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Rick Butler

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Everything posted by Rick Butler

  1. Rick Butler
    Guys, 4 - 1/2" holes are all you need. One in each side corner of the top cover. Rick
  2. Rick Butler
    Good deal guys, It's good to hear that someone else besides me is still wanting to learn. David Hough (pronounced Huff) is the godfather of proficient motorcycle riding and the dynamics of riding on 2 wheels. I really think the MSF folks took what he started preaching as a contibuting writer for Motorcycle Consumer News (aka Road Rider) and built it into their training curriculum. Ken Condon is now the author of these articles and does a pretty good job. It's better to learn the right way from these folks, than from your 16 year old friend that passed all of his wordly knowledge onto you when you took off for the first time. The "School of Hard Knocks" is not the place to learn and I have the scars to back that up. But am continuosly looking to improve my riding skills and I have read both of his books on Proficient Motorcycling And have ordered his "Street Strategies" and also have read Lee Parks "Total Control" as well as a couple of sport bike books. But I also use these books as reference material to look up riding in special situations. But one of the best places to learn everything you need to know to ride smart is from a track school. I'm very fortunate to have one available to me as well as 2 tracks close by. This is the most fun I've ever had on 2 wheels and is a perfect place to build your confidence and knowledge for riding on our twisty backroads that most of us are fond of. And no, Deals Gap is really not one of them. It's technically challenging but tiring and there are better roads nearby. They teach you brake control, entry points, apex points, earliest exit points and throttle control. So never stop learning and you will be better off for it, Rick
  3. Rick Butler
    Guys, The alpha character is not stamped onto the back side of the primary driven gear, but scribed with a roto tool. Or whatever you would use to scribe your name on a tool. The difficult part is that you have to take the basket and gear out of the bike so you can see it on the back side of the gear. Hope this helps, Rick
  4. Rick Butler
    Yeah D, You are very fortunate to have come through this as well as you did. In my three mishaps with this brake, I have tore up 3 Shoei X-Eleven helmets, broke a collar bone, cracked countless ribs, have a titanium plate holding my 2nd metacarpal together and am still riding (the same bike). And yeah ABS and even linked brakes would have at least helped you stay in control but may not have allowed you to stop soon enough. But again you are not the first one of us to lock up a rear brake on this bike. In case you have not been keeping up with this issue, you might want to check out this link and do a search on "Proportioning": http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/979/cat/7/date/1157932426 It's not a perfect solution, but it's will certainly help in those emergency situations that we sometimes are confronted with. There are also other solutions like adjusting the brake pedal and adding more free play to allow the pedal to travel some before the master cylinder slams a mass of fluid to the rear caliper. Then you can practice not using the entire ball of your foot on the pedal and modulating the rear brake while squeezing the front brake lever. But again in an emergency, your right leg sometimes has a mind of its own. So get her put back together and get back into the saddle and you will be better off for it. Rick
  5. Rick Butler
    Guys, Did anyone find Frank a Starter? I can't tell. Frank, if you are still out there needing a starter, I have one off an 85 V-Max (that only has 2 brushes) that you can have for postage. Rick
  6. Rick Butler
    Glenn, Since you are wearing a snowmobile suit, try some snowmobile mittens. They are much better than gloves because your fingers stay together and help warm each other. Plus if it gets bad, you can drop a handwarmer pack down into each mitten. But if you understand hypothermia, you'll get a heated vest and also wear a good full face helmet. The principles of hypothermia require that you keep the body and head (also neck) warm to keep blood flowing to the extermities. When these parts of the body start getting cold, then the body starts cutting off the flow of blood to the extremities which in your case the fingers and toes. There you have it, just think of the simple solutions. Hope this helps, Rick
  7. Rick Butler
