RedRider

But, But, But ..... I do still have my Venture - and love it. RR

Although, if you are riding 1000+ miles a day, you won't get a headache from the noise. Besides, I have Ozzy's Boneyard on XM to keep me awake. RR

To Freebird and the general rabble: This is the first year I recall having MD on what appears to be an open weekend for me. However, I'm in a quandary. I just picked up a BMW to take over the LD Rallying duties from my Venture. However, I haven't had much riding time on it and need to get it dialed in before the ButtLite in July. Would anyone be insulted if I showed up on my BMW instead of the Venture? RR

Depends on whether a vacation or a Long Distance Rally. Vacation alone - 500 to 1000 miles per day. Vacation with wife - 250 to 400 miles per day. LD Rally - 1000+ miles per day. RR

It's only too far if you don't go. Once the snow goes away (more coming tomorrow!!!), we always have the welcome mat out for our motorcycle friends. RR

Not true. About 60 miles north of you (and just down the road from me) in Eden, WI is the sweet little petroleum honey hole called Flood Oil. They have 87 Octane non-ethanol pure gas on tap.!!! They also have 91 octane non-ethanol pure gas for the owners of the fancy new Venture. All my bikes get it, my lawn equipment gets it, and my old Buick gets it. Come up and see me some time and get filled up. RR

TheGSResources.com The 'go to' forum for all things GS related. Used to have one. RR

Jeff, You might want to keep an eye open for an older BMW K bike (K75 / K100 / K1100). Extremely reliable and enough punch to get moving. No quite like a Venture, but it is fairly light, not too tall, and handles well. Later models are available with ABS. RR

If you are tearing down enough to get to the valve cover gaskets, be prepared to check your valve shims. Once you get the covers off, it is really just a small step to do this next step. Where is it leaking? Around the half-moons? Normally, you put a schmear of RTV around the half-moons before reinstalling. RR

I agree on looking at the Beemers. They are significantly lighter than comparable Japanese bikes and handle like on rails. The RT is a good bike and can be picked up for a fair price. You may also want to look at the K1200LT which is a more full fared BMW. The LT is about 850 lbs, so still a big bike. However, it has a lower COG so is easier to handle at slow speeds. Getting old is a bitc*. But it beats the alternative. RR

If you are intent on changing the tire on your own, get 3 GOOD tire irons (Tar Arns in Florida ). Have an old tire to set the wheel assembly on to prevent damage to the rotors. You can use a large C-clamp and a couple of wood block as a bead breaker. Keep one tar arn in place where you first get the bead over the rim. Work the other two around to unmount the tire. Same tactic on mounting the new tire. Look up you tube videos on how to change out a tire. Lots of 'em are available. Use plenty of lube for reinstallation. Balance with a steel rod suspended between two chairs or use balancing beads. You may want to also look up the tie wrap method of reinstallation of the tire. I haven't tried this, but others have had luck. I think it works better on dirt bike tires though. As an alternative, find a local independent shop that will change your tire for you. Take the wheel off the bike yourself and take it along with the new tire to the shop. It costs me $30 here to have a new tire mounted and balanced. I have changed out a Venture tire by hand - ONCE. $30 is money well spent. RR

You got it right. That's what I use also. As for the clutch, it is likely just the spring. There are several ways to slay this dragon and many opinions on here as to the best solution. Therefore, I can only give mine. Others will surely weigh in. The stock spring is a bellville washer type spring (think big washer that is bowed in the middle). If you want to maintain the stock style, you can replace this washer every 25-30k miles or go with the heavier Vmax spring that will last 35-40k. You will hear about a modification to the inner friction disc that replaces the half disc (and an additional half spring) with a full friction disc. I found this didn't do much of anything other than to reduce the friction zone on the clutch handle. Didn't like it - YMMV. I moved to a Barnett conversion kit with heavy duty springs. I've got a solid 60k+ on this setup without any slipping. Currently 157k miles on my red 2000. I believe there is a writeup on here about doing the conversion. Here it is Good luck. Feel free to ask any questions. RR Edit: Skydoc17 is an excellent resource for clutch parts (and advise, and ....). Edit #2 : Do yourself a favor and pony up the $12 for full membership here. Best money you can spend if you own a Venture.

