MikeWa

Very sorry to hear of your loss. Prayers are with you. Mike

Ted I am very sorry to hear of your accident. My wife and I are wishing you all the best. Recover and be well. Mike

Only good thoughts here. Mike

A little more explanation. On why to change fuel filters frequently. When dealing with electric fuel pumps, plugged or partially plugged fuel filters put an extra load on the fuel pump. This causes the pump to draw more current and run hotter. Will this damage the pump? Will it shorten the pump life? Who knows for sure? But my experience is it can and does cause problems. One of the ways we used to check 'in the tank' fuel pumps on automobiles was current draw at the fuse. If it exceeded the pump specs either the pump was failing or there was blockage in the line. Plugged or partially plugged fuel filters can also cause fuel starvation under acceleration or under a heavy load. This was very common with carbureted automobiles. The symptoms ranged from the engine dieing to stumbles and surging and sometimes pinging under a load. This condition also caused the float bowls to run low on fuel sometimes stirring up debris in the bottom of the bowl plugging internal passages. The Royal Star Venture uses both an electric fuel pump and carburetors. Each owner has to decide what PM they want to perform for themselves. But for me the fuel filter is cheap enough to be changed regularly. And I recommend that to anyone willing to listen. Mike

This is not uncommon. If the seat was installed wrong and ridden that way for any length of time it can become distorted. Usually I can apply (considerable) force to the center / back of the seat and get it forced into place. Be careful doing this as the rubber tabs can be knocked off the seat and end up behind the battery. Once the seat in correctly in place riding with it there will somewhat undistort it over time. I have thought about hearing the pvs up with a heat gun and flexing it. But so far have not drummed up the courage. Good Luck. Ride Safe. Mike

Ace Fuel filters don't usually fix something. They keep it from going bad in the first place. Have you ever had a new oil filter fix anything? Mike

Sinisa It is a very well written letter. And I agree with you. Victory needs to know about it or how in the world will they ever fix it. That other potential customers had the same experience speaks volumes about the incident. Even the parts guy should have been calling his boss aside at that point and informing him problems were brewing. It really is to bad this Victory demo event fell apart. But I can tell you I have been to several Victory demo rides and they have all been very cordial and well organized. That said some of the new Indians are now sporting a very appealing trunk. Might be worth a look even though they are part of the same corporate as Victory. Mike

Gasoline evaporating in the carbs causes varnish build up which causes problems. Ride the bike frequently or drain the carbs. Turn the petcock off when not using the bike. (Yea some people never had a problem but some people never had a flat tire or an accident either). Be safe turn the petcock off. If it is broken fix it. Change the fuel filter frequently. Carbs will last a very very long time baring some outside influence. Alcohol in the gas will eventually dry out the diaphragms and seals so do not put additional alcohol in the fuel tank. If you get bad gas drain it and replace it. Don't try to fix bad gas with additives. Did I say change the fuel filter frequently? Ok so change the fuel filter frequently. Mike

What they said. Mike

Dang. You got me. So in looking at the manual it appears the front calipers do indeed have slides. Covered with expanding rubber dust shields. With a piston on only one side something has to move to accommodate pad wear. Either the caliper or the rotor has to float or slide. It appears that on the Venture it is the caliper. I stand corrected. So the slides should be cleaned when replacing pads. More work. Thanks Neil Mike

Peter That was a pretty impressive water spout on the news. It was estimated at 400 yards wide. Just sucking the water out of Puget Sound. Makes me wonder if we are going to get a salt water rain. Mike

Yea Doug. Sounds like you did it the right way. The largest surface area to be concerned about is the side of the piston. That is the area that slides on the seal. It should be polished bright and be free from defects. On automobiles most calipers are a sliding design. That is where problems occur. The slides being external to the caliper become corroded and sticky. This caused the brakes to wear, pull and grab. If the slides are not properly cleaned and lubricated when replacing pads future problems can occur. This is not the issue on our bikes because we have pistons on both sides of the caliper. The caliper is therefore not required to move on slides. Mike