    Skip, The last time I heard of any problem with the steering head bearings was back in 83 and it was never a recall issue. Knowing the details of this component, I can't even imagine of factory recall. Now on the GL1800 and ST1300s I've heard of issues with the steering head bearings and some serious head shakes, but even then it has not turned into a recall. Hope this makes you feel better, Rick
  8. Rick Butler
    Yeah Guys, I also perform the same basic modification to the passenger seat that I do to the driver seat, it's just on a smaller scale. And in case you aren't sure where to look in the classified ads, here is the link: http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/1023/cat/7/date/1157932426 Rick
  9. Rick Butler
    Good deal Curt, I bought this book back in 1986 when I bought my first trailer, a Travelite camper. However the contents are now a bit dated and I'm glad to see that someone is working to get it updated and back into our hands. But the basics of pulling a trailer with a bike are still the same where it taught me: 1. never pull an empty trailer 2. more tongue weight is better than not enough 3. tongue weight will decrease once the trailer is moving 4. in packing a trailer, get most of the weight over the axle and in front of it. 5. the better tongue length is when the distance from the axle to the hitch ball is arount twice the distance of the width of the axle 6. a better handling trailer is wider than it is tall Therefore, I would highly reccommend this revised edition for anyone currently pulling a trailer, especially a home built one or a camper. Rick
  10. Rick Butler
    Wild Thing, Drill the heads off the bolts and they will come out easily. Then buy the set of saddlebag quick fasteners on ebay. Then you won't have these problems ever again. But also put some anti sieze paste on the bolt ends before you put the fasteners in. Rick
  11. Rick Butler
    Shep, I can fix her seat to the point that it won't hurt her any more. But what she really needs is a seat like yours and not that smaller pillion. However I just recently did both the driver and passenger seats from a RSTD and they turned out good. And my tail bone relief in the seat should be just the ticket she needs. However if I fix hers, you will probably want yours done after you see how it feels. I have an ad in the classified section for 2nd Gen Parts that should provide all the information you need and it will be much cheaper than a new set of seats. http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/1023/cat/7/date/1157932426 Let me know if I can help, Rick
  12. Rick Butler
    Kevin, Thanks for the nice words and I'm glad you like what I did. Like I have said many times, I'm mostly doing this to help folks out to make these seats better for the long haul. I've lost count on how many times I've had to go into a new seat of my own to make it last at least 2 hours for a pull. And I'm really pleased as to how using memory foam on top of the foundation foam really makes for a nice feeling and riding seat. But the real secret, is first shaping the foundation foam to better fit the butt. Then the memory foam on top just makes for a nice comfortable finishing touch. I've been fairly busy recently, but I suspect as soon as the snow starts flying I'll get busier But that's ok. Rick
  13. Rick Butler
    JGorom, Take Goose's advice on the ABS cement, I have been using it for years. You can find it in the PVC pipe section of Home Depot and Lowes and it is listed as general purpose cement for PVC/CPVC and ABS in the red can. I've never tried the purple primer but do use the PVC cleaner in the yellow can. Hope this helps, Rick
  14. Rick Butler
    George, My solution on modifying OEM seats is to first reform the foundation foam to more fit the shape of the butt. And I do this by cutting any crown or forward pitch out of the seat and then cutting in a tail bone relief to take the pressure off the tail bone and put it on the sit bones. Then after I get it shaped right, I cover the seat and back with a layer of memory foam (aka isoelastic foam) which really provides very little support. This is what the base foundation foam is for, where the memory foam pretty much compresses down to nothing when you sit on it. However, it does provide a nice cushy surface to down down into and compresses where there is pressure and does not where there is none. the best I can describe it is that it's resistence is not linear like regular foam. But it always plumps back up to the original shape to fill in the cover and I don't think it will ever break down like regular foam does. But enough said about what I do with seats because a Corbin has ALWAYS been a very firm seat. There is no middle ground on a Corbin where you either love it or hate it. And it's the only seat that I have not been