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Rick Butler

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Everything posted by Rick Butler

  1. Rick Butler
    Guys, If you are looking at any tire in a 90 aspect ratio 130/90 16 or 120/90 18, it's a bias ply tire. You have to get down to a 70 series or less before you start seeing radials and they are always denoted with an R at the end (120/70 ZR 17). Radials have the plies going from one side all the way to the other and can't have deep sidewalls because they inherently they have no sidewall strength. To get the stiff sidewall that motorcycles require, they put plastic stiffners in the sidewall stiff. I would not want to be on a bike with car like radials where the sidewalls flex to give you more traction. And most m/c radials are only 2 ply where most of our tires are like a 5 ply with a 3 to 4 ply sidewall. And if you have been around some of the sport touring bikes with radials, they change tires about the same as they change oil. I'll stick with bias ply or belted tires on my big bikes. Hope this helps, Rick
  2. Rick Butler
    Steve, I'm sorry but the OEM shock on a RS Venture CANNOT be rebuilt under any circumstances, regardless of how many shocks this guy in Sidney has rebuit in the past. These shocks are completely machine press sealed together. But go ahead and take it to him and watch the look on his face when he takes the rubber boot off of it. You can order the OEM shock (Part No 4XY-22210-10-10) from Flatout Motorcycles http://www.flatoutmotorcycles.com/fiche_section_detail.asp on-line for $350.75 US and it looks like they will ship anywhere. However they only give this price for an on-line order since there is no staff involved in the order. Otherwise Works Performance is the only aftermarket company that makes a replacement shock for our bike for around $600. Hope this helps, Rick
  3. Rick Butler
    Orrin, This is a very interesting product and if it performs as they claim, I would certainly endorse it. It's certainly a less expensive solution than mine. Even though the valve is only $35 plus $6.50 shipping, I still needed a custom Galfer rear line plus another of their 10mm X 1.00 pitch adapter ($75) to make it work ($117 total). Then I needed to re-thread the valve to 10mm X 1.00 on both ends and test the fit of the adapters and banjo washers before I sent it on for installation (another $10 for my time and $6.00 or so for Priority Mail for a grand total of $133 or so). But from my reading of the description, this product is nothing more than a fixed proportioning valve where they use a gas charge (nitrogen?) to apply the proportioning instead of a spring that the 1st gen unit uses. And if I could pick one up for $62 plus shipping it would be less than my solution and less work overall to install. However I would NOT ever consider using any proportioning on our front calipers, where with the stock 2-piston calipers you need everything they can provide. If you were ever to lock up a front wheel, it is not an issue where you just release the brake and you have no adverse consequence Unlike the rear wheel where you have to deal with the slide or a high side. Oh, for those of you who wonder which valve I am using, it's sold by Speedway Motors and is used by out hotrod friends, who don't want rear wheel lockup any more than we do. And by the fact that it's adjustable you can change it to your riding conditions if you have the need: http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/1979,9_Compact-Adjustable-Proportioning-Valve.html Hope this helps, Rick
  4. Rick Butler
    Pilot, I support the HH pads, either EBC or Galfer.....but only on the front IMHO. You really don't want that much grab on the rear 4-piston caliper, where a stock pad will work better. And the folks at Cycle Brakes are good folks and have good prices and they carry both EBC and Galfer products. Rick
  5. Rick Butler
    Well Guys, As many of you know this is a problem that has been near and dear to my heart and has tried to kill me three times in the past 5 years. But in each case I didn't do the right thing when it came to emergency stops with the RSV. And even though I seriously considered getting rid of the bike and buy something with ABS, I didn't. I really like this bike's heart and soul so I started looking at resolving the issue with this bike's brakes. But before I go on, I need to make a couple of observations that have been made by folks that are more experienced than I am: 1. You are better off with linked brakes than you are without. 