Tennessee

Obviously, you have a superior command of not only the English language, but the intricacies of these motorcycles. I only wanted to post my impressions and feelings about this motorcycle. Obviously I violated some principles that must not be crossed. Do I know the difference between carbs and fuel injection? I believe so, since I have worked on both extensively for years. Do I understand the fact that this bike is fourteen years old, and probably will not perform as well as a 2016 Indian Roadmaster, or even a 2009 Venture? Yes. But with all that being said, somehow I have intruded upon your superior knowledge of these bikes and their capabilities, and for that I am totally apologetic. How bout' I jus' don't post nuttin' else, and let the forum knowledge to guys like you??

Took this bike out for a real test run this morning. (I can do that on a weekday since I am retired!!) If you are familiar with the Great Smokies just South of Chattanooga... I left Cleveland, TN on Highway 64, about 15 miles to Rt. 411. Headed East on 411, keeping the bike around 60-70 MPH. So far, so good. Above Benton, Tennessee, just past the Polk County High School, is a turnoff for Rt. 30 which leads SouthWest to Parksville lake and reconnects with Rt. 64. This is a 15 mile stretch that has been called the "Dragon's Tail with driveways." This really tested the bike, up, down, major tight turns, no real straightaways, for about 15 miles. I didn't hit fourth but once or twice, and not for long. Never in fifth. Personally, I was glad to finally get off of it, since it also included a random portable stop light, (which I hit red), that was placed there to allow for people to use the one lane remaining since the NorthEast bound lane had collapsed into the mountainside from a recent rainstorm. (I had to wait for a beat up mini-pickup...) After completing that 15 mile run, I reconnected with the Ocoee highway about five miles East of TVA dam #1 . Took that road back to Cleveland, TN. Total run, just short of 80 miles. Temps, in the mid to high 80's. Bike performed OK, not great in my book. No real problems, but the handling is not what I hoped for. I wish that the lowering kit that is on my '09 was on this bike. I may add one. Wife says go for it. I keep the money, so wait I shall, but it hit the list today... The Clearshield with the vent was a lifesaver in cooling. Also 1.5" lower. Love to add that to the '09!! Overall, the bike did what it was supposed to do, but I found myself really using my eye/hand technique to get me through the curves of the Rt. 30 portion. Bike just doesn't want to lay over like my other scoots, both of which are lowered. But for a fourteen year old bike, and fourteen year old technology, not bad, not bad at all. I plan on taking the '09 that is lowered through the same route maybe tomorrow. Hope the messed up carbs play nice. Have not had a chance to get it in to get them balanced and cleaned yet, but it is improving with me riding it often. What I liked about the '05: Bike shifted like a dream. Neutral is much easier to find than my Indian. Mileage seemed good, but only using the gauge to guess I did maybe 35-39MPH. Clearshield windshield is a lifesaver, with the vent in the lower middle. Highly recommended. Never overheated, nor did it ever miss a beat. What I didn't like: I still am not used to the four-cylinder pulse that the motor puts out. You can feel every cylinder explosion, a strange feeling. Just...odd. Carbs are no replacement for fuel injection, period. It is only a 1300CC. You have to remember that. Despite the 90+ HP, the torque is lacking at high speeds, and it kind of runs out of power around 65-70 MPH. Handling was so-so, bit too high of COG, and made me use my eye-hand technique hard to get it over for the tight curves of the 15 mile Rt. 30 run. Overall, I am pleased that the bike did what it should, didn't make any real mistakes, and kept me going. Could it be quieter, despite my Motokote addition? Yes. Are there funny whining noises at different times that make you wonder? Yes. Did it take me out and home safely? You bet... So I think I am happy with my fourteen year old Yamaha Venture with the eye popping paint job. I may add the lowering kit.

