V7Goose

White, gray, blue, brown, black . . . each of us may describe a particular smoke color differently, especially if we are trying to get more specific than just white or black smoke. The spark plugs are going to be more useful in conjunction with the smoke color, but even then, if there are multiple problems, such as too rich AND burning oil, this will make it very difficult to diagnose in words. If we are getting some darker smoke from too much gas, then the plugs should be very sooty and dry. Even if they are wet with gas when you pull them out, they should dry off relatively quickly. If a cylinder is burning significant oil, then the plug should have a dark oily appearance that does not dry off like gas does. BTW - if you are going to read the plugs, be sure to kill the engine WHILE it is doing what you are trying to find (in this case, while it is smoking hard with the throttle open). If you do this while riding it, make sure you pull in the clutch at the same time so that the engine does not keep turning over. Wet black goo in the end of the tail pipe can easily be from burning too much gas, oil or coolant, so that alone does not help us out much. Too much gas will leave a lot of black soot, and normal engine combustion creates a lot of water that will make the inside of the pipe very wet until the bike has been run at full temperature for an extended period of time (until the end of the pipe is quite hot to the touch). On the other hand, if the wetness is oil residue, then you should be able to feel it on your fingers, and it will not disappear even when the pipe is hot. Here is another simple test - with the engine warm, take out a plug and fire it up. Put your hand or a piece of white cardboard over the plug hole and see what is blowing out of each one. What color is it? What does it smell like? You might be able to do this with all the plugs out and just crank with the starter, but that might not produce enough splatter to really find out what is running through each cylinder. This is not a perfect test, since you don't have the same level of internal vacuum while the piston is on the intake stroke, but it should still give you some good info. You might want to first try this test with all the plugs out from when you shut off the engine to read them, since the cylinders will have whatever was in them while they were smoking hard. If you don't get much blown out with the starter, you can put two or three plugs back in and fire it up to check them that way. A blown head gasket can be a real problem to diagnose because the leakage can be either oil, coolant, or combustion gasses mixing in any combination. For example, oil might just be leaking from an oil line into the cylinder from normal oil pressure, or it could be leaking into both the cylinder and the coolant. It all depends on exactly where the head gasket has lost seal. I haven't studied this engine enough to know if there are pressurized oil lines feeding the heads internally or externally, so I cannot factor that into my guesses. The good thing is that a blown head gasket will most likely only affect one cylinder, so that should help in the diagnosis. Do the 1st gens have an equalizer connection between the left and right pipes like many bikes do? If no, then comparing left to right exhaust should be helpful. If there is a connection, can it be easily disconnected and plugged? How about pulling off the mufflers and running straight pipes long enough to check the smoke - is this feasible on a 1st gen? If both pipes are smoking without a connection between them, then the problem clearly cannot be just one cylinder, which would tend to focus the attention to the air intake tract. If you haven't yet tracked down where all the crankcase ventilation tubes go, I'd finish that first, as that is the easiest way to verify you are not burning oil through that route. Good luck, Goose

Sounds like a blown head gasket to me. Smoking more when you hit the gas is indicative if rising oil pressure, and more as it warms up would be consistent with thinning oil. But the gray color gives me some concern. Generally burning oil is more white than gray, so this could be caused by excess gas AND oil. Of course, describing the color is subjective too! Pull the plugs. If it is a blown head gasket, only one will show the wet oil look. If they are all sooty and gooey, then it is more likely a gas problem. Good luck, Goose

