Freebird

Conversion to Single Antenna Thanks to Steve Bumgardner (Bummer) While removing the gas tank I managed to lean in too far and snap the center load on the CB antenna. Guess I should have put it up while I was working on the bike. Live and learn. Problems: The stock antenna is $140 or so, and it's obviously not very stout. The twin antenna system reduces the efficiency of the CB antenna. Probably not enough to worry about, but it's there if you like to sweat that sort of thing. Solution: One antenna serving both radios. Note: Some splitters reduce output power. Testing indicates that the Firestik splitter does not reduce final output power to the antenna. 4 watts in, 4 watts out. Many thanks to Marshall Gammon for his site http://bludolphintravel.com/gmg/marshallmod.htm It was a wonderful starting point. Preparation: Read the manual with the splitter. Read and understand the manual that came with your SWR meter. Check out the help files on the Firestik site http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm If you've never worked with coax you should probably read http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/Coax_Procg.htm for tips. Parts: 1 Firestik Firefly 3 foot CB antenna $18.00 http://www.walcottcb.com/product_info.php?cPath=28_97&products_id=897 1 300-340 stud mount base $5.00 http://www.walcottcb.com/product_info.php?products_id=251 1 folding mount $15.00 – This part is way too sloppy but it works if you require a folder. http://www.walcottcb.com/product_info.php?cPath=29_112&products_id=262 1 90 degree PL-259 adapter $5.00 http://www.walcottcb.com/360359-coax-right-angle-adapter-p-233.html 1 CB FM splitter $18.00 http://www.walcottcb.com/product_info.php?products_id=221 1 PL-259 male plug $2.50 1 PL-259 reducer model UG176 $.50 http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103401 1 Motorola female $1.50 2 Motorola male $2.00 Solder and shrink tubing Installation: The CB lives in a plastic box under the trunk. The lid is held in place with two rubber straps. This mod assumes access to the CB by removal of the trunk as needed. (Remove six screws in the bottom of the trunk, then close the trunk and carefully rotate the rear up and forward. There's wiring up front. I used the 'balance with forehead' technique to hold it up whenever I needed to get to the CB. The red spot's almost gone. Be careful. It's way too easy to put a nasty scratch in the trunk while you're doing this. Sigh.) Remove and do as you will with the old antenna. Mine may eventually grow up to be a flag mast. Remove and retain the wire between the antenna and the CB. Place the stud mount base on the antenna support with the nylon washer at the top. If you are using one place the folding mount in the stud mount, with the fold pointed front/back. Screw the antenna into this. Don't get carried away with the antenna itself. All else should be tight. Screw the 90 adapter into the bottom and aim it toward the radio. http://www.venturerider.org/antenna/image002.jpg Antenna base. I had to use a file and cut two notches in the stud base. Most PL-259 females have notches all around so that the locking points on the male can keep it from rotating while maintaining good contact. This one had none. A half dozen swipes with an edge of a triangular file did the job. http://www.venturerider.org/antenna/image004.jpg The notch Use the old wire to measure where to cut the CB Antenna Out wire on the splitter. Solder a PL-259 male plug on the wire you cut off. This is your new antenna wire. Put a male motorola plug on the CB Antenna Out wire of the splitter. http://www.venturerider.org/antenna/image006.jpg Wiring details. http://www.venturerider.org/antenna/image008.jpg Finished wiring – I didn't shorten the FM antenna wire the first time. It doesn't have to be, but it makes the box a bit crowded. Screw your new antenna wire into the 90 at the base of the antenna. Test for continuity and shorts. The tip of the antenna should have continuity with the center of the CB antenna wire. It should not have continuity with the outside of the plug. The CB antenna wire shield (outside of plug) should have continuity with the antenna support that came with the bike. Screw the end of the antenna wire into the splitter's Antenna In plug. Route this wire through the hole the old antenna wire went through. Plug the CB out wire into the CB box (gray plug). Remove the FM antenna, base and all. Cut the end off of the FM wire and solder the female Motorola plug on. The core goes to the center of the plug. The shielding goes to the body of the plug. Use some shrink wrap to cover the whole thing. Cut a notch in the side of the plastic box and route the FM antenna wire with the new plug into the box. I made a notch in the lip of the top and a matching one in the slot of the box. I kept this a tight fit to keep water out. Plug the splitter's FM Out lead into the FM antenna wire, fold it up into the box beside the CB. Place the splitter under the wires coming into the box on the left. Massage all the wiring to fit. Close it up. http://www.venturerider.org/antenna/image010.jpg In the box. Now that everything fits, it's time to set the Standing Wave. THIS MUST BE DONE or you'll toast your CB output transistor. Remove the plug from Antenna In on the splitter. Remove the plug between the splitter and the CB. Add a male PL-259 to male motorola patch cord to the antenna input wire (gray plug). Let the patch cord and the antenna wire dangle outside the box. Put the trunk back in place. Plug the antenna wire into Antenna on the SWR meter. Plug the wire from the radio into Radio on the SWR meter. Set the standing wave as per meter instructions. I got a meter at the Rat Shack. I got a http://www.walcottcb.com/product_info.php?products_id=934 and a http://www.walcottcb.com/12mfpl-pl259-to-motorola-female-12-long-p-198.html to connect the meter to the antenna system. I had to screw the adjuster on the antenna most of the way in. After some tinkering with the tip I got a 1.3 on 20 and just under 1.7 on 1 and 40. Once the antenna SWR is set you have to tune the splitter. Connect the antenna to Antenna In on the splitter. Connect a male motorola to male PL-259 patch cord to CB Out on the splitter. Connect these to your meter and check SWR. You'll have to turn the CB adjusting screw on the splitter to bring the SWR back down to where it was when you set the antenna. Mine is turned all the way down. You can now set the AM as per splitter instructions. When the antenna and splitter are both set disconnect the meter and the patch cord. Put the antenna wire back on Antenna In and the CB out wire into the gray socket. Pack everything back into the box, put the lid on, and bolt the trunk back in place. Breaker, breaker, two nine. End result: Single antenna system for under $75.

