Freebird

I got 41.9 riding mine home when I bought it. Right at a 300-mile ride. I was in tour mode but it really wouldn't have made any difference because there was no stop and go as it was all Freeway. Due to the break-in, I varied the speed between 65 and 75. Now, as for those readings. I haven't checked them by manually calculating but I am hearing that just like most all Yamahas and motorcycles in general, these speedometers read high. Probably around 6 - 8 percent. On the RSV, the odometer also read high but not by quiet as much percentage. So we may be geting slightly less MPG than we are calculating. I haven't confirmed the speedometer error but will do so soon. I'm surprised that it is off because the speedometer and GPS on my '18 read pretty much exactly the same. People who have checked it say that the GPS and Speedometer both have the same error built in. The only way to confirm it will be with my stand alone GPS or my iPhone SpeedBox app. I will do it a couple of different ways.

Tires are like motor oil. You won't find any total agreement on what to use. Many of us here will absolutely not use Metzler tires. There have been several cases of them chunking rubber when used on these bikes. Not sure why that is unless they just can't take the weights that we put on them. Dunlop E3 and Michelin Commanders seem to be the most popular among this group though several have reported good results with Shinko also.

I just can't imagine the plugs really needing to be changed every 8,000 miles. I may change them at 8,000 the first time but if they look good, I will likely go longer after that. At least 12,000 - 15,000. No, I haven't yet pulled the tank but if you look at my trailer hitch install thread, you'll see that I pulled darn near everything else.

Well, it took a lot longer than I anticipated but I finally got the hitch installed and the bike put back together. Somehow I managed to use all the parts that I took off of it and there were a lot of them. Man....all these gadgets are nice until you start having to unplug all those wires just to remove the trunk and rear fender. Hitchdoc makes a very robust hitch. I removed a Hitchdoc form an RSV once and swore I would never do it again. They were the only ones I found that is making a receiver hitch at this time though. Had I known how much work it was going to be, I would have considered a non-receiver type hitch if it would have made it easier. Anyway, it is done and I have absolutely no intention of ever removing it. I would take a torch and cut it off first.

At first glance, this looked like a simple enough project. Uh....not so much.

I'm off to a good start this morning. Utopia backrest is installed. Highway pegs are installed. The highway pegs are a KuryAkyn knockoff They were about $100.00 cheaper than the KuryAkyns but the main reason I went with them was because I have decided to go with mostly black on this bike and KuryAkyn doesn't offer the black version for the 1" bars. Will start installing the hitch here in a few minutes. Cold and rainy outside today. Sure would like to try out the new backrest.

My goodies are starting to arrive now. Hitchdoc trailer hitch got here on Thursday. Utopia backrest and the highway pegs arrived today. I've been slammed with work but will finally have time to get it all installed tomorrow. I had a big stairlift install today but have nothing to do tomorrow. It rained all day today and is supposed to be more of the same tomorrow so I should have plenty of garage time. Luggage rack, lower wind deflectors, and saddle top guards should all get here sometime this week. I've got to make a pattern for a tank bib, probably with integrated whale tale tank chap, and get it off to Nancy at Ace High Leathers. Think I'm going to go with the Stingray leather this time. Really like the one that she donated as a price for Maintenance Day. Attached picture is the one that she donated. It is for the Second Gen Venture and she has no patterns for the '18 yet so I'll have to be the helper on this one. I think I'll likely want a pocket on mine though.

Fantastic to hear that they can take that much of a fall with no damage. Not that I'll ever drop MINE of course.

Yes, after exploring the links you posted, I realized that I don't need it anyway.

Absolutely. I know of more than one rider who got hefty tickets for riding the shoulders in those cases. I know of one local guy here who got stuck with a $160.00 fine. Be very careful doing that in the USA.

Thanks. The dealer had loaded the latest software and my system is working very well. I got the instruction credit card looking thing with the activation number on it. I just didn't get any kind of thumb drive like I have seen some here mention. I guess I don't need it and will just need a thumb drive when I need to install another update.

Thank you. I'll find it if he doesn't see this and post a link.

Yes, mine is set up and working fine. I'm just trying to help another new owner and I have no experience with it because mine was done already.

