American

I was looking through the service manual I just received today in the mail and all I can find regarding headlights is how to remove and install them, I can't seem to find anything for aiming them. Are the way they are mounted already properly aimed or is there something in the manual that I am just missing? I have the Yamaha Star service manual for the 2018 Star Venture bike and it is the genuine Yamaha manual.

I use Liquid Glass to polish the bike, it gives it a mirror like finish and builds up with each coat making the shine deeper and deeper from about the 5th coat onwards. I have used Liquid Glass on all my vehicles for years. The nice thing about Liquid Glass is you can use it on all the chrome shields on the exhaust without it turning blue like regular wax, keeping the chrome in pristine condition.

Are Harley shops really that busy these days compared to their past? Harley is lowering production numbers and this in their 115th year where they will be releasing anniversary models. Harley keeps losing market share, people are no longer buying into make believe image that Harley has sold. The local Harley dealer where I live in the Ft. Myers area is a virtual ghost town these days, and this is a new building they just built about 3 or 4 years ago, the owner had big plans to build a strip mall that was going to have restaurants, tattoo shop and other shops in it on the huge lot right next store to the dealer, but that ended up going into bankruptcy. Even the Harley dealer north of me in Port Charlotte is not selling like they used to, they started out like gang busters when the new owner took over but now not so much. Harley has a business plan build the bike to basic levels then offer a boat load of options that you can buy to make the bike better. Harley held 50% of the market at one point now they are struggling to maintain 36% of the market. The used market is flooded with Harley's which is now starting to catch up with them, that is making it a harder sell on the new bikes that will end up costing another $5,000 to $10,000 in accessories and parts to make the bike fit. Better off finding a low mileage used Harley that someone else already spent all that extra money on it and there are plenty of low mileage Harleys for sale. Why spend $27,999 on a new Harley then have to dump in another $5,000 to $10,000 on top of that. That $27,999 dollar Harley quickly turns into a $32,999 to a $37,999 dollar bike. Sure you can leave the Harley stock but doing that leaves you with just another Harley in a sea of Harley's with a seat that is uncomfortable, a suspension system that is totally lacking, I won't even get into all the money spent upgrading the engine/exhaust system. Harley made a lot of money over the years with that business model, but Harley is no longer the image that everyone has to have. Everyone has a Harley, you are not an individual riding a Harley but rather just another sheep in the flock.

I purchased some 3M clear protective film 8 milliliter thick to put on the front of each saddle bag, on both side covers and on the back sides of the fuel tank where my legs make contact while riding. The saddle bags and side covers is so that my wife's boots don't mark up and scratch the paint if her boots contact the front of the saddle bags and the side covers. The fuel tank is because while riding you get sand and some times even a very small pebble that rubs between your pant leg and the fuel tank scratching and rubbing through the paint. Those are the three high wear areas for paint damage. You can find this film on Amazon or you can see if a local shop that does the clear bras will sell you some of the clear film, I bought a 1 foot by 2 foot piece and cut it myself, to apply it just use soapy water and a squeegee to get the water from under the clear film. When you apply it the film will look like it won't follow the compound curves but all you have to do is use the squeegee and force the water out and the film will stick, you may have to go over the area several time but the film will ultimately follow the compound curves of the side covers and the fuel tank. Not sure why the photos keep rotating on the upload.

To late I already bought the tall one.

SurePark is nice, I have used it a hand full of times when it would make parking easier and boy does it ever. Yamaha adding in the forward to the SurePark was brilliant.

You are getting a better bike in the Star Venture, sitting at a stop light the handle bar of the Harleys sit there and vibrate while this Star Venture the handle bar is nice and smooth. Don't get me wrong, I liked my Harley but I would not buy another Harley. I hear the Milwaukee Eight engine is smoother as it has counter balance shafts in the engine but still the Harley business model is to give you a very basic motorcycle for top dollar and then sell you $5,000 to $10,000 dollars in replacement parts to make the bike fit you and be comfortable. Harley makes more money on the bike from you changing things on it than it does on the bike sale alone. I just don't understand why the Harley faithful think that having an engine that shakes the bike to death is a good thing. I want smooth and Yamaha delivers with the Star Venture.

