YamahaParExcellence

Thank you, Grubsie! If you wish to see me as my ownership and travel's progress, I'll keep tapping the keys, and making an 8 cup carafe of coffee. The coffee motivates more than three sentences per post..... My main fight-day event, is getting those 1,000 miles on her....so we can both saddle up...with the kitchen sink, my dear wife is already pulling out of the wall....I asked her; "Why, babe?" She answered back; "Cause....we....CAN!" I looked at her....leaned forward, gave her a kiss...and got out of her way...I'll figure out later, how to get a glass of water. Don't stand in the way of a woman, and her new maw-depth, SVTC side bags and tour trunk. You'll get run over....and a fast paced kitchen sink, towards the garage, can bruise.... Joe

Fair comments, fair viewpoints...and honestly, I don't think on any ride of the past 15 years, that anybody needs to change their mount, because of such a drastic change-up in engine design, or supportive technology. It's only if the rider WANTS to embrace the latest and the greatest. I know, more than my wife needed, I needed to run with another 'new discovery' for the next years of my motorcycling hobby. We didn't have any pressure, mechanically or financially, to deal the 2008 Wing Premium Sound/Nav. It was I wanting something different. As it turns out, not only different, but a totally new 'take' for myself in motorcycling. 1854 c.c's all packed into two cylinders. Totally new experience, in ride, in sound, in the lowest center of gravity frame I have ever turned into a bank and corner. In hindsight of three weeks, THIS is what I was needing, and looking for...but until now...didn't have a clue about it, lol. Three weeks later, I have a clue about it... I hope that everybody always ends up with what they wish for, what they need to make them happy in the sport....and actually find a frame and engine that does exactly that...if in their present mount, or over the next hill. For you, Mr. Dawson...it seems you are riding it right now! Good go! Joe

What is galling some posters here, that have, or have ridden prior year named Ventures...I felt the same exact way when Honda revealed the 2018 Wing. I thought...they should have retired the name; GoldWing, with the 2017 model, and brought forth the obvious successor to the ST-1300...with the new moniker of the Honda ST-1800. From where they took their design ques...that would (IMPO) been more transparent. That is the ridership they hope to have cross over...and not obviously present 2001-2017 current Wing owners. A lot of present Wing riders, some of my friends included, feel that Honda simply threw them to the side, and abandoned them. I can only imagine that this is the case, amongst current Venture (any gen) owners, and what they had hoped would be the next 'Venture'. I think that both companies should have clearly made a break-away, with the new from the old. As you say, there would have been 'Venture mourning' but along with that, an intellectual acknowledgement that either Honda or Yamaha has the right at any model year, to end production of a certain franchise. It's when they drastically alter that franchise, as in the case of the 2018 Wing, and the 2018 S Venture... and the franchise name remains intact, is when resentment enfolds. My take, anyway.

I've had many bikes over the years. From all major metric manufacturers, but still had favorites. Absolutely. Never had a large bore, V-Twin though. Funny how things shake out. Now I do...and see that it is my all time favorite to date. I appreciate the comment that I might not have been too happy in earlier versions of the genre. But...as the poster (and thank you!) has pointed out, I might have just sat upon my first one, at the most appropriate time...for as more than one motorcycle magazine rider has commented, this (the Yamaha SVTC) perhaps, is the most refined and most technical V-twin having ever been produced. All I know...is that what a joy, this motorcycle has been to ride, and own, to date. Certainly a smile maker! Joe

Amercian, as you have seen by my uploaded pictures, I have the higher backrest...and at 6' 3", it does a great job of supporting you right in the lower lumbar. On my longest 400 KM adventure on Saturday, it has you fit into that saddle, like truly, a ball fits into a baseball glove, with the higher profile, being the player's thumb. It brought that analogy up to my mind, because you are sitting 'into' this saddle, and not perched upon it. I have no intentions of Corbin'izing this ride...as they did a bang up job on the comfort and shape for a large man, such as myself. If you don't have the lower wind deflectors, (and I know they are costly...), I most highly recommend them as well. Where they bring in cool air...or deflect it away from you...is where in my opinion, that standard deflector set should have been deployed. The mid height, brings air to your mid chest, and right down to your ankles, by swirl. The co-rider also feels the same wind envelope.They also bring in an air stream right over both jugs...and can only add to the service life of the motor. My wife is also crazy over this bike...and she herself, said , this was a huge blessing-in-disguise, the 2018 Wing not being a tech updated version of the 2017 release. So...I guess things happen for a reason. I needed a change from GoldWings...and this was the answer...told to me, each and every time I now sling a leg over Charlotte! This has been a fantastic purchase experience to date. Cheers n' Beers.

