Freebird

Maybe different in person but I'm not that crazy about that Indian.

I agree with the steering head bearings being the problem. Could be too tight or they could be worn out. You didn't say how many miles on on the bike but Yamaha did a poor job greasing the bearings on some of these bikes. It has caused premature wear on the bearings. If you have over 50,000 miles on it and have never serviced/greased the bearings, they could be shot.

I too will have to disagree with the statement that submersible pumps are not designed to be under water all the time. My well is about 200 ft. deep. It has a submersible pump ... not sure how far down but not too far from the bottom. The water in my well will often stay within 5 or 10 ft. from the top and so the pump has been submerged continuously since the well was drilled about 10 years ago. My deep well in Texas was the same way as are many others that I know of.

Most likely was not a stock part. Probably a Yamaha part but an accessory. It wouldn't be shown in the parts diagram.

The FAQ says that after removing the original front forks and wheel, the net gain in weight is only about 60 lbs. The price is perfectly in line with a conventional trike, Hannigan TriWing, etc. As for that Toyota, no thanks. This one still looks like a motorcycle. The Toyota looks like a three wheeled car. Don't get me wrong, the Toyota could be an option if you are just wanting a commuter vehicle but NOT to replace a motorcycle in my opinion.

Heck...I'll even do it for you. F4 https://www.f4customs.com Baggershield http://www.baggershield.com

Click until you see F4 shields banner at the upper right of the page. If you want one that can be adjusted up and down, click until you see the Baggershields banner. Both are sponsors here and make a great product.

Since you have checked the bulbs, I assume you would have mentioned if you found water and corrosion in the housing? That is a problem that I've seen a number of times on the RSV. I've changed a couple of them out for folks. It's always the left rear. I suppose that is because the bike leans to the left when on the stand and water seems to collect in it.

Sounds like you got a visor for the Royal Star and not the Royal Star Venture. Completely different headlight so I assume the visor is probably different also.

Same here. I have no idea what a 25-35 radio is.

That is pretty cool. I would love to see one in person and try one out.

I would say that you are correct. We've never really categorized them that way but it wold be correct to call the 1996 - 2001 Royal Stars a first gen model. The difference in the HP is because of the carbs (smaller) and the air boxes. From all that I've read, Yamaha was attempting to keep a very "clean" cruiser look with the early Royal Stars. Part of that was to hide the air boxes. You will notice that the later Royal Stars have the same large air boxes that the Royal Star Venture has. A box of each side that is readily visible. You won't see those on the earlier Royal Stars. By using the smaller out of site air boxes on the earlier Royal Stars, they weren't able to get enough air into them and therefore went with small carbs to keep the air/fuel ration correct. The HP and of course the performance took huge hit because of it. Baron's used to offer a "big air kit" for the early Royal Stars. Don't know if he still does or not. With the big air kit and some larger jets the HP could be increased a bit but still not to the level of the newer Royal Stars and Ventures. To really get to that point requires larger carbs and to install larger cards requires a custom machined larger intake to mount them to the bike. I know a few people who have done it. StarFan is a member here who lives in Iceland. He did the full modification with the larger carbs, custom intake, big air kit and even went with VMAX cams. From what I understand, his bike runs very strong. Hope this helps some.

Peder, just teasing you. I am certainly no expert on this subject and your explanation was much better. I was searching on YouTube and didn't find anything specifically on the Frigidaire bottom freezer models. I can tell you that on my old refrigerator, the defrost thermostat was clipped to the coils and you had to remove the back panel on the inside of the freezer to access it. The defrost timer on that one was under the front edge of the unit. You just had to remove the front base cover and you could see it. It was an older model though. It had a red knob and though it moved very slow, I made a mark with a marker and could see that it was turning. I think that the newer ones have more of an electronic type timer though and I"m not sure where they are located. I can tell you though, after searching YouTube for your information, I saw a LOT of videos about plugged drain lines as Van and others have mentioned. Seems to be the most common issue.

By the way, I went through the exact same thing about 3 weeks ago. I tested the thermostat and timer as well as the heater and it was all working as it should have. Mine was a side by side and first the freezer stopped getting cold enough to freeze and it was barely keeping the refrigerator side to around 40 degrees, not cold enough. Finally narrowed it down to the compressor. It was probably 15 or 16 years old. Guess who ended up buying a new refrigerator.

Now isn't that what I said?

If you are lucky, it is either the defrost timer or defrost thermostat. Look on YouTube and there are some videos on how to check them. If you are NOT lucky, your compressor is going out and you may as well buy a new one.

I still think I can take most of you.

My list of folks that will have to be banned is getting way too long.

You and I know the truth Skid....they will never buy it though.

Very cool and GREAT pictures. Good to see somebody actually posting in this area. Maybe I need to rename it to "The Witches Lair".

HEY...you guys leave me alone. I'm getting old but peddling as fast as I can.

OK...first let me say that in regards to the warranty, I don't give it a lot of thought. Never did with the RSV and didn't with the Harley. If I have a warranty issue and they refuse it because of a mod that I did, they need to be ready to prove that my mod caused it. I will fight them tooth and nail and have done so in the past with Chrysler and even with Yamaha and I won both times. The bottom line though is that though the warranty is important, making the bike my own is more important to me so if I lose a warranty issue because of it, so be it. Now that being said, my Harley dealer actually sells the gutted head pipe. They are the one that told me about it. They cut the head pipe open and remove the catalytic convertor and then weld it back up. You take your old pipe in and they an exchange for $100.00. I removed the original and installed the replacement myself. That is what I did and they assured me that it would not affect my warranty. Now if I run into a major problem on the road and have to visit a different dealer? Who knows. As for the rear cylinder cutoff, yes, mine has it. On older models, you rolled the throttle back at idle to deactivate the rear cylinder. On the newer ones, it does it automatically when are are idling for a specific amount of time. Probably has some type of temp sensor too but I'm not sure. At any rate, I'm sure it helps but when I was stuck in Chicago traffic on that hot day it really didn't seem to matter. I was already VERY hot. There is a sequence of pushing buttons and etc. that allows you to deactivate the rear cylinder cutoff but I have never done it. I have found nothing negative about it shutting down and if I'm not mistaken, it resets to activated again once you turn the bike off and then start it up again. Eileen never complained about the heat at all. When I mentioned it to her she said yes, she noticed it but she didn't say much else about it. As for comparing it to the EVO, heck that was so long ago that I really don't remember. I think that with the catalytic convertor removed, it is probably not much hotter if any.

That is very common and I think was mentioned in earlier posts. I've repaired a number of them for various members over the years. Every single time, it has been because they got cut where they pass over the lower triple tree in the groove near the stops.

Of course I will be 100% honest. My answer are inserted below.

I bought the filter and the tuner from Fuel Moto. They are a great company with excellent customer support. The filter is much the same as the K&N and I don't know that it's not made by K&N. I bought it from Fuel Moto because I got it CHEAP when packaged with the tuner and they also send you the new program based upon their vast experience with various combinations of exhaust, filters, etc. I think that the passenger space is very close to the same as the RSV. My wife likes to put a pouch on the back of the drivers backrest so that takes up some room. I had the trunk on the RSV moved to the rear holes to give more room. She was OK with it the way it was but VentureRider member Ironmike happened to have this KuryAkyn adjustable trunk relocator and did some trading with me for it. So....free is good and I like it.