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Rick Butler

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  1. Rick Butler
    Gosh Rick, It's sure a good thing that I didn't say GL1800 because I surely didn't mean to discredit the GL1800 or ruffle any feathers? But I did say "Even though the GL1800 is probably one of the best touring bikes on the market, it has been a problem with riders with long legs not having enough leg room". I was just making a point that these are two are completely different bikes with different riding styles. And.....even though the RSV does have some deficiencies it only needs a few changes to make it a better handling bike. When I took my first RSV (a 2001) to Arkansas for the first time, I hated it because it was such a pig in the corners and nothing like my 93. That's when I started looking at possible changes and came up with changing to a narrower front tire to make it tip in quicker. That was a good improvement but still not what I wanted. That's when I started looking at the attitude of the bike and realized that it sat (what I considered a half a bubble) low in the rear making it a great bike going straight but lazy in the curves. And after I saw that Barrons lowered the rear by changing to longer links, I realized that I could raise the rear by using shorter links....thus the birth of the "DiamondR Leveling Links". Gosh it sure took me a long time to convince Allen to manufacture these links and add them to his product line, but he finally came around and the rest is history. But back to your GL1800, where box stock it also has several deficiencies which can use some improvement to the forks, head bearings, rear shock and fork brace to make it handle like it should. I have a friend that sent his GL1800 forks off to Traxxion Dynamics to have them rebuilt to the tune of around $1,000 and that really made a difference. But then he still needs to address the wimpy rear shock. It turns out that the GL1800 has the same diameter forks as my CBR600 track bike? I would love to get a hold of a GL1800 for about a week and make these improvements. Anyway they are all good bikes and they all have their issues, Rick
  2. Rick Butler
    Steve, You have gotten alot of good information that should help in your decision. Regardless I would like to add my input as my wife and I have put about 200,000 miles on what is now my 3rd RS Venture. And before that we put over 500,000 miles on 5 first generation Ventures before I finally broke down and moved to the RS Venture in 2000. And frankly I was not very excited about moving from a 1st gen Venture (where you rode on the pegs) to a cruiser with floor boards, but I needed a new bike and the Venture was the best buy for the money especially with a 5 year unlimited mileage warrenty. You say you are 6' 2" so you will probably appreciate riding with floor boards that allow you to move your feet more than you would on a touring bike with pegs. Even though the GL1800 is probably one of the best touring bikes on the market, it has been a problem with riders with long legs not having enough leg room. Now the RSV is not necessarilly the best handling bike available but with a couple of minor changes (which includes tires) it will handle better than most, even the GL. And even though it only has 1300ccs it will ride 2 up, pulling a trailer comforably all day long. And the best part of belonging to a group like this, is that you will never want for information about ths bike. And a shamless plug for our member vendors, you have a talented number of members who provide products that will improve the handling, comfort and other minor deficiencys of this bike. Hope this helps in your decision, Rick
  3. Rick Butler
    Jose, I figured you would run into this, but at the time, you already had it coming. If I were you I would try to find a 2000 Royal Star Tour Deluxe seat which will fit your 96 (with the same seat latch) and is a big improvement (see picture below). Other than that and depending on how much you have already modified your seat, I could probably help you out. I have reworked several of these early Royal Star seats and they really come out pretty good considering the size of these seats. See my ad in the Classifieds under Rick Butler in Member Vendors. Let me know if you think I can help, Rick http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2000models/2000-Yamaha-RoyalStar-TourDeluxea-small.jpg
  4. Rick Butler
    Kreg, What you describe is a classic (compression/rebound) dampening issue. In other words your oil has turned the consistency of water and is shot. It is also a 7.5 wt which is very thin.....the same weight that a sport bike with cartridge forks requires. It needs at least a 10wt. And I will suggest that the bottom of your forks are filled with a black sludge? But when you talk about the front end diving a bunch, your issue is that the springs have lost all of their sag....yeah they are shot as well. The oem spring rate is .90kg/mm and what these bikes need is a spring rate of 1.2kg/mm. And while you have the forks out to change the fluid, you should go ahead and replace the springs. The most convenient thing to do would be to use Progressive brand springs (which are a multiple spring rate) but most experts say you really need a constant rate 1.2 kg/mm spring that you can get from Race Tech, Sonic Springs (which I reccommend) and several other suppliers. But this is not an easy task which will take most of a day to complete. You have to pull the fairing off and suspend it in order to get the forks out to drain, etc. Hope this helps, Rick I have a set of springs (and cartridge emulators) to install on a friend's RSV later this year, so maybe I'll go ahead and work up a detailed set of instructions?
