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dynodon

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Everything posted by dynodon

  1. dynodon
    I had the whine in my '86 VR. Earplugs (not the "kill everything" foam plugs, but good musicians plugs, about $10, that let music and voice through at a lower level). These got rid of all the whine for me, and make long rides much nicer. ONce you get used to them you won't wan't to go without them. but my whine did mostly go away after my dealer (RTR cycles in Washington IL) went through the rear end, fixed a bad bearing, greased all the important parts and replaced some parts causing leaks. Seems most of my whine was in the drive portion, not the engine/clutch. But I was amused at the one service rep's description that "every bike is different". What? have we gone back to 1900 when every part for a car was hand made? Cadillac made the mass production car from consistent parts in the 19-teens I think. Yes there are manufacturing tolerances, but heck, they should never be that different that this much noise is changed from bike to bike. From the owners I know that have the newer Royal Stars, they ALL pretty much make more noise than my VR did at its worst. This is why the new Voyager, even though a V-twin kind of Harley look alike, will be on my VERY short list for a new bike.
  2. dynodon
    I really don't want a big twin, but I DO want a frame mounted fairing and modern features. If Star doesn't announce something QUICK, I will HAVE to consider this Kawasaki for my next bike. Just got through with a hugely wonderful and fun three day weekend with my wife on her Shadow, and me on my '86 VR. I love my bike, but it is old enough, I know it will have to be replaced someday. Would like a new bike with a warranty, and I like belt drive. But before I buy this Kawasaki, I would have to finally do ride an Ultra Glide. Wake up STAR, you are falling behind.
  3. dynodon
    Way to go Dan! Super cool pick and your dad's Olds is a keeper. Lots of farms around here, and I could have gotten that pic a hundred times over the last 2/5 days as the wife and I went with the Venturers group to Galena over the weekend. Actually I am sure I have that pic, but it was taken 50 feet from my bike with a valley spread out below and behind the bike, probably a hundred silo's and tractors somewhere in the pic, but you would need better resolution and a microscope to find them!
  4. dynodon
    Weather correct or knot, you should allways use the wright words! (Just throwing gas on the flame of the uber word user!) (note, I don't know how to get those double dots above the U that would make it correct!) NOT a flame, just going with the flow. Enjoyed the cheap-cheep post. Peace and happy riding
  5. dynodon
    OK, I am a little dense this AM. What is the CT conversion?
  6. dynodon
    Artist supply stores and sometimes photography supply stores, sell a spray that is like a semi-gloss or flat clear paint spray. But it isn't paint, just temporary to cut down on reflections. But really, just wait a while, reflections in the windshield with cars or bikes can tend to just go away on their own, as you get used to them and don't pay attention to them. Still there, you just don't notice them. Or, buy or make a nice black leather cover?
  7. dynodon
    Well nobody has been able to find either the old OR new target, so I would suspect this thread is dead. Someone needs to unstick it and let it die. Someone should start a new one, it was fun for a while, but there needs to be a rule that if the target isn't found within a few days (not weeks) then change it and keep the fun going. DocO, you started this and did a good job, why not give it another try?
  8. dynodon
    Yesterday about 3pm a friend called out of the blue and asked if I wanted to accompany him on a quest to ride through the last bits of Ike to go through Illinois to pick up a new bike trailer about 100 miles away. Not thinking......I said yes. Got on the leather, thinking that it hadn't rained in a couple hours (got 8 inches of rain, the previous two days) I brought the rainsuit, but didn't put it on. Temp in the low 60's, put on the Nolan with the full face shield. Roads were wet, we rode in and out of sprinkles and light rain about every 15 minutes. had to detour twice around flooded roads. Picked up the trailer (NICE) and then followed my friend home with my new fog lights lighting him up because he didn't have any lights on the trailer. We rode in total darkness for about an hour, but made it home, took roads with light traffic and kept close together so his reflecters were always lit. This was a ride that stretched my "envelope" as I haven't ridden in the wet much for over 20 years (like a lot of you, I took a break for 20+ years between motorcycles). My '86 VR was a total joy. Fairing kept all water off me except on the helmet, and the bike ran great. My first really big touring bike and I wish I could buy a brand new one just like it. Come-on Yamaha, bring back the VR.
