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bamico

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Everything posted by bamico

  1. bamico
    Update and Thank you! Wanted to thank all of you for your input. Thought you may be interested in how it played out... I went back to the shop this am, and explained to the owner my concerns. I thought he handled it pretty well. He heard me out, and then stated his position that although the tire is a different size, its barely so and that he'd used the smaller size before with no issue. He also stated that the smaller size is a V rated tire where the larger size is a lower rating. He also stated however, that the mechanic/tech should have at least checked with be before mounting the smaller size. He agreed that the smaller tire would have increased revolutions but didn't feel the tire would wear out that much quicker. Bottom line... he asked me what I wanted to do. As I was considering it, he looked at me and said, well, if you're thinking that hard you're not comfortable, give me till noon and I'll have the 90 mounted for you (note it was 10am). Is your bike here or do you need a ride to your house? At 11am I was riding away with the OEM stock size mounted. Put ~ 50 miles on it this afternoon and all seems well. Thanks again for the responses. As always, the VentureRider forums have proven my resource of choice for all things RSV. Have a great day. Ride Safe. Bob
  2. bamico
    I talked with Yamaha reps at both Americade and Laconia earier this month. If anyone knows about a Touring option coming that includes the trunk, they're not saying. I had one Yamaha rep at Americade tell me she'd love to have an answer as she spent most of the day answering the same question. I guess we'll have to wait till fall to see what happens. Would be nice if Yamaha came out with an option... Bob
  3. bamico
    Hoping for some help/guidance. Picked up my 2007 RSV from motorcycle service shop this pm after ordering new ME880s and having them installed. RSV manual states 150/90/15 for rear tire, however, when I picked up bike, the shop put on 150/80/15. Shop was closed when I got there, so won't be able to talk with anyone until tomorrow am. I understand that 90 vs 80 # is the aspect ratio. I have no idea why the shop put on the other size other than maybe they ordered the wrong size ? Question is, is there advantage/disadvantage to running the smaller aspect ration in the rear ? Wondering if anyone has done this ? Is it ok to do so? Need to determine if I go back to shop and have 90 put on bike or keep the 80 ? I'm heading out on a trip 4th July weekend so need to make a decision soon. Also need to be ready to acid/reality test whatever the shop tells me tomorrow. Would greatly appreciate any thoughts on this. Bob
  4. bamico
    shmily, I too have had great luck with the steaming proposal. Here's another thought... whenever I have multi-city trips that extend over a week or two, and/or large amounts of materials to transport, I'll ship clothing/items to myself to the hotel I'm staying. Most hotels will accept shipments from arriving guests. It'll be there when you arrive. Good luck with the trip. Bob
  5. bamico
    +1 for Carbon One. Larry's offering fit perfect. I've had mine installed for years with no issues. The Carbon One bracket and wiring harness make the installation a bolt on project. Bob
  6. bamico
    deepforkriver, Thanks very much for the response. Looking at your further posts, it looks like the shield is really working for you. Hope it treats you well. I'm thinking I may try it out. Ride Safe. Bob
  7. bamico
    deepforkriver, I've been following your thread on the baggershield. Sound like its working for you. Sounds like the upper clear shielld mounts within the lower smoked shield. Do you find that in the rain, this configuration forces water between the shields, (and down onto the tank/riders lap?) That was my only concern with the shield is what happens when it rains... Certaily one gets wet with the stock shield, just curious if its worse with the baggersheild due to funneling of the water? Would appreciate your thoughts on the topic. Bob
  8. bamico
    Congratulations on your purchase. I own an 07 and can confirm with the others' postings that CB and Intercom were stock. Good luck with the new ride! Bob
  9. bamico
    ScottW, I get ~2-3 years out of a battery on my RSV. I run passing lamps in the front, an Ipod and a GPS. It is not unusual after the first year for me to run into bouts of hard starts if the bike has been sitting 2-3 weeks. Just to make it worse, much of my riding is 2-3 miles, at low speed, so the battery often doesn't get a chance to charge. Asked my indpependant bike mechanic about it and he suggested the trickle charger. Works great. I installed the pig-tail on the battery, and I plug in the trickle charger once a week or so. Keeps the battery nicely charged and now the bike always starts strong. I believe the electical system on the RSV is pushing the limit of the battery. Especially with some of the accesssories I mentioned. If you poke around on this site, I'm sure you'll find a number of posts regarding this issue. The Battery Tender was well worth the $. Interested to see how much additional life I get out of the battery now. Hope this helps. BobA