I thought to bring this very first forum entry back to the forefront....on the font page. I see where the angst, resistance for acceptance, and animosity to the current 2018 SVTC comes from, by some active posters. I get it. I really do. We do, actually...my wife and I both. We waited for over three years to trade up to a new Wing model, from our 2008,...and were stunned and shocked by what Honda finally put out, as a tour model, and the new, updated Wing. So, do I read these posts within this thread...and get it? Yeppers... They (the thread contributors) had certain ownership-needs, and they were not met upon the Reveal. Same for us, regarding the 2018 Honda 'Goldwing'. We get it.... Personally, with riding the new 2018 Star Venture. Personally, I think it is the best Tour Class motorcycle I have ever owned to date. That includes all prior Honda Goldwings. They were great bikes on their own merit. Personally...and that word can not be over-stressed...on many of my 'tour needs/emotional (excitement and interaction created)/feature list', this one tops them all. Personal comment...other's will certainly not agree. Other's will. Name of the game.. Just interesting to have this now up at the top...and let others see the threads...the responses...and dwell upon them, post the 2018 release to market. Joe

Alright, Du-Rron, I'll stand down. Cheers!

The SVTC is my therapy...and Doctor Yamaha says, 'That I'm showing improvements..."

Nope, those are the published spec's...

The Harley Dealer floor rep, called me yesterday afternoon, and asked if I had thought any more upon that model I had gone to see. You talk about a preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeegnant pause, when I told him that I had taken delivery of a Yamaha SVTC, three weeks ago. He asked me if that was a new bike purchase, and listened to my answer. He was very gracious...and said that if I ever wanted to 'come over to the Dark Side'...please let him be the first to attend me. I promised him that I would. Poor guy....but no cost-for-cost Harley can come near the 2018 SVTC, for MSRP feature set. I wish him many sales, though...for he was a very nice chap.

He wouldn't be riding my bike...in the first place, lol. No way...'cause stuff like this...happens way too often.... Any bike dropping...for any reason....would be his...

A short blog. Yep, I'll keep it short and sweet.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I have never owned a V-Twin 'American'esque' motorcycle of any kind. I always had Honda twins, fours, and other makes, twins and fours. Amongts those, five Wing model year flat 6's. I have had my 2018 Star Venture T.C. for about three weeks now. This weekend, I had the opportunity to take her for a 400 km ride. Just myself. My wife went horseback riding with friends. Just back from that ride...and wanted to share what I think is, for myself, quite the eye-opener! I think that I am sort of...'out of the closet'. From the interaction, the sheer excitement of ride, man, the sheer joy this format of engine gives me...the sound, 'Potato, Potato, its presence when you open up the throttle, or lanker down into the next higher gear...being a semi-dry sump, a very low center of gravity, and fabulous hip-English control of direction (much like how a horse takes cues from the rider...very much like that...), I realize, and gladly, not too, too late...that what kind of bike I should have ALWAYS been riding...from 1969 to the present...was a V-Twin. If those many years ago, I would have first purchased a Harley, and discovered then...the joy of riding a V-Twin,...I'd have never strayed from that large bore V-Twin configuration. Never... My 400 km's onboard my SVTC today, amply pointed that out. So...I'm a closet V-Twin'er...but no more! I didn't know it before the SVTC...but I always had 'wanted' the 'emotional' alongside the wheels turnin' get-me-there. Now I know...what I was missing all these years...and I REALLY get it...now with the ah...Harley Davidson 'culture'. Man...it's real! Yes, I would have gotten new rides every 5-7 years...but now, with what I know...what riding a large bore, V-Twin FEELS like, sound's like, performs like.......I only would have updated the model year...but it would have been one Harley after another. Unless of course, any other V-Twin came out in competition. I'd certainly demo them, against 'my' Harley. If better....there would have been a change up...but again...only with another V-Twin. Each to their own, of course....but the last three weeks WITH a V-Twin, has let me know, that I should have had that engine format...all along. It's never too late to teach an old dog, new tricks...and this old dog...is now barking up another tree....

