BigLenny

Hello Friends, I'm interested in hearing your words of wisdom. I am a sales rep for Grainger. I drive 3000+ miles a month on my Ford F150 Crew Cab Lariat. Love my truck! But, the equity is at it's premium right now, and it's a good financial decision to trade it for a new one before I drive another year and put 30K more miles on it and eat the equity drop. So, I've been looking at trucks, and I'd like to hear your opinions about them. Just a note: I have primarily driven Fords. Not because I think they are better than Chevy's, GMC's, or Dodges. I don't get into that brand bragging crap. To me, it comes across as extremely high schoolish and immature. When I buy, I try my best to look at all aspects of the truck, no matter what the brand is, and it has just worked out that the Ford truck, for one reason or the other has been my choice on a pretty regular basis. So, here are the options that I'm looking at, with a few of the pro's and cons I've observed: Ford F150 Crew Cab 4X4: Dealers are quoting me at $10k-$11K off of sticker for a 2017 model. This truck is still an attractive buy for me, however, the budget I am keeping myself in is only going to allow for a cloth seat XLT model. I'm okay with stepping down from the Lariat I'm in to the XLT, but it just kinda bugs me that Ford's pricing is so high, and getting higher. I'm trying to decide if it is worth it to keep paying more to stay with this brand. This truck has the 2nd largest interior cab room on the market, second only to the Toyota Tundra. This works well for my 6'6" frame. And, it is spacious for carrying back seat passengers, especially for long trips. I drive the 5.0V8 version because I'm a little edgy about the 3.5 Ecoboost. I just have a phobia about taking a small motor and spinning it up with a couple turbos, and expecting longevity out that motor. But, after seeing the performance of the eco boost since it's 2010 inception, I'm kinda opening up to it a little. Fit and finish is top notch, and I have driven a ton of trouble free miles over the years with this brand. Gas mileage with the 5.0 V8 is fairly sad. I've been averaging about 15.7 MPG. GMC/Chevy 1500 CRew Cab 4X4: Dealers have quoted me $11K-$12K off of sticker. The GMC is my favorite between these 2. I like the looks of it more than the pedestrian look of the Chevy. But, for the right money, I would consider a Chevy. These trucks are very long legged in the front of the cab, and are super comfortable for my long frame, however, the back seat area is plain old dissappointing. The best I can describe it is; GM appears to have lost design interest when they got past the front seat. First of all, way less leg room in the back seat than the Ford product. Then, the back seat head rests are embarrassingly small. They're just little rolls on top of the seats, and anybody with even average height, their heads will be resting against the back window if they might doze off and take a nap while riding, or worse, their head will be going through the back glass if rearended. It's sad for this price of vehicle. And, finally, the back seat has NO rear air vents for the backseat passengers while all the other trucks in the market do. That bumfuzzles me. I love the gas mileage of the 5.3 engine in this truck. I know guys who are averaging 18-19 mpg. That could be an extra $80-$90 a month in my pocket at the miles I'm driving per month. The infotainment system is better than the Ford's. This truck is not less money than the Ford, but has less content. However, I like the look of the GMC truck. Ram 1500 Crew cab 4X4: Dealers are quoting me $15K-$16K off of sticker. I like a whole lot about this truck. The main thing being the price. I can buy a hard loaded Laramie edition for less than I can buy an XLT cloth seat version Ford. It is a beautiful truck in the Laramie version with the leather and all that comes with that trim. The 5.7 Hemi is a growling sounding a powerplant with very good power. Fun to drive. HOWEVER, this truck is small inside. I just about knocked myseflf out when i went to get in the truck and the top of the door trim whacked me in the side of the head. The door opening is very small compared to the other trucks. And, when I got inside, with the seat all the way down, my head slightly brushed the ceiling while we were test driving. I'm not sure I could get used to that. Not sure why Dodge made this truck smaller. And, the back seat room is a tad bigger than the GM trucks, but nowhere near the Ford. The back seats are very comfortable though. It has the #1 rated infotainment system in the industry. What worries me is; I am not sure about the long term quality of this vehicle. I hear the quality has gotten better since Fiat purchased them. Toyota Tundra CRew Cab 4X4: Dealers are quoting me $8000.00 off of sticker. This truck is intriguing to me because they are known for their long term quality, and their resale value is crazy good. But, I waver back and forth about the overall looks of this rig. And, it's dated. They need to update it. The dude is HUGE! Crazy big inside the cab. Its rated the largest cab in the industry, and the backseat leg room is cavernous. Will pay quite a bit more for this truck than any other in the industry. I'm not completely sold on the notion that this truck is better built than the American trucks. Nissan Titan Crew Cab 4X4: Dealers have quoted me $11k-$12k off of sticker. This truck makes me go huh? It was drastically redesigned for the 2017 model year, and they made it waaay better. It is on par with all of the trucks in the industry. BUT, it is the lowest selling truck in the market. Like, far below everything else. I have researched it, and the people who own these trucks, absolutely love them, but there aren't very many of them out there, because NIssan hasn't sold a ton of them in the past. This new redesign has tripled their sales number, but it's still a long way from even Toyotas numbers. Test driving this truck was a very nice surprise. Very smooth, quiet, and a cool sounding qrowl from teh 5.6 32V V8, with stump pulling feeling torque. The fit and finish is high. The insides has plenty of space front and rear. I can buy the SL loaded with leather for less than I can buy a cloth seat XLT Ford, or GMC/Chevy. And, here is the thing that is attractive: Nissan, to boost sales has put a 5 YEAR, 100,000 MILE BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY on this thing. That is impressive for a truck! So, I could go on and on about each of these trucks, but I'll stop for now. Give me your opinions, experiences, deductions on any of these brands. Thanks, Big Lenny

