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V7Goose

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  1. V7Goose
    Guess you missed my post - my brother and I were kicking around the idea of dong that this spring: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29037 Goose
  2. V7Goose
    N3FOL, you and I keep saying the same things (and we are both right), but we are not getting any meaningful response from the OP. Here is one more simple statement that should help him tell us if he really has a problem: The RSV will ALWAYS run with the side stand down while in neutral; the RSV will NEVER run with the side stand down while in gear. Of course, I am assuming the kill switch is in the "run" position, but the position of the clutch is immaterial. Goose
  3. V7Goose
    Well, sure sounds like I was wrong - the Venom has always been the most quiet tire I have had on an RSV. Don't know what else to suggest to you. I haven't heard of the splines or drive fingers causing noise on a lean, but I don't have any other answers either. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    Stroker, your problem is your rear tire. Sounds to me like you have one of those terrible stock Brickstone tires with about 5,000 miles on it? AFAIK, tires are the only thing that will cause a howl when you lean the bike, and the crappy Brickstone does it so bad it starts with even the slightest weave. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    I ride all year in any temps. When dry, the anti-fog stuff usually works well, but when the humidity is up, nothing works for me EXCEPT the special fog shield in the Nolan N100E and N102 flip front helmets. I love these. The N102 is the newest model and also has the advantage of having a special place to mount a headset. The special Nolan headset is very expensive and only mono (if I remember correctly), but J&M also makes a headset specifically to mount in the N102. That is what I use. Goose
  6. V7Goose
    That IS what you said in the last sentence. Simple question: If the bike is in neutral and you put the side stand down, does it run or die? Forget the clutch, that is meaningless. Goose
  7. V7Goose
    Well, Dealer SHOULD fix it. If you dealer was worth a shoot they would replace it under warranty. But obviously they are a crap shop from your comment. The stock bolt is a wide button head, chromed. Very similar to the one from the battery cover, just rounded instead of the angular shape of the one you have in there. Either order the right one from the parts list or just find one you like at Ace Hardware for about two bucks. Goose
  8. V7Goose
    Fun to you may or may not be fun to me. I like it both ways. When just touring for fun I much prefer to stick to the smallest two-lanes and get lost; 200 miles a day can be a long day. And that is fun. But then again, I also love pointing my bike toward a destination and just getting there. If I am not just poking around on the back roads, 500 miles a day is kind of a weenie day to me. 1,000 mile days are nothing in the average mix of things - I comfortably do 1,400 mile days on the RSV. And that is fun too. It all depends on my frame of mind at the moment and whether or not I am focused on a destination. I could do this trip either way, but defining "fun" is going to be in the butt of the rider, not the kibitzer! If I am riding with others, I know that very few want to do the miles I do, so happiness depends on us all having the same goal in mind. It's good that I can so easily switch between modes. The only thing I can't take is sticking to the super slab and still intending to only do 300 miles - I'd go NUTs! Goose
  9. V7Goose
    While my brother and I were out riding this year we started kicking around an idea about doing a 4-corners tour come spring. Not the 4-corners area in the Southwest, but the four corners of the US! Touching the bike tire as close as possible to the US border in the SE, SW, NW and NE corners of this country. We haven't actually planned anything yet, but the general idea was maybe to hit Daytona again in the early spring, then swing on down to Key West again, scoot along the southern boarder to San Diego while it is still relatively cool, then up to Washington and over to Main. Lots of other options too, but that will give you some idea of what I am talking about. I don't even know yet how many miles it is, when we might start (if we don't do the Daytona thing), or how long it might take. I can map it out on the computer pretty quick to start answering some of those questions, but I just thought I'd throw the idea out here and see if anyone might be interested in joining a trip like that? Or even part of it? I'm not talking about anything formally planned and pre-scheduled with reservations or anything - just an ad-hoc ride were we throw the leg over the bikes and go. I could actually put together a formal tour with plans and prices if enough people actually wanted to do something like that, but I doubt it. So what say you? Anyone interested in joining up for a long tour? Goose
  10. V7Goose
    Oh, I don't know when I will do it - I am very flexible on my schedule (can you say "retired"? I knew you could). If someone around here wants to come over I'll try to plan it around their schedule. Since all of these things seem to be so far off from the factory, it certainly isn't critical when I do it! And if you want to fly in, I'll be happy to pick you up at the airport - it's only about 10 miles away. BTW - I'll just note again that when I did my floats the first time I saw an average 4 MPG improvement in my fuel mileage. It is impossible to accurately compare mileage on a motorcycle in only a tank or two since the volumes are so small and the variables are great, but I note and calculate the miles per tank on every gas receipt, so I do get a good average and can absolutely see any change. Moakster has only run a couple of tanks through his bike since we did his, but he says he is seeing a couple of mile increase in his MPG too. Goose
  11. V7Goose
    .9 cents per liter? REALLY? That is less than 4 cents per gallon!!! Where do I line up? Sorry, just couldn't help myself (I knew what you meant).