As long as you can see some air above the oil in the sight window, your level is OK - no need to drain any. As far as your question goes, I do not believe over-filling the crankcase a small amount would have ANY effect on burning oil - these engines just blow some out the vent tubes if over filled. But I know a lot more about the 2nd Gen than the old antiques! Anyway, you said your bike just started doing this a couple of weeks ago, so that indicates something is broke. Maybe it is just bad karma for not having ridden that bike enough? I mean, 6,000 miles on an 89? Come on! OK, I'll get off your case now and try and help. Are you sure it is oil burning? Coolant leaking into the cylinder through a blown head gasket will produce lots of white smoke too (mostly steam). Oil can only burn if it enters the combustion chamber - only three ways this can happen: through the valves, by the rings or blown head gasket. The best test for your problem is a compression test (including leak-down). Without a test like that or a full tear-down for inspection, I'm not sure what else you can do, but here are some possible things that could be causing it. Does it mostly smoke on start-up and then pretty much go away? If so, it indicates some leakage by your valve stems. Assuming the motor has rubber oil seals on the valve stems, it is possible that one or more of them got hard and cracked on a 17 year old motor. I do not know where the engine vents on a 1st gen, but if it is into the air box, then you have already eliminated that as a source. Sometimes the crankcase vents might be plumbed directly into one of the intake manifolds anywhere past the air filter element. You will need to track down the vent tubes to fully eliminate them as a possibility. Does the engine smoke mostly when the throttle is snapped closed? If so, it indicates the oil is bing sucked into the cylinder on the intake stroke, either past the rings or the valve guides. With only 6,000 miles on the engine, neither should be worn enough for this to happen unless you sucked something into one of the cylinders and gouged the walls. If it smokes all the time and it is not one of the vent lines or damaged cylinders, then I can only think of one very rare possibility. In many engines, the piston rings are designed to rotate slightly in normal running. This keeps the ends from wearing a notch in either the ring groves or the cylinder walls. On rare occasions, the ring end gaps can all line up providing a direct path for both oil and compression gasses to shoot by the piston. The bottom of the cylinder walls and piston skirt are oiled by some combination of splash from the crank and oil being thrown off the crank pins as it is pushed past the connecting rod bearings. if the piston rings gaps are all lined up and just happen to be in a spot that gets a direct splash of oil on the cylinder wall, then it can really lead to excessive oil use and smoking. Very rare, but it has been recorded. A compression test will absolutely identify a bad cylinder, either from damage or ring end-gap alignment, but the engine would still need to be torn down to fix it. A blown head gasket can cause all sorts of problems, including either oil or coolant (or both) in the combustion chamber, as well as coolant in the crank case or oil in the coolant! Watch out for any sign of light brown froth in the coolant or any chocolate color in the oil! I don't know how much value any of that will be to you. Good luck getting it figured out! Goose

The shock on my 05 went around 22,000. Dealer actually noticed it before I did when bike was in for service. Goose

Pilgrum, looking at all of these possible things together here can seem a bit disconcerting, but put it in perspective. Virtually all of these issues are easily and quickly handled by any competent dealer under the 5 year unlimited mileage warranty, and very few of us, if any, have had to deal with all of them. In comparison to the known problems with other big touring rigs, these problems seem quite minor. For example, what about the broken frames and dangerous front-end wobble on the GL1800s? Perhaps the most significant issue here (to me) is the known weakness in the rear shock. There is no excuse for these repeated failures, but at least Yamaha stands behind them, and even out of warranty in some cases. Worst case is that if you keep the bike longer than 5 years, you may have to invest in an after-market replacement once to solve it forever. And even at $400, you saved WAY more than this on the original purchase when you compare it to alternative machines. I have 25,000 miles on my 05 RSV, and I am still convinced it is the best buy available for what I want in a bike. Good luck, Goose

WilCruise, I'd suggest you need this bike looked at. To my knowledge, a front end wobble is NOT common on the RSV, and it is probably an indication of a potentially serious problem for you. If you are lucky, it will just be tire balance or loose steering bearings, but I'd have it checked. Good luck, Goose

OK, I suffered through a tank of gas without using 5th gear in the name of science. NO reason to ever do it again. Many of us know that the overall gear ratio in 4th gear on an RSV is identical to the overall gear ratio in 5th on a 1st gen. Also, many 1st gen owners continue to insist that their bikes routinely get better gas mileage than the 2nd gen. So out of curiosity, I just burned a full tank in my 05 RSV without hardly using 5th gear at all. Saturday I did a PGR mission up in Oklahoma a bit over 100 miles from here. I filled up just before heading home and kept it in 4th the whole way, averaging 75 - 80 MPH. Then I added one 40 mile round trip to work before I filled up. Result? I got a measly 32 MPG on that tank of gas, where I usually get 36 under the same conditions. Conclusion? The difference, if there really is one, has to be due to the overall weight of the bike and the wind resistance. It is also very evident that the overdrive gear on the RSV does give you better gas mileage when hitting the super-slab. Goose

Your handling will probably be affected somewhat by running tires that were not designed together, but this should be relatively minor. I'd order a matched set, then just mount the front and ride it. If it seems to be handling weird, then mount the rear too; otherwise, just keep it in your garage until you need it. No problem storing it as long as you think you'll need it within a year. Good luck, Goose

