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Rick Butler

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Everything posted by Rick Butler

  1. Rick Butler
    Yeah Squeeze, They are the ones that I'm refering to that even the R6 went to in 2005, at least here in America. I guess this is why Yamaha started putting this earlier 4-piston style calipers on the Road Star in 2004, to use up the excess? Rick
  2. Rick Butler
    Mike, Until this post, I had forgotten that I have an original set of the DiamondR passenger highway pegs, laying in a drawer. Linda didn't use them that much, so I took them off. In fact, now that I think back I'm the one that talked Allen into making them after see one of the guys on Venturenet make a crude set out of aluminum. If you want to see what they look like Allen still has them in his product list: http://www.diamondraccessories.com/yamaha/proddisplaymultipic.php?name=Passenger%20Highway%20Pegs If you want my mine, I'm sure they can be for sale, Rick
  3. Rick Butler
    James, Checkout http://www.glarestomper.com/ I use one on my Quest II and it works well. It Velcros on around the top and sides, but just to make sure it stays, I also take a length of double sided Velcro tie wrap and run it across the bottom tieing it all together. Rick
  4. Rick Butler
    Lynn, Just make sure that you take note of the year (see my 1st post) of the R1 & R6 calipers, because in the more recent years they both went to a completely different bolt configuration. Rick
  5. Rick Butler
    Yeah Lynn, That was my first modification when I finally realized that the brakes on the RSV were completely backwards when you need 70% of your stopping power on the front brakes. I had a friend with a couple of 1st gen Venture parts bike who sent me a set of front 4 piston calipers, which mounted up just perfect. With these 4 piston calipers I have front brakes from H?ll and you don't need big hands like Goose to stop this bike. But, later I noticed that Yamaha changed the front calipers on the 2004 Road Star from our 2 piston calipers to 4 piston calipers that I first noticed on the Road Star Warrior, where it was built with a R1 front end. It turned out that these calipers were also used on the early R6 and R1s, which meant there was another source for 4-piston calipers for those of us who wanted more stopping power up front. Oh, and the MTA is the Motorcycle Touring Association (fna the Venture Touring Society until Yamaha dropped the Venture in 94) which is an all brand, all bikes association that many of us came from and still support. I'd still like to hear from anyone who has tried the R6 front calipers, Rick
  6. Rick Butler
    Brian, That was pretty much what I suspected. Like I said earlier, the spring rate for stock RSV springs is .90 kg/mm. With 1.20kg/mm springs it drops about 1" with just the weight of the bike and just another 3/8" when I get on it and this is right on the money for the reccomended 30-35mm of loaded spring sag. But, what you did showed that by adding air in the forks, it will change the ride height and not allow the bike drop as far as it did with just the standard preload on the spring. Regardless it also shows that the stock springs (even when new) are undersprung just for the weight of the bike and even worse when the rider gets in it. I'd now be interested in what a 99 with stock springs would measure to show how much sag is lost over time? Thanks Brian and Brian, Rick
  7. Rick Butler
    Hey guys, My friend BJ Melin just posted the following on the MTA forum, so I thought I would post it here to get some feedback from you all: ""Hey guys I hate the front brakes on the 2nd gen Venture after a long trip my right hand is sore and worn out from gripping the lever so hard. I have bought a set of R6, 4 piston brake calipers and intend to get them installed the next time I have a decent day to work on the bike. I don't have an enclosed garage yet, so I have to wait for good weather. It looks like they will mount differently from the RSV 2 piston calipers. Rick Butler has mounted a pair of 4 piston calipers from the 1st gen on his Venture. Has anyone else tried the R6 calipers and if so how did they work out?" From what I have observed, the 2004 and earlier R6 and 2003 and earlier R1 calipers should be a clean bolt-up. Since many of these bikes seem to find their way to salvage, this might be a good option for someone wanting to get better front brakes on their RSV. Rick
  8. Rick Butler
    Tommy, The secret for a good passenger windshield is tall and wide. The OEM shield is good enough for the driver but pretty much blasts the passenger as the wind collapses right behind the driver into her face. You can verify this as you are moving by having the passenger moving her hand up and out to see where the edge of the wind vortex stops. You want a shield that will kick the air up and over your helmet and just clear hers. The same with the width where it should just clear the edge of her arms. For the RSV, the new Clearview XXL has been the best shield for my passenger that will also sheet rain off the screen instead of puddling water right in the middle. Hope this helps, Rick
  9. Rick Butler
    Larry, The plastic tubing that Sonic supplied was grey shedule 50 PVC and is what just about everyone uses for preload spacers. If they only supplied one piece, it probably wasn't enough for both forks. You can go to Lowes or Home Depot and get some more, where it you really need longer spacers. Or I'm sure Rich will send you a couple of pieces if you need him to. Once you have set your fluid level (120-130mm from top) with the springs out and forks completely collapsed, you can extend the forks to where they stop and put the springs back in to measure the preload spacers. Measure the distance from the top of the springs to the top of the forks. Before you do this go ahead and drop 2 washers on top of the springs. This will allow for this thickness where you can take one out which will go on top of the spacer before you screw the cap in. At a minimum the spacer should come to the top of the fork tube. That way it will compress the springs by the thickness of the fork cap which is about 26mm. Sometimes I go a couple of mm more to get some extra preload for a heavy rider. Regardless if I read you right, you need longer preload spacers. Hope this helps, Rick I still need someone to get me the spring sag from just the weight of the bike with stock springs.