  9. dynodon
    I put those on my wife's Honda Shadow Ace. We wanted more running and brake light without changing the look much. This works very well. In daylight the running lights are hard to see, but they are there. The stop lights in daytime are there well enough that I firmly believe it adds a level of safety. At night the running and new stop lights are very visible and a very good safety device. The stock turnsignal bulbs still seem to work just fine. Overall, I and my wife are very happy with the product (same as the link above). I can't go into installation as I wimped out and let a local shop install it.
  10. dynodon
    Looks just like mine! When I read Mocha, I thought of the '91 Mocha/Mocha SHO Taurus I have sitting in my garage with just 50,000 miles on it. I love brown cars, and actually wanted an all gold (mocha?) Venture when I found my Black Cherry and gold '86 last year. I love it. Enjoy the new bike, that is a nice pairing.
  11. dynodon
    Wish they had gone into how they dried the bike. Did like the thing that rotated the rear wheel. But for the cost of 7 or 8 washes on that rig, you can buy a neat electric power washer and do it yourself for decades plus clean your house, cars etc. I borrowed one of those pressure washers from my son to clean the mold on the N. side of our house, liked it so much I went out and bought my own. Will clean my bike with it as soon as it quits raining. Or I could just take my bike for a ride today!
  12. dynodon
    You can't really go wrong with the Yamaha brands, but Amsoil makes filters and great oil, and there are lots of other good combinations. Just be sure to stick with a "motorcycle" oil, not a car oil, and nothing that says "energy conserving" on it. It won't be good for your clutch.
  13. dynodon
    Wow, A lot of What-if's there, but very interesting. Wonder if Yamaha got wind of that project and the Venture was the result?
  14. dynodon
    MY guess is the lights are angled so they don't glare in the eyes. The lights in mirrors are aimed so that they are barely visible to the driver/passenger in daytime, and noticable but not distracting at night. I would have to see these in person to decide if that was the case here. Nowhere on the site could I find this issue addressed. And the fact that they advertise "limited quantities" or something like that, tells me that they are already out of production and a dead product. Anything that was to be an ongoing product would never use that phrase. I would buy a mirror designed like the car mirrors, but not this product.
  15. dynodon
    Congrats on the new bike! Yea, I was hoping they would do something with the Venture, but like you , I suspected we might just get a new option on the tape player! Glad they are back to a brown(ish) color, but I will keep my gold/black cherry '86 for another year it looks like. Just getting it outfitted the way I like it. I think I will go for a ride too.
  16. dynodon
    I put the little rectangular ones I found at Wal Mart and they fit fine with some trimming of the bracket, but they are so cheap that the reflector puts light EVERYWHERE! They dazzle at any angle. I have them aimed down enough that they shouldn't be a problem, but came into my carport last night after dark, and the lights lit up the ROOF at 15 feet away! I had to put a strip of tape across the top of the lens to keep them from lighting up the mirrors. So I am going to order a set of these: http://www.rallylights.com/Optilux/optilux_1400.asp Only $30 or so and they are made by Hella (their less expensive line). I will get the FOG lights since they have a wider beam and should cut off the light so they won't irritate other drivers. They are small, and should look good.
  17. dynodon
    You can change to any other brand of oil as long as it is formulated for Motorcycle use, in other words, don't use anything that says (energy conserving) on it because it has additives that are not good for wet clutches. Stick with the Yamaha brand if that makes you feel better, it is good oil, but if you want to go with other brands, or Amsoil, you can do that safely. If you feel the engine has been severely mistreated and there is evidence of gunk, like junk on the underside of the oil fill plug etc or the sight glass is all covered up, then maybe consider the treatement, but otherwise, all oils today use detergents that should keep the inside of your engine just fine, and you should NOT need to use a cleaner like seafoam in the oil. I would say change the oil, and run it for a few hundred miles, if the oil still looks decent in the sight glass, then you are fine. ALL oil will have a dark appearance when draining out, at least I have never drained any oil from an engine with any normal miles on the oil, that didn't have a dark appearance. THis comes from combustion byproducts that WILL get in the oil no matter what you do. This doesn't mean your engine is gunked up, it means the oil is doing its job,
  18. dynodon
    I haven't tried this on a bike yet, but when I had a 64 VW, the INSIDE of the glass would fog up on days like you describe, and the pathetic HV system would not touch it. Now this was in the early 70's and I bought a cloth at Western Auto that was basically a cotton cloth with some soap in it. Soap cuts the surface tension in water and causes it to SHEET rather than puddle or bubble. So I would wipe down the glass, and would look through a thin sheet of water that slightly distorted things, but at least let me drive with about 95% vision. Wonder if this would work. Take a cotton cloth, and dip it in a solution of maybe 30% dishwashing soap, and the rest water. Won't take much. Then let it dry naturally. Next time you get fog, wipe down the shield and see if that helps. Might be worth a try.
