Freebird

Well I get a decent amount of vacation. Mine accrues daily and starts over each year. Right now I have 4 1/2 weeks of vacation due and it is still accruing daily. So I could get some time off. I don't really now what our problem is. Just seems that there are always things either business or personal that prevent me from actually taking the time and going somewhere. Money is always part of it also but due to all my business travel I also get a lot of free hotel nights. Right now I have about 25 free hotel nights accumulated. So gas and food is about all that we have to pay for. So I have no real excuses.

Quite a few of us have purchased the excellent saddlebag lid covers that Nanci, @Luvdaleather , makes. She was never happy with the hole that she cuts for the push button/lock protrudes though. Due to the stretching required to install the covers and get a tight fit, the hole never perfectly lines up with the button. Nanci asked me if I would experiment with mine and see if it would love better if the cover was placed under the black plastic surround of the button. So I did it and she and I both like the look a lot better. Nanci asked me to take some pictures of the install and post it here and I am more than happy to do so. This is not complicated and not a fancy write-up but you will get the idea. First thing to do is to open the bag and you'll see the plastic cover over the latch mechanism. There are three plastic fasteners that you will remove and then the cover will just lift off. Then simple remove the two 10mm nuts that secure the lock mechanism. You can then simply lift the lock and button out of the lid. Now the plastic surround may just fall out like shown in the picture above but probably will have to be lifted out from the outside. It has two studs attached to it and may have to be gently worked out of the holes. It will come out easily either way. Now secure the cover to the top of the bag gently stretching as necessary and using the clips sewn onto the cover. Using a scratch awl or even a philips screwdriver, punch holes through the cover from the inside of the bag. From the outside, press the plastic surround's studs through the punched holes. Press it in all the way. Your vinyl or leather should stretch enough so that it fits just as it did before. Push the button back through the plastic surround and install and tighten the two nuts. Replace the plastic cover with the three push pin fasteners and you are done.

Looking great. You will be fine as long as you don't let me do the welding. I think the stinger is too long but I guess it depends somewhat on the trailer. My concern would be that with it coming out that for, tongue weight is going to play a more major effect. Like a lever. Maybe not, I don't know. I don't think it's necessary though.

Don't know yet. They are very similar but a bit wider. I think I'm going to like them but will have to put some miles on it first.

I got the reply that it was sold the same day it was listed also.

Good job on the hitch. It's going to turn out really nice.

No, it has never moved.

I sent him an email asking who did the extensive modifications to the engine.

It is made by Show Chrome. I like it because it is offset a bit to the rear so it's easier to put a bag on the rack. I think i bought it a little cheaper on Ebay but this is where it came from. http://www.partsgiant.com/p321123-show-chrome-universal-folding-flag?gclid=Cj0KEQjwh428BRCnvcyI-5nqjY4BEiQAijebwm-2fU8TZWmDeiUBz09VXclNDN692gO_ZJzbASqYXZIaAgYH8P8HAQ

All you have to do it click on the icon in the menu bar above where you are typing. The third icon from the right is the image insert. You can then type in a URL to where the picture is posted or "upload from computer" to upload directly to here. Another way to do it is to make sure you click on "go advanced" at the bottom right of this box. Then scroll down to "manage attachments". You can then select multiple pictures to upload at the end of your text. The thing that most people have a problem with is resizing it. The maximum picture size you can directly upload is 1024 x 768 and 200,000 bytes. If you don't know how to resize a picture, that is the first thing you will need to learn.

