darthandy

And here's a link to Diamond R Accessories who have a set of levelling links available for the Venture if you prefer to not make them yourself. http://diamondraccessories.com/yamaha/proddisplay.php?name=Leveling%20Link%20Kit I split the difference last year and bought some T34 stainless that the shop cut to the length I wanted and then I had a machine shop drill them at the right length and finally, I rounded off the ends myself with an angle grinder, being careful not to overheat the metal. It was cheaper than the Diamond R kit and I didn't have to wait for shipping. The biggest difference is that my links don't have the "dog bone" shape since that would have been more expensive to do at the machine shop and wasn't really necessary. It will make a very noticeable difference in the handling of your Venture at all speeds and is well worth the time, trouble and money. Andy

Wait a minute ... I completely support and understand this point. Why am I being denied ice cream after dinner? What is this horrible cruelty to poor, suffering, innocent .... oh, never mind, I'll just go buy my own! And keep up the good work Don! Andy

Thanks for the replies guys. I found a set at Reid Motorsports in Jamestown, NY yesterday on the "pre-run" for our chapter's (GWRRA - ON-G) annual Hwy 666 ride. I had mentioned to the Chapter Director that I'd lost a visor and might want to stop at any Yamaha dealer we saw to check for one. Well, he was leading and spotted the Yamaha sign sticking out of a small "valley" by the highway so he pulled in. Not only did they have a set hanging on the wall ($20.95 + tax) but when the owner heard about our ride, he said that sections of 666 were closed due to recent storms washing out a bridge or two. He called some of his friends and got some updated info so that we could try to work our way around the detours. Had a nice chat with one of the salespeople who mentioned that he had heard from someone at Yamaha that they were working on a new touring rig with fuel injection, etc. as a Venture replacement. Could be interesting if it's for real. Andy

Just noticed tonight that the Royal Star brand visor on one of my passing lights has jumped ship! I can't seem to find them on the Star Motorcycles web site. Anyone know where I can pick one up or do I have to by a couple of generic visors and use those now? Andy

Yeah, tell me about it! I had to tighten a bolt on my Triumph and the factory manual said it needed 89 ft-lb of torque. That seemed very high for a fairly small bolt so I went onto the Triumph forum to ask about it. I was told that I had an early edition manual and that I should look at the revised edition as the bolt in question probably required around 40 ft-lb. I got and checked the revised manual and sure enough, the torque for that bolt was 39 ft-lb.! Don't you love manufacturers and their accuracy. Andy

Another possibility is that the bushing in the pivot for the clutch lever is worn and it's allowing the lever to move back far enough to activate the cruise cancel switch. There's an easy way to test it - just turn on the cruise and push the clutch lever away from the handle bar with your fingers (Hold it there) and then activate the "set" switch. If the cruise goes on then let go of the clutch lever. If the cruise turns off, that means the bushing is worn and needs to be replaced. I know this because mine is doing it but I so seldom use the cruise that I haven't bothered to fix it yet. Andy

I was supposed to read? Now they tell me! :bang head: (Actually, if you go to page 3-29 and 3-30 , Cleaning the Air Filter Element, it only shows an air filter on one side and only talks about one air filter. It may say two elsewhere, but not here which is where I was looking.) Andy

Thanks guys. And it only took two years to get this figured out. Now to go and kick the shop manual. Andy

As I was searching online for prices on air filters for my RSV (Thinking of going K&N), I ran across a Motorcycle Superstore section that said the Royal Star / Tour Deluxe / Venture need two filters. The RSV shop manual only shows one in the section on cleaning it. Have I been cleaning only half my air filters? Is there another one on the other side that I should know about? Andy

See my post in General TechTalk as well. Like the man said - we are here to help. Andy

