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V7Goose

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Everything posted by V7Goose

  1. V7Goose
    I have absolutely no idea what basket letter is in QuickSilver (my 05), but if you wanna ride up here to Fort Worth I'd be happy to test exchanging mine with yours just to see what happens. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    AFAIK, there has never been a change in the gear ratios of the 2nd gen bikes. All 99-09 should be identical. I know that I have personally compared engine/road speeds between a 1st and 2nd gen Venture, and my 05 turns the same RPM in 4th that the 1st gen did in 5th. You are correct that the RSV 4th gear is technically an overdrive, but not by much! Easier to think of it as just a 1:1 direct drive with 5th gear being the real overdrive. Going just from memory, in 5th gear at 3,500 RPM the RSV is doing about 76 MPH indicated and 70 MPH actual. Goose
  3. V7Goose
    I ride year-around, often in cold temps. Before I retired I rode the bike to work every single day, no matter what the weather. We don't have all that many days below 30 here in Texas, but enough. The RSV actually runs a bit warmer with it is really cold than it does when it is hot - I attribute this to the thermostat staying closed more. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    Normal operating temp stays around 210 degrees (f), and even in the hottest conditions, the fan keeps it from ever getting over 235. In the summer time the engine temps begin to rise above 210 almost instantly when you stop at a light, but they fall just as fast as soon as you start moving again. If you idle long enough for the fan to come on, it keeps the temp between 220 and 230. Oil pressure, with the engine at full operating temp, generally stays around 25 lbs at normal highway RPMs, but drops to around 5 - 7 lbs at idle. Idle oil pressure is the biggest reason to make sure your idle speed it set correctly. I would prefer to set idle closer to 650 RPM - the engine just sounds better there. But I suspect the oil pressure is insufficient at that low a speed, so I keep it at 950 - 1000 as the book calls for. The manual specifies 50 lbs pressure at 5,000 RPM, and my bikes have always met that when hot. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    There is a lot of info on this subject in other threads if you do a search. Try this one: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27269&highlight=vacuum+gauges You can find mechanical gauges and mercury gauges at JC Whitney. Goose
  6. V7Goose
    I have added full gauges to two different RSVs; it's not too hard, but you do need to get creative on where/how to mount them. There is a very detailed write-up from me on gauges in the tech library. Here are a couple of pictures: http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/V7Goose/Gaugesfront3.jpg http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/V7Goose/2007RSVForSale9.jpg Goose
  7. V7Goose
    I agree, this is NOT a normal problem for the RSV. My wife has done several 1,100 mile days with me on our 05 (stock pillow-top seats), and many many 600 - 800 mile days, and she has never had any vibration issues. In fact, she finds the bike so comfortable she doesn't even get off to stretch when I gas up! Carb sync and regular firing on all four cylinders is the first thing I would check. After that, look at the fender mounting bolts under the seat and all the bolts on the sides of the fender and the sub-frame mounting bolts. I have seen one report of a broken frame loop under the rider's seat, so look at that too. The loop above the battery supports the rear fender, passenger seat, and all of the weight of the bags and trunk. The pictures I saw showed it broken on both sides right above the welds. If you feel like riding over here to Fort Worth I'd be happy to help you check it all out, including syncing the carbs. Just bring some beer with ya! Goose
  8. V7Goose
    The latches are part of the deck, AFAIK. I have not had any problem with them, but I can tell you that there seem to be two separate latches, one on each side, that operate independently (if I push on just one corner, only that side will latch). It seems a little surprising for both of them to fail. Maybe try pushing separately on the top corners to see if either one still works? That won't fix anything other than maybe giving you a way to keep the door closed until you can fix it. Goose
  9. V7Goose
    Please do not be offended, for no offense was intended. "Uh huh" was simply to say that I heard you. I DID choose to keep any additional comments to myself, but since you seem to not have understood that, I'll elaborate just a little. In MY opinion, you seem to have a very poor understanding of the subject. I had no reason to post the information in your thread at all other than simply trying to help you (and any others who might have similar problems). I offered an explanation in a spirit of helpfulness, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. That's OK - I have absolutely no stake in this, so once I knew you had at least heard me, I had no reason to harp on it any longer. And like I said, it IS your bike. Meaning you are free to do anything to it you desire, and it won't bother me at all. I am truly sorry that you chose to take offense at that or that I said things in such a way to upset you. Goose
  10. V7Goose
    It's your bike . . .
  11. V7Goose

