MikeWa

When you get to the Seattle area give a shout. I am near the I-90/I-405/I-5 corridor and am usually up for lunch or breakfast or just a hello. Mike

Prayers sent hope things get better. Mike

What MiCarl said. Also I think most late model Gold Wings use the same plug in. Mike

Sorry for your loss. Our prayers are with you and the rest of the family. Mike

New Mexico and Texas END

Arizona

Note to Freebird. If you feel like this is taking up to much band width please feel free to delete as you see fit. Mike Pics from Nevada

Pictures from Oregon & US 95

The report. More pictures to follow.

A lot of Venture riders take cross country trips so it might be somewhat boring to read about somebody else's. Since this trip report may be a bit long consider this your advance warning. I will try to present it over several posts and yes I finally have pictures. I think it was better when the pictures were properly placed in the word document but I couldn't post it that way here. So read on at your own peril. Mike

Buddy Perhaps a sheet of one inch plywood would reinforce that pickup truck. 2X4s to the frame before the back wheel and tie the front down tight. Also used open flat bed trailers are not very expensive in Texas. Resell it when you get back. If you shop careful you might even be able to turn a small profit. Very nice 6X12 enclosed cargo trailers can be had new for 2200 to about 2900 with tie downs and everything. Check e-bay for sales in Texas. Harbor Freight sells some pretty good front wheel chocks for under $50 that really help in a trailer or pickup. If worst comes to worst I think we have a flatbed (car hauler) trailer at the ranch near Waco we could let you use it. But you will have to go pick it up and bring it back when you are finished. Mike

Raising the hand in a normal waving motion can be very difficult on a motorcycle at speed. The wind tends to grab the hand and arm. A low palm down tends to give the least wind resistance but sometimes control is easier giving a one or two finger point. I believe it is a matter of comfort and personal preference. Any wave acknowledges a fellow rider. Mike

I once had a pair of supposedly good boots that had the sole glued on. Needless to say heat from the bike caused the glue to melt and the sole to flop open at the toe. I now own a pair of HD branded boots with the toe stitched as it should be. Mike

I have AAA Mike

yup warranty

Very nice bike. Mike

Herb; Thanks for the advise I will look it up. Mike

Thinking of trying an iron butt later this year. Seattle to Redding and back in the same day. Mike

"In fifth? How slow were you going? These things aren't two cylinder thumpers." Yes I have a tach. I generaly like to ride at about 75 to 80mph when possible. I suppose it could have been lugging in fifth at 80 but I don't think so. I also know how to find the rev limiter. For sure fourth should have been ok. I can tell when my bike is working overly hard and it was. I will eventualy find the exact cause and a remedy. But that is for some time in the future. For now it was a great trip. Also for me 6000+ miles through nine states counts as a vacation. Mike

I am still working on the outline and photos for the trip report. I should have it done in the next day or two. Thanks for the tip RedRider. I might try that next time. As you can see by the picture I was riding pretty heavy. Mike

