Tisunac

Last weekend I had an unfortunate opportunity to test my riding gear. I rode my Vstrom, a dual-sport bike with a friend of mine on a bmw1200gs, we took some back roads that had too much gravel for my taste....Long story short, I went down in a right turn, luckily at low speed. Still, it wasn't pleasant and left my bike scratched up pretty badly, bent foot brake etc.... Recently I bought a First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket with a D30 armor in it. I saw videos about how good that armor is (flexible to wear, hardens on impact and go back to flexible in an instant) but I thought they are exaggerating. They are not. If you need a good riding protective gear, get yourself a jacket and pants with a D30 armor. My fall made a bad scratch on my glove, scuffed up the whole right sleeve and tore up a bit of the jacket but I did not feel any pain at all. No bruise, nothing. Amazing! By the look of the sleeve and my glove, I could tell I did slide on it for some time (skid mark on an inch+ deep gravel was about 6-7 feet long) but there was absolutely no pain or bruise on my arm. The armor did a superb job! I have a Spidi adventure pants and they did well...on the parts they had an armor. Now I see why people wear side (hip) armor cause I ended up with a nasty bruise on the outside of my right thigh. Nothing on the knee or butt (armor on both places) but a bruise on an unprotected thigh area. I will install some side D30 armor immediately. My Bates boots did well. Tactical boots used mostly by police and EMT personnel, mine were Gore-Tex, without toe hard cup. The front of the right boot is scuffed up badly, pieces of leather falling off but protected my foot well. And even though they did well on mostly gravel covered road I might look for something more protective, just in case. Same fall on asphalt would be harder on boots, I'm sure. Seeing them scuffed up this bad on gravel made me think about getting something else, tougher. Although, Bates were very comfortable and I want that. Any suggestions? Based on the performance of my Kilimanjaro jacket, I might check some First Gear boots..... Luckily, I didn't test the helmet. But I can highly recommend a D30 armor.

I have a '99 Venture with the non -pillow top seat, too. Rick did a great job on it. Before I was sitting "on" the seat and now I feel I'm setting "in" the seat. His mode allows you to stay in the saddle longer without pain. I never had a plush seat and I'm sure it's nice. But to me, it's more about the shape of the seat than to the plush. Rick does a superb job.

I have an Edsets for the last year or so. I like it. Quality product, contacts are high end, very water-tight connections for the mic and the cable. One big improvement - you can hook up your earbuds instead of the speakers, it has a 3.5 input for the "regular" earbuds and that makes the sound much nicer, if you don't mind earbuds in your ears for a longer periods of time. That said, I did not notice a huge improvement in bass response with the new speakers. They are nice and thin but I can't tell that there's much more bass with them. Some people might disagree but that's my experience with them. Again, you can plug in your earbuds and voila plenty of bass and a nice sound. Also, Ed is a good people...very easy to work with and helpful over the phone or email. I believe they have some Thanksgiving sale right now, too..... I've heard that's about as good as it gets when you talk about the sound quality. Apparently, you can't get any better sound with a Bluetooth intercom (Sena, Chaterbox,...) neither. I have no experience with any of those...

How to take rust off of chrome? Coke and alu folly. It works miracles. You can check a bunch of videos on YouTube. I tried and it worked great. Put some Coke on a rusty spot(s), take the shiny side of the aluminum folly, fold it to fit your palm and start rubbing it. Not hard, just to make a contact. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

That is a nice ride you have!... I like that bike. Never considered it since I'm a little bigger than average (6'3", around 250lb on a good day...) but it sure looks very nice. And what a nice photo! Than I looked at your profile and saw your profession....yea, no wonder. Great job. (I worked as a photog for a while and can appreciate a good photo and especially a good composition and that one is spot on.) p.s. Rick does a phenomenal job on a seat! Love my seat now.

Thank you, guys. That's a great news. My front tire is still okay but I might switch to 130 over the winter months and see what happens... Our bikes can use any help when it comes to low-speed handling. So, thanks again and I'll try a 130 soon... And thanks for the lead on Commander II, I've heard only good things about that tire (have E3 now)...

Yea, I can try that from home...Next time I need to post a photo. Thanks, SilvrT.

Both of you got a good deal on them. So, Strat wheel seams to be nice, no response from a 130 "converts"... I'm sure I can find a bunch of threads on that subject... Any downside from switching to a Strat front wheel?

Yea, I share your concerns about disassemble - reassemble part of the deal.... I'm sure he'll do it less expensive if you do that part. It sounded like a nice deal to me, and the guy was very nice in our email correspondence. I still have his phone and a few photos in my phone. At this point, I have no plans to paint my bike.... But I liked that his airbrush looked like a real deal and not like those cheesy "flames" or "thunders"... I don't know how to post the photos from my phone over here but let me know if you want to see them and I can email them to you directly from my phone's gallery... p.s. I'm sure one phone call with the guy and you can figure out is he a "real deal" or...

