V7Goose

I know it is way too warm to be thinking about the juice the carb heaters pull if they EVER come on again, but what better time to prepare for the coming cold weather? In case you don't know, the carb heaters on the RSV pull a total of 60 watts of power, and that is an awful lot when you are riding in cold weather and want to use other stuff like extra lights or heated clothing. Here is a very simple mod you can do that will let you turn off the carb heaters any time you like - typically this would only be in very cold weather after the bike has finished warming up. The carb heater thermo switch is under the right battery cover, right next to the radiator overflow tank. In this picture it is the nondescript item in the rubber cover on the right side: [attach]20088[/attach] The blue item on the left side in that picture is the carb heater relay. This is a "normally closed" relay which is activated by the neutral switch. When this relay comes on in neutral, it cuts the power to the carb heaters. The two black wires coming out of the thermo switch connect through bullet connections to a black/white and a black/yellow wire. It really makes no difference which one you chose, but I unplugged the black/yellow wire (it is the wire running directly to the carb heaters). You can see the new blue wires I used to connect a small toggle switch in -line. The toggle switch is mounted in the black plastic cover behind the battery on the right side, near the rear shock air valve. [attach]20086[/attach] [attach]20087[/attach] That is all there is to it! Just make sure that the switch you buy can handle 10 amps at 12 volts DC (if you can only find a switch rated at 125VAC and 250VAC, you are generally safe with a 10A @ 125VAC rating). By using bullet connectors on the new wires you can just insert the switch in the circuit without cutting any wires or making any permanent change to the bike wiring. Goose Optional - you can use a 12v LED (Radio Shack) as a circuit-ON indicator. If you connect it on the Thermo-switch side of your toggle switch, it will indicate when the bike wants to activate the carb heaters (meaning they may not really be on if your toggle switch is off); if you put it on the carb side of your toggle switch, it will indicate when the carb heaters are ACTUALLY on. I positioned my LED between the seat and the tank, just sticking out of the rubber tank cover. In this location, no special mount is needed, just stuff it under the ribber flap. That way I can look down to see it if I want, but it is never annoying.

I vote for no shirts - got enough already anyway! Let's just make it casual and have fun. See y'all there! Goose

Strange how our perceptions can be so different. I use my RSV every day for everything, including grocery shopping. In 50,000 miles I have never noticed even a bit of extra warmth in the bags. Even when touring and riding all day with the bags packed tight, nothing has felt warm when unpacking immediately after stopping. My bikes have never had any other pipes than stock. Wish I could help, but I don't seem to have the problem! Goose

I agree with this. I have checked my speed and miles with a GPS and the stock speedometer on my 05 is off by about 8%, but the odometer is very close to accurate. I didn't write down all the numbers, but I plan to on my trip to the frozen north next week. My 07 was of by the same percentages as my 05. Goose

What are you saying is different? The MT90 tire size is the same as a 130/90. Goose

Wife and I are staying at the Victoria Motel. Planning on getting in sometime Sunday afternoon. Probably leave Thursday AM to swing round by Niagara Falls and then down through West By God Virginny for a big loop home. Al has never attended one of our get-togethers yet, so y'all better be nice to her or she might not come back! Goose

Even tho it is only on our site as far as I can tell, if no one else is experiencing the problems, then I will have to look closer on this end. BTW - I am also getting a lot of errors on page loading, even when the pages seem to come up OK (message !Done, but with errors on page). Goose

Not to be flippant or anything, but my attitude towards such a poor dealer for that would simply be "I don't know what the code is, and I don't care. This bike is making an unacceptable and impropper noise from the rear end. It is covered by a 5-year unlimited mile warranty. You will do whatever it takes to resolve that problem, and it WILL be covered under the warranty, even if I have to involve a lawyer and file suit under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act. http://www.free-lemon-law-guide.com/magnuson-moss-warranty-act.php Goose

