YamahaParExcellence

So, you caught that, huh? I was waiting to see, if anybody figured that out....you are in a ravine at the bottom of a dark...deep ravine.....and you have a wench...lol. Good on you! My snarky sense of humor...lol You win a prize....ten extra years on your 5 year warranty....! I'll have Yamaha send it to you...just don't hold your breath 'for prompt delivery'. LOLOLOLOLOL It might take up to 7 months! Joe

LOL...and you are right on the marketing of clothing. Do you know how hard a time I am having to find a great $400-$650 Yamaha branded Touring Jacket with Kevlar Armor on at the shoulders, elbows...lower back, over kidneys? Even my own Yama Mama dealer, can't find decent quality Tour Jackets with Yamaha Logo's... The Yamaha website has mesh jackets, that are deadly over-priced and sky high, marked up. Nada.. I have two really expensive and good Honda branded Full Tour jackets with all the above described Kevlar Armor. What I am attempting to do...or will have made for me, at a tailor shop...is to get really nice cloth Yamaha Patches. I'll have both my, and my wife's Honda patchwork, over-sown with the Yama Mama...for the jackets are two tone, racing Honda red, and white. They'll look great with the red SVTC. but will look dorky...if we are riding and proudly riding our Yamaha..but are wearing Honda patches..HEY.......unless Honda wants to pay me billboard space upon my chest...Hmmm....should pitch that to them...lol! Post Edit: Seriously...I might be wearing this Fall...and for my wife as well...Harley Davidson (the orange shield) HEATED GLOVES. Man...are these cool...and truly are quality built leather. The cat's *ss with these, is that they are connected to your bike, by means of the same (now..HD...you rock on this!) pig tail that you have standard on Battery Tender products. So..being that the pig tail from your battery is already on your bike...all my bikes run with pig-tailed battery tender leads...you plug the HD leads to the Battery Tender male...and the gloves have a press/repeat square in cloth switch...for you to pick low, medium, and high heat settings. With these gloves, you don't actually need heated grips...and we all know that heated grips only heat mostly your palms...while these gloves would equally heat your critical fingers...and finger tips. You know what? SOLD...I'm going to go back and pick up two pairs, one for myself, and a pair for her, for Christmas...well...Christmas in October...lol. If I remember, the gloves were around $140.00, BUT...they were excellent manufacture and quality. The HD name and logo is so small, that unless you pointed it out...nobody would see you running around with them on a Yamaha, or Honda...lol. I'm not thinking of getting them for myself to wear on the SVTC...but on the non-heated grips on my Kawasaki ZR7S. She would get the gloves instead of my getting those heated hand grips on the SVTC. The gloves...300 times better... Merry early Christmas, Dear.... Ho, ho...and ho!

Ten Four, on the 'losing it, here' Back up camera's...wow..next year, the 2019 SVTC will have a mini microwave, and bar fridge on the left side of the tour trunk...mark my words, LOL. You know, Puc...thanks for your comments about the drive belt. I think that I'm just going to buy a brand new one...have it in the bike...for whatever...and then, when I need to swap out the OEM...will use that new one, in the bike...and then put the OEM.. as my touring back up. That was suggested on another forum...don't throw it out, if it is not broken, but merely worn. I read ya...automatic transmissions, back-up cameras...are we talking about a motorcycle, or an SUV?!? The lines are getting blurred...despite only 2 wheels on the ride....if those who rode Harleys and Indians in the 1940's could see this...I would love to see the look on their faces, visiting their modern HD or Indian dealer... On off-roads, the next new thing, will be a bike equipped with an electric wench....if you screw up, and put it into a ravine...no worries...pull out the lines...hook it around a tree...and pressing a button...wench yourself out.. That's probably next, for enduros...

Since they pulled the 12.0.6 version off of the web update site, just wondering what your version number was, upon delivery? Thanks...and I'll report what mine is, ASAP. Being that it was the one of the last of the four off of the assembly line in Japan for the RED color, according to Yama Mama Canada.

