Jump to content

V7Goose

Supporting Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,588

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by V7Goose

  1. V7Goose
    There are numerous other threads with detailed discussions of this problem, but the three main causes of this problem are: Vacuum leaks Exhaust leak (almost always at the "Y" pipe joint) carb synchronization A lot of people here think you need to plug the Air Induction System to stop the problem, but that is not necessary. Since your bike is new, a good dealer should be able to find and fix the problem easily. If you don't have a good dealer, check out the other discussions here, post your questions, and we will help you through it. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    I have made this offer before, but I know that a post gets lost quickly after news posts push it down the stack, so I am making it again: I have a tire changing machine and am very happy to help any member who wants to come on over to my place near DFW airport in North Texas and slap on a new tire. That offer is good even for someone who might be riding through the area and wants to order a new tire to be shipped here (just coordinate the dates with me first so I will be here when you show up!). In addition to changing tires, I can balance carbs, cut down windshields, install vents, etc. I am happy to help anyone I can, just give me a shout. I don't ask anything in return, except maybe bring a six pack of beer when you come over - I hate to work dry! Ride safe, Goose
  3. V7Goose
    I personally don't see any reason why you could not just buy the spring and gasket, remove the spring bolts and replace the Yamahaha spring with the stronger PCW spring without ever disturbing the clutch stack. It might save you $10 bucks and work just as well, but I can't say for sure since I chose to replace the inside disk too. Your results MAY be just as good by only doing the spring, but you WILL need a new gasket too. I am happy with my results. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    At the risk of boring redundancy with other threads, I thought I'd post my experience with the PCW clutch spring upgrade in my 05 QuickSilver. The bike has about 40,000 miles on it, and I thought I had been noticing just a bit of clutch slippage on hard acceleration and quick gear shifts. The problem was absolutely confirmed while we were riding back up from Corpus Christi last week and I did a 5th gear roll-on around 80 to pass - wasn't really getting anywhere like I expected, but a quick glance down at the tach showed the engine did pick up speed pretty quick! Ooops, had to take the passing pretty easy for the rest of the ride home. I called PCW to order the spring "kit", and they tried gently to talk me into ordering all new clutch plates too. I demurred and said "just the spring." I did ask them for info about why they wanted to replace the inside special half disk and wave washer with a full disk - why did they think that was better than the original design? The explanation kind of made sense that Yamaha had been extra careful for the wussy American market to design a clutch that was easy to pull and would always engage without any snatch or jerk. Since I don't consider myself a wuss, I decided to go ahead and replace it with the full size plate like they suggest. The kit consists of just the new thicker PCW spring, one stock Yamaha friction plate, and one stock Yamaha gasket. Just like others have reported, the instructions were easy to follow and the job was done quickly and without incident. I did take the opportunity to measure the thickness of my existing clutch plates to check for wear, and found that they were well withing stock tolerance (actually just a bit thicker than the new plate that came with the kit). This matched my expectations, since there is no way a wet clutch should be worn out in 40,000 miles! It is tempting to blame the slipping on the oil I was using, but since it was old-stock Mobile1 red-top, changed only 1,000 miles ago, that doesn't really make sense either. I guess it was just the wussy stock clutch spring. Anyway, I am very happy with the new spring - just a bit more tension noticeable in the hand, but not enough to bother anyone, I think. It does engage a tad bit further out, but that was a very minor change. I have not noticed any jerkiness or change in the smoothness of the engagement from going to the new full sized plate in the inside of the stack. For anyone who does a lot of riding, I would strongly recommend this spring kit now, even before you notice any clutch slipping. It is quite reasonably priced, easy to do, and will probably prevent your ever having any clutch problems for the life of your bike. