slowrollwv
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Posts posted by slowrollwv
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OK they do make an 8" tinted shield that should hit you with out cutting it.
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Good luck tomorrow I hope you get to ride the TC. My local dealer has two TC and two Eluders on the floor but does not give test rides. They also have both Hondas and Indians.
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Dang! Joe sounds like you had a very bad year. Glad things are looking up for you. OH BTW the little guy on the Vespa his name is Murphy.
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Ben you were probably closer to those Rum Balls than we were at MD.
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I was ready to cut the stocker had I not found rayzar52's post. I'm a carpenter by trade, so cutting it isn't scary. I will likely do so before I order a custom one, to dial in the best height.
Do you think a metal blade would work any better/worse than a plexi-glass blade in the jigsaw? I can easily get either. I had thought to use either a compass or a string to mark the arc parallel to the OEM shape.
Either blade will work. The stock shield gets a little wider as you get lower. I put a nice arch in mine but left the sides as high as I could to help give the wife some wind protection.
I have a Show Chrome 4" extra wide and 13-1/2" tall on mine now and it fits me very good and I am 5' 10".
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If the shield is still a little too high you can cut it down to a Hight that fits you. Or you can cut the stock shield down and keep the new to you shield incase you mess up on your cut. I have cut a few down and it is not hard to do. Put a few strips of masking tape on the shield then set on the bike and look straight ahead and mark your line of sight. Make a pattern of the arch you want and mark the tape and use a jig saw with a metal cutting blade and make your cut. Use 180 or 120 sand paper folded a few times and let rest in the bow of your fingers to smooth the edge of the shield. Just leave the masking tape on while you sand the edge so you don't scratch the shield.
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At least when I have to cut holes in walls or ceilings, Cleaning is NOT part of my job description...........
It is my job to make the unholy mess and install the cool new features.........
Great if you can get away with it:duck:
Yeah but you didn't get away with it in the basement.
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That is great. Happy belated B-D day.
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I generally hang mine off the loop that the brake line passes through on the fork... It's more of a token since most of the bells offered don't ring anyway. Kinda like a rabbits foot. Originally the bell was supposed to trap the gremlin and the ringing would drive them insane....
I thought I was the only one that put them there.
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Was the bike kept inside or left outside? Does it start and run with out any problem? Ask if he ever had the tires changed. I would offer 5,000.00 you know you will have to change all fluids and tires.
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From the parts fitch I just looked at it is behind the lower left fairing. If you go to Partshark.com and look up your bike under electrical #1 it is # 58.
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Great news indeed. Congrats.
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asking price $5500.00
That is a good price for the year and mileage.
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I like it but where is the big one.
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On my 03 RSV it does take the 1157 bulb. They started to use the three prong bulbs at a later year, I think 06 or 07.
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I had my bike repainted in 07 and used the 3M tape to reattach emblems and they have been there with out any problems. I used a hobby knife to trim the tape before attaching them to the bike.
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Got this message saying I had to re-up or I wasn't allowed to have any more cake in the breakroom. So I paid up @Freebird. Can I have more cake now?
Your not the only one that got that message.
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Looks like you had a great weekend. Great pics.
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Where did the year go? It went by so fast. I got my renewal notice yesterday and it seams that I had just payed them a few months back. OH well Payed up for another year. So your stuck with me again.
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I know I said I did not care about colour, but I like the Red. I have only seen the grey in person, it is also nice.
K
Sorry you are not in Maryland. My local dealer has three ready to go.
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Thanks Don I do not think any one could have said it any better than you and Carl.
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I have a 5'x8' trailer that I can pull a clevis pin and tilt the bed of the trailer off the tong. I used it to haul my RSV home when I bought it. I have thought about doing to my trailer just like the U Haul and put a wheel chuck on the front as my bike did set over the axel and did not give me enough tong weight. As I had a severe tail wag at speed.
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Today was the day. I picked up my 2008 RSV and rode her home.
It was one of those tragically rare serendipitous days where everything comes up aces. I checked into my flight online last night, and got my boarding pass in my email. Walked into the airport... ZERO passengers waiting at the security check; I was through in about 90 seconds.
The plane was about 1/2 full. I got my own row. Flight was wheels up 5 minutes early and touched down 15 minutes early.
