Jump to content

allwx

Expired Membership
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    287

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by allwx

  1. allwx
    If it is the screw I think it is, mine came broken. First time I tried to remove the left lower (to service air filters) I found the ABS tab on the lower broken. I superglued it and it has held well since then. I thought about making a warranty claim, but I figured there'd be the suspicion that I broke it myself, and maybe I did. Since then, I've tightened this one and the other side very gently.
  2. allwx
    I like to cross check a new tire guage with another one on the same tire at the same moment, becuase I have found one or two along the way that gave spurious readings. Whether mechanical or digital, any of them can be wrong. I've got a Sears digital I've had for years, already changed batteries in it twice. It works great, gives consistent readings, lighted display. I've also got a Harley brand guage/pump that I use for my forks and shock. It is a lovely thing. Cost around $50. If the Harley tire guage is anything like my suspension guage/pump, then it is something to have.
  3. allwx
    This is one of those things that will probably always be a mystery. The corporations don't generally talk all that much about what they do and how they do it. The Dunlop tech, remember I mentioned he was "crabby" with me. I'm sure it was because I was blaming Dunlop for making a 5k tire for a 60 hp bike. He was a bit on the defensive, I guess. His position was, don't blame Dunlop. The company makes tires to specification. I can pretty clearly remember him saying in so many words, Yamaha tells us how to make the tires and we make them that way. If you want to blame anyone for lousy mileage blame Yamaha. And sure enough, D404s that I've used subsequent to 1997/98 have lasted a lot longer. My Venture came with D404's on it and those lasted 9k, could've lasted probably 11k but for a nail in the rear tire. This on a much heavier bike than my 97 RSTD and with substantially more power from the motor. My understanding is that the two most significant factors leading to tire wear are bike weight and horsepower. I got less than half the mileage out of the same model tire on a lighter, weaker-powered bike. Same rider, same riding style, same climate, half the mileage. What else could it be? Further, I've heard this complaint from many people. Many, if not most, people who bought early Royals got about 5k out of the oem rear D404s. by any standard that is atrocious mileage for a low power bike like the Royal. That kind of mileage is more like what someone gets out of a Hayabusa or other sportbike.
  4. allwx
    I've changed handlebars on a couple of other bikes I've owned, and went back to the original bars after a few months. The most recent case was my 03 VTX1800C. I put on the longer bars that came on the VTX Retro. I wanted more reach so's I could lean back against the backrest on my Corbin Dual Tour. The stock bars were too short. And, to keep this in perspective, these longer bars were in no way close to what one might call apehangers. They were just longer-wider than stock C. Apes would have been an entirely different bucket of worms. It is never a simple thing to do, especially on a bike like the Venture. Depending on how high you want to go, you'll have to change out several other things besides the bars. Things like throttle cables, hydraulic lines for front brakes and clutch. Wiring for switchgear. Etc. It is a large project and will cost a lot more and involve a lot more work than many people realize before undertaking the project. I didn't like the longer bars. They transmitted noticeably more vibration to my hands. They gave the bike a sort of floppy feel. They looked weird on the C. After using them for about a year, I put the original stuff back on and was immediately happier. As far as apes go, I've heard many people praise them, but they seem dumb to me. They must surely impede countersteering. That's how we steer a motorcycle; wouldn't want to make that harder to do. The Venture is beast enough to steer esp at slow speeds. How much harder that would be to do with apes? I don't know, and wouldn't spend the hundreds of $ to find out.
  5. allwx
    Product liability. They fear lawsuits when people crash. By putting these limits in the manual, they can say the rider exceeded the instructions given. Same thing most likely applies to turning off the petcock after every ride. That is old school no-fuel-pump doings. The likelyhood of a leak past the fuel pump is very small, but they keep that instruction in the manual just in case somebody's garage burns down and they blame Yam.
  6. allwx
    Well, they're covering it for you, and that's the idea. I've had my times of being p/o'd at just about every manufacturer, and my fuse is short, so yes I've had many moments of shall we say, frustration! But I have found Yam to be as good as they get when it comes to making things right. Nobody is always happy about how things turn out. Maybe they get methodical because it isn't so much the cost of the part they're being asked to replace, as it is about not admitting that there is an endemic problem with the part. To admit the latter might be to open themselves up to an expensive recall. Got my fingers crosssed with my shock. 22k miles and it holds air and doesn't leak. This thread got me planning for a new one, though.
