V7Goose

Any thread that has a new post goes to the top of the sort list in that forum, so threads that do not get new posts slowly move down on the list and tend to disappear. When someone types "bump", they are simply saying "I want this to get more attention, but I do not have anything worthwhile to say about it." Goose

Just a suggestion for anyone who feels the Leveling Links made their bike unstable with a stock size front tire - before you make you mind up, look for other problems with your bike. The handling problems described in the first post sounds just like what you get if your front forks are not exactly equal in pressure. Improperly beaded tires will also cause those sensations, as will loose steering head bearings and swing arm bearings. An over inflated rear tire or one that is worn flat in the middle will do it too. Raising the rear of the bike reduces the rake and trail of the front end, so it DOES accentuate the handling. That means that anything amiss to begin with will be much worse after the rear is raised. But in my experience riding an RSV for over 100,000 miles, and doing a lot of specific tire and suspension testing, the Leveling Links will NOT have any negative impact on handling at all if all else is good. Even if you go back to stock suspension, whatever else is wrong with your bike will probably just continue to get worse until you find it. Goose

Your fluid is old and full of moisture - that is why it is dark. Barke and clutch fluid should be changed every two years - your may still be original? Changing the fluid is very easy to do; that will solve your problem. Goose

My bet is that you actually have a cut in one of thode vacuum hoses that is all the way though, and your playing with it has it pushed on far enough at the moment to block the hole. Glad your problem is gone for now anyway - Goose

Some people with small hands or long pliers and patience have been able to replace the bulb from the back by turning the forks all the way to the right. You will see the plug and the rubber dust cover on the back of the headlight if you look in front of the fork down by the headlight adjusting knob. Most of us find it much easier to just split the fairing and remove the headlight from the sub-frame. The outside chrome ring you see does not come off. That screw below it is just one of the screws you need to take out to split the fairing. Goose

Well, this is a little more information, but I'm not sure it is exactly clear. But it does give me a couple of more ideas. You say the raw fuel was on the outside of the "lower carb boot" - by this I think you mean the tube that connects the carburetor to the engine? I call this the intake manifold, and Yamahaha calls it a "Joint, carburetor". If there is raw fuel below the carb, there is a slight possibility it could be leaking by the rubber gasket that attaches the carb to the manifold. A true backfire (explosion back through the intake valve into the carb) from this engine is very rare, but if something did cause that, it could have upset the fit of the carb to the manifold. That bottom clamp on the carb CANNOT be over-tightened, as there is a metal collar in the middle of the clamp that prevents it from being tightened beyond the contact point. This metal-to-metal contact on those lower clamps is why the screws often stick so bad they round out when you try to remove the carbs. Anyway, the only real check here is to make sure the clamp is in the right position, does not move with your fingers, and the carb is fully seated on the manifold. However, you also said the "black cover" on the carb was also damp with fuel. Did you mean the round black plastic covers for the diaphragm? If so, this says the ONLY place raw fuel could have been coming from is either above the carb or from the diaphragm cover itself. In either case, something significant is wrong. I cannot think of any way fuel would have leaked out of the vent hose connection unless the vent hose was kinked - unlikely, but possible. And even if it was kinked, enough fuel pressure in the carb to force the gas though that hose connection and onto the carb would almost certainly have forced some through the kink and out onto the back of the lower cowling under the air filter. The vent hose from the left carbs gos to the RIGHT air filter unless someone has changed it, so be sure to check both sides. All in all, I'd say this is definitely a warranty problem. Your bike has a 5 year unlimited mile warranty, and anything that causes leaking fuel would definitely be covered. In addition, anything that affects the proper running of the engine would be covered unless it was caused by a part that specifically requires periodic maintenance in the service specs. There is no part in the carburetor that requires any service or replacement, so any problem there has to be covered. Even if something is stuck in the float valve, the argument would be that with the un-modified fuel system, including the screens and in-line fuel filter, it would be impossible for something to be inside the carb unless it was there from the factory. The only exception here would be jets plugged from gum or varnish if the bike sat too long. But plugged jets do not cause leaking fuel. Good luck, Goose

Actually, we all gain by their continuing to produce the same bike unchanged - this means that all replacement parts will continue to be sold for longer, and as long as they continue to raise the price it even helps raise the value of our used bikes. I am only slightly disappointed that they did not introduce a 3rd gen; it would have been interesting. But I am completely happy with the RSV. I have virtually no interest in fuel injection, and I cannot imagine any reason why someone would care about the cassette player at all! So what if you don't want to use it? Just don't! After all, it cannot even be seen unless you open the door. In the current technology, a solid-state MP3 player in the Aux input is the only thing that makes sense anyway. The RSV is economical, comfortable, reliable, and beautiful - what more could any touring rider want? If I had to replace my bike today, the absolutely ONLY motorcycle I would even consider is another RSV. Either the 2003 Raspberry/Sand or the 2009 Gold/Black S are to die for! If you (anyone) are so unhappy with your current bike, PLEASE go buy something else. There are lots of options, so why continue to be unhappy? Ride safe, and enjoy whatever you choose to ride. Goose

