B.E. Coyote

I know there are other posts about it but I thought I would throw this out there. Took out the cassette and converted it to storage. Split the audio cable and tapped in the cigarette lighter wiring. Put this usb power cord and a mini jack cord in that space. I liked this BT receiver because it was only $20 on amazon and turns on/off when it gets power. No switch. The bike comes on and it comes on, bike off / receiver off. App on my phone automatically starts pandora when connected. Everything tucks into the back of the new space where the cassette was.

I also removed the cb. I replaced the old radio antenna with a cheapie reg. old whip antenna from the local car parts store. I was lucky to already have had the fairing apart because I replaced the entire cable and had to include a 4' extension. Was no problem except for I needed a longer 10/32 bolts and a little plastic spacer that I found in my junk drawer. Works much better than the stock one although my stock one was likely damaged.

Did it. I had it all correct but I printed the sheet and stuck it in my notes. Much neater than my oily piece of paper with my chicken scratch handwriting. c

No, I hadn't seen that, very cool. I did use the the little shim conversion table in the manual but I will go ahead and plug the numbers into the spreadsheet too. Thanks!

Yep, Today I spent a little more time doing a more accurate check, stacking feeler gauges where necassary. Going to change 6 intake shims and 1 exhaust. Pulled and measured the shims. I'll be able to re-use 2 of them.

I'm also doing the same to save some money. Not riding so much the past couple years so I am going to try the Venture and likely give up my BMW. Wanted to try something more laid back anyway. Found a good deal on a cheap, high mileage bike with potential. Won't sell the Beemer though until the Venture is squared away and I'm sure that it suits me.

[quote name= WARNING!!!! Do not turn the engine with any shim out of the bucket, things will snap into a bad position that is very difficult to recover from. Good point. I wish that wasn't the case, it would make playing musical chairs with the shims a lot easier. Pulled the shims, one at a time and measured. Tomorrow I search for shims. The good news is that I am off school tomorrow. The bad news is that it is because we are expecting a foot of snow. Here in Virginia Beach 12" is nearly the same as 12'. Not likely I will be leaving the house even if I can find a dealer with some they are willing to sell.

Did the check tonight, stated smiling when cylinder 1 & 3 were good. But then I find all four intake valves on 2 and 4 (the front cylinders) were tight. Left side of each cylinder was .10 and the right side of each cylinder was .9 Is that normal at all? All the exhausts were good. The bike has 90k on it but there was evidence that the valve covers have been off at least once before. I'll pull the shims tomorrow and see if I can find some locally.

No big deal. Already got a new one fitted. Wanted something a little more discrete anyway.

No need. I investigated a bit, if it wasn't broke before, it is now.

Thanks, No, I removed the CB. Don't need it. I'd like to replace the am/fm antenna with something short. The part still attached to the bike in the picture, does it come apart to allow attachement of another antenna? Neither this "base" or the detached antenna has any threads. It just slides in and was held there by a zip tie. I read there is an adapter needed but haven't been able to figure out if the adapter is for the female socket at the radio or the part in the picture.

might just do a hidden antenna under the fairing if I'd need to run a new cable.

Not sure what I am looking at here. I removed the cb and the am/fm antenna had a zip tie holding it together. (pictured) If I replace the antennae do I need to run a new extension all the way back to the radio or can a new antenna be attached here some how?

Nope, The high beam relay only needs power when the manual switch is off. When the manual switch is on the passing lights are already on so there is no need to power the other relay.

Doing the head bearings on my new to me Venture and trying to make it mine I realized I needed to upgrade the job that was done wiring in the passing lights. Perfect time since the fairing would be off. In addition to fixing the odd job that was done I wanted to accomplish 4 things. 1. 1. Bring a heavier gauge wire up front to run the lights. Should add more voltage to the lights and be less taxing on the likely already undersized wire these lights were wired into. 2. 2. Have an accessible switch to turn the lights on at any time. 3. 3. In addition to the switch, I wanted them to automatically come on with the high beams if the weren't already. 4. 4. Be able to turn off my low beam when needed to save power for heated gear. (this was separate from the passing light wiring but I did it all in one project). To be able to have the lights on with the low beam via the switch and have them come on with the high beams whether the switch was on or not I needed to use two relays. I ran a pair of 14 gauge wires back to the battery. The hot was used for power into the first relay and later the light. The ground was used for the relays and will be used later if I upgrade the passing lights to some proper driving lights. The switched power for the relay on the left came from the running lights. Power for the other relay signal was tapped from the high beam. I bought a 5 pack of chinese Bosch relays with harnesses, I used two of them for the passing lights and a third one to switch the low beam. Also switched out the cig. lighter for a voltmeter with a usb charger. Just need to plug that old hole and do some cleanup.

They do have 3 choices in spring rates and I used their online calculator to choose. Their calculator is based on the total weight of the bike plus rider weight. Hate that there is no phone number on their website, just one of those web based "contact us" email forms. Sent an email last night and this morning. No reply so far.

Ordered the Sonics. Never heard back from their customer service, But the progressive site lists the same spring for the Royal Star and Royal Star Venture. Used that to go ahead with the Sonic order. New springs, seals, dust seals, bushings etc. 1999 with 91,000 miles. Doubt that it has ever been changed.

Thanks. I was wondering if the very similar parts numbers were for different rates. Neither the sonic or race tech sites are very clear. Yamaha didn't do anybody any favors with naming a 2nd different bike "venture" and having it part of another line of "road stars"

And can anyone confirm I'd the road star and road star venture use the same fork springs?

Rebuilding my forks next week and want to put in new springs. I know progressives seem to be a favorite here but they just arent for me. Can anybody share their weight and what straight rate springs that worked?

Good reason to use the petcock!

Picked up a complete front brake set from a 2007 Road Star xv1700. Four piston calipers, 14mm master cylinder and it all has the correct chrome cruiser look. Best part is that every little bit of it was a direct swap. Same splitter, hose length etc. Only saw one mention of roadstar calipers in an R1/R6 caliper thread. Didn't see anywhere that the entire set up would change right over.

Thanks, I think the only little niggle is is that there is a slight elevation difference between the pin stripe and the layers of primer, paint and clear coat that I put on. Hoping polish and wax will blend it together.

Bike came to me with a very large hole in the trunk and a few cracks in the bottom. Many articles on how to make repairs to abs plastics using abs pipe cuttings and acetone so I won't go into too many details. The large hole took many coats. I started inside the trunk and used fiberglass cloth to give me something to build up from the outside. When finished, I sanded the entire area of the trunk below the pinstripe with 600 grit paper. I then used a clear primer meant for plastic. Then a normal sandable auto primer, then the color rite paint/clear coat primer. I used a good masking tape on the pinstripe and covered the rest. I have no autobody experience at all so I am pretty happy with the results. After it cures. (5 days) I'll polish it and wax it. Looks great and I added some extra abs to the bottom of the trunk. Probably stronger than new.

No dice on the trunk. At least from the local dealer.