  10. bamico
    Shackbar, You've already gotten plenty of advice on the durability of the bike, so I'll just say... I completely agree. I'm on my 2nd Venture/RSTD and wouldn't trade it for anything. Couple of other points with the Venture vs HD... please note... I'm not HD bashing, most of my friends are HD purists... just stating some facts. Liquid cooled! If you ride in hot weather on an HD, you'll appreciate how cool this bike runs compared to an air cooled. You may hear guys on the site talk about it running hot, but its a universe away from a 1700 HD. Rider/passenger space. I'm 6' and the Venture sits/rides like an easy chair. Riding 2 up, I can't even tell the co-pilot is back there. The HD Ultra had the co-pilot and I touching back/front pretty much continually. On a long ride, I really appreciate the space inbetween us. Durabilty/reliability. Change the oil, top off the gas, ride. That's it. I've got friend doing engine jobs on thier HDs after 40k miles. As you've seen here, at 100k the Venture is just warming up! Quick and plenty of power. Don't let the 1300 size fool you. Its a 1300 V4, not a twin (as you know). I can stay with the HD 1340 (or whatever the older model is), and 1500/1600? all day long. The newer 1700 makes me work a little harder to keep up, but only because I have to work the bike a bit more, and I'm a lazy, crusin rider. Admitted drawbacks.... 4 carbs... yes, even on the 2012... still no fuel injection. Cassette deck... yes, sad but true. Yes, even in 2012. Good news is there is an aux jack, so just plug in the ipod and away you go. Hope this helps. Feel free to reach back to me or send a message if you have followup questions. Oh, and I Absolutely agree on the advice given to join the site. You'll find a wealth of info about the Venture here. In fact I always check here first before going in for service or if I've found some ideosyncracy. The members on the site are amazingly helpful! Good luck in your decision. Bob
  11. bamico
    Thanks to all for the suggestions. Pulled the battery, had it load tested, and sure enough... it didn't do so well. Put in the new battery, confirmed correct charging of the system, and we're off and riding. Thanks again. Ride Safe. Bob
  12. bamico
    When I checked the battery, there was some sort of black corrosion around the negative terminal. It came right off with a soft brush.
  13. bamico
    Went for a ride on Sat, and shut the bike down when I got home to the driveway. Opened the garage door and started the bike to pull it in. Got the bike in place, shut it down and then immediately tried to re-start it. I got a series of clicks and then all the electical shut down. No headlights, no spedo display, nothing. Waited ~20 seconds trying to think what the issue was, and then, all the electrical (including headlights) came back on. Trying to start it at that point, once again gave me the clicking noises and an electrical shut down. Waited another 20 seconds and once again, all the electrical returned (including headlights). I have passing lamps on the bikes and a Stebel air horn with a relay. No other electrical mods. Any ideas on what the issue may be? The dealer replaced the battery when I bought it the bike used in 2009. Claims he put a new battery in it, which would make this the 3rd season on the battery. I run ~10k miles a year, mostly in 1hr rides. I searched the forum for similar posts, but didn't find anything relating these specific symptoms. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. Heading to Americade in 2 weeks, would like to get this issue resolved ASAP. Bob
  14. bamico
    Dave, Had the exact same issue when I added the lower deflecters to my RSV. I ended up moving the longhorns around until I found the room to maneuver the lowers. I got used to it after a while. If you notice the crash bar flexing too much, check out Carbon One's crash bar stiffeners. Best mod I've made to the bike. Ride safe. Bob
  15. bamico
    I had the Kuryakyn Longhorns on my RSTD. Worked great and the longer ext arm gives you some flexibility on how close/far you want the pegs from the boards. Have them on my Venture as well. On the Venture, they flexed the front crash bar quite a bit. Highly recommend the Carbon One crash bar braces to address this issue. The bar diam is 1". Kuryakyn sells the clamps as well. Not positive, but you may want to check with Carbon One to see if his braces will work on the RSTD. Good luck.
