LilBeaver

Wow, sounds like you've got a service department to stick with!

The units that say they don't have the "where am I" feature can still find things that are near you. On the Garmin units, you just have to push "Find" and then "nearby points of interest" and/or you can trim your selection down from there, but it just isn't a 'shortcut key' to do that. It might be 1 or 2 'extra' keystrokes BUT you certainly can STILL find places that are close to you.

Too bad it didn't work for you, but glad to see you got all but $0.40 back There are lots of good units out there and with Christmas coming up, there are bound to be some FANTASTIC deals too

I think the extra come consists of the front fork tube/covers, calipers and the thing that goes on both sides of the front rotor. The "Venture S" line was introduced as a replacement for the Midnight Venture in beginning in 2008 (I believe). The luggage rails, trunk rack, etc. are all extra parts; none come with a stock venture. Although you may be able to talk some dealer into throwing some of that stuff in if you work 'em right...

Blends in with the blue background of the shirt... ^^^^^^^ Just like I drew a snowman in a snowstorm above those arrows

I guess I must be one of the only 'old timers' here then... I use the cassette player on the bike and a CD player in my home. I would NOT use a CD player on the bike because I wouldn't want to waste the space in a saddlebag or the trunk, nor would I want to have to monkey around with a skipping CD player or eventually having to replace it because of the vibrations ruining the electronics. I like the tape player because I can leave it in the bike and don't really have to worry about someone stealing my tape(s). Audio quality is not all that great, but, I don't have to worry about skipping, damage to the cassette, unhooking stuff when I stop for a break or food, or what to do when the batteries die in an MP3 player. I have been fortunate enough to not have a tape get tangled up inside the read head, but I do expect that to happen sometime... With that said, I do have a lot of music on my computer (from CDs) and I do occasionally use an MP3 player on the bike (especially on longer trips) because, quite frankly, they are fantastic (several hours, no skipping, etc). But for puttering around on a weekend or something, for the few hundred miles I put on every weekend, one or two cassettes for when the radio reception is nil or I just don't want to put up with the radio, works for me

Don: PM Sent - I'll take it if it is still available

Run with 'em open for a while; who needs pipes? Do that for a while, then you won't have to worry about hearing ANYTHING

I hope too, for your sake, that it is a simple fuse problem! I would suggest though, as others have here, that at some-point you do wire those lamps up with a relay (activated by something other than the headlight circuit...) I may be mistaken, but I do not know of these 'two Phillips screws' that pop the headlight out . My bike is not in front of me right now... since I am supposedly 'working', but hopefully my memory is failing me and it WILL be that easy for you Anyhoot, Good luck! :fingerscrossed:

I would tend to think that it would be in the best interest of the dealership to have that kind of stuff on hand - but that means more $$$ out for the shop, so If you buy your Yammy dealership, you'd have my business.

I've got one I will let go for $20 cash. But act in the next 10 minutes and I'll throw in a second for S&H only

Sometimes service areas will use bulk order types of containers that are much cheaper and not setup for individual resale... So it is likely that they still use it but just not in the individual tubes that you were looking for. Just a thought.

Since your lamps were dealer installed [the in-line fuse] is probably in between the splice from the headlamp wiring/circuit and the switch - which you have to split the fairing to get to. Splitting the fairing is as easy as it sounds, so don't worry about getting it apart and whatnot. Just be patient, take it easy and follow the directions and you will be fine! Pulling the lamp out of the housing is even easier than splitting the fairing. There is a single screw that holds the lamp surrounds/ring on, (probably oriented on the bottom of the lamp). Loosen it up, the outer ring slides off and the lamp can fall out (make sure you are holding the lamp itself when you pull the ring off, as the lamp MIGHT fall out). Then you can just take a peek at the back to see what kind of shape the leads are in. If you are at all apprehensive about this, and it sounds like you are, according to the warranty agreement that JerryW posted, YOU ARE COVERED by ANY Yamaha dealer. You PAID for the warranty when you bought the bike, you ought to take advantage of it if you want to. Have them fix that switch too - if you don't want to do that yourself. Again, don't be afraid to get into it or make a dealer make good on the money you spent on those Yamaha accessories. Good luck friend!!

