grubsie

Don't know what the market is like in Florida, but here in New England, you would be lucky , really lucky, if you got $6,000.00 for it no matter how nice it is. Late fall in 2016, I picked up an '08 RSV with 4700 miles on it in mint condition for $4,500.00. But then in the spring of 2017, I sold my 2006 Midnight RSV with 48.000 miles on it and in great shape for $3,500.00. It sat on the market for 3 1/2 months until someone finally called, came by and bought it. I let it go at that price simply because nobody had called on it for months and at that point, I just wanted it gone. These are great bikes. As far as I am concerned, there's nothing else on the market that rides better. But they are in very low demand and don't command a high resale price. I see RSV's and RSTD's listed and then re-listed on and on and on, on CL for months on end. I hope you follow up when you sell it to let us know how much you got for it.

Thanks for clarifying Freebird. I was searching for them last night, but couldn't remember what they were called. It seems the the older I get, the more frequent my brain farts seem to occur. I just happened across the site I posted. Now I am finding them all over on Google.

Didn't know where to post this so I decided to put it here until the moderator puts it in the proper category. I am looking for some hose clamps that most of us in the world of metric cars and bike have seen at some point. I don't know what they are called or where to get them. Here's my best description of them. It's basically 2 bands of wire with one end having a loop with a diameter that's just large enough to allow the threads a screw to go through. but not the head of the screw and the other side of the wires are bent into hooks that a threaded plate hooks on to. The screw from the loop side threads into the plate creating the clamping. I have an application on a bike where the clamps are going to visible so I don't want to use the standard ugly hose clamps. Never mind, Just found some here: https://racebikebitzusa.com/hose-clamp-clips-fittings-universal-heavy-duty-pressure/Self-clamping-band-clamps-double-wire-spring-clips-fuel-air/double-wire-vintage-style-clamps-fitting-koi-pond-adjustable-bolt-action

Yesterday, I wound up taking every carb apart but left the TPS on the side bracket. Soaked everything, blasted all the jets with carb cleaner and compressed air then reassembled everything. Had some time this morning to put everything back on the bike. Started instantly with the choke on although not at high idle, but still a pretty good idle. First time this bike has started for me without cracking the throttle a little so things are looking up. It did smell rich so needs a little tuning. Once warmed up it revved good but a slight popping when closing the throttle on one of the right cylinders. Again a little tuning and a sync. Will use my Colortune then sync. 3 of the carbs fuel adjustment screws from the factory were fairly close, but the #4 cylinder was quite a bit different that I thought was kind of odd. Would suspect that's the cylinder that's popping when I close the throttle. (Rear left = #1 Idle screw 1 3/4 turns, Front left = #2 Idle screw 1 7/8 turns, Rear right = #3 Idle screw 2 1/8 turns) (Front right = #4 Idle screw 1 turn)\ I will probably dial everything in tomorrow morning. Oh, wait a minute. No I won't. Merry Christmas everyone!

It's your bike and you have had it since new so do what you feel like doing. It certainly will not hurt re-torquing it again. Especially sine you have the exhaust off. I would do it. Why not? If anything, it will give you a little piece of mind.