  5. Rick Butler
    D.W. Even though the RSV seats can be modified to fit the RSTD (with some special brackets), it would be very difficult (but not impossible) to fit the TD seat on your Venture. Plus the oem TD passenger seat is much smaller than the RSV passenger (if that makes a difference). And the TD driver seat is also smaller in overall size than the RSV? So I would suggest that you find a set of either, the standard (from 99-2000), the Midnight with studs (from 2002 - 2006), or the pillowtop seat (from 2001 - 2011). The Midnight seats are basically the early standard seat, but with studs on the edges. In 2007 they made the last Midnight model, but put pillowtop seat on it. And even though the pillowtop seats are my favorite seat to rework, I do a nice job on either where you can see what I do to these seats in the Classifieds under Member Vendors. Hope this helps, Rick
  6. Rick Butler
    One other important fact pertaining to what David Hough quoted "quickly reach for the front brake and squeeze progressively with all four fingers to allow the weight to transfer forward before applying maximum front brake". I learned this tip from a MSF instructor where he carried a 10mm wrench and screw driver during the class and checked all of our front brake lever adjustments. He advised us to loosen up on the lever free play so you could easily get all 4 fingers on the lever and pull it back into the handlegrip. It may feel like you have no front brake at first, but you can easily get to the lever and even pulling all the way into the grip will still allow you to lock up the front if you want to. This is especially important on front braking on big bikes like our Ventures, etc. Rick
  7. Rick Butler
    Brian, Trust me when I say that Larry has identified your problem with packing and adjusting your steering head bearings. However, just about any bike will go into a decelleration wobble doing what you did. Now the real test is to lock the cruise control first and then take your hands lightly off the bars. If you get the wobble at say 40mph (and not at 70mph) then the loose head bearings are just starting to become a problem. But if it also does it at 70 then it's really time to do something about it. But, sometimes tire condition will cause this, but the problem will always come back to the head bearings. Hope this helps, Rick
  8. Rick Butler
    This is good stuff Don, I am a deciple of David Hough and have (and have read) all of his books along with others who wrote on street skills. Many of you know that I only have 3 of my 9 lives left where I have learned about proper braking from the school of hard knocks and am still alive to ride another day. We are all creatures of habit, and I developed bad (rear) braking habits from the years of riding 1st gens with their linked brakes that didn't work on the 2nd gen Ventures. Especially with the forward control brake pedal that can be easily applied but can't be easily modulated. It wasn't until I totaled my bike for the 2nd time that I realized that our Ventures had too much rear brake and not enough front brake. This issue prompted me to develope my proportioning valve for the rear brake which I hope has helped many of you. MSF has a great (Advanced Riding) program which I highly endorse which I have taken countless times over the years. But this only covers those skills at speeds under 35mph which doesn't exactly translate in a high speed emergency stop. I tell folks that if you ride at 80 mph, then you need to be able to come to a controlled emergency stop at 80. But this is not a very easy or comforting excercise to practice. However, the best thing I have ever done to improve my riding skills was to take my bike to a begineer level track school which is usually open to all bikes, not just sport bikes. This really helped my understanding of proper braking and allowed me to practice these learned skills in 20 minute sessions on a 1.7 mile track (with no oncoming traffic to worry about). I also became very confident of what my bike was capable of in brake control, throtte control, and proper entry and exit points of a curve. I tell my friends, the best thing they can do to improve their riding skills is to take a beginner track class, where you spend 30 minutes in class, practice what you learned on the track for 20 minutes and then come back to class to learn the next skill. But, I enjoyed this so much that I became a "Track Whore" and bought a dedicated 600cc track bike to go spend the day at the track with my buddys. But the big payoff is that when I take my Venture to thrash the Arkansas Ozarks, where there are no surprises in any of the curves. I just don't worry any more about over cooking entering a curve or puckering up when I'm surprised when a curve unexpectedly tightens up. Like Oprah says "Knowledge is Power" and there is nothing better than "Practice, practice, practice" to help our riding skills (to save lives). Again, good topic Don, Rick
