CMIKE
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Posts posted by CMIKE
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A local dealer that recently did some warranty work for me...
said "they typically do not do the valve adjustment on these bikes", "since these engines are so reliable and they rarely need adjustment anyway". "Plus it takes so long and the labor charge is so high". ???????????????????
I just did mine myself at 23000 miles with some help from some folks here...
With the tolerance on the exhaust .16 -.20 MM had 2 exhaust valves at .24 & .23 and one right at .20MM. Several of the intake were right at the top at .15 mm.
I was surprised at what I found at the lower than the recommend miles. I do not run it that much on the interstate (high speed), since I prefer the view of the two lane roads. I do not race it or do burn outs. I rarely hit the rev limiter.
I guess some of them stay in tolerance better than others.
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Do not exceed pressure listed on the tire.
In the E3 I run 40 in the rear and 36 in the front.
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So now that we have all had a good laugh at your expense(and well worth it I might add) when I have to trailer mine I found I could put soft tie straps or seperate soft ties around the lower tripple tree with one one behind the fork and the othe in front and the rear strap soft tied around the passenger floor board mount.No pictures ,sorry.Maybe later today if I get a chance.
I go with Eagleeye tho put those eyebolts everywhere.
The few times I have hauled my bike...I did it like above. Loop the soft ties over the bottom of the steering tripple tree...to me this gives you some height for better stability side to side. I pull these on the front forward then put a soft tie around the passenger floor board mount and pull it backwards and to the side. Either way is good practice... We don't want to scratch them bikes hauling them.
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In my opinion...I would just change them. I do not think cleaning them with brake cleaner will help. I feel like the oil will soak into the media that carries the splinted metal in the pad. The only way I could think you might get that oil out is get them so hot the oil would burn out of the bad. If you get them that hot...the pad may separate from the metal backing.
Why take a chance on your brakes...change them out. You life is worth more than the cost of a rear set of pads I am sure.
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Hello to all,
I am a new member on Venture Rider but already have a tough question. I am riding a 2009 RSV and want to get hold of some engine chrome does anyone have any ideas were to find these very items.
Thank
Ghostrider7:bobby:
Why don't you post a list of stuff you are looking for here...and maybe we can all find it for you. I got a good bit on my bike...and it is for sale. If the new buyer wants to haggle with the price...I might just start removing those pieces of Safety chrome to make it even.
OR you can buy mine and take off what you want and sell the rest.
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I have used these folks. They do an exchange with your stock wheels. You pay them plus a deposit. They send you the wheels...with no bearings or seals. You have a certain time to remove your wheels remove seals and bearings, drive bushings (or they charge you big time to remove them) and they pay the shipping back to them of your old wheels.
They do good work.
They do not have any polished brake rotors for the venture...although if you want to wait...they will polish your brake rotors.
I have a set of chrome stock wheels on my sons 2010 Raider. I also exchanged brake disc, belt pulley, hubs and all. Turned out really good.
I am very pleased and it was a easy transaction...pain in the butt to remove and install all those bearings and seals...
I did not do my Midnight Venture due to removal and installation of the drive pin bushings. Also Tomanytoys has his midnight venture done...not sure who did his but it looks great.
Call these folks and see what you can work out. $765 exchange for Venture wheels...plus shipping...and probably $200 for all the seals, bearings, and drive bushings. Plus figure about $75-100 for the dealer to swap over your tires, mounting and balancing.
http://www.cycleimage.com/store/product.asp?PID=4046
Dang how do you post photos...something has changed. Anyway got photos if you would like to see the Raider.
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Get the complete upgrade from PCW...you will not be sorry
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Tighten the screw on the bottom of the rubber sanding drum. This makes the rubber expand the hold the sanding tube on tight.
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Just make sure you do not exceed the pressure listed on the sidewall of the tire to the best of your knowledge with the best gauge you can find. (and change it out periodically)
I have had 2 rear E3s so far and they both fleathered out on the sides and sing to me in the curves. That is one thing I do not like about the Dunlop E3.