2. You should always take advantage of technology and therefore you are better off with ABS brakes than you are without. And after saying this, IMHO the main problem with the RSV and RSTD is that it has too much braking on the rear rotor with a 4 piston caliper. And with the forward brake controls you have too much leverage on the brake pedal, so it is too easy to inadvertently jab the rear brake and lock her up. And once you lock it up and let it start drifting, you pretty much have to stay with it and steer into the slide. Riders that have been brought up on dirt bike pretty much know how to deal with this issue. Because once you let off the rear brake, it's going to grab and possibly high side you. Therefore I feel that we have to start using the front brakes more and leaving the rear brake alone until after we grab the front brake (which is more powerful and easier to modulate). The only time I use the rear brake any more is coming to a final stop. Otherwise it's front brake, front brake, front brake. The nice thing about a front brake lockup is all you have to do it let off the brake and you are back to normal without any adverse effect (unlike a rear brake lockup). So off my soap box. What I have personally done to deal with this issue is 1. change out the front brakes with 4 piston calipers and 2. move a 2 piston front caliper to the rear and also install an adjustable proportioning valve off the rear master cylinder. With these mechanical changes, I now have front brakes from H_ll and a rear brake that will not lock up. However changing out the front calipers is not a cheap proposition therefore I would suggest using the HH pads that many makers now have (but not on the rear). The rear caliper issue is a $130 solution which involves a proportioning valve from Speedway and a stainless line from Galfer, aka the Butler Mod (not my idea) . I really tried to install the components from a 1st gen Venture to link the brakes but it became a very expensive solution. To do this, I had to build a junction block that would take one line in and two lines out, one with the 1st gen proportioning valve to the rear caliper and a metering valve to the left front. In fact I still have all of these components along with $200 of Galfer stainless line to put it together, if someone wants to buy it from me for a steal. And in wrapping this up (like several of you have already said), if you are going to drive 80 mph, then you really need to be able to come to a stop at this speed. And this really involves practice, practice, practice. Hope this helps and if I can help you out on this issue, I will, Rick
  6. Rick Butler
    Thanks Larry, Your first solution was my first option. I just wanted someone to reinforce what I was considering. Rick
  7. Rick Butler
    Guys, I'm installing one of these on a friend's bike (with the RSV bracket) and have a question for those of you who have already installed theirs. It appears that the positive and negative wires going into the bottom to the wiring spades are very close to the pipes. I would think these wire connectors will get too hot? Is there anything anyone did to get around this situation or is this even a problem? Thanks, Rick
  8. Rick Butler
    Yeah Gunny, It has always appeared that Kuryakin made them for every bike except the RSV. They are always one of my first choices when looking for something like this. Rick
  9. Rick Butler
    Skid, The GL1200 really had a thick seat on it. If he is setting on the pan, I would suggest that someone has been in there and cut the stock milded foam down for someone who is really inseamed chanllenged. Rick
  10. Rick Butler
    Guys, I know several of you including myself have been interested in changing our levers to the wide-blade style lever. I had been using the ones from the old Royal Stars but they are no longer offered and were a bit short anyway. The ones I have now are from JC Whitney and work alright but don't look as good as Yamaha's. However I am currently working on a friends 2006 and noticed that the levers are now the nice wide-blade style of the old Royal Stars but longer. But they are only brushed aluminum rather than chrome. I checked the parts fiche and it looks like Yamaha changed to these levers in 2005. The parts numbers are: 1D6-83922-00-00 1D6-83912-00-00 Flatout has them for about $23 each. Just thought I'd mention this as an option for those looking to change theirs out. Rick
  11. Rick Butler
    Ed, 1. You should be able to turn the drive shaft from the end with the splin with a little difficulty. In other words, it's not easy, but doable. Remember you are turning a pinion gear that is also turning the ring gear. 2. I'm not sure about the speed the wheel is turning when you pull in the clutch, but it should spin for some time or several revolutions. Hope this helps, Rick
  12. Rick Butler
    Harold has your best advise, AMSOIL came out with their new EA oil filters (with nanofiber technology) last July that beats anything on the market today. From what I understand they try to stay at least 3 years ahead of the competition. EaOM Filters last longer, stop smaller dirt particles and offer less restriction than other filters. Ea Motorcycle Oil Filters provide filtering efficiency of 98.7 percent at 15 microns, outperforming the best cellulose/synthetic blend media on the market. For maximum engine protection, AMSOIL recommends changing the EaOM every time you change oil. (In a car, with their synthetic oil, these filters last 24,000 miles.) Read more at: http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/eaom.aspx And you can order them direct from www.amsoil.com, where they already have a EA103 filter for the 2nd gen Ventures. Rick \
  13. Rick Butler