Well, I cannot find any reference to an anti-dive system on the 2nd gen bikes, so it seems I was completely wrong about that. Checked the bike specs, the owner's manual, the parts breakdown and the service manual. I have absolutely no idea where I got that mistaken idea. Sorry if I misled anyone. Goose

Yeah, I can see that from your original post - sorry. I Saw Seaking's reference to his 06 and the brain got derailed. Guess I'll have to revisit this tomorrow after some sleep! Goose

Good question Jerry - I'm thinking I was wrong on this, since I cannot find any reference to it tonight. I was certain that I saw something in the specs on the bike when I bought it way back in 2004 about an anti-dive system - just squirreled that bit of "information" away in case I ever needed it. Or so I thought. Now I'm wondering if I just got some wires crossed in the brain! I'll look a little deeper in the morning and update this thread. Goose

I still cannot come up with anything that could possibly cause fuel to run down the carb boot UNLESS the overflow vent hose is disconnected. You can see these easily if you remove the tank and the black plastic air plenums above the carbs. The vent hoses connect to a T between the two carbs on each side. I do assume you know raw fuel when you say that is what you saw. It is absolutely normal on all RSV and RSTDs with a few miles on them to have an oily mess on the left rear carb and the rubber boot above it (I have discussed this in several older threads), but that does not look like raw gas. The only other possibility I can come up with would be the fuel line damaged by rubbing on something. I have never seen that on this engine, but that doesn't mean it can't happen! Goose

I THINK this bike has an anti-dive system, so that would seem to be the first place to look. If your bike is still under warranty I suggest you have it checked before you start making changes. Goose EDIT: Looks like I was completely wrong about the RSV having an anti-dive system - I cannot find any reference anywhere, and I have no idea where I got the mistaken idea. Sorry.

Your dealer is incompetent (and that is the absolute NICEST thing I could say about him). These bikes absolutely will NOT have any afterfire or popping from the exhaust if completely stock and set up properly. "Set up properly" means proper carb sync and no vacuum or exhaust leaks. Opening up the mixture screws will help the bike run better, but is not necessary to stop the problem. You can very quickly see if they even touched the mixture screws by looking under the carbs with a flashlight - if the brass cone-shaped caps are still on the mixture screws, they could not have touched them. If the bike was not doing the popping before you took it in, then the dealer either totally messed up the carb sync, failed to replace the caps on the intake vacuum ports, or probably cut one of the AIS vacuum hoses when they tried to get them off to do the sync (those hoses always are stuck real bad the first time from the factory). If it was doing the popping before you took it in, then you may have one or more leaks at the exhaust Y pipes. Goose

Got me stumped here - nothing should put raw gas running down the carb boots. If you have a stuck float, the overflow hose should route the gas to up by one of the air filters. I'll have to think about this a bit . . . Goose

It is unfortunate that your dealer went through all the work to pull the carbs to replace a float bowl "gasket" and did not actually check the floats while it was apart. Of course I have no proof that he did not do the job correctly, but I have done so many of these I'd still put a sizable bet that your floats are way too high. I'd love to have the opportunity to check those myself so I could issue a public apology to the dealer if he is not lying. And I'm even giving him what I consider the benefit of the doubt that he even pulled the carbs at all or you had a float bowl leaking. That is unlikely, but still possible. I wish you the very best and hope he did fix the problem. But be sure to carefully inspect the back of those cowlings below the air filters for signs of fuel leakage. And keep your nose sharp for more fuel smells so that you get it back in quickly when you find the problem was not fixed. Goose

This problem is not uncommon on these bikes. I believe it is caused by the floats being set WAY too high from the factory. The fuel smell is coming from the overflow vent hoses that exit near the air filter openings. If you look close at the front cowling under the air filters you may see signs of fuel or oily dirt there too. Often the fuel will damage the paint on the inside of the cowling. I have checked/reset floats on over 50 of these engines, and every single one was WAY too high according to the spec. In every case where the owner complained of an occasional gas smell after shutdown, properly setting the floats did solve that problem. It also tends to improve fuel mileage by about 10%. These carburetors do not have "gaskets" per se, the float bowls have rubber o-rings. In my experience, these o-rings virtually never need to be replaced. Even on bikes 10 years old on which I have pulled the carbs and properly set the floats, the original o-rings did not leak at all when re-assembled. HOWEVER - do not fault the shop for ordering these parts - replacing any sealing gasket or o-ring is always a best practice, and they should not be cutting any corners under warranty work. Goose