Correct, again. Some of the T.C.'s tech, isn't even an option at the MoCo... My '5 cents', is that this bike...is unique amongst bikes, from any manufacturer,..and they will absolutely maintain a healthy re-sale value, as more and more riders, get clued into what the T.C. affords them... My re-sale crystal ball, says that 10 years from now...I'll get (with care and maintenance) the same great R.O.I. that I did on our 2008 Wing. Take care of the bike...and the bike takes care of R.O.I.

I guess that it would be a two person affair? You hold your bars to the height and angle you want (securely)...and then somebody else re-torques the hold down bolts? I might have to do that with my wife as the re and re gal.

I didn't even know this feature was even on the SVTC. What other bike has that? I've never even heard of such a thing upon a bike...wow...Like I said in another post...this bike takes the whole kitchen with you...so you don't need to rip out the sink and pack it...lol. Amazing....

'Highway Star'..now THAT is classy! Top Hat....

"It's cool as crap.." LOL...I like that...and who needs another reason, huh?

Chief...please tell me again why you want a back up camera on your bike? You can't just look into either your left or right rear-view mirror, for anything obstructive? I've never heard of such a thing I have a question...in all those 5,000 miles (which is amazing for how long you have had it..) have you ever heard a stone flip up..and get caught into the belt drive train? That's the one thing only that I have heard, one must be careful (no back country roads, if you can help it...) of, with belt drive.

..so...it WAS an education in of itself. You hear about stuff, you read about stuff..but it is another matter, when the blood drains from your face as you mentally rack up all the 'HD offered 'stuff' that is NOT on that $32,099.00 MSRP'ed bike. Some one posted years ago..that Harley's game-play..is to offer a very attractive looking, but strategically, feature crippled bike, and then offer a huge catalog of those very options (that you would want)...at thousands of dollars, added cost. So, you were absolutely right. In Canada, to get the bike at 80 percent the options that come standard, out the door on the SVTC...is breaking the ceiling...at a whopping $40,000.00 dollars. OMG! Then...to do common maintenance, can financially cripple you. C'mon...$400.00 for a freakin' OIL CHANGE? The Harley Davidson brand, IMHO, are bikes for those that have money up the ying-yang...and don't mind parting with it. Yep..Chief..I got my HD education today. Yamaha....you stretched me out for almost 7 months...but...THANK YOU for creating the SVTC...one h*ll of a ride... at $31,999.00 MSRP, CDN....Thank you! Compared to a Harley 'out-the-door', this price is Bargain Basement.

Yep...you were right on all accounts. I needed to blow some hot air...into the right Head Office, ears... The ear-to-ear, is already on my face as I type this message, Chief....oh..and shoulders now down below my butt...before, they were hanging off of the den ceiling... I just need some 80F days, as you already have...so, send some of that stuff, North....

