DarkWolf
-
Posts
14 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
I am buying a used bike, and I would like to ask a few of you to respond and tell me what you think are the best companies as far as rates and service for motorcycle insurance. I am looking at the following - Progressive, Geico, and my own private homeowners. Are there others you would suggest who are specialists more than others for motorcycle riders? I am in my 60's and have no driving violations in less than 3 years.
-
I have been reading about these Ventures for some time and have offered up a couple of posts in the form of questions in order to learn some things. This evening I finally got to ride my first Venture. It was a very beautiful red one, and I came to test ride it with the hope of buying it very soon. I have sat on these Ventures in dealerships, but when I put it in gear, for the first time I had a true sensation of the weight. I must admit, I had a tinge of concern. I didn't go even one half mile before I sensed some things I have read in this thread. A number of you have given fair warnings about the front brake and slow speeds and practicing driving in parking lots. I have to admit that those comments have given me pause. I am not disparaging the Venture, but some of the comments here I did not think were good news for people who are thinking of buying one. They were serious warnings. Several of you spoke of dropping it often and taking special care on the front brake while turning, etc. Well, you were right. As I approached stop signs, the bike seemed to wobble numerous times. It was the same feeling I used to get on my Gold Wing with 2-up when we approached a stop. It made both of us apprehensive. But I got that feeling with one up! You have suggested smaller tires and all kinds of fixes, but I have to tell you that the Venture is a bike that left me with deep-seated fear this evening. I don't think I have ever experienced that before. But I left there with the definite decision that the Venture was a motorcycle that I would never own. Although one has to get used to any motorcycle, it seems to me that the warnings given here were serious.To those of you who love the Venture and would buy nothing else, so be it. Obviously, it satisfies many. But I finally got the answer I wanted from this site and had it validated. So I will buy another bike. I have talked with several of you, and you have been nice folks. But I am moving on. Thank you.
-
What is the conventional wisdom for GPS for an RSV? I have a Magellan Roadmate 700 for my car, but it is not waterproof. It also may be a problem actually mounting it to an RSV or any motorcycle, for that matter. I don't know. At Best Buy today, the clerk told me that the GARMIN ZUMO was the only one that was waterproof and that when bikers came in to purchase a GPS, that seemed to be the one that was de rigueur. Yeah, but that thing was $900! So let's put her out there. Who is using what in GPS's on their RSV's? What do you recommend? I see them broadcasting into helmet speakers and all kinds of things. What about mounts for one like my Magellan 700? What do you have, what do you recommend, what can be mounted on an RSV, do you use Ram mounts, do you hard-wire them to the bike? What?
-
I know that getting up any of these heavy bikes can be done. I have been to rallies where they demonstrate the technique. I am not concerned with that. I just want to know what damage transpires when it is dropped over. Paperboy said that he had dropped his 3x and the engine guards saved him in each case. I don't know that I have seen any RSV's with engine guards. All I see is pipes and floor boards, handlebars, lowers, fairing, and maybe some highway pegs taking the brunt of the fall. I have no problem with this bike or how it rides. I do have a problem with repairing inevitable damage on a recurring basis. I don't want to spend money constantly replacing those items. It is absolutely heart-sickening when you drop your bike and sustain hundreds of dollars worth of damage. I don't want to do that anymore.
-
My last bike was a BMW K1200RS. I dropped that thing over one time from a standstill - A STANDSTILL, I said - and it caused $3800 in damage when it landed on its side. When it reached a certain axis, it was going down, and not King Kong or anyone else was going to hold it. That is why I am not buying any more BMW's. They do not have any protection for that sort of thing. A few bikes before that, I owned a Gold Wing. Now there is a behemoth. I also dropped that thing a couple of times, and it took Man Mountain Dean and a small army to heft it back into place. However...it always landed on these engine guards and tilted at about 45 degrees without any damage to anything. Nothing but the guards touched the ground. Again, there is nothing like that for most BMW's. I have also looked at Honda ST 1300's, which I really like. They have these wings on the side and some bar you can buy that sticks out behind the rear footpets to prevent those BMW drop-problems. This is a good thing. Now we come to the RSV. 807 lbs. Another leviathan. In the Gold Wing category. What happens when you drop an RSV on its side? Are there engine guards to keep the fairing and handle bars intact? Does it fall completely over and bend all kinds of stuff? Do those side bag guards do anything, or are they just for decoration? By and by, most of us are going to drop this thing, and I would like to know what is going to happen then?This is very important to me when I choose my next bike. It is one of the most important considerations on my list.
