RedRider

E3's Great mileage. Can get a whole year out of them. RR

You will be kicking yourself for not doing it earlier. Enjoy your new comfort. RR

Very interesting. RR

Just to be safe, send them to me for testing. Will advise next summer. RR

http://www.carbtune.com/

It says 18 watts. That is 1.5A at 12 volts. I would assume this is each, so 3A total for both. RR

It's nice to have a 2x4 length of wood to set under the edge of the tank when you set it down. That way it isn't resting on the petcock. RR

Clip or a Magazine? RR

There are ground wires in the harnesses that can cause really weird things to happen. The Venture I worked on would run the starter as soon as the key was turned on. The wiring to the cassette has nothing to do with the starting circuit either. However, the ground that was making contact in the cut cable - did. RR

Flanders will make custom bars to any height/pull back you want. You will need to have extended front brake line, clutch line, and throttle cables (2). There are several places that make these. RR

This will require you to get the wiring diagrams from the service manual and trace the wires. It is tedious, boring, and tiring on the eyes. However, you need to find which wire was cut incorrectly when the cassette was removed. Helped a fellow VR member a couple of years ago to go through this after he removed his cassette. There is really no short cut. RR

Mike, FYI - the 2000 MM is the Millineum Edition and is a beautiful cream color. Not as fast as the 2000 red, of course. And yes, Pinwall. RR

Pinwall has historically been an honest boneyard for various motorcycle brands. The link is from AZ-Cycle-Parts who I am not familiar with. Have purchased an engine from Pinwall and was pleased with the transaction. Would not hesitate to use them again. However, for the money, the AZ Cycle Parts engine is almost worth buying for future installation once my engine hits 300,000 miles or so. RR

Check the owners manual. Oil/filter change interval is 8000 miles or 12 months. And that's for dino oil. I generally run mine 5-7000 miles between changes and use Rotella T dino oil and inexpensive Fram filters. 125,000 miles and running strong. I remember a story about an auto technician. He had a customer with a new Corvette who came in and had a synthetic oil change done every 1000 miles. When the technician was asked what he ran in his own cars, he stated "Thousand mile old synthetic". RR

If you have the tools, it only takes about 10 minutes. Not a bad thing to do. RR

Get to the fuel pump and check the points. They are under the black cap on the back of the pump. They should be clean and cross-hatched. It can be checked without removing the pump from the bike. You may have a weak pump that can't keep up with the flow. Look at the last page of this thread http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81574&highlight=fuel+pump+contacts&page=4 Not a great picture, but these are the points from my fuel pump. 2000 Venture, about 115k miles at the time. http://2000rsv.smugmug.com/Other/Rally-Ready-Venture/i-HsLhjJw/0/M/Fuel%20Pump%20Points-M.jpg RR

Eck, Thanks for posting that. Treasure trove of info for sure. RR

Headlight is a standard H4 bulb. Upgrading to a Sylvania Silverstar Ultra is the easiest way to get more light. There are other more elaborate way to get even more, but his is easy. RR

Pictures of the AH? Love those old English cars. RR

Just rolled 125,000 miles last week on my 2000. Let's see, major problems ...... OEM shock went out at about 110,000 miles (I was living on borrowed time). Replaced with a Hagon. Bearing went out in the final drive. Replaced with a take off from someone triking their Venture (CarbonOne IIRC). Couple of clutches/springs. That's about it. It has been pretty bulletproof. Now, for a longer list, ask about the farkles and mods done. RR

As an additional FYI - You mentioned the friction point is close to the grip. There are some modifications to the clutch that cause the friction point to move towards the grip and be shorter. IIRC, it is the Freebird mod. The innermost half plate and spring is replaced with a complete friction plate to allow a bit more friction material in the clutch. Easy to change back if you have the parts. If you find this is what you have, and want to change back to stock (I did), I'm sure there are several folks on here that have the original components available. RR

+1 on taking the Ferry. Just went through Sarnia Saturday about 10:30 am and it took about 30 minutes. Not too bad, just hot and boring sitting in line sucking car fumes. Our US border agent made us very nervous for a short while. He asked if we were Packer fans. Being in Michigan, I was worried he was a die hard Lions fan and we were going to be subjected to the rubber glove treatment. Turns out he was from Oconto and was a life long Packer fan. "All is good here. Have a nice trip." RR PS. We put everything on the credit card. Didn't exchange any money although we were only in Canadistan for a day and a night.

I use mostly the front brake, make sure to look well ahead (versus at the asphalt in front of me), and put both feet down. Works well. The 'looking ahead' part seems to make the most difference to stability. RR

I beg to differ on the bearings. They are sized based on a load/speed duty cycle with fatigue being the failure. They are generally sized based on an L10 life (9 out of 10 will last to/beyond design life). Fatigue is caused by the loading/unloading of the metal races as the rollers/balls pass over. Double the load, fatigue life is reduced by 90%. Double the speed, design life is reduced by half. In other words, they very well may wear out. And when they do, it can be catastrophic. I heartily agree with using only a quality bearing. US, Japan, or Europe manufacturers are all good products. Stay away from Chinese manufacturers as their quality standards are not up to the first world control. My rear wheel bearings went out about 100k miles and took my rear brake with it. The old girl got me home though (didn't know problem was the rear wheel bearings or I wouldn't have kept riding it). Changing them out every 50-75k miles is a good practice. The steering neck bearings are a little different. Since they don't really rotate, they are unlikely to fatigue as defined in the sizing calculations. They will however, fret (or false brinell) if inadequate lube and/or contamination is present. This is essentially the rollers wearing away the race at the point of contact. You can feel notching in the bearing as you rotate the front steering. They are a PITA to change out and it is unlikely they will need it. A good lube and a reset of the preload and you should be good to go. BTW, I was a bearing design and application engineer for Timken a few years ago (OK, many years go - but the physics haven't changed). Also, unless you have the correct bearing drivers for installation, I would suggest taking the wheels to the dealer for installation. Improper installation can and will damage the bearings. RR

As an alternative, you could change/modify the fenders. RR