  19. dynodon
    Funny you posted this again, because last night I finally got mine installed after them sitting on the shelf for a few months. Finally found some cheap $19 rectangular fog lights at Wally World last week. I didn't want round lights on the squarish Gen I. Only problem is finding a place to mount the switch, I didn't want them to come on automatically. Also, they don't have very good limits to the light, so they just kind of light up everything, including the mirrors! Right, if you put on a light that can scatter some light up, the mounting location will cause light to hit the mirror faces. I solved this by putting a strip of metallic heat tape across the top, not sure it will stay on since these lights get REAL hot. I will try to post some pics when I get around to it. I hightly recommend the brackets though. You do have to drill out the main mounting hole to fit the factory bolt, but that was mentioned in the instructions.
  20. dynodon
    I want to preface this comment with the fact that I sell K&N air filters, and have run them for years. (no I am not trolling for business, I don't get a real good price, so you can usually do better on E-bay, but I DO have experience with them). Also I used to run a Dynojet Chassis dyno shop (cars not bikes, but the experience still counts). Thus my nickname, Dyno Don (actually it is because Dyno Don Nicholson was one of my heros when growing up, but that is another story) Anyway, I doubt that the K&N filters are responsible for any big increase in your fuel mileage. How dirty were ther filters you took off? If they were really dirty, then ANY clean decent filter would give you the same results. Why do I KNOW this is true? Because K&N filters WILL flow more air, but that only really comes into play at full throttle where the engine is flowing enough air to really cause any negative pressure in a regular filter. At the tiny throttle openings of any gas engine at highway speeds, or around town, even when driven quite aggressively, air flow through the filter isn't enough to have the K&N advantage come into play. I KNOW at full throttle a K&N will make some extra HP on any engine over a clean regular paper filter. USually on a 200-300 hp engine, that number is somewhere between 1 hp and about 5 or 6 hp. Usually not more on the stock intake system. A full custom system can make more HP, but again, only at full throttle. When just putting around, any intake system that is reasonably designed will flow just fine. Chances are you paid for the K&N Filters, and heard or read somewhere (even K&N tries to sell the MPG angle, but trust me, it just isn't so) that you would get better MPG, so without you even knowing it, you drove a little different, or check the MPG better or different. Chances are once you get back into your old routine, your mileage will be the same. A K&N is a very good filter, and does have advantages, and I highly recommend them, I am just a realistic retailer and prefer to tell my customers the truth rather than try to sell something the wrong way.
  21. dynodon
    10% of total trailer weight (trailer AND load) is the generally accepted figure. If you are within a few pounds either way, you are OK. DO NOT lighten the weight from where you have it! Also, make sure your load can't shift when riding. The trailer should be slightly "downhill" so if the load moves, it puts MORE weight on the tongue not less, but it is best if you load so it can't shift. Use empty boxes if necessary to keep things from moving around. Be sure to check the wheel lug nuts and wheel bearings before every ride, and it is a VERY good practice to feel the tires and wheel bearings at EVERY stop. Tires, even in the summer should be warm, but not too hot to touch. Same with Bearings. IN cool weather, bearings should have no or little heat. Too hot to touch means not enough grease, bearing going bad, or adjusted too tight or too loose. While you are at it, touch the tires on the bike every stop too, it can tell you a lot. This is why you will see good truck drivers going around their vehicle touching things, and banging on the tires (to check for pressure) at each stop. Safety first.
