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ahoutzer

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Everything posted by ahoutzer

  1. ahoutzer
    They never gave me those when I bought mine new, three and a half years ago. I hope I'm not missing something!
  2. ahoutzer
    Okay, good reason. I was just hoping that you didn't spend all of that money just to look at a bike in your garage. Some seem to do that.
  3. ahoutzer
    I never turn the fuel valve off in the garage. Why did you leave the bike at home in your garage -- why didn't you ride it to work?
  4. ahoutzer
    Aren't you going to smell fishy all the time? Or do you mostly just catch 'possum?
  5. ahoutzer
    Down here is South Carolina, I have ridden down to nine degrees. A very important factor in cold-weather riding is the length of time you will be riding in the cold. If you are riding fifteen minutes to work or other short-distance chores, you can wrap up and get a pair of Gerbings heated gloves, and have no problem. If you will be riding for three hours in less than forty degrees (F), then the cold will soak into you and you must have heated clothing to fight it off. I have had cold hands, cold toes, cold knees, cold forehead. I have never had cold butt. I suppose if you leave your bike outside and must ride it with ice on the seat, they your backside can get cold. Wear clothes. It amazes me how many people do not have sense to wear clothes when it's cold. Still they are wearing basketball shorts an tee shirts. In cold weather -- thirties and below -- I wear long johns (top and bottom), long-sleeved shirt, a good jacket with a liner, a scarf, helmet, long pants, long socks, boots and gauntlets. Only the gloves are heated, and I cycle the heat on and off as needed (don't have the fancy expensive controller). Again, if you are only going a short distance, you won't have time to get cold before you get there, but if you are gong to be riding for hours, be more earnest about dressing right. About the RSV's electrical system: it can handle heated gloves easily, and some have used more heated clothing. If you find that you are drawing too much current, you can get sixty watts back easily by disconnecting the carburetor heaters (4 x 15watts). I'm the sort who thinks that the designers may have put those heaters there for a reason, so I installed a switch to allow me to switch off the carb heaters only when I really need to (so don't yell at me, V7!). When I have turned them off, there has been no noticeable difference, so I think it is worth it to save your hands from frostbite. Last, expectations: You are out for a ride, and it's cold out. Bitter cold is uncomfortable and even dangerous, but don't insist on feeling like you are in front of a roaring fire or on a Hawaiian beach. Be cool and enjoy the brisk feeling and don't burn unnecessary watts trying to turn yourself into toast.
  6. ahoutzer
    That Valkyrie, all dressed out with fairing and full set of bags, was one sharp bike. If only 1) they were still made and 2) there were some way to achieve a comfortable foot position.
  7. ahoutzer
    My top considerations would be reliability, comfort and performance. Reliability: It must work each and every time it is asked to work, and it must work right away, and it must work well. RSV does that. I have confidence in Honda, so I suspect that the GW1800 does that. I don't know about the Kaw -- just don't have enough information. The HD has less of a reputation for reliability and it has that the heat problem. I cannot take seriously that HD has addressed the heat coming off of an air cooled V-twin that has outgrown its design, and their solution is to shut down half of the engine. That's a patch for a problem, not a design for a great engine. I don't really know about Beemers or the Vision either -- not enough information. Comfort: There are several factors in this. If the bike is small or the foot position is too close, then I feel cramped. That leaves out the GW, BMW and HD. According to what I've read, the Kaw is out, too. The Vision is the best -- I've had a test ride, and they have great leg room. Seats are replaceable, so that is not a deciding factor for me. Some of these bikes can have other pegs added, but they are awkward. Highway pegs on a GW make the rider splay his/her legs out. RSV and Vision win this category for me. Performance: Not just zoom-zoom, but performance meaning the ability to do the job asked of the bike, and do it so well that it keeps me smiling. RSV just doesn't let me down. I have helped it out some by using a narrower-than-stock front tire and leveling links. The other bikes probably work well, too. The GW has a reputation for sporty riding. I rode the Vision and was not impressed with its power, compared to the RSV. Other: RSV: great looks (a matter of taste). Kaw: I kind of like the looks Vision: Ugly HD Ultra: #2 in looks behind the RSV. BMW: I never saw one that wasn't ugly from at least one angle. About Gauges: What's the point? We must have speedometers so we can manage our compliance with the law. A clock allows us to manage our lives -- I want to know how much time I have to get to my next destination. Fuel meter is very helpful for managing a necessary resource. Any other gauge is only useful if the bike is so unreliable that you have to keep an eye on it all the time. I have a voltmeter on my RSV because its charging system is only marginally adequate, so I feel the need to watch it. Why would i want to know about the water temp, oil temp, oil pressure on a bike that has virtually no reports of ever having an issue with any of those things? RPMs -- are you really looking down at the tachometer to decide whether it's time to shift gears? I'm happy with the neat styling of the wide speedometer on the RSV.
  8. ahoutzer
    Ride it.
  9. ahoutzer
    I'm 6'1" with a 34 inch inseam, and I never lift my foot off of the floorboard to use the rear brake. I'm sure that this whole-leg approach is a major contributor to the rear brake lock-ups that some have reported, which I have never experienced. I wonder if a change of seating position would be the solution. If you can't move the brake pedal further forward, can you find a way to move your hip backward though removing some seat padding behind (not beneath) your back side, or changing the curvature of the seat (if you are sliding too far forward)?
  10. ahoutzer
    WHY do you have to lift your foot completely off of the floorboard to apply the brake? I don't.
  11. ahoutzer
    I have a class to take 60 miles away in July and August, so I may rise to your excellent standard for these two months.
  12. ahoutzer
    Is that special? I guess I'm special, too, except in South Carolina instead of South Florida! (58,800 miles in 42 months, year 'round)
  13. ahoutzer
    Why not?
  14. ahoutzer
    I work for Keowee Key Property Owners' Association, so I was at the Keowee Key end of the trip -- not on a bike, but wearing my Boy Scout leader's uniform and standing with my Cub Scout son. We were waving flags with hundreds of other people as they entered Keowee Key. I counted 118 motorcycles in the escort, along with two fire engines, numerous sheriff cars and other vehicles. These Marines will be well honored over the next few days. I hope it makes a difference for them.
  15. ahoutzer
    I got a set of Elite III's, but got the narrower front tire size, not the stock size. I have not used the stock front tire size since the original BrickStones wore out at 8,000, back on '06.
  16. ahoutzer