I seriously doubt I am going to try the Contis, but ya never know. I'm not likin the idea of having to mount a rear tire in the front, even if they recommend it. I'm sure they design the front tread patterns differently for a reason! They do have a 130/90-16 in a front tire, and that is what I would want to use anyway. Problem there is that the load rating of their front tire is only 67, and our stock specification is for a 71 (the Avon Venom MT90 is 74 if I remember correctly). So it just seems that Continental doesn't want my business. I'm still intrigued with their Milestone tires, and I've given some thought to running that as the rear with an Avon front just to see what kind of mileage I can get. But I probably won't. I'll let y'all know if I decide to try it. Won't be for a few months anyway. Goose

But hey, look at it this way, the Avons are pretty much proven to be an outstanding tire for us, based on all the positive reports here, so while I'm burning up the roads trying out an unknown (if I do), you are riding on the best! Actually, I just can't leave well enough alone! :stirthepot: Always trying to keep one step ahead of the masses. Goose

Interesting note from the Continental Tyre site on tire mileage: http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/motorcycle/img/void_uv.gifMileage A tyre which can achieve high mileage is an asset because a longer lifespan leads to lower costs. The mileage attained by motorcycle tyres and in particular that by the rear wheels of performance bikes cannot be measured in the same way as that of car or truck tyres. Because the motorcyles themselves weigh comparatively less they are able to accelerate faster and during this acceleration the rear tyre slips. This slipping leads to wear on the tyres. A pillion passenger whose weight is mainly placed on the rear tyre helps to prolong the life of the tyre. The rear wheel is pressed onto the road with more force, thereby reducing the amount of slipping. The tyre therefore lasts longer. Side note: Now that I've got everyone running Avon Venoms, I'm thinking of trying the Continentals! I find some of the information on their web site about the TK17 and new Milestone tires interesting. I need to get more information from them - they do not make the stock size for our front tire in the front tire design, but their fitment guide actually specifies to mount a rear tire on the front! First time I have seen this from a manufacturer. Anyone here run Continentals on their RSV? Which style? Your opinions? Thanx, Goose

If the rubber bumpers behind your fork-mounted wind deflectors do not touch the fork covers, the mounting brackets WILL break and the deflectors will escape the surly bounds of your bike. Goose

The saddle bag and trunk latches stick so bad they seem broken and you cannot open the lid. Problem easily solved by applying a little grease to the mechanism - see tech library. Oh, and don't forget about the chrome windshield trim retainer tabs breaking. They WILL break. In fact, if you have so much as given a passing thought to removing the trim, even if you have not attempted it yet, I'm pretty certain they are already broken! Goose

The lower fairings (cowlings) in front of the crash bars crack on the outside edge near the mounting bolt that is inserted from the rear. I believe this is more common on the left side. Goose

Yeah, that is strange! Mine work reliably and constantly. Goose

In my experience, 160 miles before reserve is not too bad. You cannot really tell your mileage from that, since it depends on how full you got the tank at your lat fill up (and if you haven't vented the filler neck, I can confidently say you had at least 1/2 gallon of air left in there). I note my mileage with every single fill up,a nd I usually get around 36 MPG (my daily riding is about 50/50 city and freeway miles, with the freeway always at an indicated 75 -80). Before I vented the filler neck, I would regularly go on reserve about 145 miles; now it is usually around 160, and I usually do not try to fill the tank all the way to the top. Whozleft, That little trip meter you are seeing has an F in front of it, and it is supposed to come on around the same time that you need to switch your tank to reserve. This is designed to automatically show you how many miles you have traveled on reserve without your needing to manually reset one of your trip meters yourself to watch it. I think it is really a great design, and between that fuel trip meter and the low fuel warning light that is also supposed to come on about the same time, I find I am comfortable just leaving my fuel valve in the reserve position all the time. Although I always reset my fuel trip meter to 0 when I fill up, you don't even need to do that, as it will reset itself to 0 after about 2 miles of riding when the tank is above the reserve level. In case you don't already know, your bike has two trip odometers that you can use by repeatedly pushing the Select button. You can't see the fuel trip odometer until it comes on from being low on fuel, and then you will rotate through all three trip meters with the select button until the bike is filled up again and the fuel trip meter disappears. Good luck, Goose

