Semi-retired

That must be where you got the HAMMER part of your handle. (I'm sure people probably think it's to do with your OTHER profession). Have you ever thought about flipping real estate? There's gotta be more money in IT than in flipping RSV accessories!

Fer shur! I'll be there.....early! Mike

Thanks a lot, guys! As Kevin said when he walked up to me at MD.......I WAS almost the only person there on a Gen2 that DIDN'T have a luggage rack........so I figured there'd be lots of collective wisdom on how to mount this sucker........and I was right!! Thanks a bunch for all your tips. I owe y'all a coffee. Come on up and git it!

Thanks for the string idea, Leo. You're right: working your way around those multi-faceted curves is worse than an ant trying to negotiate the surface of a golf ball. At least golf ball dimples are uniform. There aren't a lot of fixed/square points of reference back there from which to take dimensions. Using a piece of string, I can wrap over under around and through various "obstacles" to determine equi-distance and squareness. (Your DIAGONAL suggestion is also a good one.....just like squaring up a garden plot.) All I have to do now is find a piece of "good" string that isn't gonna stretch on me!

Excellent idea! (I already experienced the "booooiiiinnnngggg" factor while trying to use a retractable metal tape yesterday!) I'll raid Jackie's sewing box.

As Miles says.........don't toss it! Plug it......and ride it. (But if you won't....there's hundreds who WILL! Hello, Ebay?) Glad all's well that ends well. Cheers, Michael

The ways and means of getting screwed ON, WITH and BY PayPal are both legend and lengthy. I'd say you've been LUCKY, so far. All you have to do is Google-search "can I get screwed using PayPal" to return a litany of anecdotal evidence suggesting/proving the answer is definitely "YES". My daughter was selling "all the furnishings" from her one-bedroom apartment and got an "offer" from an out-of-country buyer saying they would send (via PayPal) the advertised cost, PLUS an overpayment of $800 which my daughter was supposed to pay the carrier in cash when they arrived at her door to pick up. The whole thing stunk so I told her to use the common sense defense: Tell your buyer to give his trucker ALL the money.......in CASH......and to hand it to you when they come to pick up the furniture. Even THEN, check it for counterfeit!!! Needless to say, that email conversation came to a screeching halt. ANYone who agrees to buy ANYthing sight un-seen......HAS to be suspect. Bottom line!!

Stainless? Sounds pricey. Being half Irish/half Scottish...see elsewhere in this thread...I wouldn't wanna end up spending more on the brackets than I did on the rack. Should I phone to confirm all details, Carl? Can't imagine anyone wants to hear my sordid haggling and/or be exposed to any mechanical ineptitude. (Do SO MANY of you guys HAVE to be retired engineers?!?!) Thanks for the offer, Carl. Lemme know what you/I need.

You'd think an Irish Scottsman (like a guy named Michael Scott) would be more mindful when meeting a fellow member of the clan. My apologies. Here's my story (excuse), and I'm sticking to it: MY FIRST MD........TOO MANY NEW FACES.....TOO MANY NEW NAMES.....TOO MANY PRETTY MOTORCYCLES!! Thanks, again, for the rack, buddy. Looking forward to having a good place to strap down all those "oversized" items. (Jackie's extra suitcase, most likely!)

Thank goodness it's a fine thread! Caught mine with about three threads left to go before the bolt fell completely out. (all this on my way home from Maintenance Day! What's that? Ride 'em in......push 'em out? Well.......almost.) Go Loctite!!

Yes, buddy Lewis.........I did have the surgery. Like your friend Steve says: ice, more ice..........then some MORE ice. Just keep icing and put your leg in whatever position feels good; up, down, walking, still. Be gentle with it......give it TIME and ICE. (am I sounding boring yet?? :-) Good luck, pal. Mike