    seat on rsv

    ahoutzer replied to a topic in General Tech Talk

    That makes the stock seat a pillow-top seat. For 2007, even the Midnight models came with the pillow-top seats. It looks like only the rider seat was replaced, right -- not the passenger seat?
  17. ahoutzer
    It's too far to walk, so yes, as every day.
  18. ahoutzer
    1999 was the first year of this model. Those early models sometimes developed cracks in the trunk. Yamaha fixed this by changing the way the trunk is mounted, and they issued an upgrade. So look for cracks especially around the mounting bolts (lift the pad in the bottom of the trunk) and try to determine whether the mount was upgraded. The upgrade was just a set of metal plates under the trunk and on top of the rack, with rubber pads on the plates. These just spread the weight and shock of hard bumps over a wider area. Early model antenna mounting was weak. After these ten years, there is a good chance that the antennae have been replaced, but just check those out. Rear shocks have a tendency to fail. A test ride is the best way to check this out. If the bike bounces like a pogo stick, you will need a new rear shock absorber. Otherwise, it's okay, but just be aware that this has always been a weak point on this bike.
  19. ahoutzer
    Prayers sent.
  20. ahoutzer
    It downloaded an m3u file and launched into iTunes and played it.
  21. ahoutzer
    ... before it gets to be late in the day, since some of our solutions are more than a couple of hours away.
  22. ahoutzer
    According to maps.google.com, two hours and 44 minutes from my house. If you're able to come down here, you will be in time for lunch. There is some good southern cooking in town.
  23. ahoutzer
    Oops -- I forgot to leave this: (eight six four) two eight zero - four eight nine five.
  24. ahoutzer
    I'm about four hours from there. I have a spare set of rear brake pads in my shed. If there is some way I can help -- carrying them to you or if you want to nurse your bike here (depending on how used-up your pads are), etc. -- let me know. I hope there is a closer solution, but if not, I'm willing to help.
  25. ahoutzer
    What?
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