RSTDdog

If you are getting the OE gasket, you may find it has sealant pre-apllied. Where required a number of OE Yamaha gaskets will have pre-applied sealant on the surface (thin flat grey bead). I haven't had the water pump apart, but if the impeller is sloppy, there may be other parts suspect requiring replacement.

I don't know about now, but I worked at Yamaha dealer from 91-94, and at that time Yamaha was still repairing second gear on Venture's in their records that hadn't had it done. Back in those days Yamaha would make alot of goodwill repairs and approve them on dealer requests so the customer didn't have to hassle with it and made the dealer look like a hero to boot.

OK, well I tried to cut and paste the Cooling System diagram from the RSV service manual here and it didn't like it (or at least my computer didn't). Anyway there are a number of joints in the cooling system that could be the culprit. If you want just the hose diagram or need the RSV manual let me know.

Any silicone, even RTV, does not belong on a motorcycle. A mechanic that uses it is one you should never return to. O-rings don't require sealants. If you are going to use a sealant on a bike, Yamabond 4 , a grey sealant not silicone based, doesn't ball or break off in pieces like silicone. Its used on sealing crankcase halves for this reason. I would suggest pulling your radiator and back flushing it really well since the tubes in the radiator are probably some of the the smaller passages on the cooling system and it will be tough to get that cleaned out with it still on the bike. Pull the fins and the little plugs at the base of the cylinders and flush everything out of there you can get also. I seem to recall if you pull the fuel tank there are some cooling fittings up high on the heads, hose maybe, don't recall. A flush, fill and drain with distilled water a few times wouldn't hurt before putting coolant back in.

As posted already, K&N makes replacement filters that fit inside the OEM Housings. Yamaha offered Chrome replacement covers for the plastic ones and those required the use of the K&N filter inside of it. They are getting harder to find new (and expensive IMO) and they tended to flake if not diligently maintained making clean used take offs hard to find as well. Other than that no one made complete dedicated aftermarket air cleaner breather assemblies. Not too much to be gained as the intake tract is tuned pretty well for the available space and big changes to it can result in poor running and there is a risk of ingesting water if not suitably covered/shielded. Several here have made their own adapting parts from various applications.

I have posted this before in similar threads and I will post it again here. Probably more important than what people want in new touring bike is what are people willing to pay for it if they build it? This will determine how profitable the bike will be and consequently how viable it will be for Yamaha to build them. When everyone saw the GTS1000 prototype, the magazine's (pre-internet) were flooded with letters from readers if Yamaha builds that, I will buy one. Well as history tells us, despite being quite a nice motorcycle with advanced features and ahead of its time, no one was actually willing to buy one for the MSRP it arrived on US shores at. The one at the dealership I worked at was sold at a loss after two anniversaries on the show room floor . Hence we got the preorder program when the FJR was first released. This may be a good idea for Yamaha to take this same approach with the new touring bike if there is one. Here it is , here are the features, here is it what it will cost, we will build as many as people are willing to pre-order through their dealer. Limits the risk significantly. (I suggested to Mazda North America that they use this approach to sell the new Mazda 6 Wagon in the US, currently available in Europe but not here) With regard to using the 1700 Vmax engine in the new Yamaha touring motorcycle, while it probably makes sense to recoup R&D costs, has anyone ridden the new Vmax (I personally have not), How smooth is it? If I am not mistaken it still shares some internal components with the original V4? Does the new Vmax engine still have potential for Clutch whine issues? The site is filled with posts of people selling their bikes for this one issue. Having owned and ridden an RSTD, its a fine motorcycle, but even in its finest state of tune with a fresh carb sync, its not as smooth or flat torque curve as the ST1100 carbureted V4 I owned or the carbureted 1500 Goldwing motors. Even if you have a V4 with no clutch whine,its still generally a noisy engine. If the Vmax 1700 still indeed shares internals with its ancestor, it will need significant improvements in the manufacturing tolerance and balance of rotating internal parts to achieve Honda smoothness and quietness if the Goldwing is Yamaha's target competitor for a touring motorcycle. If Harley, Polaris and Victory are the target, marketing tells us engine noise (and/or heat) are part of the character and experience of real motorcycling and Yamaha won't have to pay that much attention (Lets not forget that someone at Yamaha thought it was good idea to remove the balance shafts to induce vibration on purpose and detune the V4 to 60 HP on the original Royal Stars.......) If Yamaha builds a new dedicated touring bike it will need to have appeal across several markets. There are alot of brand dedicated riders in the touring segment.What do you build to get Goldwing and Ultra Classic customers and to a lesser extent Polaris/Indian to trade-in and switch saddles? Its a tougher proposition than one may think.

