Freebird

Under 50 cents per gallon at some stations due to a price war. Did any of our Michigan riders get in on this? http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/18/gas-prices-fall-below-1-in-michigan.html?intcmp=hplnws

I don't know the answer to your question but wonder if it's really in issue. I mean, yes, on the first gen bikes with the 2 brush starters there is an issue but I haven't heard of any issues with the RSV or the 4 brush starters added to the first gens.

All that may be true for some but not all. Many Harley riders have no problem with the heat, I guess less sensitive to it, and the performance. There are a lot of bone stock Harley's on the road. Some RSV riders also spend a considerable amount of money to improve performance. In my case, that included K&N Filters, various mufflers, Dyna 3000 Ignition module, VMax rear end, etc. It wasn't all chrome and etc. Also, a LOT of RSV owners have changed the handlebars. I updated mine with Flanders bars for the same reason that I have changed the bars on the Road Glide. I probably spent almost as much on improving the performance of the RSV as I have on the Harley. Probably a bit more on the Harley due to the cost of the DynoVision Powertuner but I could have gone with a less expensive tuner had I chose to.

I was thinking further about this heat thing and felt that I needed to add a note or two. I said that the stage one kit did not come anywhere near 50%. I have to say that I honestly don't know HOW much it helped. In regards to the temp gauge, very little. As for perceived heat or actual measured temperature? On a hot day stuck in traffic, it is still very hot. That being said though, I don't know how much improvement there is. It is HOT. If I were sitting in traffic though and there was 250 degrees or 230 degrees, I don't know that I would be able to tell the difference. I guess the only way to know for sure would have been to use a heat gun to get measurements before and after under the same circumstances. I talked to a couple of Harley mechanics that are actually very good at their jobs and was told that the Stage One kit and removing the catalytic convertor could lower the temperature as much as 17 degrees. I think that is probably about right but like I said, it is mostly perception. A lot of what you feel is exhaust heat and the oil temperature gauge is not reading exhaust heat. On a side note. I asked these mechanics and even a couple of good sales people about the new engines with partial water cooling. They have all told me that if going with the water cooled engine is because of the heat, to NOT waste my money. As most of you know, it is not a typical water jacket engine. The cylinders are still air cooled. The water cooling is only for the exhaust port area. They tell me that it was done more to enable Harley to get just a bit more performance out of the engines without melting them down. It does very little, if anything at all, to reduce the felt heat from the engine.

You are correct about the '13 models not coming with the LED lights. I also do not know who makes the ones for HD. I don't agree with the stage 1 kit solving 50% of the heat issue. I have the stage one and though it may have helped a little, I would say no where near 50%. Even when I later went a step further and replaced the header pipe with a non cat version, the overall improvement is not close to 50% in my opinion. The Road Glide Ultra comes with the lowers (I see that is what you said) and they are vented. Have never ridden one without them so don't know how much the vents or not having the lowers helps. Fuel Moto is a fantastic company to deal with. If you make any changes, you just send them an email and you get a new program for the tuner. They have an extensive list of programs for most any air filter, exhaust setup that you can imagine. I've done it twice and had an updated program within hours of emailing them. I also agree that the 2 into 1 is best for power but I personally just like the dual setup and I'm satisfied with the power. HD Forums is also a pretty good place to find information. I visit there from time to time but am not really active there or at the road glide forum. I've seen those cheap fixes on both sites and they are pretty popular. Well, actually this is the first I've heard of the shift linkage upgrade. Honestly didn't know I needed one but will check it out. I've never had any issues with the shifter though.

I, and I think most others here, use the HH pads.

One other thing. I have a very good 2013 service manual in .pdf format. It is indexed with clickable links and searchable by key word. Let me know if you need it and I'll upload it and send you a link. It is the official 2013 Harley Davidson Touring Models manual.

Brian, There are a LOT of Harley forums out there but the best one I've found that is specifically for the Road Glide is http://www.roadglide.org/forumindex.php I don't post much there but it is a good place for information and the people actually seem pretty nice.