  9. Rick Butler
    Yeah Kent, Item 1. is very much like the process that I use. And finding that soft spot in the axle is critical. And Dingy, all I know is that if you pull the axle spins together first and then the shaft acorn nuts, it pulls everything together so there is no binding in the splins. Rick
  10. Rick Butler
    Gerald, What you are considering with the spare wheel is a very good idea. And you just stirred up another consideration that you and some of our other sidecar rigs might also consider. And that is to also change your final drive to one from a V-Max. For the 1st Gen's, this is an easy swap, but for those with a 2nd gen you would have to get one from Thurber that has the speedo mounting hole. In 1990 I had a Flexit from California Sidecar and I kept a V-Max final drive on the shelf for when I had the car mounted. It sure made starts in 1st gear much better and overall the lower gearing worked just perfect with the car. In fact I got so good switching them with the bike on the center stand and not completely removing the wheel. Just dropped it to the ground on the right side, pulled the final drive and stabbed the other drive. Rick
  11. Rick Butler
    Steve, I posted this a while back. So why don't you try this (especially step 3)and see if it helps your problem. Rick This axle alignment procedure has been around since before 1988 and they just recycled it in 2006. In fact I was told how to do it from a early Venture mechanic and I have been using it since then where when I'm finished the wheel spins quietly every time. I guess I could provide pictures, but the process starts when you remove the wheel as follows: 1. Before loosening and removing the axle, etc, loosen the 4 acorn nuts where the drive shaft attaches to the final drive. This also allows the wheel to come out easier because the final drive will move as you slide the wheel out. 2. These final drive acorn nuts should remain loose until you put the wheel back on the final drive before inserting the axle. 3. Once you insert the axle and push it all the way into the right side of the swing arm, insert a 10mm allen socket into the axle. I like to use a 3/8" breaker bar instead of a ratchet so I can rotate it in either direction. Rotate the axle 360 degrees until you find the soft spot where you feel the least resistence. When I find this spot, I score the edge with the corner of a file at the pinch bolt slit. This allows me to set the axle each time because this sweet spot will remain in the same location. 4. Now put the axle nut and washer on and snug it up until the axle pulls all the way through. Then tighten the pinch bolt and torque the 27mm axle nut to 110 ft lbs. 5. Now finish the process by tightening the acorn nuts to spec. This 3 step process allows the axle and final drive to be completely aligned where there will be no binding in any of the splin connections. On first gens, this process can be done on the road on the center stand where you will loosen the nuts up and then tighten everything back up in the above sequence. Second gens will require a jack stand to do this. And it also helps to grease the clutch hub fingers. Hope this helps, Rick
  12. Rick Butler
    You know guys, I think there may be one torque setting that gets overlooked. And that is the setting for the top steering stem nut, which is 94 ft/lbs. In the fork section section of the service manual, it's not really presented where you would expect it (in Installing the Fork Legs)....but in the section further back in the handlebar section. And if this nut is not tightened properly, you will get a click under harder front breaking (even if the head bearing nuts are tightenened properly). And I usually torque this nut first before tightening the clamp bolts of the top triple tree. This makes sure the top triple tree (aka the Upper Bracket) is tight down on top of upper ring before tightening the top leg clamps. Hope this helps, Rick
  13. Rick Butler
    Well Jay, The words "Leaking fork seals" and "So I can have a few more good rides this season" just don't go together. In other words, with leaking forks, you are destined to a ****ty ride.....until you replace the seals. But until you do, I would refrain from adding (or trying) any air to your forks......it will just force the fork oil by the seals sooner. But if your seals are not torn from scratches or dings in the fork tubes, you might be able to stop them from leaking by lifting the dust seal up and poring a teaspoon of ATF transmission fluid down on top of the seals and replace the dust cover. ATF will sometimes force the seal to swell. And if you feel your front end is creating a "Low rider" then you might consider replacing fork springs while you are replacing seals this winter. In other words, your forks springs have lost all of their sag and need to be replaced.....with either Progressive brand or constant rate springs. And if you are still pumping oil out of the forks, it will undoubtedly be running down the bottom ends into your brake calipers, thus ruining your brake pads. So, go ahead and plan on replacing your seals (and springs) asap, Rick
