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V7Goose

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  1. V7Goose
    Even with the rear shock at 0 lbs, it doesn't take any time at all - last time I washed my bike I let all the air out of the shock to I could turn the rear tire while on the maintenance stand for a good inspection (with the leveling links and air in the shock, it is too firmly stuck to the pavement). When I got all done it didn't take any time at all to put the shock back at 40 lbs. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    IMHO, the stock plug is the only reasonable choice. Nothing wrong with the iridium plug, other than a huge price and absolutely NO benefit other than not having to change them as often. I actually prefer to change my plugs on a regular basis with standard plugs (I do about 25,000 miles a set), just so I can read them and know I have a fresh set in place. The guy that said they did damage is absolutely wrong. Goose
  3. V7Goose
    I don't know which specific Progressive pump you have, but my 0-60 pump does the rear shock in much less than a minute. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    Yes, you are comparing both torque and HP, but those number by themselves do not tell much of a story. Our V4 engine develops a very respectable 97 HP (at the crank, not the rear wheel - but virtually all vehicle numbers these days are measured at the crank). The big difference in engine performance and how they feel is how the power bands are shaped. V-twin engines drive very much like large-block V8 engines (hard to find these days in cars or trucks, but in the 70's that would be a 454 Chevy or 360/390/460 Ford) - they have most of their power at lower RPM - we often talk about this type of power as "grunt". But they also tend to NOT be very smooth (speaking of the V-Twins here). Our engine drives like a small block V8 (similar to a 350 Chevy or 308/351 Ford, or just about any V6), with the majority of the power above 3,000 RPM. So this engine does not feel like it has a lot of "grunt", but if you ride it right, it will do everything you could ever want, including blowing off just about all V-twins of any size. And it does all this while being very smooth. A small block engine tends to rev faster, so it has the edge in performance driving, but a large-block engine is absolutely better for pulling stumps or towing. But remember, EVERYTHING here is just a generalization needed for a short reply - anybody can find exceptions to these statements. And just for further muddling the issue, the design feature that affects the performance as I described above is NOT the number of cylinders, or even the V shape - it is the difference between a long-stroke vs. a short-stroke engine (also known as under-square and over-square). That's the best I can do without typing many pages. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    Rear shocks that leak oil generally still hold air just fine (so the oil and air parts are separate in the shock). If you loose the oil but still hold air pressure, you can ride the bike, but not safely - the rear will bounce like a pogo stick. If you loose air pressure but still have oil, you can safely ride it if your total weight is low enough to keep from bottoming out the shock constantly. Goose
  6. V7Goose
    60 lbs is so close to the actual maximum of 57 that I am sure it is just fine - in fact, if you set it at 57 and then compress the shock, the pressure will go way above 60. If you are going to use your air compressor on the rear shock, use the regulator on the compressor to first turn down the hose pressure to what you want in the shock. Goose
  7. V7Goose
    There are not a lot of tips that can be offered here other than to buy a more comfortable bike. Yes, changing the seat on your current bike may help a little, but I doubt it will produce the results you want. I suspect you are way overloading an old bike. To even make it reasonable for what you want will take new shocks, updated fork springs, and better seats. And then it still won't be particularly good. I suggest a Venture. The RSV is perhaps the most comfortable bike available for the passenger (just as good for the rider too); if you take your partner for a test ride on one, you may actually not be able to NOT buy it. You may not want a full blown touring bike, but you asked about passenger comfort, and that is the answer. My spouse and I together are only about 400, but when we are riding two-up, we usually have the bike fully loaded too. The RSV is so comfortable for her she happily does 1,000+ mile days (four so far, the longest was 1,375 miles in 26 hours straight) without even getting off the bike at gas stops to stretch or rub her butt. I continually ask her when she wants to stop for the night, but when she is not sleeping she always replies she is just fine and happy to ride as long as I want to. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly, she regularly sleeps on the RSV. That's pretty comfortable. Hope you find the right ride for both of you, Goose
  8. V7Goose
