Freebird

No vent and no tint. I really don't care about the tint. My Clearview was tinted and to be honest, it wasn't a big deal. You really can't even tell unless you put another shield right against it. That being said, I would have gotten a tinted one if available but it's just not a big deal to me. As for the vent, I will not buy another shield with the Goldwing style vent. They are VERY hard to keep clean as the bugs and grime get between the vent flange and the shield. Plus, mine stop opening and closing correctly a couple of years ago. I will use the round pop out vents from now on and would just as soon install my own. It is very easy to do.

OK folks, I had mentioned in another thread about a new windshield that I was going to try on my bike. I had heard about this company from Bob Dakin but knew nothing about them. A few days ago I got an email from the owner of the company asking if I would be willing to test their new RSV shield and provide feedback to him and to our members. I told him that I was willing to do so but that he needed to understand that my report would be 100% honest and I would NOT support a product that I didn't believe in. Now it turns out that F4Customs is only about an hour from my house so I took a drive over there and picked up a shield. They offer it in 3 sizes. 14.5", 17.5" (stock height) and 19.5". The 17.5" and the 19.5" are both available in stock width or 4" wider than stock. I went with the 19.5" shield in the 4" wider size. This is about the same height as my Clearview shield. The Clearview shield was also wider than stock but this one is a bit wider yet. Now I want to say here that I was NEVER unhappy with my Clearview shield and have recommended them many times here. It is now about 9 years old and is still in very good shape. I would not have been in the market for a new shield at this time. There are a number of claims that F4 makes about this shield. It is scratch resistant, no optical distortion, they say it is very slick and really sheds water well. You can use Rain X on it and they actually recommend that you clean it with windex and paper towels and you will not scratch it. The RSV shield is new but they have made shields for other bikes and Nascar for some time now. I understand that they are a very popular brand with the Goldwing riders. I have no reason to doubt their claims but it will obviously be a while and many miles before I can fully verify them either. What I can say is that the shield fits well. All the bottom holes are actually holes and not slots as Clearview and the stock shields use. There seems to be substantial material to hold the shield if a screw or two get loose. The holes were all drilled properly and lined up as they should have. It is a bit wider at the bottom than my older Clearview shield. One thing I did notice is that the wider part of the shield at the bottom sweeps back a bit. The Clearview shield was pretty much straight in line with the chrome strip. To the point that you actually had to flex the shield back a bit in order to remove the chrome. This one sweeps back probably an inch. Not saying that is a good thing or a bad thing, just a difference that I wanted to point out. Also the bottom of the wide part of the shield angles up just a bit. Where the Clearview shield is pretty much straight across where the width extends at the bottom ... aligns with the top of the fairing...this one angles up maybe 3/4" or so. Again, not saying that is good or bad but a difference. I THINK I actually like the Clearview better in this one regard but this is something that F4 could probably tweak if it turns out that everybody feels the same way that I do about it. After I put a few miles on it, I may end up liking it this way. We'll see. Anyway, this is my intial report. The shield is well made, fits nicely, secured very well with all holes and no slots. As for it being highly scratch resistant and shedding water so well, only time will tell. They did show me a demo of a shield with a windshield wiper wrapped in steel wool. He said they had run the wiper for over 100 hours with the steel wool scrubbing the shield and it was not scratched at all. It IS a very clear shield and I've noticed no optical distortian at all. That wasn't a problem with my Clearview either but some with the new swept back version of the Clearview have complained just a bit about it. I will report further after I've put some miles on it. If you want to know more, the F4 Custom website is: http://www.f4customs.com/

Well, I finally broke down and called the power company this morning. They told me that my power should be back on by Friday at the earliest and Sunday at the latest. Then about 1- minutes later, the power came back on. We ended up being without power for right at 36 hours. I really feel for those down south who are going to be two to three weeks with none. They say that the winds here were sustained at around 40-50 MPH with guests close to 70.

Yea, I could do that. It would almost power the entire house but WOW...the propane it would go through. NO NO NO......Can't happen......I think I would just run away. Yep...this is strike two on the Gazebo. Not in the pond this time. I had it anchored down very well. Just pretty much destroyed the light gauge aluminum frame.

I guess what is remaining of Ike blew through NE Ohio last night. We had winds exceeding 50 MPH and lots of trees down in the area. Our power went off around 7:00 PM and is still off now. I drove into town to get a WIFI connection and check my email. Hopefully things will be on again soon. No real damage at our house...well...except that Eileen's gazebo is pretty much trashed.