  7. allwx
    The claim that synth oils "run hotter" sounds like bs to me. There are a lot of seat-of-the-pants claims flying around that are not demonstrable by the science. Oil issues really get the dander up! Everybody has their pet ideas about motor oils. Browze around the shelves for motor oils and see the fancy bottles they come in, you know there's more at work with manly-men and their motor oils than just simple lubrication. If 20W50 means the same viscosity in UK that it means in the US, then it probably is not the best thing to run in a Venture motor. The 20W50 weights are more for air-cooled big twins like the Harleys and the Roadstars, and then only in the hot weather. The US Venture owner's manual calls for the use of Yamalube oils which are weighted oddly compared to what we find on the shelves at the stores. Those Yamalubes are weighted at 10W30 and 20W40. I don't know of any oil maker that markets those weights in the US. More common for motorcycles are 10W40 and 20W50. If you look at the bottle of Mobil 1 20W50 it sez on there, for V-Twins, which means HDs and the like. These are air-cooled motors that in hot weather can run hotter in places than a similarly laid-out liquid cooled motor. Plus, Yam recommends these weights in ALL their bikes, from little air-cooled twins to inline-4s running 14krpm redlines, to Roadstars, to Ventures. The motors vary enormously, but they want us to run the same odd-weighted oils in all of them. This tells me that it really doesn't matter all that much. In any case, the Venture is a liquid-cooled short-stroke overhead cam V-4. Yamaha does not recommend the use of a 20W50 oil in the Venture, at least not in the US. It probably would be OK to use the 20W50 in the hot summer, but if you also ride in winter, it probably is not a good idea to do cold starts at 25f with a 20W50 oil in there. Although, a synth 20W50 should flow better at cold temps than a 20W50 conventional oil, just 'cause the synths tend to flow better in the cold.
  8. allwx
    OK, here's the story: Back in 97 I bought a brand new RSTD in Austin TX. The bike came with Dunlop D404s, which I believe were a new model of tire at that time. I was shocked, SHOCKED I say, to see the tread on that rear tire melt away to nearly bald at 5k miles. It so irritated me that I complained about it to Dunlop. There was a factory tech who traveled around the country doing demos and whatnot at events, can't remember his name now, but I also read some stuff he wrote for a magazine or two. So, he was a bigwig in the Dunlop company. After my complaint about the short life of the stock D404s on the RSTD, he actually called me one day and we chatted about it. He was a little cranky with me, but informative. I asked, how is it that a tire on a bike that makes only 60hp and maybe 75 lbs of max torque could kill a Dunlop tire in 5k miles? I was doing no burnouts or other hard riding, since they were break-in miles. My experience with Dunlop up to that time was the K177 on Goldwings. I was accustomed to getting 15k miles out of those tires, and could see no reason why a bike that made less power would kill a Dunlop tire in 1/3 the miles. Anyways, the Dunlop tech guy told me what I related to you earlier. The motorcycle manufacturer buys tires in mass quantities to install on their new bikes, but they don't buy them from the mass market. They specify a particular rubber compound, often a softer compound than is put into THE SAME IDENTICAL MODEL TIRE SOLD IN THE AFTERMARKET. He said the reason most likely is that the motorcycle manufacturers fear liability problems if people take a new bike out and crash it. They put a softer rubber on the bike to lessen chances of a dumb move by an inexperienced rider causing injury that could possibly be pinned to the manufacturer. Makes sense. Product liability drives an awful lot of what we riders find irritating. The important point in what he told me is that the tires the bike manufacturer puts on the new bikes in Japan are not necessarily the same rubber you will get when you buy that same model tire from an aftermarket dealer.