I just did not like the vibration of the bike, in third gear around 30 MPH it had a vibration that just drove me nuts. I put 27,800 miles on the bike and it never let me down, it was in very good condition. I wanted the new 2018 Honda GoldWing Tour but none of the Honda dealers wanted to take a trade on the Harley. So I stopped by the Yamaha dealer and they were more than willing to take the Harley in on trade. They sell a good number of used Harleys so they don't play the your bike is not worth anything game. I still to this day have not gotten a price from my local Honda dealer on the 2018 GoldWing Tour, they just ignore me. So in the end I really liked what Yamaha had done with the Star Venture Transcontinental and I can tell you this bike is head and shoulders better than my Ultra Limited Low. The other down side to owning a Harley is your going to pour a boat load of money into it after you buy it to make it work for you. When all is said and done what ever the purchase price is of the Harley you can go ahead and add another $5,000 dollars on top of that in parts you change out to improve the bike from the seat, the engine stage one, to the suspension system, I went with JRI coil over shocks, and a new windshield. By the time I was done it was a very nice bike but it still was a Harley that vibrates. They don't call Harley Davidson's Milwaukee Vibrators for nothing.

Right now tire choice is limited to the Bridgestone tires as the size is different than other bikes of this class. Seems the 2018 Honda GoldWing Tour uses the same size tires as the Yamaha Star Venture only they are using Dunlap tires so that will give us two different tire brands to choose from when tires are needed. I am hoping Michelin comes out with Commander II tires that will fit the Yamaha and Metzeler with an 888 tire as well. I used to run Avon Cobra's on my 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour so I would welcome Avon Cobra tires as well.

I do have to curse you because I already bought the tall back rest if I knew you had this deal going I would have waited and just bought the utopia. I will try the tall Yamaha one and if it is not enough then I will spring for the utopia.

Thanks I must being missing that when I look in the manual then again when you look for something in the manual you always find everything except what your looking for.

In the photo of your dash the two rubber covered push buttons, I know the one of the left resets the trip computer but I can't find anything on the one on the right or if it is just a dummy button. Does the right one do anything?

Nice, I had a utopia back rest and seat on my 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour. Does this back rest flip forward so the passenger can get on?

I was out riding yesterday and it was 91 degrees, any day riding is better than sitting around doing nothing. Will you feel some heat? Yes, but that is all part of the experience of riding a motorcycle.

This one is for sale it is not a display only model. This is not a large dealer, while it is in a former Buick dealership building they don't stock that many bikes so they will never have 10 of these bikes waiting to be sold. They have sold four so far with mine being the forth one.

It is loud standing next to it, it is hard to describe but it is like a WEEEEEEEEE WEEEEEEEEE WEEEEEEEEE high pitched sound. It only goes off a few seconds and then stops but the alarm stays activated so if they keep messing with the bike it will keep going off a few seconds at a time each time they try to move it.

I just went out and tired it again and this is what I did to test it. 1. With the key fob I pressed the unlock button to deactivate the alarm. 2. I waited for the alarm to beep once resetting itself. 3. I pushed and held the unlock button on the fuel tank until the fuel door lid popped open. 4. I closed the fuel door lid. 5. Wait for the bike to make two beeps and the alarm will now be shut off to work on the bike, the red alarm indicator on the dash will stop blinking and will now be off. 6. To reactivate the alarm I started the bike and shut it off and the alarm was working again. You might be able to cycle the ignition on and off without starting the bike but I did not try that. There may be a timer to do this within so many seconds to prevent anyone from just walking up to the bike and disabling the alarm. I also had the key fob with me next to the bike when I did this. UPDATE You don't have to start the engine to reactivate the alarm. 1. Set the red engine stop switch to stop. 2. Push down on the ignition knob to activate it and then turn the knob to the run position like you were going to start the engine as normal. 3. Let the system go through its entire start up procedure until it gets to the accept screen, press accept. 4. Now turn off the ignition and wait for the alarm to beep once. 5. The alarm is now reset and blinking on the dash again.