This new electric bike from HD has a few problems many levels in the world of electrics... 1. Too big. 2. Too expensive MSRP $29,799 (I believe you can have a Toyota Prius for less). Zero motorcycle, their main competition, Standard $18,995, Premium $20,995. Still a chunk of coin. 3. Too few miles between charges on the HD. 4. Its main competitor, the Zero SR/F, goes farther, is about 60 lbs lighter, and is about $10,000 less money. It also uses a lighter motor, non-water cooled. The HD requires a water cooling jacket around the motor, which then brings in a water system, and a pump, etc., etc. And the Zero has been out there for a couple years already, debugging first year jitters. 5. The HD charges faster, but since you have to stop more often, who cares? The only thing that HD offers, and it's kind of a big thing, is the dealer network. Zero, well, almost zero. HD, thousands of dealers. But is it worth $10K more? Not on my best day. The major problem with electrics is they are already pushing the battery technology about as far as they can. And I agree with above, battery disposal in the future will be a huge environmental problem. When someone shows me how we're going to move the current 95% of all freight in this country that moves by diesel powered semi tractor trailer, and replace that with electric movement, then I'll listen. Till then, electric is not much more than a fad at this point. None of these people pushing electric technology will ever mention the freight problem, because they have absolutely no solution nor technology to tackle it. So your new electric motorcycle will be delivered by a diesel powered semi, most likely. It might spend some time on a diesel powered train.

I would think it physically impossible for clutch fluid to "burn". Should not even be a reason why it should have gotten hot. On the other hand, a bad set of rubber O-rings and bushings in the fluid circuit could give off a lot of discoloration if they are degenerating, and if you did ride the clutch a lot doing the tail, I can see how you could have actually burned the clutch plates. But the clutch hydraulic fluid? Am I missing something?

Du-Rron I do not swap the pads. I am more like RDawson, tend to change things early, rather than taking them to the edge. And I use a lower cost Caltric sintered pad. Certainly not as good as say, EBC's, but I am only looking for about 5000 worth of wear, and this brand grips well, is very quiet with the copper plated backplate, and although I know it will wear quicker, I change them out sooner anyway, so no harm done. On the other side, I can get a complete set of Caltric's for my Venture for $28.60 on eBay, or the fronts for $18.60, or the backs off Amazon for around $15.00. At those prices, I can change brakes every year, even if I only put on 4-5K on the bike. At my advanced age, I don't plan on any cross country trips, just day trips, so I'm good. Your use may vary. If you even commute to work, like I used to, you can rack up some miles every year rather quickly. That takes my current brake pad philosophy and trashes it. But for my light use of my bikes, new brakes every year is OK with me. I like the way the Caltric's grip, the total lack of noise, and they should not glaze. And on these bikes, changing out a set of brakes is about 90 minutes tops. I don't want to swap pads then worry if that one was a bit thin...

I agree with you, big-norm. About 18 months ago, my wife and I walked into our local HD dealership and I was wearing my US Navy Retired ball cap, and we were dressed OK. We walked that showroom for almost 20 minutes, looking at bikes, and the three sales guys in the building were either on their computers or fiddling with their phones the whole time. After the girl in the front said "Hi", that turned out the be the total conversation we had with anyone in that dealership. When someone obviously in their 60's with a wife walks into a dealership like that, usually you don't get 20 feet into the room before some eager beaver is glued to you. Not this place. Thunder Creek Harley Davidson, Chattanooga, TN. Now out of business and renamed White Lightning HD. Wonder why?

