Freebird

Great. I saw a picture you had posted on Facebook. Looked great. What the heck happened to the rear brakes?

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I know. I went crazy on my last RSV and bought about every piece of chrome ever made for it. Won't happen this time for two reasons. First reason is that it's almost impossible to find the stuff and secondly, when you do, people want 2 and 3 times the original MSRP., I don't need it that bad. I did spend most of the afternoon washing one after riding 4 hours in the rain the other day. It's all clean now but needs to be waxed. I'll do that over the next few days.

I had to go to Harbor Freight today to pick up a couple tools for a stairlift install tomorrow. I actually picked up that set while I was there. I figure that will get me by for about a month.

LOL....I'm allergic to COLD.

Was just looking at their site. I’ll give them a call. Looks like they have the capability. Not sure that they do one off jobs.

Yes, I’m actually considering that. I may send them off this winter. I don’t think anybody around here chromes on plastic. Another advantage is that you can continue to use stock filters. At least some think that is better for the bike.

I agree but actually think it would have been easier to meet admissions standards with a water cooled V4. I have heard that Honda is continuing only their DCT (automatic) version of the Wing because they can more easily control the emissions on it than the manual.

I understand. I didn't have the '18 Venture long enough to comment on how long the belt would last. I can say that having owned 3 Harley's, '86 FXRD, '13 Road Glide Ultra, and '08 Ultra Classic, I've never had to replace a belt. The heat on the 107 CU Road Glide was very noticeable. The '18 Venture was almost as bad. The '08 98 CU wasn't nearly as bad unless you got stuck in traffic as we did going to Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. My right thigh got pretty hot during that traffic jam. I did find the '18 Venture to be very comfortable on the road after I got my backrest, highway pegs, and handlebar risers on it. Same options that I always add to my bikes. As for price, I agree that they are way too high. I lucked out though. I bought my '18 Venture brand new from a dealer in New York who also sold Honda. He just couldn't sell the Yamahas. I bought it brand spanking new at the end of 2018, I think it was, for 18,000.00.

Lol. Fantastic idea.

Main thing I miss on the 18 and the Harley is fuel injection. Even though I’ve never had any major issues with the carbs on the RSV. I just have to remember to turn on the petcock. Yesterday after we left on our ride, a few miles down the road I felt the bike losing power. I quickly remembered that I had turned it off when I parked it. Reach down and turned it on before it died so didn't even have to stop but I'm no longer used to having a petcock.

Well, I've finished about everything I wanted to do to the trike. Installed a Bluetooth receiver inside the fairing that plugs into the aux. wire going into the radio. Works great. Connects easily and allows me to play my music and here directions from my phone through the audio system Installed a LED headlamp bulb and it's super bright. Very pleased with it. Installed LED passing lights Installed drink holders. They work very well. Installed a phone mount with wireless charging so my phone stays charged while riding. Installed the Baron's 2" handlebar risers and though they were a pain to install, I am very pleased with them. They work as well as the Flanders and Road Star bars that I had put on previous bikes. That's actually all I needed. There are some things that I would add if I run across then at fair prices but that is not easy to do. Would like to have the front fender rail and the chrome air cleaner covers but they are very difficult to come by. I'll keep my eyes open for some but am not going to pay 2 and 3 times over MSRP which is what I've found so far. I can easily do without them. It is comfortable for me now and that is the main thing. I MAY have a line on some new old stock aftermarket accessories. Hopefully will know in a day or two. If so, that is great. If not, I will leave it as is. A special thanks to @1BigDog for his patience in answering my many questions about the trike and his recommendations. People like him are what this site is all about.

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Oh. And it’s not just Yamaha. I’m hearing that Honda is also dropping some models. Word is that they are dropping their manual transmission Goldwing models. The predominant thought is that they are doing so because they can more easily meet future emission standards wit their automatic models.

Was just looking at Yamaha's website. I am totally amazed that they no longer have any touring bikes or even cruisers. Have they completely given up on the big bike market? Most of you know that I had bought a brand new 2018 Star Venture Transcontinental. To be completely honest, I actually loved it. The only reason I sold it is because I just wasn't riding. It set here for over a year and I finally just put enough miles on it to do the first oil change. I know that most here weren't crazy about the fact that Yamaha went with an air cooled V Twin but it was truly a great bike in my opinion. It had about everything a person could want on a bike. Yes, there were a handful of folks that had some small issues and even fewer had some major engine issues but few new models are introduced with no issues. That being said, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't bashing the Star Venture because it's certainly not my intention. But, do you think that if Yamaha had listened to us. The long time proponents of the Yamaha Venture, and come out with a new Venture with a modified version of the 1700cc Max engine that it would have done better? I don't know but I feel that it would have. Imagine that new Star Venture with the Max engine. Water cooled, abundant HP, ability to REV like most here enjoy, it could have been an amazing bike. Unless Yamaha has something up their sleeve, we will never know. My real question is. Do you think that Yamaha is completely leaving the large bike market or do you think that they are at the drawing board, deciding what mistakes were made, and will be coming out with another line in a few years? It will probably be to late for most of us old codgers but I have to wonder what they are thinking. Last thought on this, at least for now. I feel that Yamaha and most of the other Japanese bike makers have tried too hard to emulate Harley and to some extent, even Indian. I feel that the V Twin is essentially an American Icon and the majority of riders who want a V Twin are going to go with Harley or Indian. Let's face it. V Twins are certainly an old technology. Some of us actually like the low RPM torque, great sound, even a bit of vibration but you simply can't provide a great argument that they are as technically refined as the 4 and 6 cylinder bikes that are on the market. With electric vehicles, even motorcycles, that are being brought to the market, I seriously wonder if any manufacturers will be dumping large amounts of capital into big touring bikes. That's sad and to me, virtually signals the end to the cross country riding that many of us have enjoyed. I wonder how much money Yamaha lost on the development of the Star Venture and Eluder. There is no way that they recouped their investment.

Today, Eileen and I took our first two up ride on the trike. We started to not go because it was raining pretty good but we put on the rain suits and took off. Only about a 4 hour round trip down into Amish country. A lot of twisties and it rained all the way down and about half way home. I learned a few things. I learned that it is going to take some getting used to in the twisties. I was cautious today because I couldn't see very well in the rain and I don't know the limits of the trike. We did ok though. Also, I'm getting some head shake at low speeds, I mean 10 to 20 MPH or so if I hit some rough payment. I'll check my head bearings to be sure that they are tight but I've been talking to Jeff, @1BigDog , and he tells me that some head shake is somewhat inherent to these trikes. He gave me some air pressure settings to try so I'll do that along with checking the head bearings. Not a big deal now that I'm aware of it. Just have to make sure you have a firm grip on the bars if you get onto rough rides and are going slow. Easy to prevent if you know about it. Otherwise, it was a nice ride. Especially after the rain finally cleared up a bit.

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I’ll let you know how they work out. All I have to compare them to is the stock ones though. Still won’t know how they compare to yours.

Now my passing lamps look terrible in comparison. I ordered some today. Got them on Amazon. They are supposed to be here tomorrow.

Just a bulb. This was was recommended by Jeff. A little expensive compared to the ones on Amazon but works great.

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