  9. allwx
    I can tell you that Yam WILL respond if you maintain the pressure. You want to remain calm and respectful at all times! I had dealings with Yam over a noisey Roadie engine. This engine tossed a pushrod the second time I started it, and had the worst knock I've ever heard on a Roadie. Most of them knock pretty bad. Here's how I would work the problem, based on my own experience: First, let the dealer shop analyze the problem. Keep all your paperwork. Ask to have the bike looked at by the traveling tech rep. The dealer shop should make these arrangements, but if they won't do it, call Yam HQ and they will make the arrangements. After the tech rep looks at the bike he will make his own report, and Yam HQ will receive a copy of it. If still no help at the local level, then make a nice, polite phone call to Yam HQ. They have agents there who field these calls. They will contact the dealer shop for more info. They may resolve the issue quickly, or deny it. In either case they will issue a written report and should send you a copy of it. I'll bet Yam HQ will resolve in your favor if you allow them time to properly evaluate the situation via the tech rep. If you still don't get your way, you have the choice of pursuing the issue through the courts, or just eating the cost of a new shock. Considering the low cost of these things, it probably doesn't make sense to hire a lawyer, though you could make some waves by filing a complaint with your state attorney general. I have seen Yam replace entire engines (one in a RSTD and one in a Roadie) just because they made certain noises the owners didn't care for. So, I know Yam will bend over backwards to make you happy. But you will probably have to do a song and dance, and it might take several weeks. They have their policies and methods they will follow, to protect their business from unscrupulous claims. Yours seems like a perfectly reasonable claim. Knowing the Company as I do, I feel like they will do the right thing once they've had the time to make a good assessment.
  10. allwx
    OEM tires on new bikes usually do not last as long as people think they should. This may be because the manufacturers make these tires, which are intended for installation on factory-new bikes, to the bike maker's specs. These may call for softer rubber, for safety purposes. That sacrifices longevity for traction. As for the ME880s, I personally have used at LEAST more than a dozen sets on various bikes, including two sets on a VTX1800C. I've never had the least bit of problem with any ME880. They work fine, last long, and don't cost too much. I'm not easy on tires, either. I pound them pretty good. Currently I am just about at the end of a set of Elite 3s on my Venture. They've got 13k miles on them, and look like they'll go another thou or so. They work fine, but are very noisey compared to the D404s the bike came with from the factory. The Elites howl all the time, and have done so since they were new. I have never heard noise from any ME880 except as they get near the end of life, they will start to howl a little in the corners. The orignial D404s on the Venture lasted about 9k miles, and could have gone a bit further but for a nail. The D404s are very quiet running, but they are a softer tire than the Elite 3. I could tell the difference between them and the Elites just hefting the tire. The Elites have a very firm sidewall while the D404 is less so. I will replace the Elites with a set of D404s. The howl really gets on my nerves. I'd go with ME880s but I've got a D404 rear sitting here needing to get used, so I will use it.
  11. allwx
    Just for a point of reference: Yesterday I got new brake pads put on my F150 SuperCrew (I love that truck!). When they replace the pads, it is customary to machine or "turn" the rotors to get rid of the little ripply imperfections in the surface that develop over time and wear. These imperfections I can clearly feel in the brake pedal of my truck, and even in the steering wheel, whenever I apply the brakes. it gets worse and worse, until the rotors are either turned, or replaced. It is a gentle pulsing, or vibration, as many would describe it. This also happens on motorcycle rotors. Unfortunately, motorcycle rotors don't generally submit to machining. I've been told that this is because they start out life too thin. Sure enough, compariing a truck or car rotor to a motorcycle rotor shows the motorcycle rotor to be much thinner. On pretty much every motorcycle I've ever owned, including my old RSTD, I started noticing pulsing in the front brakes around 40k miles or so. Replacing the rotors fixed the problem. It is possible those rotors got tweaked a bit during one of my ham-fisted tire change sessions, but I doubt it, since I religiously remove the rotors whenever I start to change a tire. With 35k miles on the rotors, I would suggest that the pulsing "may" be nothing more than normal wear and tear, and will disappear when the rotors are replaced. If the rotors are warped (for whatever reason) then, likewise, the pulsing will disappear when the rotors are replaced. Either way, the fix is the same, because these rotors can't be repaired or machined. If they pulse, they're still good. They still stop the vehicle and will work fine for a long time.
