Freebird

Great looking bike. Glad things turned out for you and you are on two wheels again.

The part numbers for the Flander bars for the RSV are different than for the RSTD. As for which is better, I had the Flanders bars on my '99 RSV and then stumbled upon a used set of RSTD bars when I bought my '05 RSV. So I decided to give the RSTD bars a try. The RSTD bars are certainly better than the stock bars but in my opinion, were not as good as the Flanders bars. So, my recommendation would be Flanders but NOT the ones for the RSTD. You should be able to find the part number if you do a bit of searching here.

If you could find a an '85 after a specific serial number, would have to search for that number, you could get a first gen with the small bags AND the second gear issue addressed. Yamaha corrected that issue sometime in '85. Make no mistake about it, almost all '83 models will lose 2nd gear at some point. Mostly seems to happen around 60,000 miles or so.

I received a message from Sylvester about uploading photos from his iPhone. I know a lot of people have had problems with that. I assumed that the photos were just too large. I know that sometimes, due the auto-rotate feature on the phone, that they sometimes end up being upside down or sideways but it seems to have worked fine. I posted the above picture from my phone. I just typed my post, before submitting, I scrolled down until I saw "Manage Attachments". I selected the picture that I wanted to upload and it worked fine. The picture was 5.8 MB on my phone but either the forum software or the phone resized it and it posted. So, it seems to have worked for me so I'm not sure why it doesn't work for some folks.

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I owned two just like that. It should give you and your wife many happy miles.

First thing I would check is the Schrader valve itself. Make sure the core is tight. Then the connections behind the valve and at the shock. If nothing is leaking there, you may well have a bad shock. You say it's not leaking oil but maybe there is none left to leak. It may well have a blown seal. Haven't see that happen often but if a previous owner tried to air out up with a air compressor, it would be easy to do. Only a hand pump like a Progressive shock pump should be used.

Fantastic. That is on my bucket list. Don't know if I'll ever get I done or not.

I'm using some KuryAkyn Longhorn knockoffs that I bought off Ebay. They work very well.

I'm open to it if he is.

I think there is an email in the top posts there regarding contacting Big Tom for orders. I'll have to check with him but I think he is still doing it.

I've read complaints about the seat, as you will with any bike. Different seats work best for different folks. I've changed the seats on almost every bike I've owned but have to say, this one is the best stock seat I've even had so far. Now I have to add that my longest ride so far is about 250 miles so that is not a great test. I will get some longer miles in this summer and have a better opinion. The only problem I had was the handlebars. Just not enough pull back and that is always a problem for me. I changed the handlebars on my last 3 bikes, two Royal Star Ventures and a Harley Road Glide Ultra. This one was easy though. The Rox risers worked great and took about 15 minutes to install and the existing cables worked just fine. Since adding the risers and the highway pegs, this is about the most comfortable bike I've ever ridden.

I remember having most of those at one time or another in the past. Bass fishing is a big deal in Texas and it used to be a favorite pastime for me. Haven't done any real fishing in a long time. A couple of Walleye fishing trips on Lake Erie and a couple of yellow perch trips but that's about it over the past 25 years. Years ago, not owning a bass boat was unthinkable.

Folks, this entire thread has become almost completely political in nature. I understand that people feel strongly about such things but politics have always been strictly forbidden on this site. I see this one going away pretty soon.

Great job on both. I wish the trailer hitch for the Star Venture had been as simple as the one for the RSV. I think there are some that are but the one that I ordered and installed required major bike disassembly.

Sounds like the communications between my wife and I.

Good deal is a major understatement. Easily would sell for $2500 - $3000.

Those are correct. The valves tighten as things wear so most people will adjust to the upper end of that range.

Looks similar to the Windjammers. This is a 750 Hondamatic that I bought a few years ago. The ride home was the only time I was on it. Sold it very quickly. Was a very nice bike and the only automatic I have ever owned except for some small bikes like the CT90 and etc. I bought it to re-sell so just didn't ride it.

Considering that it wasn't custom painted to match, it looks to match very well. Fantastic. I've been keeping my eyes open for possibly a Hannigan or a Bushtec Quantum GL. If I run across a decent price on one, I'll probably buy it and then sell my Bushtec Roadstar. Love the Roadstar but I just don't think it it looks as good behind the Star Venture as it did the RSV.

They look good. Simple and right to the point.

Have no idea. It was sold to a member here and he sold it not long after buying it. AdVenturer was his username and he lived somewhere around the Buffalo, NY area. His membership here has expired.

Eileen has tried for years to talk me into getting some. I would like to try them but I would guess that they are custom molded to each person's ears.

Back in 2009, I bought an '89 here locally. Didn't known when I went to look at it that it had the full V-Max conversion done to it. V-Boost, V-Max Heads, V-Max rear, etc. I bought it because it was a great deal but sold it pretty quickly. So, I didn't get to ride it as much as I wanted to but the little I did ride it, it ran like a scalded ape. It truly felt like it was on steroids. Since I didn't do the work, I don't have details on the air filter setup but did find a couple of old pictures that I told at the time. I will also say this. The guy that bought out didn't keep it very long. I asked him when I saw him the next time why he sold it so quickly and his response was that it drank gas like crazy. So, I guess with the good came some bad.

Looks fantastic to me. I know that pictures don't show every little detail but it looks nice. I haven't been able to look into pricing around here but will after the snow is finally gone.