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My sister and I headed out on my 1999 Honda Valkyrie Interstate crossing the boarder at Port Huron, destination- northern California. We allowed ourselves 6 weeks for this adventure but ended up completing it in 32 days. We drove up the east side of Michigan to Mackinaw City and across the Upper Peninsula and across the northern states. I learned that the Mississippi River headwaters are in the upper part of Minnesota-never knew that before. The landscape started to get interesting once we were in South Dakota as we toured the Badlands, Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. We bought a national park pass at the insistence of the park ranger which is good for one year and it more than paid for itself as we explored multiple parks over the trip. We headed to Billings Montana and the next day drove the Bear Tooth Pass-that was spectacular. Full concentration and eyes on the road when going up the pass and the views were amazing. Stopped several times to take it all in. Spent 3 days in Gardiner and used the Travel lodge as home base as we explored Yellowstone. Kept my eyes open to get a picture of Kevin Kostner for my wife-but didn't see him. 😁 My wife told me later that he was killed off in season 2 anyways. I think it was the perfect time of year to be there as the crowds were not too large yet and it was plenty warm. We saw some majestic landscape as well as pronghorns, black bear and cub from a distance, bison and elk. We said goodbye to Yellowstone after seeing Old Faithfull and drove to Idaho Falls and had a down day as we found a nice Best Western right across the road from the river and some green space. They even had peddle bikes we could sign out, so we explored the market and the restaurants along the river. This was a cool hotel as the GM was the one making omelets in the morning at their continental breakfast-a nice touch. The hotel had been in her family for over 50 years. We met a group of young people while sharing a beer at one of the local outdoor patio's. The one gentleman was an Evie Knievel fanatic and insisted that we go to Shoshone Falls and see where Evel Knievel tried to jump the Snake River. We never considered this attraction but glad we checked it out as the falls were spectacular. From here we made our way to Craters of the Moon National Monument. This wasn't on our list of things to see but we were driving right by, it looked interesting so decided to stop. It was amazing to see all the small flowers blooming amongst the old lava flows indicating the resiliency of nature finding a way to flourish in this desolate environment. I didn't realize how desolate parts of Idaho and eastern Oregon are and also very desert like. I made sure to fill up at every gas station in these parts and also carried a small jerry can which fit nicely in my saddle bag as it had a tapered fit to take up less room. We literally drove hundreds of miles without seeing a home and the one's we saw looked like they had been abandoned, a testament to the harsh conditions of trying to make a go of it as farmers in this area. It appeared that the successful farmers need to use spray irrigation-otherwise there would be not much of a crop. Headed to Oregon and Crater Lake National Park (got to use my park pass for the 6th time) to check it out. Well worth the ride in. Still snow on the sides of the road as we got higher in elevation. Beautiful water, almost purple in colour. No water gets in from external sources and it's not spring fed, so there's no silt at all in the lake and has this amazing colour. Also, the deepest lake in the USA (thank-you Google) as a result of a volcanic explosion. From here, on to northern California to see the redwoods. Toured Redwood National Park and then up the coast of Oregon. The Oregon coast was beautifully rugged and was cool and overcast for several days so we decided to have a down day in Bandon. (It's helpful the iPhone records the location of most pictures when recalling names of places). This was my sister's favorite part of the trip on the Oregon coast. This was probably my least favorite part because as the driver, this was the most challenging for me, following Hwy 101, fully loaded pulling a small single wheel trailer through the twisties and up and down was tough. Also, made the mistake of not checking tire air pressure enough and my tires could have been pumped about 4 lbs higher so there was some wear starting to show. Made it through Washington and crossed into beautiful British Columbia. I'm convinced that there is no part of BC that isn't beautiful...at least the parts we saw. Stopped to see my nephew in Kamloops for lunch. The best part of ride for me was from BC to Banff Alberta on the trans Canada hwy. The bike was easier to drive on this hwy and the scenery was just amazing with snow covered peaks around every corner. From here it was the trans Canada all the way to Winnipeg, then south and crossed over once again into Minesota and back to where we started. When we crossed back over into Canada the boarder guard asked, "so where are you coming from"...I smiled and said, where do I start? Made it safely back having travelled 11 K kms. All in all a great trip...and my sister and I are still on speaking terms😀 Bucket list ride completed. Mark