Here are some things I found out about my Venture on this trip. Incidentally it was one up. The friend was on a Harley Ultra. I was on the Venture. Bike Report 21 Day 6200+ mile trip from Seattle WA to Waco and San Antonio Texas via all over the place. Comparison 2008 Royal Star Venture 1300 4 cylinder 2009 Harley Ultra V-Twin 103 Stage 2 Kit installed Both bikes were heavily loaded with luggage and supplies. General Info The Venture 6 gallon fuel tank only holds 5.5 gallons from walking to full. I know this for a fact. Drilling the filler neck is now high on my list of things to do. I hope it will remedy this as that other half gallon can be important. I was glad I carried a gas can on this trip. A real issue since so many gas stations have closed. The low fuel warning light is inconsistent. Sometimes providing ample warning but occasionally not coming on until after the engine stumbled and the tank was already switched to reserve. I just don’t think the quality of this device is all that great. The low fuel countdown odometer was also inconsistent sometimes not coming on until after the switch to reserve. The reserve petcock is very accurate. Switching when the engine stumbles yields exactly one gallon in reserve every time. Count on it so watch your mileage. Gas mileage varied a lot due to wind and altitude. The best was 44mpg the worst was 28. Most of the time it was in the low to mid 30s. Add that to a 5.5 gallon usable fuel supply with limited gas stops and it becomes an issue. The Venture was very sensitive to altitude running poorly over 5500 feet, very bad over 6000ft and terrible over 7000ft. It would feel like it was lugging with very poor acceleration bucking and sputtering and a heavy throttle required to maintain speed. The cruise became useless in 5th gear as it would drop out at the slightest grade. A lot of the trip was at altitude in the 5500 to 7000 feet range so this is a real issue. If you factor in a headwind it often became a 4th gear experience. And a rough 4th gear at that. I tried adjusting the pilot screws to get a little extra fuel and that seemed to help a little. My feeling is the loss of vacuum (air pressure) at altitude affects the carburetor piston diaphragm in a negative way. I actually got to where I could tell the altitude by the way the bike ran. And the Zumo on the Harley confirmed it. The fuel injected Ultra my buddy was riding did not experience this problem. His fuel economy stayed consistent in the lower to mid 40s. Occasionally the upper forties. He did not seem to have a power drop off either. My feeling is Yamaha really needs to quit screwing around and upgrade to a quality FI system. With altitude compensation. The Harley did require premium fuel however and this was sometimes hard to find. I fed my Yamaha everything from 91 octane down to about 84 with no affect good or bad on how it ran. The trunk opening to the front can be a pain when the back seat is loaded with luggage. But this is a very minor thing. I was happy to have the saddle bags and trunk. Handling was superb. We had high winds up to about 60mph from almost every direction. The bike just sucked it up and kept on going. On two lane roads in the wind with semi trucks going by the bike just pushed through. Where I thought the large fairing was going to be a problem it wasn’t. The ride was just plain comfortable with no sign of monkey butt even after several days of 10 or 11 hours in the saddle. I also learned to appreciate larger wind shields, lower fairings and air vents as temperatures ranged from the high 30s to over 100 degrees. Radio speakers in the helmet are a must. Wind and road noise will drown out the regular speakers at speed. The CB radio is also a major plus for communicating between bikes. Just learn some protocol and use it. It may sound dumb at first but it will keep riders from talking over each other and in the end is a better experience. We found that using the cruise control and covering the mic with a free hand when talking helped a lot at high speed. Fuel Mileage The FI Harley Ultra won hands down. Sometimes getting over 10mpg better than my carbureted RSV. More than enough to offset the higher cost of premium. But more importantly the fuel mileage was more consistent making it easier to plan fuel stops. With no surplus of refueling stations, my usable 5.5 gallon fuel capacity and uncertain mileage it seemed I was always the one requiring pit stops. Ugh. Handling Both bikes handled very well. I think we hit just about every kind of road conceivable. The Venture has air adjustable shocks the Ultra does not. So I was able to set my bike for the load and still have a soft ride. The Harley rides a bit harder. On this long of a trip I was very happy with the Venture. My tires are Dunlop 404ww. They worked very well and I now have over 14k on them. They are a replacement for the original Bridgestones which I didn’t care for. Performance Altitude and wind severely effected my Venture. The Harley not so much. Give a big plus to Fuel Injection. From a stop side by side acceleration 0 to 60 was to close to call. From a 30 mph start the modified Harley seemed to have the Venture by less than half a bike length (my front wheel his handlebar) up to about 80 mph where I started to regain some and the test was ended. Very close. Performance at altitude. The Harley hands down. Conclusion Fantastic trip. Would I change my Venture for a Harley?..No. Can the Venture be improved? Yes, but it doesn’t need much.

Dang I get back and it is raining just like before I left. Good to hear you managed to be here for our summer though. Mike

I just returned from a ride through the Western US. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Clocked 6,200+ miles. I rode with a friend on a 2009 Ultra so I was able to make some good comparisons. The trip was fantastic but there were issues with the bike, some of which have been reported here in the past. Make no mistake though. The Venture is a great bike for a long trip like this and I am very happy with it. Altitude ranged from well over 7000 feet to below sea level. If anyone is interested I will post a performance report (including the good, the bad and the ugly with the bike) and a separate trip report when I can wright them up. Oh and I have pictures. Mike

Hi Steve Welcome to the forum. Perhaps we will hook up for a ride sometime. Mike

When is your trip? If I am back in town maybe we can meet up and ride for a little ways. Mike