Freebird

Well the good news is that the backrest actually did arrive today. The bad news is that they screwed up on it. I took it out of the box and sat it on the bike to see how well it matched and was very pleased. Then I took a closer look and noticed that there were no wires for the heat. I called Corbin and sure enough, whoever built it forgot that it was supposed to be a heated backrest. The heater is standard on this backrest and they don't even list one that is unheated. They could not explain how it happened other than somebody just screwed up. So, FedEx is supposed to pick it up tomorrow and back to California it goes to be redone; It kind of sucks but it is what it is.

Apparently Jeff's eyes are getting. bad. Turns out that his membership is still good for another couple of years. Maybe he's just trying to ditch us. Hotel California my friend. Don't make us come over there.

My wife is closer to the size as yours and she has no problems.

@bucfan11 has the passenger backrest. I have one coming that should be here tomorrow. Like him though, I bought just the backrest. He has nothing but good things to say about his. I had their similar version on my last two Royal Star Ventures and my wife loved it. She never complained about it being hard to get on and off.

Backrest still shows that it will be delivered tomorrow. We'll see though. It's coming by FedEx and over the past few months, I have lost all faith in their delivery. They used to be among the best but are just horrible now. Apparently this one is on a stagecoach. I've watched the tracking and it's crazy. Shipped on Friday April 5th from Watsonville, CA Saturday - Tracy, CA Sunday - Stockton, CA and California City, CA Monday - Williams, AZ and Vaughn, NM Tuesday - Wellington, KS and Niota, IL Wednesday - La Grange, IL I guess all their airplanes are down for oil changes. Maybe it will be here tomorrow as it shows but I'm not counting on it. The last thing that I had delivered by FedEx finally got to a terminal 45 minutes away on a Monday and I finally got it 5 days later on Friday even though out showed "out for delivery" every day that week.

Tractors can be a fun hobby also. I love them though don't have any right now except for a newer Mahindra compact. Here is a picture of one that I bought several years ago. Only owned it for a short time before somebody came along that loved it a LOT more than I did. It was a Bolens Ridemaster. This is a picture that I found on the internet because I can't find the pictures of mine. The one I had was every bit as nice as this one though and ran very well. If I remember correctly, mine was a 1949 model.

Wish I could offer some suggestions but I've no experienced any such problem with my iPhone. It does seem to take a couple of minutes to finally connect but it has always done so and I've never had it lose the connection once it does.

I'll try. My wife hates posing for pictures. I had the Corbin backrest on my '99 and '05 RSVs as well as my '13 Harley Ultra Glide and she loved them. She really likes leaning back and resting her elbow on them. I expect this one to be just as good but we'll see. Yes, they come out over the speakers and I don't know any way that you could design them so that they didn't but they don't appear to block the speakers at all.

Just realized that I accidentally posted this in the Tech Library section so have now moved it to Tech Talk. Ordered this about a week ago and they told me to expect about 3 weeks for delivery. I got a notification yesterday that it had shipped. Very pleasant surprise. It should be here by mid week.

It has become somewhat of a tradition to do a dinner ride on the Friday before Freebird's Maintenance Day. We typically leave my house around 5:15 or so for the approximately 30 minute ride to Quaker Steak and Lube in Vermillion, OH. I have added the event to our calendar. Please RSVP as soon as possible so that I can let them know how many of us to expect. Also, a reminder to sign up for Maintenance day when you can. Dinner Ride: https://www.venturerider.org/forum/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=517&day=2019-6-14&c=1 Maintenance Day: https://www.venturerider.org/forum/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=513&day=2019-6-15&c=1 For anybody who plans to meet us there, here is a link to their website with address and etc. Even if you plan to meet there and not ride from my house, still please signup on the calendar. http://thelube.com/locations/ohio/vermilion/

Yes, that's about what I paid for my SVTC. Included everything but tax. Bought it in NY so paid OH taxes when I got it home.