I was gonna try a set a Avons but with the side wall cracking issue...I figure I had better wait till they get that issue resolved and flush all those old tires out of the inventory before I dive into that.
Got a new set of E3's in the shop I bought on sale and they ready to go on when I decide that feathering is to bad and the noise is to bad. The bike is for sale and that set of tires will go with the bike.
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Lock it up or loose it. Why take the chance...
People do not care...they see it...some would take it just cause they could, no matter if they have no use for it.
I believe it is part of that moral decay we have now.
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One can't talk Politics and Religion at work.
One can't talk Politics at Church.
One can't talk Politics and Religion with relatives.
One can't talk Politics and Religion with friends.
One can't talk Politics and Religion at social functions.
One can't talk Politics and Religion in public.
First this is not aimed at anyone especially not Golf&Venture. This just caught my eye and really got me to thinking.
I do not hope to make this thread get deleted.
I agree we do not need to make this forum hostile to any group or individual. The rules say no religious or political threads...I am good with that due to they usually get heated anyway.
I would not on purpose offend anyone here and no one else should be doing that either. If I have in the past...I deeply appoligize.
I am not trying to start another heated debate...
In my opinion...the words above are exactly right and they are the definition of Political Correctness. I think this is something we need to get away from...maybe not here but in our lives. We need to speak out against political correctness. Folks are taking advantage policital correct speach daily.
For example many people scream racism when nothing about race or orgin was said or implied...just because you are not the same race as that individual and you do not agree you can be labeled as a racist. (not here but in public or in the media.)
I do not believe we should walk around in public on pins and needles afraid we might offend someone or a group of people and keep our mouth shut. We need to call it like it is. Society now shunes us to ignore the facts and do not say anything since it may offend someone or some group. Like Sheep...go on our way and do not say nothing or get involved...be slaughted later.
In the years past...folks had more morals... (I do not believe you have to be religious to have morals. Everyone should want to be a good person and basically we all know right from wrong)... In the old days, due to these morals you were worried what your family thought about you...cause most of the time they would call a spade a spade. For example If you got put in jail for robbery, you were chastized by the public and your family...and called a thief. It was embarassing to your family that you were a theif. Now due to the moral decay...nobody cares. You have children (inmature parents) raising children and they go wild doing anything they want when they want. (robbing -stealing - dealing) Nobody says nothing because it is not polically correct to do so. "Oh we better not say that to Ruthy Jane, she might get upset with us..." This is not helping matters at all.
I am frank with my comments and probably will always be that way. I am not a cheer leader...but I will help anyone that needs help anyway I can.
We are a very diverse group of individuals from all over the world... Diversity does not go just one way...to the minority groups as it does in most cases...it also goes to the majority groups. (it don't matter which group you are in) We can expect many differences in opinions...political and religious. We can expect to see some of that bleed into these post through our opinions, I suspect most of the time it will not be on purpose...brush it off and let it go, if it offends you. Do not read between the lines of these post. Text is a very hard to actually express emotion...you may be smiling when you type but some one reads it as an angry statement. Brush it off.
I could care less what religion any of you are...or if you have any religion at all. I could care less what enthic group any of you are...I would not know unless you tell me. I do not want to label anyone as being a certian religion (or not) or certian group here. That just does not matter.
I will try to remain polically correct on this site...political and religious or otherwise...
But I will speak out in public...at church...at work...at social functions to stop this political correctness movement and let my voice of opposition be heard.
I want to thank Don for all he and the moderators do for this site and I know it is not an easy job.
You have my permission to DELETE this post as you see fit.
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Imagine that you have been living in a house for 20 to 25 years...and all of a sudden...someone is knocking on your door saying there will be 25 feet of water here in a few days...get out and get out now.
Can you imagine trying to get everything you own out of the house and to higher ground in just a few days? That is what these people here in South Lousiana are having to do. Uhaul trailers and trucks are hard to find... Folks are using what ever they can to move thier stuff out or loose it. I have seen photos of folks hauling riding lawn mowers in john boats.
