Semi-retired

Hey, Jeff. Greetings from Niagara, Canada. I'm just assuming you are in the recovery room right now.......looking for your laptop......and that the old ticker is clicking along as usual. Speedy recovery, bud......and have a great ride next weekend!

Now you're sounding like Bertha did when her #2 plug burned out! LOL

Somewhat ab-normally!

Nothing "to speak of"........apparently! :-)

Wow. You're changing bikes like I change underwear. (Well, maybe not QUITE that often!) I bought my 82 GS1100G Suzuki shafty in 83...sold it 07 when I bought the Venture! Call me cheap.....or loyal.......or.....???

Wow! And that factory bib is so..........so........unattractive!! Fix that up fast, will ya, SilvrT Well......congratulations.....you have a box-stock, 3-year-newer than mine, version of MY bike. I was just trying to figure out the math as to who got what kind of a deal: bought my '03 in '07 with 17K kliks on it.......for $17K (a grand per 1000k!) Not long after that, I felt that I'd over-paid.....but as the years go by, I feel it's been worth every penny. I have a bit of a love/hate thing going with the weight/centre of gravity/whiny thing(s)........but, hey, you learn to live with SOME things because OTHERS are so good. Embrace it.......love it......it'll love you back! Mike P.S. Get a Stebel........and for crying out, don't put LOUD PIPES ON IT! :-) Ooops......just relized this is a 10,000 year old post. How's your bike running? Still own it? LOL

Bummer........works for me now, too!! Go ahead......MAKE a liar outta me!! :-) Damn!.......'er, thanks!

When I click on "Reply with quote"........I don't get the copy of the original message in the text box.......i.e. nothing to QUOTE FROM! What's up with that?

Too many rolling stools here.........time to open the colonoscopy clinic!! Not a pretty picture.......but, thanks, both of you, for the tip about the feet under the wheel. (I'll try putting my shoes on upside down......for better traction!!)

OK.......got my fairing all back together and I'm ready to re-install the front wheel with the new tire on it. Can I get any guidance on how to single handedly re-install the front wheel. Between the wheel, the two disks, the four pads, lowering the bike, rolling the wheel back.........(did I miss anything??).....you need about 4 hands and six eyes and three feet to make it happen. Is there an easy way........like putting the wheel on the axle first.....then installing the calipers and pads AFTER?? Thanks, guys!!

Wow......this didn't go far! Ever get your bearing in? (Hope so, since it was almost two YEARS ago!) :-)

Yeah.......that's what had ME spooked about the process, too. Initially, it doesn't seem to make sense that you should be able to "displace" air with oil......unless you've got a "bleeder" hole or "way out" for the air that's already in there. However, chatting with Marcarl about it, we both concluded (correctly, as it turns out) that while you're pumping in the oil (with a tire pump in my case), yes, you ARE creating pressure while you pump in the oil........but, it DOES go in. So, what you do is, pump the oil IN......(and you can actually get about 250cc, around half of the 553 cc in... at one time.) Then you just wait 15 or 20 seconds while the oil drains down lower inside the fork before you remove the pump hose to allow the air pressure out. I would guess by the phhhhhttttt that came out, that the pressure had probably built up to about 6 or 8 psi while pumping in the oil. So, once the pressure is released, you can reconnect whatever device (pump or syringe) you're using and go through the process once or twice more to get the remainder of the oil in. I performed the whole "pump and release" procedure with the valve stems OUT of the Schrader valves (therefore I didn't have to press on them to release the pressure between "loads".....it just came whooshing out when I unclamped the pump hose) but I imagine it could have been done equally effectively with the valve stems IN. Still have to put my wheel back on this morning.....pump the front end up and down....then add some air, to see how things are working......but, I know ONE thing for sure: that oil is IN THERE.......cause it's not all over my garage floor!! :-)

Good call, Carl.........will do......thanks! (And thanks for all your moral support yesterday.......and same thing to Freebird! Sometimes these 869lb monsters can be intimidating.)

Yes, Jay...as Carl ponders......wondering where you heard that, because I don't think it's correct. I read somewhere that you can just "put an open-end wrench to them".....which I DID (a 19mm) and they did come loose. The problem is, I could hear the springs "below" turning in the fork body (which made me start thinking about them blowing across the room and how hard it would be to push and thread them back in at the same time)....AND the caps were looking as though the fairing might interfere with their removal before being totally unthreaded......so, I stopped. So......I Chose another route. Tightened the cap I'd loosened, then just removed the valve-stems from the Schrader valves......poured the new fork oil into the body of my bicycle pump and "pumped" it into the forks, slowly, giving time for the oil to run down into the shock bodies before removing the pump hose. I think that did the trick. I'll know for sure tomorrow when I put the front wheel back on....lower the bike off the jack....put a few pounds of air into the forks.....then bounce up and down on the front end!!

