IronMike

Well sometimes old threads can bring new information. I am newbie to Venture but I swear I saw a use 91 OCT decal in the trunk. I may be wrong. I just downloaded the OM and Service Manual and I see 87. So I searched here wondering what to use. I Used to be a gasoline tanker driver. Deliver gas. So you all know. It all comes from the same place. It is mixed by the driver who picks it up using a computer panel to the customer specification. And they pretty much all order the same mix. Places like farm co ops and marinas will omit ethanol. Yeah! FYI. 87 contains more lubricity for the engine. (Piston rings and so on). 91 much less. So people will see better mileage with 87 just for that. As mentioned before 91 is used because of compression ratios and is sometimes needed to prevent ping. But if your bike will run 87 and not ping go for it. If you go to real gas.com. find a station near you that sells non ethanol gas and use some. It is most widely sold in the 91 oct . form. So you will want to add lubricity. Lucas fuel additive is my favorite and marvel mystery oil comes in second. This mix will be the best gas you ever run you can feel the difference in the seat of your pants. Use busy stations. Gas gets old fast. I always use a stabilizer when I put the bike up for more than a week. You must use the stabilizer when you fill up. Two weeks later its not going to work. And of course run the bike to get it to the carbs. For the reason above the higher octane gases are older in the tanks, everyone wants to use the cheap stuff. When I delivered gas I had same stations on my route and they would sometimes use 10 orders of 87 let's say to one order of 89 or 91. Seriously! Now. Now a days since the new tank EPA laws the stations tanks are computer monitored. So you are about never going to get water or trash from a station anymore. So its on you. Keep your tank topped off and stabilized while not riding. Find real gas and try it out. If you want a higher octane. Your best bet is to study up and use a product to boost your own octane as what you get from the pump could be anything but what you paid for. If you buy 87 and boost it you know what you have. Ethanol is a food product and it spoils. So at the end of the year last tank. Buy real gas at a marina and fill it up, stabilize and run it a bit. Change the oil and it will run great next year.

Oh real bummer to read this thread. I just bought the venture after spending over a grand in shock improvements on the Roadstar. Ended up with the adjustable 465 progressive and that wasn't even quite enough so I moved to a venture thinking it was more built for touring. Now I'm going to be fighting a rear shock again? Mine has 9500 mikes on it. Now taking predictions on when its going to go. Sad face.

You found time to install a shock AND answer all my questions too? LOL Hope you like it.

I don't think the cyclepump can be beat, but if you search it, you can come awful close for a lot cheaper. Theory is you are not going to use it. Like I said I carry a Plug kit it works just fine. I did buy the Stop and go kit. My brother used it on his car tire. And when he was, I read all about it in the directions, and they basically say go no further than to buy a new tire. Scary. Great for lawnmowers and 4 wheelers, maybe a wagon. But I just cant trust it. Nice 12 pack of fresh plugs and a compressor and you can run the tire out. I got a bad nail in a new tire, plugged it and ran it out. It was like in the corner of the tire, somewhere a Stop and go I don't think would hold. Ill sell ya mine, one plug missing. And having had a rear flat at speed, (Found out in the next turn) I just want to mention always checking your tires, especially on trips. About every chance I get I have my passenger watch the rear as I move the bike, she looks for nails and voids. Same on front. You can't kick a bike tire and see if it is flat, You must use a gauge. The casing is so strong anyways, very little air makes it look good to go. I read somewhere about a company who set up a tent at a Bike Rally and took air reading from people who just rode in and weighed the bikes too. An amazing no astounding percentage of bikes were grossly under inflated and an amazing number were exceeding the weight rating of the tire. And that made me go weigh mine two up and loaded. I was overweight on a Roadstar with the best tire available with the largest weight rating. And thats why I went to the darkside. Ride on seems like a good idea, if I wasn't running Dynabeads. This just hits home how important tires are.

Yes a shorted cell in a battery can give you same type nightmares. totally disconnect it and connect another battery and see what you have. Load test yours.