I have had an on-going problem on our site with many pages not fully loading. The symptom is seen in several ways - sometimes the "time line" on the bottom of the browser gets almost to the end, then just sits there forever. Sometimes the status on the bottom actually changes to "Done", but the page below the header stays blank gray. In either of these situations, re-clicking on the link I used does absolutely nothing, but clicking on the refresh button almost always causes the page I was trying to get to to load properly. There does not seem to be any connection with what I was attempting to do - sometimes it is doing a search, sometimes trying to pull up a new thread, sometimes just going to the next page in a thread, and sometimes attempting to make a reply. This problem is not a slow response issue, as the page never finishes loading unless I hit refresh. This seems to have been going on since the last time Don made some fixes after the hosting change, and it ONLY happens to me on this site - never browsing anywhere else. I use XP and IE7. I turned off the Phishing filter in IE7, but it made no difference. The frequency is quite high and may be getting worse - seems like about 1 in 10 page requests on average, but I haven't actually tried to count them yet. I assumed for a long time it was wither my ISP, just normal Internet hiccups, or even my home network, but now I am sure it is specific to our site. Has anyone else been experiencing something like this? Goose

If you don't have a decent dealer that will automatically take care of such things under warranty, the best approach is to take your bike in with a complaint about something wrong that you want taken care of under warranty. Point out the specific complaint, and then it does not hurt to casually mention that you have been told there is a TSB on the problem. The key here is to set the expectation with the shop right up front that you know the bike has a problem and you expect it taken care of under warranty. Goose

This problem afflicts a few RSVs from time to time. My 05 started it once after I got it back from servicing. After I got it stopped, it came back once more for no particular reason. I was able to make it go away sometimes by turning the forks all the way to the lock (can't remember which way). Anyway, this is usually easy to make go away by pulling the tank and tugging/repositioning the cable bundles in there. I'd focus on removing the left steering column cover and moving those wires - pay particular attention to make sure the plug wires for the front cylinders are not near any other wires. If that doesn't work, then split the fairing and re-seat all the plugs in there. I wish I could be more specific, but I never pinned it down that close since it tends to go away as soon as you start messing with the wires. Goose

Hey Don, didn't you say you have a ColorTune? Might I prevail on you to drag it up to the rally in Ontario? I'm going to buy a low-end exhaust gas analyzer after I get back, but I'd love to see how the ColorTune works and what it shows about the current mix right now. And if it shows we should make some changes, that will allow me to compare MPG numbers on the way home against the ones I get on the way up there. Thanx Goose

One of the little flat head screws has fallen out of the catch mechanism on the left side. Try to continually wiggle it open/closed; maybe thump on the front left corner of the trunk to try to vibrate it loose into a different position. Worse case, since you can get it part way open, reach in and remove the screws holding the upper plate to the top and then open the trunk so you can work on it. You may need to remove the nuts holding on the passenger rest - I don't remember for sure. Goose

I have found a couple of cases where the brass choke plungers were hanging up when trying to pull the choke ON, so the same problem could easily happen when pushing them off. Look up under the carb sides for the bras plungers that are pulled out by the choke linkage, then spray some carb cleaner on each one. Now while trying to close the choke, use something to reach up and push in on each plunger until you find the one that is hanging up. Working the choke knob in and out while pushing on the end of the plunger should free everything up. May need to spray a little more carb cleaner on there too. Goose

I don't know if this is the same on the RSTD as it is on the Venture, but look under the left side of the rider's seat. On the Venture there is a plastic plug in the plastic cover there that is exactly the right size for a cigarette lighter type power outlet. Goose

