Papa Fred

Hi Dave... I just saw the updates on the shock topic. I installed the rebuilt shock at the beginning of April...about 1500 miles on it to date. Still clean and dry and doing what it's supposed to do. I had sent you my old shock after swapping in the new one, and haven't heard whether or not it actually got to you. It would have arrived by the 2nd week in April, so if you did get it that might be your "spare". Cheers...

We do what we can to get where we're going. Looking forward to meeting you at George's Kitchen across from the Timmy's this summer. Stay well.

As a counterpoint to the above posts, but definitely not to dismiss them, I use that same jack in your 2nd link (albeit under a different name from Princess Auto (Canada)). It's a very useful and small tool for working on the bike, and in my opinion, for what I use it for, the jack with the 2 frame saddles is a more useful jack. The saddles line up on an ideal spot on the frame rails. It seems to me that a flat platform style of jack would require an adapter to get around the various bits of mechanicals that extend below the frame. With those saddles lined up, you can lift the bike just far enough off the floor to take the weight off the rear shock, making it very stable for any general maintenance or gremlin hunting... or hoist it up to clear the tires. You can move the jack fore and aft under the bike, clearing either front or rear tire depending on jack placement. I have had the front high enough on the jack to pull out the front tire, stabilizing the bike with a couple of jack stands under the lower bar of the rear crash bars. Sliding the jack a bit to the rear of the frame, lifting the bike to get the front tire planted on the floor, and with a little creativity in removing saddlebags, bag bars, and hitch frame parts, the rear wheel will come out as well. Would I have used a different setup if I had another jack? Absolutely. But having one jack at my disposal when I installed a VMax pumpkin last year meant using what I had at hand to get that rear wheel out. If your workshop space is a bit snug, it's an inexpensive addition to the garage and it works. If room isn't an issue, get what you think you need.

Thanks, Saddlebum, for the reminder on a portable boost pack. The local Canadian Shoe store has the GB40 on sale for $140. I have my morning drive planned for tomorro.... Canadian Tire for a battery booster, Timmy's for a single/double, then watch the snow melt on the drive home. Can't get any more Canuckian than that...tho I guess I COULD stop at Mark's and pick up a flannel shirt. Stay warm out East, Ben. Thanks for the tip.

Looks like we oughta have our own section here. I started riding in 1969, rode til shortly after our first daughter was born in 1981, then sold the bike I had then (late '70s Honda 750 Super Sport). We re-joined the "Never Say Never" riding community again in 2017 when we found our present ride...a very-well cared for, 1 owner 2000 RSV. Funny how the years, the aches and the worries went away.

Thanks Du-Ron...you confirmed a phone conversation I had yesterday with Edelbrock....neither have a check-valve. The rep I talked with didn't come out and actually SAY this was a cheap pump, but in effect he was telling me they were a low-end quality item. The Facet looks like the right choice if "pointless" is the preferred direction. I'll get a set of replacement points for the OEM and keep it as a backup.

Never mind.....I went back a little further in the posts and saw Scribz post about his install.

Scribz or anyone who has installed the 17303....Where did you mount the Edelbrock? OEM pump location or ?? Creating my Spring to-do list.

How many of us want to admit to thumbing off the kill switch while going for the cruise control Resume rocker? If you haven't tried that yet, you owe it to your pacemaker to give it a shot. Your results may vary, and this offer may expire at any time, but the results can be quite spectacular, especially if you wait til you're beside another rider. Just sayin'...

I've been running the VMax rear for a couple of weeks...about 1200 mile...some solo, some 2-up, 70/30 split hiway/city. Nothing but good things to say about the results. Fuel use to this point is pretty close to the same as with the OEM gear. over that distance, I've averaged 45 Imperial MPG (works out to about 38 US MPG) That is essentially the same as I was getting at any given point before the swap. I'll be trying out the new gear pulling my trailer within the next week or so to assess the results with the weight addition, but judging from what I see so far, I won't be disappointed. Regarding the Cruise Control issue, I still have cruise available in 4th and 5th. The only mod I've done to the carbs is to link the Vacuum ports on adjacent carbs with a short (2") piece of rubber gas line. The two original lines that went up under the tank (1 from a carb on each side of the bike) are disconnected, not capped off. Cruise has worked fine all along.

