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My '09 Venture Hannigan trike routinely carries me (240lbs), my wife (not saying but not the same as the young bride in 1970 (smile)). We do long distance loaded and when my wife packs for a two night trip she takes along enough for a two week stay!! Ain't never had a problem with lack of power! We ride regularly on interstate, state and county roads. East Tennessee and the states around are all hilly and mountainous. Not a problem for my trike! If you compare specs of the various big touring machines, you will find that the Ventures V4 will compare favorably or exceed most of the other machines. CC's alone are NOT the only spec to look at. The Gold Wings are indeed nice, but between the Venture and the Wing....I've sat both and the Venture wins everything except sheer HP and the wretched excess category. Just my opinion!

Looking at my Hannigan Easy Steer setup, you cannot see those locking nuts under the top. The Easy Steer design covers them up almost completely, I am not able to get a screwdriver in there. The only "problem" I have is that the top nut is loose. I just need to tighten it up.

Thanks seaking, I have printed the photo and will see if I can find one and add it to my rather eclectic tool kit

I phoned my Hannigan installer about the head bolt. The nut that sits on top of the triple tree beneath the handlebars is not super critical but should be tightened. It is pretty much a cover to the parts. It should be torqued to about 30 (if I remember correctly). He said it could be done either by removing the fairing and handlebars to enable easy access or by using a "crows foot" wrench which he said should allow the owner to get to the nut without removing the fairing. I have no idea what a crows foot wrench is or what one looks like so I have no idea what to buy. He said an auto parts store would likely have or be able to order one for me.

Let me jump in and ask a couple of questions here. I have a 2009 RSV with a Hannigan Easy Steer kit. 1. That single top nut between the handle bar mounts is finger loose. I can rotate it with my bare fingers. Is that normal? 2. Giving those two nuts a "light tap", just how light and/or how far should the movement or rotation be? 1/4 inch?, 3/4 inch?, or just till you feel a pronounced resistance? I am not mechanically inclined, I would not dare attempt something that might endanger my wife and I as we ride. My Venture does have a front wheel wobble/oscillation at very low speeds but it ceases as speed increases. This happens when moving away from a stop and at around 20mph is gone. Is that normal?

I would love LOVE! to have a model of my Venture and a model as a trike also!! I can find HD's and 'Wings, and about a gazillion others but no Ventures!!

Egad!! I just looked at their website...$139 to $213 for an oil filter! Gimmie a break!!

Our Uclear HBC200 Force set works, but whistles and is hard to understand/hear. I think I will try to put a thin sheet of foam behind the ear/mike pieces to bring them a touch closer to the ears and see if that helps. I did just do a firmwear update on them two days ago and have not tried them since.

As a retired U.S. Navy Chief myself, I find that Gentleman Jack is the only liquor worth buying except for whatever is cheapest!

I sure wish I could have been at Tellico. I did so want to meet Annie and Alan (do I have the name right?).

It's your (the riders) choice. I wave at all the riders regardless of the make. Heck I even wave at pedal bikers! If you wanna wave back, ok, if not still ok.

I use two Ram mounts. They mount on top of the clutch and brake reservoirs. GoPro on left, GPS on right. I find that both have much less "bounce" with the shorter 3 inch arms.

Look at the triple tree top piece and you should see the stamped indication of the easy steer conversion. It's very visible if you look at the large top of the unit just in front of the gas tank.

Garmin updates are painfully slow and take forever. They are not much faster even if you order the CD/DVD updates. The units themselves seem to be part of the reason for the slowdown. I have used other brands of GPS and slightly prefer the Garmin units for their presentation on the screen. The downloads will depend on the speed of the "sending" site, but it is possible (though not likely) that your internet connection is slowing things down. Go to speedtest.net or speedtest.org and do a check on your end of the system. It only takes a couple of minutes. Also be advised that if you are using a router/wireless connection, that a lot of routers have a problem releasing memory that they have been using. This drops your download speeds dramatically and will require resetting the router. To reset the router simply unplug the power for about 15-30 seconds, reconnect the power and let the router go through its sequence. Do a speed test before and after doing the reset to see if that is the problem. My router (Linksys WRT160 Version 3) is one of the routers in question. I would literally have to reset the router just before any download of any size at all. Comcast inadvertently corrected the problem by sending me a new modem/router combination. My speed now remains stable at about 30mbps. Wireless will usually be noticeably slower than an Ethernet cable connection also. As for the other downloads you mentioned, be sure that if you are using Windows to ensure all updates (every 2nd Tuesday of the month Microsoft issues any updates necessary) are done and completed. You may have updates waiting to be completed and/or installed.

Welcome to the site and a super bunch of folks who frequent the forums. Lots of info, stories and friendly people. Hannah and I are in east Tennessee, not too far from Huntsville, we've ridden through there a couple of times.

I have a small program that I use to adjust the playback volume of mp3's. It's a free download, works pretty good and is reasonably quick. You simply run the program select the files you want to adjust and it will scan them, then select a "mid point" (you can adjust it a bit up/down) and it will recopy the files and get them all within a couple of decibels of each other for output volume. Do a Google for MP3 GAIN and you should find it easily. It's an older program but it still works well. I like to use CNET for downloads.

Is the traction problem more/less continuous in the rain? I just rode my 2009 Venture Hannigan trike up the BRP to STAR days. First two days we rode in a lot of rain. No problems until I would hit ponding/standing water like those little puddles in the low portions of the roadway. It got real noticeable on those, squirrely even! I have Kumho (spelled right?) on the rear and Avon Venom up front. Running 42 front and 26 rear. I'm guessing that a trike weighing 1100-1500 pounds (two up and loaded) with that much tire surface on the rear would be more apt to hydroplane. I would drop my speed and/or move over to a lower speed highway. The BRP/Skyline both have very low speed limits but hitting puddles definitely got our attention. Not part of the query but on dry roads my Hannigan sticks like glue!!

I have not had the problem but suggest a check for update/upgrade and then a reinstall of FF. Are you keeping your version of Windows updated?

Tyre seems to work best for me, it's a free (basic only) download. I believe it actually uses Google Earth. The basic version has provided me with all I need in this type of program. I wish there were an iPad version (might be in the works). I've tried several programs and Tyre and the Harley Davidson seem to work best. They all require a bit of a learning curve. Just practice with them.

Thanks, I need to get one and put it in the trunk, just in case.

I want to pickup and carry a spare bulb. Will any H4 work in my 2009 Venture? Can I pick one up at Wal-Mart, NAPA, OReily etc??

I'm retired, my job is to get up and turn on the coffee pot. Distance: 32 feet Time to get to the Keurig: 9.5 minutes (gotta go pee, brush my teeth, scratch, admire my buckle shiner in the mirror, pee some more and walk back to the kitchen)

It just doesn't get any better than east Tennessee, north Georgia, and western North & South Carolina for riding. Move down here and enjoy the roads year around!!

To paraphrase Arte Johnson from Laugh In......"Verrry interesting"! (Yes, I'm that old!!)

For papatop49: Ray you really don't need photos for this one. You simply buy the lock, make sure you get the right one. Remove the old original Hannigan lock. You will likely need to slightly enlarge the hole. It will not take much enlarging so make frequent checks. I used a Dremel tool and it took about two "circles" and it was done. The entire process of removing the old lock, enlarging the hole and installing the new T-Handle lock took about 5-6 minutes! Really! The hardest part was cutting/filling the slot in the metal cam to match the original locks cam position. I put them both in a vise (make sure they line up correctly from the lock point) and then I Dremeled and filed the slot smooth. I can provide photos of the finished installation if you really think you will need them.