OK......I got my "new" luggage rack home from MD without incident (i.e. it actually fits INSIDE the trunk it is designed to augment........sort of ironic/Confuscian, doncha think????) Anyway, not to wax philosophical........I've got the rack sitting in "dry-mount"/"test-mount"/"position-only" on my trunk lid (see attached pics).......but can't for the life of me figure out how I would know if it's in EXACTLY the "right" spot on the deck. Is there a mounting template that normally comes with these things when you buy them through "official channels"? (I picked mine up from the tall guy in the orange hat......and, damn my short memory.....what's his name again?? http://www.venturerider.org/forum/at...3&d=1370879583 We discussed all the intricacies of picking the right bolts, washers and grommets......but never really talked about how to pick an exact position/location. My thoughts, for what they're worth, are: - keep the front 'legs' about an inch back from the backrest so the vinyl ('er, fine Corinthian leather) can still be accessed for cleaning. (Armorall) - Make sure (for aesthetics, if nothing else) the back end doesn't extend beyond a vertical line up from the trailing edge of the trunk lid itself. - use the lid lock to find centre at the back end.....which is fine.....but the Midnight grommets on the upholstery don't seem to be centered on the backrest, so that method doesn't work for the front end! Should I just be getting a tape measure out and getting every edge TWO INCHES FROM "SOMETHING"?? Just curious if there was a "right" way. Thanks, anybody!

P.S. I think THIS is the one you want, John: http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0387800P/seafoam-seafoam-motor-treatment-reviews/reviews.htm Just follow the directions on the bottle!

Hi, Peter......welcome to the marque! Too bad you didn't come down to Oberlin with us this weekend; the gang at Maintenance Day would have sorted out all your mis-fire/back-fire/pop-gun/whatever problems. By coincidence.....I have a 2003 Midnight that was doing the same thing as yours....popping and farting and generally carrying on. I employed the holistic approach. And by that I mean I did EVERYTHING everybody suggested......but I did them in a certain order. And that order is......... 1. Do the things you can do yourself....easily 2. Do the things you can do yourself....cheaply 3. Do the things a friend can help you with....that are inexpensive 4. Do the things you need help with that are MORE expensive 5. Do the things that you need a dealer to do for you. Now, not that I'm trying to do your poor local Yamaha dealer out of his service department profits.....but, we all gotta save a buck these days, right. So, by all means do the Seafoam thing first. It's easy, relatively inexpensive and you won't need help; just read the can. Next, your bike's probably never had its plugs replaced....or maybe only at 50 or 75K kliks. I'd do plugs and air filter elements (unless you have the maintenance records and know they were done in the last two years.) Then, and only then, I'd start looking around for a buddy who's got a carb-synching kit. (I don't.....but I bet Carl does!....doncha, Carl?) Or, just wait for another maintenance day to come along. A little bit of popping on deceleration isn't a lot to worry about in the meantime.......unless you're scaring small children and being threatened by old ladies! If you want to compare bikes sometime.....let me know when you wanna go for a toot down Niagara Falls way. I'm in Port Dalhousie (part of St. Catharines) and would be happy to let you trade bikes with me for half an hour to get a feeling for how yours compares. (I'd be interested, too, just to compare our setups since I probably have different tires and a different rear shock than yours.) Call any time! I'm in the directory. (Ventureriders.......not Bell) Once again.......enjoy your new bike.....and don't sweat the petty thing, as they say! Mike

If you're talking about the seat.......it definitely looks better without. Now, this part, you probably REALLY don't wanna hear: I think what the bike needs is a bigger pair of bags. (Part of the reason it looks a little "naked" is that there isn't quite enough "bulk" back there.) Either a nice set of soft/hard Road King-style bags...or off a Softail (http://ontario.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-motorcycles-motorcycle-parts-accessories-HARLEY-DAVIDSON-SADDLE-BAGS-W0QQAdIdZ479696460)....or some larger, buckskin style (scroll down on page http://www.saddlebags.net/roadking.html) Not suggesting you have to spend a grand on bags....but they really DO make a bagger what it is! Good luck with your project. Mike

Hope my quart of Pennzoil did/does SUMPIN for that old pig!! Good luck on the rest of your journey guys.......and thanks again Brad for the wiring job! (Although Jackie said she didn't even notice my "new" spoiler light on the way home. Too used to looking at my LED brake light, she said. Oh well.......as long as she......and everyone else is seeing SOMETHING RED back there!) Be well, kiddo. It was good to see you again. Mike

After Googling around a bit, Commonwealth Motorcycles and Station Park Honda are the two bike dealers located closest to you. Unfortunately, neither of them is open tomorrow. The local Harley dealer IS, however.....and they're the next closest, too. Maybe you wanna give them a call in the AM. Harley-Davidson® Louisville 1700 Arthur Street Louisville, KY 40208 Phone: 502.634.1340 Good luck, buddy! Mike

Sounds like fun........count us in!