I had booked a cheapest economy rental car to do some running around in the city before meeting the seller at his house. The rental desk had nothing but trucks, so I drove a Nissan Titan today for $40. It was OK, but certainly better than an econobox. My errands took less time than I thought, and then SCORE!!! I got an alert for an online ad selling something I've been searching for: a 1990's vintage Hein Gericke Firstgear Ranger jacket. I had one back then, and let it go to my uncle when I sold him my Road Star. He crashed the bike and wrecked the jacket. Today I paid a guy $125 for an old style, serious quality leather biker jacket that cost about $500 in 1990's money, in great condition.
Back to meet the seller; hand over the balance in cash, get the bill of sale written up, and pop over to the registry office for a plate. At lunch time. I figured to be there for about an hour.
There were two people in line, and one just leaving. I was out of there with a new plate in about 10 minutes, plus the gal behind the desk was a babe.
Dropped the rental off, seller picked me up and we were back to his place. 15 minutes later and I'm on the road. I only almost dropped her majesty's largesse twice at walking speed; did I mention it's been about 15 years since I rode regularly? This motorcycle is somewhat top heavy, but we knew that. With my hybrid Hobbit/Dwarf lineage and 28" inseam, I can comfortably and easily get both balls of my feet down, and am quite comfortable with the seat height.
Today's ride was 497Km. Oh, and the weather was a perfect 27°C and sunny, with a little breeze. Final win of the day: I was 58Km into my fuel reserve when I hit the last gas for 200Km on the way home. I could've used a little walk, honestly, but it was going to be dark in a couple of hours.
Anyway, on to the important bits.
Plusses:
The bike is sexy. She got looks everywhere we went. It shows some wear, but comes by it honestly. It's never been down. Love that small-block V8 sound. Odometer is at just a hair over 64,000Km.
She runs very well. Starts, goes, stops, turns, shifts, all AOK. It came with a cover, Fox pump for the air shocks, and a trailer hitch that the first owner had installed and apparently used once. (I will use it... never.) Also came with 2 extra helmet locks, and a handful of keys.
I stopped by the dealership where the original owner had it serviced, and they gave me a service history. I'm pleased, and confident. He basically had ALL the fluids, including brakes, clutch, oil, coolant, and final drive lube, changed every year. Valves were checked and in spec just 8000Km ago last year. Fuel pump was replaced about 12,000Km ago, less than 2 years ago. He had moved to BC for a while and then came back, so it also had an out-of-province safety inspection done, again last year. All five-by-five. The dudes at Riverside Powersports in St.Albert were very helpful, so before I head out on my ~5000Km BC tour in a few weeks, I'm going to have them slap a new rear tire on her. (This one could probably go half that or so before needing replacement, but I'll do it before I head out.)
I'm happy with the power and performance; In the continuum of horsepower, she falls squarely in the 'enough' range. Not more than enough, but enough. That beautiful beating heart of a V4 has power EVERYWHERE... from off-idle right until the rev limiter. Love it that way.
She's quite comfortable, generally. (More on that in the next section.) Wind protection is great in my opinion. No buffetting to speak of. Seat is great (maybe a hair too wide if I'm being picky, but it's just fine). Lots of engine sensation in the bars, but not uncomfortable vibration there at all.
Cruise control! Within about 1 hour of riding today, I realized that I may not be able to comfortably ride a bike without this. Severe carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, plus some funky nerve impingement stuff in my arms and shoulders (related to advanced osteoarthritis in my C2-C5 vertebrae) mean I have to keep my arms and shoulders moving, a lot.
To summarize the plusses: I'm very happy with this purchase, and today's ride was great.
Delta (things to change):
The pipes are too loud for my liking. They sound cool in town and at idle, but at highway speeds they set my tinnitus at an 11. I was wearing a new Shoei Neotec II helmet, and foamy earplugs. I don't hear a drone per se (I can still hear every individual exhaust stroke), but the overall volume is just a bit much. I have no idea what kind of pipes they are; I can't find any markings. I'll take a pic or two tomorrow; maybe one of you can recognize them. In any case, I think they've probably saved enough lives in their career, so I'm going to retire them.
Also, on deceleration, we're gifted with a preposterous cacophony of low backfires, pops, and burbles. Not in a good way; it sounds silly. Looking at the ends of the pipes, they are a little coked up, especially the baffles. I think she runs rich currently. Maybe needs some tender loving tuning.