Well...since I know that as of today, I'll be riding my 2018 SVTC home later next week, I decided on my way to the lake...to visit an HD dealer. I wasn't through the door, 30 seconds, before at least three sales 'specialists' zeroed in on my scent, via three different showroom vectors, lol. Wow...could they smell the fresh blood?!?? The youngest of the trio, got to me first...and after introducing himself ( a very nice guy, quite amicable) he inquired if I had any particular model in mind. I said; " why yes...the 2018 Road Glide Ultra, with the Shark's Head, frame mounted fairing." He took me over to a two-tone (very nice looking!) and started explaining the standard features. This is where the Harley Davidson Education began... The features...standard...hardly any.... "So," I asked,; "There is no Sirius radio as standard?" "No...you'd have to buy the module, and it can be added by our installation." "Oh..." "What about a C.B. radio?" "That can be added too...for around $800.00 plus labor." "Oh..." "How much was that Sirius Radio upgrade..er..module?" "That would be, er...let me see on the list...er...that would be also $800.00 plus shop labor." "Oh..." "What does your shop run at?" "It's $100.00 per hour, taken to the nearest 1/4 hour." "Oh..." "So what would each module take?" "About one hour per module, with testing. Might be a little more for the C.B. as the tech has to remove the seat and top trunk, to route the C.B. antenna coax." "Oh..." So, then...oh wait...what about heated grips and the heated seat for the rider and co-rider?" "That would be ...er...ah...$1,100.00 plus labor to re and re, and the wiring kit." "Oh... So that then would be er...let me do my math...that would be ah..." 1. C.B radio and one hour shop time: $900.00 CDN 2 Sirius Sat Radio Module and one hour shop time: $900.00 3. Heated Grips and Heated Seat combo: $1,100 plus 1 1/4 hour shop time: $1,225.00 "So then, that would be, er... $3,418.85, all in?" "Right...around there...a few bucks more, possibly less." "Oh.." Now...how flexible are you in that MSRP on the bike? It's $32,099.00, right?" "Yes..for the model with the one tone, Electric Blue." "So...in my due diligence, I have also been assessing metric manufacturers, and most of them are flexible on the MSRP to at least shaving a $1,000.00 off of the price." "Well, I wish that I could do that, sir..but that is not allowed by not only Harley Davidson Sales...but is also frowned upon by the Harley Davidson Dealer's Association. We all try to keep a base line, and not have each dealer scavenging another. It's just what our culture does. What I can do, though, is get you a HD gift card, for such things as perhaps a jacket, or T-shirts, gloves...such as that. That's what we can do, Joe..and we'll make you happy!" "Oh..." So, then...with the full up MSRP of the solid tone, Electric Blue, at $32,099.00 and all of what I'd would want and need on my HD...that would be..er..(rubbing chin...) er... $39,690.72 CDN, right? All in...full HST of 13 % applied? "Yes..except for your registration and plate cost. That was not factored in." "Oh..." "Well ok...thank you very much...I'm still kicking tires, you know...and am looking not only at you guys, but Yamaha and Kawasaki too." "Sure bud...I'm sure that you will find, we have the largest dealer network in North America...and the largest after-market parts supply, whereby you can make your HD, totally 'your own'." "Oh..." "Well..I had better run...I have a date with Lake Simcoe later on today...first major run of the year you know..." "Sure thing bud...and I hope I see you come back soon, so we can put you, on the King of Bikes!" "Thanks...remember...still merely thinking about it...you know...kicking tires." "Sure..no problem, you have a nice day." "Thanks, you as well" "Oh...hey...what does a normal oil change cost in parts and labor. Just wondering..." We spec an oil change, and common service done at that time...every 8,000 kilometers, and that will run you around $400.00" "Oh..." "Ok...thanks for your time." "You bet...see ya...take care, hope to see you back, soon!" "See ya..." I got a SERIOUS Harley Davidson Education this afternoon. Folks....not only would it cost you just under $10,000.00 more above HD model MSRP to bring an HD 2018 Road Glide Ultra, up to the standard features found on the Yamaha Star Venture Trans Continental, but ...there would still be features on the SVTC, that isn't even offered, or the HD NOT having the on-board technology to even place it onto your Harley...like electric windscreen elevation, or the move forward/move backward, parking assist, for awkward topography, or dual-zone audio sourcing. Nope...a Yamaha SVTC blows any HD, in any configuration, out of the entire ocean, for bang-for-the-buck, and feature set amenities. In many ways, it's almost shocking how well equipped, Yamaha has sent this T.C. out the factory door at! You only need to go to an HD dealership and take the 1 hour Cost to Spec course...to find out how good a deal, is the Yamaha Star Venture Trans Continental.... Compared to a Grand Tour model Harley Davidson...is the Yamaha Star Venture T.C. one H*LL of a deal?----You had better believe it...and only spending one hour with an HD sales floor Rep...will clearly demonstrate that! My Harley Davidson Buyer's Education Course has been completed. Nice looking bike...but, I'll pass. Oh wait...I did, already... Joe

Can't speak for the States..but in Canada, it is a full 5 years...covered. Also, different, is that in Canada, the SVTC comes with a 3 month Sirius subscription. The States does not, according to ChiefGunner.

I guess next Aug will tell the tale.

Thank you! Looking forward to next week!