@cowpuc the 2013 did not come with the LED headlights. Maybe the CVO did but not the standard Road Glide Ultra. I have thought about adding them but just haven't done it yet. The Harley Davidson ones are about $750.00 I think. I haven't looked to see if there are aftermarket versions cheaper. I may very well do it at some point though. I decided that the lighting wasn't bad and so it wasn't a priority for me. Comfort was my first priority. Rider's backrest, highway pegs, a wrap around passenger backrest, truck slider, drink holders, GPS mount, etc. Then I had to add the Bushtec trailer hitch and trailer wiring isolator. Saddle bag guard rails are always high on my list. I tell my wife that they are essential for protecting the high dollar bags but the truth is, I just like the way they look. Stage one kit ends up costing some fair bucks also. I shop around and found a great deal on a set of like new Vance and Hines mufflers and got a huge discount on the stage one air filter because Fuel Moto has a great deal if you buy it with the DynoVision Tuner. That tuner was about $700.00 though If I remember correctly. Then there were Ace High Leather grip covers, chrome windshield/fairing trim, luggage rack, saddlebag lid covers, Harley Split Vision mirrors, and I know that I'm forgetting things. Of course I then had to have the Bushtec repainted to match the new bike..... We all know that buying a new bike is just the beginning. I had pretty much run out of things to do to the RSV that Yammer bought so I had to find something else to work on. Like I said, I've thought about selling it but very likely won't. I just can't wrap my mind around letting it go. I can tell you though that Friesman got a great deal. I wouldn't let mine go for that price. Forgot the handlebars. Swapped out the stock bar for the heritage classic bars. A little more pullback. They are highly recommended by other Road Glide riders but still not enough pullback for me. Will probably swap them for something else in the future. Let's see, I also forgot about he passenger grab bars and the pushbutton fuel door release that keeps you from having to get your key out of your pocket every time you stop for gas. Added an auxiliary outlet in the right faring pocket for charging phone and etc. I'm sure there are other things that I'll think of too.

Now the customizing begins. Let me know if you need any ideas. I've added quite a bit to mine. Mostly comfort items other than the Stage One which is only exhaust, air filter, tuning. As I said before, I also removed the header pipe and replaced it with one without the catalytic converter to help with the heat. For the air filter, I actually prefer the stock filter cover to most of the aftermarket ones so I just went with a stage one kit from Fuel Moto that uses the stock filter. Then I added a set of Vance and Hines Monster Rounds. Didn't want anything TOO loud and these are perfect for me. Went with a Dyno PowerVision tuner that I love.

Looks to me like you got a great deal. Did you know that it is a twin to mine? Exact same color.

Well that post makes it sound like you bought one already. I know it can't be true those because I don't see any pictures.

I agree that the absolute only difference is the fairing. From the fairing back, they are the exact same bike. My experience has been exactly opposite of yours in a lot of ways though. Now granted my bike only has about 9,000 miles on it but other than the first service, it has never been back tot he shop for any reason at all. I've not had a single problem with it. As for comfort, it's the only bike that I've ridden that I feel is as comfortable and gives me as much room as my RSV did. Eileen tells me that it is more comfortable for her than the RSV was. A bit part of that is likely because just after buying it, I added a KuryAkyn trunk slider that allows the trunk to be slid forward and back. It is probably slid back about 2". I have it setup about the same as the RSV in regards to highway pegs, handlebars, etc. and find it fits my 6'3" height very well. I absolutely agree with you that they run hot. It's not a big deal as long as you are moving down the highway but get stuck somewhere in traffic and the heat is brutal. I've installed a head pipe without the catalytic convertor, free flowing Vance and Hines mufflers and a DynoVision PowerTuner. Those things helped a little but the simple fact is, it still gets HOT. I have been please with the ride quality and more than pleased with the handling. I don't think that anybody should be offended by your remarks. We should consider all reviews and reports when thinking about a different bike but in the end, the important thing is to get in a good test ride.

