yzernie

I'll copy and paste this to the other thread cowpuc started and answer it there.

See answers below.

I forgot to put in a topic on suspension. So... - Suspension... --- FORKS...as with any new bike things need to get loosened up. At first they were a little more stiff than I thought they would be. The more I have ridden the more I find the forks to have loosened up and are now nice and smooth. They have a smooth travel through out the range and are very well suited for highway and back road riding. Where I live the roads are not maintained very well, if at all. There is a lot of rough pavement and although they are fine as they are, if I ever have to have them apart I'd probably go with a stiffer fork springs. Now keep in mind they are just fine out on the highway and roads but where the roads are not maintained and the road is better suited to an adventure bike, they are a little softer than I would like them to be and just as I feel the same about my HD forks. AGAIN, out on the highway and paved roads they are very good. Just like their dirt bikes, Yamaha got the forks right. --- SHOCK...I have not adjusted them from the setting they came with which I think is close to the softest position. The shock is WAY ahead of the game when comparing it to the shocks on my HD. There is a section of freeway that has some pretty abrupt expansion joints at the overcrossings and this thing makes me feel so much more stable. When I hit them on my HD the jolt is spine bending and will shut off the cruise control. I hit them with this bike and it is still a jolt but nowhere near as sharp a hit and my spine isn't screaming for help!! Where I really notice a difference is on the side roads where they will be undulations in the pavement and dips (so to speak) the motion of the shock is so much smoother than the HD. So much so I told the wife she will like this suspension much better than the HD. I'll play with the adjusters soon and give my thoughts on the other settings. --- Engine heat...I have done some city riding in toward Los Angeles where you travel so slow from light to light that I never thought I would get the heck out of that cesspool. Please remember it is an air cooled bike so some heat in 30 minutes of stop and go traffic is going to happen. It does put odd some heat BUT it is nowhere near the heat my HD puts off under the same conditions. The majority of it was felt on the left side because the rear cylinder head pipe comes out on that side. It has two heat shields on it and that explains why I wasn't feeling the heat like I do on my HD. When you are moving along, there is nothing felt by the rider and since the CEO has yet to be on the bike I can't say about the passenger. I don't see where it would be any different than what I am feeling. In the shop right after they got it finished. **Cloudy day so it doesn't look as bright as it really is.** In the parking lot still giddy with excitement!! Ready to roll out. The whole shop was out side. At a stop light trying to figure some things out!! LOL

Absolutely, I forgot to put comments about the suspension.