Thank you, sir! The bike's feature list ..truly IS, everything that I could ever want on one ride! Yamaha Corp should win an engineering and total design award for the SVTC..., but a slap on the butt, ---->for manufacturer/dealer/info pipeline/end-owner info flow. That...they get a 'F' at present, for. School's out. Joe

Had some phone calls and biz stuff to do on-line before heading out today....so saw this before signing off until tonight; From Concord, Ontario to the dealer, 120 miles. Dealer said that as soon as we high-tail it out there to (my request) view the actual shipping carton, then perhaps Thursday or Friday for the ride home. Joe

LOL...just about to sign off the computer...and go for a Kawa ride myself! No need, thanks for the offer...my wife is downstairs...doing her own 'Happy Days Dance'. She's my ride out to the bike... All our Winter-long tour plans are back on line. What a great feeling...for the last month...we pretty much haven't mentioned a word to either of us...it was looking...well...bleak. No more! Boise, Idaho, to Flat Lake, Montana, the Inaugural Run------------------------------------->...HERE WE COME! Soon, riding in style...yessssir! Our own Yamaha Top Hat 'n Tails, with wheels! Life is good.... Y'all have a great, and profitable day! Happy Dance Joe

Chief...it is now 09:55 hours, and I just got off with the head of Customer Service/Relations...who will be getting back to me, later on today. He needs to reference another department within the Company. He said to my face, that the delays are totally the fault of Yamaha Canada, and again this rep apologized to me, for this delay. I gave him all my dealer, and contract number particulars...(he did ask me what color the order was for..and this to my feelings, totally backs up that they did NOT make enough Red Metallic Raspberries for this model) I think they might have some, or 'a' Grey. If that is the case, I'm good with that at this juncture. I saw the Grey Metallic at the dealer where I was ogling it...and it looks just as good as the Red. Sort of like BMW Grey, lol. At this point..I'd be happy to get one in the crate. I love red anything...and of course that is the color of my Kawasaki ZR7S, was the color of my 2008 Gold Wing, as you can see in some of my uploaded Forum pictures...but..honestly...sometimes..even a forced change-up is good. If they come back to me...and say that they have a Grey SVTC crated, ready to go, then Chief...I'm IN. Send that bike out today! I'd love the Grey just as much as the Red...it's only a color, lol. And..whose to say that because of owning that Grey..I might really take to it...and start a new tradition..."Hon...this looks so much like the BMW 'grey'...maybe our next vehicle...should be a little Beemer....LOLOLOL. You know...this same great color..." Chief...what to you think the chances would be of pulling that little Wife Step Around ploy...success? Not successful? Dunno...never tried that nonsense...lol. A Grey SVTC could be the lead-in....and I have just the Beemer in mind...lol! So, wish me luck...at this juncture...I don't CARE anymore, whether the panels are red, or grey. I just care that they are BELOW ME and around me!....on our way----------------> out to Boise, Idaho.....with Kool and the Gang, banging out the first tune over the J&M 801 Elites! Post Edit: "Just got off the phone with Yamaha Canada's Big Guy, from Head Office. He just confirmed that my RED ...yep...my RED SVTC is in the warehouse, and is **GOING** to be shipped out to my dealer, early next week. On the day it ships, he has asked that he be notified, of which he will then call my home...and advise of such. Dare I say, Happy Days, once more. This guy...Chief, I believe!!!! HAPPY DAYS, HAPPY DANCE...going out for a HAPPY RIDE!" On a serious note, Folks...even though there has been much conjecture on this great Venture Site, as to whether Yamaha should have used their V4 Max engine in this mount, it is (for this guy) BECAUSE they didn't (and perhaps that bears out with their published reasons to have gone with a traditional air/oil cooling metric...rider polls..etc), is just one more reason that I wanted this bike. Following that...is a feature set that like they advertised at the Reveal...this is the first bike, that totally engages, and marries the Tech/Modern driven rider, with the Traditional/Emotional rider. Folks...I don't see any other bike, any other model, from any other manufacturer, that can lay claim to that design mandate. Nobody, but Yamaha, has a bike that fully delivers absolutely, everything that a rider could want, in ergonomics, in latest tech, in comfort feature sets...all of it. THIS bike...is at the top of the heap, top of the rider food-chain. (IMPO)! Perhaps wanting one (the Yamaha SVTC) for many, stops at the very engine in the frame...for those that MUST HAVE a liquid cooled motor, it's a fail. For those though..that can have either...and have owned either...a water cooled engine, or an air/oil cooled engine...this is the very pinnacle of the 'art of the ride'. You don't NEED to have the room to take the 'kitchen sink' with you...hell..you already HAVE the **whole kitchen** with you by its very design,... and in what this bike brings to ownership. I am thrilled that I am truly getting one...really getting my own, and will no longer refer to this ride as Vapor Bike. Next week...at the dealership, the Eagle Lands....next week...I ride...(with camera, lol) and finally coming home with Kool and the Gang's CEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELEBRATION TIME 'C'Mon blaring out of those four gorgeous speakers..and played by Yamaha Music's contribution to this ride. I am a musician, a classical trained pianist and bass player...music is my life's blood...and have owned many a fine Yamaha musical instrument in my day, or their home stereo components. Sound...is their business! To have a motorcycle with an infotainment system designed 'in-house' is a first for me. All my Honda Gold Wing's sound systems were 3rP contracted. Ok...I'm rambling...seriously rambling...and need to go out for a victory ride... Have a great day, folks....have a great....day! One Happy Camper, once more! Joe