I can see and understand sales growth in emerging countries , but not nearly as much here in the US. We are basically at saturation point. It's evident by the amount of bikes in the used market. One thing that is never mentioned is the intimidation factor. Someone thinks about getting a motorcycle. All excited, they start talking to people about it. They get all kinds of opinions, for what their worth, and talk to some other bikers they might know and get even more confused. So they start looking and may buy used or new. From all the advice they got, they either buy a bike that is too big for them to handle comfortably or they buy something that is really too small to do what they had originally intended to use for. Either way, they really do not know what type or size bike is right for them. All excited, they decide to go riding with their new motorcycle friends. There you are with your 250 - 450cc new to you bike that they can afford, in sneakers, a full face helmet and a TJ Maxx windbreaker and they all show up with their 3800cc snorting, growling tricked out bikes, dressed in leather jackets, chaps and 1/2 helmets and you are going on an 8 hour marathon through the mountains. Or... And this is not bashing. It's not bashing!!! But, the "Harley" image hurts the motorcycle image through not fault of the Harley manufacturer itself. It's the groupies. A lot of you guys probably have a background like me. At least I know "CowPuc" does. I have been riding almost as long as I have been walking, from Briggs & Stratton minibikes, to scooters, mopeds, to motocross racing, 2 stroke road bikes, Honda 750's, Goldwings, Sportsers, Road Kings, 1st Gen & 2nd Ventures etc. and still to this day, sometimes when I am riding on my RSV, I get intimidated a little bit when I come across a group of Harley's on the road or when I pull into a parking lot full of Harley's. Imagine how a newbie must or might feel? I know in my heart that most of them are only weekend warriors and don't clock in near the miles we do, but there's something about that mystique. You all know what I am talking about. I can't tell you how many times I have heard in conversations with newer riders when talking about their bikes say, "It's not a Harley, but it's good enough for now. Maybe someday I will own a Harley." Makes me cringe. Somehow, we have to get back to the "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" or "Let the good times role"

Big advantage with a four piston setup vs 2 piston. If my poor memory serves me correctly, The newer Road Stars also have semi-floating rotors that are a direct bolt-on to the RSV wheels that add greatly to braking as they run cooler, thereby increase brake pad performance and life. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong. This has been something I have been thinking about doing to my RSV this winter. The guys over at the Road Star Clinic confirmed that it should work.

How about using Spray Seafoam and let it sit for a little while before using compressed air? I am trying to avoid breaking up the 4 carb assembly. The only reason I would have to break them up is to disassemble the coasting enrichers. I can get everything else with rubber removed without breaking up the assembly. Basically, I am trying to not to disturb the TPS.

I haven't gone any further since my first post as I only had about an hour to kill when I started tearing the bike down. Tomorrow or Friday I will hopefully be able to clean all the jets, passageways etc. Wish I knew what model mikuni carbs they are and some kind of documentation on them so I know which direction the jets and passages flow through the carb. I prefer not to blow them out in the direction they flow so as not to force any possible foreign material further into the passageways. I'll take my time and figure something out. Thanks for the info. I was almost certain that they were jets. There's only 2, none under the diaphragm. I put new Iridiums in early spring 2017 while snow still on the ground along with new tires, fuel filter, oil change, radiator flush, brake fluid flush, brake pads etc. I bought it in November 2016, winterized it and put it to sleep for the winter. Bike only had just over 4300 miles on it. Now just under 12,000 miles on it. It's getting new plugs this winter along with other maintenance items like new air filters since I noticed those tiny white fibers that look they are coming from the filters and also a few upgrades as well. It had the starting problem since day one that I got it.

