Semi-retired

You couldn't have said it better, George. My wife and I have had the conversation many times about "If I drop/tip/lose this thing any more than about once a year.....I've gotta figure out a way to lose a couple of hundred pounds!" (And that's off the BIKE I'm talking.....not my skinny little 175 lb frame!) Even "setting" it down in a cool, calm, relaxed manner (which seems to be the way many of us lose this thing) is more than my lumbar-fused spine wants to have happen. Yes, the bike can be "walked", "squatted" or "levered" back to upright in a number of ways......but, wouldn't it just be easier to own a nice 500 or even 600 pound alternative (with a center of gravity BELOW your ass, instead of ABOVE it) in the first place? Wifey keeps suggesting I get the same bike as her......a fine looking V-Star......which is saying a lot for her, since the biggest sacrifice is going to be the storage space on MY bike for HER 'stuff'. :-) I say we campaign Yamaha to 'convert' the engine from a V-4 to a flat four........you know.....a Porsche engine......or a "dual" Beemer/Boxer. Probably get an increase in horsepower......and definitely drop the center of gravity about a FOOT! If they can't GET the weight down......at least they could MOVE it down!

Wow! To low side AND high side in the same incident must have been a "memorable" event. (there are OTHER descriptors.....but I understand this is a 'family friendly' site!) If you hit with the sort of impact that your speed would suggest, Larry's brackets must have done a GREAT job. I'll probably go that route. Thanks for your vote!

Hey, Owen......that's ONE solution! However, I was looking more for the 8 dollar solution......as opposed to the 8,000 dollar one! :-) Thanks for your input, though.

Kevin......by saying this, do you mean YOU DID.........or I SHOULD? If "you did", which kind did you use? Cost? Difficulty?

Thank goodness it was one of those zero-speed drops.....where you just lose your footing at an intersection.....and thankfully it wasn't in the middle of a BUSY intersection in the city...where danger AND embarrassment are maximized. (Although it would have been nice if that pickup coming out of the "dead end" who caused me to stop awkwardly on the off-camber had also stopped to help with the 'recovery'). Oh well...... Recent (last October) back surgery notwithstanding.....I did my best to get Bessy back on her feet.....but finally decided to let the nice chap on the riding mower help me get 'er back up again. After a friendly chat about his "ole Harley".....and doing a cursory check for damage...I got home and found that I'd bent the right hand "crash bar" just enough that the little black button on the bottom of the lower fairing halves had gone missing. (Obviously due to the fact the crash bar had bent enough to throw the alignment of the two halves off by about half an inch.) So, long story longer......while I'm sitting here trying to decide on either the $40 solution with less work (Larry's brackets, http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=3725)....or the $10 solution, with lots of measuring and drilling (http://www.venturers.org/Tech_Library/?action=article&cat_id=002002&id=373)......can I get a....... 1. a show of hands as to who's tried what solutions for straightening the bent bar to the correct angel 2. who's used which bracket solution to keep the bars from bending next time she goes down 3. where the heck to get a replacement for that little black 'button' Thanks for all your tricks/tips, guys. P.S. This all happened, of course, not more than a week after I parked in my wife's blind spot and she backed out......and tipped it over with no one ON it! The poor bike MUST be feeling abused!!!

I read a post on our site where one member referred to constantly "riding the horn" of his saddle and eventually getting the $60 fix from another member who refurbishes your seat "while you wait" at any given MD. In the meantime......just in case I can't make it to a maintenance day anytime soon....is there a DIY solution (or even PARTIAL solution) that will keep the family jewels from being constantly crushed?? (P.S. Please don't say "wear tighter jeans.....or looser shorts.......tried 'em all!! LOL!!) Don't ask me why it took me this long to ask the question.....just bashful, I guess!!

Don't "take predictions", buddy......MAKE BETS!! And, bet AGAINST the shock; try to win enough money to pay for a good one! Only problem with these things is, they're inconsistent as hell. As you can see from this long thread, some guys seem to "luck out" and have them last for a decade. Others are replaced 2 or 3 times within the 5yr warranty. It's a crap shoot...at best. I wish you luck! Mike

Have fun, buddy; don't work too hard! I'm up in Ottawa with Jackie (in a cage) visiting my son and his family. Seeing Black Keys at Bluesfest tonight and back home on Saturday. Enjoy the swampy weather!!

Ah, so. Got it now. Thanks, Glenn. All I have to do now is get in touch with Squidley to see if he remembers the size of the passing lights he put on my Midnight back in Marine City. (You readin this Brad? If you don't recall.....and why would you after the hundreds of guys bikes you so GENEROUSLY work on.....can I post a pic for you? I'm just a little dubious about putting a tape-rule on these things and ending up with the correct measurements.) And......on second thought, maybe the whole passing light size question is moot, anyway. Reason: I plan on only having three visors on the front. Maybe the two little ones should be on the signal lights? Does anyone do all FIVE? Seems like overkill. So, if only three, is it head and pass......or head and signal. (Haven't really paid much attention to what anyone else is doing. Call me INATTENTIVE!! Just don't call me late for supper!)

I notice that page is a Tour Deluxe listing, Glenn. Are the specs the same for IT as they are for the Venture?