  12. V7Goose
    You have contradicted yourself. Your first statement is that the bike stops if you put the stand down in neutral; your second statement says no problem if the bike is in neutral. Can't tell you how to troubleshoot it until I know what it is REALLY doing. If it is in gear, the bike will ALWAYS stop when you put the sidestand down - that is normal. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    I just did the float levels on a friend's RSV, and this time I noticed that the two sides of the float are different shapes AND different heights! No idea why I didn't notice that before, but it means that you need to be consistent in measuring the same side of the float on every carb. The difference in height between the thin side and wide side of the float is .04", which almost guarantees that one or more carbs will be out of spec if they are not all set using the same side of the float. Since the choke linkage is kinda in the way when measuring on the inside edge of the float bowls, I'm pretty sure I didn't use the same side for all four carbs. Darn! Guess it's time to pull those suckers out and do it again. Anybody want to get together and make a party of it? Goose
  14. V7Goose
    If your carbs are truly out of gas as you say, then the fuel pump would click for an extended period of time after turning on the key. This is true whether the fuel line is plugged or not. If you don't hear that clicking, your pump is bad. Two possible tests to check this: either open the drain screw on one carb to prove that the bowl is empty, or take the fuel line off of the carb assembly (accessible from the right rear between the carbs, up near the frame with the tank off) and see if the fuel pump clicks and gas comes out when you torn on the key. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    The easiest answer that fits all your problems is a plugged vent tube to the tank. Absolute test for this is to take the gas cap off right after it stalls and see if you hear air rushing in and the bike then re-starts. If that is the problem, then you probably have a stuck rollover valve in the vent line or the line got kinked somehow. If you know for a fact it is running out of fuel as you said, then it should be VERY easy to find. Only three possibilities - the vent problem, stopped up fuel line (petcock or filter), or bad fuel pump. Based on what you have had done so far, if it is not the vent, it is probably the fuel pump. Ordinarily, with your symptoms, I would bet on crud in the tank blocking the petcock, but supposedly you had that checked and cleaned. You didn't say when and how long you hear the fuel pump clicking - that would be crucial information in properly diagnosing the problem. Goose
  16. V7Goose
    Eck, I just wanted to say your response to me sounded fine - nothing negative about it. We don't agree on the likely cause of the problem, but so what? If we don't have an open exchange of ideas and discussion, we won't get anywhere. The more ideas we can give each other, the better chance we have of finding the problem soon. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    Not enough info here to solve your problem, but I CAN assure you that you have a significant problem. May or may not be expensive, but must be addressed. The smoke you see from one side is actually steam and normal. The fact the other side is not getting hot for a while is proof that at least one cylinder is not firing (actually sounds like both are dead). Lots of possibilities for this problem, so you need to isolate the cause to fuel, ignition, or compression. Most probably an ignition problem. If it was just bad compression you would still be getting heat. Start by checking for spark on each plug. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    All features seem to be working fine here too. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    The wire he refers to IS the specific ground wire to the engine - located right behind the oil filler cap. That bolt just happens to be the one most people use to mount an air horn. Goose
  20. V7Goose
    The cruise dropping out on a hard bump is just normal operation on this bike (but not the flashing lights). A hard bump causes the rear brake peddle to deflect slightly, causing the brake light switch to slightly move, disengaging the cruise. This problem is exacerbated by the vertical position of the switch. If it happens too often, consider checking the adjustment of the switch per the manual, and set it to the outer limit that allows the most movement before it activates. I know the manual states that the flashing lights is a built-in indication of system problems. One of my RSVs DID show that symptom only while being ridden in a LONG HARD DRENCHING rain and then triggering the cruise drop from the front brake (using the rear brake or cancel button caused no problems, but it took quite a bit of experimentation to isolate that!). Like others have said, just turning off the system, then back on put it right back to normal, and the problem went away after the bike fully dried out. The problem was 100% reproduce-able while the bike was soaked in that storm and one other, so it clearly was only related to the signal from the front brake switch, but I can't say exactly what. The rest of this is simply speculation on my part. I have never experienced the flashing lights after the cruise was tripped from a bump, but it seems possible that it could be triggered by a couple of almost simultaneous signals coming from a bounce in the brake switch, like vibration. I HAVE experienced electronic circuits that are sensitive to multiple triggers like that, and internal switch bounce was a huge problem in early circuit designs. On the chance that is what is causing the problem, I'd probably slightly adjust the rear brake switch to change the activation point, thus reducing the chance that it would trigger twice from a big bump. If that does not fix it, the next thing I would try is to temporarily disconnect the front brake switch. I only suggest this since I know that the one time I experienced the problem was related to my front brake switch. With it disconnected, go find a bump that causes the cruise to drop out and see if the problem is gone. On the slight chance that it is, I can tell you how to go about determining if it is the switch itself or the electronic circuit. Goose