Hey guys! Friday I took off from Omaha, Nebraska and road down Highway 75 to Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I then went southeast to Van Buren, Arkansas, and then from Van Buren to Crescent Iowa on I40 to I49 to I29. (I went to crescent because I was going to be about 8 miles short for the full 1000 miles). I took off at about 3:15AM and got home a little after 10:00PM. It was 102 degrees in Omaha that day, and low to mid-90s in Oklahoma and Arkansas and muggy. I could have done it a little faster, but I took more breaks because of the heat. I had a tremendous headwind going south and an even stronger tail wind going home. If you've never been on I49 coming north from Fayetteville, it is a beautiful stretch of interstate. The 1988 Yamaha Venture, of course, performed flawlessly. I got poor mileage on the way down and great mileage on the way up! My start mileage was 104,331.8 and my ending mileage was 105,344.4. I still have to get the paperwork sent in to be verified

This past Monday I picked up a used 2021 Can Am Spyder RT Limited. It was well maintained an in EXCELLENT condition with only 362 miles on it. A fine older gentleman and his wife had a pair, and he sold his due to neck problems. I am very lucky to find one in this condition for a decent price.

First day of riding (in a parking lot for my wife). She has never ridden by herself and only been a passenger behind me for 7 years! But she’s game to learn to ride! I’m very proud of her!

I call this Surtur's Dog. Drone shot in WNC.

Congratulations. I did one in 2019, started and ended at a gas station 8 miles from home so 16 miles farther than the GPS showed. Never did send in the paperwork since the patch didn’t interest me since I don’t wear a vest. I was recovering from shoulder surgery and bored out of my mind not working so as soon as the therapist said I could ride I really rode. Probably the first and last time, I have done some 850 mile days since then.

I would stay away from the high output stators, I put one in my first 1999 venture. I replaced the engine after only about 10,000 miles and when I checked the stator it had burned half of the stator, looked as bad as the one that I replaced with at least 70,000 miles on it. Higher output equals more heat.

I did indeed....'Still Riding the Star Venture'. Today was dry, hot and very humid but this did not stop me from riding. It is a blessing to get another round of wind therapy. Ride safe wherever your destination may be.

It won't be long, she'll be "riding into the sunset' and you'll be left alone by yourself at home. Just kidding... Glad to see she has a sweet smile on her face. That CanAm is a perfect match for your wife.

Beautiful Machine..... I'm Jelly.....

Looks great. Hope you get many years of pleasure.

...and they lived happily ever after. Congrats on the CanAm. If I were you, don't worry too much on mpg. Focus on the good times. Ride safe.

Well, we pulled the trigger and bought a CanAm for the wife. We were vacationing in Roundup MT with our son and his family and my wife was checking the FB marketplace for CanAm’s and one popped up that was in Billings, an hour away. It was what we had wanted but were not looking to buy one 1200 miles from home. The price was right and God orchestrated the details, so Monday at noon, we were leaving Billings with a 2017 CanAm in the family! It does kinda stink that the car gets 20 mpg more than the bike! Now all we have to do is teach her how to drive it since she has never ridden her own!

Well I'm a bit late posting this as it occurred on this past April 19th, and on that day, I replaced the standard manual petcock with a vacuum operated petcock. Got tired of remembering to get up and go shut it off hours after parking the bike. But also on that same day I did something that some may consider controversial if not downright heretical - I removed the fuel pump from my 2nd gen 2001 RSV. I've only ridden 675 miles since then. With no issues. Many of those miles in the twisties of the Blairsville, GA area including hwy 129, as well as high speed interstate cruising. Gravity seems to work just fine! So if you're on the road and your fuel pump gives out, just re-route that fuel line directly from the petcock into the carb inlet and cruise on!

I have ridden 2 175-mile trips in the past week and did really good with the Venture. I'm going to keep riding it solo for a while but want a Spyder to ride with the Wife. Going to look at one Sunday and I'll share how that goes next week.