I often hear that the touring bike / cruiser market is very small and might not be worth pursuing. But as I look around Harley has done very well in this marketplace. Honda has managed to sell more than a few Goldwings. Most interestingly Indian and Victory have both entered the big bike market and are doing quite well. So I believe the slow sales for the Japanese touring bikes, Goldwing excepted, is due to market choice. Yamaha's commitment seems to be to the dirt bike and pocket rocket market. They advertise heavily and are doing well in those fields. With no commitment to the cruisers, very limited selection and even less advertising it is not surprising that sales are lagging. That said the current choices in the big bike market are limited to two cylinder or Goldwing. Come on Yamaha put the V-4 back in the game and commit to it. Mike

A couple of months ago I lost my Venture in a traffic accident. My insurance paid me a fair price so I was off shopping for a new bike. In the past year I had test ridden Indian, Victory and Harley. They were all good bikes but what I really wanted was a new Venture. Alas due to my injuries I either had to wait or purchase from a local who could deliver to my house. The last new hold over in my area sold two days before I went shopping. Dang. I looked at a couple of used ones and settled on a 2010 Black with graphics. I must admit there were some better deals available on this forum which made the purchase more difficult. But they were all far distant and I could not travel. So I bit the bullet and wrote a check. The new to me Venture was delivered to my house that same day. So was my old wrecked Venture. While I could not ride or even move the bikes I still one handed removed many of my add on accessories from my old bike. Most of which I put in a large box for later installation. Two days later the old girl was gone. During my recovery I slowly mounted the accessories on the new bike. I called it 'working out of the box'. Even though most of it was done one handed it was therapeutic. After about six weeks I was brave enough and dumb enough to try riding again. Talk about therapeutic, wow. I exercised extra caution to not turn to sharp, no arm strength, and certainly to not lay the bike down. I was fortunate and all went well. Finally at about week twelve the doc gave me the reserved go ahead to ride again. I am truly glad I stayed with the Venture. I just wish Yamaha would learn about incremental improvements. With the addition of fuel injection and anti-loc brakes the Venture would still be a current powerhouse. And I would have been able to buy new. Mike

Obviously cannot out run a bear. Mike PS. Very nice color scheme. Well done.

Ken Be safe and recover fast. Mike

There was also a new 2013 posted a couple of days ago. Gray and black. 14k + an additional discount for VentureRider members. I don't recall who posted so I hope they will chime in here. Mike

MMMM Beer Good. MMMM Cheese Good. Beer Cheese MMM MMM Good. Mike

Thanks Randy. like it. Mike

Condor Yes I watched the video on using the grease. Didn't like it. Way to much grease. The only moving part in a caliper is the piston rubbing the inside of the seal. The piston does not make contact with the inside of the caliper. There is no valid reason to grease anything else since nothing else touches. There is supposed to be no air or moisture in the brake fluid (bleeding) so smearing all that grease inside the caliper only contaminates the brake fluid. Just my opinion based on 40 years of rebuilding brakes. Mike

I am surpeised that much grease does not contaminate the brake fluid. But the video says it is ok, so. I also just did wanted to make sure he did not have a small package of this. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrZMxWHzCE]Applying CRC Disc Brake Quiet - YouTube[/ame] Mike

Usually rubber parts of a brake caliper are lubricated with brake fluid. Although Brembo supplies assemble grease. Just keep in mind some kits contain a red gue that is applied to the back of the pads to reduce brake squeal. It goes on like thick grease then sets up like silicone. Make sure which you have before putting it on your seals. Mike

Test the battery. It sounds like a bad battery or battery connection. That said the solenoid is a possibility. It also sounds as though the ignition switch is working. Mike

Yes They are building in future capability so if you are ever speeding your car will automatically send you a ticket via your e-mail. It will also notify local authorities in your behalf. Mike