Puc, I think I might have an explanation as to why you see more 2018 GoldWings out the door. I think a few reasons.. 1. As stated Baby Boomers, for the most part (as Wing Owners) are simply staying with their paid-for ride...and no way want to get into payments, or if they have the cash...to commit $30,000.00 into a motorcycle at, or near retirement, and fixed income years. 2. So..what's left...well, the X gen, and Mill's...that's what's left. They have mostly at present (if at all in the game..) Sport Rides...Ninja's...Bandit's...etc...and now..want to do some touring...and are into multi-cylinder engines. So...they are gravitating to the flat six...and lighter ride. For folks like us...my wife and myself...been there, done that...we wanted to maintain a large scale, non-scaled down full tour, full carry, motorcycle...and had Yamaha released with the V4...we still would have bought it. So...I think the new uptake by 30's and 40's somethings...is to stay with a perceived performance ride, and not a more comfortable and (as they might see it...we don't...but they might...) paced and measured ride. I think all of that is in play. There are a LOT of our friends and others that I know...who have no plan to move to a new Wing of any kind...no matter what Honda would come up with for 2018. Key words, regarding their present, any-year Wing, or any other type, or brand of Tour bike: Paid For... Lots of reasons, Puc...lots of reasons....other than this bike has 'this' engine. This bike has 'this' method of engine cooling. This bike has 'these' many cylinders. Finances/career/retirement metrics of my age category, and receding physical strength (yeah...we have to acknowledge that...) are major reasons today for uptake, or not.

Two things happens...fuel mapping, fuel regulation, the same as in large Commercial diesel trucks...where the injection racks get (what the trucker's call) squeezed, and advanced ignition timing, which also speaks to using a 91 octane fuel. The Sport mode, takes all electronic 'averaging' away. What is left...is the full response, true engine output, unfettered by performance mapping. In Tour mode...the engine performance gets derated, and 'squeezed'. In Sport...just the engine...no electronic regulated squeezing of that big hunk of 113 cubic inches, and pistons the size of large coffee can lids... In horse-speak, Tour mode is keeping the mount 'below the bit'. Sport mode...has the horse's mouth 'above the bit'...and all h*ll can break loose! Ask any equestrian regarding those two phrases....the second one, you'll see a cringe....in Sport Mode...Charlotte is DEFINITELY 'above the bit'...lol!

Puc, I'm just starting to believe that most Americans are simply tapped out, financially, and it is the cost of the bike...and not its features, not what engine they put in...now how it is cooled...just plain and simply, U.S. motorcycle consumers are financially tapped out (of course not ALL!). Starting to look more and more that way to me. I get it...with Health Care insurance costs...in some cases, thousands of dollars per month in the 'states....Baby Boomer's that are actually SELLING their rides, not buying another one...HD riders...selling their rides, not buying another one....all of that plays in. In Canada, I think there is more actual money in the average Canadian's jeans for expensive, new toys.... (wink).

Thanks for that...yes..that is the one----> 15W-50 that I will only be using. Also, I suggest to us all, that when you open the top oil port in the lower crank case to make a little square of non-scratch, nylon porch screening, and to place that over that round open port with some painter's green masking tape...while the oil is draining...and lift it off just before you start to add oil to the crank case. This will prevent foreign objects, as well as insect carcass entry. A suggestion. BTW...your's is a good suggestion, to use the standard 10w40 until that thousand miles is reached, and then do another oil change to what I shall be running from thereon...so good idea. I'll do that as well. I see that the Redline 20W50 is $5.00 cheaper than the Yamalube 15W50 https://www.redlineoil.com/20w50-motorcycle-oil BTW...was really encouraged this morning while going through the first prelimenary run of the S.M...that the exhaust valve clearance is the same as the intake. That made my day! That tells you everything in what Yamaha 'solution engineered', for cooling metrics at the most critical part of the jug...the exhaust valve seat!!!

Great to read all this, Puc! Just one thing...make sure that when the time comes for the Twin Sisters's to come out...he doesn't get cheated out of whatever flavor of ice cream he wants. They con'ed me real good, when my set came out...."oh honey...you can have all the ice cream you want, after you get back". What a crock! I got cold water...! LOL. BTW...What did one Tonsil say to the other? Answer----> "Quick, get dressed up, we've going on a date, ...I heard a nurse say, that the doctor is taking us out tonight!"