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    I'll say this with all the humility and respect I can muster - that is one of the least intelligent things you can do. I do not mean to insult any member, but I realize not everyone might understand why a particular circuit has the size of fuse that it does. The fuse size in a circuit is intended to protect the WIRE, not the load, so it is selected based on how much current the existing wire can safely handle without melting. Just increasing the fuse size and running a load greater than what the circuit was originally sized is the fastest and easiest way to start a fire and burn up you bike, short of just throwing a match in the gas tank. This is NOT something you should consider. On the subject of which compressor to use, check out my posts on the second page of this thread for details and pictures of one run from the engine compression: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13247&highlight=compressor&page=2 Goose
  6. V7Goose
    96 to 550 is nice; it gets over close to the badlands, but does not really go through it (if I remember right). Some of it will be very pretty, but likely hot too. Personally, I'd head further North out of Santa Fe. Try 285 to Tres Piedras, then cut over through Tierra Amarilla to Chama, and take 64 over to Farmington. Ride Safe, Goose
  7. V7Goose
    I agree with the sentiments of this thread, but the reality is often different than the desires. When I bought my first RSV in 2004 I tried for two years to get regular (or even irregular) meets going in the North Texas area with very little success. We have a LOT of members in this area, but I think the most I ever got together were 3 (with me being one of them!). Hell, Lowell rode over from East Texas more than anyone else would even ride from Dallas or Fort Worth! So I gave up. Obviously, I was doing something wrong, or maybe it was just me? But I still got tired of trying. Goose
  8. V7Goose
    The ShowChrome windshield, available from JC Whitney or many internet sites that specialize in touring bikes (such as WingThings) is 4 inches shorter than the stock shield, and it is a lot cheaper than the 5" shorter Yamaha short shield. Alternatively, cutting down the stock shield is relatively easy. You can also add round pop vents in about 30 minutes. Goose
  9. V7Goose
    I don't measure the volume when I refill, just watch the glass. I fill anywhere from 1/2 glass to all the way up to just a small bubble visible on top. After 55,000 miles on two RSVs, I have never had a problem with this. Goose
  10. V7Goose
    This is pretty much standard on all RSVs - normal, a bit irritating, but nothing to worry about. Ride Safe, Goose
  11. V7Goose
    If all you want to do is protect it for the winter, just go rent a small self storage unit. Just like a garage, and it will probably be cheaper than anything you could buy. Goose
  12. V7Goose
    Hey Joe, BEFORE you wipe it off, I'd suggest you just take it ASAP to a dealer and ask them to fix it under warranty - their computer will tell them if it is still in the 5 year period, but even if it is past, Yamaha has fixed stuff after warranty before. Especially something like this that is a known problem and so easy to see that the crimp is bad and had to be from the very beginning. Can't hurt to try. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    Leaking joint at the Y pipe is a known problem on many of these bikes - if your bike is still under warranty, they will replace it. If not, we can fix it with a little JB Weld. We did that for Don's bike in Fort Collins last year. The stuff you see on the chrome heat shield is not actually bluing from heat - the heat shields can never get that hot. You are seeing exhaust gas deposits from the leak, and they generally just wipe off. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    The previous comments are right on the mark. Although this is not unheard of, it isn't particularly common, either. I wouldn't pay a dealer $350 to clean the carbs! Just run some SeaFoam through it and enjoy the ride. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    I had a couple of claims over the years with Progressive and always found them very responsive and fair. The only complaints I had was the way the rate always increased every year (even without any claims). I finally got tired of them playing that game and switched to Nationwide (saved a couple of hundred bucks), who I had last year when I crashed the 05. Took them a long time to resolve the claim, but that was because they lost two adjusters during the process. I also did not push them because I was injured and not able to personally assess the bike to determine if I wanted to keep it. In the end, they did exactly what I wanted and gave me a very fair settlement. So one thumbs up for Progressive and one thumbs up for Nationwide. Ride Safe, Goose
