My first impressions on the Venture TC

Coming from a 2001 Goldwing first off getting on bike in show room it just felt right even though heavier than the wing it felt lighter. Next step was get my wife to hop on behind me well this I could not believe I did not have to struggle while she got on a lot easier on my 66 year old legs. We went for a 225 KM cruise yesterday and in the wind bike did not get blown around near as much as my wing. Slow speed handling in a parking lot is no problem . Stability on the highway with 50-60 kms wind was a much more improvement for me than on my wing. We cruised at 120 KMS an hour with no problem in fact when I told my wife what our speed was she was in disbelief. When we hit 140 passing a few vehicles in front of us I could not believe how stable this bike is. I am 6’3 and I am really enjoying stretching my legs out. The music from my iPod through the radio was clear at all speeds with no need to crank up volume to max. Informant centre will have a learning curve but already getting used to it will be glad when they finish the update

The heated grips are plenty warm at the lowest setting. Don’t get me wrong I loved my Goldwing I have been riding them for 40 years I feel for the long haul for me anyway this bike is a real winner. On another note have heard a lot of complaints on heat I t does throw heat on left side but so far in stop and go traffic it has been no problem once you move a bit heat is not noticeable at least not so far. I do believe it will be a little warmer until broken in as any thing new always runs a little warmer. On closing my wife is quite happy with our new purchase happy wife happy life of riding.

Great to hear! Now where are those pics coz as you know.....

Great to hear! Now where are those pics coz as you know.....

 

Will post some pics when I get my highway pegs and cup holder on if I can figure out how to

Glad you are enjoying your new Venture, we just bought a Transcontinental and my wife loves the ride of it. We owned a 1989 GL1500 GoldWing, a 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and a Harley Davidson Ultra Limited Low and this Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental is head and shoulders above the other bikes we have owned.

Stability in the wind and from passing trucks has been great the engine is very well designed as the torque curve just pulls this bike without any complaints.

Engine heat is a non issue for us, it is very well managed and as the engine is breaking-in the less heat I am feeling from the engine.

Yamaha using air/oil cooling was a good decision I think.

I am curious to hear the results of valve adjustments when these bikes start getting to that point, I would think the hydraulic lifters would minimize the valve adjustment going out of tolerance.

Coming from a 2001 Goldwing first off getting on bike in show room it just felt right even though heavier than the wing it felt lighter. Next step was get my wife to hop on behind me well this I could not believe I did not have to struggle while she got on a lot easier on my 66 year old legs. We went for a 225 KM cruise yesterday and in the wind bike did not get blown around near as much as my wing. Slow speed handling in a parking lot is no problem . Stability on the highway with 50-60 kms wind was a much more improvement for me than on my wing. We cruised at 120 KMS an hour with no problem in fact when I told my wife what our speed was she was in disbelief. When we hit 140 passing a few vehicles in front of us I could not believe how stable this bike is. I am 6’3 and I am really enjoying stretching my legs out. The music from my iPod through the radio was clear at all speeds with no need to crank up volume to max. Informant centre will have a learning curve but already getting used to it will be glad when they finish the update

The heated grips are plenty warm at the lowest setting. Don’t get me wrong I loved my Goldwing I have been riding them for 40 years I feel for the long haul for me anyway this bike is a real winner. On another note have heard a lot of complaints on heat I t does throw heat on left side but so far in stop and go traffic it has been no problem once you move a bit heat is not noticeable at least not so far. I do believe it will be a little warmer until broken in as any thing new always runs a little warmer. On closing my wife is quite happy with our new purchase happy wife happy life of riding.

WELCOME to the “family” bro!

Glad you are enjoying your new Venture, we just bought a Transcontinental and my wife loves the ride of it. We owned a 1989 GL1500 GoldWing, a 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and a Harley Davidson Ultra Limited Low and this Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental is head and shoulders above the other bikes we have owned.

 

Stability in the wind and from passing trucks has been great the engine is very well designed as the torque curve just pulls this bike without any complaints.

 

Engine heat is a non issue for us, it is very well managed and as the engine is breaking-in the less heat I am feeling from the engine.

 

Yamaha using air/oil cooling was a good decision I think.

 

I am curious to hear the results of valve adjustments when these bikes start getting to that point, I would think the hydraulic lifters would minimize the valve adjustment going out of tolerance.