Not only the folks in south LA...we need to think of all that have been effected by the Mississippi River flooding all the way up. They have no choice but go...
We all need to keep these folks in our thoughts and prayers.
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In 2007 my wife purchased one of them 4 door Jeep wranglers with the hard top. Good looking rig...4x4 v6. It has turned out to be a mess. 45000 miles uses a quart of oil every 1000 miles. Don't smoke that I can catch it...and does not leak on the garage floor. I have no idea where it is going. Rattles like a pulpwood truck. If it is raining...and you open the door to get in it...the drip rail pours about 16 ozs of water into the front floor board and on your head and will drowned you as you get in. Does not have enough power to turn the 4 wheel drive if you get in just a little bit of mud.
I have about a dozen recalls on it...about an assortment of things.
I was very disappointed in it. I used to LOVE them dodge power wagons...77-79 and had quite a few of them. Dealers says oil consumption is normal...
I am afraid I will not buy anything else they make.
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Heck...where I live I am not sure you can find any station that does not have 10% ethonol in their gas. I have not had any carb troubles yet...but I do hit it will a dose of Sea Foam once in a while and since the bike sits every other week while I am working...I make sure the tank is topped off and put a little Stabil Marine for Methonol treatment in the tank to hopefully keep it from absorbing so much water.
I think maybe part of the reason my gas mileage is fair on this tank and maybe terrible on the next tank... Are they sure it is only 10% ethenol...what if it was 12-15%...gas mileage may go down more.
Just incase any of you may not know...Local distributor of the gasoline puts the methonol in the gas... Gasoline is refined at the refinery as pure gasoline...then it is either pumped through a pipeline or on trucks to different locals...one city regulations may require a certian type of gas (for emmissions)...Like Baton Rouge...and another city like Chicago might require another formula of gas. California definitely has a different formula of gas and that is why it is usually higher than most other areas since it takes more to create it.
The local distributor then loads it into his tanker truck adds the Exxon additives...then carries it to the EXXON station to fill the gas station tanks. The Chevon distributor then fills up his tanker truck from the same gas and then they add all the Chevron additives and it goes to the Chevron Station. The mom and pop or no name station gets their gas at the same place and may or may not have any additives in it... At this point is where the Ethonol gets added...at the distributor level as it goes out to the stations. The Oil companies do not put ethonol in the gas. All this gas may have orginated in a BP or Shell refinery some where else.
Now sometimes the big names have strict standards on quaility of storage and amount of additives that goes in the gas sold under their name. Mom and pop gas stations may or may not care about any of that and they may have a little bit of water in the tank or more than 10% ethonol in thier gas. Ethonol increases the profit for the seller not the oil company. The Ethonol is cheaper than gas...thus they add it to the gas make more money. Also some local regulations require Ethonol to be added to the gas... My question is are they sure it is just 10%...maybe it could be 12-15% for that little extra.
Back during the oil spill last year...everybody stopped buying gas from the BP stations...where all there were hurting was the local folks that owned the BP station. The gas might have came from a Shell refinery using Chevron's oil.
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Some great ideas now. Thanks everyone for the pics. I've moved them 4 times now but dont think they're high enough for my liking. I'll try adjusting a couple more times based on what I've seen here before I resort to trimming them. CMIKE, what did you use to trim them?
I'm still not convinced that these deflectors are what I need. It seemed to spread the hot air and cause more of an up-draft. I was riding on a really windy day, I'll try again on a normal day.
I know what you mean about adjusting the long horn pegs...I hauled a wrench around with me for 2-3 months till I finally got them highway pegs in the sweet spot for me. I almost wore the bolts out moving them. I also had to cut a shim our of a beer...i mean Coke can to make the clamps tighter on the 3/4" bars.
