Jthomas

That's better than my set up. I use hockey pucks, trimmed to fit.

Is it normal for the RSV to feel loose in the rear and sometimes 'fight' me when counter steering when taking a high speed rated (60+) ramp while doing highway speeds? When I first bought my 07, I replaced both tires and rear brakes. Last spring I noticed it felt kinda loose in the rear when taking a ramp w/ a posted "55 MPH" sign while doing about 65. A few days later, as I was braking for a sharp ramp, the rear locked up with moderate pressure on the brake and I went sliding off the ramp. After repairs, my suspensions that my rear shock is shot was confirmed when I had to break on the Coronado bridge when I saw 2 cars were looking like they were gonna collide. As I was not even close to tail gating them, I wanted to just slow down a bit in case I had to swerve. With very light pressure, my rear felt like a rumble strip as it was brake hopping and my speed wasn't going down much. Thankfully the cars didn't collide and I didn't fish tail, just had to use the bathroom when I got to work. Since then I've replaced my rear shock. At first I felt like I was glued to the road again, but now it seems the looseness is coming back but not as badly. A few times she felt solid on a curve, but she was really resisting me pushing more in order to get a tighter curve. This has forced me into a a really wide outside apex with me nearly entering the other lane...while in traffic. Is it normal for the bike to handle like a bus? Not looking for sport bike handling, as thats not my riding style, but I feel that I can handle more than my bike can, which is opposite to what I'd like. What can I do to get better handling? What PSI in the shocks do ya'll find gives you the best handling?

The service and owners manual says we have to do quite a bit of lubricating. Is there any zerks on the bike or will I have to use a needle fitting to try getting into the bushings, bearings, and joints?

I almost lost it the other day w my wife on the back. Was pulling out and started my turn before getting her moving fast enough. We almost went down on eachother, it was hard but thankfully got it back up.

When I first got mine, I found she gets very heavy very fast when you suddenly loose that gyroscopic effect from the rapid drop in both the wheels and engine/transmission. Emergency stops- my old Shadow, no problem; my RSV, be prepared to use them legs. I dropped mine shortly after getting it, I think it was the day my temp tags were about to expire. The gas station I was leaving had a curb that wasn't really marked and dropped straight down onto the street. I saw that it's not an exit and suddenly stopped right before I was about to drop a good foot. And I dropped her. Thankfully, no damage, except my ego. I'm glad the passenger hand grips are really good and sturdy, those make lifting the hot bike very easy.

I miss the days where Walmarts all over sold guns and ammo. I bought my shotgun when I turned 18 from one. It was cool still being in high school and having my own gun. When I had to go to Ft Worth Texas for a few weeks for the Navy, I felt like a kid in a candy shop when I saw Walmart stacked more than Dick's ever was. It was really tempting to at least buy a bunch of ammo at the cheaper price, especially .308.

If your a vet and have base access, many Marine/AF/Army exchanges offer guns at good prices and tax free. I've seen shorter shotguns that are good for home defense at some of them. My 12 gage is a Mossberg 835. It's setup up more as a duck/turkey, but any shotgun will get the job done as a home defense.

Thanks.

I started riding with a V-star 650 in 2010. Wrecked it, rookie mistake. Bought a 09 Honda Shadow 750 to replace it. Great bike, got Vance & Hines, sounds great. But, my wife and I wanted something more comfortable for doing longer rides, and more power. Thus, found my RSV. She found it was more comfortable than our friend's HD Electraglide, and I liked the price tag better. I regrettably sold my Shadow to my neighbor. I still hear those sweet pipes everyday. Of course my RSV sounds good too, its got nice BUB pipes, but they dont compare to Vance & Hines. The RSV sure can move for such a big bike though. My Shadow was very nimble and can come off the line quick enough to get in front of the cars, but when riding in groups, I was def one of the ones lagging in the back. Now, I'm able to not only hang with the more powerful bikes but I could overtake them if I wanted to. I'd upload pictures, but it always give me a pop up saying it failed to upload.

I got into a minor wreck in the spring. The body shop said that Yamaha discontinued the aux lights that I have, but they replaced them with new LED ones. I'm out of town right now, once I get home I'll try to remember to see if I can find invoice with all the parts they replaced. They say their LEDs but they still have a yellowish-incandescent tint and look. However, I do notice a HUGE difference now when they are on. Before they were more for increasing the chance of being seen but little on lighting up the road. Now it's about 25% increase when I turn them on. I'll also try to post a picture, although for some reason this forum never accepts my pictures.

Know anybody that makes and sells the ones similar to Ponch's?

Not a woman, but my wife is from Covington KY. Love that area, its very beautiful and great riding.

I got into a minor wreck and the bike was sitting at the body shop for a couple months while waiting on parts to come in from Japan. The body shop let me bring her home today while they are waiting on the rest of the parts to come in, about a month-ish from now. That way I can keep her on trickle charger and run the engine now and then, along with doing basic maintanance like oil change and check the spark plugs and grease the cables, which I was planning on doing before wrecking. On my way home I tested all the systems and the cruise control was giving me a fault with 2 flashes on and a break. The service manual indicates a vacuum pump failure/short. Not a mechanic, is this easy to get to and troubleshoot? What other systems are used with this vacuum pump? It worked fine after the accident before it went to the shop, could it be just from sitting in the shop for a couple months?

Is the pump going to be installed on the bike? Where do I get one of these and how is it installed?

Welcome to group! I'm new to the RSV family too, got my 07 back in August or September. My carbs were def out of sync, the right exhaust was back firing slightly. Thankfully this bike was made for novices like me to work on! The carb sync kit was a breeze to hook up and within minutes I had the carbs back in sync and she sounded and rode even better than before. Also, I've changed the clutch fluid, which looked like coffee w/ a little bit of creamer and had a lot of sludge on the bottom. Now shifts much smoother. Careful not to get air into the system, it doesn't take much for the fluid to drop below the tiny return hole and let air in. If your clutch is slipping when riding it hard, it's most likely the clutch spring, which is notorious for wearing out on this bike. A guy here, goes by Skydoc, sells a good kit for a great price. Just make sure you have a good in-lbs torque wrench. I want to get a tach installed too. Let me know what you went with and how you like it. This forum has the tech manuals, and lot of good stuff.