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atlm

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Everything posted by atlm

  1. atlm
    The pegs are off to their new home. Anyone interested in trading something for the cup holder? It appears to be a Satin Finish Kruzer Kaddy. Update: The cup holder is off to its new home, also.
  2. atlm
    When I bought my bike, it had a set of Kuryakyn Dually ISO pegs (with offset) on it, along with a chrome/brushed looking cupholder, both which I removed when I got it home. The bike only had 8k miles on it, so the pegs are in great shape. On the bottom of one of the offsets near the clamp, there is a small scuff. It can be seen in the second 2 pics, of the bottoms of the pegs. It wasn't noticeable on the bike because it faces down. I'm really comfortable with my feet on the floorboards, and wear a full face helmet, so I don't ever plan to reinstall them. There are a few items I would like to add to the bike, so I was hoping someone here might like to do a trade for items of similar value. I'm definitely interested in handlebar risers, and also looking at lamp visors, the chrome trim for the front fender, and a good set of vacuum guages. I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but I couldn't put a price and don't know if the pegs fit 1st gens, so I'm trying my post here.
  3. atlm
    I thought the lower fork clamp itself was threaded, but I'm not 100% certain. I don't remember a bracket behind it. Look at the first picture in this thread: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1656]Passing Light Spacer - VentureRider.Org[/ame] The black tabs below the headlight are the bottom of the large bracket that holds the front fairing in place. The gray aluminum fork clamp behind it is threaded (I think). You should have round spacers that go between the black tabs and the passing light bracket. The bolt size I listed is for the passing light bar. For the block, it looks like the countersunk thickness takes the place of the spacers, and the stock bolts should work. In the first picture in the thread above, it shows a normal allen head bolt resting in front of the block, so it looks like that person got rid of the button head bolts, also. I would put some anti-seize on the threads of the bolts you have and see if they can be threaded in by hand, without the passing lights in place (no load on the bolts). That should answer a lot of questions. I'm wondering why a shop would loosen that bracket to look at wiring. The only reason that bracket needs to be removed is to remove the top triple clamp. I'm concerned that your issue might be thread damage from the bolts being cross threaded when installed. That would also make them very difficult to re-install tightly. Again, threading them in by hand, with anti-seize on them, and trying to tighten them down without the light bar blocking your vision of what's going on should give you answers.
  4. atlm
    I had issues removing and reinstalling the original passing lamp button-head bolts that were on mine. The ball end allen wrenches couldn't get enough "bite", and normal allen wrenches were at the wrong angle. I ended up bending a normal allen wrench to get them off, which also worked well to tighten them. Since that felt a bit Mickey Mouse to me, I replaced them with stainless steel allen bolts, with a thin coat of anti-seize on the threads. The stock size is 8mm dia, 1.25 pitch, 35mm long. Ace Hardware had them. Niether Home Depot nor Lowe's (by me) carries stainless steel metric allen head. The bolts go through 2 holes in the bottom of the metal bracket that the fairing bolts to. That bracket is bolted to the top triple clamp, as well. If that bracket wasn't bolted to the top triple clamp straight, the bolt holes for the passing light bracket will not be lined up. That happened to me the first time I disassembled everything to lower the front end. I ended up disassembling everything again, loosening the metal bracket at the upper triple clamp, inserting the passing light bolts (temporarily) to align everything, and re-tightening the bracket at the upper triple clamp. After that, everything was lined up nicely, and the passing lamp bolts go right in by hand. Hope that helps.
  5. atlm
    2 horns will put out more volume than 1, I believe by 3 dB. Since it's relatively high pitched, having them on both sides of the bike is more effective, also, since higher frequencies are directional.
  6. atlm
    For the last new battery I purchased (from Wally World), I used a Battery Tender Jr. for 24 hours, and that battery lasted a long time. I sold that bike, and it's still going strong for the new owner. The battery was the sealed version, where you add the acid yourself.
  7. atlm