I've drained the old oil.....purchased the new.....got myself a nice 60cc veterinarian's syringe and a beautiful, made-to-measure plastic tube that fits ON the syringe and IN the hole at the top of the shock where I removed the schrader valves (the ones with the valve stems for pumping in the 4-6lb, whatever air pressure).......but do you think that oil is going in there!!!??? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!! So, that's it. I'm taking charge of the situation and WILL remove the top of the shocks and simply POUR that oil in those suckers.............just as soon as one of you guys tells me how to get the caps off the shocks! Anyone........anyone.......???

I get the impression more guys have replaced their springs than actually just replaced their fork oil? (The reason I say that is, if you search this whole site for "change fork oil".....you get as many (or more) results for installing progressive springs than you do for putting in new oil. Why is that? Anyway, if all you hundreds of guys out there who have "only" replaced the oil are listening......when you got the bolts re-installed in the bottom of your forks and then proceeded to put the new oil in from the top.... 1. did you remove JUST the valve stem....or unbolt the entire brass valve housing from the top of your forks? 2. did you unbolt your handlebars to "get in there"? (Remove anything else....like go whole hog and take the fairing off??) 3. what EXACTLY did you use to pour, squirt, drizzle, coerce or in any other terms "GET" the new oil down that minuscule filler hole?? Thanks for any update! Michael

Thanks, Kev. And your recommendation for oil? Any point dicking with the 5 weight? I still find it hard to believe that folks on this forum figure TRIPLING the viscosity of a fork's oil is OK. Make any sense to anyone else? (I mean, Yamaha KNEW this bike weighed 869 lb when they built it. They built it for the North American market......therefore they KNEW the average rider would weigh 190...that his wife, sitting on the "included" rear seat would weight 150.....that THEIR combing luggage in the STOCK bags would weigh another 50 lb. Why would anyone think the engineers screwed up the fork oil viscosity requirement by a factor of 200%?

Anybody know the exact head size of those Allen bolts? I put the closest one I have up there and it felt just a tad loose. Some people are suggesting you wanna rap them a bit to loosen them up first......so, for SURE I don't wanna use an UNDERSIZED wrench (by half a mil or something) and strip the hole! Thanks for any info.

Just call me "Mike the procrastinator".......but, as it turns out, I am just NOW getting around to being in a position to actually change my front fork oil. The reason for NOW?? A new front tire has just been installed on my front wheel....and the wheel is yet to be re-installed on the bike....so it's kinda now or never (figuratively) for changing the fork oil. Do I ..........or don't I? Pros....(reasons TO do it) 1. The bike is 10 years old 2. It's got 55,000 kiloometers on it 3. "They" say it "should" be done 4. The wheel is off, providing optimal access to the drain plugs Cons......(reasons NOT to do it) 1. Someone stated that YAMAHA says it's not necessary 2. I've not had any "ride" issues such as bouncing, bottoming, plunging, whatever 3. It's a pain in the ass and will cost me a couple of days off the road, $20 in oil and probably a skinned knuckle However, I'm "leaning" toward doing it, so, a coupel of questions: 1. What percentage of people who HAVE done it (themselves) switched oil types rather than going with the stock 5 weight? 2. What household implement was used to feed the new oil into the tops of the forks. (or....in the event that the turkey baster's nozzle is too big.....which I suspect it is).......what can I buy........cheap, like me.....that will do the job? Thanks, guys.

Based on ALL the comments here......I'm gonna say that, based on the (tiny) amount needed and the (corrosive) impact on any potential storage container........the first thing that comes to my mind.......to satisfy BOTH requirements.....is a glass bottle with a glass eyedropper. (I guess a nosedropper and/or and eardropper fall into the same category.) The only possible caution being that the "squeeze-bulb" on most of these "droppers" is rubber....which might NOT be as hearty as the glass part, so try not to suck up more than about half a tube's worth.......and don't invert, if you can possibly help it. Thanks for the tip on the fluid combo......whoever got this thread started!

Here ya go~........and, yes.....it was a LITTLE spooky drilling through the trunk lid.....but it's one of those "measure twice......'er FIVE times, cut once" thingies!! :-)

I'm good, Eck, thanks. Les has one for me.......and he's right up near my inlaws, where I'm heading next weekend. Thanks, Les, I'll call you when the time approaches and make plans to pop up. Michael

Yes.......it's the red one.

Help! Anybody know where I can get a replacement reflector for the rear "crash bar" that's situated in front of the bags on a 2003 gen two? Probably the dealer wants $20.......I was hoping to find it on a Stanley site (since that's the name on the inside of the black "box")...but, no luck. Any help greatly appreciated.

You're right.....THAT'S closer to the required routine! Our bikes are a clear-cut justification for the invention of the automatic tire pressure monitoring system. Anybody here using these caps.....that "might" make it a little less bothersome? http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Pressure-PSI-60-Monitor-Chrome/dp/B0047P6EJU/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1429297568&sr=1-5