  14. Rick Butler
    Andy, What you describe is exactly what I experienced when I first tried to use both Mobil I and Castrol Syntec automotive synthetic in my Venture back in the 90s. Motorcycle Comsumer News had just done an evaluation which blessed using these automotive synthetic lubicant in a wet clutch engine. When I dumped it and went back to Golden Spectro the problem went away. Now I use a M/C sysnthetic. So unless you have recently changed you oil to an unknown automotive synthetic, I will suggest that you just need to change your fiber clutch plates. But most of us have started using the heavier PCW Racing pressure plate and changed out the 8th half plate with a full fiber plate. In the Classifieds, SkyDoc sells this complete kit pretty much for his costs. Then there is also the Barnett pressure plate which is much prettier. Or if money is an object, you can just stack another Yamaha pressure plate on top of yours and put it back together and never worry about slipping again.....until you completely wear out the fiber plates. But this also gives you a much harder clutch to pull in....but it's not that bad. Hope this helped, Rick
  15. Rick Butler
    Neil, I can tell you that changing from an "H" to an "E" basket primary driven gear, will turn your bike into a screamer. In other words the teeth will be meshed too closely with no or little lash what so ever. If you have an "H" that is unbearable noisy, your only option is to go UP to a "I" basket. In fact I suspect that you may not even get this basket gear to mesh with your primary gear because it will be so tight. I speak from experience. Hope this helps, Rick Rick
  16. Rick Butler
    You are more than welcome Ruffy, It's always my pleasure to help you guys out when I can. It's funny that when you called the other day, I was just waking up from one of my power naps (which old farts need at times) and your need was one of my favorite subjects which brought me back to life. Thanks, Rick
  17. Rick Butler
    Patrick, For the amount of money you decided to spend, you will not be sorry that you bought the No Mar as it's the best manual changer on the market that really works as advertised. And I hope you went ahead and bought their balancer? Goose is right in that it's a chunk of change if you just need to change bike tires a couple of times a year. But, you now have a tool that you can now help your riding buddies with, and show them how to use it to change their tires? Now, they just came out with a scaled down model in the Cycle Hill that really looks more interesting for $495. Not as cheap as a Harbor Freight that is no longer made which was tough on rims without rim savers. It also looks like it might store better than any of the other No Mar models. So give a report on it after you get it and change a couple of tires, Rick
  18. Rick Butler

    Dream

    Rick Butler replied to Freebird's topic in Videos

    You know Don, This is going to be most of us in several years. It's my objective to still be riding (maybe on a Can-Am 3 wheeler) when I'm 95 Rick
  19. Rick Butler
    Don, This axle alignment procedure has been around since before 1988 and they just recycled it in 2006. In fact I was told how to do it from a early Venture mechanic and I have been using it since then where when I'm finished the wheel spins quietly every time. I guess I could provide pictures, but the process starts when you remove the wheel as follows: 1. Before loosening and removing the axle, etc, loosen the 4 acorn nuts where the drive shaft attaches to the final drive. This also allows the wheel to come out easier because the final drive will move as you slide the wheel out. 2. These final drive acorn nuts should remain loose until you put the wheel back on the final drive before inserting the axle. 3. Once you insert the axle and push it all the way into the right side of the swing arm, insert a 10mm allen socket into the axle. I like to use a 3/8" breaker bar instead of a ratchet so I can rotate it in either direction. Rotate the axle 360 degrees until you find the soft spot where you feel the least resistence. When I find this spot, I score the edge with the corner of a file at the pinch bolt slit. This allows me to set the axle each time because this sweet spot will remain in the same location. 