Thanks Pucter. I clicked on that link and wound up farting away an hour on Ebay looking at random Venture and RSTD stuff. Big Lenny

Just go get the expensive ones. All that fiddling around with things that may or may not work. You're gonna wind up buying another set anyway. I'm fairly certain the centrifugal force is going to sling off whatever kind of spray coating your try. Get the good ones and be done with it.

Coming from a Hawwwg fan. GO DAWWWGS! Please please please beat Bama!

Uh Oh. Sompin aint right. The Pucster posts way too often to be goin over a week without hearing something from him. Hopefully he will show up soon.

I just walked out of our local Yamaha dealer, and the owner said they are showing to be receiving one the last week of December. He said he was told by the Yamaha rep that the delay was do to a leaking gasket they discovered. They discovered it on the assembly line, and then realized they needed to stop production to get it corrected, and pull back all the ones they had already made so they could retrofit them with the redesigned gasket. Could you imagine the PR nightmare Yammy would've had if they had released that bike and it started having an oil leaking issue?!!!. The HD comparisons would've been flying around pretty hot and heavy. LOL.

RDawson, What I'm about to write below does not pertain to you. It appears you did a good job of researching, and got a good deal. I'm just gonna make an observation from an old car guy. Something that happened right as I was getting into the car business in 1987, completely changed my thought process of how I should go about buying vehicles. I read an article about car dealer advertising tactics, and how and why they work. This article referred to a big study that one of the universities (maybe it was Harvard) had done on this same subject of car dealer marketing and advertising. It addressed questions like: Why all the big hype on commercials? Why sometimes funny characters? Why bait and switch ads? Why big shiny this, and big shiny that? Why the dramatic voices in the ads? Why give away a TV, or shotgun, or trip or whatever? etc. etc. etc. The finding of the study was that automobiles have become an impulse buy. I remember the article stating that research proved that the average car buyer uses the exact same part of their brain to buy a car, that they do to buy a coke and a bag of chips when they go into a convenience store. The exact area of their brain that is emotional and impulse related. This benefits the dealership because it allows them to control you and structure deals the way they need to best effect their profits. They do all they can to keep the process emotional and impulsive so as to soften the reality in your brain that you are making a $20K, $30K, $40K and up decision on a product that is going to absolutely depreciate your investment. If told you I had this really good investment opportunity that I want you to let me invest your money in, and I said something like, "Hey, give me your $20K, and in 3 years it will only be worth $14K, and 5 years it'll be worth $10K, and in 7 years it'll be worth $6K", you would look at me like I'm crazy, and would probably think about calling a scam hotline to report me. But, in a very real way, that is what car dealers are selling, but in the package of a shiny automobile. Your money, from the time you drive off the lot starts depreciating, and fast! Sure, you get to drive a car around in your investment, but make no bones about it, your money is crashing like crazy. After I read that article, I was amazed time and time again over the next 9 years as I watched most buyers come in running strictly on emotion, just wanting a shiny new vehicle that would fit their budget in some way. the vast majority having done no research on what their trade-in is worth, what the dealer cost of the vehicle they want to buy, what the insurance rates will be on that vehicle, what their own credit report says, and how that relates into just how good of an interest rate they are qualified for , or not. What the actual CR quality ranking is on the vehicle they're looking at? What the future value of that will hold? etc. Most customers allow it to stay emotional. After I read that article, and as I started realizing the truth of it unfolding in front of my eyes day in and day out, it became very clear in my mind that whenever I buy a car, it is most certainly and unquestionably an extremely important and large investment for me and my family, and it is not to be done with any kind of emotion, other than the emotion it takes to look at and realize, through multiple test drives of several competing models, which particular