BigLenny

You guys and gals are living a life that I envy so much. LOL. If I could get into gaming without winding up with an addiction that would deteriorate my health and marriage, I would certainly buy me all the new stuff immediately. But, I know myself. I used to love playing PC games. I spent hours playing a game called Metal of Honor. And I wore a joystick out playing a PC F1 racing game. When my kids were young I would play the first Halo game with them all the time. Loved it! Now that I'm older and can afford any and all gaming systems and games, I have decided I better not go there. I have an addictive thing in me that I know it would result in me staying in my home office and playing video games instead of going to see customers like I should, or instead of me taking care of my home responsibilities. But, I love reading this thread about y'alls exploits. It all sounds so fun.

I like a low smooth bass sound to my bike. I think the stock sound is pretty perfect. Also, my wife has made it perfectly clear that she would never ride with me if I had loud pipes on the bike. She once made the statement that guys who have loud pipes on their bikes are either A. Trying to compensate for other male shortcomings they have, or B. They have obnoxious, "look at me" personalities. Not sure how true either of those statements are. LOL.

A couple years ago myself and my cousin were at Bikes Blues and BBQ and they had the Can Am corporate truck there doing test rides. We had already test ridden the Victory CCT and Vision, the Harley Ultra, The Yamaha Super Tenere and a couple other bikes. We were about to leave the show and my cousin made the statement that we ought to test ride the Spyder RT's for when we get old. LOL. Well, we did and we were blown away! Those suckers were a blast to ride! Smooth ass a babies rump. When we got back from the test ride we were both grinning from ear to ear. The Spyder RT is definitely on the radar for my wife and I somewhere down the road.

9/11 - I ran down the road to a local grocery store to get some change for my sons lunch money. When I got back to the house my oldest son told me that on The Today Show on TV they were talking about a plane that had hit the World Trade Center. This was significant to us because myself, my wife, and my kids had just gotten back 3 weeks earlier from a family vacation to Washington DC and NYC including the Empire State Building and World Trade Center. We were slack jawed watching the footage and wondering how someone could've made such a bad mistake as to fly into the WTC. Then as we watched the TV the second plane hit. Unbelievable! My kids went to school, but I just sat down on my couch and began to watch several hours of TV that day. Challenger disaster - I was delivering Coca-Cola's to a convenience store. As I walked into the store with my first load of drinks I noticed that everyone including the store manager and all of the customers were standing silent watching a TV that was hanging on the wall. It was telling the breaking news of the tragedy. Very sad. Columbia Disaster - Woke up on Saturday morning to go to my sons basketball game. Turned on the TV for no apparent reason. There it was. They were doing a live report. Princess Di death. - I had been playing a mens league basketball game. When I got home it was late at night. My wife and kids were in bed. I fixed myself a snack and sat down to watch a little TV while eating it. Every channel was doing a live breaking news of the accident and her death. It had just happen about 30 minutes before that. I couldn't believe it. I woke my wife up to tell her. Oklahoma Federal Building bombing. It was about 9:30-10:00 in the morning and I was ironing my shirt and pants getting ready to head to work. I had the TV on and they broke in with the news. They first thought it was a gas line explosion. Crazy sad thing. Elvis Presley's death - I was 14 years old and I had just gotten home from school. As I was changing clothes my grandmother walked into my room and said the news had just said that Elvis died. I was shocked even though his music wasn't something I listened to much, I knew the importance of his death. Just a few hours later we received word that my moms brother, my favorite uncle had died of a sudden heart attack. That changed everyone in our family from being sad about Elvis to being in serious mourning about my uncle. I was born in 1963 so I don't remember Kennedy being killed, but my mom says that she was holding me in her arms trying to rock me to sleep when the tv came on with the news that Pres Kennedy had died. My mom said she cried right then and there.