into yet. In fact some of the other folks who modify seats WILL NOT even touch a Corbin. However I would love to get into a Corbin just to see how it was made. In fact I have made offers to a couple of Corbin owners to help them out with their seats but I haven't gotten one yet. I really have no problem going into one, where if I got into a seat and didn't think I could improve it, I would just put it back together and not charge anything outside of the shipping. With all of that being said, I think a layer of memory foam over the foundation would help out but that's just speculation until I ever get a hold of one. I also suspect that the cover is glued onto the foundation foam which makes taking the cover off a bit more difficult where you really need to be careful and take your time. Let me know if I can help, Rick
  15. Rick Butler
    Tombo, Bill Vinson talked to Penske some time ago and they were receptive to building a shock for our RSV. However they would need a Yamaha Shock to measure, test, etc in order to complete this. And Progressive does not and cannot provide a shock because of the clevis connection at the bottom of the shock. So Works already has one available that I helped prototype and several on this forum have installed. You can take a look at it: http://www.worksperformance.com/html/street.html It's their UltraSport shock that is only 2-way adjustable (threaded preload and rebound adjustment) and retails at around $650. I don't remember but I think Penske quoted Bill a price much more than that, but it may have had compression dampening? So it's my opinion that if money is an issue, buy a 2008-09 RSV shock from Yamaha because I think there have been some minor improvements? But if you want the best shock for the money, buy the Works. And if Rick at Buckeye can get one cheaper for you than retail then he's a good option. Hope this helps
  16. Rick Butler
    Yeah Brian, I did basically what you found several years ago but at the time there were several others of us who had come up with a similar solution, so I let it go. But I used stainless allen bolts and started out with smaller knurled knobs, but recently started using larger rosette knobs to get a better grip on. In fact I sent Allen Hall (DiamondR) a set suggesting that maybe this would be a product that he might want to start building and selling. He wasn't really convinced that something like this would work and be durable to last. But, now I can take my bags off with my fingers without any tools. In fact Dave Henderson and I started using these knobs (With Tri-Star Industries) when we build seat bolt knobs for the 1st gen Ventures and they worked great. In fact I know of some of these seat bolts that are over 15 years old and still working. Anyway sometimes you can find these knobs at some of the hardware stores that carry a full line of nuts and bolts. And you can really put them together with a bench vise. I've attached a couple of pictures showing them in action. Maybe we need to start a petition to let Allen know that this is a product that we would like to see him carry? He could find a vendor where he could buy the components in larger quantities and really bring the cost down from what we can build them for ourselves in a single set quantity. Rick
  17. Rick Butler
    Sarge, Peg is right in that these calipers will also work on our RSVs. But like I said earlier, the banjo bolts are on the side of this caliper unlike ours that bolt up from the back side which makes for an unusual or difficult mount using stock lines. I helped BJ Melin (Longtrain) put a set on his 99, but we went ahead and got a set of Galfer lines (with a straight banjo end fitting) from the folks at Cycle Brakes. And Lynn, the Road Star master cyclinder is a good idea because it has a bigger reservoir to handle 8 pistons instead of 4. This is what I did when I put 1st gen 4-piston calipers on the front of my RSV. Rick
  18. Rick Butler
    Yeah Earl, Nice job. I really like these calipers where you not only find them on the early R1, R6, FZ1, FZ6, but also the 2005 Road Stars as well. The newer R1s, etc have now gone to radial calipers. I wish I had discovered these calipers before I changed out the 2 piston calipers on my 02 Midnight RSV with 4 piston calipers off a 1st gen Venture Royale. I also note that the banjo bolt mounts are on the side of the caliper which make using stock line a bit of a challange. If it were me I would have gone ahead and sprung for stainless lines, but that is just me. However, if you have delinked these brakes, I would strongly advise that you NOT worry about adding one of these R1 calipers on the rear. The last thing you want is a strong powerful rear caliper. Case in point is the FJR with a 1 piston sliding pin rear caliper. If you left the stock 4 piston caliper on the rear, I might even keep the proportioning valve intact? When everything was linked with a proportioning valve to provide more volume to the front, it worked well having the same calipers on all 3 rotors. This is one of the problems with having a 4 piston caliper on the rear of our RS Ventures, where inadvertent rear wheel lockup is an issue. In fact I have gone to a 2 piston caliper on the rear and added an adjustable proportioning valve to help resolve this problem. But like always, this is just a suggestion, Rick
