camos

Keep us up to date on your itinerary, particularly your next couple of stops so you can meet up with the members in that area.

Longevity is probably not so important to Yamaha but real Ventures last for 30 years and the majority of current owners are not the original purchaser.

The Mk I and Mk II forks are the same except for brakes and anti-dive units so Progressive springs will transfer just fine. There isn't much of an upgrade advantage from Mk I to Mk II bikes. It's worthwhile though to upgrade to the Mk II forks which have different and better brakes and can take an upgrade to R1/R6 calipers.

Yah, right do that. After changing all the fluids, check the tires for age and wear, tires can be purchased almost everywhere but can be expensive so if they are the least bit dicey put some new ones on. Carry with you a set of HH pads, with some DOT3 or 4 fluid and a bleeder hose, two cans of Seafoam which does wonders to clean up carbs that have not been used very often. The rest of the advice is all good but why spend time at the beginning of the trip fixing every possible thing that might go wrong rather than spending the time later if it becomes necessary. One last bit of very important "maintenance"/survival advice is to get a phone list of all VR.org members living in the areas you plan to visit. Best of luck on your journey.

I know making your own stuff is more important than the stuff itself but have you looked at the FI on the 2017 V-Max? It might offer cheaper options for some parts. Edit: OK, so maybe not. Just had a look on the parts fiche, just under $1800 for the throttle body assembly and not sure what that includes. Oh well, it was a thought.

Perhaps they don't have many problems because of the approach they have taken. You are right, they are quite different and might not be a really good comparison. The fact that the Swiss don't go to war with anyone is probably a big factor in their success. Still, I think there are certain similarities that make the comparison relevant.

I'm sure that was part of the reason but there is more. Historically during times of war citizens were conscripted and armed then afterwards they were disarmed. There was a great fear among the ruling classes, primarily the royalty, of armed insurrection from the populace in general. In those times there was no equality or human rights, most ordinary people were indentured servants, pretty much slaves. For that reason, more so the USA than Canada, the opening up of America was one of the most important events in the history of the world. The Founding Fathers crafted a brilliant constitution that would ensure the USA did not follow the traditional course of politics in Europe. This situation is one of the most important reasons for keeping the 2nd Amendment alive and well, at least in my opinion. Despite the intent of the constitution the 1% in the USA who own 90% of the wealth have become the de facto "royalty" of our time. They are the primary beneficiaries of the current system which leaves the vast majority of the citizens with far less than they deserve. All the violence, drug addiction and general dissatisfaction can be blamed on the poverty and the lack of security that is caused by income inequality. Unfortunately the solution does get into the realm of politics so cannot be discussed here. It is interesting, at least to me, the Swiss have a similar-ish gun culture to that of the USA which is quite uniquely different than in the rest of Europe. They have somewhere around 25 guns per 100 citizens while in the US the ratio is close to 100%. They also have military conscription, the Draft, which ensures that most citizens are trained in the use of firearms and while enrolled in the military they are required to keep their weapons at home. I'm not sure if this is continued after their tour of duty but they are avid hunters. There are also quite strong rules for gun control that do not result in the total disarming of the citizens. The point of this little bit of information is that gun control can be sensibly applied and should not be feared as a loss of constitutional rights.

That's pretty open ended but to begin with: Any leaks in the hoses that connect at the forks? Leaks around the collars where those hoses connect? Leaks at the fork seals? Then there is: Does the compressor turn on? Does the rear air up?

You might take a look at the Slipstreamer windshield available at fortnine.ca. I have one on my 90 VR and it has worked well.

That is exactly the point I was trying to make. Gun control itself should not be considered political however and, most unfortunately, it appears that "Gun Control" has become politically partisan for some reason. There has to be some sensible approach that can be taken by citizens with common sense that will help mitigate and reduce access to firearms for the obviously irresponsible or otherwise unsuitable citizens across the country. Here in Canada we have our own problems with the control of firearms. For decades we had a fairly unobtrusive system that vetted the ownership of firearms quite well but was not adequately connected between Provinces and the various law enforcement agencies. Then someone, probably a politician, came up with the really dumb idea of a long gun registry that was too intrusive, too expensive and no more useful than the system it was replacing. Thankfully we got rid of it. It never was my intention to tell anyone how to run their country, just pointing out that the status quo was untenable and the situation was obviously getting worse. I offered no solution to the dilemma other than that some thought be given to coming up with a viable alternative. I don't think there should be an issue with reasonable citizens having access to firearms if they know how to use them and know how to store them safely. Something obviously needs to be done about "unreasonable" citizen access though. Food for thought.