    Sick horn

    V7Goose replied to Bubber's topic in Watering Hole

    You probably have it mounted so that the intake is exposed to road debris (the horn comes with a tube to mount the intake in a protected location if necessary). I can tell you from experience that if you mount any air-horn compressor wrong so that the intake is contaminated with dirt and such (ESPECIALLY if it is mounted upside down), you will eventually get gravel and other stuff stuck in the reeds, ruining the horn. Sometimes you can force this stuff past the reeds to fix a bad trumpet with a blast of high pressure air, but I don't know how you could do that with a Stebel. The message here is to do something different when you mount the new horn! Even if you buy a new one, I'd still try to ask Stebel to repair/replace it. Can't hurt none! Goose
  12. V7Goose
    Motorcycle Consumer News is about the only bike related publication that I absolutely trust. They are the third incarnation of the original Road Rider magazine from way back in the early 70s. They take absolutely no advertising, so their test ratings and opinions are absolutely their own and NOT tempered in any way to keep from pissing someone off! Their web site has always stunk (haven't looked at it in a number of years because it is so bad), but the printed magazine is top notch for content. SOME of the articles are available on the web site, especially the technical ones. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    I said this once, and even though not everyone may agree, I think I need to stress it one more time - You DO have another problem! If your battery was dead after only one hour riding as you originally stated, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM much worse than our weak stock charging system (and actually, there is nothing "weak" about our charging system, it works fine, but simply does not have EXCESS capacity to handle increased loads we might want to add to the bike). You say you are not troubleshooting the system, but you need to. The problem could simply be that your battery was not even close to full charge when you started. But if it wasn't, you need to know why. Either a bad battery of something else wrong with your charging system BEFORE you added the extra load. Maybe you just never ride your bike long enough to fully recharge the battery after starting? Of course you are free to ignore it if you want, and I won't harp on it any more. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    I just have to respond and correct some of this. I generally agree with the sentiment, but some of it simply does not apply to us. First, the current output of a charger is NOT an absolute indicator of how well it either charges or maintains a battery - this is much more a function of the electronics in the unit. And actually good chargers generally are not the cheap ones. Other comments inserted below: And a few more comments for good measure - You cannot tell the actual charge state of a battery immediately after charging (or right after riding)! All lead-acid batteries have a "surface charge" that must be dissipated before you can get a valid voltage test. You do this by either letting it sit for 2-3 hours or applying an appropriate load for between 10 seconds and three minutes (depending on the load). Even if the voltage remains at or above 12.7 (slightly lower in cold temps) after the surface charge is gone, still no guaranties until you do a load test. Most auto parts stores will perform the load test for free, but you need to know the cold cranking amp (CCA) rating of the battery when you take it in (look it up on the web - I don't remember what ours is off hand). Finally, if you buy a new battery and just put it in the bike without properly charging it FIRST, your battery will never reach full charge or last as long as it should. and unfortunately, almost no shops will properly prepare a battery before they install it. Seems that everyone incorrectly thinks that the initial dry-charge or factory charge on the battery is just fine and ready to use. NOT so. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    First, I believe your charging system WAS overloaded with what you described. You didn't say if you used stock driving lights, but if you used 50 watt bulbs instead of stock 30 watt-ers, then you were way overloaded. HOWEVER, even in the worst case, there is no way a good battery would have been discharged in an hour, or even 5 hours of steady riding. That overload only discharges the battery by the marginal amount of the load OVER the charging capacity, so what really happens is that a battery fails to fully charge during each use and fails completely over time - weeks or months. You need to find out what else is wrong before making any other changes. Goose
  16. V7Goose
    Normally I agree with this sentiment, but not this time. There are NO legal free DVD decoders. period. Yes, there are a few you can find and download, but they are all hacked and stolen. That technology is still proprietary and requires a legal license to use. Personally I HATE the recording industry and all the stupid attempts they make to prevent my LEGALLY copying media I have purchased for my own use, but stealing a DVD decoder is not the same thing as just trying to circumvent copy protection. Goose Oh, BTW - just about every DVD drive you can buy for a computer comes with at least one type of software that will allow you to watch a DVD - the decoder is usually licensed with the drive. If you have ever bought a boxed drive, check for the software that came with it. If your computer really has a DVD drive in it (instead of just an older CD drive), I'd double check the instructions and see if you have the software that you simply have never installed or activated. And I'm pretty certain you do have the correct drive or else you wouldn't be getting a message that you don't have the correct decoder. Often a computer can have other movie player software that will work fine, but WMP can't use the same decoder, so look for another player on that computer and try that.
  17. V7Goose
