ChiefGunner

Thanks @cowpuc, I tried that and it doesn’t want to accept it. I have a YouTube channel with videos I’ve shared often, but for some reason it doesn’t like it. 🤔

In answer @cowpuc to how my summer riding has been, it’s been great right up until I had the motor replaced last month. Yea, you heard right. Thank God it was done under warranty! Been still doing some stuff to the bike. cant post a video but I’ll try a picture.

I know Eric well, and am familiar with his issue. I did experience it, but found out my steering head nut was loose. That was long ago and hasn’t happened since I tightened it.

Hey there @cowpuc, yes I’ve got lots of stories, pics and videos. Speaking of videos, I just tried to start a new thread posting fall riding pics & videos but it won’t let me post the video. Not here or in the video section. I already reached out to Don about it. The video is riding in stunning fall leaves on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the viaduct area.

A lot of changes since I was last here! Site looks a lot cleaner for sure, but before I try to comment on what I don’t see maybe I should give Don some time to get a rope around this here wild bronco called a “website”. Appreciate what you’re doing Don to make it better👍 And yes @cowpuc this varmint has returned from the netherworld. 😁 Have lots of stories to share about my SVTC. Have I had some problems YUP, has Yamaha stepped up for each issue... another big YUP!

Thanks Don! I do ride the heck out of it. You can see in the dash I’ve got over 22k miles on it! Yea, I see what you mean by “show bike”. My wife has always said I’m a “peacock”, so I guess I can’t argue with her. Lol! Thats the great thing about bikes... we make them uniquely OURS. I do get a lot of the “holy cow!” remarks regarding the rig when the trailer is hooked up too. Every time I stop for gas, invariably someone comes up and comments or asks questions. I have a dear military friend.. he & I served together, who is friends with the founder and another guy who is the current President of Rolling Thunder. Anyways, we’ve been invited to ride UP FRONT with them this year in THE LAST Washington DC Rally. It’s a great honor, so the bike is gonna get some HIGH visibility for sure. Should be a great time!

Well, the “mods” continue. Got my Kuryakyn Longhorn highway pegs on a few days ago. Makes a big difference in comfort. Finished an important mod last night at 9:46pm (I got there at 9am!) and that was to get my gauge console wrapped to match my seat. I will say it looks much better in sunlight. Now it’s on to chroming some items!

I agree Don, yet it’s understandable given that we haven’t seen a software update for over a year. Sure wish Yamaha would step up to the plate and take care of its “high dollar” customers. Never seen such silence by a reputable manufacturer in the face of such an outcry by its customers. Disappointing at best.

I guess my question would be... is HE acquiring his dads bike? It would be cheaper for him to fly out to California & ride it back with the added enjoyment of the ride.

Not that I need the recognition guys, but it was me that mentioned that possibility during my phone conversation with @Freebird .

Spark plug change Well, there was a post somewhere talking about changing the spark plugs without having to pull the gas tank as the manual says. Well, today I put that to the test and can say it does work. You have to take out the two screws at the base of the gas tank and then lift it up enough to stick a small 2x4 under it. That will give you enough clearance to easily get the left & right rear. Pull the breather cover off on the left side and you can reach the left front plug. Now, reaching the right front is a bit more of a pain. Remove the air filter cover and filter. Then you’ll see the back plate which has the intake tube going to the carb. It has two screws that you need to remove and then “gently” rotate the back plate clockwise about 40 degrees. That will give you enough access to reach the right front plug. Remember not to over tighten the plugs. They are torqued to 13ft.lbs. Reverse dis-assembly to put it back together. Viola!

There’s plenty of room behind the lower side panels to mount relays or circuit board for that matter. They’re pretty well protected back there. Maybe we should bring in Daryl (Machinist) to help us fabricate a bracket for the fame to mount the fan? I bought his last set of light brackets to mount driving lights on the forks and they are TOP NOTCH quality. The fairing dash has more than enough room to mount a manual switch or push button if that’s what you’re referring to.

Don’t trouble yourself there Pucster. I can do that very easily owning the bike. I’m working in Atlanta right now, but I’ll be home this evening. Would like just video, pictures or both?? I’m more than happy to assist you!

Price is very reasonable! Wouldn’t be too hard to make a custom bracket for mounting. I guess the next question is, what do you wire it into for control? I can’t think of anything currently that would temperature activate it. Is it something that would be always on if the engine is running, or are you talking a remote switch for activation? I suppose you could mount a thermistor near the engine to possibly bring it in at a certain temp.

Hey, that’s really nice Dion! Do you happen to know if it’s waterproof? Because the unit will be mounted low and up front to be functional with the oil cooler, it’s going to be subject to a lot of moisture.