To cut the lower vents...I taped them up front and back with masking tape then cut what I wanted off with a jig saw really slowly. Filed off the edges and used a little sand paper to smooth it all up. My cut looks as good as the factory cut.
Some folks swear the ventse do nothing for the cooling the rider...I am not so sure they do or don't and you would think it would... Either way I like mine, if nothing more than the looks. Not sure if they are cost effective for cooling since most of the heat comes through the radiator anyway.
I do believe they keep some of the cold air off you during the winter.
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I purchased a set of them from JC whitney several years ago...these were black and made of some kind of thick plastic. I modified it some and it works great for me. I used that peg that helps hold that chrome trim piece on the back of the front fender. No drilling on the stock fender at all. I did not use the rear at all...the shape is kinda funny looking to me.
Take a look and see if this is maybe what you are looking for.
I also has the Long Horns and love em.
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Absolutely agree...mine started at 870 miles while backing it in the shed. Plenty of Moly grease on the drive pins will fix it right up.
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I trimmed the bottom off mine...custom I guess you could say... I put the highway pegs where I wanted them...then trimmed the bottom of the vents to fit.
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We used to run this water wetter stuff in our race bikes...I am a believer in it for that application for sure. We used infrared thermometers to see the difference in the temps. It did make a difference with smaller cooling systems to save weight.
I am not sure if it would benefit the Venture that much since it has a pretty good size radiator anyway... but it definitely cannot hurt on those 100 'F days stuck in traffic.
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I am a big pro gun person but if you seriously thought about shooting someone over this you need to quit carrying.
You misunderstood. As you probably know we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard when we carry... We have to be in control of our emotions at all times. We cannot show any aggression toward other folks while armed. If I got into a shouting match with the owner and managers after they told me "they did not work on the brakes so how could they get brake fluid on the fairing" (they removed the engine and the clutch takes brake fluid also)..."That must have been done before it was delivered to them"..."and they did not break the lower wind vent...I must have done it unloading it from the trailer"...and they called the law...I would be big in trouble.
So I knew I had to get out of there before I started SCREAMING AT THEM IDIOTS THAT SCREWED UP MY BIKE and I lost control of my emotions.
Nobody thought about shooting anybody yet. You just cannot act like a heathen while armed, you must set an example for all. An armed society is a polite society.
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As some of you my remember I had a rear shaft seal go out on my 2007 Midnight Venture and lost a lot of final drive grease before I noticed it. When I went in to investigate I found what looked like the upper pinion bearing gone.
I was gonna change it myself but there were several special tools needed to get to that bearing. Plus the Warranty is still good till 2013.
I called the dealer and tried to get them to let me bring the final drive but no...no they had the have the entire bike, so I put it back together and borrowed a trailer, then hauled it to the closest dealer.
When I dropped it off they told me it would be about a month to fix it.
I was sad but left it any way. The next couple of weeks they called and said I had an engine oil leak on the #! cylinder that they were gonna pull the engine to fix it. They said the base gasket was leading? They were gonna replace the drive seal coming out of the engine also. Warranty would cover everything. Ok that sounds good to me.
Next week they call and say they waiting on the lower rear pinion bearings cause it came apartt when they removed the pinion to change the front pinion bearing.
4/20 I picked it up after almost 5 weeks at the dealership. Yah:big-grin-emoticon:
I hauled it in a short enclosed trailer so I took my windshield off so it would go in it. I also left the rear bags off and after market exhaust (put the stock back on) to keep this stuff from rolloing around in the floor of the repair shop.
I carried all the parts, since I was gonna ride it back home. I was putting my windshield back on when I started noticing stuff. Bad stuff..
I inspected the bike...
1. It had a fine coat of oil all over the engine and most of the rest of the bike.
2. The left lower wind vent was cracked.
We had some words and they claim that did not happen while it was at the dealership cause they did not work on the brakes. (they pulled the engine and had to disconnect the clutch)
I left after they had took some pictures of the "alleged" damage. I had to get out of there as I was heavly armed with lots of ammo and afraid there was gonna be a mass killing if I stayed there much longer.