    I appreciate that you are trying to stand behind your work - unless you had an up-front disclaimer that you didn't warrant the work, I think that is very important, even if the work is done for free. That said, I'd also state that there is reasonable period in which any complaints or problems need to be brought to you, and for that kind of work, 5,000 miles and a few months seems to me to be beyond the reasonable time. Things do go wrong with a 10 year old machine, and unless it is found almost immediately after some work, it is completely UN-reasonable for anyone to suggest that you caused the problem and they were just too incompetent or uncaring to find it sooner. As for your specific problem, you did not give us near enough information to help you. But I'll try and give you a few thoughts anyway. If you didn't remove the carbs or intake parts, there is no way I can imagine that you could have done anything to cause the bike to run rich or leak gas. If you DID remove the carbs, but did not open them, then I'd say almost the same thing. Maybe if you left the vent hoses off it could have some impact, and if the air plenums and intake boots are not correctly mounted (VERY common problem for some people), then the bike won't run quite right, so I'd suggest you tear that part back off and check if it is assembled correctly. And do not overlook the possibility that a plug boot may simply not be pushed fully on. But back to my first point - I'd absolutely start with a frank discussion about what you warrant and what is reasonable. I'd describe the various possible causes you know of that could cause the symptoms and discuss the likelihood that ANY of them could have been caused by the work you did. Finally, tell the person what you are willing to do now to check the prior work you did, but make it clear that if all looks good, you will accept no responsibility for further work needed to resolve this new and UN-related problem he has discovered. Good luck getting it resolved, Goose
  9. V7Goose
    I ride all year long, rain or not, and Yes, I have ridden the RSV with both Avons and E3s is everything from light rain to torrential frog-stranglers where the CARS were slowing down and even pulling off the road, but I felt comfortable maintaining the posted limits of anywhere from 55-70 MPH. My personal opinion is that the Avon Venom tires provide absolutely the BEST wet weather handling of any motorcycle tire I have ever used. The Dunlop E3 are almost as good. The problem with reports of wet weather traction is that the vast majority of riders actually have no idea what this means, and furthermore, they have almost no experience riding their bike in different wet conditions to actually compare. Here is the problem - wet road handling can ONLY be fairly evaluated after the roads have been fully washed off - meaning that the rain has to be fairly hard and last quite a while. When the rain first starts, and for quite some time if it is only a light sprinkle, the water mixes with the dirt, rubber particles and oil residue on the road surface and creates a thin grease slick that ANY tire will slip and spin on. My truck is all over the road in those conditions, and even the Jag with fancy automatic traction control will frequently flash the traction control light when the rains first start - you can't actually feel traction problems most of the time (even with the traction control switched off), but the car tells you there is a bit of slipping going on. On a bike, with only two wheels, you ALWAYS feel any slipping, no matter how slight. So any reports of poor wet handling cannot be fairly evaluated without knowing both the experience of the rider and the actual conditions under which they were riding. Here's an example from my trip this week - when I hit Roswell on Thursday, there was a storm just blowing through - they had received zero rain all year, and that one dumped 3/4" Thursday afternoon. Due to the lack of rain for a long time, the roads hadn't been effectively "washed" for ages, and as I crept through town. each light was an experience. Roswell has a 3' band of bricks in the road for most crosswalks, and even with very gentle acceleration, the E3 rear tire on my RSV would spin and slip sideways on every one of those when I took off from the light - no problem getting started, but watch out when the rear tire hit the bricks! And if an unsuspecting rider had tried to turn a corner on those bricks, the front tire would have almost certainly shot out from under them and caused an accident. NOT fun at all. But that had nothing to do with how good the E3 is in wet weather traction - is is simply the effects of trying to ride a motorcycle on greasy slick red bricks - no tire at all would have done any better in the first hour of that storm. Unfortunately, there are many riders who would have found themselves suddenly caught in that situation - maybe just trying to go home from work - who would have immediately started shouting on every internet board how 'bad' their particular tires were in wet conditions. In conditions where the water on the road surface is heavy enough to actually create side water spray from the tires (not just a mist thrown off the tires, but a real spray that splashes up and hits your boots), I have found that the Avon Venom tires inspire total confidence - never slipping or losing grip for any reason. Goose
  10. V7Goose
    Just for reference, the MV85B15 E3 I bought from Jake Wilson in June, 2010, has date code 4909 - that means it was only about 6 months old when I got it. The 150/80-16 Venom AM41 front tire I just got two weeks ago from SW Moto Tires has a date code of 1711 - also less than 6 months old. Goose