Ideally, I'd get the bars back an inch or so closer to me. Short guy, short arms, you know. I'm sure there is some kind of pullback riser that can fix this.
The heel shifter has to go. I don't like them, and it's in my way. Gears are to be shifted with the toe, the way the gods intended. Part of the fun of having a prematurely broken down body, is that I have to keep in almost constant motion to be comfortable. I have to move my legs from way up on the highway pegs (which I can surprisingly reach at all - my knees are almost locked), back to having the balls of my feet on the back edge of the footboards, and all around in between. Shortly I'll remove it and cut it off; ultimately I may find someone to fab me a custom one that does away with the outboard jog in it, making the arm straight and the toe lever wider.
The windshield has to come down, by at least 6". It's fine when it's clear, but by 10PM just as the sun was close to going down (way up North, remember) and being covered in thousands of dead bugs, it was a problem. If I ever got caught in the dark like that, I'd have to prairie-dog standing up on the boards just to survive.
The rider backrest needs to be replaced. This one is too high (already at it's lowest position), and the shape doesn't match my back at all. Plus it's too far back. Short legs, I tell ya. Will look for a different solution there, or maybe none at all. I don't have any lower back issues.
I'm going to have to play around with tire pressure and fork pressure. I had 36psi in the front tire, and 5psi in each fork leg. I could feel every mouse hair I drove over, and she gets a little unsettled up front from any kind of undulation/bump/crack in the pavement when heeled over. It may be the front tire too; it's fairly new with lots of tread, but maybe just the make/model characteristic? It's a Metz Marathon Ultra.
There is an obvious pulsation from the front brakes, most noticeable at slower speeds. I'm assuming it's a warped rotor? I'm planning on doing the Road Star brake swap anyway. I certainly CANNOT brake this big girl effectively with two fingers, which is how I've been doing it since I was taught. It takes all 4, and a goodly amount of pressure. The brakes are sufficient in power and modulate OK, I just want more, and finer.
To certain someones at Yamaha Motor Corp.: the air stems for the fork and shock could EASILY have been made long enough to actually reach, but you didn't. Plus, you built and sold this bike for 14 model years without a tachometer? Really? You have dishonoured your clan, and must now perform Seppuku in the town square.
Need to add a phone mount, cup/bottle holder somewhere to drink more (I usually drink about 5-6 litres of water per day... pretty tough when you're moving and your water is in the trunk), and change the tank bib for one with a pocket that's actually useful (and without the studs; they're not my style man!)
The chrome (or polished?) gas cap has to go. I see three of them reflected in the windshield. Is there a known replacement, or shall I tastefully rattle can the one I have?
The rubber bumpers for the lower fork deflectors are gone. I've read that this causes the deflectors to divorce the bike; will remedy promptly.
Now, Questions:
Quite a few times today, the cruise control just randomly began losing speed, then the orange RES light came on, and I had to reset it. Any ideas?
There is a distinct harmonic sound coming from... somewhere. I couldn't say where specifically, thanks to those loud tubes. Sometimes I thought it was the final drive (or maybe the rear tire), other times it sounded like engine (which made me think of out-of-sync carbs). Thoughts there?
I believe the speedometer to be WILDLY optimistic. Anectodally, I think it reads almost 15Km/h too high at highway speed. I'm off to search the tech forums for this, as I believe it's a known issue, with a known remedy?
Need to build a tool kit for this bike. Are there ANY random SAE fasteners, or are they all metric? What about Torx, any of those?
Here's the TL;DR: Great bike, love it. Happy I bought it. Needs some tweaks. What do you think?
I can't help much with the cruise but if it is the chrome aftermarket key surround. I have a black plastic one. What I did for the gas cap I went to a truck stop or Wal Mart and got the foam can cooler that matched the color of the bike and cut it off to match the gas lid. It was less than $2.00. As for the tank bib I have a leather bib with large pocket. If you are interested in any of them send me a PM and we can go from there.
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Great looking bike. Enjoy.
:duck: 
Tomorrow I Ride my 1st Venture TC
in Watering Hole
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Sorry Scott no demos. What they do is have the factory trucks come in and set up a demo day. And not all at the same time. I was wanting to take the TC and Wing for a ride but have not had the chance yet. As for the wing I think my V Star 1300 has more room in the bags and trunk.