car I would like best. Buying an automobile correctly takes a lot of research and time. But, the automotive industry has highjacked the average buyers minds, and convinced them that it is perfectly normal to run to a dealership, make a $30K decision in an hour or so, and come back home with a new car. We don't do that in any other area of our lives except for impulse small purchases like a coke and a bag of chips, or some other small insignificant item. I have seen people agonize for weeks over whether they should spend $1000.00 on a flat screen TV, but then run to dealership and contract to $30-$40K on a car in an hour. Here are some things you should know, and are not optional if you're going to work a proper deal on an automobile: 1. If financing, what is your credit rating? This is critical that you know this, and what kind of interest rate your rating will qualify for. Unacceptable to go to a dealer with out this knowledge. 2. What is the value of your trade-in? This can be found at sites like KBB, and others. You never wait to get to the dealership to let them tell you what they think your trade is worth. Know what your trade in is worth, and hit them at least $2K higher than that amount for what you will take for it. 3. It is not a trade in!!! You are not trading them a car for a car. You are buying their car, and they are buying yours. Treat the transaction like that. Your "trade in" should be clean and as spotless as it can get, or you are leaving money on the table. They are buying your car. Make sure it is clean marketable. 4. Know what the cost is for the new car you are buying. There are plenty of sites online where you can find that information. 5. Work numbers in small increments! This means when you are offering $25,000.00, and the dealer says they will $27,500.00, don't move in large increments. Tell them you'll do $25,250.00 and work very small. Most people allow the dealership to let them move in $500.00 or even $1000.00 chunks. Everytime you open your mouth, it costs you money, so how much are your words worth? 6. Do research of all the competing vehicles on the segment you're looking at, and take a whole day, and go test drive every single one of them, and make notes. NO NUMBERS ARE TO BE WORKED ON THIS TEST DRIVE DAY. This is just a fact finding, test driving day to compare, and narrow down to the final one. 7. ALWAYS WORK DEALS THE LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH, PREFERABLY THE LAST DAY! All salesman and sales managers, as well as the dealer owners have monthly unit bonuses that have to be met, and as the month gets closer to end, gross profit is not nearly as important as the unit bonus that will be made on that vehicle. 8. Extended warranties, if you choose to get one, are always price negotiable. Do not ever fail to offer half of what they price the warranty, and work up from there. 9. Interest rates are negotiable!!!!!!!!!! The dealer is always holding back a point or more to make profit. Tell them what interest rate you will take, by knowing what your credit rating is, and what you qualify for. 10. If you can't come to an agreed upon price, or if you can't decide if you like the vehicle, the it is NOT WISE to let them talk you into piggy backing the vehicle overnight. This means letting you take the vehicle home for a day to think about it. This is done not because they are trying to be friendly, and helping you make the right decision, NO, this is a time held tactic of car dealers to increase the percentage of closing the deal. Research shows that a piggy backed customer has a 90% chance of closing when they come back to the dealership with the vehicle. This is because most people have taken it home and grown attached to it, and their neighbors or friends have seen it, and the chance of turning it back in is slim. So, Don't do that. Keep you head clear. 11. Know the 5 main areas dealers make money off of your deal, and negotiate every one of these areas: A. They make gross profit on the selling you the new vehicle. B. They make money by offering you less on your trade than it's worth, (This is called dinking) then selling for a large profit. C. They make profit on the add ons to the vehicle, like locking lugnuts, undercoating, tinted windows, etc. (This will usually be on and addendum sticker beside the main window sticker). D. They make profit on the extended warranty they sell you in the finance office. E. They make profit on the interest rate of the loan. The bank sells them the loan at rate, then the dealer adds a point or two and passes that on to you. Don't let that happen. I could on and on, but I'm tired. LOL. Thanks for letting me babble. Big Lenny

