Rick Butler

No Don, But have you thought about the Butt Butler Mod? It's only $30 plus shipping and he can get it back much quicker that their current 3 weeks. He hasn't done a VTX seat but he's done all the RSV and TD seats. Rick

You know guys, No one has mentioned taking out the slack in the cable from the cruise control vacuum actuator. If you set the electronic part of the cruise control, it actuates the vacuum actuator. If there is any slack in the cable from here to the cable junction, guess what happens? Yeah, the return spring pulls back until it hits the stop and you see a decrease in speed. By bumping the Accell button a couple of times, it takes that slack out and holds the speed you set it at on the speedometer. If you take the left lower off you will see this actuator and the cable coming out. There is an adjustment nut that you can tighten and lock to take any slack out. The freeplay for this adjustment is 1-2mm. Hope this helps, Rick

Steve, Unless you can find a used one on e-bay, the only one that I would by today would be from Hitch Doc. However I think Trailmaster carries Hitch Doc http://www.trailmasterinc.com/hitches.html and has better pricing. Rick

Don, Until it starts making a clunking noise in the area of the middle gear, I wouldn't worry about it. The needle bearings are sealed and until they wear out there is really nothing you need to do. If it starts making a clunking noise on decelleration or accelleration you can verify it by taking the rear wheel off the ground and then move the wheel back and forth where you should feel it. And it's not a easy job because at a minimum the entire swing arm must come out. I did one on a 93 and it wasn't fun where I had to come with some creative solutions to get it replaced. I think the manual requires you to remove the engine to replace it? I've got over 90k on my 2002 and it's still doing fine. There you have MHO, Rick

Ken, You didn't say how you wired them but I'm guesisng that you may have wired them to replace your stock horns? And if so you may not have used a relay. These horns pull 5 amps and need a heavier hot wire than what is on the bike. Now the bikes wiring may run the horns, but the extra current will fry your horn switch over time. And saying that, our horns are activated by the ground side of the wiring which is controlled by the horn button acting as a switch. I usually run a 16 guage hot wire as well as the same size wire for the ground (and always with a relay). And if these horns only have one connection, the ground will then be the center bolt coming out of the top cover. Just build a 16 guage wire with an eylet connector to go under the nut on this center post on the horn with the other end attached to a frame bolt. Anywhere on the entire main frame on this bike can be used for ground. Hope this helps, Rick

Hey Sarge, Since it's a problem, I'll just take a look at the VStar 1100 the next time I'm down at the dealership, which will be next week. Then I'll let you know what I think. Stay warm, Rick

Sarge, I think you had mentioned your wifes V-Star on another post. And I looked at the fiche and since it's attached with a standard 10mm X 1.25 pitch banjo bolt, I think this valve would work, but I'd need to look at a bike more closely to see how much room we would have under the boards, etc. Rick

Dan, I totally agree with the majority of what you are reccomending. And I have taken the MSF ERC and ARC courses so many times in the last 20 years (the last one was 2-up) that I have lost count. I usually take one with my group every 4 years or so just to help out new riders, etc. However the MSF and what Jerry Palladino teaches does NOT prepare you for an emergency stop at a speed higher than say 30mph. It's my position now after all of my inadvertent mishaps, that if you are going to drive 80, then you need to be able to stop at 80 Not many of us have the fortitude to clamp down on the binders and stop at this speed (or even 60). However I have done so countless times since I changed out the rear caliper and then after installing the proportioning valve (even pulling a trailer with my wife on the bike) and this piece of equipment makes a world of difference in coming to a controlled high speed stop. With just the 2-piston rear caliper I would still get a chirp out of the rear wheel, but after adding the proportioning valve, it took all of that anxiety away. And I'm not really trying to pitch this devise as much as I'm trying to help out folks so they don't have to go through what I have, before they inadvertenly have to deal with the the rear tire squalling with rear end coming around to meet the front. In defense of this bike with the good and the bad, my wife and I will ride it until the wheels fall off of it. In fact after my last mishap, I seriously considered taking advantage to todays brake technology and get a K1200LT or a GL1800 with linked ABS brakes. But I chose to go with the proportioning valve solution so we could keep this RSV that we have had a serious and close relationship with since 2000. JMHO, Rick