I have posted my insights on the Harley here before but since you are seriously looking, I'll offer a couple of personal observations after riding mine for about 3 years before selling it. There were many things that I liked about the Road Glide. For anybody who doesn't know, the Road Glide and the Ultra Classic are exactly the same bike from the fairing back. The Road Glide has a fixed, frame mounted, fairing and the Ultra has the handlebar mounted batwing fairing. Otherwise, the are the same bike in regards to frame, suspension, etc. It is simply a matter of which fairing style suits you the best. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I still have occasional remorse about selling the Harley. It is an internal debate that I constantly have with myself. There were things that I loved about the Harley and things that I didn't like. I loved the sound. I loved that low RPM torque. You just don't have to shift as much on the Harley as you do with the Venture. You can slow down and roll through a reduced speed zone and that big V Twin just makes so much torque that you can just leave it in a higher gear and rumble right along. The stereo is far superior to the RSV stereo. The larger speakers make all the difference in the world. I think that the new ones are even better than my '13 was. Accessories are abundant. Where Yamaha started discontinuing accessories even while the bike was still being produced, you can buy anything imaginable for the Harley. Even more for the Ultra Classic than for the Road Glide. I don't think there is any bike made that has more aftermarket support than the Harley. The Goldwing may be close but I think there is even more for the Harley. The Harley is not as top heavy as the RSV and in my opinion, was at LEAST as comfortable. My wife thought that it was more comfortable than the RSV but I had the Corbin seat on the RSV and while I loved it, she never liked it as much as the stock seat. It is a little tighter between the seats that the RSV was but a sliding tour pack base from KuryAkyn solved that issue very easily. What I didn't like about the Harley. While it doesn't have the gear whine noise of the Yamaha, it does have its own noises. My primary irritation with it was lifter noise. If you do some research, you will see that I'm not the only one who was bothered by it. The solution is new aftermarket adjustable rods. There are several on the market but if you aren't able to do it yourself, you will spend a few hundred dollars for the upgrade. Another thing that some will say is good but is more work is that an oil change is more complicated and takes some time. A Harley dealer will charge somewhere around $300.00 for an oil change. No way am I paying that and I've always done my own oil changes but it is more time consuming. You have three different reservoirs. Engine oil, transmission oil and primary oil. Now if you think that the "which oil" question is crazy here, try to get a consensus on this from the Harley riders. Harley recommends their synthetic oil for all three holes but you won't find many riders who will agree with that and I didn't either. I used Mobil one for all three holes but not the same weight in all three holes. There are also other things to do along with the oil change. Clutch load, clutch cable adjustment, etc. Figure at least a couple of hours to do an oil change. You say that the heat didn't bother you and that's good. Some people are more sensitive to the heat than others. I have heard people complain about the heat on the Venture but I never even thought about it. I have owned a lot of different bikes and have never been bothered by the heat so I never considered myself overly sensitive to it. I absolutely noticed it on the Harley though. I could deal with it but I felt it. My wife though was very bothered by it. On longer trips on hot days, her feet actually felt like they were getting burned. She was constantly trying to reposition herself to get them out of the heat but there was just not way to do it. They would actually be red at times. I did everything that I could find recommended to reduce the heat. Removed the catalytic convertor, free flowing exhaust and air cleaner, tuning, etc. It was still just too hot. There were two trips where I won't say it became unbearable but pretty darn close. One was when we were coming home for the rally in Galena and got caught in Chicago traffic. I was actually lifting myself off the seat because my thighs were burning so bad. The other was when we rode down to Hilton Head. By the time we got there, it was about 100 degrees and over 90% humidity. Eileen and I were both suffering from the heat. Not terrible on the Interstate but when we were in slower traffic areas, it was brutal. The last thing I'll mention is the intercom. I always wished that the RSV had voice actuated intercom. I quickly realized that I did not like it on the Harley. I never found a sweet spot in the settings. It was either turned on and offer by wind or set to where you had to speak pretty loudly to active it. Then once you started talking, you had to keep talking until you were finished to keep it activated. If you paused, part of the conversation would be missed. I now prefer the RSV intercom with MicMutes. Much better in my opinion. The last thing I'll say is this. I wasn't worried about it because we don't ride as many miles as we used to. If we did the trips that we used to do though, it would have been a concern. There is simply no way that the Harley engine is going to last as many miles as the RSV engine without major work. I've seen some out there with close to 100,000 miles with no major repairs but it's very common to see bikes with 50,000 miles that have already been overhauled. I have always suspected that part of the issue is with people making mods to increase the performance and just pushing them past the point of remaining reliable but I don't know that for sure. The fact is though, you will not see a Harley with the 150,000 - 200,000 miles on them like you will with the Venture that haven't had one or more complete rebuilds. The old roller bearings and etc. in the lower ends just aren't going to make it that far. These are just my opinions. Others may very well differ. I'm not trying to talk you out of a Harley. I loved mine and in spite of these things, I have no regrets about buying it and some remotes about selling it. If it makes you smile, then you should do it. Whether you learn to love it or end up deciding that it is not the best choice, I think you will enjoy your time with it. They are beautiful bikes with an iconic sound and feel. I won't get into my opinion on the Indians other than to say that I won't be buying one anytime soon. I've never owned one or ridden one and anything I say would just be from the research that I have done on them when I was thinking about trying one. I can only say that if I were in the market for another big V Twin right now, it would probably be another Harley.

Oh trust me...it had plenty of bug splat. Eileen and I recently did about a 275 mile ride on a Sunday while the Cicadas were still active. It was covered with them. Took a lot of cleaning before I took those pictures.

You need to learn how to take and add pictures here. Don't you know....

That would be fun but the funds are not there. I would have to sell this one first and I really don't want to do that right now. Yea, in Ohio all trailers have to be registered and they consider a trailer a trailer. Regardless of the size. Oh well. I may at least get the guy who made my license plate frame for the bike to make me one for the trailer. The VentureRider frame.

