dug050

Well we finally got some nice weather and I was able to work in my shop and install the gauges on my 1996 Royal Star. I used the 2" Equus gauges because they were the closest match to the speedometer and you can change the colour of the background lighting. Everything working and no leaks so far. Many thanks to Ponch for the water temperature adapter swap. Doug

I am getting my 96 Royal Star ready for spring and want to sync the carbs. I have read the article in the 2nd generation RSV and Royal Stars but it appears that the location of the adjusting screws are different on the Royal Star than on the bike in the photos. I can see one screw on the left side near the choke knob that I assume is one and two on the right side that are side-by-side. Could someone who is familiar with the Royal Stars confirm whether these are the right screws, I have synced all my other bikes and am familiar with the procedure but would like to confirm that these are the right adjusters. Any information would be appreciated. Doug

Hey Big Mike There is an article on the Venturers site about painting the fins and using a dremel to remove the paint from the edges. He didn't do a diamond grind but it looks good. Try Venturers site>Library Homepage>2nd generation>Miscellaneous. I wrote this down a while ago but haven't checked back since they were having some problems on their site. Doug

I have been flying R/C for about 10 years. Started with gliders and moved to glow powered planes, everything from park flyers, aerobatics, pattern to 1/4 scale Taylorcraft with a chainsaw engine. Most recently got into building and modifying old-timer free flight planes for electic power. They fly just like the old free flight days but I can restart the engine and bring the plane back to me instead of me chasing it all over the country, too old for that anymore. Also enjoy float flying with a Piper Cub with an OS 70 Surpass. I also build R/C sailboats and steamboats. I bought an old Southbend lathe and a milling machine when I retired and build the boilers and steam engines for the models. It is a lot of work but very satisfying and keeps the old brain thinkin'. Flying, boating, riding motorcycles, golf... this retired life is tough. Doug

Just a couple of quick questions, do you use any thread sealer when you install the adapter in the head and if you use an O-ring how tight do you tighten the adapter ? Since you are compressing the O-ring I wouldn't think it would tighten up the same as using just the crush washer. Thanks Doug

If this tach is only connected to one plug wire does it read actual rpm's or do you have to double the reading? There have been other posts on this site about only connecting a tach to one coil and it was determined that you have to connect to two coils to get accurate rpm's. Doug

Hi Jeff, I will keep in touch to let you know how this works for me. It will probably be a while since my bike is in mothballs until spring. My plan was to do as you suggested...sync, adjust and resync since I haven't sync'd my carbs since I bought the bike last summer. As others have said this method has to be done at idle and an initial sync to ensure all carbs are running only on the idle circuit. This is a good topic and maybe if enough people try this and report their method and results we can come up with a procedure to fine tune the mixture screws without having an expensive Exhaust Gas Analyzer. It's good to hear comments from other members. Pray for spring!!! Doug

Hi Jeff I was glad to see your posting. I submitted a post last October asking if anyone used this method but never got any replies. This is the way we used to set up multiple carb engines and now that I know you had good success it will definitely be part of my spring tuneup. Thanks Doug

I have a 1996 Royal Star and am getting some popping on deceleration. I want to set the mixture screws and have been reading some posts on the site. I read the write up by Goose and the 3 methods he knows. I am familiar with the "drop idle method" but I think it requires a tachometer that can read in 50 rpm increments, which I don't have. My question is... Has anybody tried setting the mixture screws using a vacuum guage and adjusting for maximum vacuum like we used to do on automobile carburators ? Also, do I sync the carbs and then adjust mixture or adjust and then sync ? Enjoying the site, lots of good information and knowledgable people. Thanks Doug

Hi Randy, this has worked very well for me. With all the other communication devices out there today CBs are not as popular as they were and you can often find them in pawn shops and 2nd hand stores. I paid $25 for mine and probably have another $25 invested in my headset, PTT switch and wiring. That includes buying a $15 multiple-voltage power supply that I use for a Walkman for tunes when not using the CB. If you're just using the CB a 12 volt adapter usually comes with it. Pretty good for 50 bucks. Doug

Hi everyone, glad to be here,this looks like a great site. I have been riding for over 40 years (showing my age) and have pretty much done it all...street, motocross, trials and ice racing. Now I just ride for enjoyment. The mind would still like to compete but the body refuses. I recently purchased a 1996 Royal Star in excellent condition with 40,000 km. The only thing I changed was made a taller windshield to stop helmet buffetting and replaced the leather saddlebags with a set of leatherlyke bags I got off Kijiji. I like to keep my bikes basic which was the appeal of the RS. Will probably add a tach at some time but that's about it. I have also owned an '85 Venture Royale that I sold a few bikes ago. Great bike but I can only afford one at a time and there are so many bikes and so little time. I plan on keeping the RS for quite awhile. I am quite frugal (some would say cheap) and like to tinker so a lot of the things on my bike are homemade or adapted from other parts. I look forward to participating on this forum and meeting many of the members in writing or in-person. Doug

Hi, I am new to this site and just read your post about CBs. For years I have been using a Cobra 45WX that looks very much like the Midland you are looking at. It has a lot of options like scan, 10 weather channels and 8 channel memory but basically I just use it to communicate with the people I am riding with. The beauty of this unit is that if you remove the battery pack it is only about 3 1/2" tall and is easy to mount on the handlebars. I use the 12 volt adapter that I plug into a 12 volt power supply (cigarette lighter socket) Make sure the unit you buy has jacks for remote headphones and microphone so you can attach cords to your headset and microphone. My headset is earphones from an old Walkman and my microphone is from an old tape recorder. Any microphone will work as long as it is a dynamic mike. I run 2 cords to my helmet, one for the earphones and one for the mike and use the stereo jacks for connectors. My push-to-talk is a button that is on a velcro strap that fastens around the handlebar grip. I just use the antenna that comes with the unit on my Royal Star which gives a range of about a mile, plenty far enough to talk to the group I am riding with. When I used this CB on my 85 VR I had a 3' antenna which gave a greater range. The whole system can be put on or removed in about 3 minutes and can be moved from bike to bike. I first tried it using a combination mike/speaker with a Push-to-talk button built in that clipped to my collar (like some cops use with their radios) so I could wear a half helmet but the volume of the speaker wasn't loud enough at highway speeds. Had to go to a 3/4 helmet with headsets. I ride with Goldwings, Valkyries and RSVs and my hand-held unit has always worked as well as their built-ins except they probably have greater range with their antennas. Sorry, this got kind of long but a hand-held is a viable and much cheaper option. Good luck Doug