Is Stratoliner wheel different than just replacing the front tire with a 130 tire? I've read that some people experience a front shaking over 65 mph with a 130 "tire switch" (non-Stratoliner)... I've checked for the Stratoliner wheel on Ebay - around $350 without a tire

- Buttler mode on the seat - affordable way to extend your time in the saddle. Rick is a great guy, does an excellent job; - I have a ClearView XL windshield and it works well for me. However, my wife still gets a lot of buffeting and it looks like we won't be able to take care of that since this is the biggest windshield there is for the bike. I got one with the vent and it was worth it (on a hot day and any time you want a bit of a breeze). Apparently, ClearView is the only one that you can apply RainX on it without hazing it. I don't like the fact that I'm looking through it rather than over it but I like the wind protection. Hopefully, RainX will help when rains... - If you don't have lower wind deflectors, chances are the previous owner broke the OEM brackets that hold them. Very common thing cause OEM brackets are weak. I purchased a set of very strong brackets from Diamond R accessories but I'm not sure are they still making them. The deflectors make a huge difference!... - Leveling links will improve the slow speed handling but it is a top heavy bike. I still haven't tried a 130 front tire... That's about all you can do to improve it a bit. - Handlebar risers made a big difference for me. I have 1 1/2 inch ones and you don't need to change anything else, just bolt them on. You will have to "play" with the cables to make them fit the new position but they will work. You just need to be a little "creative" around the brake and clutch levers... - Backrest is a single improvement that made the biggest difference for me! I even have a backrest on my Vstrom (dual-sport bike) and I'm now "spoiled" to the point that I will have to have a backrest on any bike in the future. Huge difference for me, comfort-wise. - I have a knee wind deflectors I bought at this forum's Classifieds. They are working fine. Every bit helps... - Highway pegs - a must!... You have to find a right position that would work for you, though.... - Kuryakyn grips with weights - helps with a grip over time. Also, weights help with the vibration... - "Proper" air pressure in shocks - I ran 4 in front forks and around 35 in rear. Usually riding two-up (around 400 lb with a gear). I guess you can do 20-25 in rear for riding solo. Helps with handling. You need a good hand pump, preferably digital cause you want to be very precise especially for the front forks. Harley Davidson have a digital pump that works very well. - You like a deeper sound? HD pipes are an affordable improvement. You can use Road King's, Ultra Classic's, Street Glide's,... I have a Screamin' Eagle with a downturns (thank you, Atoolnut!) and they have a nice deep sound and a good appearance. You'll need a mounting brackets (Ebay) and a clamps (Ebay). Hope that helps...

I've installed a leveling links and I believe it improved the handling but I didn't have that "wow" moment like some riders experienced. I know that I've installed it so I THINK it's handling better...but it wasn't that huge difference to me. I was thinking about switching to 130 front tire but I've read some comments about feeling unsafe at highway speeds. I certainly wouldn't like to compromise that...

Not trying to hijack the thread, since this is related to the topic - Bratman, how did you like the switch to the Sonic Springs? I did that on my Vstrom and it is great. It handles very well after the switch. Now, I have no clue how would a big bike like a 2nd gen Venture respond to the change...

Some times ago I came across a guy on Richmond Va Craigslist that was advertising his motorcycle/car painting business. I was impressed with his airbrush jobs, photos looked great. I've contacted him and he gave me a quote for my bike (2nd gen Venture) based on the photos I've sent to him - he would charge $800 to $1100 for the whole bike, depending on what I would order (solid color, two tone, airbrush,...), he would disassembled the bike and put it back together and he would include painting of one helmet to match the bike. You drive in there, leave the bike and pick it up when done. He said it would be 6 coats of paint and clear coat. Again, I liked the photos....it looked like the guy was doing it right. Let me know if you are interested and I can email you his phone number. I'm sure he'll have a bunch of photos of his previous work...

Charlottesville area. Work in Cville, live at Lake Monticello.

I have nothing to add to it....just joining fellow Virginians Venture Riders!...

Do you know do I need to remove the fairing?

I would like to install a set of Sonic Springs on my '99 Venture. I have them installed on my 2006 Vstrom and it greatly improved the overall handling of the bike. Does somebody have a step-by-step instructions how to install them? Also, your input about installing them or not would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, guys.