I may have some off the old '83 but I'm not sure exactly what you are talking about. If I have any, they are yours for the price of shipping.

No problem at all. I figured that would work out better for you. Besides, Larry is a MUCH nicer guy than I am.

I'm looking forward to it. Be prepared ... it will probably take at LEAST 10 minutes.

No problem...I'm sending you a PM now.

Yes, really any Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Free carb syncs at my house are no problem. I live outside of Cleveland though. Ride on over and we'll Git 'R Done.

I haven't checked to see if they offer the Michelin Commander in the first gen sizes but I sure like them.

Installing Stock Weights on Flanders Bars First I need to give credit to the basic idea here to Kbran. He posted a while back that he had done this when he installed his Flanders bars and it sounded like the way to go. The only difference is that he welded his and I opted for a set screw approach. The main reason being that I'm not a very good welder. This is a bit time consuming but I like the stock weights so it was worth it for me. Pretty straight forward job that most anybody should be able to do. After removing the bars, you will see the factory weld that holds the threaded sleeve in place. I simply used a bench grinder to grind the bars down in that area until the plug just fell out. Drill a hole in the Flanders bars approximated 3/4" from the end. The size hole you drill will depend upon the size set screw you use. I picked up a couple of 10/28 screws 1/4" long at the hardware store so used a drill size that I could tap for 10/28 Screw the insert onto the end of the weight and push it all the way in and then using a marker, mark the insert through the hole. Now you can see the mark where you will need to drill and tap the insert to match the hole you drilled in the bars. Drill and tap. Screw the insert back onto the weight. You will also need to tap the hole that you drilled in the Flanders bars to the same size. At this point, I slid the throttle grip on. You can't see it in this next picture but the throttle grip is already slid on so that once the weight is installed, I just slide it back to where it is supposed to be. Insert the weight with insert into the bar. Line up the holes and insert your set screw. The screw needs to be flush with the outside of the bars. Especially on the throttle side to make sure the throttle can turn freely. It will be almost flush if you use a 1/4" long screw. Just a very little dressing with a smooth flat file will get it just right. That's all there is to it. Do the other side and you are done.

You will pay more for the Clearview but in my opinion, there is no better shield on the market. It will last longer and because it is not coated like most others, you can buff out a scratch if you were to get one.