He will have to answer which ones he has but any of them for the Harley Touring bikes will work with a simple bracket fabrication. A lot of people here have installed Harley take-offs on the RSV and RSTD. So any mufflers made for the Ultra Classic, Road Glide, Street Glide will work just fine.

A few more pictures. With the trailer this time.

The PlastiDip worked great. They will be a flat black when looked at on the back side but will look glossy on the front. The nice thing is that if you ever want to do something different, it should just pretty much peel off. I did notice at the auto parts store that Duplicolor has a LOT of peelable rubber paints now so there are several other colors available if you want to try something different.

I just went out and measured mine. My hitch was made by @Carbon_One . It appears that the rear of the tube is about the same distance from the tire as yours. My other measurements are different probably because I have the leveling links on my '05 and they raise the rear of the bike. Mine measures about 12 3/4" to the center of the tube. The bottom of the chrome fender trim is about 14" from the floor. The top of the tube is pretty much right up to the chrome trim on the fender. I also pull a Bushtec trailer and it uses a pin type hitch that I think with the base and etc., is a little taller than a ball but haven't measured so am not sure. At any rate, I use a stinger with a step down so that the trailer sits level when connected. I think that is what is important. It will depend upon the tongue height of your trailer. You can always build or buy a stinger with the proper step down or step up to level it out.

Heart breaking to learn that such a little darling is having to endure so much. Prayers said for her and the doctors. I hope that they find the cause very soon and successfully treat it.

Looks like a good time. Wish I could have been there. I actually saved the information and was going to try but had to take Eileen to the airport this morning and it was too late when I got back.

They are Dunlop. I'm personally not a fan of them but they were on there when I bought it. I'll probably go with Dunlop E3s or E4s if they are available in the right size when I'm ready. Whatever, I will go to black walls.

and the last of them

More

OK folks. I finally got around to taking some pictures of my '05 Royal Star Midnight Venture. I know that there are many here just as nice but this one is mine so I'll show it off a little. A lot of extras on it. A lot was already on it when I bought the bike. Some more was added over the past month or so. Not a whole lot more that I want to do. A couple of things that I'll get around to sooner or later. The only thing that I will be doing VERY soon is adding the longer SS throttle cables. The stock cables are just a bit tight with the RSTD bars that I installed today. Here is list of extras that are on it. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but this is most of it. 2005 Yamaha Royal Star Midnight Venture Russell Day Long heated seat Utopia backrest covered by Russell to match Corbin passenger backrest covered by Russell to match Yamaha ball milled air filter covers Yamaha ball milled carb covers Yamaha ball milled twinky covers Yamaha luggage rack Yamaha passing lights Yamaha chrome front gas tank bolt covers Yamaha chrome passenger floorboard backing plates Yamaha front fender guard Yamaha saddle bag guards Yamaha saddle bag liners Yamaha Headlamp and turn signal visors Yamaha chrome oil cap Yamaha tail light visor Yamaha Chrome passenger floorboards Yamaha Chrome rider floorboards Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe handlebars The Diamond Cut Guy triple cut cooling fins. The Diamond Cut Guy triple cut saddle bag hinge inserts KuryAkyn Longhorn highway pegs KuryAkyn Iso Grips with throttle rocker KuryAkyn bar end weights KuryAkyn brake mounted GPS mount for my Garmin Zumo 665 KuryAkyn riders drink holder KuryAkyn passenger drink holder Show Chrome folding flag mount for VentureRider flag Dyna 3000 ignition module Carbon One crash bar stiffeners Carbon One trailer hitch Carbon One leveling links Harley Davidson auxiliary rear tail and brake lights Harley Davison visors for auxiliary tail lights Yamaha trunk spoiler with LEDs Show Chrome chrome ignition bezel M61A1MECH auxiliary wiring harness and bullet connectors for lights and hitch Harley touring mufflers or Yamaha RSTD mufflers depending on my mood Ace High Leather Tank bib and chap combo Ace High Leather Saddlebag lid covers Ace High Leather gas cap cover Truck Lite HID headlight and driving lights Stainless Steel front and rear brake lines Wagner Grill Guard Slowrollwv polished stainless wind deflectors and brackets

While I had the fairing split this morning, I figured it was a good time to go ahead and paint the wind deflectors at the bottom of the fairing. I had though about trying some window tint, vinyl, various things but I didn't have any of those and it was already apart so I made do with what I had. I had a couple cans of black spray paint that I started to use but then came across a can of black PlastiDip. I figured why not. If I didn't like it I could peel it off after it dried. It actually turned out very nice. I like them much better than when they were clear. Of course I just sprayed the back side of them.