Awesome! I’m enjoying the heck outta mine. Got 5400 miles on her already!

Glad you are enjoying your new Venture, we just bought a Transcontinental and my wife loves the ride of it. We owned a 1989 GL1500 GoldWing, a 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and a Harley Davidson Ultra Limited Low and this Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental is head and shoulders above the other bikes we have owned.

 

Stability in the wind and from passing trucks has been great the engine is very well designed as the torque curve just pulls this bike without any complaints.

 

Engine heat is a non issue for us, it is very well managed and as the engine is breaking-in the less heat I am feeling from the engine.

 

Yamaha using air/oil cooling was a good decision I think.

 

I am curious to hear the results of valve adjustments when these bikes start getting to that point, I would think the hydraulic lifters would minimize the valve adjustment going out of tolerance.

Great to read of your experience. I hope to mimic every bullet point of your post. About the hydraulic lifters, the primal set of intake and exhaust are fully hydraulic, and actually don't need clearance adjustment, but it is the 'slave', companion set of in's and out's that have a lock nut and adjustable tappet set up. It's really only because of those, that you need to manually check their clearance metrics at the suggested 15,000 mile intervals. The great news...and if you do your own work, or, even have to pay a shop for it, is that they ARE (thank goodness) Tappet Adjusted valve clearances, and so, any person that can read two alignment lines and have them line up to see TDC (Top Dead Center) on the power stroke, can merely check the clearance while the engine is dead cold, and if any of the two sets (two cylinders) of slave valves needs adjusting, merely loosen the lock nut...use a flat head screwdriver to adjust the clearance metric, and then while holding that tappet in place, snug back up, the lock down nut that holds the tappet body in that adjusted position. Done...and onto the next of the three other valves. (If I am preaching to the Choir, this is for those that have never had experience with this type of valve adjustment, for most bikes today, are bucket and shim.) or they simply let the shop handle all their regular maintenance.

I would have rather they engineered that all valves are controlled by hydraulic lifters, but then the bottom end would have had to have been more technically complicated. One more personal thought, is because of the very low RPM's this engine runs at..even at 80 MPH, and that if you use the torque properly, by short shifting (shifting between 1,700-2,200 up-shifts) I think we owners will find that even though you should physically check the slave tappet valve clearances, at the recommended 15,000 mile intervals, I think we shall find that they are pretty much in spec, with no worries of truly out of bound heat or wear induced reduction to valves seating and valve seat wear.

The tone of this post, was to cover those that never did any 'back yard' mechanics, so if there was/is preaching to the choir for some readers, that explains the 'explanatory' tone. I know there are lots of tech savvy readers, but then again, some riders just don't do rags 'n oil...and let the dealers handle it.

BTW, the new 2018 Goldwing flat six has a slave set up too, on having gone to four valves per pot.

Glad you are enjoying your new Venture, we just bought a Transcontinental and my wife loves the ride of it. We owned a 1989 GL1500 GoldWing, a 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and a Harley Davidson Ultra Limited Low and this Yamaha Star Venture Transcontinental is head and shoulders above the other bikes we have owned.

 

Stability in the wind and from passing trucks has been great the engine is very well designed as the torque curve just pulls this bike without any complaints.

 

Engine heat is a non issue for us, it is very well managed and as the engine is breaking-in the less heat I am feeling from the engine.

 

Yamaha using air/oil cooling was a good decision I think.

 

I am curious to hear the results of valve adjustments when these bikes start getting to that point, I would think the hydraulic lifters would minimize the valve adjustment going out of tolerance.

Just curious, did you decide to also purchase the lower set of wind deflectors? We did, just so to have all available options for air cold/warm management, in any month. Great to read that you folks are having a stellar ride experience!

Just curious, did you decide to also purchase the lower set of wind deflectors? We did, just so to have all available options for air cold/warm management, in any month. Great to read that you folks are having a stellar ride experience!

No we did not purchase the lower wind deflectors. The top ones will direct a ton of air onto the rider/passenger by themselves.

No we did not purchase the lower wind deflectors. The top ones will direct a ton of air onto the rider/passenger by themselves.

Ok, that is great to know! Then, my lowers will add further, for any temperature redundancy. Thanks! Great to read!

Joe