Not unless someone at factory screwed up which hoses went where (but that wouldn't surprise me - I have found a LOT of factory screw-up on various RSVs). The two carb vent hoses that would drain the gas from a stuck float run forward to a little square clamp just in front of the air intakes. When the gas comes out of one of those it runs down inside the lower fairing and drips below the radiator. Two of the hoses that are routed to the left side by the exhaust are connected to the drains from the air boxes above the carbs. I can't imagine how any gas would get up in there. The only thing that should come out of those hoses is excess oil that is blown out of the crank case breather that is vented into both of the air boxes. I believe that the tank vent hose runs down there, so if the tank is overfilled or did a lot of bouncing, maybe that would be the drip? I've never had gas drip from either of my RSVs, and I tend to fill the tank very full. Goose

There are tons of spectacular passes up there, but no mater what, don't miss Red Mountain (Durango up to Silverton and down the other side). There are three passes on that road, and Red Mountain is between Silverton and Ouray. Mosquito Pass down into Leadville is another phenomenal run, but I haven't been on that since the 80s, and it was still dirt back then. I have NO IDEA if it has ever been paved, so do some research on Google Earth or a current Colorado state map before you plan to ride that one! Wolf Creek used to be great, but it is all freeway with a big tunnel at the top now, so quite boring. Crossing over through Rocky Mountain National Park is certainly worth while - spectacular views on the top and generally good road, but it will be crowded. All of the Pine Bark Beetle damage to the forests on the western slope dropping out of the park is really depressing and spoils the once wonderful scenery. Those are just a few of the highlights. Not everyone likes the high passes like I do. I just take a map and plot a route that hits as many of them as possible without doubling back more than five times or so! Goose

Last year I took my 05 RSV up through New Mexico and Colorado on the way to our gathering in Fort Collins, zig-zagging back and forth across the Divide. In three days, my brother and I crossed 14 passes over 10,000 feet (and a bunch more between 8,000 and 10,000) with zero problems. Even on the highest and steepest stretches I never even came close to wanting more power! Goose

I understand your problems, and I understand that you have a very poor dealer. I am sorry that you have experienced this. But I stand by my statement of fact - we have over 5,000 members here, and if you were to do a detailed search of all the people complaining of your problems, I'd bet you would come up with fewer than 100 (probably far fewer). I will qualify that by stating the engine whine or chirp should only be considered if the owner feels it is objectionably loud - some minor mechanical noises or whine are typical of any motor. When riding with up to 60 other Ventures at group gatherings, I personally have NEVER noticed an objectionable whine from any of the bikes there, nor do I recall anyone there talking about the problem. If I had, I would have loved to listen to the bike just to have it for comparison. Any noise in the rear end is most certainly covered by warranty, and that is enforceable by law. The manufacturer's tech service bulletin is absolute proof that it is known and covered by them. And the greasing of the drive pins (not the "splines" as you will often see mentioned incorrectly) certainly does not need to be done more than once every tire change (and actually not even that often, but it is a good practice). Of course, your problem could be something other than dry drive fingers. The same tech bulletin identifies a problem with the drive bushings not being fully seated. Again, this is a very easy item to diagnose and fix for any half way competent mechanic or service shop. I do not know if you have any other dealer options available to you, but you do yourself a terrible disservice by continuing to frequent the terrible one you mentioned. I wish you luck in finding an appropriate shop to take care of your bike. If you get out this way in North Texas, I would be very happy to check that rear end for you - probably a 99% chance of an easy and permanent fix just by following the tech service bulletin. Goose Oh, just an interesting side note - my 07 RSV did not exhibit any noise from the rear in 14,000 miles, but I gave the new owner a copy of the TSB and told him to watch for it anyway. He was completely unconcerned, stating that his Honda (I think he said VTX) had had that exact same problem and Honda had the same tech service bulletin out! I will be mounting a new Avon rear tire for him when I get back from Canada in a few weeks, so I will check the drive pins and bushings for him at that time.