Whats soooo funny about the whole situation is, 10 or so months from now if you ask the majority of Americans who won this years Super Bowl, they wouldn't immediately be able to tell you. If you question this, then answer this; who won last years Super Bowl, or the 2013 one, or the 2012 one? I love football, and I am a huge college football fan. I live in SEC country, but as I get older I realize that even though the media hypes these games up like they're the events of the century, or whatever they wanna call it, they are really just football championship games that a boat load of people tune in to, and not much more than that. None of them are very important in the long run. Now, ask me where I was or what I was doing whenever: I heard that the space shuttle Challenger blew up. I heard that the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated. I heard a plane hit the World Trade Center. I heard that The Federal Building in OK City was bombed. I heard Princess Di was killed. I saw Neil Armstrong step on the moon. I heard the OJ Simpson verdict. I heard Elvis Presley died. etc, etc, etc. I can tell you exactly. However, I do believe Seattle should of ran Marshawn Lynch instead of trying to pass. LOL.

Very good game! Fun to watch from beginning to end. Any game that you really don't know who is going to win until the very end is really icing on the cake. I was leaning slightly toward Seattle because they have a couple Arkansas guys on their team, and Pete Carroll got into coaching as an assistant at UofA, but it really didn't bother me to see NE win it. Tom Brady is continuing to build is legendary status, and he deserves all the credit in the world for his accomplishments. There was some decently good commercials. LOL.

Uh oh. Here comes a pissin match between the Vic owner and the HD owner. LOL!

Yep. That's a good way to have an "exiting" experience. Looks exciting, but you could end up exiting. LOL.

Because I'm 6'6" and 300lbs. It certainly had nothing to do with the size of my............thumb. LOL!

Wait.......a.......minute. That thumb thing has to be wrong.

For the amount of money they used to develop and manufacture that machine, they could've upgraded the Venture. Just sayin. LOL.

Don, I have been a member here for 6 years, and thanks to all of the wonderful people here, and you're dedication to the site I will continue to renew my membership year after year. I too have never seen you down talk the Venture or any other bike for that matter. Your critiques of the HD vs Venture have been spot on based on members responses. As we all know, this place is like a big family. And just like all families, there are members that have, shall I say, issues. We still love em cause their family, but we just don't give what they say too much credence. That's the way you gotta look at this. Just keep your focus on the members that have love for Venturerider.org in their hearts and you"ll be okay. BTW, I like people yapping about certain bikes. It adds a little sauce every now and then. LOL. Big Lenny

Hey Gang, So, I test rode the bike a couple days ago and; it was a beauty! Everything checked out perfectly except for the cruise cancel but button had a little catch to it, and the right side passenger speaker was crackling some. They agreed to fix that if I buy it. The bike ran smooth as glass. Took it for about an hour and it did everything I asked it to do. I still don't believe that the Venture has the same gears that the Tour Deluxe has. It just seems like its a tad less RPM at freeway speeds. That Slipstreamer windshield was taller than my stock RSTD shield, and made things a lot quieter than I am used to. Very nice bike. Here's the problem: They initially offered me a deal at $3800.00 difference price after my trade. I basically looked at them like they were crazy and got up to walk out. We got into a negotiation that ended with them offering me $2000.00 difference. I'm not doing that. Even though my bike is an RSTD, it is 2 years newer. It is in pristine condition. I keep my stuff immaculate. I also installed about $3000.00 of after market equipment on my bike that I know won't bring that amount when I trade it, but it's worth something. Especially the Ultimate Seats and backrests that I have on my bike. Anyway. I initially offered them an even trade, but left there offering them a $750.00 trade difference with them giving me a 90 day warranty. No deal right now. The sales rep said he'll be calling me after he works them some more but we'll see. I don't have to buy anything. I love my bike. But, this looked like a possible opportunity for me to change to a Venture. However, I'm not gonna give my RSTD away. I'm semi tossing the idea around of retailing my bike. Not sure.

Hummingbird, I am very aware that it is difficult to get a dealer to swap even, that's why in my OP I said "or very close to it". I'll take a very close to it. LOL. I like your idea of asking for a 90 day warranty. Would certainly ease my mind, and as you stated, it would possibly open up some dialogue of their inside knowledge of the bike if they have any. Thanks, BL

Don, Thats a good thought. I'm gonna be listening closely for the ole clutch screaming. I luckily don't have that now with my RSTD and I'm not thinking I want to hafta deal with that.