The founding fathers had a purpose at the time to enshrine an armed population in the constitution. There was no money to sustain a standing army and it was necessary to call up militias to defend the country. It seems to me that the current situation in the USA is appalling and is only likely to get worse if nothing is done and the status quo is maintained. I hope you all realize there are more Americans killed per year, around 13,000, than were killed per year during the Vietnam war, about 58,000 over approximately 20 years. Braying about defending constitutional rights while sticking your head in the sand and allowing individuals who are not responsible or are criminal to equally access firearms is truly lame. Gun control is not the same as gun banning and is a sensible compromise that can be attained by reasonable people who are willing to discuss it. Even in the "Old West" gun control was practiced out of necessity.

The Royale came with everything. The Standard was missing a few electronic things. Ask FF about his Standard. Gotta be specific if you want a straight answer.

Perhaps some places but I have heard a lot of reports about people doing exactly that. From a couple of hours to a couple of days to get a gun. I'm not against carrying guns just think there should be a better job done to select people who are too unstable to have the privilege.

Yes they are. Really too bad they are handed out to anyone who wants one.

That was my thought too. So often reviewer comments about lack of power or bogging are made by people who come from V-Twins and shaft-jacking from people coming from sport bikes and don't know how to effectively ride the V4. Until reading Puc's comment, I didn't know the RSTD had only 67 HP. That's only a little more than the 60 HP of my XV1100 Virago. Appears Yamaha has made more than one lame decision prior to subbing a V-Twin for the V4. Perhaps designing an awesome series of bikes like the Ventures was just an accident for Yamaha.

This article is an interesting read that came out a day or so ago, not sure why though since it is about ancient bikes including the Tour Deluxe.

I'm with you Randy. When I think of how happy most of us have been with the touring capabilities of the 1200/1300 Ventures it makes me secretly smile when I see postings recommending huge displacements with massive HP and crappy mileage. To me, the one serious weakness that needed to be addressed with the Ventures was the top heavyness, not the performance. If Yamaha had done something about that then they would have sold way more Ventures than they did. Nothing wrong with going a bit larger but the original 1300 V4 could have been re-designed to put out way more HP than it did. The only thing really missing was the very popular put-put of the V-Twin but that was uniquely offset by the powerful growl of the V4 without being too loud. Too bad Yamaha didn't believe in the perfection they had already created.

Came across the new Honda Rebel and, since he is the only one I know who rides one, I thought Snyper might be interested in looking at it.

This thread is over a year old and the OP is expired. Probably not much point coming up with any more suggestions.

Forget trade-ins, sell it yourself. Should be able to get almost what the dealer can sell it for. Even if you had to take $6000 for it you would be better off.

Re-working the strat v-twin probably would not have cost much less than doing not much to the v4. My take on things is that Yamaha was going after the cruiser market. Probably because they think it is a bigger market. Still, a 900 lb cruiser might be a bit off putting. So are you ever better off riding in November with only a single stator? Two is always better than one.

Thanks from me too Frank. Had the same problem. @ Karaboo: Found out the usual hard way that the buttons do not pry out very well. Broke the first one so took the four screws out of the back of the controller and was able to easily push the button out from behind.

Sniper, if they are trying to get you to sink your carbs, don't listen to a word they tell you. Take it from me that you will very definitely want to want to synchronize your carbs rather than dropping them into a bucket of... Seafoam? Sorry, couldn't resist. I try to be stronger but sometimes I just can't.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I bet rather than reworking the Stratoliner V-Twin, if they had reworked the VMax engine they could have gotten more horsepower and better gas mileage out of the 1700 cc's. Chasing more displacement is just pathetic marketing hype. Look what Ford can do: "The 1L Ford Ecoboost makes 123 HP and 148 lb-ft of torque, and 90% of that torque you get from 1350 - 5375 RPM." Downright embarrassing for Yamaha.

It does and as FF said the plastic should help to keep the crash guards looking good in a tip over. There also appear to be sliders sticking out on the top corners of the fairing. Hard to say but perhaps they are big enough to protect the side scoops while sliding down the road. Perhaps the floor boards will help to protect the plastic as well.