Rafterd, that was actually the first thing I did. The previous owner, (generous fellow that he was), left me with a bike that was almost out of gas and I had to stop at the very first station, (about a mile away), to fill it up. I put in premium, and added a generous dollop of Seafoam, and have been riding with that tank full ever since on that. Obviously, it has sat a few times so the Seafoam can do its work. So far, not much better, but it runs better at higher RPM's than it did the day I bought it, and starts a little easier. It actually does feel like the carbs are out of balance in some way. I would not be surprised if they find a cracked vacuum hose or leak on a carb manifold gasket. Worst case scenario would be a varnished up carb and they have to rebuild it, which is entirely possible, since the previous owner let it sit for three months while he tried to decide if he could still ride, and the owner before that only put on about 1K a year so it probably sat months at a time with no gas saver. Sometimes these low mileage bikes are more headache than diamond find. I'm giving it over to my longtime Yamaha dealer, who has some very good mechanics that have been there for years and years. They'll find it. It'll cost me a few hundred, but they'll find it. My garage space is now all woodworking, and I sold off all my old tools for working on carb banks after I got rid of my 86' Suzuki Cavalcade, swearing I would never buy a carbonated bike again. Never-Say-Never...

I don't think the motors in the CD player would suffer any overheating, and there is just not enough amperage going through it to overheat any board inside. I can remember having one of these in one of my cars, and in the summer the car would do the usual, get up to about 120' in the summer. Never had any problems.

I've changed the rear brakes first thing on both my 05 Midnight Venture, (the inboard pad was more worn), and on my 09 Venture, with the lowering kit. It also had a more worn inboard pad, even with the lowering kit from Barrons which relocates the caliper near the bottom of the rotor on a different arm altogether. I think it has more to do with the different pressures generated by the four different pistons, and their place in the hydraulic chain of events, rather than being off center. I did not add any washers. I want the full allotment of threads from the caliper bolts, and am willing to change the rear pads every few thousand miles, since I use the rear so much in slow speed maneuvers, along with the clutch and feathering the throttle. If you've ever taken, watched or even read about the Ride Like a Pro classes and videos, you see why you need to change rear brakes often.

So I did pick up another one as some have seen, a 2009 with only 10K on her and every option offered. It has been lowered, and is a beautiful bike, but it idles rough, and coughs some until the revs get up some. it also might have a bit of a starter switch problem, or maybe a weaker battery or maybe even a dirty starter solenoid, have not looked into it yet. I think to be honest, just a dirty start switch. If I press soundly on the switch, it starts. I have to hit it with some plastic safe contact cleaner and see if that corrects it. It also whines just like the Midnight did before the Motokote. I will say that now that I have about a hundred miles on the 05' Midnight since I added the Motokote, it shifts easier, finds neutral better, and just runs quieter. You don't really realize how noisy the whining is until you turn on the radio. Now I can hear it clearly, while on my 09, which I did an oil change and put in Castrol 20-50 with a new Yamaha filter, it still whines. And no clutch slip that I can detect on the '05. Some say the whine problem got better as the years went along. Well, I now have an 05' that is quieter than an 09'. The whine is NOT completely gone, but much better. Once I get the '09 tuned up professionally, I think then I might consider adding the Motokote as I did on the '05. I've had Motokote in my Indian for almost three years now, with no ill effects. So there's my update!

Well, it might be ugly, but the foam surround seems to work great. The unit is sitting on about two inches of foam, and as in the second set of pics, surrounded by foam. I took it out yesterday morning, purposely on a road that has a fair amount of little bumps, some sharp bumps, and even took it on the rumble strips on the side once or twice. Had one slight jump in the music, not even a skip when I hit what actually was a small bump. Ran it through the gears, let it lug, did about everything I could think of (within reason) to make it skip. Didn't go looking for potholes, but we don't have many of those down here anyway. Really could not make it skip. So ugly it is, but I am happy. I just used up about 70% of one bag, but I don't do overnight trips anymore anyway, so I'm good.