    Ok Squeeze and Pegscraper, If I understand you correctly, the V-Max riders are swaping out their final drives for the 1st gen (or 2nd gen) Venture final drives (or chain drive conversions) of which Furbur is picking up for conversions for the 2nd gen RS Ventures? Sounds like a balance of trade situation. Now even though I had noticed that the FJR1300 looked like it was using the Venture final drive, is it geared the same as the Venture or the V-Max? Curious minds need to know, Rick
  14. Rick Butler
    Jeremy, You are right that the Superbrace is NOT the end all to all of your front end problems. All it really does is precisely tighten up the fork bottoms. However if you are thinking that it will solve your front end wobbles, etc. it will not. I don't know how many miles you have on your 87 but there are many things to consider which it appears you have addressed most of the bearings. But every front end wobble I have ever had or seen has been solved by properly tightening the steering head bearings. To test this, put your bike on the centers stand and have your wife or friend hold down on the rear until your tire comes off the ground. Now center your wheel and give it a little nudge to one side (or the other) and observe how it falls to the fork stops. If it falls easily to the fork stops.....the nuts are too loose. The torque specs in any Venture manual does not get them tightened properly. The wheel should move some but should stop moving before it gets to the stops. Now how to get the steering head nuts tightened is another story, but there are some threads on this forum that should explain how to do it. I have always taken the top triple tree off and repacked the bearings before tightening it. But regardless the final test is the one I explained watching the wheel fall off center. My other test is to take the bike up to the speed limit, set the cruise control and then take your hands off the handle bars. You don't have to take them completely off, but enough to where there is no pressure on the bars from your hands. If the front wants to shake, then they are not tight enough...go back to step one. If you do this test at 40mph and it shakes, but runs fine at 70 mph, then it's getting close to needing attention. But if it wants to shake at 70 mph, then it's definitely time to do something about the head bearings. Another issue to also look at in this situation, is how much sag your front end has. If you are still on stock springs, it is almost certain that the sag has gone from the springs. This causes your front end to set lower and therefore have less rake and trail which will cause the steering to quicken up in a turn, but will become more unstable under deceleration and cause a wobble. Just about all bikes can experience a wobble under severe deceleration. To test this without replacing the springs, pump up the front to maximum and decrease the rear pressure to the minimum. Hope this helps, Rick
  15. Rick Butler
    No Condor, The final drives are both the same. The only difference is in the transmission ratios with the 2nd gen being taller in all gears. Rick
  16. Rick Butler
    Don, I've got a question on this gear swap that Furbur does. Does he use both a new ring gear and pinion? The reason I ask is that if you look at the Yamaha parts fiche, you will not see a part number on either of these 2 gears. There are part numbers on every other piece but not these. So where is he getting his gears? Curious minds need to know, Rick
  17. Rick Butler
    Jim, I just noticed your post. On your 90 Venture, you will not like the V-Max rear end. With it being a lower geared ring it will really have you at a higher rpm if you like to run 80mph. You will loose about 500 rpm and you will feel like you are running in 4th gear with the Venture final drive. The reason I know is that I ran one one my 91 when I hooked up my sidecar, where it helped alot with lower speed manuevers. Then when I took the sidecar off, I'd slip the Venture final drive back in. The reason it's a good idea on the RS Ventures is because the tranny on these bikes has been geared a bit taller in every gear than your 1st gen. With this final drive change, it puts their gearing just about where it was with the 1st gen Ventures. I don't think I would be a 1st gen wanting to jump a 2nd gen with this change, it might surprise you. Rick
  18. Rick Butler
    Wayne, I can usually have a seat completed in one day and have it headed back to you by the next day after I get it. In fact I should be getting a set from Stu Foreman (seforeman), hopefully tomorrow, where he sent it Monday. But on the pillow top before I did another, I'd like to wait to get Dan Stevenson's feedback after his trip to Montana, the end of August. In fact I'll be leaving Aug 25th and won't be back until Sept 11th. Rick
  19. Rick Butler