My dealer only has one Eluder left he has sold all his Star Venture Transcontinental's. I bought his last one, they are waiting for more from Yamaha.

If you have locked the bags it won't work, you have to have the bags unlocked for the button on the tank work to open the fuel door. So park the bike as normal but don't activate the bag locks with the key fob and wait for the beep for the alarm to set. (I did not try locking the bags with the tank button but I suspect that will work the same as using the key fob and will disable the fuel filler button) Once the alarm has set without locking the bags now push on the button on the tank to open the fuel filler door and then when the door is open shut the door and the alarm should turn off and you can now work on the bike without setting off the alarm. I did have to restart the bike after doing that to get the alarm turned back on again.

I learned something today in the garage, the bikes alarm system keeps reseting itself so when you move something on the bike it sets off the alarm. Well I stumbled along and found out how to shut off the alarm so you can work on the bike without setting off the alarm. Let the alarm set as normal. once the alarm is set push the unlock button on the fuel tank to open the fuel filler door. After the fuel filler door opens close it and the alarm will turn off. I had to start the bike and turn it back off to turn the alarm back on again.

I used the Dyna Beads once, it was a nightmare when I changed the tires, hundreds of tiny beads all over the garage floor. I have my own No-Mar tire changing machine. I like the Ride On because works on the same principle as Dyna Beads but goes two stops further with no spilling of the beads when you change the tires and it is also a tire sealant. If I have my way I would just like a set of CentraMatic balancers, those were great on my Victory Cross Country Tour. I did like the Ride On on my Harley Ultra Limited Low.

Every phone has a GPS in them today, all they would have to do is make it so that once the phones GPS detects it is moving 5 MPH or faster it disables the ability to text and use the internet. I could care less if the passenger can't use the phone, to many people have died because of drivers that text, surf the internet, facebook or what ever else they do. I would even go so far as to make it so the phone function could not be used with the exception of 911 service. These smart phones have only been around since 2007 and they did not have all the abilities they have today, but people act like they can't do their job if they don't have that phone pasted to their ear or they can't text every minute or surf the internet and facebook. We all got along just fine before 2007 without texting, surfing the internet and facebooking and we can make it so those features are disabled when the phone is moving and people will again get along just fine.

Trying to check the oil with the bike on the side stand is a no go. The dipstick is very short with most of the surface area cross hatched to check the proper oil level with a short small round shaft before you get to the screw in handle. You really can't tell where the oil is on the round part of the dipstick because it is such a small diameter around. So the reality is it is not feasible to try and check the oil with the bike on the side stand. I just tried on my 2018 Star Venture Transcontinental.

The engine is actually air/oil cooled, it has a six quart capacity of oil so in a way it does have a form of liquid cooling along with air cooling. Victory was the same way and it works very well. So far I see no issue with it on my 2018 Star Venture Transcontinental. The engineering that went into this V-Twin is pretty impressive. I was in 91 degree temps today and the bike ran fine, I even got stuck on a two lane road with a mile long back up due to construction and was creeping forward for about 10 minutes before we got past the choke point holding up the traffic. Engine ran fine the whole time, did not get overly hot. There is one guy that road a Victory 250,000 miles so I doubt air/oil cooled Yamaha engine is going to have any problems with durability.

I used Ride On tire balancer/sealant on my 2016 Harley Davidson Ultra Limited Low with Michelin Commander II tires and was getting great tire wear and longevity from the tires. I traded that bike for the Star Venture. Ride On says it is compatible with TPMS sensors but not to use it if the sensor pot is not sealed. Does anyone know if the Star Venture TPMS sensor pot is sealed and if using Ride On is ok? I have also contacted CentraMatic about a set of wheel balancers for the Star Venture, they emailed me back that they would forward to manufacturing which likely means I will not hear any more from them. I had CentraMatic balancers on my 2013 Victory Cross Country Tour and really liked them.