  16. bamico
    Ditto on the Carbon One bracket comments. Buy the relay harness too... makes it plug and play. And if you're up for looking into another great mod, and have highway pegs, Larry makes a great set of braces that stiffen them up, stops the front crash bars from flexing, etc. Ride Safe. Bob
  17. bamico
    Bobcatpat, I have the same issue with my Progresssive pump. What I do : 1) turn handlebars all the way to lock. 2) unfold/swing out the tube with the nozzle connector on the pump 3) hold the pump by the hard plastic shaft with one hand while aligning the nozzle as best I can against the threads on the bike. At the same time, I've got 2 fingers from the other hand in place to screw the pump connector onto the fork nozzle. I can use 2 fingers to turn the connector ~1/4 turn at a time. With practice, you'll actually feel it align to the beginnig of the threads. 4) turn the bars in the other direction and repeat for the opposing fork. Hope this helps. It is a slow process. Bob
  18. bamico
    Venture101, I've had mine for a yr or 2. No melting. I actually spent/wasted the extra money and got the show chrome version, which ended up being just a bigger piece of chromed plastic. As a result, the horn plastic cover pretty much sits against the cover, maybe with a 1/16" of clearnance. I actually had to twist the horn in the CarbonOne bracket clockwise to get the min clearance I reported. Good news is, a season or 2 later, no problems. I clear coated the CarbonOne bracket and all is well. Good luck, enjoy the horn. Bob
  19. bamico
    Twigg, Thank you for your thoughts. How did you mount the GPS to the fairing? Are you using the suction cup mount? I actually tried the suction cup mount that came with the GPS, and it worked surprisingly well. I am however concerned that with the vibration of riding, it would inevitably loosen up and let go on me. Bob
  20. bamico
    I'm looking at this to mount my Magellan Roadmate 3045-MU to my RSV. http://www.mountguys.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RAM-B-149Z-PD2&click=21 Was thinking the standard length (3") would be enough. Wasn't sure if 1) it would mount to the bars with enough clearance for movement and/or 2) once mounted if I could swivel the unit enough on the mount so that I could see it properly. I'd greatly appreciate any advice/suggestions. Bob http://www.mountguys.com/v/vspfiles/photos/RAM-B-149Z-PD2-2.jpg
  21. bamico
    I've got the Yamaha rack and really like it. Holding up well, no rust, bike is a 2007. If you go that route, Bestem makes a bag for it that fits very well (the were the OEM provider for the Yamaha offering). Plus, they're 1/2 the price of the Yamaha branded bag. Well worth the $ IMO, so that you're not playing around with bungy cords and a duffle bag. Hope this helps.
  22. bamico
    I have the Yamaha lowers mounted to my crash bars. Works pretty well. They're loose enough that I can spin them open/closed as needed for those days where its 20-30 degrees cooler in the am & pm than in the heat of the day. Certainly helps with the increasing/decreasing/redirecting air flow. They also blend in nicely with the contour of the cowls. They help with rain as well. Bob
  23. bamico
    Excellent. Thanks for the info. Bob
  24. bamico
    Was wondering if any of you have removed the covers from the side bags on your RSV? I need to remove mine to have them painted. I think I vaguely remember having to unscrew a piece of material that keeps them from swinging too far open, however also remember there being a hinge with a pin in it that I couldn't figure out how to remove. I'd can't check it quite yet, as its still buried behind 1.5' of snow in our shed, being stored for the winter. Was hoping one of you may have some advice, so I could be ready to go once the snow melts... Thanks in advance. Bob
  25. bamico
    Dal, I've been using the power port on the bike with the plug in/USB connector to the iPod for 2 seasons now. Never a problem, however, I don't leave it plugged in all the time. In the unlikely event the iPod runs out of power in a day's ride, I plug it in when I stop for fuel, coffee, etc. I can bring it up from dead to playable in about 10 min... 3/4 charged in ~ 20 min. Good luck. Bob
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