Well Friends, I have finally decided to go ahead and start packaging my Speedway Proportioning Valve and Galfer stainless brake line to be sold to VentureRiders. I have done this franky because I got pissed off and decided that I just needed to "Just do it"! But before get to the details, I need to tell a story. I came to this realization after coming back from a week of riding with my friends in the Big Bend area of Texas.......where we left a close friend in the hospital in Odessa, TX with a collapsed lung, bruised ribs, a ruptured spleen and a slight concusion. This accident happened on a new Tour Deluxe that only had about 500 miles on it. And the sad fact was that my friend had just come off of a FJR and still owned a GL1800, but fell in love with the way the TD rode. However he was not yet accustomed to the rear brake. His close friend had told me that he had already locked up the rear several times so he knew about the sensitivity of this brake. And in hindsight, I know I should have spent some time with him the evening before our ride to reinforce the proper braking on this bike, but I didn't. Regardless that next morning we took off from Study Butte and headed down the River Road to Presidio. And after we left Lajitas, it was nothing but a fabulous road that just "rocked and rolled" all the way to Presidio. We were about half way there when we came upon a slight 50mph curve that broke right on top of a small rise and was basically blind until you toped the rise. Well Murph entered this curve in the right track (early entry) and came into the apex of the curve on the center line (out high). I guess it startled him and he hit the rear brake, slide for about 10 ft, let off the brake where the bike high sided and slammed him into the road where he slide into an unconscious crumpled pile on the shoulder. Well we managed to get him comfortable while we waited on an ambulance, where they cut all of his clothes off, stabilzed and loaded him up for an ambulance ride to Presidio where a CareFlite was waiting to take him to Odessa. So for the next 2 days until we got home, I was internalizing the entire episode knowing that it could have been prevented (1.) with the right information about this bike and (2.) with a modified rear brake. Murph was a seasoned rider that I have spent countless miles riding with him over the past years, but he just wasn't used to this bike. Well, in the past few months I have both assisted in helping folks build and install the components of my proportioning valve themselves as well as making the modification to the valve, putting it together with the Galfer stainless line myself and then sending the completed package to folks that have asked me. And for bikes that are local friends of mine, I have installed several sets myself. So now because of Murph's accident, I have decided to start putting kits together for sale. When all of this started I wasn't that interested putting these components together into a so called product. But when I did I decided to only charge for the cost of the components and only $10 for my time, which came out to $130 delivered. However because most of us like the ease of using PayPal, this eats into that $10 for $4.07. So I have just ordered the components for 5 more sets (one of which is already spoken for) of which I'm going to sell for $140 delivered to anywhere in the US, which I think is a fair price. The entire kit fits perfectly into a small 5.5" X 8.5" Priority Mail box. Yeah, I know that applying proper braking techniques of using more front brake sooner will certainly take care of this issue, but sometimes your right leg and foot has a mind of its own and does something stupid. And when the rear tire starts sliding on this big bike, it's not a very good feeling. Because if you don't get off of it soon enough, the rear is going to start coming around. Then if you let off too late the bike will high side, which is going to hurt. This adjustable proportioning valve will provide that 1 or 2 second of cushion when the brake pedal is jabbed before all of that brake fluid makes its way to the 4 pistons in the rear caliper. So I'll list this in the Classified Section tomorrow and let's see what happens, Rick

Ken, I support this idea, where I have gone in greater detail on the other Lowering Kit post. Rick

Guys, I don't want to rain on anyones parade, but has anyone read the fine print in Barons installation instructions on this Lowering Kit? Of course they have to warn you against this on the advice of their lawyers for liability purposes. But after all the warning about ground clearance issues they state that "We do not reccomend a lowered motorcycle be ridden with a passenger". However, I have recently lowered the forks on a friend's RSV who is somewhat inseamed challenged. And I really think this change will not have as much of an adverse affect on the dynamics of the bike than that of lowering the rear any more then it already is. In fact from the factory, this bike sits about 1" low in the rear anyway, which affects the steering geometry by increasing the rake. But if all you are going to do is ride in a straights and not any agressive curves, this should be ok. But in lowereing the front forks, you not only lower the bike about 1" but you also level the bike up which certainly improves the steering geometry like raising the rear by the use of DiamondRs Leveling Links. So if it were me and I had to make a choice of lowering the bike, I would 1st lower the forks to level the bike and then rework the seat to get me closer to the ground. However, I too only have an inseam of 30" and I have chosen to raise the rear to make the bike handle better in the curves with the most ground clearance as I can get. I just deal with the height issue by only putting my left foot down at stops while leaving my right foot on the brake pedal. Once I start moving, the feet go up on the boards and I never use them as outriggers while moving slow. I find I have better slow speed balance with my feet on the boards rather than let them hang down and drag. Yeah, I'm sure some of you have realized that "Feet Draggers" are a pet pieve of mine Hope this helps, Rick Oh and I have also attached a pdf copy of the Barons Installation Instructions for this lowering kit. I found it several years ago on their web site when they were stupid enough to put them out there to print off.