  16. V7Goose
    Those are excellent tire pressures to start with on the Venoms. Some here will tell you to run at max sidewall on these tires, but I strongly believe NOT. If you decide to try that, make sure you do a before and after comparison in some long sweepers with rough road surface. I find that with the bike loaded in these conditions and running 50 lbs in the rear, the bike is twitchy and feels a bit like it is flexing. Dropping the rear to anything under 48 lbs totally solves that problem. Interestingly, I recently experienced the same thing with new Pirelli tires when the rear was inflated too much. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    There is nothing more true than the fact that tire mileage is more individualistic than just about anything else we could compare. I get about 14,000 out of a Venom rear tire, and 25,000 to 28,000 out of a Venom front. My stock Brickstone rear tire was toast in under 8,000 miles. My brother, with similar riding style, just replaced his stock Dunlop 404 at 11,000 miles. Those miles/tire seem to be in line with what is commonly reported here by others, but certainly not everyone. That doesn't make me better or worse than someone else, just more average. Anyone who is smoother on the clutch, easier on the throttle and brake, or rarely downshifts to slow down could likely get better tire mileage, but they would be less average. Nothing wrong with that, right? To those who can manage it, my congratulations. But I advise the "average" rider to not be fooled into thinking they should expect to match everything they read. ANYONE reporting more than 20,000 miles on a rear tire from a Royal Star Venture is reporting an extraordinarily unique situation. I think I envy them, but I may not want to be them. I'd have to know a lot more. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    Based on my experience, it seems unlikely they ever used 3rd, 4th or 5th gears. But I'll bet they are real safe riders! Ride anything slow and easy enough and it'll damn near last forever. I just can't do that. I ain't crazy, but I ain't boring either. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    Bookmarks are just URLs, not IP adresses. They should all work fine. Mine do. I bet the problem was just the IP cache on his machine needing to be flushed. Goose
  20. V7Goose
    Lift or Jack? Personally, I don't think there is much difference in the jacks. I have looked at them at Sam's, Pep Boys, and Sears, and they are very similar. I have the Sears one, and I find it just fine. My only concern is that the lowering lever is touchy and difficult to "ease" down. All of them need some type of adapter to fit around the engine. Most seem to use hockey pucks, but I just use 2x2 wood blocks. Use it a lot and like it a lot. I wouldn't put a monster like the RSV on a lift table. Goose
  21. V7Goose
    You pegged it - this was the first and only time I ever tried that search selection (on the left). I would agree to dump it! Thanx Goose
  22. V7Goose
    Every Venture I have checked is optimistic on the speedo, generally by an average of 9% when checked with a GPS unit. I have never seen one that was high by a fixed amount at any speed. Anyway, these tires aren't so much bigger to make a significant difference in the actual speed - checked against a GPS mine was still 9% high this week (indicated 84 MPH = actual 76 MPH). I always just figure it at 10% and automatically calculate the difference (5=50, 66=60, 77=70, etc.). It used to bother me, but now I actually like it. Sounds a bit strange, but it is all in the mental suggestive impact. I like to push the speed a bit, and even though I KNOW an indicated 80 is actually about 72 and therefore perfectly safe legally at our normal 70 MPH speed limit, just seeing the speedo indicating 80 makes me much less likely to push it higher! Goose BTW - on the bikes I have checked, the ODOMETER is much closer to actual than the speedometer.
  23. V7Goose
    No issues - you will be fine with that combination. Enjoy your trip, Goose
  24. V7Goose
    You say you have new tires, but did not mention the brand. If you have Brickstones, you probably are not gonna be a happy person. Even with new tread, they don't seem to hold well on even dry pavement. I ride year round in any weather, and I have ridden in a lot of very nasty storms on the Venture (solid rain all the way from Texas to the Great Smokey Mountains last year the week after Thanksgiving), and this bike does wonderfully in those conditions with any decent tires. Ride safe, Goose
  25. V7Goose
    Performance seems OK to me, but none of the searches I tried a little while ago came back with any hits. Goose
×
×
  • Create New...