    lift adapter

    atlm replied to Woody's topic in General Tech Talk

    I agree. No ruffled feathers, and good to make folks here aware.
  8. atlm

    lift adapter

    atlm replied to Woody's topic in General Tech Talk

    After I bought my lift adapter from Larry, I saw that one on eBay, which cost less. Then I looked hard at it and figured out they had stolen his design. It's a free market, but that's kinda shady, and we (buyers) make a statement with where we spend our money. 1) Larry engineered it and offers them here at a reasonable price 2) Larry's now has legs, which are super awesome. My RSV is resting on the legged adapter for the winter. 3) Larry's Stebel horn adapter is super fantastic and good looking, and I want to support and encourage that kind of ingenuity and quality 4) I don't want to support theft of intellectual property or engineered designs, regardless of whether or not a patent was applied for ps Thanks Larry. You rock.
  9. atlm
    There was an objective test of K&N filters done by one of the publications I subscribe to. It might have been Consumer Reports, but I really can't remember, as it was a couple of years ago or more. What I do remember is the results of the testing showing that the only thing that increased was noise, which gave the impression of more power, but no extra power on the dyno. The tests were done on passenger vehicles (cars/trucks), with the factory air intake tract system removed, and replaced with K&N "high performance" setups for those vehicles. Because of the removal of the intake tracts, with the filter exposed directly to air in the engine compartment, more dirt did get through. Their conclusion was that none of the K&N claims for that system (better mileage, more power) were substantiated, and the stock system did a better job, at a much lower cost. There were a lot of posts about it in the Toyota Tundra forums immediately after the test was published, since K&N has an expensive filter setup for the Tundra that many owners had installed or were considering, with the same claims.
  10. atlm
    That was also my short term solution when I first installed my GPS. I had an unused cigarette ligher adapter (for a flashlight) that I clipped at the wires and used to plug the GPS into the bike. When I split the fairings for another job, I wired the GPS to the back of the cigarette lighter plug inside the fairing. I'd recommend, if and when you do wire it inside the fairing, to use male/female plugs on your connections. That way it can easily be removed for maintenance, or if you ever change GPS units for some reason. Use female on the +12v lead on the bike (surrounded by insulation so it doesn't accidentally short), and male on the ground lead on the bike. That method also keeps you from accidentally plugging it in backwards after maintenance.
  11. atlm
    Nice bike, Jack. I love the color. I'm looking forward to riding with you at another M&E. With the way your new bike handles, you'll have to keep an eye out to make sure the rest of us haven't disappeared behind you!
  12. atlm
    Most of my previous (17) street bikes were sportbikes, with a V-Max and a few other less sporty bikes mixed in. Most of my riding was 1-up, and most of my rides were relatively short, so those fit fine. I'm a bit of a speed junky. I raced in the 80's on Honda 750's, and bought Team Valvoline's GSX-R 750 a few years ago and raced (WERA) for a while. My favorite 1-up streetbike was my highly modified '03 Z-1000. In 2005 I met my wife, and that changed everything. The first time I took her near top speed on the Z-1000 was the last time she rode on it. Where (pure) sportbikes just start to get warmed up are speeds where getting caught means going to jail, and where passengers are getting windblasted so much it's just not fun for them. After experimenting with another bike that was fast in the twisties but somewhat comfortable 2-up, followed by the purchase of a trailer to take us to the mountains to eliminate most freeway travel, we finally realized that we were spending about 20 minutes a ride in the serious twisties, and many hours on mild twisties and straightaways. Most of our riding friends have cruisers, and were comfortable and relaxed for the day but did the twisties a bit slower, where we spent most of the day with her not that comfortable, waiting for the high speed twisties. We tried aftermarket seats, sheepskin, beads, a Butt Buffer, and different backrest positions, but it just wasn't working. This past Spring, Yamaha had demo days near us. After the first test ride on another bike, the Yamaha guy recommended we test drive the RSTD. A big, heavy, underpowered V-twin cruiser, for us? No way. But we rode it anyway, and both liked it very much. She and I couldn't believe how smooth it was for a V-twin, and how much power it had at higher revs. Then the guy told us it was a 98hp V-4. oooooohhhh. Her only complaint was that the passenger seat was really hard. So we sat on the RSV, and she loved it. At the time, it was just fun for us, since we didn't think we were in the market for a bike, so we left. A few weeks later, after a few more rides on our bike, we went back for another look. In the end, we ended up comparing the Goldwing, the Harley Electra Glide Classic and Ultra, Kawasaki's new Voyager, and the Venture. The purchase was all about the passenger accomodations, and the Venture won, by far. On previous bikes, 150 miles was about where she stopped having fun. On the Venture, we recently did a 320 mile ride, and she was ready for more when we got home. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. All bikes are a compromise. The "best bike" is subjective, and dependent on the intended use. If this purchase is for your wife to enjoy riding more, I'd highly recommend test riding a Venture. Yamaha has a test ride program for the RSV and RSTD which most dealers are a part of. If you're used to sport bikes and find the stock steering a bit heavy, leveling the bike makes it much more nimble. Depending on your inseam, you can either raise the rear with "leveling links" or drop the front (instructions in the VR tech section). I just did and it makes a huge difference.
  13. atlm
    I highly recommend the Stebel air horn. I put them on all my bikes now, since stock horns are completely ineffective. Carbon One (on this forum) makes an adapter for the 2nd gen Venture that works perfectly. It comes with the instructions to wire it. The horn comes with everything else you need, including the relay. Since the battery is only about a foot away from where the horn mounts, it's an easy install.
  14. atlm
    When I was researching GPS units, the 2 biggest gripes I read about for the Tom Tom are that the screen is not readable in sunlight and a lot of folks have had reliability problems with the electrical connections on the mount.
