Freebird

You have to remove the battery and battery box.

Folks, if somebody is on the VentureRider Facebook page then they should also be a member here. In this case, that is indeed the case. @Bob Myers is a supporting member. I just tagged him by putting the @ in front of his username so he should get a notification about this discussion.

LOL....that would not be a problem. A lot of people already show up on Thursday.

Craig, I know that you are a Sea-Doo fan and I did look at them but after doing a good bit of research, just decided the the Yamaha was a better fit for us. If I was in an area where I would be doing a lot of salt water riding, I would have given it more thought. The closed loop cooling on the Sea-Doo might have swayed my decision in that case. Yea, unfortunately Harley doesn't make them. I'll go ahead and say it before somebody else does.....something about water pollution.

I think that we need to have an honest discussion regarding any future International Rallies. At this point, I'm thinking about not having one at all. The reason is very simple. The past 3 or 4 have been very poorly attended. The various organizers spend a lot of time and poor their hearts into making these happen. If you have never helped organize one of these things, you have no idea how much work goes into it. It seems that our regional meet and eats do better. Maybe we should concentrate more on those and forget about an International. I'm going to leave it right there for now and let the discussion begin.

Yes they are.

Well both the skis are pretty much perfect now. I traded them both in and will pick up the new ones on Friday. They are fun for me but Eileen absolutely loves riding them and that is the most important thing. I decided that I wanted some that I wouldn't be worried about leaving us stranded somewhere. So, Friday I will pick up two brand new 2015 Yamaha VX Cruisers. These are not high performance skis but we are too old to be high performance riders. They are just a few steps above entry level. 1052cc inline four strokes, fuel injected and with some nice features like cruise control, no wake mode, fingertip reverse, etc. Top speed around 55 MPH...maybe 60 on perfect water. It's all we need. They will be on a brand new two place trailer. So...I'm riding a Yamaha again.

Looks like you and Julie had a great weekend. We should have joined you but had already made other plans. We love Cook Forest and have been there several times. Will have to check out that place. We usually stay at McBeth Cabins. Glad you had a good ride and hope that new Corbin works out for you. Eileen and I DID get a little ride in on Friday. Rode down to Indian Lake in western OH near the Indiana border. Left about 10:00 in the morning, had lunch on the lake at Cranberry Resort, rode around the lake and then headed back home. Total trip was about 340 miles. Nice day ride.

Increasing the rev limiter is very easy with the Dyna. You just flip some dip switches. I THINK it was set on 7500 when you got it though and somewhere around 7250 or 7500 is as high as they recommend unless you install heavy duty valve springs. I never did that and it why it is not set higher.

I agree completely that any new bike should include bluetooth. More important to me than communication is bluetooth connectivity between my phone or MP3 player and the stereo as we like using Pandora and etc. As for communications, I know that it's what everybody seems to want right now and I agree that it should have it but I personally prefer to stay with my corded system. The main reason being that I don't need something else to worry about keeping charged. On day long rides, I know that some of the bluetooth systems will last several hours but still something else that I have to worry about running out of power and something that I have to charge every night when I'm on the road. Just doesn't appeal to me.

Finally got most of the bugs worked out of these things. We have had them out to Lake Erie three or four times now with no major problems. I DID learn yesterday though that about the time you think you have learned all about riding these things, they WILL show you that you aren't all that good yet. I was having a great time when it decided to throw me off about 40 MPH or so. Scared me a bit at first but it happened so fast that it was over with before I knew what had happened. Didn't hurt near as bad as some motorcycle crashed I've had though. At least the lanyard kils the motor and it doesn't run off very far. It does NOT come to you when you whistle for it though. Lake Erie was really rough yesterday. Not really white caps just huge swells. Bad enough that there weren't many boats out. I think the skis spent more time in the air than on the water though.

Congrats on the new seat. I hope you love it. If you want to sell your old one, please put it in the classifieds.

My panties are not at all in a wad. Just posting my experience. I thought we were talking about first gen vs. second gen Ventures. There was never a Venture in '96 - '98. '99 was the first Second Gen Venture and that is what all my comments have been related to. No argument that the first Royal Stars were way down on HP. Not only the carbs but the small air boxes to go along with them.

OOPs...sorry....98 HP...not 99. http://www.venturerider.org/history/rsv99/rsv99specs.php

Whatever. I've owned an '83, an '88, an '89 with VMax conversion and two '99 Second gens. With a VMax rear and Dyna 3000, the second gen was very close. Call it neutered if you want but it was very close and much more comfortable. and no, they did not bump them in the 2000's. The 1999 Venture specs rated it at 99 HP. It never changed. Dyno results were very similar between it and the first gen. The gearing and rev limiter were the seat of the pants difference.

I'm with The Tooch on this one. If they come out with a new "sport touring" style Venture, I'm sure I would think it was cool but I would not buy one. Give me the cruiser style. I did a photoshopped version and posted it here several years ago. It was simply the new VMax engine in a second gen. Very simple. I also don't get why people continue to say that Yamaha neutered the second gen. As compared to WHAT? If you look at any dyne readings and/or specs you will see that it is rated about the same HP as the first gen. People who keep claiming it is way off the first gen just haven't looked very hard. The only thing really different is that they used a higher gear ratio and a rev limiter. A VMax rear and Dyna 3000 ignition gets it very close again with a bit of extra weight being about the only real difference. The fact is, Yamaha will never be able to build a new Venture that is going to please us all. There are those in the first gen camp and those in the second gen camp. The second gen is much more compatible with my current riding style. Must more comfortable for me and at this point, comfort is paramount. Performance is fine with me. I still enjoying cranking that throttle at times. That VMax motor in a second gen style bike though would be plenty for me. Even if they detune it a bit for better fuel economy, it would still be plenty for me. I don't know that I'll ever buy another new bike. I turned 60 this year and the 2013 Road Glide that I bought new in the fall of 2013 may well last me through the rest of my riding days. Eileen and I did about 340 miles on it yesterday and it is a very comfortable bike. In spite of all the talk, my 2013 has never had a recall and never yet been back to the dealer for any reason...well....the first service was part of the deal so it went back for the first oil change and etc. With the very few performance modifications I have made, it performs just fine and most of our riding is between 65 and 75 MPH anyway. That is NOT to say that I would never consider getting back on a new Venture. If Yamaha were to come through with a new VMax powered cruiser style 3rd gen, it might be hard for me to pass up.

How large are the pics you are trying to load?

Looks like Flyinfool and I were typing at the same time. At least we agree on these items.

The battery should have a probe that senses electrolyte level. If the battery was changed with one that does not have a hole for the probe, that is probably why you have the light. Look at the battery and see if the probe is inserted. If not, you will probably find it tied up somewhere nearby. Some people have modified batteries to accept the probe, some will change the battery for one with a hole from the factory, MANY will use the tech article in the First Gen Tech Library to install a resistor and bypass the probe. The '83 models always ran a bit high on the temperature gauge. As long as it's just getting to the red and then staying there, you are very likely OK. It is not at all uncommon. I've been told that they run no hotter than the later models but Yamaha recalibrate the temp gauge to read lower due to people worrying about them. Don't know that the story is completely true but I've heard it many times. Either way, what you are seeing is not unusual.

The winner was indeed Short-Haul. Congrats.

Just a note. That 200 includes sent emails that you still have stored also.

Prayers sent. Always hate hearing things like this.

I'm not familiar with Techsmart. For hardcopy though, I liked the Yamaha manual.

LOL...if they fell for that....good for you all.

Missing it THERE but not here. Yesterday it stormed. Actually, today is beautiful though.