+1 on the WoLo (Stebel) horn. It will get other's attention. Oh, and get the CarbonOne bracket. RR

Per the show's website, Yamaha Motor Corporation is scheduled to have a booth in Chicago. The exhibitor listing for Dallas did not include MamaYama. RR

Oil thread - must be winter As mentioned, the Venture has a wet clutch (the clutch plates are in the engine oil). Therefore, you need an oil without the newer friction modifiers. Look for this on rear panel label on the oil jug: The Rotella T4 qualifies: The T4 is full dino oil. Rotella T5 is a synthetic blend, and T6 is full synthetic. Take your pick. My bike seems to like the T4 just fine. RR

What a great ride. How long do you have for your trip? Vermont and Maine are really nice additions as is upstate NY. RR

Congratulations. You purchased the best looking and fastest of the 2nd Gen Ventures. Lets see if I can remember your questions without going back to the start - 1) Carb boots - They are likely fine. These boots are actually two layers of rubber with a metal liner between them. Mine look just like yours and have for the last 100,000+ miles. Still running the original boots. If you still aren't convinced, start the bike and spray carb cleaner on 'em. Dollars to doughnuts you won't hear a change. 2) Handling at speed - My first instinct is tires; either pressure or age. Mine loves to run at 80-85 but gets kind of skittish about 95. You may also want to check the pressure in the shocks. The rear shock will handle up to about 45 psi (IIRC). The front forks will take up to about 7 psi. DON"T ADD AIR WITH A COMPRESSOR IN THE FRONT SHOCKS!! Use a small handheld pump or you will blow the seals. The Progressive pump is excellent as it is a zero let-off pump. Believe it or not, it is as inexpensive to purchase the HD branded pump (same thing just with the bar and shield logo). 3) Cruise control - Doesn't work over 80 mph by design. It runs on vacuum and therefore doesn't hold very well at 78-80 mph. Try it at 65 to test it. It may be fine. 4) Passing lights - pretty well covered already. BTW, there is likely a button on the lower left inside of the fairing (next to the cig lighter outlet) that turns them on/off. 5) Backfiring on decel - Carb tune and sync. Might need bowl float height adjusted (do this when you do your first valve shim adjustment as you need to pull the carbs). AIS installed or not won't make much (if any) difference. Of course, if you have an exhaust leak that would cause it also, but I expect it is the carbs. 6) Horn - There are two horns on this bike. One is under your seat on the throttle side (side of engine) and the other is in the left lower fairing. Don't spend a lot of time to get these anemic beepers to work. Make sure the button is making good contact and then change out the side horn to a Stebel/Wolo horn. Run it through a relay. Leave the other horn in place and don't worry about it. You won't be able to hear it over the Stebel even if it is working perfectly. 7) I might suggest hooking up an ignition bypass relay. One of the few weaknesses of this bike is the ignition switch contacts. They are not designed to handle additional amperage of things like auxiliary lights. There is a thread on here about it. Not something I would put at the top of my list, but once you get used to doing some work on her, it is a nice safeguard. Fairly easy to do. 8) Pay your $12 to Freebird (our esteemed leader). Best money ever spent if you own a Venture. 9) Ride, ride, ride. It is a great bike. RR

Depends on what riding you want to do. Comfortable 400 or so miles a day? Rick does a great job with his mods. 1000+ miles a day? Russell Day Long is the only real choice. Don't waste your money on Corbin, etc. RR

Welcome. 50k miles wouldn't worry me a bit. I have 157k miles on my 2000 and would be comfortable taking it across country (if the weather were a bit warmer) at any time. Bombproof engine. It will likely need a little maintenance, but we can help you through that. Fairly easy bike to work on. Depending on the options/add-ons, you might be able to get the price down a little bit ($2500 or so). Go for it. RR

It had a cassette deck until 2012 or so. ABS isn't slated to be added to this platform until 2040. RR

There was a metering valve setup done by one of the members that addressed this problem. Let me see if I can find it. Edit: Here it is: LINK RR

FYI on buying a new clutch slave vs rebuilding. It is cheaper to replace with new in this case. RR

The standard clutch assembly on a Gen2 Venture is also 5.8ftlb (8Nm). As usual, Earl is spot on. As a note though - use an inch-lb torque wrench on this. 70inlb. A ftlb torque wrench is not generally going to be very accurate at this low setting. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. Don't ask my how I know. RR

And... There is a nice group of VR members in the WI area that can help when needed. Just let us know. Welcome. RR

FYI on heading down to the Immigration offices in Chicago. Drive to Kenosha and take the North Line from there. It drops you off a few blocks from the INS offices. Google 'Metra train schedule'. Took that when we needed to get a same-day passport for son #3 a few years ago. Good luck in getting this resolved. RR