Casey, I whole heartedly concur with you! RDawson, Well done! That's a good lookin vehicle with a sizable amount of content you paid considering the dollar amount. $8400.00 off of a vehicle that lists in the $20's is very substantial. It apears you put some serious thought and research into it before you pulled the trigger. Congrats again!

RDawson, If you wouldn't have mentioned price in your first post, I wouldn't feel comfortable asking you this. Sure don't want to come across as rude and nosey. But, I'm curious; what price range can that vehicle be bought in? You don't hafta give specifics of your deal, but I was just wondering what that vehicle lists for, and what can it be bought for. Also, what equipment for that price? Leather? GPS? AWD? Dual air? Engine size? etc. Thanks so much, Big Lenny

Oh....Wait.....While I was typing my above thread, I didn't notice you had posted that you went ahead and bought it. LOL! Nice looking rig! I hope it does well for you. And, as far as all that stuff I said in my previous post.......yeah, don't pay any attention to it. LOL!!!!! Congrats!

I completely agree with the above advice. I'll put it this way: Jeep is the Harley Davidson of the automotive world. They traditionally have not been very good quality, but they have a crazy cult following that swears by them, and wouldn't drive anything else. Their quality has gotten better the past few years since Fiat bought them, but they still aren't on par quality wise with other brands such as Honda, Toyota, Mazda (yes, I said that), Nissan, Subaru, VW, and even GMC or Chevy. They are decent rigs, and the Grand Cherokee is finished out nicely, but, just a quick glance at Consumer Reports can tell you a story what models are of the highest quality ranking, and which ones aren't. Even Hyundai, and Kia SUV's are getting higher quality rankings than Jeep. Having said that; if you are really turned on by a Jeep, then go get you one. You'll probably love it. Pretty much all manufacturers are making good quality vehicles nowadays; way better quality than when we were all young. But their are some brands, ie: the ones I mentioned, that are head and shoulders better than "good". And, some of those brands I mentioned (Toyota, Honda, Subaru), hold their value like crazy if you buy them new.