There are several choices - there is one available from YSS - here's the web site: http://www.yssusa.com/products_yss.html . Prices seem to run from around $220 to $700 as they seem to have various levels of quality. And then there's Hagon - here's their site already at the "mono" shock page - http://hagonshocksusa.com/HagMono.htm . Prices start at $300 for standard shocks and then there's a remote preload adjuster or heavier duty shocks. And then there's Works Performance - here's the site for their application chart - http://www.worksperformance.com/pdf/app_guide/street.pdf . Pricing for the Venture is $919.00. The last price I saw for a stock Yamaha shock was $579. All the above prices are in U.S. dollars and exclusive of shipping. (Yikes - this is starting to sound like a TV commercial!). Anyway, I recently replaced my leaking shock with a Hagon. I was able to go with the standard shock. Since I live close to the border, I had it shipped to a warehouse specializing in taking deliveries for Canadians and I went over and picked it up. No duty on bike parts so all I had to pay was HST. So far it's been doing a great job and the handling has definitely improved even over how it handled before the stock shock started to leak. The Hagon is rebuildable for $150 (According to someone else on this forum). Someone else here (See my post from last week) said they had a problem with an early failure on their Hagon, but that's the first complaint I've heard regarding that product. I live out here in the wilds of Welland which isn't too far away so I'm willing to come out and give you a hand when you're ready. Just give me a heads up so that I can block out the time. Andy

This is a 4 year old thread. Might have been better to start a new one. However - here's a link to the site for Works shocks : http://www.worksperformance.com/ and here's one for Hagon: http://hagonshocksusa.com/. The Yamaha shock is expensive and it doesn't have a good reputation for reliability or longevity. Andy

Yep ... got mine too. And a happy 4th of July to our American friends. Andy

Well, I got my Hagon shock installed (Thanks again to various members here who had some nice write-ups on performing this task) and I finally managed to get a decent ride in on Wednesday. Definite difference and all to the good. I took the on-ramp to the QEW from hwy 406 at 10 kph over my usual speed (There are a couple of good sized bumps where sections of the road join together) and where the stock shock had me looking for a hinge in the frame, the Hagon just let me know there was a bump there and kept the bike right on the line I had set it on. Very nice. Ride was a bit stiffer, but not enough to bother even my messed up back so that was another definite plus. I am thrilled with my purchase especially when I see how much the stock shock would have cost. I would definitely recommend the Hagon to anyone wanting to replace or just improve the stock shock. The Works shock may be better (I've never ridden an RSV with one), but without knowing the difference I am thrilled with the Hagon. Left it with the settings from the company and it is doing the job very nicely. Andy

I have been using the Honda Pwersports Trip Planner and it has worked well. Loading to the GPS is a bit tricky. You have to plug in the GPS so the software will know it's there but then it just puts a GPX file in your file downloads and you have to move it from there to your GPX files in the GPS unit. Andy

I don't know. I've only had the bike for 3 years, so it's possible a previous owner had it replaced. The nut holding the schrader valve certainly looked like someone had been working on it at some point so it's quite possible. The bike now has 103,000 KM on it (just over 64,000 mi.) so if this is the 2nd shock, it would seem the stock ones do indeed have a short lifespan. Hopefully the Hagon will hold up better...and at least it's rebuildable. Andy

I've noticed some remarks regarding the occasional excessive delivery costs to Canada from the U.S. For several years now I have been using a company that specializes in taking and storing deliveries for Canadians. Here is the website: http://www.cbiusa.com/ They aren't the only ones doing this, but I found that they had fewer conditions than some others or were closer. It's about a 30 minute drive from my home to the warehouse plus time at the bridge - which can be ugly during tourist season unless you go early in the a.m. or after the dinner hour but the warehouse is only open late on Thursdays. You can enter your tracking number (UPS or USPS) into their system to find out if your package has arrived. It's $5.95 to pick up a package and of course gas and bridge tolls. I calculated that it costs me about $20 all told, to pick up a parcel. Considering the $50 to $75 shipping charge (or more) to Canada plus the $35 to $50 UPS "brokerage fee" even on items with no duty, this is a bargain. As a plus, I can fill up my car at the equivalent of about $1.00 per litre. As a further bonus, if the item costs less than about$140.00, the customs people often send me on through rather than waste their time collecting tax on a relatively small amount. It might be worth your while to look into this. All you have to do is register with them to get a mailbox number. The other forms they mention and the accounts are for large commercial users who have stuff delivered every week. Just a thought. Andy

OK, so it is what I thought. Thanks Kev ... I appreciate the quick answer. Now, back to the fun. Andy