On the way home the bike did not have much power at all (seemed like it had a potato in the exhaust)...the the left floor board seemed to be titled to the left?????
The rear end or something is howling..sounds like a 5 ton truck again. Lots of engine noise...maybe valve clicking under hard acceleration. After I got home after 95 miles of hard hard running.
I am sick...
I cannot not believe this is happening to me. I smell some oil burning some so I immediately get a infrared thermometer to read the temp of the rear end. I read 145 to 165 'F. The exhaust in that area is no more than 120. Oil smell I later learn is coming from the valve covers blowing oil on to the exhaust. I crank up to carry it to a local body shop to see what it is gonna take to get the paint fixed and when I put it into first gear, I notice the entire left floor board moves. I get off and see the bolts about the fall out. That is it...I am scared to ride it now.
I inspected the bike again...
4. The left floor board bolts about the fall out.
5. Two bolts missing from the exhaust.
6. Valve cover gaskets leaking at all corners...on even spraying oil on exhaust and left battery cover.
7. Left battery cover got a to the metal scratch about 1 inch long.
8. Clutch seems to be grabbing. Maybe needs bleeding.
9. Chrome clutch over on the right side has a scratch in it like they drug the engine across concrete. .
I was scared to ride it now due to all the loose bolts and no telling what else is loose.
Pull it in to the shop and start tearing it down. Mainly to get these valve covers to stop leaking and look the timing.
10. The right air filter mounting bolts were finger tight and backed out.
11. Rubber clamp on the air flter housing was loose and spinning, along with the rubber hose that connects it to the intake...these were spinning also.
12. LEft air filter mounting screw was finger tight.
13. clamp on the left front carb missed the carb mount completely and there was a gap you could put your little finger in on the inside of the cab.
14. vaccum line ran through the radiator fan...
15. Found the timing on the rear cylinder off by one tooth front was perfect.
I set the float levels in the carbs while I was in there also.
I think they might have mixed up the valve shims causing the valve noise, so that is still going on. I did not think to check the valve clearance (since i did not have shims to fix it. and I thinking the timing off was causing the noise...but the valve noise it still there after the timing was corrected. Bike runs a lot better with power now, but still noisy as hell.
I tore down the rear end last night and pulled all the exhaust off looking for exhaust leaks. I did the usually grease job on the rear end hoping to quiet it down some. Rear end feels fine and most of the bolts were tight on it... surprise...surprise...it had gear oil in it.
Hope to get it back together today to see what the outcome of that is.
The dealer wanted me to bring it back to them so they could fix it... and break some more stuff. I think the bike fell off the work stand to the left...left mirror was bad out of adjustment but not damaged. This would explain the broken wind vent and scratches on the edge of the front fairing along with the brake fluid damage. I do not like other folks working on my stuff anyway and I was debating to just swap out the rear end from a VMAX rear end when this happed any way. I may still have to do this to quiet it down anyway.
The dealer has agreed to replace the bolts missing as well as the broken lower faring vents but I have not got them yet. What surprised me about all of this...all the mechanics in this shop have gray hair...no kids working back there.
I am not sure I can trust this bike any more. I had a trip planned for Colorado but not so sure I can honestly feel secure with it on the road for a week. I believe I will worry about it the entire trip. I am just sick about the bike. So sick I might just sell it to get it out of my shop.
I cannot stand to look at it. As you can see in my signature...heavily sedated for your protection, and a certain Yamaha dealer...
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I am really glad to have it back but...been gone almost 5 weeks.
Seems they must have splattered some brake fluid on my front fairing causing the paint to curl up in 5 spots.
These spots are on the upper left and range from the size of a raisin to the size of a small wart. They also broke the Plexiglass on my left lower fairing vent... I pointed this all out to them before I left the dealership. They said they were gonna work with me on resolving these issues... They are already talking about getting the guy down the street to paint those spots:no-no-no:...I was talking about replace the entire front fairing. They are determined to keep this bike away from me all dang summer.
