BigLenny

Would a fat wife on the back do the same thing as the $200.00 lowering kit? Just askin......

Dealers, Smealers. All dealers are different. All brands have good and bad dealers. We have 3 Yamaha dealers here in Little Rock, one is very nice to its customers, one is semi nice to it's customers, and one I would not buy a bottle of water from if it was 1000 degrees outside. Rudest sonofaguns you've ever seen. The fact is, when it comes to "manufacturers" attitudes and attentions to what their customers desires are, Harley simply blows all of the other manufacturers away. If you're looking for a Japanese company that has a broad view of all of their customers needs, the name of that company would be Honda. However, it's not on the level of how Harely approaches their customers. Yamaha, even though we love these machines, is not the company to reciprocate the love it's customers give them. It's a culture thing with the Japanese companies. They believe in making very solid reliable products that perform great most everytime, and it appears that they think that should be enough to keep customers. But, sadly for them, it's more than that because other companies are making good to great products nowadays AND listening to their customers for ideas to provide the little extras that make the experience of ownership awesome. It's not just motorcycles that they have this attitude toward. Case in point: 4 Wheelers. Suzuki invented the 4 wheeled ATV. I remember because I ran down and bought one of their 125 4 wheelers as soon as they hit the market. Honda and Kawi quickly followed suit and those three companies made awesome quality 4 wheelers for years and years and years. If you wanted a 4 wheeler, you bought from those three companies. But, today, who dominates the 4 wheeler world? Polaris. Polaris got to where they are by listening closely to their customers and providing the little extras that the big 3 were being complacent and not providing. It's the same story with side by sides. Kawi invented the Mule side by side and enjoyed the cats meow of that market for years, But, who dominates that market today? Polaris. Same reason. Harley provides a good to sometimes great product paired with phenominal customer attention, and the people eat it up. The rest of us ride good to great to sometimes phenominal quality bikes made by manufacturers with pretty bland personalities. LOL.

I am a Yamaha fan. I love my RSTD with a passion. As a matter of fact, I would even go so far as to say that i favor Japanese bikes because I know they have a proven track record of above average quality. Now, having said that, I do not get why people bash Harley Davidson's so much. The joking that's just a fun poke here and there is expected and funny, but the serious venom that I see where you can tell people really have a dislike for the brand and their riders, I just don't understand. The hard cold fact is; There is not another bike company, period, that is as in tune and responsive to their customers as Harley Davidson. There is one and only reason they sell all of the products that has been mentioned above, it is because their customers want it, and Harley listens and provides it for them. Bottom line. And to tell you the truth, I'm darn glad they do sell all of the accessories they sell because the stuff is usually very good quality. My riding boots are Harley brand and I love them. I don't know how many pairs of boots I went through before I found the Harley brand that I wear that are so comfortable. I don't see myself ever buying a Harley bike, but I really enjoy going to a Harley dealer and just looking around at all of the stuff they have to sell. It's really cool to see all of the different styles and colors of bikes they offer to satisfy the desires of their customer base. And another thing, I am not going to be convinced that Harley doesn't make quality bikes. When my wife and I travel across this beautiful nation on long bike vacations, 80% of the bikes we see on the road are Harley's. And for the most part, the owners I have talked to on these trips absolutely love them and have had no problems. Meanwhile, us Yamaha fans are extremely lucky to find something as basic as a Yamaha baseball cap while we're in our dealerships. And, every model year when Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawi gives us their newest grandest sis boom baaa product, we get a whopping 2 color choices. It's usually Black (Midnight, Raven, or whatever you wanna call it), and a two tone color of some sort. We have absolutely been trained by the non Harley manufacturers, but either we don't see it, or don't want to admit it. Yamaha year in and year out proves that they have no real interest in listening to their customers desires, especially their touring segment customers. As is evidenced now, they have thrown their touring customers to the ditch and focussed on something else. They absolutely hear us screaming our desires, but they have decided to give us the finger and let us scrounge for ourselves out here doing things like buying Harley exhaust pipes to put on our bikes, and as I did last week, buy Harley passing lamp rings and install them on my passing lamps so they won't look like tractor lights. Again, I love my Yamaha bike! But, Harley is the company that cares about their customers the most. They produce a good quality bike/bikes in a ton of different options and colors, and care enough to provide their valued customers with an ocean full of accessories to keep them happy. I ain't about to bash that. As a matter of fact, I have a tendency to be a smidge jealous. Oh, as far as the waiving thing goes? I get waived at all the time by Harley riders, some do, some don't. But, heck I see a boat load of Wing riders (by the way, non Harley), that won't waive at ya, and sport bikers that won't (Harley doesn't make sport bikes), and Adventure riders that won't (Harley doesn't make Adv bikes), etc, etc, etc...... Who cares if they waive at me? I'm gonna keep waiving my big happy ass off whether they do or not.[/size]

Went to the Special Olympics ride and opening ceremonies tonight in Searcy, Arkansas. Spotted a Midnight Venture there. Wonder if they're a member here. Spotted another RSV tonight, Blue and Black. I did talk to the owner and he had never heard of VR.org. He was really excited to hear about our website and said he was definitely gonna check it out.

