Kirby

I just got it clean and shine.

Mine (2009)was cold blooded like the rest when it was new, but several years ago while at MD at Freebird's, V7Goose adjusted the carbs and it hasn't needed choking anymore unless the temperature drops into the 50's. Sometimes folks try to make these bikes idle too low (700-800 rpms) when they are suppose to idle around 1000 rpms. Some want the bike to lope like a Harley and it just wasn't designed to do that.

Another possibility is that you may be missing on 1 or 2 cylinders. You'd be amazed at how good a 4 cylinder such as these run on 3 cylinders. When you first start the bike, quickly touch each of the exhausts and see if they are all the same temp. Hope this helps.

The rim...,clean and polish, repeat. Leave the tire out in the hot Sunshine for a couple of hours. Use some type of tire lube and lots of it. Try not to get it inside of the tire if using beads to balance. It took 105 psi and several tries to get the beads to seat so that's why the tire needs to be a hot as it can.I set my regulator on my compressor for 80 psi at first and kept going up and letting off the pressure until it finally popped. Like to have scared me to death when it did. If it doesn't seat right away just let it sit out in the Sunshine and come back later after a couple of hours. Run the regulator up in 5 lbs increments and letting out the pressure until it seats. I static balanced and then put in 3 ounces of beads just for good measure. the tire balanced very well. Hope this helps.

Ok I tried to post this last night from my phone but dropped it before I finished so I just said I'd wait until today. My rear tire is a T/A radial in 155/80-15. My front tire is an Avon Cobra radial 150/80-16. I already was running this tire with a Michelin commander II on the back. I had tried the Khumo Powerstar car tire several years ago but didn't like the way it acted. The T/A is nothing like that. It has a sweet ride. I am running 45 psi in the back and 40 in the front. You would think that this would be a bit too much until you get down and look at how much footprint the car tire has just leaning on the side stand. There is more contact there than there ever was with a motorcycle tire. As far as the ride, all I can say is, it's just different. Rear braking is greatly improved. Even before the tire was 100 miles down the roadd, I had an occasion for a hard braking exercise when a FedEx truck ran a stop sign and I truly believe that a mc tire would have broken loose and the result would not have been pretty. Don't get me wrong, I was already on the front brakes but hadn't quite broken traction up front. I came away with a newfound respect for having more rubber on the ground!! The only negative I can think of is, because of the square design of the tread, the tire wants to go to a lower surface in the road. This is especially apparent at intersections where big rigs have wallowed out ruts in the pavement. The trick is, don't fight it, go ahead and ride into that area when you come upon it. Bottom line, if something doesn't come along to change my mind, I'll never put another mc tire on the back of my RSV. Oh, I almost forgot. Break in was just like any other tire. Just take it easy for the first 100-200 miles. As a final thought, you have to get the idea of the tire breaking loose in a curve out of your mind. I truly believe it will hold in the curves just as good if not better than a mc tire. Anyway, that's my take on the car tire so far. Your results may be different.

Looks like the overflow tube for the carburetors. there should be another one on the other side of the bike. They just run down behind the the lower cowling behind the air filter boxes. Not a big thing.

Same here. Front lowered, no trailer. Lovin' this tire!!!!

I remember all the things ya'll were talking about. I'm afraid if it all ever crashes and we have to go back to those times there will be millions who won't make it!!!

Hey guys, my wife has been hinting at me trying out a wing for my next bike. Is there someone or some place I can go to kinda get familiar with the features and failures of the bike?I think I'm really more interested in the failures than I am the features because the features will become pretty evident once I bite the bullet.I was looking on here for a place like "Known problems" for the Wing. Is there an article here?

I've had a Healtech SpeedoHealer on my bike for several years now and it makes keeping your speedometer right after changing tires very easy. Just adjust the correction factor And take off.

Cobras have had the snakeskin design on the sidewalls for serveral years. I likem. They have always given good mileage for me. I've never had a problem mixing radials and bias ply tires on a bike. The last tire I had on the back of my bike was a Michelin CommanderII with the Cobra radial on the front. Since the MCII, I am currently using the same Cobra on the front with a car tire(GOODYEAR T/A RADIAL)on the rear.

I really didn't think you guys would have caught on to that so easily! Guess I'm not the only Trekie on this board.Hmmmmmmm, who woulda thunkit?

I think "Footsie" down in SW GA bought one several months back. He posted pics on here I think. Something about having a "middle age crisis".

How about "Transparent Aluminum"????????

I was in Wally World recently and noticed they were carrying QuickSilver motor oil. It comes in motorcycle specific for wet clutches. It is JASO certified for motorcycles. Also comes in dino and synthetic. Just wondering if anyone has tried this yet?

Yea, but can they do that in the mountains of Tennessee or North GA???How about in heavy traffic??? Really setting a good example ,aren't they!

Hey, David, I have used the Cobra in the past as well as right now. I matched it up with the Michelin CommanderII on the rear (since the ComII doesn't come in the stock size for the front)and it gave me good results. Currently I've gone to the darkside and and running the Cobra with a BF Goodrich T/A radial.

I thought about that but they'd probably come back with some mumbo jumbo about it not suppose to fit a motorcycle. Anyway, just be warned if any of you use this filter.

Just today, I had another reason to keep the site going. In the shop manual it says to remove a lot of stuff to replace the clutch slave cylinder. Well, I found out from this site that it can be done by removing only the cover that is covering the slave cylinder. Today I did it!! It was a little tough but the job was completed successfully in about 2 hours. Where else am I going to get tips like this??????

Ok boys and girls here's what I ran into today. The filter on the right is the one I just took off the bike. The one on the left is a new one purchased today from Wally World. The one on the left will not fit my bike. The top(center that has the threads in it) is flat to a slight convex shape, whereas the old one has a concave shape to it. This is the same filter I've been using for a long time. The manufacturer has changed the stamping process some way so be warned!!!! It won't fit my bike ("09 RSV) so I'll be opening boxes from here on out when purchasing a new filter.

I for one don't post too much on the site(never have really) but I do check in at least a couple of times during the day(every day) and it would be for me a huge tragedy to loose this site and the friends here. I, too, hope Yamaha will come out with a new Venture, whatever it will be. I'm like a junkie on drugs for it. Not having this site will have me going into dt's.

I, too, have gone back to the Darkside. I previously had tried the Khumo CT on my RSV and didn't like it. This time I put on a BF Goodrich TA Radial with 45 psi in it and absolutely love it so far. I even had occasion yesterday to test the stopping power of the ct when a FedEx truck ran a stop sign and was half way into my lane before getting stopped. The car tire hauled me down Sooooooo Fast , without sliding, unlike the motorcycle tires I've had in the past. I just came off a Commander II which lasted 15,200 miles and still had maybe another 1,000 miles on it. It was a good smooth tire but I, wanted to try the CT again so here I am. I am currently running a Avon Cobra Radial MC tire on the front. WoooHooo!!

I think his photo is on the wall at the local Post Office!!!

Here we go again!!!

If I remember right way back when the wing first came out as a 1000cc 4 cylinder engine without all the extra stuff like fairings and saddlebags, one of the bigger motorcycle magazines(I think it was either Cycle magazine or Cycle World magazine) tested the bike in the 1/4 mile at somewhere in the 12's.