  15. atlm
    I believe it was one like this, from GROM (it's been a while): http://cgi.ebay.com/GROM-iPod-V2-car-Adapter-Honda-Acura-91-05-MBUSI2_W0QQitemZ400086417466QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d2702403a With GROM-IPOD adapter you will be able to: Integrate your iPod into car audio system easily Get CD quality sound from the iPod through existing car stereo Control and operate your iPod with car stereo buttons or steering wheel controls Convert iPod into virtual CD changer Disk 1 allow to control iPod from its clicking wheel. Select your music from iPod and have it played. Stereo will control iPod Disk 2-6 mapped to playlists you create on iPod. Full control from car stereo. The following information is displayed: Disk #, Track #, time etc MIX, REPEAT work as usual SCAN allow to skip +-10 tracks for faster navigation Playlist positions are preserved for fast operation [*]Shuffle songs, switch between tracks, playlists and adjust volume - all by using head unit controls [*]Have your iPod charged We'd just have to figure out which "Vehicle specific cable" would work, or could be modified to work.
  16. atlm
    !#$%^&! I took it out for a test ride around town yesterday afternoon. Handled fine, feels lighter and more sensitive. Something looked off with the handlebars. Then I figured out they're just slightly twisted, maybe 2mm at the clamps. AAAAAAAAAAaaaaargh! Also, the front brakes are really weak and kinda squishy at the lever, so I must have gotten air into the line somehow when the handlebars were being turned in all different directions. So I guess I get to take it all apart again this weekend to straighten things out, and then bleed the brakes. I think when this is done, I'm going to put together more detailed instructions and ask for them to be added to the post in VR tech.
  17. atlm
    I was wondering the same thing. I bought an adapter for my wife's car that uses the CD changer input from her factory head unit to control and charge the iPod. The CD track buttons (1 through 6) each choose one of the first 6 playlists in the iPod. Obviously not as nice as my Alpine head unit with full iPod interface, but a LOT cheaper and quicker to install, and it's what she wanted, since she liked her factory system. I know some car stereos use the same, or similar, CD changers as the Venture (isn't it a generic Clarion?), so I'm guessing something must be out there. I just haven't made time to look yet, since I haven't used the radio on the bike yet.
  18. atlm
    Sometimes when going about 60 mph, I hear a high pitched sound coming from I-don't-know-where. If the bike is straight up, it goes away. If I lean slightly left or right, it's there, significantly louder than the wind and road noise. Doesn't seem to matter if I'm accelerating, decelerating or pull in the clutch and coasting. Since it only seems to happen at one small range of speed, gets much louder when at a slight angle, and doesn't seem to change with accel/decel, my guess is that it's the tires, but I thought I'd post here just in case it's something that needs to be addressed. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Do (Dunlop 404) tires whine at certain speeds?
  19. atlm
    Update. The front end is now lowered 1". I need to take it out for a ride to see how it handles. Back end: The stock dogbones measure 175mm center to center, and are 6mm (~1/4") thick. The Baron's links are 7/16" longer for a 1.5" drop. (11.1mm) The leveling links post says 1/4" shorter for 1" rise. (6.1mm) For 1/2" drop, that comes to 3.7mm (using Barons) or 3mm (using leveling links). So, I wanted links with 12mm holes, with 178mm or 178.7mm center to center spacing, 6mm thick. I couldn't find any specs on the links being sold on eBay, or anywhere else. They only list the bikes they're supposed to fit. So, that turned out not to be an option. I bought a tabletop drill press and a large set of drill bits from Harbor Freight, and a piece of 1 1/4" x 1/4" x 36" steel from Home Depot last week, and made some links. Time consuming, but not complicated. I started with a punch, then a small pilot hole, then enlarged the hole a little at a time with 5 different bits. To keep the holes in each pair of links aligned, I used 3 sets of vice grips: one in the center and one on the end not being drilled. When drilling was done on one side, I clamped that side, and then unclamped the other side so nothing would move. Once done, I rounded the corners. 4 hours later I had 2 sets of longer dogbones. One set has holes at 177.8mm. The other set has holes at 179mm. Those should provide just under and just over 1/2" drop. Before installing the links, I'm going to ride it with just the front end lowered, since that's supposed to level the bike, and it might be great just like that. I'll post with updates.
  20. atlm
    A few hours after completing the job, a similar thought came to me - screwing angle iron with holes (like garage door opener supports) to the ceiling above the front of the bike, and suspending the parts with rope. If I ever have to take things apart again, now I know (from you) that should help. I also can't get to the air valves anymore, since they're mostly behind the handlebars now. I run 0 psi front and rear, so it's not really important.
  21. atlm
    I lowered the front end of my RSV yesterday. It took 7 hours, and I ended up calling a friend over half way through the project, since there were too many parts to hold and support and line up. According to the post in VR tech, it should take 1 person 2 hours. Is there a secret I'm missing? My biggest issue was dealing with all of the unbolted, but still attached, parts at once. Specifically, the rear part of the front fairing, the handlebars, and the passing lights. And more specifically, trying not to let all the parts get scratched and gouged while unattached. They were all flopping around and pulling on the cables. I finally unwired and removed the passing lights, and taped large car wash sponges to the sides of the handlebars. I already had towels over the gas tank and front fender, and rags around sharp parts, like the handlebar clamps and the studs for the 12mm bolts for the fairing. How do you support the rear part of the front fairing while it's unbolted?? and what about the handlebars? Another issue was the passing lights. I loosened the bolts almost all the way, and still couldn't clear the lights when splitting the fairing, so I ended up having to remove them, and balance them on the front fender. A bit later in the process, I got frustrated parts juggling and finally just unwired and removed them completely. Is that what's normally done? :|
  22. atlm