I wear a helmet. Can't hear it. If I raise my face shield I can her a whine, but it ain't a big deal to me. I close the face shield and rock on.

Uh Oh! It's very obvious our ole buddy Cowpuc discovered how to adjust the font size. It's gonna get real crazy from here on out! LOL.

Well well well, whadya know! the very first suggestion by Spike13 was correct. It was my headlight bulb. Bought a new bulb today just to check. Came home, plugged it in and, voilla! High beam, low beam, passing lamps! It's crazy though because the old bulb shows absolutely no sign of a problem. No discoloration, nor cracked filaments. I guess it has a problem in the base. Thanks so much to everyone who gave suggestions, and also to all of the ones that at least looked at my thread but didn't have a solution. Good job Spike! Question: Some of you have said that I should have a relay in case I experience a short in my passing lamps and it effects my headlight operation, however, the passing lamps came with an already installed inline fuse on the hot line. Wouldn't that provide protection if there was a short? Thanks BL

If the destructions told me to splice into the Blue wire for always on, or the Yellow wire for on with high beams, or the Green wire for on with low beams, why would I be having an issue with low beam not working since I spliced into the Blue wire. This scenario would tell me that the Blue wire is the constant power one, right? I didn't fiddle with the Green low beam wire at all. I spliced into the blue wire; passing lamps work great, high beam works great, but the low beam is not working. Weird. I've looked over and over at the headlight bulb and i swear, it looks like everything is perfect as far as the filaments go. I wonder if it's broken somewhere inside the bulb base? I now realizeI need to put a relay on it though. But, that's secondary to me figuring out the low beam thing first. I guess I'm gonna get a new bulb and install it to see if that's the problem.

It doesn't appear that is it. None of the filaments on the bulb are broken. I'm really hoping someone can help me here. Thanks

I know, I know. I should look in the tech section. I did, but I can't find the issue I'm having. Today I installed the Yamaha factory passing lamps on my 07 RSTD. I did it exactly to the Yamaha factory instructions that came with them. The instructions gave me three options for power to the lamps. From the 12 pin connector, I could splice connect into the blue wire for my passing lamps to be on all the time, or the yellow wire for them to be on only when I use my high beams, or the green wire for them to be on only when I use my low beams. Well, I chose to splice connect into the blue wire because I want them to be on all the time. Got everything hooked up, it looked great. I turned on the key and the passing lamps work beautifully, HOWEVER, my headlight will only work on high beam. So, my question is, what's up with that?

Dang! You sound like a NASCAR driver with that many pit stops. LOL.

I heard a comedian say one time; "Marriage is so tough, Nelson Mandela got a divorce! Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in one of the harshest prison systems in the world getting beaten and tortured on a regular basis, and came out of it with a positive attitude. He then spent the next 6 months with his wife and said, I can't take this S*@ anymore". LOL!

My all time favorite car I owned was a 1978 Royal Blue Pontiac Trans AM. I met and dated my wife with that car. After we got married and had a baby coming, I traded it for a 4 door Honda Accord. Stupidest decision ever. When I look at the value today of those old 78 Cat Eye Trans Ams, I get sick at my stomach that I didn't keep it. BTW, my favorite show on TV is on the Velocity Channel, it's called Chasing Classic Cars. I love watching Wayne Carini buy, restore and sell the old classics. Some of these cars y'all are mentioning have some very strong value today in the collector car world.