  10. Rick Butler

    stock seat?

    Rick Butler replied to a topic in Watering Hole

    Hey Rooster, You might want to check out the Butt Butler in the classified section. It's only $30 and might work for you. Rick
  11. Rick Butler
    Bigin, In my experience with 1st gen Ventures, a high speed decelleration wobble is almost always due to head bearings not being tight enough. The Yamaha procedure and specs will not get them tight enough. A good test is to put it on the centerstand and have someone hold down on the rear of the bike taking the front wheel off the ground. Center the wheel and gently push it off center. If it falls completely to the stops, it's too loose. You want it to move some, but quit before it hits the stops. And yes sometimes tire and pressures will have some effect, but it will always come back to the steering head bearings in the end. And if you like to run fast (and straight) and be more stable, jack up the front and lower the rear. However in the Arkansas curves, you should let all the air out of the front and jack up the rear to quicken up the steering. Hope this helps, Rick
  12. Rick Butler
    Welllll Kit, I'm not sure how or why Honda chose their design on the GL1800 suspension, but you only have one anti-dive unit in your left fork. And you have a cartridge fork in the right leg and a dampening fork in the left leg. But, it seems to work for alot for those folks that shell out that kinda money for this bike. But like I have quoated previously, "The best you have ever ridden is the best you will ever know". It would probably surprise you how this bike would handle with a proper suspension. I have attached an interesting article produced by MCN on what one of the leading suspension experts thinks of the GL1800 suspension. I have a friend who just got his forks back from Traxxion Dynamics and is putting them back on as we speak. Should be interesting in hearing what he thinks of the change? Well heck, Don won't let me attach my pdf pages because they are too large? So if you would like to read them, I'll e-mail them to you. Brain, do you have those measurments? Rick
  13. Rick Butler
    Kevin, I just finished installing one on a friend's 06 RSV. Just be paitient while you are taking it out and I'll list a few notes that might make it easier: 1. Be sure and drain the oil and when you take the middle gear cover off, get ready for about a 1/4th a cup of oil that is going to come out. Usually taking the bottom bolt out with the copper washer will drain this last bit with the bike on the side stand, but in my case it didn't. 2. Since all the wires from the stator come up through the middle of the bike behind the engine, take both side covers off and the radiator overflow bottle out so you can get to the stator and ignition connectors to take them loose. 3. It may seem that the stator cover will not come off without taking the front left exhaust off, but work with it and it will snuggly slip out. I think taking the back side out first as you worm it out will work best. It will seem to hang up on the exhaust, but it's a tight fit and it will come out. After you get the stator out, dry fit the case back on so you will know exactly how it goes. 4. After I took the 3 wire connector loose, I pulled the end with the female connector out the left side by the fuel pump so I could easily get to it to solder the 3 leads from the stator. And I didn't route it back through the middle, but rather under the shift shaft and along the frame behind the fuel pump and tie wraped everything up. You will need to take the 2 bolts out of the fuel pump bracket so you can make this run. Remember that you are going to cut the female end off and solder the leads from the stator together permanently, so lay it out carefully before you start soldering. I used heat shrink on each of the 3 wires and then electrical tape on the 3 wire bundle. 5. On the 3 wires coming from the stator you will see a rubber grommet that slips into the case. Where these wires go through the grommet, they are not a sealed fit, and will leak oil. Get a tube of Yamabond 4 and a pack of solder flux brushes. This sealent is a nice fluid that will solidify but not get hard. Use the flux brushes to paste the Yamabond into the spaces around the 3 wires going through the grommet (on both ends) and then when you replace the stator in the case, also paste the grommet into the case to provide a complete seal. You will need to hold it a few moments until it sets up. 6. On the bolts that hold the stator in and two bolts that holds a cover a cover on, these are phillip head 6mm bolts. You might be able to get them out with a impact screw driver, but since they are Loctited you will destroy the heads in the end. So I always drill the heads off and then take them loose with either a easy out or a vise grips on the longer bolts. Then I go down to the local True Value hardware and get 3 - 6X35mm and 2 - 6X16mm stainless pan head allen bolts and loctite them back in. I think this is about all of the important stuff and I hope it helps, Rick
  14. Rick Butler
    Al, We are getting into symatics where we are both saying the same thing. I said static sag where maybe I should have said spring sag to make it more clear. Spring sag is the amount the springs compress between fully topped out and fully loaded with the rider on board in riding position. It is also referred to as static ride height or static (sitting still) sag. The bottom issue is that we don't want a spring that is undersprung (or wore out) enough that we are constantly bottoming out the forks on larger bumps. But when you say 33% of total travel, that comes out to about 1 5/8" or 40mm which I would probably be ok with. But, we don't have near the issue with our fork springs that the GL1800 has. I just measured the spring sag on a brand new Gold Wing and without the rider it dropped 55mm or 2 1/4". And when the 250lb rider got on it with his feet on the pegs, it dropped to 70mm or almost 3". The reason for this is the spring rate of the OEM springs which is .70kg/mm. To me it's more of a handling issue but I'm also running Race-Tech cartridge emulators to make it even better. Rick