Some camp at Vogel state park, some rent cabins at the park. Most of the others stay at seasons inn in Blairsville. The events are riding curvy roads during the day and hanging out in the evenings. There is no sign up or fee. What it cost depends on where you stay. It's just a bunch of laid back folks who like to ride and enjoy some comradery. Hope to see you there!

Did mine in August of 2020, had it planned for a few years but life kept getting in the way.... Covid shut-downs and nothing much to do so 2 buddies of mine figured lets go. Left the south side of Lake Michigan at the IL/IN boarder and headed up into Michigan, up and over into Green Bay, WI, pushed out to Madison WI then back south into IL. I don't wear a vest, but I wanted to nice certificate to hang up in my office. Everyone asked why, or that sounds like torture... but hey, bucket list item checked off.

I've been gone for awhile but is Robert Butler still around? Both my RSV and RSTC came with "Butlerized" stock seats and they are awesome. He does great work at what used to be a very reasonable price.

August 13-17. I’m not sure if we’re heading down on the 12th or 13th. I’m going to trailer down for a change, not sure yet how the back will handle long trips. Some of us are staying at Season”s Inn in Blairsville, others camping.

Nice ride! It will be a blessing to you, I’m sure!

Looks sharp! Congrats!

This one left this morning. One more to go if I don’t change my mind.

Steve you still thinking about going to Vogel?

Very nice! Congratulations!

Thanks for the reply! Had great but very hot and humid day but didn't look like it was going to be as it it rained so hard last night that it was hard to see even with wiper on high(making sure signs I distributed were still up) wife said we made $110 dollars, which she doesn't think we will have another sale again! Got really windy around 1pm as we were getting ready to put things away (both sun shades we had set up were blown over) ended up taking 2 car loads of stuff to Good Will so they can distribute to needy! Have to wait till tomorrow to pickup bike from oldest boy's garage as I kept it there so it was out of the way! Will get out tomorrow!

Been out a few times this week but mostly late afternoon as temperatures were a bit too warm out to be comfortable. Wife talked me into having yard sale so will be busy tomorrow. Selling all her coats, chaps etc as she hasn't rode with me in 4 years so just taking up space!

I'll be there Tuesday afternoon.

I don’t know, I didn’t read the whole law. What I saw is that they have annual inspections and it’s an automatic failure to have a car tire. My wife asked me the same question and my only answer is that we’ll find out if they stop me.

Click forums and scroll down to”darksiders”. Lots of info there

Yes I'll have the coffee ready

IMHO there should be a washer between the gear and the aluminum case

I got mine out and found a crack on the right side fairing on my 89 VR, so I patched it with with ABS cement and it seemed to hold but when I took it out for a nice ride, about 100 miles, the fairing recracked and ended up braking the attachment points on that side. Seems for some reason the 36 year old plastic got brittle on that side. Heading out to the Motorcycle junkyard down the road a ways to see if I can locate a solid replacement. They have a lot of Venture parts out there and hopefully I can find one that isnt in too bad of shape. Rick F.

It is also possible if you havent change out the brake fluid in the past number of years, you might have some moisture in the system and just need to flush some fresh fluid thru the whole system. Dont forget the the left front rotor and caliper is part of the rear brake system also with an additional bleed located up near the triple tree. Check the service manual on the correct bleeding sequence for the bike. Hope this helps. Rick F.

Funny you mention that. This past weekend the wife and I were at the VJMC gathering in Blairsville, GA. Long story short, I did drop the bike on its left side in a parking lot incident - barely moving - and the wife fell splat to the ground helmet slapped the asphalt. She just got a little scratch out of the deal thank the Lord - he was watching over her - no headache at all. Not a scratch on the bike that I could find...not even a reflector out of place - the guards did their job!

Paul, this usually a small group of folks, and is a very laid back get together we talk about where we are going to ride and go. We welcome everyone no matter what you ride. Trina and I will be camped out at Vogel State park.

Paul, It's always a good time, good riding and good food. This has been going on for nearly 20 years.

Getting Closer and Getting Excited!

Stators always put out full production, it's the voltage regulator/rectifier that controls the flow.

