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From our home to yours, may the Lord Bless each and every one of you and your families this holiday season.

Thanks for the update Bob. So sorry that it wasn't as simple as the originally thought but I can promise you that prayers have already been said and they will continue., I hope that you can relax a bit and enjoy the Christmas season. I know that the stress makes it more difficult.

There are several of the classics that I really like. Little Drummer Boy, Oh Holy Night, etc. There are a couple of newer ones that I really love too though.

Yes, I've read several reports about that issue. Also a lot of posts on the Harley sites about it. Seems to be an issue with oil "disappearing". Something about a seal and the last I saw, Harely hadn't really come up with a solution. That was a while back though. They may have come up with something by now.

I did say the NEW Goldwing. Doesn't matter. I can tell you that it doesn't look or feel small in any way. Very comfortable bike and great handling.

LOL....if you've had the opportunity to look at it beside the new Goldwing, you know that there is nothing "downsized" about it. It's actually a great bike.

I don't know if that letter is legit or not. I've read elsewhere that it was a hoax. On the other hand, they would have typically already announced the 2019 models with the only likely changes being the colors offered. I admit that it brings up a lot of questions if it is indeed true. I've never seen Yamaha do that before. From the time the first Venture was introduced in 1983 and until it was dropped in 1993, there was never a year when it wasn't produced. There were minor changes in 1985 and then more substantial changes in 1986 but there were at least new colors introduced every single year. Then the RSV came out in 1999 and from 1999 until the last year in 2013, there was never a year skipped. There were NEVER any substantial changes made to the bike but there were at least new colors offered every year. Small changes in 2000 to the trunk support and the antennas but otherwise, it went basically unchanged for the entire run of the model. If there is indeed not going to be a 2019 model, it truly does raise the question of "why not". Is it simply because it got a slow start when introduced and they over produced and have too many '18 models still available or is it because they have identified an issue or issues that are significant enough that some major re-work is coming? I hope it's not the latter. Although I didn't get to put hardly any miles on my '18, I rode it enough to know that in spite of the complaints from the die hard Venture riders about it not being a V4, it is one heck of a fine bike. With the highway pegs and the handlebar risers, it is quiet possibly the most comfortable bike I have ever ridden and that says a lot. Though the first gen did not fit me well, the RSV was exceptionally comfortable for me. The 2013 Harley Road Glide was also very comfortable and pretty close to equal to the RSV in that regard. The '18 Star Venture probably beats them both however. I can imagine eating up a lot of miles on it without any stops except to gas up. The handling is also fantastic, far exceeding the RSV in the handling department. So why no 2019 model? There have been a very few complaints but at least two or three people have had an issue with the cams. I know of at least two that have posted about it here. I think, and hope, that they are isolated cases and not indicative of a more wide spread issue. I think that is the case and know a number of riders have already put a lot of miles on the bikes with no issues so I really don't think it's an issue. There have been some complaints about the infotainment system but I've had absolutely no issues with mine and I think that most of the problems have been addressed with software updates. I just haven't seen a lot of major issues reported. So if that letter is legit, that there will be no '19 model and they HOPE to see it return in '20, it truly is perplexing. This bike is so advanced in many ways that Yamaha much have spent a ton of money on the development. I just can't imagine it being dropped. If it is, then I guess those of us who bought them will end up owning what will become a rare bike. That doesn't necessarily mean anything in regards to future value though, at least not in the near term. I just hope that they haven't discovered some major issue that we don't know about. So yes, I'll admit to being a bit concerned. Not panicking in any way but a little concerned.

Beautiful campsite. Would love to be there right now.

You will certainly remain in our prayers my friend. Sorry to hear about the new problems but pray that they will get a handle on it.

Exactly what I plan to do. Any details on the clamp? Did you make it?

I agree with you as did the vast majority of members when I polled them on this subject. They are actually not able to post anything for sale. The Classifieds section can only be posted in by supporting members. Classified ads in any other forum are deleted as soon as I see them.

There is been a HUGE increase in the number of spammers signing up just to post their garbage links. Apparently there are a lot of people who are too stupid to get real jobs. In another effort to curb this problem and/or at least slow them down, I have changed the forum permissions for trial members. I didn't want to do it but I have to try something. Trial members are now unable to post links, images, send PMs or Emails to our other members. I would have liked to start by just blocking them from posting links but that is not an option without doing a lot of custom programming. I hate this because I like the trial members being able to post pictures of their bikes and other related items but the spammers have ruined it for everybody. At this time, a trial member cannot post links and perform the other actiions listed above until they have 20 posts on the forum. I may decreae that number at some point but for now, I want to see if even 20 helps to get it under control.

Probably because nobody has seen anything. In all my years with the RSVs, I have never seen anything specific for them. Maybe there is something that could be adapted but I've not seen anybody do it.

