camos

This definitely has been the best riding summer for years. When it comes to eye protection when riding in the rain, I don't do anything special. I wear specs so there is some built in protection there. To keep them as clear of rain as possible I lower the face shield about a third of the way. Similar to pulling the peak of a ball cap down to eyebrow level. The eyeglasses will eventually get wet though so when they get particularly glarey (that's an invented word) I find myself looking over top of the lenses through the crack left by the face shield. It can be a bit of a bee-atch at night though with glare on the specs, glare on the face shield and glare on the windscreen. Don't think there is a magic bullet for this.

Perhaps it can be repaired, depending on where it is rusting. One of the forward collector tubes on my 90 VR rusted off and the other one was close. I had a muffler shop replace them for about $45. Seemed expensive to me but still a lot cheaper than buying a 2nd hand one that may not be in the best of shape anyway.

Yamaha finally noticed there were two cylinders missing so they needed some extra time to find them.

I'm guessing it is Kerry, otherwise known as Sailor. SSI likely stands for Saltspring Island, however, I don't recall Kerry wearing glasses.

Seems to me you found a good reason for your bike to have been sitting for 3 weeks waiting to be worked on. What goes around comes around, eh? Better take a two-four over to hopefully get him in a forgiving mood.

Wow, very interesting and really too bad HD didn't get the Nova into production.

Hahahahahaha....Love it Puc. Once HD gets the bugs worked out of the new "Water Cooling" tech perhaps they will discover a way to add another V-Twin alongside to create a totally rad V 4 concept. Ha! looks like I should have kept reading before responding. There seems to be some consensus for my thoughts.

When Yamaha knows they have nothing, they present hype. It's a known and well used work around. Kinda like the Republicans and Health Care.

Probably not very many had multiple carbs but many 4 cylinder Brit sports cars had dual carbs and the Jaguar XKE had 6 cylinders with 6 carbs. Keeping the Jags in sync was a total PITA.

The MkI's did not have the brake bleeder in the head area, or so I have been told.

Great pix. There is a glacier in Jasper that flows into 4 oceans, the Pacific, Arctic, Atlantic and Caribbean. Amazing.

That would catch anyone's eye. Wonder if they can be held to it under threat of false advertising.

Oh well, we all get lazy at some point. I resize all my photos to 640 x 480 which is a very adequate resolution for a website and doesn't unnecessarily overload the storage. Re-sizing isn't the only thing, and arguably more important, is re-orienting images so no one has to get a crick in the neck or stand on their head to view it. It's just a common courtesy.

So why not upload your pix here?

Very interesting comments alright. Even though they are Wing riders they are pretty much matching many if not most of the ones we have had on this topic. Not only that but also matching the disappointment many have felt with the direction Yamaha chose to go.

Good possibility all right. The police in Victoria went over to the Victory after using the Honda ST1300 for 5 or 6 years. Be interesting to see if they will go for the Yamaharley even though they are not necessarily stuck on the idea of a V-Twin. I know there was some issue with the electrics on the Victory but don't know any specifics. They were considered to be a bit too loud and eventually had the mufflers replaced.

You are just learning to cope with the idiosyncrasies of the bike. Why do you think so many Gen 2 owners go to a smaller front tire, add leveling links to the rear or slide the front forks up in the triple clamp? The answer, of course, is to improve low speed handling.

Agreed, but that's too late to affect the initial decision on the showroom floor or even after a typical demo ride, assuming you are able to get one. I stand by my original statement. Not that I know anything specific about it but it did not appear the Gen 1's spent an overly long time on the showroom floor compared to the Gen 2's. I can't think of any other reason for the Goldwing to trounce the Venture in sales.

I have never ridden a Harley, just my 1100 Virago which is pretty light. My Gen 1 handles easier when going slow than the Virago as well. This has nothing to do with being top heavy. The reason is the difference in the rake of the forks which is closer to sport bike or standard than the Virago is. Lifting a Gen 1 off the centre stand is related to the top heaviness. When coming to a stop, if the road is the least bit canted and if you are not well balanced enough to get your foot down a little farther it can be a real ***** to hold the bike up. This does get a little easier to manage as you get more experience. There are a few more similar conditions which are notably related to being top heavy. Unlike on my Gen 1, if I come to a sloppy stop on my Virago it is easy to hold up with no likelihood of it going down. Don't lose track when doing comparisons. If it isn't apples to apples then the argument is immaterial.

I was certain that Yamaha would name their new bike a Journey. Not sure if I'll ever get over the dishonesty of smearing the name of our Ventures by applying it to a V-Twin Yamaharley.

The biggest reason for any generation of Venture to remain on the showroom floor too long is its top heaviness. The Gen 1 lost out to the Goldwing because of its naturally lower centre of gravity and the Gen 2 did nothing to address that issue being even more of a pig in the parking lot. New riders were probably turned off before they ever got onto the highway where the Venture could shine and the extra weight was inconsequential. Yamaha lost its vision of an excellent touring bike by pandering to the cruiser weekender crowd and with their pathetic attempt to tap into the Harley cultural mystique of "Made in America". Nothing of consequence is made in America anymore since everything at best is mostly assembled in America from parts made in Asia. Sadly, if the definition of Venture is doo-dads and a fixed fairing then your conclusion may be correct except for the "best of both generations" comment. Losing the shaft drive and V4 is a huge fail and is the reason this GMO touring bike will never be considered a true Gen 3 Venture by anyone other than the easily manipulated. That said, I'd say your justification for building the new Yamaharley is probably spot on and is good reason for its existence. Even with only a V-twin in it, I love the new bike and would own one if I wasn't getting close to being ancient.

A word of caution, maps are not the same as charts. There is a very important difference, charts display the depth and underwater, as in unseen, hazards not to mention location of navigational aids such as buoys. All very necessary for the long term health of you and your vessel. When I was fishing the west coast of BC, Alaska, Washington and Oregon I used an system called NavTrek which worked very well but required a full sized computer or laptop. A course could be plotted and interfaced with the autopilot to steer you on a round trip pre-planned voyage. That is ancient history in a technological sense. Today there are much smaller and probably more sophisticated units available. Just google navigation plotter for a list of the many options available. Find one that looks about right then get some reviews on the ones that suit you.

I was going to suggest not just any doctor will do and that you should see one who specializes in sports injuries. Seem like the one you have probably knows her stuff. Good luck with the healing process. Have to ask, can we now expect a working fuel injection system for the mighty V4 by Christmas?

That makes sense and led me to wonder if the same symptoms might be caused by trapped air which could also heat up and pressurize the system.

Sure seems like an oil issue but probably the oil he was using was OK. If the clutch problem was there when the bike was purchased, perhaps the oil pan, galleries and clutch plates need to be cleaned better than just draining the old oil out.