    new enough

    atlm replied to nickle's topic in Riding Gear

    I found them to be a great deal if the stuff fits. As has been mentioned, the prices in the Bargain Basement are usually nuts. However, the shipping gets expensive really quickly if something doesn't fit or is not what you expect. I think I paid about $30 in 2-way shipping for an item that I returned because the quality sucked. This isn't a knock on NewEnough, as shipping charges are out of their control. But for items I'm not absolutely positive about, I go local.
  23. atlm
    I'd like to start a thread about Black Friday sales, for bike related stuff that might interest riders here. I'll start it with a couple of deals I've seen. PEP Boys: - the Torin 1500 lb lift for $50 (after $20 rebate). It's normally $90-$100 there and at Northern Tools. Cycle Gear: - the Whistler 3300 Bluetooth headset for $99.99. Your can pre-order it now, and they'll ship it on Black Friday. - Scorpion EXO-400 Sting helmet for $69.95 - Battery Tender Jr. for $19.99 - on Cyber Monday (the 30th) is showing Dunlop 404 tires will be on sale. I know they aren't as good as Avons and others, but for those looking for inexpensive tires, this is an FYI.
  24. atlm

    Do you agree.

    atlm replied to piper's topic in Watering Hole

    There are a lot of people who THINK they can stop a vehicle faster in an emergency than ABS, but probably less than 1% of the driving population has that ability on dry roads, and no one I know or have read about has that ability on wet roads. Sport Rider did a comparison recently of the new CBRs with ABS and the CBRs without ABS. Of all of their riders, only 1 was able to stop the CBR without ABS in a shorter distance than the CBR with ABS, and that took him multiple tries until he finally beat it. That was on DRY clean pavement. NONE of their riders were able to stop the CBR as fast as ABS on wet pavement. These are guys that ride and race the fastest, best handling bikes on the planet for a living, and quite a few have impressive race records. In an emergency, you simply react. Your reflexes do what they have been trained to do. Very few riders have spent enough time practicing emergency maneuvers on every bike they own to the point where their reflexes will provide maximum breaking under full control of the bike on wet or dry pavement. Most riders get their experience just riding, and maybe practicing slow speed turns in parking lots. In an emergency, they absolutely do not stop as fast as ABS would allow, and many times that results in low sides, high sides, or hitting the object in front of them. That's not to say that ABS will stop all accidents, since stopping distances are a small part of accident prevention. But ABS will absolutely stop your bike, especially a 900 pound cruiser in an emergency situation, faster.
  25. atlm
    Craftsman Professional: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950191000P (regular) Craftsman aka Sears: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00950190000P Take a look at the user reviews.
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