And you don't need any spacers or frame blocks since the pipes are on the same level as the frame. Just treat the jack like a fork lift, but place the left fork (from the right side) right at the front of the center stand, to provide the right balance point and better support. Hope this helps, Rick
  21. Rick Butler
    Rez, I have never gotten their spring rate calulator to give me a straight number. And I don't know if they ask you for the wet weight of the bike besides your (and gear) weight. The one that Sonic has is much easier to use, once you have the weight of the bike. The point is that with just the weight of the Venture by itself, you need 1.20 springs. And on the anti dive units, when you drill the dampening rode for the emulators you destroy these units. Afterwards, when the antidive activates, there is nothing to stop the pressure from the compression in the dampening rod. And yes, they come with very complete instructions. And like I said, you do not need to disassemble the forks completely, just remove the bottom bolt holding the dampening rod and let it drop out the top after you remove the springs. Hope this helps, Rick
  22. Rick Butler
    Thanks Jack, I had seen this article previously but had forgotten about it. But you won't beleive what these emulators will do for a set of dampening forks, along with new springs. And when I talk about new springs, I mean right out of the factory, 1st gen and 2nd gen alike. In fact the best thing you can do for the ride of these Ventures is replace the stock springs with a heavier set. They just don't put heavy enough springs in any of these Ventures, regardless of how much the rider weights. Then Cartridge Emulators is the next best step. If you don't know how they work, they are nothing more than a pop-off valve that sits on top of the damening rod. And this valve can be adjusted to control how quick it pops off and lets fluid flow on the compression stroke. Then as fast as it pops off, it closes so the reaction between compression and rebound is almost instantanious. This lets the forks react so quick that the reaction from bumps just goes away. I installed my first set on my 93 after a friend that I was conversing with up in Washington told me about them. After I did all the research that I needed I bought and installed a set and have been using them ever since. Hope this helps, Rick
  23. Rick Butler
    Well Rez, It certainly seems you know know your way around a set of forks now. For the most part what you have done would have already satisfied most everyone here. If you are looking for the best that a set of 88 dampening forks can offer, then I would suggest installing a set of Race Tech Cartridge Emulators. But this means that you get to disassemble your forks again (but just the dampening rod and not the seals) and drill 8 holes in the dampening rod. And even though Progressive Springs are readily available and pretty reasonably priced, they are not the end-all to fork springs. All of the fork tuners have gone to a constant-rate spring because you cannot get the full effect of a set of full length Progressive wound fork springs with a travel of around 5". These cartridge emulators take a set of dampening forks and turn them (functionally) into a set of cartridge forks for about 1/10th the cost. Or you could put a set of R1 cartridge forks (with adjustable preload, compression and dampening) on your 88? I have been using and installing constant rate springs from www.SonicSprings.com for a couple of years now with complete satisfaction. The owner is a friend who was a past and is a present racer who started this company. If you want to do some research, I'd suggest checking out the tech articles on Race Techs web site: http://www.racetech.com/SubMenu.asp?cMenu=4&c=Yes&cSubMenu=9&showPage=cruiser As well as those on Sonic Springs that describe spring sag, preload, sag and spring rate: http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/tech_articles.php?osCsid=87037da71e67e6fdf83d53a8173828b4 And speaking of spring rate, you will need a set of springs with a rate of 1.20 kg/mm. And the length of the spacer only changes your preload, more correctly your ride height. And the fork oil weight only changes the rate that the forks compress and the amount of oil changes the rebound rate. This is why dampening forks suck, but it's what we have to deal with. Like Oprah says, knowledge is power. Hope this helps, Rick
  24. Rick Butler
    Heck Larry, I'm not sure what you are running on the rear of your trike, but I'm guessing they would be steel belted radials. So why not run a car radial on the front. Fred Vogt runs a car tire on the front of his 1st gen trike, but he is limited to a 120 profile 17", where you should be able to find good tires in a 150/? 16". Like Kent said, with a trike there is no real reason to run a bike tire on the front. And on this subject Pirellis, I ran them alot on my 86 & 91's. They handled great but they couldn't deal with the Texas heat and didn't get very good mileage. Rick
  25. Rick Butler
    Thanks Lynn, I don't know how I could have missed Goose's earlier post? But again he is just as curious as I am at times. But now that I have you, did the early Royal Star carbs use the same mains on each cylinder? And I don't think they used the AIS did they? I'm guessing that it has something to do with the AIS and emmisions, but I would have thought that #1 & #3 would have used the same mains since they fire 180 degrees from each other. The 70 degree over and underlap is between #3 and #2 and #4 to #1. Curious minds still need to know, Rick
×
×
  • Create New...