Yeah Kurt, I has been discussed at great length and even tried by several folks. It seems to have some good effect on the front brakes, but not much help to the rear brake lockup. Do a search on TCB and you should find everything. Rick

Ed, I was going to reply when you first posted, but I decided to just listen to see what stories everyone had. And like the rest of the folks, I also have some stories of which I have suffered from as well as learned from. But I won't bore you with the details, except that I'm still alive to ride another day But first I will tell you that you have very little to worry about with your 06 RSV. These bikes are as solid as they come under amost every adverse condition and speed you will come across while riding. That is unlike our 1st gen Ventures which could be very unstable at speeds around 90 to 100. Of all the bikes I have ever looked at in dealing with a steering wobble, 99.9% of them always came back to loose steering head bearings. Yeah, tires can sometimes resolve this issue but it's only a temporary fix which in the end will still come back to loose steering head bearings. And after a couple of years and 20k or more, it's always good to drop the front end and repack and torque these bearings. These bikes come from the factory with the steering head bearings lightly greased. However if you do this from day one, and add the Furbur Fix, it will probably last for as long as you will ride the bike. However you needed an answer to your original question of what to do if you get a head shake at road speeds. Unless you did something like what Don did and had to slow the bike down, you HAVE to stay ON the throttle and stop the shake and then try to come down slowly. I was told years ago that just about any bike will wobble on hard deceleration. This is especially true for sport bikes with less rake and trail than we have. On deceleration, the front end is under a greater load and depending on the condition of head bearing, tires, fork sag, etc. will cause a wobble. So to unload the front end, slight accelleration is always the solution. I know, when the handlebars start to shake, your mind is telling you to Slow this horse down, but you can't do it. After hearing Don's story, I can just imagine the terrified look on his face as he was trying to get himself out of this situation. Hope this helps, Rick

Guys, What 86er is talking about is stacking 2 stock diaphram pressure plates together on top of each other. This is a V-Max drag racing trick, so there is NEVER a chance of the clutch slipping. However with 2 springs to pull in with the clutch, it also requires twice the hand grip. It's not all that bad, but on some folks you might end up with Popeye lower arms. Now either the PW Racing or the Barnett pressure plate will work just fine and allow the fiber plates to last much longer. But the PW kit will cost less and the Barnett pressure plate is certainly prettier. I put the PW kit in my 02 and ran it for 70k before I started noticing slight slippage. Before that I think I was changing fiber plates at about 25k. If money is no object, choose the prettier one, but use OEM fiber plates and not the Barnett kevlar plates. Rick

Guys, A while back I installed a Stebel Nautilus on a friend's 99 using Carbon One's bracket. After I installed and heard it, I got to thinking this horn would work great under a saddle bag or inside the fairing. But when I looked over the instructions again, I beleive I read that this horn must be mounted vertical or 15 degrees from vertical. Is this in fact one of the restrictions on mounting this horn? Because a friend of mine just recently bought a used 2000 and I noticed that the OEM horn was not connected. When I asked him about it, he said he wasn't sure what it was but it was loud and mounted in the fairing. Well I'm helping him replace the fork springs and when I took the front clowling off I found a Wolo Bad Boy tie wraped to the frame next to the radio (see attached). What I'm asking, for those of you who are familiar with mounting this horn, should I relocated it to the right side in place of the OEM horn or just leave it where it is. Thanks, Rick

The only trunk rack that I would trust is the one from Yamaha in their Royal Star Accessories STR-4XY62-50-00. It is the only one that has a support strap on both top and bottom to insure total support across all 4 mount points. And I wouldn't mess with the Hopnel trunk pad.

I'm not sure what a "Royal Star Custom Cruiser" is but if it's a Royal Star Tour Deluxe then the bags are the same, even if the part numbers are off a bit.