I guess I kindof luck out here. My local Honda (victory, kawasaki, etc.) dealership is really good. Friendly, knowledgeable and always have 3-5 GW on the floor as well as a bunch of non-crotch rockets. Everytime I go in there, the sales people are always very visible and greet me while not being obnoxious. The parts folks - for the most part, know what they are talking about and have been very open about pricing, stock, etc. Sometimes I will ask for a part and they will suggest I go to XX place and get it there because they have a better price. They have a healthy stock of parts, on hand and anything they don't have they get next day. The service department has 3 service writers and a handful of mechanics. These folks are very knowlegeable as well and have won my business. The guy I usually work with actually knows me by name (he processed the warranty replacement of my Avon tires, as well as took care of tire instals on a few other bikes for me as well as some of my friends bikes - that I took care of for them). Anyways, enough about that... My Yamaha dealer, on the otherhand, is LESS than useless.

Good stuff. Although I'm not sure I would recommend the use of a "torch" to look in the gas tank or down the spark plug hole

Forrest: Great, thanks a lot! I will talk with Brian and see what kind of plans he has over the next week or so. Then we all can firm up pick up plans.

As others have said and I do not think it can be said enough as words just do not quite do it justice... Thanks a lot for your sacrifice and service, come back safe! If you need anything, you let us know Gdspeed

I agree about the taxes thing - that is kindof wierd. It must have to do with a 'reasonable' way to deal with the item being shipped to one state and returned in another; as a matter of book-keeping. By the way, thanks for that Monty Python reference; that gave me a good laugh. Been a long time since I've seen that

I never had a problem with that.... (picking up motorcycles with the radar that is)