The location might depend on the type of antenna supplied with your radio. If you have one of the flat stick-on types you might consider this idea.... a buddy of mine has a 2003 Midnight RSV. He made a small bracket to mount his antenna on the right bar near the Brake Reservoir. Not sure if he used a separate bar clamp or worked with some existing screw/bolt. It's in a nice location, signal wise, as it's got nothing but air above it. Some antennas work buried under body panels, and while that is obviously a more secure installation...out of sight out of mind etc...the antenna may not be able to "see" clearly. I tried a couple of those stick on dash-mount antennas over the years in various KW's I lived in, and there were some dead spots depending on exactly where on the dash the antenna was, and which direction I was driving. I eventually went to an external stick antenna and had a clear signal with no directional issues. That stick might be a bit tough to attach to a bike, but who knows.

Gotcha on the missing part. We've all shared that moment in a project. Everything's all laid out on the bench ready to go together and.... As I mentioned to Videoarizona in the previous post (sorry for having this out of the receive / send order) so far it's a promising step. Time, and numbers, will tell. Good luck killing time staring at the soon-to-be finished swap.

Thanks. My overall feeling / observation is pretty much the same as yours. It just seemed to be walking a line between dropping down a gear or rolling on the throttle and dealing with it. The numbers I observed before and after the swap seem to show about a half-gear increase in rpm. Quick example- OEM gearing at 70 mph... 4th was at 4000 rpm, 5th dropped it to 3200. VMax gear at 70...4th was 4500. 5th went to 3800. Kinda in-between the OEM 4th & 5th. I tend to cruise at 62 to 65. That puts 5th gear now at 35-3600. Coincidentally, and this is purely a seat-of-the-pants feeling, the motor seems like a happy little camper when it gets to 3500. I'll put on some more hiway/city miles in the next few days to work out overall economy differences and, hopefully before our riding season shuts the door, we'll hook up the trailer for some yard sale exploring. Overall, as others have stated, that little rpm bump seems to make quite a difference in the bike's personality. If my fuel use numbers show a decrease in mileage, I feel the drive-ability boost will be worth dropping a mile or three. If it's better or at least even...bonus.

Well that......what's the word I'm looking for?? I've done a couple of short-ish runs..one all hiway, the other a hiway/city split. It certainly gets off the line quicker. I did a road speed vs RPM comparison of the OEM and VMax setup. If you like, I can send you the numbers I observed. I compared 4th and 5th at 50,60 & 70 mph. Overall the numbers are 400 -600 rpm higher with the VMax. It's not quite like downshifting a gear....more like about half a gear. As for fuel use...using a fuel tracking app (it does the hard work of converting litres to Imperial gallons and rendering Imperial MPG numbers. It can be setup for US MPG or l/100 km.) the VMax gears are returning slightly better economy than the OEM...same route, same speed, similar weather conditions. Too early for a Hallelujah chorus, and I'll be doing a couple of longer trips in the near future to get a more complete picture, but promising to this point. Regarding that spacer...was it FJR specific, or did something off your bike go missing? I don't know what the FJR setup is supposed to have and I'm just curious, since when I took mine apart, there was only a thin (1/8 inch??) washer and the brake caliper mount on the right side when I pulled the axle. Nothing on the left other than the axle nut and it's washer. Let me know if you want to look at those tach numbers.

Yep...I recall seeing those. Don't quote me here, but it seems to me a couple of car makers tried out different versions of that. Watching what your foot did to that guage got your mind off the Double Nickel, I guess. I got it to work on the bike for a short test ride. There was a lot of needle jumping in the initial setup, then I remembered that my Morgan Carb Tune used restrictor pipes in all 4 tubes. These have a small, and I mean tiny, hole. Not having a spare set of those around, I made one by crimping an in-line wire connector till it was nearly blocked, and put that in the single vacuum line up to the guage. Once I included that restrictor in the line, the needle jump went away. That project is on hold till I work out a better way to connect all 4 carb ports into a single line to the guage.