-
These are all good observations, and I thank you for them. You have convinced me that the RSV fairing does not behave like the ones on the Harley.
-
So now I learn that an RSV has no fuel injection as well as ABS. Wherever I go, the rave seems to be fuel injection! ABS is debated. Sometimes it seems to me that those who don't like ABS are those who are selling non-ABS bikes, but I could be wrong. I might be able to live with non-ABS, but fuel injection is always highly regarded when I read about it. However...I note that some on here ARE GLAD that the RSV does not have fuel injection. I am not a mechanic. So I don't know fuel injection from fuel rejection. I think it has something to do with not having a normal carburetor. I heard someone say that fuel injection is a wonderful thing to have when you have a bike that goes up the Himalayas. But I am not sure what it means or why people are happy with it or not. Can someone enlighten me here and tell me why I should be overjoyed that the RSV does not have fuel injection? Does this mean I will actually be able to fix something?
-
I have owned a couple of sport touring bikes. What I always liked about them was the fixed fairings. I could go 90 mph, hold the handle bar with one hand while resting the other hand on my hip, and go as straight as an arrow, cutting through wind like a knife. I also owned a Harley. You couldn't ride a Harley like that. It was both hands on the bar. It always felt as if the handlbars would rip out of my hands when I rode with one hand. The RSV does not have a fixed fairing. I suspect the feeling is going to be similar to riding a Harley. I am almost sure of it. Would someone comment on this?
-
I am in St. Petersburg. I just picked out a bike with a backrest I have seen on here a lot and wanted to know the difference between it and the one on the white bike on the right. So YOU are saying that your bike - the one on the left - has a stock seat and passenger backrest? That is what I thought, if you are correct, but I am getting a lot of different answers here.
-
Now THAT was helpful. Thank you. These people want $11,750 for the white 2004 RSV on the right with 35K miles. I am thinking I may pay 10K. Does that sound like a fair price? The mileage is high for this year, but they do have a few hundred dollars in farkles on it, including an air foil light bar on the back.
-
I finally have an answer. Both are after-market backrests, and the one on the right is a Corbin. To me that is the preferred one.
-
Which backrest is by Corbin? The right or the left? One man says the one on the right is standard. My wife would much rather prefer the one on the right because of the arm rests. So which is which?
-
I thank you for that helpful information, but you did not answer the backrest question sufficiently. I am going to attach a couple of pictures below and hope you can see them. Please tell me which is standard and which is not.
-
I have not yet purchased an RSV. I saw the first one that I think I have ever seen last Saturday. But they interest me, and I have been doing some research on here and looking at a lot of pictures. So I have some questions. 1. Do all the RSV's come with driving lights - those two lights on either side of the headlight? Some have them and some do not. The one I saw also had visors over the driving lights. Are these lights add-on accessories? 2. I have noticed a difference in the passenger backrests as well. The one I saw had a very nice passenger backrest with arms on it for the passenger to lean back and relax. But I notice a lot of them do not have this. So is this particular type of back rest another add-on, or was it peculiar to certain model years? 3. The particular model I saw also had a light bar/air foil on top of the top box on the back. I presume that that IS an add-on. 4. I have read that RSV's have 12 volt accessory outlets for heated vests, for example. But the 2004 model I saw did not have any outlets. So what is going on here? Can some one answer these questions?