I apologize for the delayed reply. New bike, a 1 year old grandson for Christmas, etc, etc. 2018 Yamaha/Star Venture, Transcontinental First impression?...well, it's freakin awesome!! I don't even know where to start, but I'll go front to back... - Front tire...I don't use Bridgestone tires so I was unsure of how it would handle. Not only does it not follow the road snakes but out here in Califreakia they grind the concrete of the freeways parallel with the way you are traveling. There is always two areas right in the tracks that have ridges in them and although they do catch them the 'wiggle' is nothing like the HD Ultra. - Fairing...wind management is way better than my HD Ultra, glove boxes are easy to get to and use on the fly, instrumentation is spot on, speedo seems to be more accurate than past RSV models. - Headlights/Front turn signals...WAY better than the LED lights on my HD. just as bright but put out a better beam pattern. The brights are...well...bright, really bright. The fog lights really help light up the dark spot close to the bike. The turns signals are bright too and have a good visible pattern to the sides too. Bright enough that they light up the reflective road signs really well. - Hand controls...There is a learning curve there because most things are opposite of my HD but after riding for a while the controls are a non-issue. I do wish they hand controls were lighted because at night with thick gloves on there is no way to tell if you are pushing the correct toggle. trial and error I guess!! - Fuel tank...I feel like I am piloting a KC135 Stratotanker but it was easy to get used to the extra width (especially knowing the added distance I'll get out of a tank), the fuel door seems a little flimsy and I fully expect to be reading of people breaking them trying to fuel the bike, especially out here because we have those spring loaded vent hoses on the nozzles. The nozzle will click off before the tank is full and you can easily put in another half gallon of gas. - Rider controls...Excellent. I have some nerve damage in my right wrist and had to raise the bars up a bit to be more comfy for me. I also adjusted the levers to a more comfy position for me. Foot controls are good but I may end up moving the foot brake a little forward but not going to do anything until the billet brake pad comes in. - Infotainment system...Harmon Kardon is also on my HD so I just had to learn the different formatting. Everything that I have used, including the NAV, had worked flawlessly. NAV did seem a little slow when in the city and high rise buildings but I have learned the antennas for both the NAV and XM are buried in the fairing. When they have the fairing off I am going to ask them to relocate both upward and to the front of the bike. No reception issues so far but I'd feel better if they were relocated. - Stereo...It's a Yamaha stereo system. It blows away my HD "Boom Audio" system. Clarity at 25mph or 90mph (so I was told by a friend ) is spectacular. It will go all the way up to the volume limit with no distortion. - Headset plug in...I was amazed to find my HD lower cord worked with the bike. PTT is easy to get to and audio clarity is only as good as your headset. I have used J&M stuff for years and all works very well. I even made a call to the wife while on the freeway and she said the clarity of the call was better than me being in the car or truck. So, all good!! - Seat...The seat is comfy and after 1450 miles it seems to be breaking in just fine. The most comfy motorcycle seat I have ever had was my 2005 RSV and this seat is pretty close to that one. I ordered the taller backrest but I don't have it yet. - Brakes...My HD has linked brakes so the transition was pretty easy. If you are not used to linked brakes there is a learning curve but it's not that bad. I haven't gotten on the brakes real hard but the stopping power is what I expected from Yamaha, smooth and powerful. - Engine...Here is where I really am impressed. First thing I noticed was NO SHAKING at a stop light of stop sign!! I did my first 600 in touring mode and after the service I started playing with the sport mode. What an amazing difference between the modes. In sport mode I took off from a red light and almost ran into the back of the car in front of me...lol. Where it really helps is in slow speed, two up riding. So far, I am averaging 38+mpg but I live in a rural area so just about all of my riding is at highway speeds...55-80mph. - Transmission...Shifting is smooth and even smoother with a few miles on it now. Shifts are crisp and neutral is easy to find when stopped. No whiney trans noise either. - Clutch...Prototypical Yamaha hydraulic clutch, flawless operation. City riding did not show any clutch fade from heat. Shifting did get just a little bit notchy feeling in the city and when it got really hot but I expected that. Nowhere near as bad as my HD. - Final drive...Quiet. I don't have an issue with a belt drive like some do and you don't lose hp/tq to the rear wheel like you do with a shaft drive. - Rear seat...Can't answer that as the wife hasn't been on it yet cause she has been busy and now sick. I refuse to ride homo with my buddy to see how the back seat feels!!! - Storage...HOLY SMOKES, this thing has enough room for small children in the saddle bags. The trunk is caverness and I can easily fit our full helmets in there with room for other things. The USB in the trunk is awesome for charging my phone or iPad while rolling down the road. The right glove box also has a USB cable but with my garage remote Velcro's to the side closest to me there isn't enough room for my phone in there. The glove box is kind of kidney shaped and if I move my remote to the front of the glove box the phone will fit just fine. Going to have the wife make me some felt liners for the glove boxes. - Rear tire...Same as the front I posted above. My only concern is none of the major tire manufacturers have that exact same tire size...yet...200/55R16. It is the same size rear as on the new Goldwings so I'm sure the tire folks are working on getting it out there. There are plenty of manufacturers with 200/60R16 tires out there and I'm sure 1/4" of mounted height won't be an issue. I checked under the rear fender and there would be plenty of room for that size. - Rear lighting...Brighter than the front turn signals when on brake or turn. Lots of light back there but for me riding on the dark rural roads and highways I may add son additional lighting back there. Once I get my service manual and see what kind of amps are available I'll decide what to do. - Antenna's...Not much to the CB/radio antennas. They seem to be doing the job just fine. CB has some static on transmission and receiving and I have traced the ground toward the front of the bike but the tank would have to come up to see where it ends up. Hoping it is just a loose ground as is so common with motorcycle CBs. I am absolutely pleased so far. I'm a realist and know anything with moving parts can have an issue but so far all is well. Plan on putting on many more miles this winter. Doing some personalization and experimenting to the ergonomics of the bike (rider controls, handlebar positioning, windshield) for my liking but this is a damned nice scooter and Yamaha did really well with it. Any questions, feel free to fire them off to me.

It is not in the saddle bag, not sure where you got that info. It is on the frame at the front of the saddle bag. I do believe you have to open the saddle bag to check the oil.

Mine came off the ship last week and was at the dealership on Friday the 8th. They had to wait a week for the Transcon kit to arrive a and put it all together yesterday. Curious about the heat as well but I'm confident it isn't going to be any worse than my HD. My son's Stratoliner doesn't have all of the bodywork like the Venture but I never noticed the heat on it....at all. Will be picking it up in a couple hours and I'll post some pics.

With all due respect, Yamaha has historically made sure any new release was spot on before hitting the showroom floors. This new Venture is no exception. IMO, the reps can be full of BS, after all they are salesmen, but this delay was warranted.

Picking mine up in the morning, they were putting the finishing touches on it before they closed tonight.