Good afternoon, Don, and you are correct. I could, and should, have handled this thing differently. After the first couple of replies to my VMax Final Drive swap thread, I should have hit the "Pause" button to take a breath and consider the source. My mistake was in taking my Lizard Brain out for a walk, and letting it respond to what it saw as a self-serving teardown...not by accident, but with purpose...of a non-threatening fuel economy discussion. I apologize to you, Don, and to any VR members who, directly or otherwise, got involved in what turned into a measuring contest. Fred Barnett Winnipeg, MB Canada

Another option (at least for those of us north of the 49th) is the small gas jug Canadian Tire sells for about 10 bucks. 5 ltr..1.25 gal..red plastic with a ratchet-lock cap and pour spout. Just like the larger gas can we all have kicking around the garage for lawnmowers and snowblowers, but small enough to fit perfectly in the side bag of a Gen 2. Been using one for a couple of years.

I've noticed the same thing...Since the rear tire does most of the work...load and acceleration wise... I guess it can be forgiven if it works up a sweat. My first trip with the TPS was a 2-up ride of about 200 miles on a very hot day. Started the trip with correct pressures as related to me by the tire builder, and just past the halfway point I checked the app to see how things were doing down below. There were Over-pressure indicators and a temp warning showing on the screen. A bit of roadside research solved the pressure thing. I had set up the warning points on the app with too low a number for the "high" alert. TPS did its job...as I had programmed it. I had also been pushing the speed a bit hard for the heat, and after resuming the trip at a slightly slower pace all was good.

I appreciate that Gary. By the way, in my previous life as a Professional Driver, I had many occasions to drive thru your part of Illinois. It's certainly not as visually stunning as some of your neighboring states to the Southeast, but on the other hand it's also not Chicago on the I-90/94/55 interchange at 4 o'clock on a Friday! It's a very nice area and far or close enough to The Windy City to be useful. For the record, I just got back from that initial MPG checkride. Same route, similar wind conditions, same highway speed (65 mph) as a couple of months ago with the OEM gear. On today's run I got slightly better numbers with the VMax gearing than with the OEM. A promising start.

I'm a bit curious here...what was it about my reply to a comment made by a well-intentioned member regarding a change in fuel economy that prompted that previous post? I was simply pointing out what I expected to find during a weather-delayed check ride. I made the mistake...by the looks of it...of including an observation of what I experienced with an older car some 35 years ago while pulling an RV. This apparently was an invitation for an "expert" to jump all over the information, despite not knowing me or the circumstances surrounding that time-frame. I was relating what I saw, first hand, and made a comparison to what I was expecting out of another old carb fueled engine. To be polite here, I don't care what kind of carb was on the engine, or the lift and duration numbers of a camshaft, or the rear-end it was all working thru. Fuel in=power out. More fuel in than needed=wasted fuel. With regards to the Clutch snark...If the "expert" had doen even a bit of research on the various postings, the much-mentioned OEM clutch weakness would have been obvious, along with the various solutions and fixes posted by well-intentioned members of this organization. I was passing along my observations of what I experienced after installing an aftermarket clutch rig....the same brand name suggested by a member in this very thread. Apparently, instead of offering anything in the way of useful ideas other than I had bought a bad Final Drive, the "expert" proceeded throughout the "reply" to ridicule every personal observation. I've learned a few things in nearly 70 years of breathing. One of those is that I learn more things by reading and listening than I do talking. The reason I joined the Venture Riders org a few years ago was that it appeared to be an excellent source of information about my new-to-me RSV. The help I received directly from members and thru the various libraries has been much more than I can repay. If the goal of the "expert" was humor, he failed. If the goal was to show his vast knowledge about things that I experienced at my expense, well I guess that goal was achieved. Going forward, I will certainly think twice before posting something that might be of use to someone.