I have 25,000 miles on my 05 RSV, and I have some very specific observations about the heat issue. First, I agree that removing the fork mounted wind deflectors will have one of the biggest effects in increasing air flow to the rider. These are much more effective than I ever imagined. Removing them not only increases the air flow up over the front of the tank, but also the water when riding in the rain! I prefer to leave them in place, since I ride every day, no matter what the weather. I have also vented the windshield with round pop vents. Quite effective and very inexpensive. These vents break the vacuum behind the fairing and allow some air to flow past the rider, but there is still a lot of heat there. My temp sensors always show 10 degrees higher at the front of the tank compared to the air coming between the forks on the bike! The round vents do not allow you to direct the flow of air to you face like a Honda vent would, but they don't chop up big bugs and splatter you with the guts either! I have added adjustable winglets to the sides of my stock windshield; slightly more air to the arms, but otherwise more for looks. The place where I disagree with most everyone else is the lower vents sold by Yamaha. They look nice, but in my opinion, they are terribly ineffective! Not only do they not cool the feet and legs, but when opened up, they actually force the full heat from the radiator right onto the feet and shins! I have been experimenting with holding my bare hand down in front of my ankle to compare the heat with different positions of the vents, and I find that closed or just barely open is the coolest!

I disagree. In my 05 I have taken 5.8 and 5.9 gallons several times. Venting the tank filler neck helps a lot to actually fill the tank all the way. I have also pushed the reserve to its limit several times. I find that reserve comes on at about 4.5 or 4.6 gallons, and I always have about 60 miles available on reserve (I rarely try to push over 45 miles). Good luck, Goose

Rick, I'm not sure I follow what has you ticked. If I understood you correctly, they completely refunded the price you paid for a defective product? That sounds like the most that any manufacturer would do. It would have been nice if they included a nominal amount to cover the average price of mounting (assuming you also supplied a receipt for this cost), but I'm not sure I would expect that from them. The price you paid for a replacement product, either theirs or a competitors, would seem to be un-related to the refund on the defective one unless you were forced to spend the money due to damage or failure of the original item, such as having the tire blow out and leaving you stranded somewhere. If you think there is more they owe you, I would send a letter to the company stating the related facts and asking for a specific amount. Glad they gave you the refund without a fight. I wish you the best on any further adjustment, Goose

You select the size of fuse based on the size of the wires the circuit has. The fuse is designed to protect the circuit should the total current draw exceed what the wires and supply can handle - it blows before the wires begin to melt or overheat to cause a fire. There really isn't anything that a fuse can do to protect an LED, so don't worry about that. If you have run a new circuit just for these new lights, you probably used fairly light gauge wire. Without knowing what exactly you used, I'd suggest to keep your fuse no bigger than 10 amps. As others have already said, your total load with LED, even a whole wall of them, will be way under that. Good luck, Goose

That is strange that your left signal stopped, but if you remember, it stopped one time while we were working on the right one too. I never actually unplugged the bullet connectors for the left signal, just moved them in and out a bit to try to re-seat them. I guess we need to completely disconnect that modulator and dab a bit of dielectric grease on each plug. Hopefully it is just the connectors instead of the modulator going bad. One way or the other we'll get it sorted out! Goose

Just FYI - that is the correct link for the ShowChrome windshield for the RSV, but the information about the height is not correct. I says the shield is 2" shorter than stock - not so. The web site has had this incorrect information for several years now. The printed catalogs correctly state that this shield is 4" shorter than stock. You can compare this to Yamaha's short windshield that is 5" shorter than stock. I have personally measured both of these shields and know this information to be correct. Good luck, Goose

Glad they are standing behind the tire. I do not doubt that you were told exactly what you reported about the tire pressure, but as is the case is so many things these days, the speaker may not actually know the facts. As PEIslander posted earlier in this thread, Avon's own web site specifically lists the appropriate pressure for their own tire on a 1st gen is 36 lbs. So I guess the only thing we can say for sure is that somebody is just flat wrong here. That leaves us to make the best decision we can with conflicting information. My personal advice here: Simple. Don't run them below either the owner's manual or the tire manufacturer's published data, whichever is higher. Secondly, do not run them above the max pressure on the sidewall. Finally, chose any pressure in between those two numbers that you feel gives you acceptable handling and is consistent with the maximum load you are putting on the bike. Good luck, Goose

For any of you that do not specifically know about Motorcycle Consumer News, I whole heartedly endorse them. These folks do not take any advertising dollars, so they are not beholdin' to anyone for what they say or don't say. They have done many comparisons like this over the years, and they don't hold back on any punches! MCN is the only motorcycle related publication I get any more (except for the MGNOC club mag). Goose

Hey, thanx Jerry!! That tire looks like it is probably good for another 10,000 miles or so! :rotfl: