twigg
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Everything posted by twigg
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Try RAM mounts. If they don't have a specific mount for your phone, they have a universal finger mount that is very secure. I use one. I use RAM cupholders too. If you plan to use Google Nav then there are a few things to remember. It cannot plan multi-stop routes. It's very good, but it's point to point. If you input a route in an area with data connection, then it will prefetch all the mapping you need for the route. If you leave the route by much, and don't have a data signal, then it cannot get the new maps it needs. The maps are not stored on the phone. There are other mapping apps for Android that store maps on the phone, but they are not free. I find the best combination is to use my Garmin for the basic route, and the phone to find things along the way.
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Hey guys, I broke my headlight while I was fitting new driving lamps and an HID unit. Does anyone have a spare headlight for a 1986 Venture Royale? Thanks
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You will not get a straight answer to a question like this. Folk are too wrapped up in personal taste, national pride, a bunch of other things so, FWIW: All full dress tourers are top heavy. If the equipment doesn't get them, the wind on the fairing can In the US, the Gold Wing, well the modern ones, are the Gold Standard, in Europe they can't sell them because BMW rules that class, and has since the sixties. So figure it out ..... In the USA the BMWs find most favour with the guys who rack up prodigious mileages, and there has to be a reason for that. The Yamaha FJR1300 is pretty popular too. Some ride Wings but for most they are not the first choice. The seating position on the BMW is alien to folk coming from a cruiser market, and a second home for those from the sports/tourer background. BMW have prodigious reliability with the exception of a few known faults on some models. They all command a price premium, part of which is due to the scarcity of good second hand examples. BMW Gold Wing Yamaha They are all good machines but buying a bike is a personal decision. Only you can decide which features matter. The only thing that has been mentioned that doesn't matter a damn is speed. Any and all these choices can cruise all day at speeds so illegal you would be hauled off to jail.
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lol ... Insight At temperatures above about 97F, you need to keep OUT of the wind. The article mentioned above shows very clearly how heat exhaustion and dehydration can happen really fast if you let the wind heat your body. Even at lower temps the "breeze" is misleading. It feels "cooling" when actually it is simply "drying". In those conditions, a full windproof riding suit is better by far. You can also tip water down the front and that will help carry the heat away.
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86 carb diaphragm boots
twigg replied to tufftom4's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
Sirius is where I got mine. Very happy with them. I also got float bowl gaskets and a couple of air shut-off valves too. -
Be a good idea to wait for details before instantly blaming the government. The local authorities in Sturgis have been welcoming to bikers for years, I'd wait to see the reasons before letting my bias show like that in public.
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Thanks Gary.
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Yeah .... I can find out in loads of places, I was wondering if a 1st Gen had made the trip recently. Thanks
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Yeah, sorry, that was meant to be one way.
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Hi, Has anyone taken a 1st Gen VR up the Dalton Highway in the last couple of years or so? Mine is itching to do it, thinking of next summer. It would be about a 4900 mile round trip.
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We still talking about the boombox?
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That's a little tricky. The manufacturer tunes the carburation to the exhaust they fit. You generally only get "louder" by freeing up the gas flow through the exhaust. The baffles, which reduce noise, also provide the back pressure that the engine needs for full and efficient combustion. The popping and back-firing that many HDs suffer from when straight through pipes are fitted is part of this. What is happening, especially on the over run, is that unburned fuel is getting through to the exhaust headers, and burning there. There are some tings you can do about this, but not many. Advancing the timing will help, but many bikes have computer controlled timing so advancing it requires a new ignition map. So ... it is likely that some of our users have changed the exhausts and got away without re-jetting, because a minor change doesn't always require it. But they have all compromised the combustion to one extent or another which may, or may not be a big deal. At the very least, you will use SOME more gas. If the change isn't too radical then maybe not much more. There is also a chance that the bike will run leaner than it should. That will offset the extra gas used, but can lead to pre-ignition or the engine running hotter. Suck it and see.
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Despite my dislike of this kind of discussion here ...... Thank you for this. Thank you for your Service ... and Welcome Home
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All that being said, it's pretty easy to check that the size of the main jet is correct. Just do a "throttle roll-off test". Mark the throttle at WOT, 7/8 open and 3/4 open. Get the engine good and hot then find yourself a nice open piece of highway. Run the test in 4th gear. Running it in top gear will have you doing some very illegal speeds. Accelerate the bike until it is pulling well. Crack open the throttle to about 7/8 open. That gets the motor running on the main jet. When the revs are climbing high, and the bike pulling strongly, snap the throttle back to 3/4 open. When you do that, the bike should simply pull less and begin to slow, or accelerate less hard, but do it smoothly. If it "surges" a touch, before settling, the Main Jet is too small. If it "stumbles" then settles then the Main is too big. If everything is smooth then the jet is correct, or close enough. This happens because snapping shut the throttle shuts the air down faster than the gas. If it was running a bit lean (jet too small), then it will briefly richen and you get the surge. If it was running rich (jet too big), it will over richen and stumble. If it does neither, then it's pretty close. A dyno session will be quicker, more accurate, but cost quite a bit.
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That's a bunch of questions with no easy answers. Bluetooth compatibility is a major headache because there are several different protocols. You have to make sure that both the GPS and the intercom support the same protocol ... and that should be in the spec of each. Streets and Trips ... as far as I know can output to the .gpx format. Check that because most LD Riders plan with Mapsource and Street and Trips, and both can be loaded into Garmin units. Probably others too, but I don't know. S&T should recognise the Garmin, but if it doesn't I think the Microsoft routs, certainly the waypoints can be saved to a file and imported via Mapsource. S&T is way prettier than Mapsource, but MS is pretty accurate because it should be using the actual maps that are loaded into the Garmin.
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Is it worth saving $30 compared with the risk of being wrong about being able to clean them?
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Side Gapping, any one done it yet?
twigg replied to Darren's topic in Royal Star Venture Tech Talk ('99 - '13)
lol ... get out your crayons and color me skeptical. To start with .... that diagram of the "new" spark is nonsense. The spark will jump the smallest gap, not go around a corner. I would think that there are more improvements to gas mileage that could be made in other ways. Cutting down the screen springs to mind. You can improve spark performance by "indexing" the plugs. Beyond that I would be very suspicious of ideas like this. Spend the time riding. -
Venture Royale carburetor questions
twigg replied to unwind80's topic in Venture and Venture Royale Tech Talk ('83 - '93)
The butterfly shaft seals are easily replaceable. Single-lipped seals are available for $5.50 a pair from MikesXS.com, and double lipped from motorcyclecarbs.com at $6 each. -
Nope ... That one is probably more reliable. It certainly weighs less.
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I have Walmart batteries on both my bikes ... Poverty does that to you. But .... They have been perfectly reliable in cold and shine, and at $50 each were a fair price. Walmart also sells AGM batteries for bikes, they are around $75 and I see no real reason why they should not give all the advantages of any other AGM battery. There are better batteries that the regular lead/acid, I know that. But at the price, and if they hold charge for two or three seasons, then they are not doing bad. Both my bikes live on battery tenders and the batteries are rarely less than fully charged. I suspect that helps get the most from them.
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Firstly .... Loading a bike on a trailer, while very easy, is nerve-wracking and you ALWAYS feel it will break loose and something bad will happen. The reality is that they don't break loose, and they hardly budge an inch if you do it properly. Partly it depends on the type of trailer. Enclosed is a bit different to open. You need to stop the front wheel sliding sideways. A proper wheel chock, screwed down is best (the sideways pressure is small) Failing that, a couple of short lengths of 2 x 4 screwed to the trailer floor will keep the front wheel still. My trailer has an open frame, so I can strap the front wheel hard against the front rail which stops any rearward movement. Four ratchet straps complete the process. One from each side of the triple tree and one from each of the rear frame or pannier mounts. Just ratchet them down until the suspension is very lightly compressed. That bike isn't moving. Again, with an open frame trailer there are plenty of attachment points, but an enclosed one would need tie-downs. Hope this helps. ps I bought a very nice open trailer with a four foot loading ramp and 3500lb axle for $1000, brand new. Trailer is 10 x 7 and could easily carry two VRs
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The thermostat turns a passive system into a positive feedback system that is able to respond to environmental conditions, and engine work. If there were no thermostat, the engine would warm up to correct temperature very slowly, because it would have to heat all the fluid in the system at the same time as the rad is trying to cool it. In warm climates that would increase wear, and in cold climates it would probably never heat up unless you were stuck in traffic. The thermostat "begins" to open at a set temp, and is only "fully" open much hotter. This means that it restricts the flow sufficiently to keep the engine at the correct temperature all the while the system is heating, and crucially, it can close again if it senses that the coolant is cooling too much. The whole system is pressurised to help it work more efficiently so ... If the thermostat sticks closed, you are in trouble. The small amount of coolant in the engine will rapidly heat and you will get little or no warning before it overheats and seizes, unless there is a secondary "engine temp" warning on the engine side of the system. If it sticks open, or you remove it, then your engine will warm up slowly, may never warm in some places and you will be running way out of peak efficiency ..... increased wear, etc. In very cold weather it is possible that the cooling provided by the radiator can overcome the ability of the thermostat to regulate it, that is why you sometimes see part of the radiator blanked off in winter. Hope this helps.
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Always ... All The Gear, All The Time The danger, if not the discomfort, when riding in ho weather is from dehydration. At highway speeds, a good riding suit is actually fairly comfortable, but I accept that it is uncomfortably hot when you stop. That's why I always preferred two piece suits ... you can remove the jacket. But traveling at 70 mph in 100F sunshine, while wearing a tee shirt can make you dangerously dehydrated very fast, to say nothing of sunstroke. A riding jacket, with decent ventilation, will give a good cooling effect while keeping you safe. If you pour a little water inside it occasionally you get additional cooling and no body water loss. Drink lots and stay safe.
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Oh yes .... I forgot to mention lights. With the possible exception of a late model Gold Wing, there are no stock bikes that have good enough lighting for this kind of ride. You will be riding, for many hours, in the dark, and deer sit there waiting for you to go by. At a minimum .... Add some bright red LEDs to the rear, the more the better and get a modulator for the brake lights. Car drivers are not looking for motorcycles, so force them to see you and always assume they haven't. On the front you need to see a long way down the road. The standard headlight needs some help and there are a bunch of ways to do it. Driving lights, two of them mounted as high and wide as you can is the best bet. If you get HID lights, and if you convert the standard headlight to HID too, the extra power draw is minimal. Make sure the driving lights are aimed to light the sides of the road, that's where the danger is. This is a big subject, and research would help.
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Oh it's perfectly possible. The pace required to complete IBA "Extreme" rides is 62.5 miles per hour, including stops. The pace for the regular rides is 41.7 mph, and that is easy enough, until you have to do it for 1000 miles. These rides are done regularly, the "easy" rides can be completed on stock bikes with a minimum of preparation .... Ask me how I know (I did mine on a 1977 Yamaha XS750), this year. The extreme rides cannot be done casually. The bike and the rider needs preparation. It helps if the bike has an auxiliary fuel tank and is carrying 10 gallons of gas. Good electronics, good clothing and a well planned route. In most parts of the US it can be done without exceeding any speed limits (just), it was designed that way, but many riders will take the view that "5 over" won't hurt much The margins are fine on those rides, and most folk fail their first attempt. Minimum needed, in my view ... for us .... A well prepared Venture. Age doesn't matter, they all can do it. Either carry, or add a 5 gallon fuel cell. I'd go for adding one with quick disconnects. GPS ... at least one. Two is better because you can hold the route on one and use the second for quick detours for gas, etc. Radar detector optional, but most LD Riders carry one. Hydration system. A one gallon rubbermaid properly fixed with a drinking tube. Camelbacks are okay, but you really don't want to wear one on the bike. A cell phone, mounted and connected to the intercom is great. Easy access to immediate things you need .... A good tank bag helps here. Money for tolls, a writing pad and pen. SOmewhere secure for receipts. Good riding gear. A riding suit, boots, gloves and helmet. Wear them all, all the time. In very hot weather a good suit will prevent dehydration, and keep the sun off you. DOn't underestimate the drying power of the wind at 70mph. It's okay for a Sunday afternoon ride, it is deadly for 1500 miles. Read, read, read. Read the ride reports, especially the failures. All the answers are there. Have fun!