BlueSky

Well, I hope their research is correct and they sell enough Ventures to make some money. But I highly doubt it. Victory just bit the dust. I am also a degreed engineer and an air cooled 963lb touring bike makes no sense to me from an engineering standpoint. If it was water cooled, I could understand it better because it wouldn't overheat in traffic. An air cooled engine will overheat in stop and go traffic. The touring bikes that I think I might like are the Goldwing, BMW R1200RT, and the BMW K1600 GTL. Even the BMW R bike is water cooled now starting in 2014 from what I read. It used to be called an air head. Then I think 1995, they added oil cooling and it was called an oil head. Now, it is water cooled. And I love my old truck. It is a top of the line 4x4 model and it performs great. I have no reason to trade it. Same for the Magnum Hemi. It's as much fun to drive now as it was when I bought it. I don't feel that way about my motorcycles. I have been looking for a good while for another bike that I would like more. So far, I've only test ridden a Goldwing of the ones I think I would like and I loved it. One may be in my future. An air cooled any kind of bike will not be in my future. Perhaps after I get the kinks ironed out of my 89 Venture, I will like it more. But the time I have spent riding it didn't impress me like that Goldwing.

Very true. But most of the venturerider.org members own V4 Ventures and it seems normal to me that they would prefer a new V4 Venture. Stand by for more air cooled V-twin Gen 3 Venture slamming!

The insurance on my Kawasaki in WI was half what it is in NC. I was told that it was due to the longer riding season? May also have to do with many more illegals in NC driving without insurance causing the uninsured/underinsured costs to skyrocket.

I thought 3% annual growth in the second quarter was definitive but evidently it can be misunderstood.

CBX1000!! That's a collector item for sure.

Yeah, I'm going to rush out and buy one. NOT I can see why riders who like Harleys may want one. But if I liked Harleys, I'd buy a Harley. Why buy a Japanese clone?

I brought this up a good while ago and I was told that folks like Puc lift the bike under the exhaust pipes. If you search for a thread on his trip a couple years ago, you will see a photo of Tweeks lifted this way. I don't want to lift mine that way. I thought about buying a HF table life but the jack fails quickly on those and new seals are unobtainable. I looked under my 89 and an adapter would be difficult to build. Maybe zagger will build one for us!

Those hurricanes coming in on that trajectory have a habit of turning, coming up the coast to hit Wilmington directly. 4 times at least the eye of hurricanes have come over my home since I moved here. Usually they slow down a bit before getting this far north though. Those 4 have been either cat 1,2, and 3.

I think things are changing a little for the better. 3% annual growth in the gdp last quarter! The current admin is trying.

When I dropped my 04 Concours on my right foot because I was trying to keep it from going over like a big dummy, my foot was pinned under the bike and it broke my second metatarsel. I ignored it at first and after about 3 weeks my leg had swollen indicating blood clots in my lower leg. I was working away from home and the doc sent me to the emergency room and I stayed in the hospital for a day taking blood thinners. Being an old codger and sitting at a desk with the foot trauma caused the blood clot. I could see it on the ultrasound and it was about 6" long. 4 months of injecting myself with blood thinner and trying to keep that leg elevated and I was okay.

Reminds me of when I bought a Mark VIII Lincoln. I received a video from Cadillac showing a well groomed guy yuppie driving a Cadillac Eldorado. Not one technical detail was provided in the video. I guess I was supposed to say, "Wow, that guy looks cool driving his Eldorado. I want to be like him." NOT! It didn't work!

The 92's got the 4 brush starter!

I don't believe the V4 is what kept Yamaha from selling more Ventures. Yamaha wasn't serious about competing with the 2nd Gen Venture. In 14 years of production, they could have updated it with fuel injection, something other than a cassette player, lowered the center of gravity, and maybe attached a fairing to the frame. They let it die hoping to recoup their original investment without spending any more design or tooling dollars. Maybe that worked out for them. If they did their research properly, more touring riders want an air cooled twin than a water cooled V4 and the latest Venture will be a financial success.

What if you were a fan of the Goldwing and Honda replaced the flat six with an air cooled V-twin and called it a Goldwing? Most GW fans would be horrified. I think that puts it in perspective. If they called it Stratoliner, probably not as many complaints would be forthcoming. All the folks who like v-twins in a tourer are happy I presume and others who don't view it as a real Venture are not. It's only a motorcycle and we talk about motorcycles on this forum. That is what the forum is for.

The BMW dry clutch is probably a good design too since it isn't contaminating the engine oil. It just makes replacing it a major operation. I think the new BMWs have mostly wet clutches too though.

Maybe I'm all wrong, but it would appear to me that smaller, lighter, less expensive bikes that are COMFORTABLE for several hours of riding would sell. Maybe I'm wrong. Comfortable, what a weird idea!

Full Face Helmet

Now you gotta wonder what defect showed up in the bike that has to be fixed.

Appears to me that something is draining the battery. The battery should check at least 12.6 volts with everything off. If the running voltage is as high as you say, the bike's charging system seems to be charging when running. ????

Keep in mind the water hose is supposed to be connected and on before the engine is started.

Get some hydrocortizone cream to put on the itching skin underneath the cast if reachable. Ibuprofen will also dull itching or it has for me. Get well quickly, Jeff!

That 81 Nova bike would have been a competitor to the Gen1 when it came out in 83. Maybe Yamaha had some spies in the Harley camp. The Japanese have been very good at copying others designs and making them better.

If someone attempts to rob me with a weapon and I get the chance, my plan is to put him down. I may not get the chance, but that is the plan. I'll deal with the consequences of that action. A friend of a friend who lives in the LA area was carjacked. He gave the robber his wallet and wasn't going to resist until the guy pistol whipped him. Then he pulls his .45 and fires blindly hitting the robber in the leg. The police came and asked why he didn't shoot the robber again. The emergency vehicle drove the robber to the hospital obeying all the traffic lights without speeding or turning on the lights giving the robber a chance to bleed out. The folks in that area are really tired of the crime. The robber was out of jail in a couple of years.

It would be hilarious if Harley came out with a shaft drive 4cyl water cooled touring bike! Yamaha didn't improve the Gen2 in the 14 years of sales and just let it die. I suspect that is what they will do with the "Gen 3".

Seems Yamaha is not building any more 4cyl bikes. Wonder how long the Vmax and FJR will have one before they switch to the Tenure twin or a 3 cyl.