As far as I know, it was not deleted. I don't even remember seeing it and I get emailed a copy of every post made. Not sure what happened but I can promise that I didn't delete it. The other moderators typically email or PM me before hard deleting anything. Sometimes they will soft delete something until we can discuss it but I don't even see anything soft deleted.

I agree 100%. I don't even own a filter wrench. I use a large pair of Channel Locks pliars to remove the old one. Put a bit of oil on the new filter gasket and screw it on until it seats and then about 1/2 - 3/4 turn more by hand. I've never had one leak doing it that way. If you didn't lubricate the rubber gasket first, you may have torn it. At any rate, something isn't right if it's leaking.

and now even THIS is turning political. Please let it go folks.

That is correct. It was really a resource hog and that is why I removed it.

Now THAT'S FUNNY....I don't care who you are.

I actually think it looks nice.

OK...I didn't know it but I have to do the physical remove. They should be gone now.

Please see this thread that I posted a few weeks ago. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26737&highlight=Signatures

HEY...guess what...I agree completely. Not only that but I sometimes get tech questions posted there that I often don't see for a while because I don't check that often. Anyway, I just disabled that feature completely. The old messages will still be there unless you delete them like I just did all of mine.

I did it the easy way. I bought the complete set of RSTD mufflers off Ebay a couple of years ago. Rick Butler did it your way though. You might give him a shout or search for posts by him because I know he did post it. Basically he used a punch to punch holes in the correct location. A PUNCH...not a drill. Using a punch left the metal inside which he then tapped to the proper size.

It is fine. You can't make it too large as I have limits set that will crop it.

There will likely be more hitches very soon but Bushtec already as one or the Vision. http://www.bushtec.com/visionhitch.html

Thanks folks. It is sincerely appreciated and always helps. It would be tough financially to do this if it weren't for the kindness of the members.

I agree. If the bike was still under warranty, I would say to have Yamaha replace them but since it's a '99, just replace them with the Diamond R brackets and be done with it. I finally lost one of mine last year. I went with the Diamond R brackets and their polished SS deflectors and am very happy with them.

When I started this site about 4 or so years ago, I started it as a Venture and Royal Star site. The format has worked well for us but that does not mean that others are not welcome. It's been said many times that the bikes are what brought us together but it's the friendships that keep us together. That is what is truly important here. We have a number of members who ride other bikes and they too are dear friends and post here often. Heck, even the guy who is coordinating our 2009 International Rally rides a Goldwing. Not only are you welcome here but the pictures of your bike and adventures are encouraged. Though many of us ride the Venture and Royal Stars now, there is a great depth of experience here on many different makes and models.

You might want to download Open Office. It is free and seems to work very well. It will open Microsoft Office documents. http://www.openoffice.org/

Did you see this thread? http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=258 It is for the second gen but the connection points are in about the same place. Screws are a bit different though. You know, we REALLY need a great write-up with pictures of the procedure for the first gen bikes. It would be great if one of you first gen riders could do it and then I would add it to the first gen tech library.

I think Clearview also makes a shield for the RSTD. I'm not 100% sure but if they do, they are a popular shield for the RSV riders. Here is a link. http://www.clearviewshields.com/ I'm presently testing a new shield from http://www.f4customs.com which so far, I'm pretty impressed with. I know though that they don't presently make one for the RSTD because I asked them.

hmmmm.....hadn't thought about that. Trust me...it felt MUCH longer than that. Yes, it's a Giant. The model is Cypress DX. I am certainly no expert on bicycles but I did enough research that I THINK it is OK. It's better than a Walmart type bike but really an entry level premium type bike. Disc brakes, 24 speed, front suspension and seat post suspension. 700 size wheels/tires. I had a hard time finding it because I wanted an '08 model because the '09 models went up about $40.00 AND deleted the disc brakes to save more money. Finally found an '08 model at a small bike shop in Ashland, OH. They call it a "Hybrid". Sort of a cross between a road bike and a mountain bike. Best suited for pavement and bike paths. After my initial ride, I am almost ready to declare you the winner already.

I'm sticking with my IPOD. Well...I do not know about KEEPING me in shape but it has sure shown me how OUT of shape I am. I don't remember it being this hard when I was a kid. I added the chrome bottle holder already. This is very close to the truth. The ONLY thing, so far, that I don't like about the bike is the seat. It is WAY too soft. Wonder if Corbin makes one? I was very careful to get the proper frame size and that everything is adjusted properly. I'm getting proper leg extension and etc. Standover height of the frame is just right for me too. The sad fact is, I'm just BADLY out of shape. I have a couple of choices now. I can either get in shape...OR...add a 1000W electric hub motor.......