Got this message from another new owner of the Star Venture. The dealer had my navigation and etc. all set up when I picked up the bike so I have no experience with this. Can anybody here help? Hi Don. I brought my new Venture TC home yesterday. Today I was trying to activate the Navigation by following the instructions on that card. When I try to press on the Navigation button after I insert the flash drive, the button does not do anything. Did you run into issues when you where setting up your Navigation, or am I somehow doing this wrong?

Where is this Toolbox that you all talk about. My bike has the latest updates and I've had absolutely no problems with the system but the dealer had it all done when I picked up the bike. I don't have any type of USB stick or anything else. Should I have a USB stick with Toolbox software on it or is Toolbox built into the system?

It was brought to my attention that it was getting pretty lonely in the Eluder forum area. The bikes are essentially the same except for the tour pack so the decision was made to merge the Eluder tech talk into the Star Venture tech talk. Hope this makes it easier, and less lonely, for everybody involved. If there comes a time in the future that the majority of you feel that it is needed, we can always split them up again.

I seriously doubt it is the valves. As the valve train wears, the valves get tighter, not looser. Unless they were set way too loose at some point, that is not likely the issue.

I know that he does some Harley jugs but it requires them to be pulled and sent to him. I won't be pulling my jugs. I do know that he has done some other things though. I'm keeping this one fairly basic. Not adding a lot of chrome if any at all. Everything I've ordered for it is black.

I haven't actually sent Mobil 1 a message but on their own website, there is a "question" section. Somebody asked why the VTwin oil was not JASO rate and they didn't challenge the statement that is was not JASO rated, they simply replied that it is made specifically for Harley Davidson V-Twins.

Some really good information there. I will certainly give the seat some time to break in. I really don't want to buy a new one. I did go with the Utopia backrest and should have it tomorrow. The oil information was very informative. I'm a bit confused. You said the last oil change was Yamalube. Are those test results from the Yamalube or the Redline. I was very disappointed to learn that Mobil 1 for VTwins is not JASO rated. You know from my previous posts that I'm a huge fan of Mobil 1. Been using it in everything I own for more than 20 years. My only issue with Redline would be that I don't think there is a local place to buy it and I'm just not going to order oil. I'll have to check around and do some more research to see which other oils have what is needed. Maybe there is a Redline dealer close by that I don't know about. Will look into that also.

Thanks...also...I just edited my post. I intended to say that I WAS NOT getting bent out of shape over it. I left out the NOT.

It looked like they would be. Hitch looks pretty easy also. Just got home and have to get a stairlift ready to install tomorrow morning but I may get the hitch done tonight. Heck...I probably won't. I want to take my time and take pictures of the process so will probably wait until Tomorrow afternoon or Sunday.

The Hitchdoc trailer hitch was just delivered. As with all Hitchdoc's that I have seen, it really looks to be overbuilt but I guess that's better than being underbuilt. It's a good looking hitch and appears that it will be a fairly simple install. Obviously, I will be pulling the saddlebags for the first time. The good news is that I will be able to take some pictures of the process and post our first article in the 2018 tech library. Wish I had time to do it now but have a service call on a stairlift about an hour away and will have to take care of that first. Then I have a stairlift install tomorrow morning and another one Saturday morning. So, unless I feel like doing it when I get home this afternoon, it will have to wait until Sunday. Don't plan to use it right away but I just hate to have things laying around. Got to get it done.

I agree with you. I'm getting not bent out of shape over it. I feel fairly confident that these issues will be addressed soon enough. I just checked and my software is version 12.0.6. Will have to look through the threads and see if that is the latest or not. Either way, everything as worked with no issues so far so I'll likely leave it as is until the update it to correct one of the problems that you mention. I guess I was lucky because they had everything activated before I left on it. I've read reports from some people with whom that wasn't the case and they had some problems doing so.

Well, to be honest, this one is different. The Harley and the RSV lended themselves to the chrome bling. This one, not so much. There just isn't a lot of chrome on them and most of the very few accessories being offered by Yamaha are black, not chrome. I decided that I wanted the Yamaha luggage rack and since it is black, I went ahead and ordered the highway pegs and drink holder in black also. It's just going to be a fairly understated look. That's a huge departure for me but I'm thinking I may actually like the change. Maybe I was just ready for something different. Heck, the entire bike is a huge departure, style wise, than the cruiser styling that I've always loved.