  21. V7Goose
    This is possible, but IMHO not probable. If the gas is only 4 months old (instead of being last summer's gas), even without a stabilizer it almost certainly would not be a problem. My money is still on the accumulated goo and gunk from the past 8 years, with maybe the four-month-old gas adding a tiny bit to the problem. The fuel filter is suspect number 1! That is why I suggested the slightly more significant process above. Still a whole lot easier than pulling and opening the carbs! With just a little extra effort you will not only get it all running nice, but also get the comfort of knowing it is all cleaned out and ready for another 65,000 miles. Goose
  22. V7Goose
    Absolutely no reason you should need to bleed that if all you did was take the caliper off. But something you said does not make any sense to me: "in order to get the caliper to reinstall over the pads." The pads are supposed to sit up in the caliper on the rails, so the caliper is never installed over them. In fact, if you just put the existing pads back in, there should have been NO problem slipping the caliper with pads back over the disk without having to push the pistons back in to make more room. Make sure you have them put in correctly, as this is the only thing I can think of that would cause the symptom you describe. Goose
  23. V7Goose
    Letting a bike sit for just four months should NOT cause significant problems. 65,000 miles on the bike is not much at all (have close to that on my 05), but 8 years of mostly sitting does take a toll. When was the last time you changed the fuel filter? Are you sure your fuel pump is working properly? How about the plugs? Here are the things I would do BEFORE pulling the carbs: Change the fuel filter if it wasn't done in the past 10,000 miles or so. Change the plugs. Do this even if they are fairly new. Drain all the gas. I wouldn't throw that liquid gold away - either put it in your car or just save it for later use after you get it all running OK. Drain the carbs - you can get to the drain screws without removing them, but it can be a little tricky. Make sure to drain the fuel line too. Mix up a quart of gas with a pint of Sea Foam. A clean coffee can would work nice for this - just dump in one pint of Sea Foam, then about a quart of gas. The exact mix is unimportant. After making sure the drain screws are tight, take the fuel line off the tank and put in in this new fuel and turn the key on long enough for the fuel pump to fill up all the carbs and stop clicking. Shut the key off and let it sit for a few hours or over night. Don't forget to put the fuel line back on the tank! Dump the rest of the Sea Foam mix into the tank and fill it up with fresh gas. Don't worry if you don't have enough gas at home to fill it all the way up - just adding a couple of gallons to the mix should be fine to get you to a gas station. Fire it up. It will probably run quite rough at first, since the mix of Sea Foam in the carbs is way more than normal, but keep it running. Try and ride it for 10 miles or so (it will take at least a couple of miles just to run all the mix out of the carbs and lines and get normal gas back in there). I'll bet all will be ruining like a charm again! Goose
  24. V7Goose
    I avoided this thread just cause I was too lazy to type in a bunch of stuff that I thought was obvious, but after finally reading everything, I thought I should jump in. First, as most of you know, those bolts "stick" easily - even when not really tightened a lot, they seem to be very hard to pop loose after a few weeks. But after they initial 'pop', they spin right out. I am not sure what causes this, but I learned a long time ago that they only need a gently snug when putting the bags back on, and they will never come loose. That is pretty strange when compared to all the other bolts on these bikes that have a hard time staying on, but it has been a fact on both of my RSVs, my brother's RSV, and all the ones I have personally worked on. I have had my bags off too many times to count with all the tire changes and lighting mods, and I have NEVER stripped the head on any of them. I generally use a T-handle hex wrench ($9 for the whole set at Harbor Freight) that gives me plenty of torque and allows me to spin the bolts in and out much quicker than other options. My dealer DID strip one for me, which I found out when I tried to take it off after I got the bike back from some warranty work on a rear oil leak. The solution for me was absolutely simple: I just took my small die-grinder (any rotary tool will work) and cut a notch across the head so I could put a big common screwdriver in it and remove the bolt. I have also done this for several other guys with the same problem. If you don't have a rotary tool to do this, but you do have a set of socked-drive hex wrenches, there is one other trick that sometimes works - just take the correct socket-drive hex wrench and put in the stripped head, then give it a couple of decent whacks with a hammer. Now put the ratchet on there and see if the screw comes loose. This usually works by forcing the wrench deeper into the undamaged part of the screw head, and the shocks from the hammer also tend to loosen the screw stiction. I prefer the stock screws instead of something larger, but they aren't very hard metal. If you have repeated problems with stripped heads, you need to get a better wrench. Another option is to buy new button-head bolts from a place like Ace Hardware - they will probably be much harder. Goose
  25. V7Goose
    If you got them to slide with your fingers and they don't leak any fluid when pumped up hard on the bike, all may be OK. I am always careful to NOT apply any pressure to the brake while the pads are out, so I wouldn't know if tilting/binding is normal under that situation. But before I got worried I'd slip a pad in over the pistons and hold it flat against them before I applied a little pressure to the brake - that should ensure the piston stays straight and allow it to operate smoothly. Goose
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