I am pretty sure Gary sold Tweety Bird and Sylvester, not sure if he ever finished Sylvester or not, he was riding a Goldwing the last I talked with him, you may find him over on the GL Forum, but he never did post to often.

I will assume you are referring to your 2008 RSV. On your first question, there should no voltage on the rectifier of a motorcycle with the ignition off. Which makes sense to me and you are correct. There are members here that are subject matter experts on the RSV electrical system and they should chime in soon. Explain to us what seems to be your problem.

When I 1st joined there was a guy on this forum, Tweety, with a bright yellow 1st gen that was hopped up with v-max parts. If I remember the engine fit just fine but it was a mater of the air box (vboost?) from the vmax that was hard to get resolved.

Thank ya! It's something I can cross off my list, though I'm really not a fan of riding at dark, so it'll probably be a one-and-done!

I will agree on avoiding high-output stators. I got like 5k miles on mine. I was then frustrated and bought a 30 dollar one from Amazon and got like 20k or more miles out of it. Now I'm running a Rick's stator. 10-15k miles on it so far and working good. We'll see how long it lasts.

RM stator used to have good reviews, don't know if they are still around though. https://www.rmstator.com/

Here is a link to one article about one of the converted Royal Stars, but not a Venture model. https://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/custom-yamaha-royal-star-with-heart-v-max-from-archives/

No, I will stick with this.

Good morning to all. Today, Friday, may be the best day to cut my grass after all the rain we've had over the last few days. Weather forecast has stated that our first heat wave is coming our way starting this weekend and throughout of next week. With that said, my consolation is that I get to ride again to and from wherever my destination is. Ride safe.

These are the four specific brands and patterns that I'm always looking for. From the top. Fight 'm Rooster, Case, Schatt & Morgsn, and Bulldog. .

Gear position Indicator upgradefor standard Ventures (Non-Royales) I have installed a gear position indicating system on my 1983 Venture. This is the stock model without the dash readout from the factory. This is the second Venture I have owned. The first one was a 1984 Royale. Two of the things I really miss from that bike were the gear indicator and the cruise control. The cruise control is coming later. I have all of the stock parts now needed to install it. I obtained a Neutral Switch Assembly from a 1984 Venture Royal through an Ebay auction for under $10.00. This assembly will exchange with the stock neutral switch assembly from a standard Venture. The neutral switch assembly is located between the back end of the stator cover and the front of the middle drive. It sets back in about four inches and is difficult to see, but is accessible. Removal of the middle drive cover is needed to access. To indicate what gear the bike is in I mounted three LED lights in the gauge cluster above the volt gauge. The left light is lit it indicates 1st gear. The left light and the center lights lit indicate 2nd gear. The center light lit indicates 3rd gear. The center light and right lights lit indicate 4th gear. The right light lit indicates 5th gear. The neutral light works as normal. In neutral none of the LED’s are lit. I could also use five LED’s, using one for each gear, but I like the 3 light system as it is easy to see and once familiar with the pattern, it is very easy to determine what gear I am in with a quick glance down at the gauges. I initially used a red, green and amber LED’s but the green and amber had poor visibility in the daytime. I replaced with all red ones. I also painted the part of the LED’s that are inside of the cluster with black paint to keep the light from the instrument cluster from bleeding through the LED’s translucent housing. I used four diodes and three LED’s from radio shack for the light logic circuit. Four IN4004 rectifier diodes. Price $.99 for two Three Red LED assemblies. Price $1.99 each The new Neutral Switch Assembly has a six pin plug on the end that sets in the same area that the stator and rectifier plugs are near the fuel pump. I had two spare diode assemblies that I have obtained in the past and used the plug from one of these to mate up with the plug on the Neutral Switch cable. I had to take one extra wire connector from the second diode assy. As the diode assembly plug only used five wires. You do not need to use this connector if you do not want to though. I retained this plug as I will be replacing the wiring harness when I install the cruise control. I put the diodes in the circuit near the plug connections on the end of the neutral switch assy. I then ran three 18 gauge wires up to the instrument cluster. I used a trailer four conductor plug I had to make a connection at the instrument panel. I have attached a PDF file with pictures and a wiring schematic to install this.