Thought I posted this here already but couldn't find it on a search. Starting procedure when engine is cold. Turn on petcock, pull the choke knob out, turn ignition on and wait for fuel to stop clicking, hit starter button. Should fire up instantly and go to high idle like my previous RSV's but doesn't. Will only start if I crack the throttle slightly. Then it takes a little while to go to high idle. One would think it is running rich, but I don't think so seeing that the the caps are still on the idle mixture screws and factory settings are usually lean. Other than that, it runs great. Starts instantly once warmed up. Pulls hard, crisp acceleration, averaging anywhere from 42 to 48 mpg mostly 2 up riding. It has a new fuel filter and carbs are synced and there are no vacuum leaks. Pulled the carbs today. Much easier than a 1st Gen for sure. Plugged all the openings and gave them a good exterior cleaning for disassembly. I decided to check the choke mechanism and noticed that the slides that contact the choke plungers were out of alignment. When pulling out the choke knob slowly, the slide on the right side came in contact with the plunger tips and the left side was still approx a strong 1/16" to almost 1/8" away from contacting the plunger tips. Thus the plungers were not in sync on the right and left side. A quick tweak of the linkage, they are back in sync. I don't know if that was the problem, but I am not going to put the carbs back on to see if that fixed the problem, only to have to take them back off if it didn't fix it. Opened one of the float bowls and everything is sparkling clean in there. Pulled the main and pilot jets and they look like new, float height is right on. Blasted some carb cleaner and compressed air thru the choke venturi hole, then pulled the idle mixture screw after counting turns in. Blasted that and the pilot jet hole and put put it all back together. So as I thought, the problem has nothing to do with anything in the float bowls except for maybe something along the lines of the pilot circuit and choke venturi. Maybe. It has to be somewhere in the choke circuit. I noticed 2 jets on the intake side of the carb. What are these for? Haven't pulled them yet to inspect. I ask because when I pulled the carbs, there seemed what appeared to be a very slight amount of extremely fine dirt along the outer edge of the intake. Almost film like. I mean a very slight amount. Not on the outside of the carb , actually on the inside of the outer edge of the intake. I don't know what those jets do and if they have anything to do with air flow at choke or pilot circuit. I am thinking that they may be clogged from this film. 1 other thing, I noticed some random very fine, very small white fibers, for lack of a better term, in the air box that attaches to the carbs, so I pulled the air filters and I could see some of these same fine fibers in the tubes the filters attach to. They look to be the same material as air filters? Wondering if that stuff is maybe clogging something.

Well??? We are all waiting (at least I have been) and holding our breath for your first impressions of the new scoot. I can't speak for everyone else, but I can only hold my breath for so long.

It's the economy, economy, economy! Especially when it comes to a motorcycle. Some new bikes are costing more than new cars. People need cars more than they need a motorcycle. At today's prices for vehicles, an average new car is costing someone on average, $300.00 a month or better for 7 years. Double that with 2 people in the household. Add a new bike to that and your monthly expense gets that much costlier. All this would be fine if the average person's income kept up with the rate of inflation., but sadly, it hasn't. It's hard to justify that luxury of a new bike to a financially responsible mother to purchase for herself while raising a family, let alone justifying it for her husband. Also for millennial guys and gals who are burdened with student loan debt or those who chose not to get a higher degree that are working lower wage jobs. In 1977, I bought my first brand new bike, a 1977 Suzuki RM250 for $1,100.00. It seemed expensive at the time even though I was still living at home and had a good job at a local manufacturing company. But look at the prices today for a RM125 ($7,800.00). There is no way I could justify buying one now even though affordability is not out of the question. I don't know how a young person today could even afford this bike. You can thank the rate of inflation vs stagnant wages for this. OK, so someone could go the used bike route. There are some great buys out there if you look hard enough. But here again, it's the economy. I have restored bikes and flipped for years and also flipped other bikes for quite a while and have done pretty well doing it, but it is getting harder and harder and taking longer and longer to flip them and the profit margins are getting smaller. Why? Expendable money is not there like it used to be. People used to pay cash. Nowadays, most customers are financing used bikes. I had one person recently finance a $1,500.00 bike and he showed up with his wife and 2 kids to pick it up. I almost didn't sell it to him. It broke my heart seeing his 2 young kids standing there as he handed me the bank check. That being said, I couldn't agree more about the dealerships. While I do not find them intimidating, I find them irritating from the salesmen, to the parts people, to the service people. They all seem to make me feel like I am putting them out. Most of them are from a younger generation that has lost all manners and courtesy. Corporate really needs to check on the dealers randomly, unannounced, with random average men and women acting as customers checking on all the departments. I am sure they would be shocked. Far different than the excitement level at corporate for their products. And don't think us customers don't notice it. Salesmen should treat all their products with the same excitement with their customers and for the new prospective inexperienced riders, they should go all out and treat them with kid gloves. It's amazing to me. All their top of the line bikes are well displayed, while their (only one) little 250cc beginners bike is stuck all alone in the back corner collecting dust.

Thanks, good to know. Looks like I will be using it from now on.

I use Pandora at home or anywhere else I have a wifi connection. Never use anywhere else due to the amount of bandwidth it may use. Does anyone know how much data it consumes when using it for a days ride? If it is next to nothing, I may start using it when we are out riding.