No idea your riding level, but for a lot of comfort tips. go to the Iron Butt web site and click on tech section and poke around; http://www.ironbutt.com/about/default.cfm?CFID=24978760&CFTOKEN=66295255 A key to seating is the breathability of the fabric, since it is a motorcycle its got waterproof material, try something like the sheepskin or beads to get air circulating between your Butt and the seat. thats the best improvement you can make. If you want the quickest and easiest fix the AirHawk seat works wonders, its Iron Butt Certified. Your biceps, you might need new risers or bars to get the handle grips closer to you. Also try Throttle rockers on BOTH sides of the Bars, Yes they do make a left. The idea is to ride not gripping the bars like you want to choke out your bike, relax, Use the cruise, have the grips in your hands, don't death grip the Bars. At speed the centrifugal force of the wheel spinning will keep the bike headed the right way until you apply force to the bars. With that in mind, on those roads and in that weather and visibility you would be naturally doing all the things I have told you not to. So gave it another chance. I am a very experience long distance rider, yet each year I have to snap in to be able to ride 1000 miles non stop, Take long rides around the area, then overnighters and then weekend trips, get your body used to riding. Then embark on a long week long trip. And she has to do the same. And as you will note on the iron butt site, what you eat and drink have a great impact on your ride even in the days leading up to your departure. While in the seat, you should both practice muscle tensioning to keep the blood moving through your body, and if you can take an asprin before each ride. Drink loads of water, have it available on the bike, not soda, not juice not gatorade, Water, add lemon and Pink if you need to. If you dont have a backrest, get one. Loads of info on Iron butt website. Read it and be amazed at what you may have done wrong. I have some secret roads and great places to stay in that area, if you go again hit me up for the info. I go there at least 3 times a year for 7 to 10 days each. You only saw a glimpse of it. Put the Devils Triangle on the list for next trip there. They have a web site too. Hope you get the Air Hawk, You wife will love it.

Just got my 08 So this thread just answered a lot of questions i have been wondering about, especially the Jacking thing. (Blocks) Do I really have a driving light switch? Fun and informative read. should be sticky. Now where is that SM and OM online anyways.

That sucks, You know the AMA includes towing for future reference. Hope it goes well and parts counter is open for ya. IF it happens in My Hood you can use my shop.

My insurance carrier advised me it is against the law for them to prevent you from running a DOT approved tire, he said if you run a Bike tire on a car then that would be a problem. As long as it is a DOT approved tire, nothing they can do. Besides, I have no idea how old you are, but back in the day ALL bikes had Car Like tires on them. The trend to they type tires you see on bikes now came from racing, much like Spoilers came from racing for Cars. Passenger cars realls dont need spoilers, but look how many have them now. Same thing. And dealers and tire salesmen love selling tires every 7 to 9K miles. 45K miles Darkside on a 07 Roadstar, and soon as i wear out the Metz that is new, I am going Darkside. I am going to be fearful of my death running a MC tire. And it's going to be so silly to do two trips and change out a tire. I can bang into a curve and brake it down without skidding wet or dry. With an MC tire impossible. Someone wish me luck for 7K miles. I am scared!

Well what did Mr Butler do for a backrest or seat Mod, Got any pictures?

Yea I do too, Go the compressor route and the plugs. The CO2 cartridge route will fail you, they leak off over time especially when exposed to heat like in the bottom of a saddle bag over the exhaust. Cyclepump makes about the best pump but others such as the one he posted a pic of will also hold up. Your looking for one that is lightweight yet delivers good volume. Just air it up and give the pump a cool off and finish airing up. Leave the bike run while you air and shorter and heavier wire is best. Im going to say your best kit is self made. Include the tools to remove the valve stem, extra Valve stems, extra cap (With seal inside) heavy duty Plug tools (Cheap ones don't work so swell on a bike tire) and extra rubber cement. Include an Air gauge the small kind like Progressive gives out at the bike show will work and is light. I bought the Yamaha Kit and tossed half of it aside and went with what I mention here. If you really want to go lightweight, Harbor Freight sells a Yellow line that has a female end on each end, you put some air from the good tire into the flat one and ride slow to the pump. Or better yet get a truck to stop and steal his air. And BTW most Big Rigs have an air line if you wave them down they can air you up. I forgot to mention that a screw with glue on it makes a killer plug for a nail hole in an emergency. So I also carry short screws.