Well, G (is that short for George......or Gary......maybe Geronimo?).....I can't recall exactly what I spent on my excellent Hagon shock......and I'm pretty sure the price I paid started with a 3......maybe a 4, at worst. Certainly didn't start with a SEVEN! You're looking at the wrong product, in my humble opinion. (See my post from 07-26-2011, 02:53 PM, for additional comments and pictures.) This whole subject of rear shock replacement on the Venture (to ME at least) continues to speak to the abomination that is Yamaha's treatment of the entire situation. Yamaha Engineering......give yourself a huge spanking......and just send money! (Or free replacement shocks........as long as they're not "factory" ones!)

You may very well have just JINXED yourself! This "might" be the year you replace your stock shock; hang on to this thread.

Good for you, David. I was an advertising manager for Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics in Canada for about 10 years and, during that time, I discovered that Japanese manufacturers are good..........but not perfect. Between the "conceptual" guys (designers and engineers), the supply line (parts sourcers and vendors) and the factory, some things CAN and occasionally DO fall through the cracks. The rear shock on the Venture is obviously one of these items. Yamaha should have done the honorable thing YEARS ago and defined an "age X mileage" formula for free replacement of any failed rear shock on the Venture. You know, something FAIR, like 5 years or 50,000 miles.....whichever comes LAST. But instead, they've let this situation fester for a decade!! In my mind, they've put a huge stain on the marque by making owners bear the cost of this failure in such dramatic numbers and NOT having a generous, standard replacement policy in place. It doesn't take much time on this site or conversation with many Venture riders to discover that the failure of the Venture rear mono-shock....in many cases repeated failure.....is of "epidemic" proportions and should have been addressed in Japan YEARS ago. Shame on you, Yamaha. Michael Scott

Hi, Kevin. Not sure what "question" you are answering.....but if it's "How do I get my gen 2 stuck saddle bag lid open".....there are no bolts which can be accessed without FIRST opening the lid. (catch 22......or, LATCH 22 in this case :-) Either way.....all is well now. Got it opened......straightened out the little metal doo-hickey that we had bent by trying so hard to force down on the locking button.....and everything works like a charm. No more over-packing the bags.......and double checking for fabric/plastic/whatever being stuck in the latches when closing. (Thanks again for all comments/suggestions)

Thanks for the links to the other miserable souls who've lived through this pain in the ass, Kevin; misery loves company. I'm gonna blame Yamaha for this one (AND everybody else's); there's obviously a design issue with bag contents getting "fouled" in the latch mechanisms (that's what it was in MY case, and what it sounds like with most other "victims") Come on, Japan......get with it! You guys are supposed to be design geniuses. Not seeing it here! By the way, Paul, that's exactly what I ended up doing: sneaked a blade in at the back end of the lid.........cut a slit in the birdseed bag....shoved in a piece of 1/2" neoprene tubing.....hooked the central vac up to it.....sucked out about 6 pounds of bird seed at which point I could jiggle the bag around enough to free it from the front latch. BOINK!......open she popped. THANK GOD!!! (Now we can head to the beach tomorrow with wifey's wardrobe stowed CAREFULLY in the bags!)

Didn't, yet. Went to the CNE and stayed overnight in Toronto yesterday. Will have to tackle it Saturday morning and see what we can do. (I'm tempted to pierce the bag of bird seed by prying up the back end of the bag lid.......then inserting a piece of gasline that I'll maybe tape into my central vac hose or something. Thinking maybe if I can reduce the volume of the load a little I can take the pressure off the latches and spring it loose.) I'll let you know! Thanks for asking. Later, Mike.

I say again: "...I jammed something just a little too big into my right hand saddle bag and it's buggered the alignment on the latches so that I can't get it open. Anybody got a fool-proof way of wiggling or jiggling or removing a phantom bolt somewhere that will allow me to get this thing open before I go insane?" The lid is JAMMED CLOSED AND CANNOT BE OPENED.