Steve S

My wife and I have been "planning" a trip to the southwest since last year and are finally getting ready to leave. We had hoped to leave in late March, but the death of a family member delayed us. It looks like we will be able to head out tomorrow if I can get one more project finished on the RV. I am so looking forward to doing some serious sightseeing from the Trike in New Mexico and Arizona. I will try to provide some pictures when I can. Steve

Happy Easter.

I have used Metzler on my last 2 Ventures and will put one on the front of my trike this year. I really like the milage and control I get from them. Steve

Beautiful ride. Enjoy it.

I would have bought a new Venture if it had been a 4-cylinder, liquid cooled, but settled for a used Venture. I am not really into the V-Twin, I prefer more cylinders. Since I am pushing 70 real hard, I will keep riding my Venture bike and trike as long as I can.

Hello Fellow Riders. We had a beautiful warm New Year Day here in Kentucky, so the wife and I made a ride to Clarksville Tenn. for a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden. It was a Christmas gift card from my stepson and daughter-in-law, so we took advantage of their kindness. I ate until I thought I would have to be carried out in a wheelbarrow so I was a little sluggish heading back home.😁 It was only an 85-mile ride, but it was a wonderful way to start the year off. The sun was shining, and the wind was blowing in our faces making me feel VERY good about the future. I hope everyone had a very Happy New Year. Steve

Happy New Year VentureRiders.

Hello Forum. I'm not sure about the August time frame, but the wife and I have planned to take the RV and trailer out to Arizona in May. It is our desire to stay out in that area for a month to 6 weeks riding different areas as the weather permits. That part of the country has an awful lot of options for riding in the early spring. Steve

I feel "All accidents are preventable" but not always by everyone involved in them. At road speeds it is sometimes impossible to avoid being hit by another automobile or other object. Sadly, too many people, and I include myself, allow "Things" to distract them. Thanks for posting that, Freebird.

I finally got around to taking some pictures of the changes I make to my trike. I changed out the headlight to a LED, added passing lamps with LEDs and installed a new Clearview windshield. I was too lazy to take the shipping film off the windshield before taking the pictures. The pictures show a running/brake light with turn signals I added to the trunk. It had some small running lights bolted on the trunk that looked quite bad. Unseen but much needed, is a Skydoc 17 total clutch upgrade and a new clutch actuator. I haven't taken much of a ride with it yet, but it worked great going around the block with it. I am looking forward to some warmer weather so I can get it out on the road. Steve

I tried SuperbrightLED and they do not have LEDs with the 3-pin base. Could the sockets be replaced with 2-pin 1157 sockets and a load resistor be put in the line to make the lights flash properly?

Hello Forum. I'm trying to change my front turn signal bulbs on my trike to LED like the rear are and I need help locating bulbs. When I took the existing bulb out, I noticed it has 3 small pins on it to lock it in the socket. I have noticed it before but accepted it was a Yamaha "thing". Can LEDs be purchased to replace these? I have worked on cars since I was a very young man and have never seen this type of bulb used before, so I am interested in learning what the difference is. Thank you for your help.

I order my RSV parts from Partzilla. They have free shipping with orders over $150.00 Steve

The reason I say "Old school" is I believe the more cylinders you have the more torque the engine will provide. Newer engines are going with less cylinders but providing more HP. This is true in automobiles as well as bikes. I also like a smoother engine that the 4-cylinder engines provides.

Chief I was referring to the earlier RSV with the 4-cylinder VMax engines. I'm old school and do not enjoy the V-twins. Steve

Hello Forum. I took the trunk off my trike to do some wiring for new lights and found there were some serious cracks and holes in the bottom of the trunk. I would like to replace it but I doubt I can find one that color so I will make a serious attempt to repair it. Could someone tell me what type of compound make a good solid glue to bond the abs plastic. I have used fiberglass cloth and resin with good success on boats in the past, but I'm not sure if this will bond to the plastic trunk. Any help would be appreciated. Steve

I firmly believe if Yamaha had put fuel injection, 6 speed transmission and a CD player on the Venture it would still be selling today. Steve

Hello Freebird. I picked my trike up today to get it ready to change out the clutch. I slid my floor jack under the engine coming in from the front beside the tire. I rolled it back far enough to get it under the oil pan to get a solid purchase on the engine. I picked up high enough to get 3 2X8s under the front tire, then lifted the rear using the trailer hitch, and put jack stands under the rear differential. It is very solid to work under while I remove and replace the floorboards. I'll let you know how the clutch exchange works out. Steve

Hello Trike Fans. Friday my wife and I made our first good ride on the trike. We made a 200-mile trip from Hopkinsville KY to The Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. It was a very comfortable and very scenic ride that we thoroughly enjoyed. We took a cooler and food for a picnic lunch before walking through the huge rock formations. Since I gotten a little older and a little more fragile since my younger years, I limited my rock climbing to the well-worn paths and the solid mostly flat rocks to enjoy the beautiful scenery. I did learn a little more about the trike. Evidently the previous owner didn't push the engine too hard when he was riding and rode mostly one up, cause it seems that the clutch needs replacing. Thankfully I have already received one from SkyDoc 17 and will look at installing it this week. While I have the floorboards off will put the road pegs on and replace the rest of the brake and clutch fluids. That should bring every up to new on the maintenance items. Steve

I have a 4-ton floor jack that I have used to pick up the rear so I could put jack stands under the axle to remove the tires. I believe it's low enough to go under the floorboards when I need to pick up the front.

Hello Venturers. Monday, I took my trike to Hannigan's in Murray KY to have a reverse put on it. I picked it up yesterday afternoon and was really happy with the results of the work they did. They took the trike cover off, modified the trailer hitch, installed a flywheel on the driveshaft and added a starter to "propel" the trike backwards. I mean it doesn't slowly roll backwards; it PROPELS it backwards. (Not dangerously fast). Thankfully it has a momentary switch that activates the starter, and a single tap makes it start rolling and several times that has been enough to take care of the issues of needing room to go forward. The final cost was right at $1700 but I am very satisfied with the quality job they did. Steve

Prayers gone up.

Woody I put Hankook Tires on the back of my trike. I run them on my car as well and have found them to be very good tires. Steve

Hello Venture Trike Fans I recently bought a 2007 Venture that was triked out in 2010 and is in very good shape with low milage. The tires on it were in very good condition, and I suspect they had less that 3000 miles on them. The bad part is the date on the tires is 2010 which means they are 12 years old. I do my best to maintain a save vehicle to ride in and on, so I ordered a new set of tires and had them mounted before I did more than ride around the neighborhood. Now I am in the process of changing the rear brake pads and all of the fluids on the trike. And it is going to Hannigan's in Murray KY for a reverse this week, The front tire is less than 4 years old so it will be used until next spring. I am going to keep my 2010 Venture to ride solo, but I am looking forward to making some trips with the wife on the trike. Steve

I loved the Corbin seat I had on my first Venture. I would like to have one for my bike and trike, but the price of them now prohibits that. Steve