Yes I have. They are relatively easy to install. You have to remove he lower fairings but that is very easy. Some holes to drill but the locations are marked on the backside from the factory.

I get your points but still love having my coffee handy. The VentureRider mugs that I sold here a few years ago work fantastic in my opinion. No leaking at all. You just push a center button to open and close them. They keep coffee hot for a long time, far longer than I will ride without stopping for gas or whatever.

Here are some pictures that I took right after installing mine. Not sure if they show the angle that you are looking for. Mine don't block the NAV screen at all. They do block a couple of the indicator lights at the bottom. I can live with that. These made this about the most comfortable bike I've ever owned.

Way back around 1975, I was working in Courtland, AL for Brown and Root Construction company building a paper mill. A friend won a football raffler where the prize was a cap and ball revolver. He didn't want it and sold it to me. I don't remember the brand or anything else but it was a decent reproduction and I think I paid about $80.00 for it. I enjoyed it for a while. I remember time spent in the kitchen melting old lead tire weights and pooring the lead into the mold to make the balls. It was fun but looking back, I realize that I probably inhaled more lead fumes than I needed to. I enjoyed shooting it late in the afternoon just as the sun was about to go down. About 6 shots and there would be a good haze of low lying smoke so thick that you could no longer see your target. I never remember it mis-firing though and it was fairly accurate at close range. If I remember correctly, there was no rifling in the barell but it was a long time ago, I may be wrong about that. I do remember that after loading each ball, you would put a light coat of grease on the end of the cylinder to prevent any flash across from one cylinder to the other. The only bad part was after shooting it for the evening, you had to spend some time scrubbing the cylinder and barrel with hot soap and water and then oiling everything up so that it didn't corrode. I enjoyed it for a while and then sold it to somebody else.

Yep, looks like they do have it in all black. I guess that's the way I'll go if KuryAkyn doesn't have them by the spring. I still think I like the KuryAkyn better as it has some rubber fingers around the top that keeps difference size mugs from rocking back and forth. The rubber bottom of that one may work just as well, I just don't know.

I agree that it's nice and I may well go that way. I didn't find one that was all black though. Even what they called black has the chrome ring around the top. Is there one that I'm missing?

You have some nice pieces. As mentoned previously, my favorite sheath knife was the Case Lil' Devil. I love stag though and always intended to have a nice stag handle put on one. Never got around to it though and don't hunt any longer so really don't need it.

Well, I no longer have an RSV so didn't actually look. I remembered mine having a yellow wire but to be sure, I looked at the wiring diagram in the service manual before posting that and it too shows a yellow hot and a black ground. Actually, I think the yellow has a tracer color also but don't remember what it was. It was primarily yellow though. It should be easy enough to determine. Just look at the wire that is connected to the center post of the outlet.

I had the chrome KuryAkyn holders on my RSV. One for the driver and one for the passenger. It will take some thinking and fabricating to come up with a passenger solution on this bike. Also, I wanted to go all black on this one but the black was out of stock everywhere I looked. I ordered it about 3 months ago and got an email this week that it was still unavailable and they had no idea when it would be again. So my order was cancelled. The KuryAkyn website shows that it won't be available until February of 2019. I don't guess I'll need it until then anyway so will wait and try again. That Ciro looks good but I really want to stick with the all black. I will also try to come up with a solution for the passenger this winter while waiting.

Very nice. One upon a time, many years ago, I was an avid collector and also sold knifes. I had accounts with most of the USA manufacturers as well as many of the German brands. I sold a LOT of knifes for several years. A lot of Case, Buck, Parker, Schrade, etc. but my favorites were the German brands. Hen and Rooster, Boker, Fight'n Rooster, Kissing Crane, Puma, many others. I still carry a Fight'n Rooster which was my choice out of them all. Broke my old one but finally found a new/old stock a few months ago and was able to replace it. They are no longer in business. I did make a couple of hunting knifes, primarily out of old saw blades with various handle materials but I really didn't have the patience to do them justice. In regards to hunting knifes though, a lot of guys carried all sorts of big/bulky knifes but the one I always carried and field dressed and skinned many deer with was a little drop point that was made by Case. It was called the "Lil' Devil" and I loved that knife. They don't make it any longer and I have no idea what happened to mine. I was working at a Power Plant in Texas during those years and with about 800 or so men working there, I sold knifes every payday. There were always guys needing a new one and also a few that I had gotten into collecting. Shortly after leaving that job and then traveling way too much, I ended up selling off my collecitons.

Which bike? I assume you are talking about the RSV. If so, the yellow wire going to the 12 volt outlet is hot and the black wire is ground.

Thinking about getting a decent fitted cover for it. Don't know if most people recommend them or not. Have to do some research.