I'm half considering selling mine. This is NOT an attempt to get you to buy it because first of all, I'm still undecided and secondly, the exchange rate would very likely make it unattractive to you. I absolutely love the bike but to be honest, Eileen and I are just not riding like we used to. I am not going to quit riding but could get by with a bike that I have a lot less money invested in. Been kicking it around for a while now and even went so far as to list it on Craigslist a few months ago but ended up removing it shortly after posting it.

By the way, that link works ONLY for supporting members. It will return a "not authorized" message for all visitors, trial members, etc. Due to the fact that our supporting members have person info entered there, it is only accessible by other supporting members. Same reason that member profiles are only viewable by supporting members.

That would be great Jeff and I'm sure it could be done but it's way out of my league.

Another thing you could do is just copy and save the link Assistance List to the bookmarks on your phone's browser. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/memberlist.php?&pp=100&order=asc&sort=field19&&field21=1

Eck, you can sort it any way you like. If you want to sort by "city", just click on "city". Then it will be alphabetical by city and you should be able to find all that live in Nashville easy enough. Just sort it the way you want and then print each page if you want a hard copy.

Here are some comparisons that I did after buying my Road Glide Ultra. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?80404-RSV-to-Road-Glide-Comparisons&highlight=Road+Glide

We've had it for a long time my friend. It's called the VR Assistance List. Just click on "Community" and then "VR Assistance". It is also sortable by most of the headers. In other words, click on "State/Province" if you want it sorted that way or "Name" if you want it sorted by members names and etc. Unlike our old list which I could never keep up with, this one updates automatically and immediately when members choose to add their information. They simply edit their profile. Select "YES" to VR Assistance and select the services that they are willing to provide. Once they save their profile, it is automatically added to the list.

I see absolutely no reason for the robot controlled motorcycle except for purposes of testing cutting edge bikes. Who here would possible want one? Would we get any pleasure from sitting in our living rooms with a fan blowing our hair while the robot was out riding our bike? OK....I can see it being used to develop the bots for performing chores like driving tractors and etc. but for motorcycling? I don't get it at all. Even for racing, I just can't see any racing enthusiast cheating on their favorite rider if they were all robots. Just makes no sense to me.

Nanci, My next purchase will probably be chaps. I have to count my pennies though.

Many of you know Nanci of Ace High Leathers. Her username here is @Luvdaleather She is also one of our vendors and has donated generously to our various meets and rallies over the years. She keeps promising to make one of my Maintenance Days but it just hasn't worked out yet. I look forward to finally meeting her someday. I have personally purchased a few things from her including some custom saddlebag lid covers that turned out beautifully and are hopefully still on what is now Yammer Dan's bike. Also some beautiful leather grip covers that are on my Road Glide. A while back, she offered to let me post some of her excellent blogs on our site but I still haven't gotten around to doing it. After looking through them again tonight, I realized that there are just too many great article to pick and choose a few to add here. I may do so anyway at some point but it has taken me too long so I decided to at least provide a link to them. The following link will take you to her website. Scroll down and you'll find excellent articles on everything from tanning leather, properly fitting chaps, custom leather work and much more. At the bottom of the first page there is a next button that will take you to even more articles. Certainly worth checking out and thank you so much Nanci for your support of the VentureRiders. http://www.acehighleathers.com/category/blog/

Attached is a mockup of the shirt design for the 2016 International Rally. Thank you to @slowrollwv for his work on this and the other rally details. This is a mockup that I did based upon the artwork that he sent to me. It could change slightly but this is the basic design. The color may not be exact either but is the closest that I could find. He tells me that they will be "High Vis Yellow". The shirts are listed on the registration form so please get your registration and shirt orders in at your earliest convenience.

A big THANK YOU to Ed (Zzyzx) for this excellent tech article. Attached is the how to for repairing the proportioning valve on 1st gens I did to my newly acquired 83 over the weekend. 1st Gen Rear Brake Proportioning System Repair.pdf