Casey, Your mention of the LS400 brought to mind a cool story from my past. I spent 9 years in the car business from 1987-1996 at a Ford - Lincoln/Mercury dealership. I think it was one night during 1990, one of the wholesalers showed up at our dealership with a brand new Lexus LS400 he had just bought for his wife. He wanted to show all of us this amazing new creation of an automobile that we had heard of, but really didn't know much about. Lexus at that time was a fairly new name to the market. We had all heard that it was an impressive automobile, but basically had no idea of what the car looked like up close and personal. Well, we were certainly highly impressed with the fit and finish of all of the door, hood, trunk, fenders, and the high quality of the materials inside the vehicle. But, the one thing that blew all of our minds was: this new owner of the LS400 asked me if i would run inside and get a styrofoam cup filled with water. I did that, and he started the vehicle, and sat the cup of water on top of the engine, right on the cover that hides the intake and throttle body assembly. We all stared with our mouths open while the car sat idling, and absolutely no ripple in the water in the cup, none, nada. He then got in the car and revved the engine to a very high rpm, and the water barely showed just a slight tad of a ripple when the rpms were really high. We couldn't believe it! That display of how smooth that engine was, well, we new we were witnessing a game changer in the luxury sedan market. Since that time, I have had a high respect for Toyota, and Lexus. Not to mention the fact that we had a Toyota mini van that we put 388,000 miles on before we traded it, and it was bullet proof. Not that my opinion matters much, but I think Toyota makes a very strong case for being the overall highest quality brand name on the market. Not all of their models do well with quality, but by far, most do. Big Lenny

Dennis, Thank you thank you thank you, for your well thought out description of today's automobile. Everything you described I have and use the same way in my Crew Cab F150. And......I LOVE IT!! The technological features in today's vehicles are nothing short of amazing, and wonderful to use IF, and this is a big IF, you open your mind to the possibility of learning and using them. That is really the main issue at hand here; Old folks get stuck in their ways and don't like change and learn new things and ways of doing things. I am no different than that in a lot of areas of my life. However, I live in my vehicle 12 hours a day. I am a sales rep, so my truck is my office, and I have completely enjoyed most of the new technological advances we've seen in vehicles in the past decade or so. I get it, there are some things that I too believe were better back in the day, but overall quality of vehicles are unquestionably at an all time high. I'm not young. I'm 55 years old. I remember all of the stuff some have described here, with setting my own points and timing, and wrenching on my rig a lot, etc. But, I am truly amazed at what automobiles have become. Now, if GM wants market food searches and such on their infotainment systems, and make a profit while doing it, heck, let em try it. I won't ever use the feature, I use my phone for that. I'm not gonna get into a big discussion about brands and such. I have owned several, including 2 different BMW's as mentioned in other posts. To each his own on what he wants to drive. Do I believe some brands are better quality than others, sure, maybe, but I have also accomplished high mileage in models (Ford Taurus 318,000 miles, Chevy Impala 327,000 miles) that are commonly considered not quite as good as others, and I've had a model (Toyota Camry) that experience a catastrophic transmission failure at 54,000 miles). Just my 2 cents worth. Big Lenny

So, I'm guessing nobody on this site was the RSV you saw....

Snype, I'm certainly not a preacher man. I am a Christian, however, it depends on who you ask on whether I'm disciplined or not. LOL.

Heyyyyy Raggy!!!!! Wow!!! Congrats! Big Lenny likey!! 1. You shall have no other Gods before me. 2. You shall not have any Idols. 3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and mother. 6. You shall not commit murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet. (Yep, Raggy, this is the one Ol Big Lenny is struggling with, now that I've taken a gander at your new "toy in the family".)

