Seaking

Hi Dennis, see if you can gather up the lads again and put yourself behind the largest bike, ride smoothly, proper gears etc. You should see a difference.. we didn't think the 'lead bike' thing was for real but we tried it over and over and yep, I get better mileage than he does when HE is in the lead but he hates the lead position.. lol..

Hi Dennis, my buddy and I, (me on a 2006 and he on 2008 RSV) had done a 12,000 km run in May-June and kept watch over our fuel consumption, mileage and conditions.. the RSV is a weird bike that will give you wildly different mileage depending on a lot of factors, the primary factor being how much winds resistance you put on the fairing and windshield.. no kidding.. We got a top best of 210 miles to a tank in Key West Florida area, and a shyte 110 miles in Maine but kept to a mean average of 160 miles between fill ups. His bike doing consistently better than my bike, except for when he was leading. Here's how it breaks down for us on how to get best fuel mileage on this bike.. Speed and gears obviously make a huge difference for any bike as far as fuel mileage goes, but for the RSV and that big front end on it, there is more at play. The faster you go, the more air pressure buildup on the fairing and windshield, the more the engine has to work. If you have a large head wind component, you end up with more resistance and have to use more engine power. We discovered that under certain instances, you use less fuel riding 70 mph in 4th than you would in 5th since you don't have to open the throttle as much to get better performance out of the engine 4th, while struggling in 5th when in heavy head wind conditions. Imagine trying to run into the wind holding a sheet of plywood crossways into the wind.. that's what the RSV does.. Conversely speaking, if you're riding down the highway at a happy 60 mph in 5th gear and you have to accelerate, you can do so in 5th but you have to open the throttle a lot more to get it to respond and then take up the slack.. but if you drop it in 4th, you have better gear ratio and better engine performance, thus requiring less throttle opening, less fuel used. A lot of prattling on about what is all this about? You mentioned you rode with a Harley and Touring? If I am guessing right, both of these don't have large front fairing, and perhaps just a simple windscreen if at all? So their bikes aren't fighting the wind as much as your RSV does. I did some testing last year with my Tall Wide Clearview and my medium windshield and my 4" stubby and the amount of windshield will affect your fuel consumption. No joke. During that long trip we also discovered something quite interesting that we could replicate over and over again.. My fuel consumption was always consistently higher than my buddy's by the same margin.. that is until he finally took the lead on some stretches, and we found the opposite happened, HIS consumption was higher. After several fuel runs like this, we surmised that the lead bike is breaking new wind (no puns) and thus working harder, burning more fuel while the following bike, even though not having to be all that close behind, is running through disturbed air, working less, burning less. Odd thing that. Short of it is that on any given long ride, I can dictate my fuel consumption by how I ride the bike, either hard or gently.. Albeit, when you're riding with a group, you're stuck doing what the lead bike is doing so you won't have much to say on how to ride for range.. But here are a couple of tips I can recommend for you when riding in a group like you were.. You didn't mention if you were all riding in stagger or a wide loose gaggle.. If you guys ride in a nice 2 sec separation group, place yourself behind the GoldWing to get better drafting behind him. Don't hammer down the throttle when pulling away from stops and such. Without knowing what your riding style is like, its hard to tell if you're just pulling too much throttle and using a too steep a gear for the speed or load on the bike.. However, a typical highway run in the 70 mph range should get you 35 to 38 mpg easily.. Some highway runs I get down to Reserve at around 120 miles.. but I'm hammering it down.. the worse I ever got on the highway was 110 miles, limping in on reserve but that was due to a 40 mph (gusting 60) head wind.. We're heading out again on another run through the USA, this time going down the Blue ridge and Deels Gap.. Along the way we're going to do our fuel runs again to see if we can do better than the last time.. Yes, you could have used your car and used less fuel.. but you wouldn't have been happy with that ride

Shocks are covered under warranty.. I had no issues getting my bike done.. I doubt the techs would even notice the leveling links.. they are not that much different looking and so few Yamy techs ever work on a RSV to start with, they wouldn't know what they were looking at anyway.. you'd most likely have to show them where the shock is on the bike.. hence why I go to Maine to get my work done, and I live in Nova Scotia..

Thanks for the info, I have contact cleaner which I can use to get rid of the other lubes I silly enough used.. erks

Ok, I hope someone has a quick / easier / inexpensive fix for this one.. Because I park the bike in the garage over night with the key in the ignition, and seldom stop longer than a fuel stop when traveling, I just noticed that when I pull the key out, the little cover jobbie doesn't cover up the hole that the key fits into.. So if left out over night, and it rains, I'm going to be heading for some problems with rust and such and be out of an ignition switch / lock.. I've sprayed it with WD40 and other products but can't seem to make it move to cover the hole.. Thoughts, suggestions?

Yep, will do.. I'm keeping the new axle, bearings and seals with me on the bike when I travel so should I encounter a sage mech out there somewhere, I would have all the parts I need.. Ya never know!!

hahaha good one!

Again, a wealth of info.. I had shown these to the mech guy and he also expressed some of the same concerns.. Zinc chromate primer it is. Thanks again!!

How about that huh.. would seem to be a more 'permanent' fix than helicoils that might turn out when I remove the axle at the next tire change.. very interesting indeed. Do you know where to get these or who does these? I'm in Ontario for Port Dover the 13th Aug.. might be an opportune time to see about getting it done then.. Even to purchase and do it when I get back.. Thanks again..

