kyle Posted June 29, 2013 Share #1 Posted June 29, 2013 HOLY MOLY its like a new bike.. The vmax rearend is a god send for the 2nd gen venture. This last week I installed the skydoc clutch upgrade, a new hagon shock and the vmax rearend and its like a whole new bike. The clutch hooks up the rearend is a kick in the pants and the shock keeps it all under control, like a new bike. In a previous post I stated after a trip to tenn. pulling a trailer that the bike was all wrong, wrong gears, wrong clutch, shot shock. Now we can't wait for the next road trip. I can't say enough great things a bout the rearend swap. cruising in 5th gear from 50mph to ???? is a joy now. If your like me and spend 95% of your time on 2 lane roads this puts it right in the sweet spot of the powerband, hell I'm hoping the fuel mileage increases too. forget the chrome doodads and trinkets, drop $300 on the vmax rearend and ride ride ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaking Posted June 29, 2013 Share #2 Posted June 29, 2013 Welcome to the Max Club lol.. yes, it's quite the impressive mod, best 'bang for the buck' upgrade available for the bike. I do mostly single up riding and prefer twinned highway rides so the VMax rear really makes a huge improvement on the ride. And oddly enough, improved my fuel mileage by a noticeable amount.. as long as I keep it within the 70-75 mph area.. once i get into the 80 mph range, then it goes back to the normal fuel mileage. (keep in mind that though the bike's speedo shows 70 mph, the bike is actually doing anywhere from 8 to 10% less in real speed, as verified by GPS and tag along car for comparison) The 'giddyup and go' of the bike has also significantly improved, it took me a bit to get used to it after installing the mod.. it puts the giggle back into riding. Its like getting a whole new bike all over again.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWa Posted June 30, 2013 Share #3 Posted June 30, 2013 The best mileage I ever got with the stock rear end was 44mpg on the first leg of a long trip. The average was about 35mpg. Yesterday I was part of a Patriot Guard escort that went 175 miles from JBLM to Yakima WA. We got stuck in a long traffic jam due to an accident on Snoqualmie Pass that was stop and go with lots of idling for several miles. And during some stretches we reached speeds over 70mph. Thats coastal, mountain and desert. High speed and low speed. Still when I filled up at the end I got 44mpg. And that is with the V-Max rear end. Also I must say that the bike handles these low speed endurance tests (traffic jams) much much better with the lower gear. A couple of days ago I had an opportunity to run up a long freeway on ramp beside a 2012 Harley Ultra Screaming Eagle 110. Well I didn't beat him by much but I did beat him. So when it comes to the big heavy cruisers the Venture is no slouch especially with the max rear end. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share #4 Posted June 30, 2013 I cant believe they didn't put this rearend in at the factory. This upgrade is the best $$$$$ I have spent in a long time I also noticed the whine is not as noticeable after the clutch upgrade as well. back in love with the rsv.... theres a couple Harleys in the neighborhood who have a big surprise coming at the next stoplight.....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWa Posted June 30, 2013 Share #5 Posted June 30, 2013 I cant believe they didn't put this rearend in at the factory. This upgrade is the best $$$$$ I have spent in a long time I also noticed the whine is not as noticeable after the clutch upgrade as well. back in love with the rsv.... theres a couple Harleys in the neighborhood who have a big surprise coming at the next stoplight.....lol You might want to practice a little first. You will find the rev limiter is much easier to bump into. Try these shift points 30-60-90 mph for !st second and third. After that you are on your own. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeS Posted June 30, 2013 Share #6 Posted June 30, 2013 OK, after installing the V-Max Rear, how does the gear ratio's differ, from just useing, the stock 4th gear ?? ( on the second gens ) ??? Or, put this way. If I just drive in the " stock " 4th gear on an 08 Venture, is anything much different then installing the V-max rear ??? Any comments :confused24: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share #7 Posted June 30, 2013 OK, after installing the V-Max Rear, how does the gear ratio's differ, from just useing, the stock 4th gear ?? ( on the second gens ) ??? Or, put this way. If I just drive in the " stock " 4th gear on an 08 Venture, is anything much different then installing the V-max rear ??? Any comments :confused24: I don't have a tach so I can't give specific rpm's but it seems to me if your in 4th gear running 60, the new rear would be a few hundred rpms lower but in 5th gear. I now feel in town or the hiway the gears match up much better with mph. Its just a better match with the engine, I can now go into 5th gear at 50 mph and have great throttle response all the way to whenever. all my speeds are by gps but the speedo is usually 5mph faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeWa Posted June 30, 2013 Share #8 Posted June 30, 2013 With the v-max rear end your rpm will be a little higher in each gear for any given speed. About 10%. That puts the engine closer to it's power band. So it will accelerate much faster. The combined increase in rpm and acceleration means it will be easier to bump into the rev limiter. Where I used to cruise in 4th gear at 60 mph I can now cruise in fifth and still have power to speed up without downshifting. Although if I really want to nail it I can go to fourth or even third. Fifth gear used to be useless. Now it is very useful. Of course I can still cruise in fourth and frequently do especialy in the twisties. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeS Posted June 30, 2013 Share #9 Posted June 30, 2013 OK, well that makes sence, Hmmm?? Will have to put this on my " maby " to do list next winter months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted June 30, 2013 Share #10 Posted June 30, 2013 It basically raising the RPM in any gear about 500 RPM. As for the rev limiter, that is why the next thing to do after the VMAX rear is the Dyna 3000 ignition module. Then you can raise that rev limiter. I've done both and love the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaking Posted July 1, 2013 Share #11 Posted July 1, 2013 OK, after installing the V-Max Rear, how does the gear ratio's differ, from just useing, the stock 4th gear ?? ( on the second gens ) ??? Or, put this way. If I just drive in the " stock " 4th gear on an 08 Venture, is anything much different then installing the V-max rear ??? Any comments Here's what I can say from personal experience with my 2006 and the new VMax rear in regards to riding at 70 with the OEM gear in 4th and the Vmax in 5th gear. Other people's experiences may differ, but it will give you an idea why the VMax rear diff is so appreciated. From what I understand, the VMax rear diff has one tooth less than the OEM rear diff. This means that you climb into the speed range quicker (more giddyup and go), reaching the rev limiter like there's no tomorrow.. wow.. Cruising at highway speeds is where this Vmax comes into the light nicely. With the OEM rear diff, traveling at 70 mph in 5th gear, my tach shows me at 3,000 rpm. In 4th gear, I'm turning close to, if not slightly over 4,000 rpm at 70 mph indicated on the bike's speedo. When in 5th at 70 mph turning 3000 rpm, the bike is just out of that powerband zone and any amount of head winds or incline causes the bike the bog down some and burns more gas.. However, in 4th gear at 70 mph and turning 4000 rpm, the engine is really responsive and smooth, but for me it feels like it turning way too high for that speed and the fuel mileage is somewhat similar to being in 5th gear.. it's not lugging and burning gas for nothing, but it's turning faster and burning more fuel for that speed, which basically equals out to be around the same.. You can run these bikes at 70 mph in 4th all day long with no problem or causing harm to the bike.. but like I said, for me it feels like its running at a slightly too high a rev in 4th at 70 mph.. With the VMax rear end, traveling at 70 mph in 5th gear, the tach shows around 3550 rpm, where the bike doesn't show any sense of bogging down and doesn't feel like it's turning too high.. and it's quite smooth and nice. Big head winds do not seem to affect the bike like it used to before, and I can climb inclines at highway speeds with just a slight twist of the throttle.. she's got guts now.. the bike's engine feels like it's just in that sweet spot of the powerband where you have lots of power yet not burning a lot of fuel for it.. Highway riding is sooo much more fun now.. you hardly notice the inclines anymore and the headwinds are no longer a bother.. Now, when you run the bike at higher speeds, this is where I find where you have a bit of a trade off.. Showing 80 mph on my bike's speedo is actually closer to a real 72 mph (verified by GPS and spotting car). Running the bike at a true 70 mph (around 80 on the speedo), the revs are now up around 38-3900 rpm and there is a slight hit on the gas mileage.. Oddly enough, running 4000 rpm with the VMax rear diff feels very different than running at 4000 rpm with the OEM rear diff.. though turning higher revs, it really doesn't feel all that bad.. actually quite nice.. smoother.. even more responsive on the throttle but doesn't feel like it's turning too high like before at 4000 rpm.. hard to explain, you have to experience it for yourself to know what I mean. So for me, that trade off isn't a bad thing.. to get the better mileage on road trips, I now feel I want to keep it at the posted speed limit (true bike speed vice bike speedo indication) and in the long run should keep me of the radar gun.. this suites my riding style just great! However, regardless of how high the revs are, running the bike with the VMax rear diff and turning 3900 rpm gives me about the same fuel mileage I was getting before riding in 5th on the old OEM diff.. I tended to ride a little faster as this brought the revs up more and made the bike smoother.. but now, I can ride in that sweet spot all day. Back roads riding. Well that too was something tht was easy to get used to.. in order to get max range I would have a tendency to ride it as low rev as possible and shift a lot to keep it out of that bogging down zone.. Now I find I can ride the bike in the 3000 to 3200 rpm range (in any gear) and still maintain better fuel mileage and stay within the powerband to climb hills and such.. Need a little more power, drop a gear and rocket past the obstruction on the road. Wow. A much smoother and easier ride than before. With the VMax rear you can get up to highway speeds from a full stop that much quicker and then settle down for a nice cruise (think climbing curving on ramps...) wow is all I can say.. Doing tight curves on the roads seems more effortless as you have the power now to engage the curves with power on out of the curve (slow in, fast out after the apex) For my all around riding style, this mod fits the bill and then some. My mixed mileage (back road and highway) went from 38 mpg to 43 mpg without concentrating on fuel management. Once I get some decent weather, I'll be doing range testing to see how much longer I can go before reserve on the highway.. The way the bike is resonding to the VMax rear diff, I'm anticipating quite a bit more.. Keep in mind that for some people, their numbers will vary, their experiences will vary but thus far, everyone I had contacted about this mod had nothing but super positive things to say about it.. and I have to agree with them all. Its an easy mod to do, and the best bang for the buck.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share #12 Posted July 1, 2013 couldn't have said it better myself. "SEAKING" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power Trippin Posted July 1, 2013 Share #13 Posted July 1, 2013 Okay, I know you are all talking about a 2nd gen. I read Seakings post on the rpm differences, before and after the swap, very informative. I guess I am wondering if the first gens had the vmax gearing from the factory? That might explain why they are faster than the 2 gens! My 83, cruises at 70 mph at about 3800 rpms, in 5th gear. So....anybody care to weigh in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeS Posted July 2, 2013 Share #14 Posted July 2, 2013 Possibly the 1st gen fairing, has something to do with being " faster " However haveing owned both bikes, Hmmm can't really say if the old one was faster then the new 08 ?? But then, I'm not in much of a hurry anymore, at the age of ( Ummm 70 ish ) The RSTD is plenty fast, as they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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