  15. Rick Butler
    Thanks Brian, I really appreciate you doing this. And Al, "Why would static sag be significant on a touring bike"? For the same reason that it's important to a race bike...better handling. So, let me put it this way. Yamaha states that we have 5.5" of total fork travel on our RSV. But it's really more like 5" in reality allowing for the top out spring. Now if the weight of the bike alone takes up 2" and when the rider gets on, it drops another .75". So how much travel is left for bumps from this big heavy touring bike, yeah just over 2". Not really much. The experts say that for a street bike the static sag with a rider should be around 30 - 35mm or about 1.5" max. If it's more than that then you need to increase the preload on the spring to raise the bike up a bit so that it doesn't drop as much when weighted. Now on a sport bike, they have a preload adjustment they can screw down to compress the spring to create more resistance to produce less sag. In our case, we pump 7-15lbs of air into the fork to accomplish this, where the air acts like a progressive spring. And the more air you add, the more it pushes back in the empty space above the oil level in the fork. But if when you max the air in the fork (or compress the spring) and it still drops more than 35mm, then it's time to be thinking about heavier fork springs. The OEM fork spring rate for our RSV is .90kg/mm where I have been using a spring rate of 1.2kg/mm for several years to get my bikes sag within 35mm. It's my contention that for most of us, this bike of ours is undersprung, both front and rear. Now this is not that surprising, knowing that the manufactures build a bike for an average weighted rider, passenger and cargo. But they are able to adjust for this increased weight economically by the use of added air in the forks and shocks. One other issue with increased fork sag over the reccomended level is that it also affects the rake and trail, sometimes with ill effects like premature head shake? It has been my experience that for the best handling, it's better to have springs that are rated for my weight and the way I like to ride. Like they say, the best you have ever ridden, is the best you'll ever know. In other words, your bike could be handling like crap and you would never know it and think that's just the way it's supposed to be. That is unless you have the knowledge and understanding that you could make a simple change and see a significant improvement. Hope this helps, Rick
  16. Rick Butler
    Hey Brian, I was just thinking that if you are going to help me out on this, why don't you get me both measurements, with max air and without any air. Whatchathink, Rick
  17. Rick Butler
    Jack, If you want to lower the bike and make it handle the best, I would just lower the the bike in the fork legs. By doing this you set the attitude of the bike the same as many of us have done with the leveling links, in raising the rear to match the front. By lowering the bike more in the rear, you get a lowered bike but some poor handling characteristics. And if you also lower it in the front after lowering it in the rear, you get a bike with poor ground clearance. However if all you are going to do is ride a straight line without a passenger and don't mind dragging bike parts, then lower it as much as you want. JMHO, Rick
  18. Rick Butler
    Gerald, I have at least 4 good front cowlings (one 99 2 tone gray) in my attic most with small scatches but none that would not be fixed by a new paint job. I'd let you have it for a good price, especially since you made her buy her own right bag. Rick
  19. Rick Butler
    You know Brian, I haven't been running air in my front forks for about 6 years now, so I don't often think of it. However, yes on the air and why don't you pump it up to the maximum psi. Thanks, Rick
  20. Rick Butler
    Hey Guys, I need some help. You would have thought as many RSV fork springs that I have replaced this past year, that I would have already done this, but I just haven't For anyone that still has stock springs in their RSV and has a motorcycle lift that takes the front wheel completely off the ground, I need your help. I need you to get me the static sag measurement of just the bike as follows: 1. Lift the bike completely off the ground to where the forks are extended all the way out. 2. Take a 4" length of masking tape place it on the right lower fork leg with one end slipped slightly under the top cover. 3. Now use the bottom of the top fork cover as a guide and draw a line on the tape. 4. Now let the bike down on the jack to where the bike is resting completely on the ground and slightly off the jack. 5. Holding the right handlebar to steady the bike, use the upper fork tube as a guide and draw another line. 6. Lift the bike back up and peel the tape off the lower fork leg Now you have a piece of tape with 2 lines on it. Measure that distance and you have the bike's static sag. I need that distance, please. Thanks, Rick I have attached a picture of this tape on the fork lower so you can see what I'm talking about.