No problem cowpuc. Now mind you, it’s not completely unrestricted flow like the bottom is BUT the entire length of the inside edge toward the engine IS open. The air scooped up by those ducts would be channeled inward. I’ll have to take a specific pic showing what I’m talking about but this should help you see it a little bit. in the pic you can see my LED light in the scoop. Where those are mounted is within that air channel I’m talking about. Hopefully you can see where I mean. If you zoom in you can see the light shining into the louvers. Your right about the louvers not assisting air flow. They would have to be vertical to be functional that way. If you look at the back side behind the louvers, you’ll find that the back is sloped INWARD. In other words shallower toward the outside and deeper toward the inside. That design angle helps to channel the air inward towards the inner opening you see with the lights.

Not sure how many miles you have in your scoot there @ZOEYDOG , but I’ve run 15w-50 full synthetic since after my break in. I’ve noticed that the bike ran cooler after about 4K miles. Maybe less friction from wear in? This bike has a “shut off” that if left in idle for too long without movement it will shut the engine off to protect it. You won’t have to worry about the bike catching fire as someone here mentioned about an HD.

Your statement regarding “fake louvers” is incorrect Puc. As I’ve stated before, while the upper part is not as “flow through as the lower portion, there is a vent port along the inside edge of the whole length of those louvers which direct air in toward the front of the engine. I know this to be true not just because I own the bike, but because there was plenty of room for me to set led light strips for my XKGlow LED lighting. while I agree they would’ve worked better to open it up, what you’ll find behind those areas of the front piece is the main fuse bank on the left side and the unified brake reservoir system on the right. There’s no flow through back in toward the bike from there because of the back panel things are mounted to. i know HD made a set of fans that mounted in the engine area to blow heat away. I wonder if it’s possible to procure and modify those for use? Just an idea.

Man or woman? Approx age? I’m betting it’s a phone cause.

That’s a Deluxe model not the SVTC.

Wow Daniel! Really glad you’re ok. That could’ve been much worse! On a secondary note, that is just sickening to see. I hope the damage is not too severe. So how did they not see you?? Let me guess... some idiot on the phone? We appreciate any updates as the situation develops.

No, I’ve been able to find online tire prices that my dealership has been willing to honor. Also, when I recently replaced my rear tire, I went with the same Goodyear Excedra Max tire BUT I went with a readily more available and cheaper 60 series tire instead of the stock 55 series. It’s about 3/8” taller across the diameter but the wheel fits without any problems even with a trailer hitch installed. There is ZERO ride or handling difference. The only thing I’ve noticed is that your rpms are slightly lower at speed because the tire covers a bit more ground per rotation. Basically, at the same rpm the stock tire at 85mph is doing 85mph. The taller one at the same rpm will have you doing 87mph. The difference is negligible the slower you go below that point. The tire price was about $80 cheaper too. just thought you should know:

There’s a whole discussion thread on here where us SVTC owners were exploring the theory your considering. My last four is 0694. We exchanged S/N’s and were looking for a common thread or denominator regarding the lifter issue, but it didn’t seem to be sequentially recognized. Oddly, we did notice too that WHEN you ordered or got your bike didn’t necessarily mean you got a lower S/N. I ordered mine in July of 2017 and was the first person in the Southeast region to get mine, yet my # is 0694. Someone else in Georgia got there’s 7 months after I did and their # was almost 250 lower. I’m just saying all this to save you from wasting the time looking for a commonality which has already been explored AD INFINITUM.

Well said Don, well said! It’s a bummer that a few have had some issues, but that doesn’t mean the entire model is a hunk of junk as some would have you think. It truly is a world class touring machine, and it’s cutting edge technology on a first year release. To think that there will be no problems with a new model is naive at best. To take a few documented problems and then berate the whole model based on a few instances is irresponsible and “sour grapes” IMHO.

Well, since I was one of those with the lifter issue and posted evidence I can say this. I had the issue repaired at 8k miles and currently have 20k miles and she’s been running like a top ever since the repair. No, it wasn’t fun to go through that, but Yamaha made it right and that’s what matters. As far as “oil” goes, I’ve found the bike runs smoother & quieter on a full synthetic oil than regular. Don’t worry about the warranty because the manual Shows a number of different weights are just fine. The oil just has to MEET OR EXCEED manufacturers specifications. Finding a true Group IV or V true synthetic with good levels of ZDDP and esther is a good idea. These types of oils EXCEED base recommneddd oils and will not void warranty. Flat tappet lifters NEED this kind of protection. Pesonally, despite the repair incident this is the nicest touring bike I’ve ever owned INCLUDING my 91 Venture Royale which I put over 120k miles on. There’s a reason they called it a Transcontinental!