Rebuilding Pillow-Top Seat on '06 RSV Thanks to Jake (jakenator6) Hannon for this excellent tech article. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image003.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image004.jpg After about 8000 miles, the seat on my RSV was beginning to give me some severe discomfort. I felt, since it had been comfortable earlier, the foam might be breaking down a bit. The pressure point was exactly in the back center, right where the tailbone resides. My decision was to rebuild the seat with more of a dished out saddle effect and put firmer foam in place. Attached are photos and description of what I did. Starting point was to get a photo of the seat before I started removing things. Always useful when putting things back together. First job was removing the staples. Easily accomplished with a flat bladed screwdriver and pliers. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image007.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image008.jpg The seat cover is held onto the foam with pull-through fasteners seen above. These are easily removed with some needle nosed pliers but some care needs to be taken as they are not exactly robust. Grab one side of the metal clip, pull up to get some slack, and push it through the center hole of the plastic washer. Once the cover is off, use the needle nosed pliers to push the fastener through the foam. I think there were 9 of these. The vinyl cover is now separated from the seat. The seat pan is also pictured. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image011.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image012.jpg The soft, white foam on top will need to be pulled off. It was glued to the denser foam but take your time and they can be separated into reusable condition. I was not planning to reuse the soft cover and was planning some surgery on the denser foam so I was not as meticulous as I could have been. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image015.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image016.jpg I used the removed soft top as a template and cut a new pillow from much denser foam 1" thick. In hindsight, I would still use the denser foam but only 1/2" thick. The old foam was so soft it compressed easily and gave the seat it's puffy look. The new foam compressed very little and was the dickens to get the cover stretched back over. Putting those stringed fasteners back through is a job that is guaranteed to test your mettle. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image019.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image020.jpg Based upon the recommendation from this site, I used a flap disc on a drill to start reshaping the seat. The right picture above is how things had progressed with this tool. It really did some smooth work but my plan was to remove a lot more foam so I resorted to an electric carving knife. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image023.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image024.jpg The above photos show most of the knife work. I took the rear center of the seat down almost 3" since I planned to build it up with some really stiff 1/2" foam as a base. From the center back, I taper it up to give a smooth dished saddle shape. This was way past the point of no return. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image027.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image028.jpg I used some 1/2" foam rubber intended for flooring in play rooms. A little puzzle work and some spray adhesive got things stuck in place. I had also carved out a niche for the backrest piece you see in the above right picture. I really wanted some more support at the back and to spread my weight to the wider parts of my posterior. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image031.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image032.jpg Some more knife work and spray adhesive and the new pillow top was ready for recovering. http://www.venturerider.org/seat/image034.jpg Getting the cover back on will take two people, more patience than I had, and some needle nosed vice grips. The plastic seat base is hard and stapling takes even more patience. How's it work? Pretty good I must say. I've put in two 300 miles days and the pressure point in the center is gone. The built up back rest is largely negated by all that 1" foam (pillow stuff), but it is still an improvement. If you're not happy with how your seat feels, changing it is within the tool capacity of most of us. I wouldn't hesitate to try it again but right now I'm OK with what I have.

Michelin Commander is what I would recommend. You will get great traction on wet or dry roads and probably at least 12,000 miles out of the rear.

I don't know about that but all I can say is that I keep mine on a Battery Tender pretty much all the time and my Odyssey battery is going on 4 years now.

I've got some FAT foam grips on mine that are Yamaha and made for the Road Star. Don

Sending Unit Repair Thanks to Brian H. (6m459) for this excellent article. I measured my sender unit resistance and found it to be open circuit as was suggested by another member. I removed it from the tank to find that the wiper would loose contact with the resistance wire at the mid point, of the float travel, as the resistance wire substrate is warped. It made good contact at top and bottom but not in the middle. I found that there is a handy adjustment available that lets you re-tension the wiper quite easily. Undo the screw and slide the bushing closer to the resistance wire, against a compression leaf spring, then re-tighten the screw. All seems to work well again now but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for the next little while. Shown with cover removed. Note bend in resistor wire substrate. http://www.venturerider.org/sendingunit/1%20(Small).jpg The wire loses contact with the resistor midway. http://www.venturerider.org/sendingunit/2%20(Small).jpg Solution: Loosen screw, slide wiper closer, retighten. http://www.venturerider.org/sendingunit/3%20(Small).jpg Close up view. http://www.venturerider.org/sendingunit/4%20(Small).jpg