Well, I thought I had wasted $109.00 (with $20.00 shipping charge included), but man...at 746 pages, it was a wash/wash for the cost of having printed the manual at home. You figure the cost of high quality waxed paper, the binding, the time...and it becomes a wash for the cost to purchase. If you only want a few pages, for this or that...sure you can home print from the found on-line PDF...but to have it, as American also states, at your work bench, with really good schematics, this is the right path. So...glad I bought one... Post Edit......manual on the knee...and thought I might offer a tip....if you don't have a compressor, and you want to service the spark plugs...to first blow out the Spark Plug Wells...so debris won't fall into the cylinder...I suggest you purchase two or three cans of compressed air/cleaner spray for use inside computer cabinets. You folks know the ones...and use those first to blow fully around the S.P. wells, before removing (the actual S.P.'s) them. Yep..glad I got this baby...good reading so far..and giving me increased confidence of ownership, and my own garage maintenance. Sparks plugs are 13 foot pounds to snug up. Post Edit 2: Folks, this 1854 cc engine---> IS engineered by material and oil flow gallery, to run very cool...and why? Because BOTH intake and exhaust valve clearances are the same. BOTH are set to 0.0016 inches. To any mechanic, that is the tip-off. You only get that, when the exhaust valve seating area is heat conductive enough, to not need a usually more open setting of 0.0018, that I have seen in years of being a B.Y.M. Both the Primary and Secondary (Slave set) of the four valves of this engine IS adjusted by the hydraulic lifters...but because the slave set have a mechanical shaft to apply cam-love English, Yamaha wants to make certain that there is no material wear factor (between the Primary enablers...and the Slave enablers. So...that is the reason for the 16,000 mile/25,000 km inspection interval. It does not say that you will ever NEED to adjust...if you run with good oil...do the time interval for oil and filter...but that they want to make sure that every 16,000 miles, it is SEEN that both the Primary and Secondary enabler's are both set to 0.0016 inch valve clearance. I personally think this bike (from my usage so far..is going to maintain pretty much, that 0.0016 inch clearance for its service life. Just my hunch with years of wrench cranking...lol. I have made the service life decision, that I am going from the 600 miles first inspection onward to use their YamaLube Full Synthetic 15W-50. (I made a correction as noted by American) I spec'ed that oil at a dealership..and really like the higher Ester's factor. I think that with oil cooling as the secondary cooling tech...this is the best life-blood for my SVTC. Personal opinion, in play. I've also printed out the special tools pages, and will be ordering their valve clearance gauges, the drive belt tension gauge, the tappet adjusting tool, the USB Yamaha Diagnostic tool, and the oil filter wrench head. I normally hand torque my filters...but on this bike...I want to know by Torque Wrench that it will be the 13 foot pounds it calls for. While I'm on a 'coffee roll'...might I also suggest that you print the SVTC General Specifications and put those few pages with your Operator's Manual Pouch, in the bike. That way...you will always have the spec's and parts for ordering either while on tour...or inside your own garage and/or driveway.

Chief...I was doing some Sport Tour 'dance moves' out there at 6:00 am on those curves...and I didn't let metal meet roadway, either. You won't be a metal shop grinder...at any SANE use of the SVTC in operation. INSANE, er...maybe.

Yeah..I'm probably at over a hundred views myself. This is the best review out there...he talks about WHAT this ride can give you...what the tech has...and can do for you...he also mentions how 'responsive' is the 'hip English'...and boy..did I find that out for myself last Tuesday morn! Coming back to this video review, with now having been on my own SVTC for over three weeks...what ever he mentioned...I just kept saying; "..check...check...yep...check...right...". I think this was the one magazine rider's review that sold my wife and I on Charlotte...with 'intelligent expectation' fully in play. We were not disappointed or let down, in any way. This was a great next ride, acquisition!

Ok they were open, good. Yeppers...I was a totally dedicated Honda Guy...with five model year Wings under by belt. This is the first time in 2018, that from 1969, I have never had a Honda in the garage. Even when there was another, there was always a Honda something. That's history. I'm now a Yama Kawa guy...and most happy to stay that way until dust.... In my personal opinion, this Yamaha Star Venture Trans Continental, is the best Luxury Tour Mount, I have owned...from 1969-2018. It is stuffed to the '9's with the latest 2000 era tech, I found it has a rock solid, non wallowing carve-a-line frame, with suspension that needs no $2,000.00 upgrade right out of the crate. Front and back...it will keep you carving in S-bends...or just a relaxed ride around sweeping mountain vistas. The SVTC will do it all....and out-of-the-crate. Man, this is 'my' bike! My wife loves it too. We won't be moving onto another brand or model, anytime soon. Most likely, I might do one more SVTC model year, if I'm still able to hold the bike up...in about 5-7 years. That's always been the best R.O.I. for my needs. My dealer said, bring me back this SVTC looking as 'show room' as your 2008 Goldwing was...and I'll give you 'no hassle' top trade in, for it. No dickering needed. I'm spending the next two weeks, taking long day and overnight trips to bring me up to the 600 miles first service, and then the next 400 miles of 2nd phase, Break In. After that...my wife and I are heading out West... She can hardly wait!!!! Oh...and this is bad...she is already 'rubbing it in' to the other gals whose husbands have Wings...that she doesn't have to 'beg' me...like some second rate citizen to change the entertainment...or to lower or raise the volume...OR ...to make totally private phone calls, (of which those gals, can't even do...). She is being quite naughty.... "Yes," she says, "I can do it all from my own saddle...and forget HIM!" With my wife, I answer to both Joe, and Him. In our marriage, interchangeable.

I thought HD stood for Humongous Debt. See, I was wrong ;0

White light and prayers on their way. Handsome grandson., Puc!