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Stoutman

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Everything posted by Stoutman

  1. Stoutman
    What he said. Top off the tank and drive less than 5-6 miles before you park in the sun and you'll get some expansion that will leave a puddle under the bike.
  2. Stoutman
    One screw is the supervisor... "Side cover screw" is a Union job... Nobody, not even a lowly sidecover wants to admit to only having one screw... The shift lever engineer at Yamaha knew about the screw falling out problem, but his boss wouldn't let him fix it, so he talked his buddy in the side cover department into adding a spare...
  3. Stoutman
    My RSTD did the same thing. First time I hit the brake it went all the way down with no braking force at all. All I did was pump the brake while it was still on the bike. It pumped right up and the braking force came back. Now I pump it as a matter of habit everytime I replace the pads. It may be that removing and repositioning of the caliper lets the caliper relax enough to where it takes a few pumps to get the pads back close to the rotor.
  4. Stoutman
    The existing side stand can stay. Putting my RSTD on the center stand is no tougher than any other bike I've had. I like mine. It is a used first gen stand I bought from Freebird. I don't use it often, but when I do it is very nice to have. Only problem for me is it drags first when making tight left turns.
  5. Stoutman
    My reasons are purely selfish: A friend is the best present you can give yourself.
  6. Stoutman
    I was recently in Utah to see my dad. Stayed on the east side of SLC by the University. Seemed like every driver up there was doing their level best to get 100 mpg. One old guy was driving like he was putting his own life blood down that carberator. I didn't think he would get through the interesection before the light changed. Then I got on the freeway and its like the Indy 500. People following so close I thought they were trying to save gas by drafting my rental car. An heaven forbid if somebody slowed down, I'd see 35 cars change lanes all at once jockeying for better position. Came back to the Great state of Texas to find people a lot friendlier, only not always in a good way. Went to turn left at an intersection and had a lady coming the opposite direction stop at a green light and try to wave me through in front of her. Only problem was the drivers in the lane to her right didn't recognize her hand signals and came through like they had the right of way (which they did). When I didn't turn the old bat got mad and almost clipped me going through the yellow light. And people complain its to easy to get a gun permit!
  7. Stoutman
    With those symptoms my bet wold be a dirty/corroded/loose connection from the starter to the solenoid, or possibly a loose/dirty connection at the battery. That is the sound I usually hear with either a dead battery or a corroded connection in the starter circuit.
  8. Stoutman
    I had one of those Backoff flashers for about three years. It failed last month. When it failed the brake light didn't come on at all. I had it wired to all my brake lights so when it failed I didn't have any brake lights at all. I just bought a new one from signal dynamics and will wire it to only two of the four brake lights I have.
  9. Stoutman
    I bought the RSTD and I completely enjoy the bike. On the down side I can't get mamma on the back as often or for as long as I'd like. I know that if I had the RSV I could get her on longer trips. That said if you don't ride two up, or at least not very often or very far the RSTD is a great bike. For about $150.00 (list at 199.00) you can get a kuryakyn tail bag that holds more that the RSV trunk. It is not as convenient, but it is also detachable and has wheels. You can get an intercom from Autocomm or some other vendor and put it in a tank bag for your trips. That will let you expand you audio options to everything the Venture offers. You could even plug in a cassette tape player! The RSTD windshield is a big slab of plastic. I put some aircraft style vents in mine and it really helps on these hot Texas rides. You will need to upgrade the seat. There are plenty of options, including having the stock RSTD seat re-fitted by Rick Butler. I went with the mustang seat and it is good for all day plus some. It does work a bit better for the smaller person. The mustang pillion seat is good quality but not a much better seat than the stock one in my opinion. So, bottom line is you can save about $3,000.00 with the RSTD and have a great bike, but you'll have to spend a few bucks to add goodies as you need them. If you have a co-pilot I recommend the RSV. The RSTD just won't keep her as happy.
  10. Stoutman
    Lone Eagle, I had the signal dynamics voltmeter on my RSTD until Eureka Springs when it went south. It had operated within spec, giving me a green light with the running lights on. Then at Eureka Springs it started going out. I thought at first it was my charging system, but when I got home that checked out. I hooked up a good digital voltmeter and it said I had 13.6 volts at 2000 RPM and 13.8 volts at 3000 RPM. all the while the Signal dynamics meter told me I was at 10 volts or less. A few days later the Signal Dynamics meter quit altogether. I checked the connections on the Signal Dynamics meter and they checked out OK. I just took the meter off the bike. I was looking at the Kisan Charge guard as a replacement. Maybe for Christmas. I like that freeze warning (like it ever freezes in Texas).
  11. Stoutman
    Some of you missed the excitement. About 3:00 this morning the wind blew down that big tree by the deck in the back of the motel. Here are a few pics. V7Goose is a lucky man. The tree branch only brushed his bike. I'm lucky enough as well. My truck was parked right next to the red Ford in the picture below. I decided to hook up the trailer so I moved my truck about 6:00 pm. Only 9 hours later this tree decided to give in to the leftover winds of Hurricane Ike.
  12. Stoutman
    There are two other ways to reduce the buffetting on the RSTD. One is to buy a mustang seat. That will move you closer to the tank. If that works for you it is a good solution. The other way is to put the aircraft style vents in the windshield. The flow through the vents reduces the turbulence over the top of the windshield. I've done both of these things and the turbulence is not really an issue anymore. None of these will work well enough if you are driving into a cross wind, but they do help a bit. For the cross wind, the only solution I've found is to slow down to about 60-65. Let us know how you like a taller windscreen if you decide to go that route. I've been thinking about that tall clearview myself.
  13. Stoutman
    One of my neighbors, George "Dub" Barnett passed away on Friday, September 5th at 94 years old. The first day I met him in 1996 he was riding an old Schwinn. I saw him riding that thing every day, rain or shine. About three years ago he told me he was going to buy a new bike but couldn't decide what to buy. His old one was completely worn out. We sat down and figured out he had over 250,000 miles on it. He said that riding that bike was what kept him alive. He started riding after his heart attack at the age of 44. He had to stop riding last year after a mini stroke left him unable to completely control the bike. He still drove his car to the local Brahms restaurant everyday for breakfast. They have named a table after him. Before you let your mind wander to thoughts of being wimpy for riding a bike let me tell you that Dub was a genuine tough guy, WWII vet and POW. He was one of the survivors of the Batan death march in Japan. There were no big bad bikers tougher than that old man. So Mr. Freebird, get on that bike and ride. You might just live to be 94 years old.
  14. Stoutman
    A Dallas woman has broken the land speed record on an open motorcycle. She broke 209 miles per hour. http://cbs11tv.com/sports/land.speed.record.2.807948.html
  15. Stoutman
    I keep one hidden on the bike. I had a copy made without the plastic end that makes the key so bulky. It hides real nice on the RSTD. One place I've used on other bikes I've owned is to tape one to the wiring harness. The older Japanese bikes used to have a seat that lifted up. I could always find a wiring harness to tape the key to under the seat. The black tape hides the key and after a few months of dust you can't tell it is there unless you know where to look.
  16. Stoutman
    I've spent more than a few days on business in that area at Buckley road and I 94. The company usually sends me up there in the winter, though I did spend a week there in June a few years back. Pretty country in the summer time. Wish I'd had a bike instead of a rental car.
  17. Stoutman
    Hey Maineac, did you ever mount this bad boy?
  18. Stoutman
    Mine will backfire under deceleration if the carbs are out of syn. It has not done that since my first do-it-myself carb sync. The tool pays for itself after two uses when compared to having the dealer do it. Most people check/adjust their bike more frequently than the service manual says. The big advantage is that this bike really purrs when the carbs are well synchronized. Best of luck.
  19. Stoutman