Really not trying to drag this post any longer than it should...just a fair comparison. I went to a Harley Davidson Demo Ride here, locally. Spent a good portion of the day Saturday over there. I was never a Harley guy, never owned a Harley and I'm not going into my opinion about their bikes, just how the demo ride went. Everything was well organized, they knew exactly who's doing what, they had a sign-up desk, you fill up the necessary paperwork and they sign you up for a ride on a bike of your choice. If it's not available for the next ride, they will sign you for the first next ride available. They won't have you sign for two rides, just one at the time - and that's fair to everybody. However, if there's a bike (leftover) available before the ride starts they'll let you know and you can ride that one for that ride. A short briefing before every ride, two leaders one front one back, checking intersections when we are turning, their truck at the turning point making sure cars can see us. I felt very safe during the ride, especially on an unknown-to-me bike. Plenty help if you have questions about the bikes, explaining all the features. Respectful, courteous, knowledgeable. I felt welcomed there.... Everything was organized and staffed by the local HD dealership and you can tell they want our business. One thing was very interesting - one of the riders after one ride called one of the HD employees and told him about the strange rattle in the front part of the bike he just rode. The employee checked it out immediately, couldn't hear anything, called another guy to check it out,.... He was making sure everything is okay with the bike before somebody else sit on it and take it for a spin!... He took the comment very seriously and, after thorough checking, assured the rider that's a normal sound for that engine. Did not make fun of the rider, did not have a smart comment, did not have a smirk on his face,... He did his job, and did it fine. Professional, courteous, well organized event. Regardless of what you think about their products, they will do their best to promote their bikes in the best possible light. Before leaving, I thanked them for their help that day and they were happy to see somebody appreciated their effort.

About 6 months ago I bought (ordered) two jackets with airbags in them. Not vests, full jackets. The manufacturer was Hit-Air. Paid around $500.- per jacket. A lot of money, but I thought I'm getting the ultimate protection for my wife and myself when riding. They had several models available and we picked two we liked (on the photos). The jackets arrived, we opened the box and .... the quality of the jackets were awful! I'm sure the technology of the airbag inside was nice but the jackets felt like they were made of the garbage bags! Cheap, cheap plastic-ky material that sticks to your skin, paper-thin, non-breathable material,.... They felt worse than any cheap jackets I saw at the cheapest stand at the motorcycle rally or show. I could not believe!... I put my on, and within 30 seconds I was sweating bullets! Pure plastic. We returned them the same day. Now, they had more models to chose from and maybe others were better quality. At the local equestrian store they have a vests from the same manufacturer and the quality was just fine. But the jackets we received were horrible! Maybe I should try another model but after they charged me for return shipping and restocking fee, I gave up. Got me a Firstgear Kilimanjaro jacket with D30 armor and I'm happy with it. I wish the jackets were better, I still think it's a great idea. Spidi is a high-end company with great quality products (I have their riding pants and they are perfect) so I believe this is a good product. Is it $600.- good (for a vest, so you still need a jacket underneath)? I don't know...

And please don't give up riding!... Just be smart about it. It's one of the best feeling in the world, at least for those of us that enjoy riding. And you don't have to make it boring either. Educate yourself, practice, learn the technique, master the craft.... You can still have a lot of fun and be smart in the same time...

I wish that leaves a bad picture of the crotch rockets riders only (not that I wish that but you know what I mean...). Unfortunately, a non-rider person will associate that behavior with EVERY rider, no matter what kind of bike you ride. Drivers in traffic, especially those that don't have a family members of close friends riding a bike, who witnessed that kind of reckless riding will assume bike riders will do that, no matter the bike. It's unfortunate but it's a fact.... The more humanitarian work we can do as a group (riders clubs etc), the more Toy Boxes, the more Poker Runs for a good cause - the better. Also, it helps if a local tv station say a word or two about it and help people understand we are neighbors like any other, we just like to ride motorcycles....

Hahaha...It might be. It rarely happens to me though. My accent is not that strong and I'm from Europe so I don't look "different" (whatever that is in today's day and age). 99.999% of people I see daily (I'm in a medical field, working with public) have no issue with that whatsoever. That said, we are all different....

Thank you for passing these comments over to our forum. I remember the Harley guy with his comments and I agree he was over-the-top with making sure his Harley was much better bike (he used much more colorful language). Don't remember the other guy, though. STILL, the Victory guy's job was to help people with their questions and concerns, to be courteous and professional, and to avoid any confrontation regardless of the comments. He was not meeting The Guys at the bar and somebody was bashing His bike. He was there paid by the Victory to promote their products and help potential customers with their questions and needs. It's Customer Service 101. I wasn't complain out loud at all, it was a conversation between him and me. But even the guy who complained about the clutch shouldn't be treated bad by the Victory rep. If he do that at the bar or on the ride he would probably got his a.. wooped but that's private interaction. The Demo Ride is not.

Wow! Good job! Yes, my first language is Serbian.