Randy, that business model is why a couple new Honda's showed up in their inventory list. They are not really a Honda dealer, just carry so many that they had a couple new ones. And I think the fellow up in Pennsylvania, he doesn't even have a service center, yet... He had an Indian that went sour on him, and he posted a couple of Youtube videos on why he would never buy another Indian, when actually, the problem was his, not the buyers. He took a lot of flak for that. Can't remember what the problem was, have to look it up. But it was something he should have caught before he put it out on his floor. But make no mistake, I think he is making good money. I have a guy near me who does consignments, and repairs. About three employees, and they are doing a ton of sales and repairs. You want tires put on? At least three-four days. He sells consignment bikes, and the only reason he slows down in the summer is he can't get the bikes since everyone is riding them in the summer, not selling them. He just recently put in a line of little dirt bikes for little kids. Probably Chinese, have not stopped in, but saw them lined up outside his showroom. Next to the consignment bikes. I think actually a dealer who knows what they are doing can make easily more on a used bike than a new one. Take a trade wholesale, sell retail, just like cars. Tack on an aftermarket warranty, make more money. And for sure, we are drowning in used bikes in the United States and Canada.

I have no statistics to prove this, but it seems like some of the most successful motorcycle dealerships are doing it with used bikes, all brands, models, price ranges. This would only be applicable in the USA, as I have no doubt that the India and China markets are expanding. Europe, not sure. It would seem that we have finally hit the convergence of two roads: On the one hand, the new generation coming up is not that into motorcycles, and as we all know, a lot of brands are contracting, not expanding, at least in the short term. (next five years or so) Secondly, it would seem that at least in the United States, we have reached a saturation of motorcycles. I certainly don't know how many bikes are sitting in garages, barns, sheds, etc., but I think the numbers might be much higher than we might imagine. Used bikes litter the landscape on multiple sales forums, like Craigslist, Cycle Trader, eBay and obviously we all know a number of dealers who might not be there if not for their used bike sales. If you live anywhere near Atlanta, you certainly know of WOW motorcycles. My first visit there was eye opening, to be conservative. About 225-250 bikes on display in their three room showroom, and the nice man who took me around said they have "numerous" buildings where they keep bikes that are not ready for sale yet, still to go through their mechanic staff of seven certified mechanics, and two helpers. They also have an upstairs floor that is chained off. I was told that was where the owner keeps the ones he might want to keep. But with the right amount of coin in hand, they will take you up. You almost miss the place when going through Marietta, GA, just North of Atlanta, as it sits sideways to the main road. Once inside, you cannot believe it. And I was told that their service center is about three weeks behind on major jobs, two-four days on simple things like oil, tire, etc. And although they do sell a little known brand of electrics called Zero, and seem to handle new Benelli, Hyosung and an outfit called SSR, by far and away their biggest products are used bikes, accessories, and I would think their service center is doing pretty well. But when it comes to bikes alone, used is king at WOW, and I am seeing more and more dealers who without used, would simply disappear. Overall, when I look at a lot of dealers, used is the bread and butter that pays the bills. Scary at best. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like the largest new model is the used garage queen, not a 2019 or 2020.

We all have close calls, and some even have "accidents", as I hesitate to call them, since most of what I see is not the fault of the rider, but some idiot in a cage. Sitting still yet. Good heavens! I really feel for you - beautiful new bike, ready for a great trip, and some jack-a-mo ruins it for you. Thank The Lord you are alright, but I commend you on your ability to withhold your anger. Hopefully the dealer you work with will make it like it never happened, and life can go on, after a correct period of being just pissed off, that is! Personally, I'd be looking for a lawyer who might be able to soften the blow a bit...

I didn't really like the first time around, so cleaned up the foam a bit. So now the front and rear of the bag have some room for something, should I need it. I have an iPod, Fifth Gen that I pulled out of pawn shop, put a library of about 700 classic rock songs on it and plugged it into my Aux on my 02' Midnight. Also have the iPod charger cable going to a 12V USB plug I put into the 12V outlet on the bottom of the dash. OK, but not keen on the wires, and of course having that iPod hanging off the dash with velcro. I like the CD's better, since it is all hidden. There is a procedure available to put a USB port on any slightly out of date electronic radio, and a lot of people do it for car radios. I see no reason why this one couldn't have it done. Then you just plug in a thumb drive with your tunes, and have it set up to activate with the Aux function on the controller. I see the boards on eBay now and then. I've never been keen on using my phone and the Bluetooth function.