  22. dynodon
    The car club I run has cars that have Premium "recommended" but not required. We have found over the years, that the cars get the same or better MPG on regular. Unless an engine "REQUIRES" premium (or a set octane) you CAN run regular 87 or 89 octane. The higher octane just helps prevent pre-ignition in engines with higher compression, or specific designs that are prone to spark knock, or have big ignition advances that require premium. I suspect that in the case of the first post, ONE tank of gas is not anywhere near a good test of how good the MPG is between the two types of fuel. Even if you drive the same route, there can be differences that can cause a big swing in MPG. Wind direction, temperature, one extra light or stop can make a difference etc. Also, was the regular fuel part ethanol and the premium not? Ethanol added to fuel will hurt MPG slightly. Enough to notice according to many. I get 40 mpg in my '86 VR whether I use premium or regular and 10% corn fuel doesn't seem to make any real difference either. So run regular and see what happens.
  23. dynodon
    I wonder about the safety factor in large windshields. In my "first" life as a rider, I had a Honda 750SS with Windjammer. I put on a tall windshield and had it break on me at the mounting point one day, luckily with no damage to me other than maybe cleaning a spot off the seat! also, those vents in the shield, I get a LOT of air through the space around the forks, and don't see that a vent in the windshield would help much on hot days. When I replace my windshield, it will probably be with a stock size, and no vent.
  24. dynodon
    Lew, I am the same basic size as you, and I ride solo, with lots of stuff in the bags, with the setting on the middle one. When i go two-up, I go with the higher setting. You will notice the bike come up and sit high when you get off at these settings, the only slight problem be that it leans a lot on the sidestand, but so far the bike has been just fine and it has never gone over. I just make sure to put it in gear if it is going slightly downhill. You are lucky you had most of the stuff with your bike. I still can't find an original tool kit, those things go for over $100 on E-bay, and one guy seems to want to buy them all. Then when he has them, i suppose he will try to hold everyone up for $200! I got a tool kit for a later model Venture Royal from some nice person on this list for a fair price, and have added to it. doesn't have the neat zipper bag, but I can buy something similar for $10 from a number of stores. Welcome and enjoy your Royale (remember to put the"e" at the end, makes us better than the Gen 2 "Royals".)
  25. dynodon
    Lew, I bought my '86 VR last year and love it. As you know the heel-toe shifter is an add-on, and before you decide to change it, use it for a while. My wife has a Shadow Ace with heel-toe and when I ride it, I like it, but I will stay with the original on my bike. The sound system in your VR is wonderful, assuming it all works right. If you don't have an owners manual, you might want to try to get one, the system has some neat features that are somewhat hard to decipher. I bought the inexpensive generic honda plug J&M headsets, they plug right into the plug that should be in a rubber holder on the left side of the (fake) gas tank cover. NO need to buy an expensive extra cable. If you have a passenger, they can plug a similar headset into the connection in the back left side of the trunk. If you are lucky, the passenger control box is there, with a short coiled cord, but if not, the passenger can still just plug into the system, they just won't have volume or channel control. Mine was missing, but I bought one on e-bay (along with the owners manual, service manual, etc, etc. whoever had my bike before let NOTHING go with it!). You can listen to the audio system and CB and intercom all at the same time, but if you don't have a passenger, leave the intercom off, it just puts more noise in the system otherwise. There is a button on the controls that turns off the headset speakers, and turns on the built-in speakers in the fairing. The little grey thing near it looks like a button, but really is a microphone, don't try to push it! (ask me how I know). There are several controls, the most touchy I have found is the one that controls how much that microphone effects the volume as noise increases. It is the concentric tab on the volume control for the stereo. Play with it, but I find about 1/3 to 1/2 is plenty on mine. If you haven't used CB, the key is the squelch control. You want to turn it up (clockwise) till the constant noise just stops. Then from time to time, if noise increases, you can turn it up and down to keep it quiet. If you turn it up too much, it will reduce the range of your radio reception (not really, but you will only hear the loudest, closest transmissions). Also, the air ride controls are meant to be used with the bike on the center stand. Put it on the stand, and with the key on acces. and the engine off, you can put it on auto for low, medium or high pressure, or set it manually. You can adjust on sidestand, but it isn't as accurate. Again, the owners manual helps a lot. Enjoy your new ride, and ask away if you have questions. This group was a lot of help when I was at the same point you are now.
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