RSV Instructions for Clutch Removal, Install and Upgrade. Thanks to Tartan Terror for this GREAT article. These are instructions for replacing the clutch on a Royal Star Venture. As part of the install on my bike, I also did a clutch upgrade which involved removing several parts and installing an additional full size clutch disc. I found that with this upgrade, I was able to eliminate all of the slip that I was experiencing. At the time I did this upgrade, I also installed a heavier spring available from PCW Racing that also made the clutch more firm. With these instructions you will also be able to do a clutch on your bike completely to stock also. First you need to remove the cover located on the right side of the bike. It is the round cover just in front of the horn. You will need a 5mm Allen key to remove the bolts. In my case, I used a ratchet with a 5mm Allen bit and a ball head Allen key also. To make the removal easy, I also took an old 5mm Allen key and shortened it so that I could loosen the bolts behind the exhaust without removing or loosening the exhaust. When I removed all the bolts, I drew a shape of the cover on cardboard and place the bolts in holes placed in the cardboard so that the bolts will go back in the proper holes. Next you need to gently remove the cover. I did not need to drop any of the oil out of the engine. Although it is a wet clutch, when the engine is not running there is very little oil in the clutch area. Gently tap the cover with a dead blow hammer or something that will not mark your chrome. Remove the cover and clean the old gasket off the cover and surfaces on the block of the engine. When the cover is off, make note of the marks in the clutch basket and on the clutch friction plates. On the basket you will see at one point (5 o'clock position) there are two marks in the basket. You will also see that the with the discs in that all the discs have two marks also. At the 11 o'clock position you will also see one mark in the basket and the same mark on the friction plates. These marks are very important when you reinstall the friction discs. They MUST be lined up. Next you will need to remove the small plate on the outside of the clutch. It is held on by 6 bolts and you will need to use a 10mm socket or wrench. Remove the small plate and spring. Be careful because there is a small metal ring that sits in the pressure plate in a groove under the spring. You now need to remove the pressure plate. All you need to do is lift it off. After you do this, remove all the friction discs and steel plates from the clutch basket. All the way in on the cutch, you will see where you took the plates and friction discs out, a wire. Remove this wire. You will need to break it. This holds in a steel disc like all the others, a half disc and a spring washer. You need to take all of these out. These parts are the parts that you will trash if you choose to upgrade and put in a full size disc. If not, keep all these parts and take note how they come out so that you can return them as they came out. Make sure you get everything out. There is a flat steel washer in there that you have to work at getting out. It does come out and when you get it, the inner surface will be completely flat. Below is a picture of the parts that will be discarded in place of a full sized plate. The plate you will use is the same plate and part number as the rest. Whether you are installing new friction discs or just upgrading and installing one new one with all the others, they must be soaked in oil. As the RSV is a wet clutch, the discs are meant to absorb oil to work properly. Next you will need to prepare the steel plates to be reinstalled. At the recommendation of PCW Racing, I sanded the discs lightly in a crosshatch pattern so that the clutch has better grip. You can also bead blast them lightly as well. Now you are ready to reinstall the clutch. If you decide to use the original clutch parts (the small disc, washer and plate) do so now and install a wire in the groove to replace the one removed. If you are doing the upgrade like I did, you will now install the first friction plate, being careful to line up the grooves like specified so that the two notches match up to the marks on the basket at the 5 o'clock position and one notch at the 11 o'clock position. Install all the discs and plates alternating disc, plat, disc, plate. I also made it a point to spread extra oil on the discs and plates as I installed them. When they are all in, you will have a clutch disc on the outside and all the notches will line up. Next you will put on the pressure plate. The pressure plate has a punch mark on the front - make sure it lines up correctly with the single mark next to one of the bolt towers on the clutch basket. On the back side, you will see that the plate has splines that will match up with the teethe on the inner clutch basket. If these don't fit together correctly, the spring will not sit correctly. After you have this in then place the spring on next, making sure that the small ring is sitting in the groove on the front side of the pressure plate. Now install the spring. In my case, I installed a PCW spring which is heavier than the stock spring but of the same design. The stock spring is installed the same. If you use a Barnett pressure plate, follow the instructions that came with the kit. When installing the spring retainer plate and bolts, be careful not to tighten the 6 bolts too tight. Also, you will need to make sure that the spring is centered. There are notches on the towers that the 6 bolts tighten into that the finger on the center of the spring should rest on. Tighten evenly and crisscross your torqueing pattern. The torque is 5.8 ft lbs or 70 in.lbs. Reinstall the cover being careful not to crimp the new gasket and you are done. Like I said, I did the upgrade and I love it. It is better for pulling a trailer. One thing you will notice with the upgrade is the pull on your clutch lever is harder but not by much and you will adjust to it very quickly. I also recommend the upgrade if you are driving hard or have added stuff to get more power from your bike. Now get out and ride!!!