Looks like they have subdued the suspect. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,578292,00.html Text of article: " Seattle police shot and killed the fugitive who gunned down four officers in a suburban coffee shop, a sheriff's spokesman said Tuesday. Maurice Clemmons was shot to death after a "very alert patrol officer" investigating reports of a stolen car recognized him, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told Fox News. Clemmons, 37, murdered the four Lakewood police officers at a cafe Sunday morning in Parkland, a Tacoma suburb about 35 miles south of Seattle. He was killed by a lone police officer in a working-class neighborhood after he was found with the help of information about possible hiding spots, Troyer said. "Shots were fired," Troyer told "Fox & Friends" Tuesday. "We're very happy that the Seattle police officer is OK. ... This could have turned out a lot worse." Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Greg Richards, 42, were the victims of Sunday's shooting spree. Troyer told Fox police arrested three people overnight on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance. The suspected getaway driver also was caught early Tuesday morning, about 6:30 a.m., he said at a briefing. SLIDESHOW: Deadly Lakewood Police Shooting More arrests are coming, Troyer vowed. "We're also looking at family members who aided and abetted in his escape," he told reporters. "They did everything they could to hamper our investigation. We expect to have six to seven people in custody by day's end." Bios of the Slain Washington Officers A gun belonging to one of the fallen Lakewood officers was found with Clemmons after he was recognized with the stolen vehicle about 2:45 a.m. and then killed, Troyer said. He was reaching for it when he was shot Tuesday. "We know our suspect. He's not afraid to shoot cops," Troyer said at the news conference. The officer saw Clemmons and ordered him to show his hands and stop, according to Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel. "He wouldn't stop," Pugel said. "The officer fired several rounds." Police had surrounded a house in Seattle late Sunday following a tip Clemmons had been dropped off there. After an all-night siege, a special weapons and tactics police team entered the home Monday morning and found it empty. But police said Clemmons had been there. Police said they aren't sure what prompted Clemmons to kill the officers as they did paperwork on their laptops. Clemmons was described as increasingly erratic in the past few months and had been arrested earlier this year on charges that he punched a sheriff's deputy in the face. More from Q13Fox.com. "There is no answer, other than that he was angry about being incarcerated," Troyer said. "There's never going to be an answer that makes any sense." Authorities don't believe Clemmons knew any of the officers he gunned down, but was just targeting police in general. "Whoever was in there was going to suffer the wrath of what happened," Troyer told reporters. Clemmons indicated the night before the shooting "that he was going to shoot police and watch the news," Troyer told the Tacoma News-Tribune. Clemmons' death capped one of the largest manhunts in the region's history. Clemmons had stayed on the run for nearly two days with help from a network of friends and family who gave him places to stay, medical aid, rides and money, police said. Troyer said authorities believe they were planning to sneak him out of the state. On Monday, officers detained a sister of Clemmons who they think treated his gunshot wound. Her name wasn't released. "We believe she drove him up to Seattle and bandaged him up," Troyer said. Police think people close to Clemmons deliberately misled officers. Troyer said anyone who helped him could face charges. "We don't think anybody helped him plan this murder," he said. "But he's been bailed out of jail ... This family has enabled him. Even after this happened, after he killed all four officers, they continued to save him. ... They're going to pay for it." Authorities said the gunman singled out the Lakewood officers and spared employees and other customers at the coffee shop. He then fled, but not before he was shot in the torso by one of the dying officers. Troyer confirmed that Clemmons did have an untreated gunshot wound when he was killed Tuesday. Police frantically chased leads on Monday, searching multiple spots in the Seattle and Tacoma area and at one point cordoning off a park where people thought they saw Clemmons. Authorities found a handgun carried by the killer, along with a pickup truck belonging to the suspect with blood stains inside. They posted a $125,000 reward for information leading to Clemmons' arrest and alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for a man seeking treatment for gunshot wounds. "We need to get him into custody and we need to end this," Troyer said Monday night. Authorities in two states were criticized amid revelations that Clemmons was allowed to walk the streets despite a teenage crime spree in Arkansas that landed him an 108-year prison sentence. He was released early after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence. Huckabee cited Clemmons' youth in granting the request. But Clemmons quickly reverted to his criminal past, violated his parole and was returned to prison. He was released again in 2004. "This guy should have never been on the street," said Brian D. Wurts, president of the police union in Lakewood. "Our elected officials need to find out why these people are out." Huckabee said on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night that Clemmons was allowed back on the street for a second time in 2004 because prosecutors failed to file paperwork in time, but acknowledged his role in commuting Clemmons’ sentence, making him immediately eligible for parole in 2000. “I’m responsible for that,” Huckabee said of the commutation, which cut Clemmons’ sentence to 47 years. “And it’s not something I’m happy about at this particular moment.” Huckabee reviewed roughly 1,200 such cases each year during his tenure as governor, 92 percent of which were denied, he said. “My heart is broken for four families tonight,” Huckabee said. Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, whose office opposed Clemmons' parole in 2000 and 2004, said Huckabee's criticisms of the district attorney's handling of the case were "red herrings." "My word to Mr. Huckabee is man up and own what you did," Jegley said. Troyer said authorities were "disappointed" by the former governor's remarks. "What we take issue with is him blaming us for something we had no control over," he told reporters. Clemmons was charged in Washington state earlier this year with assaulting a police officer and raping a child, and investigators in the sex case said he was motivated by visions that he was Jesus Christ and that the world was on the verge of the apocalypse. But he was released from jail after posting bail with the assistance of Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. Documents related to those charges indicate a volatile personality. In one instance, he is accused of gathering his wife and young relatives and forcing them to undress. "The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus," a Pierce County sheriff's report said. The Associated Press contributed to this report."

Texas Panhandle here (Lubbock, TX) I put on ~250 miles two days ago and rode to work this morning... It was 28 degrees when I left - but a nice 55 on my way home. We are supposed to get some 'snow' tonight and tomorrow, so we'll see what happens... but if I don't see it in the morning I'll be on the bike and off to work

Very nice! I know I don't need to say it but, Enjoy your trip! Hope the weather stays good for you

My : Filter: I use Mobil 1 filter (or Bosch). I had used Fram until I read a few write-ups and saw some cross-sections on them. Yikes. Oil: Most recent - Mobil 1 Fully synthetic (motorcycle specific). Before I found the motorcycle specific type, I had used the regular Mobil 1 fully synthetic line (non energy conserving) 15w-50

There is some discussion of it here. None with the High/low beam feature. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?threadid=43156 Also, some of the sources are NOT very good about listing the beam pattern and whatnot; but at least they do make the LED setup in the PAR36 sized sealed beam configuration.

If flb sees this, maybe he'll chime in. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take a look at the centerstand on a bike, and it looked great. On that same bike (flb's) the exhaust pipes, crash bars, and floorboards were obviously familiar with the pavement - as he can really throw his bike around, . With all of the marks, I do not recall the centerstand being marred all that much. So from memory anyways and based on the looks of flb's bike, I would 'venture' the guess that the centerstand will not limit your lean any more than the stock parts do. Hope that helps.