I rode it home about 95 miles...when I got home. I smelled something so I got to looking around. The final drive was hot hot...I got one of them infared thermometers and measured 165'F in the hottest point on the final drive unit. Exhaust was only 115 to 120 back around that area. The dealer said they are not sure how hot these units get...I have yet to check it out to see if it has any oil in it at all.
Some of what I was smelling was oil leaking from the valve cover gaskets. 3 of 4 cylinders were seeping oil there. Not a lot but enough you would ruin your Sunday pants if you wiped your finger on them
Then I found a bolt missing that clamps the exhaust below the original horn and another one near here about to fall out. Other side same bolt missing.
I was going to carry it to the local body shop to see what it was gonna cost to repaint the front fairing...if they are gonna pay to paint it, I want the guy I trust to paint it...then I noticed the left floor board was loose. Both bolts so loose you could tighten them with your hand.
I called the dealer back and they said they would send me the missing bolts.
I am afraid to ride it till I can go through the entire bike to make sure everything it tight and ready to go. If that floor board would have came off on the interstate at 85 MPH...I could have been killed.
You are probably wondering how the valve cover gaskets were involved in a rear end gear warranty work. they said there was an oil leak at the base of the left rear cylinder and removed the engine to change this base gasket. Then they went back in to re time the bike since they said it was ticking. the bike feels to me like it does not have the power it did before...I believe the timing is still off. I will check this soon.
They said they would have to talk to the owner before they decide how to handle this. i am expecting a call tomorrow or I am calling them again.
I am sure hoping they make this all right...or it will be WAR...full out WAR you hear me. I will call everybody and their brother with Yamaha...I will tell every forum on the internet about their poor work and what they did to me and my bike. I will write and mail letters and send emails till I run out of sent email storage space.
Now I am calm, I did not act ugly while I was at the dealership and will maintain that till they try to run over me. I am waiting to see how they try handle this.
Fingers crossed...
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Update on the Dealer Warranty repair.
The dealer called yesterday and said they were gonna have to pull the engine...
to fix it. They think the oil was coming from the drive shaft of the engine. Since the oil was dripping off the frame near that area. They want to replace that drive shaft seal coming out of the engine. (it smelled like gear oil and was difinitely gear oil.) They said do not worry about anything warranty was gonna take care of all if it. I never noticed any engine oil missing..always check it before and after riding. They found the tour up seal on the drive shaft on the gear end. I tried to explain that the oil was traveling up the drive shaft tube and spilling out at the engine side of the swing arm. I re-inforced the fact that there was so much slack in the pinion bearing and seems they are not to much worried about that.
But I think I convinced them to change both the pinion bearings since we do not know how much oil was in the rearend when I found this issue. Said they were ordering parts Monday and should have it back to me around 4/1/11.
One thing ...looks like I will get it back earlier than they first said but...seems they may be working on Yamaha for some shop time. I guess that is not my concern as long as it is fixed on their nickel and back to me in a reasonable time. I have not yet defined the term reasonable yet.
I hope I do not have to address the term reasonable...
I was sad but left it any way. 
The rear end or something is howling..sounds like a 5 ton truck again. Lots of engine noise...maybe valve clicking under hard acceleration. 
I cannot not believe this is happening to me. I smell some oil burning some so I immediately get a infrared thermometer to read the temp of the rear end. I read 145 to 165 'F. The exhaust in that area is no more than 120. 
Oil smell I later learn is coming from the valve covers blowing oil on to the exhaust. 
I cannot stand to look at it. 
Clearview Shield REFLECTION!!!!
in Watering Hole
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With the stock windshield the chrome gas cap would reflect off the windshield for me. I quickly ordered one of the Yamaha Leather gas cap covers to solve this problem. Been using it for 25000 miles. It is a pain to remove and put on the gas cap when it is new but it gets easier the older it gets.
IT works and looks good also.