    Generally you have to buy at least one DVD player software package to play DVDs in Windoze. Some computers come with a free version, but it is not part of Windoze, so you paid for it somewhere when you bought the PC. Often you get a decoder with a good graphics card, and always with something like Nero or Easy Media Creator. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    It doesn't make a bit of difference, but if you are trying to measure MPG you need to try to fill it the same way each time. But even that doesn't get very accurate, since you also have to account for the slope of the ground. Frankly, even if everything is identical I think it is impossible to be exactly the same on every fill. The only way to actually have a gauge to measure how full you get it is to ensure the bike is siting exactly level, the bars turned the same way, and fill just until the gas barely touches the left side of the filler neck. As others have said above (and I discussed in those other threads), just a small variation in the amount of gas you put in will have a significant affect on the calculation. So I think the only way you can actually know what the average MPG you get on a bike is to measure it over many tanks, trying to fill it the same each time, and then use the average. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    Well, I don't work, but I WOULD have ridden to work if I did! But it was no challenge to ride around here today - I got out for a short ride, about 68 degrees! Happy new year, all, and Ride Safe! Goose
  20. V7Goose
    These threads start periodically, and they always generate interesting discussions. But sometimes I weary of typing the same things over again (especially since I tend to go on and on too much!). So I'll just include links to several other threads were we have covered a LOT of detail on this:[url=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23618&highlight=calculation][/url] http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23618 and http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24905 For anyone who wants to go though the details including info on the effects of float levels, enjoy! Goose
  21. V7Goose
    I don't know the exact capacity of the current circuit, but I suspect that would work. HOWEVER, I suggest something a bit different. The 4-way flashers on our bikes are stupidly designed to ONLY work with the ignition key in the ON position. So if you need to have them on while your bike is stopped, say goodbye to your battery before long (lights will be on too). I hooked my strobes into an auxiliary circuit that is hot while the key is in the AUX position. Still have to leave the key in the bike, but at least I can have them flash without leaving the headlight on. If I do want to use them with the 4-ways, it is just one extra switch. But there is still another benefit to NOT running them together: With your flashers on, you cannot use your turn signals. If you have the option of running the strobes alone, you still have turn signals. Just a couple of thoughts for you. Goose
  22. V7Goose
    Well folks, I just gotta put in my here. I hate political correctness for ANY reason. And IMHO BOTH sides are very wrong here. Anyone who feels we need to be forced to not say Merry Christmas 'cause it may offend someone deserves any offense they get. And conversely, anyone who makes a point into automatically taking offense at whatever they hear without knowing the offense was intended probably deserves the same. Ya see, "Happy Holidays" was said way back in the '50s and '60s, LONG before people were on the PC kick (and probably earlier, but I wasn't alive then to verify it). At least in those days, it wasn't said because Merry Christmas was "bad", it was just a variation in a pleasant greeting. Kinda like I may say "hello", "howdy", or "good morning", with no particular reason for choosing one over the other. So don't assume when somebody says it they are your enemy. I know that in this particular case the company confirmed that they were specifically being PC, so they probably do deserve your disgust, but don't apply that to everyone without knowing. I guess all I am asking for is a little tolerance and personal respect, no matter what your personal beliefs may be. So Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, or simply Ride Safe! Let's all just try to enjoy the season!! Goose
  23. V7Goose
    I stopped by and looked at this unit today - don't need it, but a man can't have too many neat tools, ya know? Anyway, I was a little disappointed. First problem is that it does not have a setting for a 2 cylinder engine (which is what we would need to get an accurate reading on a Venture). It has 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 cyl settings, but not 2, so you would have to use the 4 cyl and double the reading. If I didn't already have a good shop tach for a two cylinder engine, I probably would have tried it. I did like the soft rubber slip-on case that would protect it in the typical garage environment. I can't say how well it might work first hand, since I have never tried it, Just wanted to share a bit more info. Goose
  24. V7Goose

    Noise

    V7Goose replied to a topic in General Tech Talk

    A few of these bikes have a very bad whine, and those few owners understandably complain loud and often about it. Many of these bikes have some acceptable level of whine that is not particularly bothersome. People that ride without a helmet probably have more complaints. For example, my 07 RSV had virtually no whine at all (but I always wear a full helmet); however, the person who bought it from me often rides without one and says he notices a slight whine but is not bothered by it. The best advice is to make sure you personally ride a Royal Star before you buy it. That way you cannot be "surprised" after the deal is done. Many shops today stupidly and irrationally refuse to allow test rides on new bikes, but there is no way I would ever give one of those shops a cent. Without a decent test ride, no sale! Goose
  25. V7Goose
    Back when I thought you had to choose, I always set it perfect around 3,000 RPM and let it be a bit off at idle. But now that I know you can get it to stay in sync at both points by just taking longer, I always get it spot-on. Goose
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