Mike, I'm 99.99999999999% sure the 32K was put on before this last 1 month owner got it. LOL. Lets see here; if he did that, he would've been doin an Iron Butt every day, wouldn't he? The dealer had no way of knowing who the POx2 was. Thanks, BL

Rickard, As SilverT pointed out, I did not talk to the PO. The dealership called him to get permission for me to talk to him. I would never ask for a dealership to give me a PO's contact info without getting permission from the person. Your point about him finding out that the bike handles like a "slug" or something like that, might have some credence to it, but I'll never know, will I? At any rate, I will go ride the thing and make some assessments. I would like to know if it has had a new clutch put in it, but I guess I won't worry about that either. BTW, I'm like you, I really like the look of the Voyager and know that Kawi makes good stuff. However, about a year ago my wife and I test rode a new Voyager and both she and I were stunned by how much the bike vibrated at freeway speeds, and the wind racket was very uncomfortable. After we rode the Voyager, we walked over to used showroom and test rode a 3 year old Venture and it was day and night smoother than the Voyager. Also, two of the main complaints about the Voyager is all of the plastics on the bike are very flimsy and cheap. the windshield is very flimsy and the saddle bag lids and trunk lids are really flimsy and wobbly when theyre in the open position. The other main complaint about the bike is considerable heat coming off the rear head. Kawi has tried to alleviate that by putting a fan system on it, but people say it doesn't completely get rid of the heat. Sad because the bike looks cool. Now, the Indian Roadmaster? That dude is sweet. We test rode it in September at Bikes Blues and BBQ and WOW! In the end, I am only looking at the 2005 Venture because I could possibly get it by doing an even swap for my 2007 RSTD or very close to a swap. I'm not in the new bike market right now. If I were, heck yeah, there are a number of new bikes that I would look at. Thanks for the input, BL

See there Hammer? It's stuff like this that keeps me confused. LOL.

This bike is about 45 minutes from me and I have looked at it in person. Very clean bike that looks like it has been very well taken care of. Doesn't have one single blemmish on it. I'm pretty sure I could work a deal of an even swap or very close to it with my 2007 RSTD. It has some adds that would save me the hastle and money such as: center stand, passing lamps, Slip Streamer windshield, backrest, trunk luggage rack, auxilary plug for heated gear/battery tender. One thing that makes me wonder if a previous owner was a member here is that fact that it has E3's on it. That doesn't sem like something a regular non VR member would figure out. But, on the other hand, the antennas are on the wrong sides. The PO traded it for a used Harley Ultra. I have one uh oh thing that I'm trying to sort through my brain. I asked the dealership if I could talk to the PO. They were very obliging and they called the PO. The guy told them that he didn't want to talk to me because he really didn't have an opinion on the bike because he only owned it for a month before he traded it in. What's up with that???. I dont' really care if he wants to talk to me, but why did he trade it after owning it for a month? Hmmmm. Makes me concerned that there is something wrong with the bike internally that he wasn't wanting to deal with.I don't know what I'm gonna do, but it's an extremely clean bike. Any thoughts? 2005 Yamaha Royal Star Venture Stock: 05A009088 | Sunrise Preowned

Hammer, Not all folks have the brain power you have. LOL. There are a few that have some thick, slow running gray matter such as myself. Hey, at least I prefaced it by saying it was gonna be a dumb question. LOL. BL

Dumb question but I just wanna make sure. By left side y'all are definitely talking about the clutch side, right?

I don't have a Venture, just an RSTD, so I don't understand what difference it makes which side they're on. Someone end my suspense and tell me why. Thanks, BL

Puc, I'm prayin for ya every day. Everythings gonna be alright. BL

Let me say.............WOW! I stand corrected. After reading y'all's comments and looking at the two above vids I completely retract my BMW recommendation. I also now remember that very early on in my cousins ownership of his R1200RT the rear differential started leaking and it had to be repaired under warranty. To tell you the truth, it's really hard to beat the overall cost of owning a Japanese bike. The FJR is a gorgeous bike, but if i were you, I would buy the new one with cruise and ES. Oh, and get ya some handlebar risers. LOL. I have a feeling that bending over might get old.

I'm a razorback fan, so I bleed SEC, but man, that was hilarious watching ya'll beat Bama. Looks like there'll be no more national media yakking about the SEC being dominant. The Big 10 has a number of teams that are just as good or better than the SEC teams. Hope y'all win it because I really like Urban Meyer.