I know people swap in the Vmax cams direct no problem.Its been a while since I have been on here but know this has been discussed. searching will probably be faster than waiting for an answer. I know Pegscraper has done some engine mods (PM him) and so have several others. Gary (tweety? can recall his screen name exactly) put Vmax parts including Vboost in a first gen venture and was working on hopping up a royal star also. He is knowledgeable about the fitment differences between the various years of the V4. You can get some more HP out of the 97 motors, but may be just as easy to swap in a used 05 and up royal star engine complete which gets you from 62 to 98 HP plus they also put the balance shaft back in.

Don't use carb cleaner, it will attack the plastic. CRC makes a good Electric contact cleaner that is safe for plastic. Contact cleaner ( or carb cleaner for that matter) won't remove corrosion from the metal connector ends though. If the connector ends are corroded or pitted, you will have to use a pick to push or pry up the tab that holds them in and pull them out of the plastic plug. Remove them one at a time. You will need to unplug the connector first to inspect the ends of it and to remove the individual connector ends if they need cleaning.

Good choice!! The GL1500 is the bike that put Honda on top of the touring game. I'm leaning toward a 1500 or 1800 myself at some point. Had an ST1100ABS TCS loved that bike but wasn't riding much and sold it. Was without a bike 10 years and bought the RSTD. Like the combination of style features and passenger comfort but I agree they are heavy and carry the weight a bit high. I would love another ABS bike, nothing like grabbing a handful of front brake in the rain and not worrying about it. But for needing something comfortable for the wife, I would by the FJR 1300 or another ST. Happy Riding! That's a Nice Bike!

So does the voltage return to the higher value at idle after dropping to the lower value when revved up. DO the voltages in 1&2 return after you did 3,4&6? By revved I assume you mean just in neutral? What RPM? Are those voltages taken at the battery? Can you attach your volt meter safely and go ride it? Logic tells me revved should be higher than idle. I'll have to check mine for reference and research the specs in the service manual. Not trying to discourage you but 12.75 and 12.8 in 5 and 6 is breaking even and not charging. The LED lighting looks like it hits it pretty hard. They have electronic ballasts too correct? If the ballasts are noisy (electrically speaking, not actually making noise) voltage feed back form those may affect the current sensing of the voltage regulator??? Just thinking out loud.

I would avoid the "training wheel" style trike kits. When all the wheels are on the road it handles like a trike- push right to go left, push left to go right, this is opposite of what you do on a two wheeled bike at speed. Drift in your lane and Put one of the training wheels off the side of the road, particularly on a low or steep shoulder where that wheel is not touching and your instinct from riding this contraption a while will tell you to push right to get back on the road. Push right with one wheel not touching and you will go right just like a two wheeled motorcycle, and not the intended direction in that situation. Depending on the speed you won't likely recover from that.

BMW= BRING MORE WALLET Have you considered the Honda ST1100 or is that too sport touring. I owned one and would own another one. I'm 6'2" and didn't feel cramped but its more sport riding style than the first gen venture. With a trunk added decent storage, not to mention you can take the trunk and bags right off if your just riding and not carrying anything.

Even if an HD dealer takes your trade, you are not likely to get real money for it. It will be mostly "paper" money. They will want your bike cheap or free and would just inflate the selling price and accessories to reflect a "value" for your bike(s). Good luck finding an HD dealer to sell you a bike at HD MSRP even. You would be better off selling both for cash. I called a Multi-line dealer (Honda, Yamaha, Triumph, BMW) inquiring about a used ST1300 ABS they had and to get an idea of a trade on my 2006 RSTD. He was beating me up because I do my own service and don't have "records", blah blah. Bottom line he was offering less than rough book for my RSTD Midnight (around 3800). At the time the lowest book value I could find was around 5000 and RSTD's my year and mileage could be had on craiglsist for between 5-6000. Anyway you get the idea. Even if you sell the bikes yourself cheap you will be money ahead unless you just don't want the hassle.

Stay away from the SEI. Honda's first foray into Fuel injection for the wing and it wasn't great. Not many of them around, parts for the FI, if you can find them, are expensive. If you are going to buy a GL1200, get one with carburetors. Also the GL1200 (any of them) has propensity to eat stators (motor has to come out to change) and melt R/R connectors. This is a must check on any GL1200 purchase. Either it has new stator or it s going to need one. If you are buying an older bike, of the two the Voyager with carbs will be easier, cheaper to work on.

Form time to time the saddlebags can be had from people triking ventures (same saddle bags as RSTD as well as other parts) A lot of the 2009's were sold as leftovers so depending on when it ws first sold form the dealer it may still have some warranty left. Pinwall Cycles gets $900 for just the engine, so a complete bike for under 2000 if its still rideable would be a good deal.