OK, I received my Hagon shock and was out in the garage getting ready to install it per some instructions I found on our site. Ran into something no one had mentioned so I thought I'd check it out before going further. There is a large hose (Not for the air fill - much larger) that connects to the rubber boot at the bottom of the shock and goes up under the seat and is formed to hang over the frame tube below the seat. Looks like some kind of venting or pressure equalization system for the shock. Anyone know for sure what this is? It's not connected to anything other than the shock. Thanks Andy

Givi (The luggage people) make one that looks identical but costs $65 up here in the Great White North. I bought one a few years ago and it came with a separate "rain cover". It can be frustrating to use as pressing on one spot causes the whole plastic cover to press down and sometimes activates something else on the screen. It's even worse with gloves on. And where the plastic cover joins the case, there is a bit of a sloped area that tends to reflect light and distort the edges of the screen. Things are even worse if you upgrade to one of Garmin's 5 in. screen units. Bottom line is - I wish I had gone with a Ram mount right off the bat and that is what I will be doing shortly. The case as shown is more trouble than it's worth. And at that price, I'd worry about durability and the ability to stay on the bike! Andy

Most of the Japanese bikes use 10W40 so you should be safe with that if you can't find an owner's manual. Be sure to use a motorcycle specific oil rather than oil for a car. Most car oils these days have "friction modifiers" and if used in a vehicle with a "wet" clutch (such as your motorcycle), it will cause the clutch to slip and ruin it. A few car oils don't have these additives, but unless you know what to look for, it's best to stay with oils formulated specifically for motorcycles. As to what brand ... well you will get all kinds of answers and claims but in nearly 50 years of driving, riding and maintaining various types of vehicles, I've found that staying with known brands and following the manufacturers recommendations for oil change intervals will always work well. Those situations where I've seen people have problems occurred when they went too long between changes or didn't change the filter at each oil change. At that point, you can't really blame the oil producer or filter manufacturer - but you can blame the person who was too lazy or cheap to do the oil and filter changes as required. Andy

It will help to avoid slippage if you make sure you're spinning plenty of r.p.m.'s when accelerating in 4th or 5th gear. In other words, avoid "lugging" the motor. Unfortunately, my bike will be staying close to home for a couple of weeks or so till my new shock comes in (A problem you may have by around 100,000 km or so.). The job is really quite easy and skydoc provides a good set of instructions. I did mine last year and the only hard part was getting all the ^%&$#% gasket material scraped off the cover! You can even avoid removing the muffler and exhaust pipe on that side (To get at the lower bolt) by grinding down the head on an allen wrench. If you could get down to the Hamilton area (We have members around there) I could get up there to help you, although some of the members in that area could do it as well. Don't be afraid to try --just follow the instructions and work slowly. We'll find some way to give you a hand! Maybe on Skype with a web cam on the job? Andy

Darn!!! only 101,000 km and there's a puddle of oil under my shock and the bottom of it is covered too. I guess it's time to call the good folks at Hagon and see how quickly they can get a new one to me. Anything special I should specify when I order? Are there any bushings etc. that I should replace while I'm at it? I was really hoping to get another season out of this thing but the size of the puddle tells me I may have to stop riding before the shock gets here. And I haven't even had a chance to replace the rear caliper bracket yet. And the right rear wheel on my Altima started squealing today. Sounds like a seized emergency brake. And speaking of breaks - when do I get one? Andy

I have a Joe Rocket Blaster leather jacket with full armour (Shoulders, elbows, back). It has textile panels up the inside of the sleeves for better ventilation in warmer weather. I had my daughter, the costume maker (Works for several theatres), add sleeves to the zip out liner as I found the sleeves let in too much cool air in the cooler weather. It has held up very well but may be a bit heavy for some. Then again, that thick leather should do a good job of saving one's skin should one get cut off by that little old granny in her Buick. I think the closest jacket to this one (They no longer show mine in their inventory) is the "Sonic". It has "zip off" panels covering mesh sleeve inserts. I've been very happy with mine and it has held up well. Andy

So ... a CanAm Spyder with a roof and doors for around $18,000 less? "When pig's fly" and other cliches come to mind. It would be interesting but there's just no way they can hit that price point unless it's built in India using child labour! Oh wait ... they already do that with the Royal Enfield motorcycle and it still costs $5,999 with two wheels, no doors, no roof, etc. Andy