shuttlebug

Well, I slept on it and have come to a similar conclusion- I'm just being lazy. I'll just get two used, lower mileage heads and make her better than she was. It should be a walk in the park with the engine out I will be pushing her a bit with the trailer and it will be bothering me (will that last lug bust off and open up the water jacket in Wyoming, ON MY LEG! ). Thank you Cowpuc and Oldodge for some sage advice. I got time anyway, my rt wrist is still in a cast, so I should do it right. See y'all on the trail! Brian B

I went to Costco, and was looking at big screen tvs- thought I could buy one with the insurance money I got from the Yamaha. Then I thought, I could die of an embolism in front of that thing watching other people have fun, so against the advice of (some) family and friends, I have resolved to use that money to rebuild the Yamaha RSV from the frame up! The new (to me) frame arrived today. I am stripping the old frame of everything not broken, and buying used to replace what was to keep the costs down. Hopefully I will heal before the bike does My question is- in the wreck, the left rear mounting lug for the engine stay was broken off, but the forward one is ok. How important are the engine stays and can I get by without changing the head? Will only one lug on the left be ok?

Congratulations on your new baby!

Thank you Cowpuc! We had a great time too, and would love to do it again. What I got will heal in a month or two, and another bike will come, I'm sure! You, however, are very much in need of prayer- been reading your posts! Both Mrs Shuttlebug and I will keep you and Tippy in our prayers. God Bless and Godspeed to ya'll.

After talking to a witness and checking damage ( I don't remember the wreck) apparently I ran straight into the side of a car at 50 mph. Of course he was cheating- no lights, black car, in a badly lit area late at night I started pulling parts and found the frame badly bent to the left, the upper engine mounts are snapped, the carbs were pulled out of their boots and general mayhem all over the bike So after the fight with the insurance company, if there is enough left, and I heal enough to ride, I'll see about getting another RSV. I really loved that bike- we rode 10,000 miles all over the country on it this summer and had a blast. Only the voltage regulator gave us problems. Thanks for the tech help in moding it and the advice I'll be caging it for a while, and then I'll see if I can still ride:shock3:

I'm sorry you lost your Dad. Been there, done that on both sides- The worst part of getting old is losing people I think. Very glad he knew the Lord! Our prayers are with you all. See you on the trail! God Bless Brian and Debbie

YIKES! Now that's a bad one! Good thing you caught him- any criminal charges?

Thanks for the pictures! Saw my favorite jacket too, it survived the crash without a tear, but it didn't make it past the Paramedics!

Happily I was riding single, it is nice to have someone on the ground to catch you:bighug: It was Mister Shuttlebug that went down, and happily, not the Missus! After seeing the bike, I am amazed that my rt leg is not smashed- I guess flying was a better exit strategy. Thanks Cowpuc and Tippy and Everyone else, I'll see if I can ride my ZN1100 and maybe then get another RSV. It is scary to have reality change that quickly and without proper warning . I do want to go to another Venture West meeting!

Monday night 10/20/14 I was t-boned by a car with no lights darting out from a gas station. One second I was enjoying a nice night ride, next second I'm riding a helicopter to a trauma center! I do not remember the accident. only what they tell me. I had my gear on, boots, leather jacket, gloves. I was thrown 30' but only broke a big toe bone and my rt wrist and abrasions on my knees and shins above my boots- had jeans on, and a chunk out of my lip. M y poor bike is badly smashed on the rt side and it doesn't look good for a repair 10,000 miles touring the country this summer with not even a close call and then this. What can you do if they drive a dark car without lights!!? Scary, thought I could dodge the nuts, but they came up with better nuts! A bunch of mods on my bike, but I may have to start over. God Bless!

I suddenly got the leaky shock and replaced it with a Hagon. It was easy to change- just remove the covers for the fuel pump and water jug, and remove the passenger footrests and chrome plates under them. You get an almost straight shot at the upper bolt, just use a wobbly and extension and it drops out. We went to the Laughlan Run and the Progressive shock rep said they made shocks for Ventures with a life time guarantee- but they did cost some serious money.

Did you change out the spark plug wires? Could be cracked insulation with enough gap to run normally, but under a load with the greater resistance of a richer mixture it will jump to ground.

The 3 wire plug is buried down in the wires below and behind the water tank. I had to pull the stator before I could find it! Fun

I noticed that the engine kicks back during starting sometimes and overloads the starter, which draws too much power and that kills the clock. It mostly happens when I stall the engine with bad clutching, and then hurry to restart it. It does this even with a good battery, but never on a cold start- yet!

I'm going to try to post a picture- if it doesn't work, I may have to ask one of my kids Be gentle, it's my first time

Would it help to dress the point contacts every once in a while as a maintenance routine? They would wear evenly and hopefully last longer. By the picture they look like old time ignition points. How easy is it to get to? Hmmm... I might go and find out- uncleanliness may be lurking. Thanks for the heads up VentureFar!

I finished installing gauges on my 2001 RSV today and I want to thank this fine bunch of people for helping me do it. Especially Freebird, Jlh3rd, SilvrT, and V7Goose and all those others who contributed to that long thread back in 2009- I read every post. Thank you Freebird for distilling it down into a easy to follow procedure. Now I have to get used to 20 lbs of oil pressure at 80 mph, and near zero at idle All these things I didn't know!

I'd rather bring bikes back from the dead, not kill them. Give it to some one who'll ride it, so that they will remember you as they ride.

It would be a hard draw- just be sure you're puffing on the right end!

Mine did the same thing- turned out to be the stator, it would charge a little so it would run ok, but the clock would reset. Finally the battery didn't have enough juice to start, so I checked the voltage while it was running and it came up wanting

Sounds good to me! We would like to see what an RSV looks like on the road Let us know when you want to meet- we're about an hour and a half out from the Valley, out past Littlerock. We're retired so our time can be flexible- except for Sunday church. Thanks for the invite Brian B Debbie B

Count us in- we need to visit my brother in Spokane and fill in the Pacific Northwest states. We will probably stay in the Motel 6. It will be nice to meet other Venture riders as they seem to be rare down here in So Cal. We had the RSV a year and a half, rode 3700 miles to Colorado and we have yet to see another Venture on the road.

I want to thank those who posted questions and those who posted answers- and especially those who posted pictures. My 2001 RSV needed a valve adjust, carb sync, and a stator replacement (not at the same time), and the info I got from this site was a very great help when I did it by myself. The dealer wanted to charge $500 for the valve adjust, after I got done with it I felt that was off base- I would've charged $600! Thanks again everyone ya'll made a hard job much easier! And the bike still runs God Bless Brian B

We rode a little over 15,000 miles on the 2001 RSV in 2013, that includes a 3700 mile trip touring around Colorado. Maybe this year I'll do better

Prayers sent, Godspeed to him!