Yeah, Kirby, you're right! Thanks for the heads up. Nothing like a little "truth in advertising....eh?" I guess what I have to do is find someone with the best TOTAL pricing on the "set" I want (headlight and signal lights) and possibly FREE or at least COMBINED shipping. Happy Father's Day, everybody! Hope y'all got lots of chrome! Mike

Is this as good a deal as any?: http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/star-yamaha-accessories-headlight-visor-royal-star-v-star-6501100-classicsilverado-99-09-road-starsilverado-models/part/STR-4NK58-10-00 Are there bad ones and good ones? (i.e. crappy chrome?) Any recent research (or links to existing "best deals/value") greatly appreciated.

You're right, there, Jeff. (Just ask my achin' back!) I'll stick to packin wifey's lingerie back there (which I think is what she had in mind while "encouraging" this project from the get-go!)

Oh.....so THAT's why I only ever see stuffed toys back there!!! IS Bob your uncle?

I visited the metal fabricator who built the stainless steel cone to support my kitchen island counter top and posed the question about straps vs washers to adequately support my new luggage rack. This guy is 6ft and about 240lb. He stepped closer to the bike, lifted the rack out of the way and pressed down on the plastic.......HARD.....with one of his meaty fingers. There wasn't a millimeter of give in the lid. He said, "You say you'll probably be carrying loads of between 20 and 40 pounds back here? I just put 65 pounds of pressure in ONE spot (as opposed to the four I'll be using) and with my finger, which is less than HALF the size of the 1 1/4 inch stainless washers I suggest you use. You won't be breaking anything. Beware of OVER-engineering this thing." So he directed me to the bolt and nut supply guy around the corner who sold me 8 stainless washers (4 inside/4 outside) for 3 bucks! I'll cut circles out of an old inner tube to go under the outer ones.......and voila! Bob's your uncle. Thanks for all the sounding-boards, guys! Later``

I don't know if ANYONE golfed in Niagara Falls on Thursday (wow...was that only YESTERDAY?? Time sure flies when you're semi-retired!!)...I know I didn't. I just sat inside and watched the monsoon go through. Starting to get a weee taste of what many of our South-of-the-border brethren are going through. Not nice.(But thanks for asking......which I guess you HAD to do....seeing as I TOLD you about it twice and all!! :-) Later

Speaking of which.......I was pleasantly surprised while perusing the Community (Members List) to see how many members there are IN and around St. Catharines. Is there any way to sort the list by city?

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with inventory rationalization.....from bikes on the dealer's floor...to cassette decks in the warehouse!

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with inventory rationalization.....from bikes on the dealer's floor...to cassette decks in the warehouse!

As Don (XV1100SE) knows from working at Toyota.....and as I learned while working at Mitsubishi Electric for 10 years, there's almost no accounting for what goes on in the minds and/or hearts of Japanese marketing executives. Mitsubishi was a HUGE player in the color television business, now they're virtually out of it (except for gigantic screens of 73 inches and larger) while a plethora of other brands still seem to be making a good living with screen-sizes ranging from 22 inches all the way up to the 40's and 50's). Japan didn't ask my boss (the GM in Canada), nor, I suspect, did they ask US headquarters in California. They sort of march to a different drummer, Japan-side. As many have suggested, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an exotic, mind-blowing replacement for the Venture hit the streets a year or two from now, with ALL the bells and whistles...and as someone said, the dealers will likely find out about it hours, possibly DAYS before we do. If the market is profitable, YamaJapan won't be ignoring it. In the meantime, I wouldn't count on (fully) retiring by selling my current RSV (even though it's the much-lauded Midnight), but, I agree, there will probably be a 5-10% up-tick in resale prices of our bikes on the second hand market. Also, rest assured, Yamaha hasn't lasted 126 years by making colossal product development errors!

Oh well........there goes THAT excuse for the officer!!

Ten four!

Thanks for the ride, Carl. Good scenery......and good ice cream. Can't say I enjoyed the scarifying on the Niagara Falls-bound section of the QEW QUITE as much.....especially in the dark.......at 120Kliks. I noticed on the way home that you were absolutely right about my speedo when you mentioned on the way to MD that it was off. My GPS confirmed that it was WAAAAAAAYYYY off....like 12KPH. I guess that Avon must be a much smaller diameter than the stock tire. (Or, my speedo is just wacky!) Later, m

Wouldn't it have been easier to climb a ladder to get that "top-down" shot? Kidding!!! But on a serious note, Carl HAS got a guy who can make up some inner/outer reinforcing "straps" for me.......but I'm curious to know if anyone has seen/acquired/bastardized (pardon the language, ladies) any other "stock" piece (from ANY other application) that might be used for this install?? (Maybe the fellow who was handing out the side-stand parking pads has some other nice "off-cuts"!! :-) Not that I'm ungrateful, Carl, just wondering if the gauge of that sample you showed me is gonna be thick enough for the Gen2's expansive trunk lid. As we discussed......it works great on the Gen1, because a) Gen1 has a much shorter space between the rack support posts......and, b) it's FLAT....whereas the Gen2 lid is curved in two planes. (the curvature factor DOES, mind you, suggest that I don't wanna get TOO thick a strap or I won't be able to "bend-to-fit" as well as I would with the thinner stuff.) So, Kevin, I can't recall: did the one(s) you showed me only use "washers"...or was there a "strap" on it/them? Any thoughts about load-carrying capacity of one method vs the other? Anyone?

That vehicle's good for the economy......if nothing else!