Trex, Welcome to the site. I have a 2007 RSTD. I bought it new in 2008, and my wife and I have ridden it across several states (as you can see from my signature). It has been a perfect bike for our needs. It is great on the interstate, and great on country curvy roads. As mentioned by others, it isn't a sport bike, so you aren't gonna set records zipping through the twisties, but it handles them just fine. We have ridden it on the Tail of the Dragon, and many roads just like that here in our state of Arkansas. For many years, I pondered switching to a Venture, because I thought I wanted the trunk, and the fairing that it offered. But, in the end, we have settled into loving our RSTD, and decided against making the change. When we travel for long distance rides, we carry a huge Saddleman t-bag on the back, with a roll bag on top, and that allows us to pack way more content than the trunk on a Venture could handle, even with a trunk rack and bag. Other things I like: I really like the bike being transformable. Meaning, in less than a minute, you can yank the windshield off, and/or the backrest/luggage rack, and the bike becomes a cool cruiser bike. I love the fact that it has cruise control. I use the heck out of it. And, it is a must for long distance touring. I love the 4 cylinder motor. Simply put, it is one of the greatest motorcycle engines ever built. EVER! Locking saddlebags. A lot of cruiser style, windshield bikes don't have that. The thing I love the most about it is: Nobody knows what it is. I'm kind of a guy that tries to steer away from the sea of sameness. I like unique stuff. This bike certainly fits that description. When people ask what I ride, their eyes usually start glazing over when I tell what I ride, because most people have never heard of it. It's unique. Things that I changed, or had an issue with: The stock seat!!!! The stock seat on this thing is made for day runs. It about killed me and my wife when we first bought it. We would ride for about an hour, and our tail bones would be numb, and we would hafta get off for a rest. It was sending the message that an aftermarket seat was a must. I had decided I was gonna buy a Mustang brand seat, because that's pretty much all I had ever heard of. But, I ran into a guy at a bike shop who was riding a Honda Valkarie, and he insisted I look at and sit on his seat that he had on his bike. It was made by a company called Ultimate Seats. He said he had tried Mustangs before, and the Ultimate was way better. So, for some crazy reason I listened to this complete stranger, and I ordered Ultimate seats and backrests fr myself and my wife. OMG! It changed our world. That was 8 years ago, and the seat is still phenomenal! Still today, I can ride a whole tank of gas, and stop at the gas station, stay on the bike while i fill up with gas, and head down the road. It's that god fo a seat. The clutch spring - The clutch started slipping at about 20K miles. This is a known weak point for Ventures and RSTD's. No worries at all though. It is a very easy fix, with descriptions here on our site. We have a member that sells a replacement kit. Shifter linkage bolt - That sucker fell off while we were on a ride, but luckily it was laying on the floor board when we came to a stop at a red light. Make sure you Loctite that dude. Creaking rearend - Don't let that worry ya. It's an easy fix that we can walk you through. You just have to take your rear wheel off and grease the splines and pins. Super easy. There has been nothing else on my bike go wrong that was not a wear item. I have changed break pads a couple times, and get this, I have had the bike over 9 years, and finally had to put a new battery and change a fuel pump a couple months ago. Now that it's 10 model years old, there is something about it that makes us want to keep it. It has been such a fine ride, we kinda feel like we would be betraying her if we sold her now. She has been a loyal gal. Carried us faithfully across some lonely barren lands where if she would've broken down, we would've been screwed. But she didn't, and she's still ticking today. Go get you one. You'll love it.

Dan, I'm so sorry to hear about the lady you knew in Georgia, and that you're are going through this with your son. I will certainly include you in my daily prayers. My heart hurts for you. Sometimes, all we can do is love them, and pray for them. As mentioned by several, it is all up to the addict. However, as so many of us know, that is so hard to do. I too hate drugs, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, the whole mess of stuff that human beings think they need to have to make themselves feel better. It's all fools gold. I was raised with addicts. My dad was a severe alcoholic, addicted to tobacco and cigarettes, and died a horrible death from it 18 years ago at 61 years of age. My grandfather (my dads father) was a drug addict and alcoholic, and died from lung cancer at the age of 47 due to his addiction to tobacco and smoking cigarettes. My mom smoked and drank the whole time I was being raised, and she has finally stopped smoking, but has had to rehab twice from her addiction to alcohol. My oldest brother has an addiction to alcohol and marijuana, and is now serving a 30 year sentence in the state pen for being one of the largest marijuana dealers in the area. My next to oldest brother, even as I'm typing this message, is dying of bone cancer, and lung cancer, brought on by his long addiction to cigarettes, and tobacco. My uncle, my moms brother, who I love like a brother, has an addiction to marijuana that he has never been able to shake. My sister Michelle, who I miss beyond words, is in the grave, and left 2 beautiful children because of her addiction to meth. I'm not going to say much more, because I have a very short fuse for addicts. Being an addict is portraying the ultimate in selfishness. They think only about themselves, with no regard of what it is doing to others around them who love them. They are allowing themselves to be fooled into the notion that they have to have meth, pot, alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco, whatever the vice may be, to cope with life. Well, that simply isn't what we've been created and put on this earth for. Big Lenny