Lenny, a fabulous post, sir. I did enjoy your original post, but have to take the 'guilt' off of you, lol. No guilt regarding the Cousin Post. I had already been looking at a Plan B from the likes of Harley and Kawasaki on the Web, way before you posted your Cousin's great experience. Like I have typed, we were Gold Wing riders for years, upon years. They are a great bike (I refer to what I have experienced...1975-2008 model years) and have toured countless tens of thousands of miles upon them, break-down free! A great ride, but in all of this...and the 7 months of waiting...I have formed another opinion. Much less tribal, in the opinion that I had held....and my new 'Joe Face' is this...if I see ANYBODY out riding....even if it is a scooter....thumb's up...for that is the ride, that is best for them, the make, the model, the year... All good. I 'hear' what you are saying...and while I was in a 'fit' yesterday a 'down' day...I am seriously thinking this all through like a carpenter. Measure three times...cut once. You bring up great points. The other thing about Human Nature, for us all...is instinct...and usually, the original 'shove in the back' to look at a particular make and model, will always be the prime one you wanted. That is true. Do I want the SVTC? Absolutely, or I wouldn't be so p*ssed off, at this almost 7 month's long delay from the ordering of it. I know it is a fabulous bike, even though my experience so far, has only been to sit upon it, and explore all the infotainment features. Let me tell you...I stood, LOOKING at the bike...back to front, front to back, absolutely appreciating that I have NEVER seen a bike look so good. Have NEVER seen a bike with the feature set this ride has. THIS is why I am so, so, twisted out, on it being 7 months... I see other forum members coming out of winter hibernation down below the Mason Dixon....RAVING about the bike...and I'm in total Yamaha ignorance..of why...what...WHEN...I'm going to join them. So...I'm going out after I attempt to get some answers from Yamaha Canada in just after finishing this post...and am going to ride to a HD dealer...do my own due diligence on the Road Glide Ultra. Then, over to my Kawa dealer..and talk to them, over the Kawasaki 1700...sit on that...play with the features...talk some turkey...and then wait it out until June 1st. That is the day I pull my deal...and get my money back. I also have the other option...to just ride my ZR7S, and wait until this coming August or thereabouts, for the '19's to show up. If I do that...and the price and warranty is the same as the introductory year (I have my educated doubts...), I can once more lay out the coin....but with a hard-written stipulation, (once bitten, twice shy) that the dealer gets the bike within three weeks from contract write up...or a refund cheque is ready to be picked up. I might just end up doing that. I would be a liar ...if I said that I have never 'entertained' the thought of owning at least one in my life, a Harley Davidson. I always played with that idea...(tire kicked) even when I was running my Honda Gold Wing GL1500 SE. Also, have ALWAYS wanted to own an RT1200 BMW. I was even going to research the BMW rider's program, whereby you fly to Germany, to the factory, and pick the bike you want to Alpine Demo...and then you travel on tour with the factory backed, Alp's tour through Germany, France, Italy...Bavaria...and then, at the end of the tour, they offer you a fabulous price on your ride. The ride was factory new, when you first left the factory parking lot...so only YOU would have broken it in. They then ship your Alpine bike with all the memories attached, to your driveway, back home. I was going to do that...before I bought my Sport Tour, from Kawasaki, but the cost of common maintenance (and repair, should you need some) for a BMW, is well...as to my opinion, cost-prohibitive. You are suffering through my morning coffee activated fingertips...lol...but the bottom line...is that I hear you...not to go Knee Jerk on myself...and cool the jets. I am...today the sun is out in T.O.....CowFace is waiting out there in the garage for her owner...and we are going to kick some pavement...heading up to Lake Simcoe, and area. It's only about an hour's drive from Toronto...so would be a good, true, first ride of the season. I went last week to Tobermory, but cold and cloudy. Today is sun, and a promise of warmth. That's all this guy needs...a ride to get some oxygen up the nostrils...lol. The one thing that I not going to do anymore...is post about the SVTC, (as sitting in the Waiting Room) Frankly, for a reader...that gets, or is...'old'. If I get it before my cut off date for the 2018 model...I'll happily announce it, with some pictures to boot. If you don't see that...then you'll know it just didn't happen, and the refund cheque was cut. Have a great day, Lenny...and hope you get some riding in today as well! Happy Spring, sir! Joe