One more unlikely place to check is the carburetor drains - you can see all four of these if you look carefully up under the carbs in the middle. Each is a very small nipple angled toward the center, and a large socket head screw pointing toward the gap between the carbs. Very hard to see in there, but one could be leaking slightly. Goose

Well the good thing is that I had the bike in perfect sync and it was running great for the run down to Galveston. I spent most of the time at an indicated 84MPH (actual 77MPH), and my fuel mileage at those speeds ran from a low of 31 while fighting a big head wind to a high of 36 with that wind behind me. These have always been typical numbers for me when running that fast. Changing the float levels and rechecking the carb sync is the ONLY change I have made to the bike other than normal service before I leave next week, so any significant change I detect in performance or fuel mileage will have to be related to that. Goose

Well, I was in WV about a month ago on the way to Ohio . . . .

This post describes the proper way to set the carb floats on a 2nd Gen, as well as pointing out the errors in the factory shop manual. If you follow the manual as written, you CANNOT properly set the floats. ============================================================================================================ Today I decided to pull the carbs on my 05 RSV and check the float levels. My plugs looked perfect before I touched anything, so that doesn't sound like it was running rich. However, I ran down to Galveston and back yesterday (650 miles) and the chrome tips of my pipes collected a lot more black soot than I like. Even though my gas mileage is still running right where it always has (averaging 36 - 38), I decided to check out the float levels before my next big trip. I first tried the tube method to check the level while they are on the bike, but it just didn't seem to be working right or even close to an accurate way to measure them. So I bit the bullet and tore into it - Seems like a BIG job to pull that danged carb assembly out! The good news is, it really isn't that hard, just seems like it. Se the next post for tips on getting the carbs in and out. I was quite surprised to find that although all four carbs had the floats set very close to each other, they were WAY off the spec. Where the manual calls for .32 - .36", mine were all at either .133 or .285 (depending on how they were measured). That means the float level was set VERY high. And now to discuss the right way to measure the float height. The drawing in the shop manual clearly shows a carb being held upside down with the float bowl gasket surface level and the float height being measured with a caliper held vertical. Seems straight forward, no? But it is very wrong! Done that way, mine measured .133" instead of .34". The instructions even clearly state to "hold the carburetor upside down." But then the next thing is this NOTE: "The float arm should rest on the needle valve without depressing it." And that comment is the only thing correct about this procedure in the shop manual! Now having the float arm not depress the needle valve is a difficult thing to do with the carburetor upside down - in fact, it is virtually impossible; the weight of the float fully compresses the spring loaded plunger in the needle valve. When you lay the whole carb assembly flat on the bench, the carbs are already inclined quite a bit, but even then the weight of the float is still too much for the needle valve spring: Sooooo, I propped one end of the carburetor assembly on a short 2x4 so that the face of the float bowl was almost vertical. When you slowly raise the end of the assembly high enough you can see the float suddenly pop up from the spring pressure of the needle valve. Here is a picture of the carb assembly propped up and one of measuring the float height in that position: CAUTION: The floats have different shaped sides, and they are different heights too! The wide side of the float measures .04" higher than the other side. This means that you need to be careful to measure the SAME side of the float on all four carbs, and the wide side is the best one to use (note that the picture above is wrong, in that it shows me measuring the thin side of the float!). The most difficult part of the measurement is making sure the tool you use is held truly straight and perpendicular to the carb base, since any leaning at all will significantly change the measurement. On two of the carbs, you will find the choke rod or one of the carb mounting brackets in the way, so turn the caliper sideways a bit to clear the obstruction while still being held straight out from the carb base. I used this position to set all four floats at the mid point of the spec - .34" Bike ran great when I got it all back together, and the sync on the carbs was not changed by the procedure. I only put about 30 miles on it tonight, so I may not be able to report on the effect to my MPG calculation until I get on the road to Ontario next week. But I'll let y'all know how it changes, if at all. Goose UPDATE: OK everyone, the results are in, and this relatively straight forward maintenance procedure produced AT LEAST a 10% improvement in my fuel mileage! My carbs were in perfect sync before I adjusted the floats, and I made NO other changes. Although I have not had the time to check my fuel mileage under all conditions yet, I HAVE done about 2,000 miles of high speed, fully loaded, two-up riding. Under conditions that that have always resulted in about 32 MPG (80+ MPH and loaded, all day long), I now get 35-36 MPG. When running at an indicated 84 MPH, I can now get a full 200 miles out of a tank - never could get that far at those speeds before. And inside the chrome tips on my pipes look better now too - more brown than black. I expect it to get even better after I set the mixture screws soon.

