george_park

When I called the person I spoke with had an RSTD as well. I was asked if I had purchased the mufflers direct, when I said no they put me on hold - to measure the bolt length - and told me if I had purchased them direct they would have sent them to me. While they were very nice I'm not really OK with that - no sorry or ooops; it's their product and not a distribution issue and they went out of the way to change the marketing blurb on the web site but not the install package? Bike Fitment: Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe (05-08) Yamaha Venture (99-08) I had to wait for the mufflers to begin with, they were out of stock "everywhere" so my thinking is that these were not sitting around for the last 2 years somewhere. Not only did I use the instructions from the box but downloaded the ones posted on the Internet. In this day and age of e-publishing I am still surprised they did not include the washers in the parts list, put a note in that the '06 needed longer bolts or just include the ($2.50) bolts. I have a Baron's rear lowering kit on order and a front performance lowering kit to order now. My concern is that with the front lowering kit I'm going to revise the front forks (via my mechanic) and a) if those parts are wrong I/someone else could be seriously injured. To add to that the "Baron bears no responsibility on installation costs..." at the bottom of the instructions are another reminder that wrong parts at the mechanic will cost me more $$ (and ride time). I don't want to slide up the fork tubes but it may turn out to be less questionable. If the rear kit has an issue I'll have my bike up on blocks again until I can revert to stock. Sorry to hear of your issues, I hope they all work out. Regards, gp

I purchased a set of Baron's Bag Slash slip-ons (BA-1030-00) for my '06 RSTD. When I got to step 6 in the instructions - "reinsert the OEM rear mounting bolt" I ran into a little problem - the OEM mounting bolts (one per side) are about 1.75 inches to short. On those pipes there is only one mounting bracket so I was at an impasse. I went to my local hardware store and located the bolts I needed: M10-70, Fine Thread, as well as (2) flat washers, (1) lock washer and (1) nut. When you install the pipes you will see that the spacer provided falls into the hole in the muffler mounting tab. To prevent that do the following: Take the bags off if you have not already (I have the RMark quick release things for this). Place a flat washer on top of the mounting bushing in the frame where the OEM bolt used to go through. Put the new M10-70 bolt in the hole. There should be a flat washer on the bottom of the bushing already. If not add one. Slide the Baron's spacer onto the bolt, slide a flat washer under the spacer. Slide the muffler onto the end of the exhaust pipe and put the mounting tab on the bolt. The flat washer should be resting on the mounting tab with the spacer above. Place a flat washer then a lock washer and then the nut. Tighten the nut to snug it up finger tight. Tighten the exhaust pipe clamp (you are now at #7 in the Baron's instructions). I placed my clamps bolt head down to prevent water from sitting in the heads. Follow the Baron's instructions from #7 on. When I saw that the OEM bolts were too short I did call Baron's who gave me a rough measurement of the bolts in inches. I spoke with Baron who said they would have the instructions (on the web and in the box) and parts kits checked to make sure all of the proper bits are in there. The pipes sound great on so all in all it worked out. Regards, gp

Hello from SE PA. I ride with a number of other RSTD and Venture Owners and we've been talking a lot about "the whine" on the RS models. My '06 RSTD whines. Dealers have different responses, replacing the clutch, changing fluids, telling people there is nothing they can do about it and there have also been a wide range of experiences dealing with Yamaha. It's obviously a wide spread, well known issue on the RS models. It's not advertised - most people find out only after they purchase one and are frustrated that they have almost no options. These are touring machines that can be so loud it's no fun to ride them and putting them into the shop takes away time from the rider. I'm interested in finding out if there is a 100% fix and what Yamaha is doing about it. If there is no fix and Yamaha is not interested in taking care of their customers people will speak with their feet. After going through something similar with my old car (euro) I dumped it and went with a new one (japanese). With the new car I had a problem with 3rd gear - I told the dealer, they had gears ordered and installed within 3 days so getting rid of the old one was the right thing to do. Any input on a fix and Yamaha's response would be appreciated. Also see: Info on the Yamaha tech note http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showpost.php?p=55625&postcount=43 Tech Note: M2002013 (National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration) Regards, gp