Had mine in place about a month now. You're right with the ease of use thing. open the garage...sign in to the app...get anywhere near the bike..pressures and temps appear. I don't bother with the "alert" alarms, but I find myself looking at the app whenever I get off the bike to get an idea what the last ??? number of miles have done. I will occasionally pull the sensors off to check their readings against my air guage, but I'm not crawling under the bike every morning as in the past. Thank you for putting this idea in play.

Nice job, Steve. Great use of creativity instead of throwing money at a problem. I have an Aluma MCT...black side and back panels, and was considering vinyl wrap in something close to my red RSV. I will shamelessly borrow your idea of "accents" on the trailer to compliment the bike rather than compete with it.

Funny you should mention the fuel use thing, Saddlebum. I was out for a run yesterday afternoon (hiway / city mix) and it seemed like I was using more fuel. I had planned to do a straight highway mile test today to check the new figures against the old...same route, same speed, etc. Mother Nature decided I needed to stay in the house and watch the thunderstorm. BIG ugly weather system moved in from the West and looks like it plans to visit for a bit. I'm hoping the MPG drop won't be huge..I just have to learn different shift points. It'll take a few rides to figure out what works best, but I'm working on the theory that with the engine running a bit quicker and possibly closer to it's power point, I can use less throttle input to gain speed. I had installed a vacuum guage a few weeks back to test what I had already proven on an RV towing car. More vacuum= better economy. With a balanced /blueprinted 455ci Olds under the hood of an Olds 98 land yacht, it was a lot of fun to play with the right foot. That vacuum guage told me visually where to get a good balance of gas pedal pressure and economy. For the bike, I rigged up a tubing manifold of sorts to work off the vacuum ports on the carbs and connected it to the guage. It showed quite clearly what we all know...twist the right wrist-you go faster. It also showed me that there was a bit of wiggle room in how much throttle is needed vs how much was being used. (this is where all the engineers get a chance to start typing). Long story shortened..sorta. Too high a gear too slow needs a lot of throttle to alter speed, therefore more gas thru carbs for no big benefit. Drop a gear and the pressure on the throttle can be eased off slightly. Since I don't spend a lot of time above 65 mph ( as in next to zero), I don't need a gearing that allows me to cruiseat 70 or beyond. Time will tell if I have made the right choice in the VMax gear to suit my riding. Regarding the clutch....I put in a Barnett Pressure Plate and complete set of discs last year to address a weak original clutch that was starting to go away. It would slip under near-full throttle in nearly any gear at any speed. I have nothing but good things to say about the Barnett rig. It was easy to put in, and it will handle anything I've thrown at it this far. For now, I remain:rain2: Cheers..

Changed out the coolant (it's been a couple of years) and finished the VMax Final Drive swap. Details of that little adventure are posted on The Watering Hole page.

Sorry, Poppa....guess I'll have to send you a jar of face cream or something to help with the aches. Finished the check ride...nothing fell off or leaked or made noises it wasn't supposed to. And it appears that the previous owner left the OEM gears in place. The replacement does indeed raise the RPM..anywhere from 400-600 depending on the gear/speed. Much less drama leaving a full stop and naturally it gets up the tach quicker. I haven't had the courage to hit the rev limiter yet...things start sounding REALLY busy beyond 4500. All in all, it seems to be a good step for 2-up and/or trailer hauling. I was so busy looking at the tach and my GPS to check the differences that I didn't pay any attention to the bike Speedo for any changes there. Mine,with the OEM gearing... like everyone else's... reads a pretty solid 10% high at any speed. The Odo is close to spot-on...1 or 2 % high. I've been told that the VMax gear won't change the Speedo due to the loaction of the sensor. Next ride I'll try to look at the dash. We're really looking forward to putting the trailer to a bit more use as soon as the powers that be (you pick your own power) make things a bit easier/safer to travel. For now, we'll continue to explore our own backyard. That's it for now from the Great White North.