4. Now put the axle nut and washer on and snug it up until the axle pulls all the way through. Then tighten the pinch bolt and torque the 27mm axle nut to 110 ft lbs. 5. Now finish the process by tightening the acorn nuts to spec. This 3 step process allows the axle and final drive to be completely aligned where there will be no binding in any of the splin connections. On first gens, this process can be done on the road on the center stand where you will loosen the nuts up and then tighten everything back up in the above sequence. Second gens will require a jack stand to do this. And it also helps to grease the clutch hub fingers. Hope this helps, Rick
  20. Rick Butler
    Hey Guys, After I posted this, I decided to browse the members list just to see who lived in San Antonio and I found Buddy Rich. So I called him and he's going to help me out. So thanks in advance for anyone else who was going to help me, Rick
  21. Rick Butler
    This for any of my friends who live in San Antonio, I need a head gasket and one of the San Antonio Yamaha dealerships has one, but they only ship UPS. And I need one ASAP and since tomorrow is Friday, it probably won't get here until the next week since they don't work on Saturday. However so I was wondering if I could get one of my friends in San Antonio to pick it up and stick it in a USPS Express Mail Flat Rate envelope and mail it to me. The gasket will already be paid for, so if I can get it in the mail before noon, I should have it by Saturday. And I'll pay you via PayPal, check, it's your preference. So do I have a volunteer? I'll need to contact you with final details in the morning. Call me tonight or in the morning if you can help me. Thanks, Rick Butler (aka Butt Butler) 972-442-9840 Home 214-926-3905 Cell 1304 Taos Lane Wylie, TX 75098
  22. Rick Butler
    Hey Brad, You mentioned earlier that Ponch was going to loose some teeth, but you hadn't said anything about it recently. This basic accident happened to a good friend of mine several years ago where he ate a radar detector mount (through a 3/4 helment) and busted a few teeth up. This was around Christmas time so Linda and I went out to a truck stop and picked out a new set of teeth for him as our gift. This made me think that Ponch could benefit from this same gift. So, I found the following link that you might pass onto Kathy and see if there are any sets she might be interested in picking up for David: http://www.thegadgetshop.co.za/products.php?prod_sec_id=166 Keep up the good work, Rick
  23. Rick Butler
    Gosh Brad, This just breaks my heart as David and I started a friendship 4 years ago when I reworked his seats and then 3 years ago when my friend Rex Adams and I rode with Ponch and Goose up to Don's for Maintence Day. Then we also shared a bond as member vendors where I helped him test out his first guage plates. And Linda and I share his and Kathy's pain as we both spent a week in the Englewood, CO hospital in 2004 from going down on I-25 at Castlerock. And then I went down again in 2006 and Linda got the call that I was in the ER. There is not a worse helpless feeling than learning your partner is in the ER being operated on. I'm a firm believer that when it's my time to go, it's my time especially since I only have 3 of my 9 lives left. But I'm sure that David is a fighter and he will pull through this, especially knowing the countless VentureRider friends who are pulling and praying for he and Kathy. And I'm really happy that Kathy was not with him because we don't need to be praying for 2 of our friends. And I'm guessing from his facial injuries that he was wearing a 3/4 helmet. But for the rest of us, I can't stress enough the value of a full face helmet (and protective gear) especially after all the times I have dug in head first on the pavement. I know you won't, but let me know if you need anything down there as they are not that far from where we live. And are prayers are with them. Rick
  24. Rick Butler
    You know guys, I have replaced the shock in the usual manner (with the long extensions and borrowing a small hand to put the top bolt back in) but more recently my preferred procedure is to remove the bags, mufflers and rear wheel. Once these are out of the way, you can go in from the rear where the shock is completely exposed and accessable. However, this means you need to have a good cycle jack available to get the bike up off the ground. Hope this helps, Rick
  25. Rick Butler
    It sound like you need a new rotor. Yamaha lists it (4NK-2582W-00-00) at $256, but you can find it for less from several on-line dealers. And I'm sure that EBC, Galfer, etc have replacement rotors? Rick
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