  11. V7Goose
    Well Ponch, I sure hope they exchange that tire for you at no cost - I wouldn't want it. A four year old tire is close to end-of-life, and even if the bike tire manufacturer's do not publicly share max tire age information, I'll just point to their warranty policies - Avon won't warrant any tire over 5 years old, and Dunlop won't warrant any tire over 6 years old. There is a sound reason for that - they don't trust their own tires past that age. If they don't, why should we? If you plan on burning through that tire in a year to 18 months, it is probably OK; otherwise, I would not accept it. Please let us know what they do about your concern - if they insist on shipping tires that old and then sticking it to the unsuspecting customer, I won't every buy another tire from them - just not worth the risk. BTW - is that a front tire or a rear? What size? If we share that information along with the tire age and where we bought it, maybe we can begin to paint a picture of what venders have fresh tires? Goose
  12. V7Goose
    Well to get back to the original topic - how the bike handles with an Avon Venom 150/80-16 front tire and Dunlop E3 150/90-15 rear tire - It handles GREAT! Just got back from Phoenix tonight - rode straight through this time - 1,100 miles in 18 hours. 500 of those miles were in the Arizona and New Mexico mountains with plenty of twisties (I totally avoided the super slab). I have had this tire combination on the bike for six days and about 3.000 miles (the Venom front was mounted new six days ago, the E3 rear is now about mid-life with 9,000 miles on it. I am completely convinced that this is a good combination. Maybe not as good as Venoms on both wheels, but pretty danged close. I still don't like the howl form the E3 in the turns, but think maybe it is an acceptable price to pay for the extended rear tire life I get from the E3 (about 17.000 miles per rear tire compared to 14,000 miles on a Venom rear tire). But the main key here is that the E3 front tire was just nasty - handled poorly and wore unevenly, plus did not last as long as a Venom front tire. I will not use one again. My current opinion is that the matched Avon Venoms on both wheels will still deliver the best performance on this bike, but if you really want more miles from your rear tire, running an E3 rear and Venom front is a good choice. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    You cannot get the rear valve cover off without draining some coolant. Period. I don't care if you try to take it off by rolling it forward or backward, you cannot do either without removing the coolant return hose, so if you do not drain the coolant first, the bike will drain it for you. Comprehensive parts list for a valve adjustment: two valve cover gaskets. That's it. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    The sensation I get on this bike are most evident when taking curves at a high enough speed that you really need the tires to perform well. The over-inflated tire does not flex as much and looses a bit of compliance with the road surface, and this is VERY evident if the curve has some bumps or other imperfections. The end result feels almost like a frame flex where the tale begins to wag the dog as the rear tire looses a bit of lock on the road surface. There is no doubt to me that this is more an issue with the suspension, both the quality of the rear shock and how the rear compliance is in tune with the front forks, but the fact remains that the problem pretty much goes away simply by dropping a couple of lbs in the rear tire. I will also note that one time while testing a new brand of tire, I stupidly did not double check the sidewall max pressure - jut absentmindedly inflated the new tire to what I had been using. First time I had the bike loaded with that new tire, I experienced the identical problem I get with a Venom at 50lbs - turned out the tire had a lower load/max pressure and I had overinflated it. But it is interesting to note that the bike showed the same handling problems from too high rear tire pressure from more than one tire brand. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    About a third of the coolant has to be drained because the rear valve cover cannot be pulled out to either side without first moving it forward or back - there is just not enough clearance between the engine and the frame over the rear cover to raise it above the cam sprockets. So to move the cover, you have to disconnect the coolant return hose from the rear head. This is not necessary for the front cover. As for removing the carbs, that is really very simple once everything else is off. Since the carbs are all taken off as a single unit (the entire carb rack), the only things needed to remove them after the air intake system is off is: Remove the two throttle cables (note here that it is actually easier to wait to remove the throttle cables until the rack is slightly pulled out to the left so you have a bit more room to get the cable end loose). Unplug the TPS and carb heater plugs. Disconnect the fuel line and two vent hoses. Loosen the hose clamp under each carb and then just pull up on each side (one side at a time) until the carbs "pop" loose from the intake joint. Then the whole rack comes right out the left side. It is possible to take the rear cover off by removing the battery covers and coolant tank, but I feel it is much easier to do this job by just pulling the carbs. And I also strongly recommend that you always take the little bit of extra time at this point to pull the float bowls off the carbs and clean the jets while you already have the bike torn down. Certainly this is the time to get those float levels set correctly if that has not already been done. Finally, note that pulling the carbs and even resetting the float levels and taking out jets to clean them will have NO impact on your carb sync - I have never had it change from pulling the carbs. Goose