  12. allwx
    You'll notice the heat more on a bike like the Venture because of the faring. On top of that, it is a tall faring as farings go. Most people have to look thru the windscreen rather than over it. That means in slower traffic, and a hot motor under you, there is a large body of dead, hot air in the cockpit, and you will swelter in it. Any quality oil will work fine. Best to use a motorcycle-specific oil, like Yamalube or Mobil 1. There are some quality non-synthetics available, too. Because oil formulations have changed for car engines, car oils are no longer suitable for motorcycle engines that have unit transmissions, like the Venture. Biggest risk is clutch slippage.
  13. allwx
    I've never heard of this problem. What the heck are the knee blockers?
  14. allwx
    You'll always have a trace of oil in there no matter how low you run your oil level between the two lines on the sight glass. The crankcase vents into the airbox. The air carries a very small amount of oil mist in it, and some of the oil collects in there while some of it is inhaled by the motor and burned. I think the oil there is a good thing, because it helps to trap dust particles that make it past the filters, and enter through other tiny openings in the long airway from the front of the bike to the carbs. Some of it will leak out of the left side of the airbox while the bike is parked on its sidestand. No big deal.
  15. allwx
    Seems like the Roadie is pretty similar to the Venture mileage-wise. I had an 05 Roadie, put about 40k on it before selling it to a friend, so I still see the bike frequently. I used to get an average of 40 mpg on that bike. If I had a tailwind on the highway it might get above 45, but not much. I got sub-30 mpg on it once pushing a severe headwind across I40. I've got a hunch the Roadie is a hair better than the Venture at interstate speeds. It is lighter, and mine had no windshield.
  16. allwx
    Does it use any oil? Reason I ask is, back on my 97 RSTD the motor started using oil at around 18k miles. It caught me totally by surprise. The pattern was, change the oil, no consumption apparent until the oil had about 2k miles on it. Then, between 2k and the 3k oil change interval it would use about a half quart. Probably related to viscosity breakdown, but it was a change from what had been the pattern for the first 18k miles. Other than that, the engine ran fine. Then, at 26k I did my first valve adjustment. One of the intakes had no measureable clearance at all. My smallest feeler is .0015 and it wouldn't go into the gap. I just about had a cow! That is the reason I no longer wait until the interval on the first adjustment. It is possible that intake was slightly damaged. Fuel mileage on that motor was never acceptable. I could barely break 32 mpg riding at a gentle 60 mph with no headwind. I probably should have gone to the dealer with it under warranty, but I never did. AFAIK the bike is still alive. Must have well over 100k on it by now. It had over 70k when I sold it. The high mileage makes me doubt the valve damage. Seems like if there was a chunk out of a valve it would have gotten larger over time, but this motor never changed after that 18k point. It was extremely smooth and reliable. Just got crappy mileage and had to have a few oz of oil added between changes. I never did a compression test on it.
  17. allwx
    No it isn't bad at all! I find I get my worst mileage when I'm riding with ear buds hooked up to my blackberry playing music. I can barely hear the motor or road noise at all, and tend to ratchet up the rpms, nearer unto thee, o lord.
  18. allwx
    I'm not clear on why making a (presumably small) valve clearance adjustment would make any difference at all on a leak down test. A change of only 3% is probably within a tolerance of variation. Whether 86% or 83%, that's a lot of leakage compared to the other three cyls with their sub-20% readings. Seems like one cylinder dragging ass like that could definitely make for bad mileage. If it was me, I'd just cut to the chase and pull the offending head off and have a look at the valves. If it's the cylinder instead of a valve, the head would still have to come off to fix that. You can't live with a near-dead cylinder, it'd drive me nuts! I'll bet the bike shakes more than normal, too.
  19. allwx
    I live at higher elevation, just over 5000 feet. the carbs on my 07 have been tweaked to lean out the mixture, by means of pilot screws and float levels. The bike today has just under 22k miles on it. I've kept careful track of mileage since the bike was new, however about six months ago I stopped keeping track. Just got tired of it, I guess. Anyways, here's what I've observed. If I ride the way most people drive their cars, that is, no hard acceleration, riding right around the speed limits, I will get consistently better than 40 mpg on regular gas. Sometimes it will hit 41 or 42, but usually hovers right around 40. I've tried burning a couple of tanks in a row riding VERY gently in city/suburban traffic, and gotten into the mid-40s. But it is extremely difficult to ride like this, and probably unsafe as well. Out on the open roads if I ride at an easy 60 or so, I will hit 40 as long as there's no tailwind and I'm not carrying a big load. BTW I weigh 200 lbs and seldom carry a pax. If I get on the interstate and ride the usual 80 to 90 mph everybody else is going, mileage falls precipitously. It will drop into the low 30s right away, and I've even seen it in the high 20s riding fast into a headwind. I kind of think this is typical for most vehicles. that's why they dropped the speed limits down to 55 back in the early 70s. Drive 55 with no juicing around and we get very good mileage. Once you hit 70, there's a big fuel penalty.