Hey Puc, As usual, you make some very valid points. As far as the Goldwing weighing 200lbs less than the new Venture, now that is pretty dang amazing! Honda does some crazy cool stuff with the design of the Wing that is underneath all that Tupperware. I remember a few years back, The Discovery Channel did an hour long story on the design and build of the current model Goldwing. Honda enlisted their top sport bike designer to work his magic on the Goldwing. He designed a trick oversized sportbike resembling aluminum frame for that big ol machine. That thing was a performance beast under all that plastic. So, I'm sure they have done the same with the new 2018 Wing.

BlueBeard, I sell earplugs. When you say recommendation, it is best if we know what environment you are going to be in, to know what level ear plugs you would need. BigLenny

Hey Puc, I sent the link you referred to my cousin, who rides a BMW R1200RT, and he responded back for me to go to Motorcycling.com and check out what they had on the new Wing. I did, and they had a great write up with even more detail than the link you sent, and they have a cool video of the writer over in Japan test riding the new wing on Honda's race track. You should go there and check it out. BL

HOLYYYYYY CRAP!!! I Love that ride!!! Just watched the vid. WOW! Did I hear them say 7 speed transmission?? And, automatic clutch option. Crazy! Apple Car Play? Wow! Honda gave us what we were looking for from Yammy. Big Lenny

Ya know? that video highlights 3 things that are very concerning to me: 1. The rev limiter issue. 2. The less than desired throttle response for such a large power plant. 3. The heat coming off of the bike. I might could maybe live with the rev limiter being too low, but not really sure. Who wants a bike with a rev limiter setting that is so low that it's that easy to peg on a regular basis? The throttle response that he talked about is really sad. It's like Yamaha overdid it on the "making the ride experience smooth" plan. Touring riders absolutely want a smooth running, and smooth riding bike, but that doesn't mean we don't want a hand full of throttle response. I test rode a Harley Road Glide Ultra last week at Bikes Blues and BBQ. It had the new Milwaukee motor in it. That dang thing would get after it! Plenty of torque, plenty of throttle response. By the looks of this video, the new SV doesn't seem to have that much. The thing I'm not gonna be able to live with, is if this new bike is hotter than all get out. And what that guy on the video kept complaining about makes me very leery. It was 94 degrees Saturday while we were riding around experiencing BBB, and it was freakin hot! There wasn't much heat that I could feel coming from my RSTD, but, just sitting and riding in slow traffic with 94 degrees beating down on us, I about got too hot. The last thing I need is to be getting it from the bike I'm sitting on too. I'm in the market for a new something. We're in our 10th year with our RSTD, and we're really getting the urge to make a change. I purposely held out to see what the new Venture would be like. And, while I'm liking the styling and a ton of other stuff on the bike, the 3 areas I mentioned above could move me away from it. Now, that redesigned Goldwing that I'm starting to see glimpses of? That might be the ticket. Big Lenny

Snype, The plan is: Myself and my daughter are going to be heading out from Little Rock Friday at 6:30. We're gonna make it to Van Buren and spend the night. Then get up early Saturday morning and ride the hour up to Fayetteville. Spend the day raoming around seeing the sights of the rally, then about 4:00 or 5:00, head back to the Rock Town. My wife can't make it this year, due to a commitment she has with her mom. so my daughter, who is a school teacher in Jonesboro, is gonna drive down and jump on the bike and go with her ol Pops. Looking forward to spending some time with my girl. Big Lenny

Hey Kids, BBB starts today in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Is anybody here planning to attend? I'm thinking about heading up that way Friday. The corporate Yamaha truck is usually there, giving test rides, but I doubt they will have the new Venture. Just checking. Big Lenny