I'm with Marcarl on the air flow. The bike sat for a long time so I would check the exhaust also. If you haven't touched the TPS, I doubt it's the culprit. I had a similar issue with a 1st Gen I picked up a few years ago that sat for several years. Same thing, got it to start up after a little tinkering but it wouldn't rev at all. Kept starting it over and over, trying to rev it with no luck. Finally, out of the blue, it revved up and sounded pretty good. When I looked back, there was nesting material and acorns strewn all across the driveway behind the bike. Little critters just love exhaust pipes and air intakes.

I only use semi-sintered pads. I feel they are the best of both worlds. If you are interested: Rear: [TABLE] [TR] [TD=align: left]EBC FA123V........x1 Front: [TABLE] [TR] [TD=align: left]EBC FA179V.......x2[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Still don't have a vehicle with with any kind of touch screen fortunately. I do however, own a 2016 Chevy Express van for my business and I couldn't agree more on things going backwards and setup for the greedy automakers. My wife's car does have a touch screen and I refuse to drive it. It's so distracting and drives me crazy. My van has a a tire pressure monitor system that is pisses me off. Got a flat tire so I changed to the spare tire. Then a "service tire monitor system" comes up on the dash every time I started the van. Got the flat fixed and put the repaired tire back on and still the same message on the screen. Posted the message on youtube and found a simple fix. Unfortunately, GM did away with that fix around 2006 and now a special electronic metering tool is required to reset the system. Your options are the GM dealer, a mechanic shop that has the tool or buy the tool yourself. I found a mechanic that reset the system. Cost me $25.00 for less than 5 minutes work. Can't imagine what the GM dealer charges. Not only do you have to pay to get the flat fixed, but now it costs to reset the tire monitor system any time you get a flat!

Looks like our Yamaha brothers over at the "Road Star Clinic" are shutting down. It was posted on their forum this morning. Hate to see it go. Great bunch of people over there.

I talked to John last week. He knows his website is down and is trying to get it fixed. Here's his Facebook page for contact info. https://www.facebook.com/RMSportMax/

Congratulations!!!! You should be proud! Heck, I am proud for you. Really proud. She sounds like a terrific girl. My oldest daughter was the first in our family tree to ever go to college and that was an amazingly proud moment for my wife and I. She went on to get her masters degree and is now living a wonderful life with our 2 amazing grandchildren and wonderful husband. We couldn't be happier. I hope you wallow in your proudness for years to come. There's nothing more gratifying than seeing your offspring doing better than we did. After all, that's our goal isn't it? You have to admit, "Dr. VanRiver" does sound good. Edit: If she could ever figure out "cowpucs" brain, the sky is the limit for her career.

Anyone ever attempted to make the rear trunk set up as a quick release? I am thinking about it for a winter project. Just another thing added to my to do list for the winter if possible. I would love to have this option along with the rear seat as a quick detach also. I don't understand why Japanese manufacturers have not caught on to these type of feature. These features are what make "Harleys" so attractive.

Thank you again. John's website RMSportmax is down at the moment but I found his facebook page and called him. Looks like I am going to do the mod this winter.

Thanks Mike, Can any Vmax rear end work? If not, where would I send my existing one for conversion? I never really go much faster than 75mph on my bike so this conversion sounds like it would be great for me. Especially if gas mileage improves. Just one more thing for my todo list for this winter! I gotta say the more I spend time on this site and the more I learn about, you guys sure know how to make someone open up their wallets a lot to improve their ride. You're almost as good at it as another Yamaha forum that I frequent.

I am going to OMG myself. The more time I spend on here, the more things I hear about. What the heck is a Vmax rear end conversion? What's involved and what's the advantage?

Thanks cowpuc. Never even thought of ebay. I went to a lot of sites that had them for all kinds of Yamaha's except for the RSV. I knew I would find someone here smarter than me. Don't think I'm flattering you cowpuc, 'cause I'm not very smart to begin with.