  16. V7Goose
    All of these statements are absolutely correct, and there is a LOT of misunderstanding about what the tire sidewall pressure means. There is no requirement to run any tire at the MAX pressure stamped on the sidewall, and often this is NOT the best choice; however, ALL tires will ALWAYS be safe at the max sidewall pressure (as long as the load rating is not exceeded). Unfortunately, the best handling is very often not achieved at the max pressure, even if the tire is safe at the max pressure. The recommended tire pressures from the bike or tire manufacturers for a specific application are based on the best handling. Nothing LOWER than the RECOMMENDED pressure should ever be used, but any pressure between the RECOMMENDED and MAX pressure is safe for the tire. All tires have a maximum load rating (how much weight the tire can safely carry), and that max load rating is also stamped on the sidewall. For a tire to safely carry the max load rating, it must be inflated to the max pressure, but most of us do NOT have that much weight on the bike. The Avon Venom rear tire has an 80H load/speed rating and a max pressure of 50lbs. - this is a much higher load rating than the stock tires for this machine, which means that that the Avon Venom 80H rear tire can safely carry more weight than is safe for the bike. This also means that there is virtually no situation where you ever NEED to have the max pressure in the Venom rear tire mounted on an RSV. Usually, running any tire at the maximum safe pressure will give you the best fuel mileage and longest tire life (especially on a car or trike). This is one reason it is so often suggested by others to run the maximum pressure. On a two wheeled vehicle that spends a lot of time on the big highways, maximum pressure can sometimes shorten your tread life simply because the center contact patch of the rounded motorcycle tire will generally wear faster at maximum pressure. In a few cases, the handling properties of a specific bike will suffer dramatically with the tire inflated to max - this is something I have personally found on the RSV with a Venom rear tire at 50lbs and the bike heavily loaded. This poor handling is not particularly noticeable in average riding, but loaded up and hitting the twisties at some speed makes if real evident. Thankfully, simply backing down the pressure just a few pounds solves that problem. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    I generally keep the front Avon about 38 lbs, but unlike the rear tire, I have not noticed a significant issue with handling based on the front tire pressure as long as it is above 36. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    Note that you sent a message to someone who is no longer a member about a post that is over a year old - he probably won't answer you. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    All bike riders (at least those with wet clutches, which means everyone but BMW and Moto Guzzi) need to understand what the JASO-MA certification means. In a nut shell, any oil that is certified for JASO-MA is good for wet clutches, no mater what else may or may not be anywhere on the bottle. JASO-MA is a specific certification for clutch slippage (actually, no slippage). In virtually all cases, if an oil is labled as a motorcycle oil, it meets JASO-MA requirements. Most auto oils do not carry the JASO-MA certification even if they could meet the requirements - if an oil is not specifically marketed for motorcycles, there is little incentive for the manufacturer to pay to carry the JASO-MA certification. Now you should also realize that just because a particular oil does not say it is JASO-MA certified does NOT automatically mean it will cause clutch problems, just that one which is JASO-MA certified will NOT cause clutch problems. If the oil you want to use does not carry the JASO-MA certification, it may or may not be good for a wet clutch - kind of a crap shoot unless you have lots of good reports from other bike riders. Many of us have used Shell Rotella for years - long before it carried the JASO-MA certification. Shell engineers stated long ago that even though Shell was not paying to get the JASO-MA certification, it did meet the same standards. Then about two or three years ago they got it officially certified anyway. I used to use Mobil 1 'red-top' auto oil, but when they changed the formulation on Mobil 1 about four or five years ago (and dropped the red bottle cap), I no longer trusted it for a wet clutch (Mobil 1 motorcycle oil yes, but not the current Mobil 1 auto oils). Since then, I have run nothing but Shell Rotella dino oil in my bikes. Goose
  20. V7Goose