Don't understand what you are asking.

My personal opinion is that people are making too big a deal out of this. The vast majority of the new bikes are running trouble free. I know of at least one rider who is already approaching 50,000 miles. I feel bad for the very few who have had an issue but there are only 2 or 3 confirmed cases that I know of. That certainly is no consolation to those who have experienced it. From what I understand, Yamaha admitted that some engines were assembled without the proper break in lubricant on the cams. Don't know if that is true or not but makes some sense. When you look back at the history of the Venture, it is not the first time that there have been first year issues with new models. The first year or two experienced problems with stator cooling, transmissions, frames that rusted and broke, and a handful of other issues. The second gen models had some issues with excessive engine noise that plagued them until the end though I think it did get slightly better. I know of at least one owner who had the engine replaced by Yamaha on a 1999 model and I can tell you, it was LOUD. Many clutch baskets were replaced, rear shocks were an issue for years, etc. I've not got many mile on my '18 yet but I'm not too worried about it. If I have a problem, Yamaha will take care of it. I honestly don't think that I will. If it happens, I will certainly be disappointed but it won't be the end of the world.

I agree that the second gen petcock should not be hard to turn. I've owned 3 second gens and they were all easy to turn. Something isn't right.

Just ordered the Corbin passenger backrest. I feel pretty good, based upon the picture of @bucfan11 bike that I will be happy with the match to the stock seat. Delivery is about 3 weeks and hopefully this snow will be gone by then. Here is a picture of Rob's.

The two posts above would not apply to this bike. The RSV and RSTD do not have linked brakes.

LOL...yea....living the dream . That's why I still work everyday at 64. . I know my windfall is coming though. Now where did I put that lottery ticket. Seriously, I appreciate all the kind words. Love this place.

Anybody want to guess what it will bring? I'll go first, I say $16,250.00

I'm not sure about your question. I bought my first Single Six probably 35 or 40 years ago and it came with both cylinders. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a new one without both. I just thought that was always the way they were sold. Back during those times, I also had a Ruger Super Hawk in .44 mag. That what I carried when I was deer hunting. It was the same western style as the Single Six and I had a similar holster setup with it. It came with the wood grips but put a nice pair of buffalo horn grips on it. I loved that gun also.

Kimber makes a .22 conversion kit for my .45 but I just have no interest in it. I would certainly be interested in a .22 mag conversion for it but I assume that the case length of the .22 mag would prevent that.

Yes, they still call it the Single Six. Actually, they call them "New Single Six" now days. I had a blued one years ago but it, with the rest of my gun collection, kind of disappeared when I went through a divorce. I had what I think was the same holster for it. I actually went to buy another blue one but all the blue ones now have plastic grips and I really like the wood. I started to buy it anyway because there are many grips for them on the market. The more I thought about it though, the SS model grew on me and I ended up buying it instead.

Well, I didn't post the pictures because I have posted them here before but here you go. As you can see, it has the .22 cylinder in it right now. The magnum cylinder is not fluted.

It is not heated but does not interfere with the heated seat. The fact that it is taller is the reason that I went with it instead of the Yamaha backrest. Adjustment requires an Allen wrench but its easy.

I did run across at least one more option for an automatic .22 mag. Reviews are mixed but not bad overall. Prices seem to run in the $550.00 range. I don't think I'll be buying one. I'll just stick with my trusty Ruger 6 shooter. https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/review-rock-island-armory-xt-22-magnum/247832

I don't any longer but used to a lot. I used a Rock Chucker reloading press. You can buy the full kit that comes with most of what you need. Just make sure you have a good scale if it doesn't come with one. Then about all you need are the various dies for the different things you wish to reload. I don't even remember everything I had but know I reloaded 30/06, 270, .308, and 30/30 rifle cartridges and 38, 357, and 44 mag handgun cartridges. That was probably close to 30 years ago and except for maybe a Ruger .22 pistol, all my guns were revolvers at the time.