You know the old saying "best to learn from other's mistakes than your own", especially when it comes to bikes. Heading off for a weekend bike trip later today so I had to switch to my normal windscreen instead of the shorty 4" screen.. And I use a magnetic parts dish to hold the screws. Nice rubber coated magnet under the dish, sits nice on the fender etc.. really nice. And strong.. Remember the old motto "The job ain't done till all the tools are away" lol It stayed there on the fender for about 30 minutes this morning as I was riding around before heading out.. Now THAT's what I call a good magnet..

Was there ever any doubt? but thanks for confirming it for me though, before I spent the money on a purchase lol..

Thanks for your responses guys... I think I might pass up on it for now, still hunting for that easy lift device that you pry up on to centre lift the bike (Goose has one at his garage, what a neat device...)

Anyone here have a centre stand on their 2nd Gen RSV? Does it get in the way of anything? Easy oil drain access, ground clearances etc? I might be able to get my hands on one, and like the thought of having the bike in an upright position when doing light maintenance on the bike. thanks in advance..

What is the rear lighting setup on this? Brake lights and guards? Good looking bike.

Lemme check... uhm yeah, we're in the "Second Generation Venture Tech Talk" forum.. So erhm uhm, yeah...

SWEET! Finally... now get out there and RIDE!! =) Don't you hate it when it's the simplest of things? I usually take my torque wrenches and pressure gauges out to be calibrated every 2 years..

While it's hard for anyone to appreciate exactly what the noise you are hearing sounds like, I might suggest another 'weird little test' of sorts to help isolate what it might not be, or end up being. I alluded earlier that the treads on an E3 tire can cause a hum or buzz depending on pressure and road conditions. Take the bike out on a pavement road (not concrete) and while riding in a straight line, lean the bike over to a side a bit and listen for a strange noise, see if it sounds similar to what you're worrying about. Typically, a road has a camber on it, a roundness from centre to sides, and most times within the tire tracks from heavy vehicle traffic. If your tire runs along a camber or ridge like that, even ever so slightly, you may hear an odd noise. Both sets of E3's I've had on this bike have done that.. took me a while to figure out what the problem was, it's just the tread noise. It's not loud but man you can hear it. And just like the gear whining, you'll soon not notice it once you isolate the noise and appreciate it for what it is.. just a noise.. (assuming that this is where the noise comes from).. My buddy's RSV with E3 tires does the same thing.. best of luck.

hehe I have a set of Larossa downturn pipes that are, for all intended purposes, wide open and exceedingly loud.. Love riding into bike meets with those on and the low cut windscreen and have people say "now that's how a Harley SHOULD sound and look".. And I nod my head and agree with them.. this IS how a Harley should look and sound LOL..

the 'dent' is indeed a heat extrusion cut process thingy.. seen those on some aircraft parts and that's how it was explained to me a while ago.. Goose showed me how to grease those up, and seems like it's on all bikes, being part of the manufacturing process.

This thread took a life of it's own in more than one funny way.. (A) the shiny strip that everyone is now noticing on their tires.. betcha if you look closely at your car windshields you'll all notice the damage the cosmic rays are doing to your windshields that you never noticed before.. (power of observation once pointed out?) Though the strip looks like a a nice polishing effect, the mold lines are still intact above and below and on the shiny part, which shows that there is no wear on that spot. (B) The NOISE you first indicated, though this might sound strange, could it be the tread on the road you're hearing? If this is your first ever E3 on the bike, you might not be aware that if the bike is leaning a tad in a straight line (say with a nice cross wind or uneven road surface), the rear tire treads make a good hum sound. I've had it so loud as to interfere with my radio listening and had it pulsate depending on the road surface. Just my observations.. I'm on my third set of E3s in 2 years.. (47,500 miles in all), they all had that strip and noise issue.. no biggie..

Though some of the images 'appear' to show rubbing on the tire itself, I don't believe this is what the problem is just by visual inspection of some of the images. Though there is a shiny strip going along the side radius of the type, it is also inside the widest part of the tire sidewall and tread bead and also, if you look carefully, the radial lines of tire forming (mold lines going from hub to tread) are crisp and fine, not worn out either. I would be hard pressed to think that is an actual wear mark from riding. Are the torque values and installation procedures correct? Axle bolt and pinch bolt sequence correct? If done in correctly, it may impart a twist to the set up and may perhaps cause some irregularities. I had a similar problem with my VStar a while back.. best of luck..

OOOH thanks guys, a wealth of information here.. The shop I go to in Maine is not too far from an auto zone.. so I can drop there and see about 'borrowing' the tools.. Cheers!

Lets see, there's a flight leaving this evening from Halifax, only first class tickets available though... Hmmm I'm equally curious to discover what the cause of the issue is.. interesting.

Well it's tons better than what I could find around here!! Worse case scenario is that I get this done later in the winter period.. Thanks Doc.. I gather you're feeling much better than a couple of months ago? Cheers M8

Ever see that movie "Oh Brother where art thou?" with George Clooney trying to find Dapper Dan pomade, "Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere" I called a few places that do auto works and machine shops etc.. and no one, but not one yet that I have contacted have that specific kit lol.. wow.. When I mentioned that it should be a 'common spark plug thread' the reply was "apparently not common enough huh?" lol would take about 2 weeks to get it in at a cost of around $200 more or less.. Egads.. But I shall keep hunting, Thanks Goose!