    If you are stalled along the side of the road, you use whatever is available. If the only suggestion we make is to use a screwdriver handle, then sometimes the obvious alternative is overlooked in the heat of the crisis. But hey, you can feel free to beat on it with whatever you like. Just make sure it is hard. Goose
  21. V7Goose
    I agree that most of what you noted does sound like a pump going bad, but don't forget the easy check of just opening the tank if it happens again. Here is the order to check that out: Bike dies - pull over and shut off key. Turn key back on and listen for pump clicking. If it is a vacuum lock, the pump will click for about 4 seconds before it automatically shuts off. If no clicking, it is almost certainly a bad pump. Even if no clicking, go ahead and open the cap while carefully listening for a "whoosh", then try the key again. If the above simple steps don't get you running again, the next thing to try before you re-route the fuel line is to knock on the fuel pump with a rock or screwdriver handle or something like that - this will often get it running again (for a while, anyway - may be enough to get you home). Goose
  22. V7Goose
    There is an article in the tech library containing information on alternative parts: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38549 Lots of people have said how difficult it is to change the fuel filter - it is NOT hard at all. Here's how: Remove the two battery side covers (just one bolt each - the front one is a fake). Remove the front battery cover. This is only held on by one phillips screw on top in front of the battery, and one 10mm bolt on each side near the bottom that you can see when the side covers are off. Once the bolts are out, pop the spark plug wires out of the little plastic clamp on the front of the cover (or just pop the whole clamp off the cover) and pull the cover out the left side of the bike. The only even remotely difficult thing about this is that Yamahaha did not round the corners of the cutout on the bottom of the cover, so it does tend to hang up on the wires - just use a flashlight and long screwdriver to push the wires free of the edge and it will come right out. The filter is mounted vertically right in front of the battery - it is just slid into a rubber sleeve. Use needle nose pliers to pull up the spring clamp and pull the fuel hose off the top of the filter. Remove the top hose from the fuel pump - this goes to the bottom of the filter and just makes it easier to pull the filter out. The filter will push out the bottom of that rubber sleeve. Spray a bit of WD-40 around the filter sides at the top to make it slide easier and just push it down while you pull down and forward on the fuel hose you took off the fuel pump. If the filter doesn't want to start moving, try a little screwdriver to reach down and pull out the edge of the rubber sleeve at one point to allow the WD-40 to get down in there. The universal replacement filter has nipples on it that are two different sizes - use wire cutters or a knife to cut the smaller part off, then just put the bottom hose on it and push it back into place. You may want to hold one finger under the filter while you push the top hose onto it because the WD-40 will allow it to be pushed back down pretty easily. The only thing left now is to put the fuel line back onto the pump and put the covers back on. Goose
  23. V7Goose
    No, it did not. The only difference in the grade of gasoline is how resistant it is to knocking. This bike is designed to run on regular gas - any other gas has absolutely zero benefits for the bike - either the engine, fuel pump, tires, or any other part. The one thing about gas that could make a difference to some parts of the bike is to never use gas with alcohol, but that is near impossible these days. For fuel pump health, it is MUCH more important to change the fuel filter at a reasonable interval. I have about 100,000 miles on my 05 with whatever cheapest garbage fuel I can find, and my original fuel pump is just fine. Just because one pump dies is no indication of what another one will do. Same as with the rear shocks - some folks have gone through three or more, others have never had a problem (my original shock choked at 17,000 miles, but the replacement is still fine 80,000 miles later - and I didn't even change what kind of gas I buy! ). Goose
  24. V7Goose
    No way the fuel pump should have been clicking at all right after the engine was shut down, so that proves that you actually did "run out of gas" - at least to the carburetors. Although it is not a common problem, a vacuum lock on the tank has been occasionally seen on these bikes - by opening the cap, you released that vacuum (if that was your problem). The other possibility is that your fuel pump is going bad and just quit while you were riding it. If it continues happening, see if it always starts after you remove the tank cap - if so, you will need to find the vent problem. Goose
  25. V7Goose
    If you have an E3 on the rear, you are running excessive pressure. The maximum pressure for that tire, as stamped on the sidewall, is 40 lbs cold. Tire pressure increases a lot when they heat up, and the manufacturers specifically state that it is dangerous to exceed the sidewall max. For anyone else reading this thread who has, or is going to, an E3 rear tire, PLEASE do NOT put 43 lbs in it! Goose
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