    Yeah Lynn, I'm not a professional upholsterer, but I've done enough seats that I'm getting pretty good at taking them apart, modifying them and putting them back together. And you are right that memory or isolastic foam is not cheap. The cheapest piece you can probably find would be a twin mattress topper, which still will cost around $40 to $50. My wife and I have used a couple of 1 1/2" mattress toppers on our bed for several years now and just replaced them with a 4" topper whch is much firmer. So now I have an ample supply to line seats until I run out. And as far as a do-it-yourself project, I would say yes if you have an electric knife and a stapler and are willing to cut on your own seat. In my case I have gotten pretty knowledgeable at looking at a seat and knowing what to do to it to make it more comfortable. The biggest modification is where I cut any crown or forward pitch in the seat out and then cut a wedge shape relief for the tail bone and . If you are inseamed challenged, I can also lower the seat as much as it will let me which is usually about 1" on most seats. And I have been charging $30 for the driver's seat and $50 for both with the customer paying shipping both ways. And if you don't like what I have done, I'll give you your money back (but not the shipping). Hope this helps, Rick
  20. Rick Butler
    Ok Lynn, When you say you put the pillow top foam and cover on your RS pan, did you mean the entire piece of foundation foam with the pillow top foam glued to the foundation? If so and I get some favorable feedback from Dan, I'm pretty sure I can help you out. Rick
  21. Rick Butler
    So Lynn, Which seat do you have on your Royal Star? Or do you still have the stock seat? Rick
  22. Rick Butler
    Well Rick, I'm not sure. In looking at the Yamaha fiche it appears like the brake line is attached via a standard banjo bolt which is a 10mm X 1.25 pitch. But I can't tell how the master cylinder is fitted to the bike and how the brake line makes it's way to the rear caliper. Saying this I see that the 1100 V-Star uses a 2 piston rear caliper which (in my opinion) is still too much rear caliper. On this bike I feel a 1 piston sliding pin caliper would suffice. However if you could post some close up pictures of the V-Star master cylinder and rear brake line, I could make a more educated evaluation as to what it would take. Rick
  23. Rick Butler
    Well guys, I had been talking to Dan Stevenson about modifying his pillow top seat. At the time I told him that even though I had modified several RSV seats, I had never been into a pillow top version yet. But after what I saw from what Pat Hannon (jakenator6) had done to his, it was certainly not what expected. So I told Dan that I just happened to have a pillow top off my 2001 RSV up in my attic, so why didn't I just uncover it and see what I could do to make it better. It was just like Pat had shown where there were about 8 button hooks holding down the pillow top. And there was that layer of 1 1/4" foam covering the entire seat. And just like Pat explained I had to carefully tear it loose from the seat foam. But when I got if off, what I saw was a pretty sound foundation of base foam. And unlike the other RSV seats, this seat had a pronounced outer support built into the shape. On the other seats I usually have to cut the center down flatter just a bit before I start on the tailbone relief to provide this outer support. This seat already had this done in my opinion. So all I did to this seat was 1. cut the tail bone relief and 2. cut a curvature into the back of the seat. The back of the seat seemed to be more flat, putting pressure on the backside just above the crack . All the time I was cutting, I would put it back on the bike to see how it felt and this curve felt better. However, before I decided to put the cover back on I could clearly see that a layer of foam would be necessary to maintain the pillow top effect. So I used the old foam as a pattern to cut a new layer of memory foam (isolastic foam). The standard foam even though it appears to compress the same as even memory foam, it is more linear and pushes back across the entire area being compressed. Isolastic foam seems to compress more where there is more pressure and fills in where there is less pressure. In other words, it seems to fill in all the gaps. It also compresses to almost nothing under pressure but then springs back to it's original shape when the pressure is released. In finishing up, I glued the layer of memory foam to the seat foundation and then installed the cover using all of the button hooks to give it that pillow top effect. And after stapling the cover back on it looked pretty natural, but felt much better. How much better I don't know, which is why I'm going to give this seat to Dan Stevenson for a trip he is taking with his uncle to Montana later this month. Hopefully he will report back favorly or give me feedback to make any changes to my modification to the design of this seat. Attached is a picture of both the before and after of the pillow top seat. I just happened to have a 2005 RSV with a pillow top in my garage so this is a picture of both seats. The modified seat is on the bike where you should see the change to the tail bone area as well as the curved back. Stay tuned for more, Rick
  24. Rick Butler
    Cliff, The cover you speak of should be plastic and just snaps out by squeezing inward and lifting up. And soaking the pads in laquer thinner will release any oil that has penetrated the pad. However after you are finished with your leak, you may see that it's time for new pads? Hope this helps, Rick
  25. Rick Butler
    James, When you say "Carb Boot" do you mean the intake that is bolted to the head with the carb on the top? If so, I think I have a set off of a 1300 that should work. Rick
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