Hoytcanon

Howdy folks, I just got back from a 3500 km trip around Northern Ontario... including 1100 km on day one. The "New to Me" 2004 Yamaha Royal Star Midnight Venture be my "Boo..." as the kids say. The bike was an absolute pleasure on the road. I was comparing the bike to previous bikes and my current Road Star XV1700. In packing, I filled the two saddle bags with gear, found a cooler that fits in the trunk and then ratchet strapped two dry bags (40 & 60 litre duffles) onto the passenger seat. Leaning back on the duffle bags rolled my body into a very comfortable position... kind of like sitting in a recliner. I carried a weeks worth of camping/fishing gear, including a three piece Fenwick spinning rod. We did a 150 km round-trip on gravel logging roads to our fishing spot... the plan was to head in Friday night after the logging trucks stopped hauling and then head out Sunday night before they were back... trust me when I say, you do NOT want to meet a logging truck on those roads while handling a street ride... almost guaranteed disaster. At any rate, we got in and set up a tent camp, it took about five minutes to land enough fish for supper and breakfast. Overnight a heat wave rolled in and highs reached 40*C plus... the horse and deer flies took that cue and went hunting human flesh... we spent most of the next day (Saturday) soaking in the river and then spent a miserable night trying to sleep in the heat, laying on a foam mat wearing nothing but very fashionable boxer briefs and feeling the rivlettes of sweat running down my chest... around 2 or 3 am, the decision was made to get up early Sunday morning, pack up and head South and along Lake Superior to get out of the band of high Temps. After a quick breakfast of Mountain House Granola and Blueberries with water boiled in the Jet Boil, we were back on the (gravel) road. A great test for handling and whether or not the center of gravity is too high, is a good long run on Ontario logging roads, and the RSV passed with flying colors... I won't say it handled like a motocross bike, but for a heavy cruiser, it did very well on the shifting gravel. We had a very hot four hour ride to get down to the Superior shoreline where things cooled down nicely. We bumped into an unfortunate and apparently fatal highway accident just south of Marathon, but were lucky to end up next to a local who knew a route "around" the highway closure (the closure lasted for hours apparently)... well, the route around was basically a 4X4 trail that partly lead through a swampy bush and had large "Road Closed - No Passage" signs... but true to his word, we got through and around the pile-up... we thought we would take advantage of that luck and put on another 1000 km's on that day. I found the RSV to be very smooth, and it really started to purr around 3500 rpm... we stretched it out a few times and the bike really sticks to the road and loves to lean deep in the switchbacks... I had just put on a new set of Dunlop 404 Whitewalls, which I liked on my previous bike. I used the cruise control a fair amount to give my throttle hand a much appreciated break. We hit all the NorOnt Route highlights, Hwy 64, Hwy 17 Superior shoreline, Hwy 129 Dragon's Tail and the Deer Run... we had a few beer, and laughed a lot and ate alot of fish, and generally had a great time and by campfire light made plans for the next ride and a winter Snowbird run, trailering the bikes to the Souther US in January or February to break-up our miserable winters. My cousin and I swapped bikes a few times (he rides a Honda VTX 1800 N)... his bike can walk away from the RSV, but on our last night he was Googling "Yamaha Royal Star Ventures for sale." Nuff Said...

Anybody out there with a factory original RSV exhaust they might part with? I picked up a 2004 RSV Midnight, it has a custom exhaust that is obnoxiously loud... I would like to convert it back to the original Yamaha 4XY-1 & 4XY-2 exhaust slip-ons.

No luck there... heading to the garage to see if the light bar swap is possible...

Yeah, I tried that and about 20 Google searches... no luck.... when I can get my Road Star over to the Royal Star, I will see if the light bars are transferable.

Anyone know if I can swap my front light assembly from my Road Star to my Rpyal Star Venture???

This is the light assembly that I want to convert to.

Hello folks, I just bought a 2004 Royal Star Midnight Venture, it has the three light assembly upfront, which I find makes the front end look weak. I would like to covert it to the five light assembly (headlight, turn signals and side highway lights). Is this going to be a wiring nightmare or is it a straightforward job? Where can the light assembly be purchased??? Thanks for any and all info.

Howdy folks... I have been riding Yamaha bikes for 40 years, most recently a 2005 Road Star XV1700 Midnight, but I just picked up a 2004 Royal Star Midnight Venture XVZ1300TFM. A very nice bike that does not fit me at all... I'm 6'4" and 260 and the stock seat crams me in against the gas tank and does not allow me to stretch out... I am waiting on a new seat from Diamond Seats in FL. I have another question that I will post in another more appropriate thread. Thanks and good riding!

Also from Sudbury, ON... nice bike. I have been riding a Road Star XV1700 Midnight, but just picked up a second bike, the 2004 Royal Star Midnight Venture... maybe I will see you on the road... you will be easy to spot with that paint job. Take care and good riding.

So, I made contact with Mark at Diamond Seats in FL... Mark was pretty confident that he could get me two inches higher and four inches back, which I figure is about what I need... he is going to contour it better for my fat azz too... 6-8 weeks delivery sucks but I am happy to have a light at the end of the tunnel on my seat comfort issues... a poor seat is a shitty reason to sell a nice bike. I will report back to this thread once I have tried the seat out.

Thank you sir... I will send him an email.

Thanks, my highway Pegs are changing, I am stripping a pair of my Road Star to replace them. The pillow top seat may help, but I absolutely hate the look of them, and also, it always looks as though the button recesses will act as little swimming pools to gather water... these are just uninformed observations as I have never tried the pillow-top seats. I messaged Rick before posting and his inbox had a notice that he cannot receive messages... maybe his inbox is full or he is no longer an active member???

Anybody know is Rick Butler is still around doing seat modifications?

The Crobin does not appear to be an improvement... you can see that it has the same profile, with lots of up-sweep front and back. I think I need to find some way or some saddle that raises the center height a couple to three inches to level out the seat for more shifting space forward and back... any ideas?

Will check out the Corbin Saddle... Any other big guys have space/comfort issues on their RSV's??? What did you do to increase comfort and fit???

So I picked the bike today... super happy with the condition and overall fit and finish with one horrible exception... I am 6'4" and 260 pounds... the seat is so restrictive and close to the tank and tight to the floorboards and even to the highway Pegs that I am all scrunched up with my balls polishing the tank... the installed backrest is not helping by forcing me upright and forward... I am going to remove the backrest and try again, but I think this will be a marginal fix... any other Royal Star Venture riders experience this lack of space with the stock seat??? This bike does not have the buttoned pillow-top seats, they are pictured below... you can see how high the saddle sweeps upward at the rear and it also sweeps upward at the front, leaving very little wiggle room... does anyone have suggestions for increasing the available space???