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Stoutman

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  1. Stoutman
    I switched to the Mustang seat to avoid the numb butt with the stock RSTD seat. It is nicer to sit on but not easier to install. I have to watch very closely to avoid scratching my tank with the front metal brackets. I do like the seat though. All day comfort makes me want to never stop riding. A guy has to eat and sleep though.
  2. Stoutman

    oil change

    Stoutman replied to a topic in General Tech Talk

    The Purolator is a good filter. I use the WalMart SuperTech ST7317 as a cheaper option. I think these go for about $2.30 now. Plenty of filter media and a good quality construction plus it fits my Nissan make it my filter of choice. Walmart also has the 15/40 Rotella oil for a good price by the gallon. Some here use the 5/40 Rotella synthetic. Sometimes you can find the motorcycle specific Mobile one synthetic at Wallmart.
  3. Stoutman
    You can buy it online directly from the Yamaha web site. I think I paid $69.00. It is a Venture manual with an addendum for the RSTD electrical diagrams and the seat/windshield.
  4. Stoutman
    Here is a question for all you mechanical gurus. The rear brake on my 05 RSTD has just started to bind while parked. I get on the bike and rock it a bit to see if I left it in gear, and find that it rocks only a little, but is in neutral. I can hear the rear brake rub a bit if I force it to move, and I can push the bike some and it will release a bit. then when I start the bike it is entirely free. What would cause the brake caliper to not release? This doesn't seem to happen when I am riding, when I'm stopped at a light it never binds up like that. OK Gurus, what are your ideas?
  5. Stoutman
    Wayne Farrington (Brewser23) sells the brackets for this. Send him a PM or an e-mail.
  6. Stoutman
    I run the leveling links. Solo I usually run 35 psi in the shock, but with two up and fully loaded I can exceed 550 lbs on the bike. Then I run 45 in the rear shock, and bump my tire pressure to 48 pounds in the rear (AVON Venom). Mamma likes 35 psi in the shock better, but I like the handling much better fully loaded with the higher pressure. I have tried it with the shock at max pressure and found the cornering to be jumpy, like the bike had a hinge in the middle.
  7. Stoutman
    I was behind a pickup truck full of carpet, padding, and tack strips. I saw the tack strips box was open and they were about to fall out, so I pulled into the other lane and dropped way back. Sure enough when the guy went through the intersection the tack strips went all over the road. I was able to pull off into the Burger King, but several cars had their tires damaged by the tack strips. The guys in the pickup tried to pull "We don't speak English" trick. That just made people mad and then the cops showed up. Those guys in the pickup understood everything the cops said. I hope they went to jail.
  8. Stoutman
    I'm not betting the farm on your opinion, but I did bet the cost of the GPS. I've made worse bets in my life. I knew this would be a learning experience when I bought it. The first of anything I buy is always that way. I could have spent a lot more money on a lot worse product. I read up on the hacks for this thing today. I may try to fool with it a bit more and see if I can't customize it with some Windows CE apps that would be useful on the bike. I'm going to see if I can get this one to remember some waypoints out in the boonies where I hunt and fish. If I can use the pedestrian mode to get back to my fishin hole and such I may be able to forgive a little routing error now and again.
  9. Stoutman
    I run mine through an intercom, not the Venture one, but an aftermarket one. I'll adjust the volume on the intercom since I had it set up for use with an iPOD. My intercom does monitor exterior noise and adjusts the volume accordingly. Since Chaos is sold on this thing I'll give it another week or two of use in the car and see if it works any better. I have not had to reset the MP3 player since that day. Maybe I've just got a defective unit.
  10. Stoutman
    It is hard to diagnose a problem from a sound that you can't hear. The input on the splines is good stuff. I would suggest that if the handling doesn't bother you and it is more like a howl than clicking, you could wait until the tires wear out. You may get 8000 miles out of your rear Bridgestone. I took mine off at 5000 miles and never looked back. You really don't know what you are missing as far as handling improvements, especially with the narrower front tire.. My first impression is that your noise is the tires. I had the same issue with my bike. At first I thought it was just a section of concrete roadway that I went over on the way home from work. Then I realized it was there on other types of roads as well. I also really didn't like the way the bike handled on the rain grooves and tire tracks, or at parking lot speed. New tires and the leveling links made the bike much more nimble and quiet. If you feel like tinkering and have a lift, you might want to check to see that the splines are greased properly. If not, be sure to have them checked when you get the tires replaced. There is a good article in our tech library about this. As far as getting some satisfaction from the dealer, you might get them to check your splines for you. It’s worth asking about. If they say it’s the tires then I doubt they will do much for you. You’re sure I can’t talk you into throwing out the Bridgestones? Best of luck.
  11. Stoutman
    I have heard this on my own bike and know exactly what is wrong. It is your rear tire. If I'm right it is a Bridgestone. Here is the fix. Take the Bridgestone tires off the bike and throw them away. They are noisy and (in my opinion) dangerous because they track grooves and ridges in the road and compromise your handling. You've only got 3000 miles or so left on the rear tire anyway. Now, buy some Avon Venoms (some here like the Dunlop or Michellen Commanders) and enjoy the ride. The bike won't track grooves and ruts in the road, and it will be a nice, quiet, confident ride. If you are not considering buying the leveling links then put on a narrower front tire (MT90/16) The Avon has a higher load rating than your stock tire and it will improve your slow speed handling. If you are considering the leveling links put them on along with the stock size Avon tires. You will see a great improvement in the slow speed handling of the bike, and in the responsivness in the twisties. Best of luck.