No problem...wasn't really asking for nor expecting an apology..just giving you a bit of a hard time .. all in fun. But since you offered an apology, I accept it of course and that is another thing that we can put behind us. Like I said, it's not important to me how far I can get out and I do like the looks of the dual setup. So long as I can communicate with the group, that's all I'm after. I have the folding euro type mounts on mine. You tighten them with either the big wing nut or the key with the anti-theft setup. They are very tight and easy to fold but I've never been crazy about the looks of them.

I'm just glad you are finally admitting that the AM/FM DOES rob power from the CB. I told you that so many times that you finally got mad at me about it even after I posted to you where Firestik ALSO says that the single setup is better. That being said, I still like the looks of the dual setup better and CB are not designed for great distance anyway. As long as I can talk to and hear riders in my group...that's all I care about.

Really no way for the water to evaporate out of them. That being said, just go with the Odyssey....completely dry cell and you don't have to worry about it at all.

I agree with Rod. See this article for pictures. This was on m RSV but it's the same principal. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=511

Installing a Dyna 3000 module in a Royal Star Venture Thanks to Scott (Tartan Terror) for this great article. Remove seat form bike. After you do this you will need to remove the battery. Remove the cables first then remove the strap hold down. Be careful not to touch terminals together or they may spark. Also be careful to make note of where any accessory wires you have installed are routed. http://www.venturerider.org/dyna/image002.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/dyna/image004.jpg Remove the battery tray next. You will need to remove the two 12 mm bolts in front of the tray. Remove the positive and negative wires from the clips that hold them and gently lift the tray out of the way. For those of you that have other items behind the tray be careful not to pull that out and lift the tray out. With the tray out of the way you will see the module standing vertical held by two nuts against the front wall of the battery compartment. Loosen the wires so you can lift the module up and out. http://www.venturerider.org/dyna/image006.jpg http://www.venturerider.org/dyna/image008.jpg Next get your new module ready to install. The Dyna 3000 module has many settings so read the directions carefully and select the setup that suits how you intend to use it. I set mine to setting 3 and set the Rev limiter to 7250. This is done by setting the small white switches to the appropriate on and off pattern. Setting the switches will change the advance of the ignition and raise the rev limiter to a higher level. Stock is 6000 rpm but this is far below the Red Line. http://www.venturerider.org/dyna/image010.jpg After Setting the switches remove the old module by removing the three connectors and plugging them into the appropriate sockets. You can’t mix them up as they will only go one way. http://www.venturerider.org/dyna/image012.jpg Bolt the new module in the location that the old one came out of and put the battery tray back in. Once again remember to put your cables and wires back the way they came out and then install the Battery. Place the seat back on and you are ready to go. One thing I noticed is that after the new module was in I needed to adjust the idle as now it seemed to rev higher. If you need to this the knob is on the right side of the bike near the back carburetor under the tank. Now all you have to do is Ride it like you stole it.

Yes, just remove the plastic cover/shield on the inside and lube it well. WD40 is not a good lubricant for this and will not last long. I used a white lithium grease in a small tube from an auto parts store and it has done well. I think it's been about 6 years since I had to do that.

OK...I was just doing some searching and found that the Electrical Connection does offer this type kit for the Gold Wing. I sent them an email asking what it would take for them to offer one for the RSV and RSTD. Should be very easy...just a matter of using different connectors.

If you are looking for a CB...which makes the most sense since many of us that ride RSVs, Wings, etc. already have CB...then this is the nicest one in my opinion. Not cheap but sure does integrate nicely. http://www.sierra-mc.com/products.asp?cat=243

No problem...glad it turned out to be something simple. You are NOT the first to have that happen.