RonK

-- As to a cage "not seeing you" is an easy situation. Figure how often when we're in our cage that we don't always know what's going on in all corners of our area at all times. Especially when there's a lot of traffic. So I don't get angry when that happens to me when I'm on my bike. Angry only if it's on purpose as I know they saw me. In coming down to Arizona this fall, I passed a bike while in my truck pulling my trailer with a bike on it. Looked in mirrors, didn't see him so figured he dropped back, changed lanes. Then I saw him pull up as I got into his lane just in front of him. I don't think he was pissed since he knew I was a biker and wouldn't have done that on purpose. Thing is, he just happened to be at EXACTLY the right position to be in a dead spot on my view. I think as I get older and especially as I have more experience each year riding a bike, I become more aware and also more tolerant of others in traffic. Another thing, one of my Road Stars was declared a total. I bought it back from the insurance company for a partial amount of what they gave me for it, fixed a few things, and have ridden it since for about 75,000 miles. So that worked out. If this photo shows up, you can see the bike is in pretty good shape still after about 110,000 miles. --

-- I only know the owner's manual says on page 9-3 under valve clearance to "Check and adjust valve clearance when engine is cold." This is marked at every 16000 miles. --

-- Normally at 16,000 miles is the scheduled valve clearance check time. Has anyone done that yet? Have they changed from factory setting? Will they start sounding "funny" if one or two are out of spec? --

-- Must be a slow day for me to be checking old threads. Anyway, first photo has shady patch in trees. Also lighter tracks in road are from a vehicle that had right side tires on lighter gravel, then made a u-turn. Two photos show the bike with the cup holder just behind the windshield--not Bigfoot. --

--I read this whole thread (I had the afternoon available) and at the end--never found out if Dave got the bike back, he paid no money, and everything worked fine mechanically. I'm still waiting--------

-- Update on plugs. I haven't changed my plugs yet on my Eluder, but I have nearly 40,000 on the iridium plugs on both my Road Stars which take the same plug, a NGK DPR-7EA-9. The difference on the iridiums is they are DPR-7EIX-9. Since all three of my bikes take the same plug, I went ahead and ordered some off EBay. I got 12 plugs for $48.03 with shipping. So for the extra $1.50 or so per plug over standard plugs, I thought I did okay. I'll be putting in the new iridiums at about 13-14,000 miles. I'll be heading out on an 8,000 miler after that so I don't want to do any work at all on the bike on the road. --

-- Of course, all that above said, while that mt discussed above is a good substitute for the OEM, it's not my choice. I'll likely be going with another Bridgestone car tire that is a run flat, is softer, has more sipes for traction and rain, more contact area (especially on straightaways), and 40% more tread rubber. Of course the idea of a car tire on the rear isn't for everyone and those who don't like the thought should just use a mt if that's what they are comfortable with. There are comments about this in the Darkside Category. --

-- As you know, you can always search around for a cheaper price on anything you buy if you want to spend the time or are lucky. But, in your case, you gained some reputation with the dealer which is important too. There are times when we don't really want Amazon or Ebay to work on our bikes. Always good that we keep the dealer in the loop some of the time. No? You still only paid half of the cost for the OEM original tire. Look at how many folks will be paying that because they are too lazy or inexperienced to shop around at all or dicker. --

-- I hope you will keep track of the wear by using a depth gauge rather than "it looks like new" which isn't real accurate. I want to know how it is for you by next spring. Early next summer I'll be getting my new rear. I want the run flat ability, but this tire at less than half the price is tempting too. If so, I would run Ride_On sealant in it for balance and protection from punctures. I do have an aftermarket tpms since my Eluder doesn't come with a factory set up for tire pressure monitoring. --

-- Other places have this size too for $142.88: https://www.denniskirk.com/bridgestone/exedra-max-tire.pfp543979.prdf https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/750/31808/Bridgestone-Exedra-Max-Rear-Motorcycle-Tire But it's good to know there are other choices for about one half or less of dealer's price for the tire alone. --

-- Being a summertime resident of Grand Junction, I do know all the roads listed in this thread. If you go to the main Motorcycleroads.com website, you can click on any of the routes around there for more detail and photos. Here is one of the routes listed along with a lot of the photos I take of all these routes: http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/2130/Colorado/De-Beque-Cuttoff---455-Road.html#sthash.cTDI3sqh.dpbs --

-- Here is info and photos on the entire loop route: http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/134/Colorado/San-Juan-Mountain-Skyway.html#sthash.NGMNfQir.dpbs --

