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.

It's probably the clutch fluid. I changed mine not long ago because it looked like coffee with creamer, not the almost clear color it's supposed to be. Get yourself a bleeder kit and bleed from the bleeder port. Keep an eye on the fluid level as you bleeding, it doesn't take much to get her below that pin hole and introduce air into the system. My dumbass heard a hiss but thought it was somebody else in the neighboorhood and let it hiss for a few seconds. That mistake costed me many hours of pumping, filling, pumping, filling, pumping to make up for letting that little bit of air in. After I was done she didn't even budge or jolt when I shifted from neutral while holding in the clutch. She shifted much smoother too. Good luck and hope its something as simple as the fluid!

A few weeks ago I installed SkyDoc's kit. Very easy and very affordable. Huge difference, I couldn't get my clutch to slip even at sudden full throttle in 5th. His product is solid. Just inspect the bolts that hold the spring plate on real good! I had to buy new bolts because the old ones were really 'stretched' and one snapped inside the basket (thank God for left handed drill bits!!). You def want to use a good inch lbs torque wrench, the sping isn't supposed to be very tight.

Because of the virus, my base's gate closures have me going a different route to/from home. The stretch of interstate is mostly concrete, including the ramps. I've noticed that the bike is a little loose, mostly in the rear, and doesn't inspire much confidence when on a ramp. Both tires were replaced in the fall and I dont ride it like a sports bike. Should I throw more or less air into the shocks? Since these shocks are adjustable with air, how do you know when they need to be replaced? Also, is it normal for the bike to want to veer slightly right when letting go of the handle bars with the cruise set? Basically just want to know how to get the best and safest handling for mild-moderately bouncy concrete roads.

Good read, sounds like my milage is actually typical. Seems like most of ya'll are getting the low fuel light first then gotta switch to reserve. For me, almost always I run out of my main about 5 miles before the light comes on.

Do you still offer this?

I've been thinking about checking/replacing the plugs anyways, the bike has 41k miles and I'm not sure if it's original or was replaced. The brakes sticking actually got me wanting to rebuild the front calibers and replace the lines even more. My front brakes are stiff, little pressure barely engages, little more press nothing changes, little more and lots of breaking power. She seems to roll back and forward in neutral good, but either way I want to see if one of my calibers is sticking and I bet my brake line is original too. Wife and bank account are finally in agreeance that I can buy the clutch spring kit that one of the guys on here sells. When it comes to carbs and adjusting the advance, I get nervous.

I remember seeing a thread about poor MPG but I cant find it using search, so sorry if this is a redundant post. My 07 RSV is getting 32-34 MPG with a range of only 135ish on the main. I've syncd the carbs and threw a bunch of seafoam and other cleaners with PAE into the gas. My air filter is nice and clean. The tires are brand new and filled. My clutch is starting to slip when riding hard, but that shouldn't impact it right? What all can I do to ensure I'm getting the best performance and milage out of my bike? Mind ya, I'm in Commifornia so the gas quality is terrible compared to other states. In LA and MD my old bike got upper 40s-low 50s with a range of 125+ on main tank evem w/ riding it hard and/or with wifey on back. Got here and at best I got 100-110 miles on the main. My truck went from easily getting 21 MPG, now it stuggles to get 18 MPG. I got my RSV after moving here so I can't compare it to other states I've lived in. California sucks, gas wise (amazing rides though!). Any other Californians getting about the same MPG, 32-34ish?

Being active duty, if you dont wear proper gear (helmet, gloves, long sleeve, pants, closed toed over the ankle shoes) TRICARE isn't obligated to pay for your medical expenses if you end up in a wreck, no matter where you are at. Even the best riders are at the mercy of the other drivers/riders around them. Even if you are in a state that allows you to ride w/o a helmet, check with your insurance. Either way, why risk it?

I went from a 750 shadow to my 07 RSV. Holy crap. Test riding it felt great and even lighter/easier than my friend's HD Electroglide. I noticed that all the top heaviness is felt during sudden stops. It took me a bit to get used to it because the shadow was much lighter and making sudden stops didn't really impact balance that much. However, the RSV is much more stable and solid at doing U-turns for some reason. Living in CA and trying to squeeze the best MPG, I'm still not used to riding at higher RPMs like everybody says. Eventually I'd like to get a tach so I can monitor the RPMs better.

Unfortunitly, I've never been able to successfully upload any pictures. I've resized them and dumbed them down but for some reason this forum doesn't like my pictures