I'll do that tomorrow...and will post here, the result of that endevour! Who knows, Chief...the squeaky door analogy might give play... Cheers, Joe

I 'hear ya..'..and all the above is sage advise. I'd only have to be on the road this summer...and have somebody else's 2018 SVTC move on out past me...and then..well...yeah......! Yeah......

Chief, yes..I did say that I would wait until actually May 30th...but the time line, pointed that it was only a week away from shipping to the dealer. I asked my dealer this morning, if they got ANY word (not asking for just the VIN) that it was at the warehouse, or upon the truck. They got nothing back from Yamaha...except to say that they WERE getting some dealer stock in today on a truck. They did...but my SVTC was not on it. So..I guess, I have to just keep my fingertips to myself...and hide my extreme frustration in all of this. I intend to ride my Kawa tomorrow to the Harley Dealer,....sit on the Road Glide Ultra...lean it, feel it...play with the infortainment whatever's....and then grab a coffee, and talk turkey. I want to know before the end of next month, what I can expect to have to pay out to go Harley. I also took a look at the Kawasaki Voyager 1700 and thought that I would also stop by my Kawa dealer...and check that puppy out. Just options, Chief...in case this is an absolute bust. The other option, if I don't let my anger get the best of me...and I'm human...and pi*sed right off now, to above the gunwales...is to just apologize to Mama...and ride my ZR7S this summer...then see if Yamaha gets their Canadian act together, and has 2019's in for the month of August/18. That might also happen. What would drive me over the edge, there though...would be if my hunch is right...the '19's come with a two or three year warranty, and a 3 or 4 % MSRP hike. This...is my anti-Yamaha stressed out, Prosaic pill-----> I just have a feeling that the 5 year warranty that you have in your back pocket, was to entice sales for the introductory year. Maybe, maybe not. My crystal ball has a crack in it... The bottom line here is, though...that you poor folks won't have to read my 'it's coming....'it's coming posts, because some schmuck from Yamaha Canada (a few days ago,) said so....I'm going to rein in, and spare everybody that. The next time I type about a 2018 SVTC...will be for if I have the F*****G thing,...and pictures accompany the post! Other than that...the fingertips get slapped, lol! Cheers, Joe

"Thank you for the post...it made me laugh. I needed to laugh. I guess, it is, what it is...who knows..maybe the 'gods' will look down on me...and in the next 34 days...the 'cardboard' will come...". Didn't someone say...that if you build the field, 'they' will come? I'm going to go out tomorrow and build a Yamaha Dealership in my back yard...for perhaps, THEN...'it' will come. You laugh at this crap...or you cry...I'd rather laugh...