-- Here is a listing of that road with photos and report: http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/1485/Colorado/Loma-to-Rangely-on-Rt-139.html#sthash.KBOwQwsR.dpbs --

-- I only have the jiggle when getting on. I suspect it's from the side without any bolt holding the two parts of the brackets together. I don't think those two parts will cause any wear. If you don't want any, you can tighten the bolt up all the way but you will need a tool for that, on and off. --

-- Back in my day: The motor on my bike was playing cards held on with clothes pins. I hitchhiked 30 miles to go to the YMCA to watch Saturday movies for ten cents. (Like Flash Gordon or Hopalong Cassidy or Lash LaRue.) --

-- The official way to remove the seat on the Eluder is to take both side panels off, then remove two hard to reach bolts under the front of the seat. Then slide the seat back and off. (Please note in a post if the Venture is any different.) What I do is to leave the left bolt off and just use the right one when re-installing the seat. However I have substituted an aftermarket bolt slightly longer, put a wingnut on it and a locking nut. Now what I do is just remove the right panel without tools, then just reach in with my fingers and unscrew the bolt without a tool by twisting the wingnut. The bolt is not tightly screwed in but it doesn't go anywhere when slightly loose. My seat does wiggle a little when I get on, but it's not a problem. I'd prefer the wiggle to having to remove the left side panel and both seat bolts using tools. Getting the stock seat bolts in isn't a picnic with large fingers either as the seat brackets are tucked in under the seat. Tip: It can usually use some seat wiggles when twisting the wingnut bolt with your fingers which lets the bolt have some slack when twisting it. --

-- This is great news. There are at least two bikes now that have done this size so I don't expect not to use the 205 when I replace my OEM. Do you realize you paid $300. less than a new OEM from a dealer? In addition, I suspect the tire will outperform the mc tire in all aspects. (By the way, was it easier to get the wheel off with your bike laying on its side?) --

-- I've never heard of any insurance company saying they would not insure if a car tire was used. I have read of a dozen riders who have asked. The only requirement for tires would be that they are DOT approved which all those tires are. I suppose you could get a ticket if you had bald tires which would be unsafe and they were what caused the accident. When my mc tire blew out on the freeway into 3 separate pieces and the resulting crash totaled my GoldWing, the adjuster never even looked at it. --

-- I believe that's it. I didn't realize there was a mudflap on it. --

-- You're probably referring to Yellow Wolf. He ran Darkside on his GoldWing 1,000 miles on the Dragon in 24 hours. Not a record that will be broken soon. --

-- It's always best if someone uses what makes them comfortable. Although some folks are "deer in the headlights" right off the bat. The Honda service manager where I get all my tires mounted will do my ct but states he'll never ride a bike with them on. (I haven't told him I've gone 150,000 miles so far without a single problem with my ct. on three of my bikes.) Anyway, he said two guys on GoldWings said they put on ct and couldn't make a turn and went off the road. Of course this is preposterous to blame that on a ct. They just screwed up with their riding and wanted an excuse. I can show you all day videos of guys riding the Dragon with cruisers or tourers and scraping hard parts along with going faster than all but full out racing bikes on ct and never slipping or having problem one. But again, this is a sport for fun and part of that is knowing you have what you think is the best for you. --

-- I'm not used to Facebook, in fact I can't even figure out how to post on it. But that link you posted gets me to a Facebook site, I click on the Venture area, but I can't find his post. How do I do that? --

-- Typically the 60 tire would be about .4" taller in the upper radius. The part that concerns me is when in full suspension compression. Will it bottom out? Hard to test that unless you put one on while you have a passenger and drop off a rounded curb onto the street and listen for the noise. That's why I always want to hear from others who have done it. It's why I value anecdotal reports so much. My RoadStar will bottom out when I have a passenger and with our combined weight of about 550#. I don't worry about it as I rarely ever have that hard of a drop. A pothole would do it, but then a pothole at 60 mph could blow out the whole tire and rim. --

-- That's what my looking under the fender with a mirror shows if you are talking section width. The tread width is no problem either as it's less than the section width. I can see more than a half inch and since we only need to use a quarter of an inch on each side, there should be no problem. The 205/55 will also slightly improve a speedometer that shows more speed than the bike is actually traveling. I think my speedo is maybe 1.5 mph fast on the dial. My odometer reads about 2.4% over actual distance. I can also live with being one-tenth of an inch taller--although since I usually run about 30# in it, it may not even be the full one-tenth taller since the OEM is being run at factory suggested 41#. --

-- I don't think so. My Eluder doesn't look like that. The pictures of '18 Ventures don't look like that either. It's some other year bike. --