    Upgrade brakes?

    Stoutman replied to a topic in Watering Hole

    If the reviewers you speak of are magzine sport bike riders then they will think the brakes are not adequate. Of course, they want to be able to do stoppies on an 800 lb. cruiser. My opinion is the brakes are totally adequate on my 05 Royal Star Tour Deluxe. I even bought a kit from Rick Butler to reduce the rear braking a little bit. It is far to easy to lock up the rear. I put the EBC sintered pads on the front and the bike has all the stopping power I need. The only thing I think I'd like to see is anti-lock brakes. JMHO.
  20. Stoutman
    I have about 6k on my second Avon rear and I am completely happy with the tread wear and handling in the rain. My issue is that this 6 month old tire is now developing small cracks around the bead that have me concerned. I'll keep an eye on this. I've had a lot of tire problems on my cage fleet and I'm a bit sensitive on this issue. Two of my small trucks and my minivan have experienced tread seperation on three different brand of tires. Wish I knew what's up with that.
  21. Stoutman
    How does the seat change the riding position? Does it move the rider forward, backward, up or down from the original? Is the pillion seat wider than stock, comfy?
  22. Stoutman
    When I visit this link I get the following message: " You have requested something that does not exist, or you do not have permission to access."
  23. Stoutman

    Final Oil

    Stoutman replied to jbabin's topic in Watering Hole

    I run the GL-5 supertech oil. It works fine. I like to change it more often than most, every other oil change, 8000 miles. The used oil always comes out about the same color as going in, with very little darkening. I don't see much in the way of metal shavings on the magnetic plug. The manual says GL-5 rated oil is fine. I have heard others here state that they like the synthetic because it entrains less water and keeps the corrosion down. I've run the synthetic in the final drive and didn't notice any difference to speak of. The bike uses so little in the final drive that I change it more often. I've changed it at 4000 miles when I've had to take the saddle bag off to clean. I'll run any oil that meets the specs in the manual.
  24. Stoutman
    GW, I wanted to post a thank you. It was great to get a chance to meet everybody. The RSTD purred like a (very large) kitten on the way home after the carb sync. Your efforts are appreciated.
  25. Stoutman
    I used to have a Yamaha 650 I bought used with some glass packs. It was pretty obnoxious first thing in the morning when I left for work. I had to spend a few weeks living with my sister while my first house was being finished. One of her neighbors threatened me if I woke him up one more time on the weekend. I re-packed the glass in the pipes but it was not good enough for him. Good thing my house was finished before that escalated. I enjoy the Harley pipes on the V4. Just enough rumble, without the obnoxious noise. The young man that worked the financing on my pickup truck is a GSX rider. He told me he just put the loud pipe on his bike. My retort was that loud pipes just make you deaf. His reply: "What?" I don't think he wanted to hear me. We both left the argument at that.
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