Paul Martin

Still puzzling about the yellow oil patch. If you are in the habit of filling the oil up near the top of the sight glass it tends to blow out the crankcase and back into the air intake, then out the tubes. If there's more oil in the crankcase than you thought and it smells like gasoline you may have a stuck carb float letting gas into the engine and down into the crank. A lot of the guys on this site and the owners manual says to shut the petcock off between runs to avoid that problem. Hopefully that's not what you have going on.

Ok now where did that plastic cup of clean oil come from? Is that your new shock oil that you put into the shock, or is that the mystery oil that came from somewhere else on your bike? If that isn't new shock oil, then the first thing I would suspect is crankcase oil blowing out breather tubes that come out down near where the lower shock mount is. But I'm at a loss as to what caused it to leak out if you didn't run the engine when you washed the bike. But also, your profile says this is a 2010 RSV trike. Never seen one up close. Does the trike setup have any additional oil reservoirs down under? Happy belated birthday by the way!

Share some pics when you can! Here's mine just now - dry 950 miles later. And if yours was low on shock fluid and was pogo sticking, you will be amazed at how much better the ride is when you get it fixed.

Steve, if you're mechanically inclined and wanted to try and tackle it yourself, see this writeup:

Great bike!

I was a goin' to Vogel this year for the very first time, but have had to change plans and will not make it - maybe next year. I did just cancel the room reservation at Seasons Inn this afternoon if anyone here is looking to stay there.

Well I'm a bit late posting this as it occurred on this past April 19th, and on that day, I replaced the standard manual petcock with a vacuum operated petcock. Got tired of remembering to get up and go shut it off hours after parking the bike. But also on that same day I did something that some may consider controversial if not downright heretical - I removed the fuel pump from my 2nd gen 2001 RSV. I've only ridden 675 miles since then. With no issues. Many of those miles in the twisties of the Blairsville, GA area including hwy 129, as well as high speed interstate cruising. Gravity seems to work just fine! So if you're on the road and your fuel pump gives out, just re-route that fuel line directly from the petcock into the carb inlet and cruise on!

Funny you mention that. This past weekend the wife and I were at the VJMC gathering in Blairsville, GA. Long story short, I did drop the bike on its left side in a parking lot incident - barely moving - and the wife fell splat to the ground helmet slapped the asphalt. She just got a little scratch out of the deal thank the Lord - he was watching over her - no headache at all. Not a scratch on the bike that I could find...not even a reflector out of place - the guards did their job!

Thank you Mike!

Ok found some pics from the 2021 Vogel here - looks like fun. Still have the same questions tho! Where do you stay? How much does it cost? How do I sign up?

Gentlemen, As a newcomer to this VentureRider.org group, I am curious to know what the heck is this Vogel thing? What events are planned? Where do you stay? How much does it cost? How do I sign up? Any and all information is appreciated! PM

Good one Carl!

If you want to play with Linux, I've found one of the easiest to install and has similarity to Windows is Linux Mint. If your hardware is old, there's a 'light' version of Linux Mint. You can also try before you commit to it by creating a bootable Linux Mint USB using a Windows app called 'Rufus'. Yet another option - buy a new hard drive and use the bootable Linux Mint USB to install it to the new hard drive. Keep your Windows drive hooked up in the computer, and you will be able to browse the old drive.

Congrats CJ! Welcome to the World of Daddyhood! What a wonderful blessing in your lives. I'm sure you are going to be a great dad! That kid'll be on two wheels before you know it!

Hey Paul, Check out this post: I believe you do have to remove that coolant hose, and the plastic tray between the frame and valve cover that the wires and hoses hide in. Drain about a quart of coolant from the radiator before removing the hose. With that hose and tray out of the way, there's just enough clearance to lift and slide that valve cover out the left side. Also check out this post - lots of pics doing a valve adjust and general clean up under the tank.