  19. Rick Butler
    Jerry, I'm retired and really do this work (1) to give me something to do with my spare time (while I'm not riding) (2) to help out my friends where I can and (3) make some extra money while doing so. And as of now I only do this for Venturerider members and even though I'm working on a Midnight seat now, I'm really not that busy. So if you are ready to send me your seat, go ahead and send it. Depending on when I get it, I'll have it headed back to you the next day. So my time is pretty negligible compared to shipping time (depending on how you send it). For a single seat UPS ground works out pretty decent. It's only when you get a box that is oversized (to their definition) that UPS gets pricey. Everything you need is in my classified ad, Rick
  20. Rick Butler
    Lou, I just sent Seaking (in Ontario) a single seat and it only cost me $28.60 using USPS Priority Mail. However on his Midnight seat he just sent me, I think it cost him around $62 using your Canadian Expedited Parcel with Delivery Confirmation. In both cases it took about 2 weeks to deliver it (customs?). I really think Delivery Confirmation is not necessary and a delay for me because I end up not being able to pick it up from the Post Office until the next day. I also understand that UPS is not popular in Canada, but they leave it on my front porch, where in my neighborhood is not a problem. Hope this helps, Rick
  21. Rick Butler
    Guys, Since it has been brought up as a possible solution to keep the windshield screws in, I thought I would bring up the issue of Loctite around ABS. DO NOT use Loctite around any of our ABS body parts. It is worse than brake fluid and even the vapors will cause ABS to fracture. Yeah, I learned this the hard way Rick
  22. Rick Butler
    Tartan, I have yet to get into and modify a Corbin. I have done a Hartco which I think has about the same density foundation of the Corbin and it really needed help. However a Corbin does have a good shape to start off with but to me is like sitting on a board. Among Corbin owners, there seems to be no middle ground, where you love it or hate it. But to answer your question, I would like to see what is under the cover just for my own curiousity. I'm thinking that the cover is probably glued on pretty good, but I'm not sure. But if you wanted to send me yours, I'd be glad to take a look at it to see if I could help it. And if I got into it and didn't feel comfortable with going any further, I'd put it back together and wouldn't charge you anything. And yeah Lynn, I started working on 1st gens years ago and have only been doing 2nd gens since I first bought one in 01. Working on Pillow Tops is a recent event, which I really feel good about. And Condor, If your seat has different foundation foam, I don't think I could help you any to make it firmer. My expertise is primarily in working with the oem or aftermarket foundation foam to make it fit the butt better and give the tail bone some relief. The memory foam is also a recent addition that really makes a seat feel good sitting into without creating the linear resistance that standard foam does. So I'm here to help any of you out with your seats to make them more comfortable for the long haul, where most of us like to stay in the saddle all day in traveling this great continent of ours. As of now, I only work on VentureRider seats and friends of VentureRiders. Thanks, Rick
  23. Rick Butler