This sounds like a battery with a weak/bad cell. After Charging it, check the voltage,then let it sit for 24 hours then check the standing voltage again on the battery. If the voltage on the battery after 24 hours is less than 12.5, its weak. What brand of battery? A properly serviced, fully charged new Yuasa MF battery for these bikes will have a standing voltage of 12.7-13.0 volts 24 hours after charging is complete. Mine is never below 12.6 even after sitting 30 days, but I have an RSTD so no draw from the radio memory, etc. I haven't read your other threads, but simply checking the stator by ohming it out is not sufficient. If you haven't already, you also need to check the stator out put voltage (its AC) on each leg. The battery seems to be the consistent link here. Problem with MF batteries (no really MF stands for Maintenance Free, its a family site!) is you can't check specific gravity of the cells which will identify the bad cell in hurry. Does the bike have extra lights, accessories, non-factory wiring? If yes and youdidn't install it or know the integrity/quality of the install, perhaps revisit these areas for chafed/loose connections.

Loved the off road video. I used to drive may XS750 Special off road, drove through the Fakahatchee Strand in the everglades two up until I got to sugar sand, too much for hte skinny rear wheel. Have not been out west on the bike other than renting an HD in Vegas while my wife was attending a seminar. Rode outof town and up a mountain near by. 100 degrees in town, 60 on the mountain. Chilly in T shirt and jeans. Tx2sturgis: That single wheel trailer is sharp!! Is it solid suspension or is the the rear wheel mounted on a torsion arm?

Well good thing I checked before going to bed. Absent a nice high pressure setting in, its going to be like this from now till September/October. Anyone coming from the east coast this time of year will almost surely get wet in the middle of the state, Always rains there even when the coast(s) stays dry. Anyway was looking forward to it. It was beautiful here today (other than hot/humid) from about 10:00 on. Catch you next time. Will have to go boating instead. Darn.

Hopefully its not this ^^, but you should check this out.Stuck float can fill cylinder with gas. Is oil overfull? Remove plugs and do this test before doing bongobobny's test. If it is hydrolocked, the extra current from jumping the solenoid may get you a bent a rod. How many miles? Bike been sitting?

My 4.6 is "EPA Rated" for 19 Highway, most of threads I have read on it, to get 19 you need to do 65-70 max. Around town I've been getting 15-16 and I drive easy. Hoping once I get the misfire sorted, if Highway mpg gets to around 18 I'll be happy.

The Wife will be coming with me also.

Thanks everyone. I'll try and address the various posts best I can. Its a 2000 E150 Club Wagon Chateau with the 4.6. It was a one owner van with 86K miles when I bought it back in October. Its my 4th Club wagon but the first I have had with a Triton. Previously had one with a 5.0L, one with 7.5L 460 and the one I never should have sold the 2003 7.3 PSD E350, but you do what you have to do sometimes. So no not scared of the miles and like Tx2Sturgis its not a daily for me either. Tranny let go in it though few thousand miles after I bought it on my way to Pensacola. Blew the front seal out and puked outhte fluid. On dis-assembly there was metal in it so opted for the Ford reman with three year warranty. Whoever had the van had Club Wagon's previously I think. It had the third row seat that folds into bed in it, an option that Ford quit offering in 1997. I'm guessing he swapped out seats when he traded in. The upholstery for the third row seat is slightly different but still gray. Auto parts stores can't read misfires unless it sets the CEL. The actron scanner I have access to CP9587 OBD II scanner has section for misfire codes but didn't show any, I only had it for a short while so couldn't really sort out everything it does but it found no codes. I did change all the plugs with motorcraft platinums and all the coil boots. So my plugs only have a few thousand miles on them and the misfire seems very mild and intermittent. Got around 16.5 mpg on the highway on my last trip to Pensacola in March in this condition. Can I change just the coils at this point? Plugs should still be OK?

Went to rattlesnake Saloon a couple years ago. On a trip through the southeast in a rented cage. One of my favorite signs is hanging in the men's room.....

Did a google search of Ford-Trucks.com. Nothing on Denso coils but alot people like the Denso Iridium plugs. As far as thedieselstop, that was (8-10years ago) the go-to site for powerstrokes before it was sold by the guy who started it. Didn't care for it last few times i was there recently. It was never much for gas engines even though they had sub-forums for them. Leaning toward changing them all and giving the Denso COPS a shot.

Used google to search the various ford truck sites and thedieselstop.com (where I used to be real active when I had 7.3 E350 and 7.3 F250 PSD)in their gas engine section. Seems no one that I can find has used the Denso coil at all (couldn't find any threads asking about it either). Either motorcraft or they complain about the real cheap ones (8 for $50.00-100.00). Denso makes the COPS on my current Hyundai Azera and 2007 My Santa Fe was traded with a 115,000 miles with all the original Denso COPS. Toyota and Honda use them too. I don't consider Denso an off brand, they build their own parts. The motorcraft coils seemed to be sourced from various countries. Question really is whether to just keep changing them as they fail or change all eight (regardless of brand). Just called and the Firestone Car Care by Me want's 99.00 for the diagnostic only. That's already over half the cost of 8 denso coils or 2.5 motorcraft coils.