Rickard, I don't have a Venture, I have an RSTD, so therefore I have no need to hook up to a CB. I do, however, want to throw my 2 cents worth in for a Bluetooth headset. My wife and I have been using them for 6 years now and they work great for talking to each other, cell phone, and mp3 connection. I have two sets, the Scala Q2, and the Sena SMH10 Dual. The Sena is the better product. When I bought the Sena, they were not very well known. Everybody and there uncle was using the Scala product. I went out on a limb and tried them because they were cheaper than the Scala and quickly realized they are better and easier to use. The battery will last for 9+ hours. As a matter of fact. two Fridays ago we took of and rode for 3 hours and stopped at a hotel, we then realized we had forgotten our Sena chargers. So, we turned the units off until the next morning. We rode 400 miles the next day and 9 hours and they never went out. Having said that, I do kinda have some interest in trying that UClear unit with no microphone boom. The only reason I haven't yet is because I just can't wrap my brain around how it could be as good at picking up sound as a unit that you speak directly into the mic. Maybe if I could hear from someone that has experienced a Scala or Sena, but now has has a UClear and confims its good.

They have some GREAT BBQ places down that way!

Rich, I went on my first cruise a few years back. I never had a remote desire to go cruising before I went. As a matter of fact, I was dreading it. Well, Wow! I had a blast, and it wound up being onw of my all time favorite vacations my wife and I have ever taken. I hope it turns out being a good one for you too. As far as your wife not wanting to do anything with you, well, I hate that for you. Not doing things with each other can put a serious strain on the relatonship. It kinda reminds me of my aunt and uncle. About 6-8 years ago she stopped travelling and experiencing things with him. Starting a few years before that, my uncle started openly griping about my aunt at family gatherings and such. If we were all together visiting, he would bring up something that bothers him about her and start airing it to the gathering with her sitting there embarrassed. He still does that till this day. About a year ago he was griping about her not ever wanting to go anywhere with him. So, I simply asked her why she doesn't. Her response was that for years and years he was fun to live with and experience life with. But in the last 10 years or so, he has became someone that gripes about everything. he gripes about everything from Cracker Barrell having too many customers, people driving too fast nowadays, her playing music in the vehicle, Obama, the government, Walmart is too crowded, the weather, people of different races, sexual preferences, how long it take for her to get ready, etc, etc, etc. The guy has just became a gripe gut, and she says being trapped in the vehicle with him on long trips is not fun, and she doesn't want to go though it anymore. They have been married well over 50 years and it has now turned into a sad scene where she knits, watches soaps, works crosswords, and sleeps in her own bedroom, while he sits on the front porch waiting for anyone to stop by so he can gripe about things. This is a couple that has travelled from one end of this country to the other together and had years of fun. As a matter of fact, he is who got me into motorcycling when I was young, and he still has a trike that he can't ride anymore. It's very obvious to the whole family that they should've put an end to the realationship years ago, or they should've been open to each other and put themselves on a serious track to repair the damaged realtionship. As it stands now they're in a stubborn holding pattern. I hope your deal isn't this bad, but it just kinda struck me in the heart when I saw your words "I'm honoring those marriage vows for better or for worse". That's no fun for sure.

I live in Little Rock. That's not very imposing either, is it?

Ya know? This is gonna open up one of those cans full-o-worms, but I gotta say it. A couple years ago my wife and I rode out east and spent two weeks on the bike in the smoky's and around there area riding. On the way out we jumped on the Trace in Tupelo and rode it to Hwy 72 just outside of Cherokee, Al. We both agreed it was extremely boring. Just a slow ride with rows of pine trees on both sides. The Trace must get a lot more exciting north of where we got off because I see folks on here say they love it and I just don't get it. Or maybe it's a hoot and a holler south of Tupelo??? Somebody enlighten me.

Hmmmmm. Middlesex? Where in the heck would that come from?

Lemme do some splainin. Both Arkansas and Kansas are Native American names. In Arkansas we honor the true Native American pronounciation and finish the word with an "ah" It's not "aw" like you said above. Kansas allows the European pronounciation of "ass" on the end. The two names have different Native American meanings: Kansas - Flat as board. Arkansas - God's Country. It's obvious the "Ar" on the front of the word changes the meaning significantly. LOL. BL

Thats is awesome!!! LOL!

My wife and I were laughing last night about some of the funny names of towns here in our state of Arkansas that we have ridden through on our travels on the bike. Names such as: Turkey Scratch Possum Grape Umpire Romance Evening Shade Grubs Hogeye Toad Suck Weiner (Weener) Greasy Corner Hog Jaw Cooter These are just a sampling of some of the unique names we have here in our state. So, got me to wondering. What are some of the unique names of towns in your states that you have ridden through. I know you can google this subject and probably get all of the funny town names, but I'm talking about actually experienced on your bike.

Incredible!

I thought it was very nice. Great example of a motorcyclist being a human.

Good luck BWK. I really hope you are satisfied. As I stated before, my wife and I love our Ultimate seats with backrests, but, they are not cheap.