  21. Rick Butler
    It's all just gear oil, Yeah Right
  22. Rick Butler
    Carl, The slides/diaphrams are completely interchangable between the 1200 and the 1300. However the lift holes at the end of the 1200 are smaller. The lift hole is next to the needle hole and affects the rate the slide will open under power. One of the DynoJet Stage 7 modifications to get the slide to open quicker was to drill an extra lift hole. However if you did this to a Venture slide, it opened quick but wouldn't hold under constant power like running down the highway at 70. In fact when DynoJet was producing their Venture V-Boost kits back in 89-93, they chose to thread the larger 1300 lift holes for a smaller insert that provided the same size hole of the 1200s. In fact in 93 when Yamaha was producing the last of the 1st Gen Ventures, I found one 1200 slide in a new 93 that had never been touched by a service tech. Also the early 1200 slides had a problem with the diaphrams coming completely off the slide, which was corrected by maybe 85. Hope this helps, Rick
  23. Rick Butler
    Bill, I have used the black ABS cement but in case Lowes doesn't have it Oatley also makes a general purpose ABS/PVC/CPVC cement that I have used for years and it has held good every time. Just make sure you use the use the cleaner in the yellow can before you use the cement. It just makes sure the contact surfaces mate well. Rick
  24. Rick Butler
    Guys, I have owned 3 Travelcade Road Sofa seats since 88 and the secret to any comfortable aftermarket seat (IMHO) is never buy one off the shelf, but to have them build it to you. But, have them forget the common information they ask you about your inseam, weight, etc and have them make the seat as low and as far back as they can get it without running into the fender. The Road Sofa for the 1st Gens was the best, where the 2nd Gens don't give you the same amount of room because of the location of the fender. If you need one for a 2nd Gen, just make sure that they understand to extend the nose about 1" so there is no gap between the seat and the tank. Hope this helps, Rick
  25. Rick Butler
    Sorry Guys, I was having a little fun with the symbolism of motorcycle seat modifications, where there seem to be several out there today. But, (pun intended) the Butt Butler is really me, where I have been modifying my Venture seats as well as seats of friends since about 1988. And in past responses and posts, I have talked about and described my process. I just recently did Jerry West's seat off of his 89 and have done several others on this forum (can't recall all of the names). Basically my method is to first flatten out any crown or forard pitch in a seat. Then I cut in what I call a "Tail Bone Relief" which I learned about from a seat modifier named "Papa Jack" who was around the rallies in the late 80s and early 90s. He was pretty old then and I haven't heard anything about him for about 15 years now. This process takes any pressure off the tail bone and puts it on your sit bones which seems to make for a longer riding saddle. Once I have the seat cut to where I want it (based upon what I have gathered from the owner) I fill in the tail bone relief with a small piece of memory foam and then cover (glue) the entire seat section with another 1" layer of memory foam. The memory foam is unlike a standard foam whose resistence is linear, but compresses to almost nothing where there is pressure and rises back up where there is no pressure. Oh, but before I do any of this, I smooth out any of the cuts made to the foam with a low speed rotary grinder with a coarse sanding wheel. Then all that is left is to fit the cover back on (and glue the seat section if needed) and staple the cover back on with a pneumatic stapler. I've been retired now for 3 years and for something to do with my spare time, I have started working on other close friends bikes and seats. The folks that I have been riding with gave me the name of "Bike Butler" and after I recently fixed several sport touring seats, I got the name of "Butt Butler". Now after all of the forks springs I have replaced in the last year, I'm starting to feel like the "Fork Butler". After all of these years of having a last name that has been commonly referred to "He did it", I'm starting to have fun with the name Butler But seriously I will modify any of the Venture, RSV and RSTD seats for $30 for the driver seat and $50 to also include the passenger, plus shipping back to you. And in most cases I will have your seat headed back to you within a week. There you have it, Rick
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