Today I decided to pull the carbs on my 05 RSV and check the float levels. My plugs looked perfect before I touched anything, so that doesn't sound like it was running rich. However, I ran down to Galveston and back yesterday (650 miles) and the chrome tips of my pipes collected a lot more black soot than I like. Even though my gas mileage is still running right where it always has (averaging 36 - 38), I decided to check out the float levels before my next big trip. I first tried the tube method to check the level while they are on the bike, but it just didn't seem to be working right or even close to an accurate way to measure them. So I bit the bullet and tore into it - BIG job to pull that danged carb assembly out! I was quite surprised to find that although all four carbs had the floats set very close to each other, they were WAY off the spec. Where the manual calls for .32 - .36", mine were all at either .133 or .285 (depending on how they were measured). That means the float level was set VERY high. And now to discuss the right way to measure the float height. The drawing in the shop manual clearly shows a carb being held upside down with the float bowl gasket surface level and the float height being measured with a caliper held vertical. Seems straight forward, no? Done that way, mine measured .133" instead of .34". The instructions even clearly state to "hold the carburetor upside down." But then the next thing is this NOTE: "The float arm should rest on the needle valve without depressing it." Now that is a difficult thing to do with the carburetor upside down; the weight of the float fully compresses the spring loaded plunger in the needle valve. When you lay the whole carb assembly flat on the bench, the carbs are already inclined quite a bit, but even then the weight of the float is still too much for the needle valve spring: [ATTACH]19149[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]19147[/ATTACH] Sooooo, I propped one end of the carburetor assembly on a short 2x4 so that the face of the float bowl was almost vertical. When you raise the end of the assembly high enough you can see the float suddenly pop up from the spring pressure of the needle valve. Here is a picture of the carb assembly propped up and one of measuring the float height in that position: [ATTACH]19145[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]19146[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]19148[/ATTACH] I used this position to set all for floats at the mid point of the spec - .34" Bike ran great when I got it all back together, and the sync on the carbs was not changed by the procedure. I only put about 30 miles on it tonight, so I may not be able to report on the effect to my MPG calculation until I get on the road to Ontario next week. But I'll let y'all know how it changes, if at all. Goose

Under most conditions, I found the handling of the stock Brickstone tires quite acceptable too. Despite the heavy feeling and tendency fall into a slow-speed turn, I had no trouble handling the bike and doing U-turns where I needed. But just because I COULD does not mean that it was good. Just because I have the ability to handle a big heavy bike with less than great handling doesn't mean that I SHOULD ACCEPT IT when there are such easy improvements available. You qualified your statement about handling just fine by finding it necessary to make an excuse for an 800 lb bike. With the right suspension settings and tires, this bike does NOT feel like an 800 lb bike - actually much lighter. It is not important to me that you, or anyone, share my opinion, but it IS important to me that I do not mislead anyone. In addition, when I think my experience or expertise in something can help others, I want to share it. As I said first here, under most conditions I found the stock tires OK - not good, but OK. But I put a LOT of miles on my bikes, and I ride in a lot of different conditions. The most significant for this discussion was where there was a lot of road repairs and resurfacing. When I encountered significant uneven lane height (approx 1/2" or more), the flattening Brickstone rear tire was absolutely dangerous in my opinion. Equally worn Avons were NOT dangerous on the exact same roads in my opinion. Ride safe, on whatever you choose, Goose