    Hey Guys, After having completed my seat modification to over a dozen pillow top seats since the first of the year, I thought I'd give you all an update on my progress. I think I have come up with the best process for this seat, since it's foundation foam shape is like no seat that I have ever encountered. If you take a look at your OEM pillow top, you will note a slight forward pitch and the back of the seat is flat which creates a pressure point at the back of your butt just above the tail bone. When you take the cover off and pull loose the 1" layer of foam that creates the pillow top effect, you will see two bumps at the outer edge of the seat. I have no idea whey they chose to put these bumps in the molding, except to possibly provide more support to the outer edge of the seat? Anyway I have attached 5 pictures show the main steps that I go through in modifying the pillow top seat. 1. My 1st cut is to the back if the seat to put some curvature to sit back into. 2. the 2nd mod is to cut those bumps off and slope the base of the seat back a bit resulting in lowering the seat about 1/2" at the back. 3. Then I narrow the neck and cut my tail bone relief in. 4. Once I get it roughed out, I take my right angle pneumatic grinder with a 60 grit sanding pad and smooth the seat out and shape it to fit the butt better. 5. Now it's time to replace the 1" of standard foam with a layer of 1 1/2" memory foam cut to the same shape with the same cuts to keep same the pillow top effect. The memory foam keeps pretty much the same shape of the original seat. But when you sit on the seat you will feel that your butt fits the seat much better and the memory foam does not resist like standard foam and lets you sink down into the pillow top to the new foundation. So there you have it and if I can help you with making your pillow top more comfortable I am here to help. Maybe a few of the guys whose seat I have done will speak up as to what they think of this change? And I've also done a couple of passenger pillow tops, where I mostly just narrow the neck and cut in my tail bone relief before replacing the pillow top with memory foam. The last picture is to show a modified seat on the bike with a stock pillow top sitting on the rear seat. Rick (aka Butt Butler) Oh, if you don't know I have an ad (Butt Butler Seat Mod) in the classified section of 2nd Gen Parts with more info.
  24. Rick Butler
    Folks, In all reality, I have never been satisfied by the manner that Yamaha only has one real bolt hole in their shields with the remaining holes being sloted. This means that if you inadvertently loose that screw (or the bottom part of the hole breaks out), then there is nothing holding the shield on except the pressure of the remaining screws and it's going to be in-your-face. In fact mine was one of the first 6 that Clearview built with their new design. And when I was talking to them about what size I wanted, I made a special request that they provide 6 holes rather than 1 hole and 5 slots like the OEM shield. And when I received it, I found that the holes were not circular but elongated. This worked out well for aligning the screw holes. And there are 2 other changes that I made to the mounting: 1. I got a set of stainless replacement button head allens that were 20mm long which gave more depth for the thicker shield. 2. I got a set of small 3/4" fender washers to allow better disbursement of pressure from the screws. 3. Between the screw head and fender washer I added a small lock washer to help keep pressure on the screws to keep them from inadvertenly backing out. I'm not sure but I think the standard holes that Clearview puts in these new shields is the same as the OEM with 1 hole and 5 slots. It would be my advise that if you order a shield from them for a RSV, that you request that they provide 6 holes instead which will most certainly keep the shield in place. Hope this helps, Rick
  25. Rick Butler
    Josh, Like you have seen from others, this bike is more than enough to pull a trailer. However if you don't already know it, pulling a trailer will void your factory warrenty in case you have a final drive failure. Now if you have had your final drive serviced regularly and are using a good synthetic hypoid then you should not ever have a problem with your final drive. But in case you do, pull the trailer hitch and wiring off before taking it to the dealer. But having a good working relationship with your service manager will most always help, where they will often look the other way in situations like this. But I do have a few pieces of advice when pulling a trailer: 1. DO NOT pull an empty trailer 2. Load the trailer with all of the weight over the axle and in front of the axle. More tongue weight is better than not enough. Having the tail (trailer) wag the dog (bike) is not a good feeling. 3. With the RSV, be careful not to get aggressive with the rear brake. This bike has a very powerful rear caliper and brakeing hard with the rear brake while pulling a trailer will result in a rear wheel lockup. And the weight of the trailer will only add to the bike jack knifing sooner. So start using good brakeing techniques by using your front brake to scrub off speed and go easy on the rear brake while modulating both of them. Regardless this bike has plenty of stopping power when pulling a trailer. Hope this helps, Rick
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