  20. allwx
    Hopefully you won't have to pull the heads off. but if a valve repair job ends up being necessary, to save money you could pull the heads yourself and carry them in to the shop for him to do the work. Specialized tools and know-how are required to do a proper valve repair/valve job. but pulling the heads is not such a big deal, IMHO. An awful lot of the expense of this would be the pulling and reinstalling of the heads. I wouldn't be surprised if it would save you 50% or more of the cost. As for what you are saying about fuel efficiency... 200 or so km per tank. Is that on a 6 gallon expenditure? If you fuel up with 2 gal left in the tank, then that distance isn't bad at all. But if you fuel up with fumes left in the tank, then it is pretty poor unless you're riding 100 mph all the time.
  21. allwx
    I think Yam makes three heights of windshield for the Venture, and that the one that comes stock is the middle height. As I recall, there is a 2" difference between each.
  22. allwx
    I'm not so sure it has to do with an actual "bent" axle. It is more to do with the usual tolerances of manufacturing. If they had to make these things to Space Shuttle tolerances they'd cost more than we could pay. I agree that Yam spends too little on setting these bikes up at the factory. It took me a good month to get my 07 Venture set up right. I knew it wouldn't do me any good to ask the dealer shop to do it for me. Not that they aren't good folks, but they really don't have the time or knowledge to do this sort of detail work on a bike they only sell two or three of a year.
  23. allwx
    Personally, I wait until I know what shims I'll need before ordering. That way, I can order the whole sheebang at once. I did my last valve adj in June. I had changed out my coolant in March, so it was fresh. I went ahead and drained it all out, like the book sez, though you don't need to drain it all. Coolant is still fairly cheap, and replacing it in this motor is simple, so I just look at it as part of a good flush. Won't need to be done again for a couple of years.
  24. allwx
    Could just be a matter of wear and tear. 35k is a little early for a rear rotor to get bad, but it is possible. Not that it is "bad" but they don't seem to wear exactly evenly. Over time they start to send pulses back to the lever as the pads trace the un-evenness. Most of us wear out the rear rotors much faster than the fronts. It is also possible your rotor has been warped. You'd need some special tools to detect it, though. And there's no fix, AFAIK. A new rear rotor probably costs around $200 oem. Might be cheaper in the long run to just R&R it with a new one than to spend $ trying to find out why it isn't in perfect shape.
  25. allwx
    I've heard about it. Back in 97 I bought a 97 RSTD that came out of the box with a howling final drive. The dealer called Yam and got on the list for the tech rep. He arrived a couple weeks later with a new final drive for me. The tech rep spent about 2 hours with me. He replaced the final while I stood right next to him in the dealer shop. When he got to the part where the wheel is installed into the final, he made a point to tell me about "indexing the final drive." He showed me a tech bulletin from Yam that details the procedure. All dealers should be aware of this, and be able to show you the bulletin. Right now I can't recall all the details of the procedure, so I'd recommend you locate this bulletin, or speak to someone who is familiar with the details of it. As stated above, it involves rotating the axle such that the wheel spins most freely. Once the spot on the axle is located, mark the axle and the final so that in future you can get it back there quickly. This is probably a result of manufacturing tolerances. When I got my 07 Venture, the rear end was quite noisy. While riding, the noise couldn't be heard, but when pushing it with motor off, especially backing up, I got crunching and grinding noises from the rear end. I was able to eliminate these crunching noises by finessing the axle in this way. Once located, I marked the position, and have always returned the axle to this position after wheel removal, and have had a nice, quiet running rear end ever since. Unfortunately, Yam doesn't spend much time setting these bikes up at the factory.
×
×
  • Create New...