Steve, The 12mm nuts are down under the cassette player and you can barely see them looking down over the headlight. In fact you will need to remove the headlight and this will take care of the right (facing the headlight) 5mm allen. There is one on the other side just like it. I've attached a pdf of the parts fiche for the cowling. The numbers you are looking for are #5 for the 5mm allen and #6 for the 12mm nut that goes on the stud located under the #2 pan headed allen. You will need a long extension to get to the 12mm nuts. Hope this helps, Rick

Ok Guys, I'll humor you. The specs are as follows: Length fully extended - 252 mm Length fully compressed - 148 mm Bottom Clevis/outer width - 47 mm Bottom Clevis/inner width - 37 mm Top mount eyelet width - 30 mm Bolt hole size - 12 mm The OEM clevis mount is made of stamped mild steel, so if the one you find is made of an aluminum alloy, it needs to be made pretty heavy duty for the weight of our bikes. When I was proptotyping the one made by Works, this is one of the changes they made after the first attempt. Since they have CNC machine this wasn't a problem. Oh and on the valving, the unit is completely sealed, so I would guess that it is straight valved. Good luck, Rick

Art, My suggestion would be not to worry about it and let it groan. It's the seal moving up and down on the dry ram causing it to moan. If fact my Works shock even moans at times? Hopefully if there is a problem, it will start leaking and you can get it replaced under warrenty. Rick

Hey Bill, I hope this ride was just you and Melissa. I'd hate to have to report you to the Activity Committee for participating in a "Secret Ride" And speaking of riding, how is your elbow doing? Fine I hope. Rick

Forrest, I have one too, but I can tell you for certain that there is NO other OEM shock available that will fit the RS Venture or TD. It is the shortest shock that I have ever seen and Works really had to dig into their product line to find a shock body that would work. And this shock has a clevis connection on the bottom instead of the eyes on most other shocks. In fact Works had to custom machine the clevis on theirs to make it heavy enough for our bike. And forget about replacing the spring because it's inside of the shock and the only way you will get it out is to destroy the entire shock. I've attached a picture showing a cutaway of the shock beside a stock shock. Save your money for either an OEM shock ($350) or the Works (much more). Rick

Steve, If you have the money and like a pretty pressure plate that is never seen, then I'd opt for the Barnett kit. Otherwise, I'd take Tartan's advice and get the heavy duty pressure plate from PCW Racing. And changing out the most inner fiber plate with a full sized plate is also a good option. When you ask about the pressure plate, they will probably ask you if you want the upgrade, which includes an extra fiber plate and a gasket. http://www.pcwracing.net/featured.htm I installed a PCW pressure plate when my bike was pretty new and it lasted about 60k before I had to change out the fiber plates. But the Barnett kit will work just as good, it's just a little more money. But if you already have some miles on your bike and the clutch is starting to slip in high gear, I would advise you to replace the fiber plates and rough up the metal plates to take the glaze off. And the Yamaha fiber plates are as good as they come regardless of the literature and claims on the Barnett plates. Hope this helps, Rick

Jim, There is nothing intuitive about removing the forks and the Service manual is of some help. Except that it will have you jumping all over the manual to cover each task. Regardless I wouldn't even tackle this without it. But I'll try to give you some insight as best I can, where 1st you will need a cycle lift if you don't have a centerstand and a jack under the front. 1. Once you have the bike centered and the front off the ground, remove the front wheel and fender. 2. You will have to take the entire fairing loose and pull it forward to be able to get to the top tripple tree bolts. I usually suspend the fairing and handlebars from a eyebolt I have in the ceiling. This means removing the windshield, front cowling, headlight, running lights (if you have them) or the turn signal mount if not. 3. Once you have the fairing pulled loose, you can get to the top triple tree clamp bolts. Since you are replacing the entire forks, just loosen these clamp bolts. Take the handlebars loose and suspend the handlebars up and out of the way. Now remove the center steering stem nut where now the top triple tree should lift off. With this out of the way you can slide the top fork covers out to expose the bottom triple tree bolts. Loosen these and the forks should slide out. If it were me, I'd take the opportunity to replace the springs and fork oil in your new forks. If you can get ahold of a set Progressive springs, that will probably be as good as anything. Your stock spring rate is .90kg/mm where it really needs a rate of 1.20kg/mm. If you have access to someone who can get you a set of constant rate aftermarket springs, like Race-Tech or Sonic springs, that would be better (imho). But first get a Service manual and make sure you have all the tools, etc. Hope this helps, Rick Oh, the tech article that you were pointed to was for replacing fork seals in a set of 1st gen forks.

Guys, I think Condor has come up with a valid solution to help keep these intakes from becoming a possible problem. I think I have seen a similar product in the electrical section called Liquid Electrical Tape. Rick