  12. Stoutman
    Took mine for a ride this morning. I had to do without the MP3 player. It wouldn't start. The map feature worked OK and got me to my first stop. After breakfast I did a hard reset and mapped out my next location, then the MP3 player worked. Not very much volume with the MP3 player, barely adequate at freeway speeds. On my next stop I decided to take the freeway home. The unit had me get off the freeway, then get back on when I could have just kept on going. Told me to turn right when there was no road, then recalculated and got me home. Came to the computer to load some more MP3's and had to do a hard reset again. At this point I'm thinking this thing is going back.
  13. Stoutman
    Hope this helps. Note, when I bought my tire changer the rim clamps were installed correctly. Be sure to check yours.
  14. Stoutman
    The lift adapter is an excellent choice, but may not be in the card$, or maybe you need to get your bike fixed now. In that case you can use 4 hockey pucks between the bike and the lift. Cut a 1/4 piece of pie shaped notch out of one with a hack saw and use that one on the left front by the ignition cutoff switch for the side stand. The hard rubber pucks will not mar the paint on the frame. I've also used 1 inch thick hardwood blocks.
  15. Stoutman
    I can't think of how you would do it without a lift or center stand. You need to take the weight off the rear tire because you are going to undo the suspension.
  16. Stoutman
    The MP3 player will go on pause when the GPS has something to say, then come back on. Of course you're going to have your tunes interupted by "Insufficient signal" announcements as well as "Turn Left" directions. The web site that Chaos posted has links to the owners manual if you are interested.
  17. Stoutman
    I have been looking for an MP3 player that would support replaceable memory cards. My ipod video doesn't tolerate the vibration on the bike and locks up about once per ride. The solid state memory should be more robust, and since I keep it in a tank bag it will be under cover from the elements. I figure I would have spent at least $150.00 on an MP3 player. With this I get the GPS and the MP3 all in one. Don't think I'll be hacking it unlocked or anything. Although it would be nice to be able to store my maintenance logs and mileage in the PDA.
  18. Stoutman
    How do you like the routing feature. Does it give you the fastest route, or a straight line route? Can you set preferences to avoid tollways and freeways?
  19. Stoutman
    I just went out and looked at my setup. 2005 RSTD, Yamaha passing lamps, Yamaha mounting bar. The headlight is firmly attached to the passing lamp mounting bar where it should be. I don't know for sure, but you may be missing a part there. I didn't fabricate anything. Just bolted everything up as it came from Mamayama.
  20. Stoutman
    I was about to try making my own, but then Allen came out with his stainless ones and I went that way. I'm a do it yourselfer most of the time. The one thing that concerned me about making my own was getting the correct grade of steel. I didn't know how tough or hard the stock links were, and I only had easy access to mild steel. When the stainless ones became available that cinched the deal for me. I knew the stainless ones would be as strong or stronger than stock, plus I didn't have to worry about the finish.
  21. Stoutman
    I took longer than Freebird, but it was also the first time I had the rear wheel off, so I took the opportunity to grease the pins and splines of the rear wheel drive, and pull the drive shaft and grease those splines as well. Took me more than an hour, but I didn't see the need to hurry. Nobody was paying me by the hour. If you decide to pull the drive shaft be sure to check out the tech library on the subject. It helps when putting everything back together in the right sequence. You'll enjoy those leveling links.
  22. Stoutman
    My replacement rotor was under warranty and the dealer had to send the old one back. I'm thinking on buying the floater and be done with it rather than haveing the stock one warp out on me every 6 months. I'm not due for another rear tire for about 6 more months, so I don't plan on having that part of the bike apart. That is when I'd probably go for the floating rotor replacement, depending on what they cost.
  23. Stoutman
    Eck and Squeeze. Thanks for the information. I'm smarter today than I was yesterday. I'm going with a floating rotor on my next replacement after Starbog figures out which one to use. It looks like the 498 is the floater. I'd have to check the dimensions agains my shop manual.
  24. Stoutman
    I've had my rear rotor replaced. When I inspected it the rotor appeared to be firmly fixed to the rear hub. It didn't look anything like the two you mention. The other thing is many people swap the inner and outer pads when they have the wheel off. This compensates for the tendancy for one of the pads to wear out faster than the other. Rick Butler is the undisputed guru of the RSV rear brake (IMHO). He has done significant mods to his RSV to help him control the tendancy to lock up the rear. I would suggest you PM Rick for his input. Maybe he'll chime in. I'd be very interested in which one you choose. I may have to replace mine again as it is pulsing like it is warped, which is why I had it replaced the first time.
  25. Stoutman
    I had the Bridgestone on my 05 RSTD new. When I switched to Avons the silence was deafening. Take the Bridgestones off now and throw them away. Don't think of it as throwing away perfectly good tires, because they are not good tires. Think of it as treating yourself to the comfort, safety, and ride quality that you deserve. I took the Bridgestone tires off my bike at 5,000 miles and never looked back.
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