See this thread: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22152&highlight=pirelli In a nutshell, the Pirelli Route 66 tires are just average. They are cheaper than most, but they do not last as long as Venoms or E3s. The cheaper price is eaten up in more frequent tire changes, and you still sacrifice the better handling you would get with Venoms or E3s. Goose

You should be checking your valves regularly (about every 30,000 miles), but as far as I know, the time chains are probably good for way longer than you will own that bike. Goose

Absolutely - this is because of the connection in the brain between the got-it bone and the want-more ligament - the more you got it, the looser the want-more connection is and the easier it is to let the money dribble out the sphincter while you imagine you are getting more. This is perhaps easier to understand when you think about how people who do not have as much got-it are often referred to as "tight-a$$es". There is a direct correlation between the amount of got-it and the tightness of the sphincter. Of course, stupidity and immaturity also loosen the sphincter a lot, no matter how much got-it the person may have. Hope that helps, Goose

These bikes do not have many weak points to watch for - at the risk of repeating things from above, here is my list. Rear shock - only major weak point that should be of major concern with a used RSV. The key is to make sure the bottom of the shock mount is DRY. There should be normal road dirt on there (be very afraid if someone has washed it clean), but ABSOLUTELY NO OIL RESIDUE! Not wet oil or even oily dirt. If there is any sign at all of oil on the bottom of the shock, it MUST be replaced. Do not let anyone lie to you about vent tubes down there causing the oil - those vents should be routed to the left side near the frame, and even when someone has overfilled the crank and gets a lot of mess from those tubes, it does NOT get on the shock. This is an expensive fix, and they often go bad before 20,000 miles; that is why I harp on it so long. Be concerned about any loud aftermarket pipes. While some people put them on just to get attention or annoy others, on this bike they are often mounted to cover up an annoying engine whine. Not all RSVs have a whine, but a few have it very bad - that is why a good test ride is so important. Cover some miles in all riding conditions. Do not forget to check out the radio, and try to find or borrow a headset to verify those connections work. Any Goldwing headset and cord will work. Check both front and back connections. This is not a common problem, with these bikes, but no reason to get surprised. At a minimum, if you cannot check the headsets, make the seller guarantee the radio. Check the chrome trim under the windshield - put your fingernails under the edge and see if it wiggles - it should NOT. But these things have plastic tabs that are broken on 87.6% of all RSVs, and that piece is over $100. Look for scratches under the corners of the front and rear crash bars to indicate if the bike has been dropped. These bars do a very good job of protecting everything if the bike has just fallen over, but they do bend easily if there was any forward motion. So if you find any scratches there, examine the fit and alignment of the front bars with the lower cowlings VERY carefully. One way to look for out-of-whack alignment here is to turn the forks all the way to both sides and see how close the turn signals or lower wind deflectors are to the cowlings. Make sure the two lower cowlings fit together evenly in the middle and there is black plastic rivet in the middle underneath. Tug lightly on the bottom of each near the middle - there should be NO movement unless the inside mounting lug is broken off. As others have said, check all brake pads, but ESPECIALLY the rear brakes, as these wear quickly and often unevenly. Feel the INSIDE of the rear disk for any grooving that might indicate metal contact. Open the right saddlebag (for easier access) and pop off that little black plastic cover on the calipers - now use your flashlight to get in there and look for plenty of pad left on BOTH pads, particularly the inside one. Tires are a very personal thing, but for ME, I absolutely would never accept an RSV with either Brickstone or Metzeler tires on it in ANY condition, even brand new, unless I was ready to also spend $300 IMMEDIATELY to replace them. The Brickstones will handle like raw sewage and make the bike feel VERY heavy at slow speed, and the Metzelers will just kill you. My preference is for either Avon Venom or Dunlop E3 tires in STOCK size of 150/80-16 front, 150/90-15 rear (also known as MV85-15 for the E3). Unless you are a midget, watch out for a bike that has been lowered. The rear brake calipers should be ABOVE the swing arm, and the top of the front forks should be EVEN WITH the top of the triple tree. Check the inside of the trunk for cracks - again, this is not real common, but good to look. check around all the bolts and screws, and remember to lift up the mat on the bottom to check there. Look under the mat in the right saddlebag to make sure the tool kit is there. Make sure the same key works in the ignition and the gas cap/luggage. I guess that is about all for now - good luck in finding one you like, and don't hesitate to ask us about anything that puzzles you. Goose

Tinman, you probably have already seen this info in other threads, but thought I'd just make sure - in preparation for your first ride on an RSV, you need to absolutely understand how important it is to ride that engine differently than a V-twin. If you just get on it for a gentle ride without really thinking about this, you will think the RSV is a poor dog. This short stroke V-4 does not have low end grunt like a long stroke V-twin. It thrives on much higher revs, and if you jerk the throttle wide open at anything under 3,000 RPM, it will hammer and shake a while until the revs finally build to a decent level. Unfortunately, these bikes do not come with a tach, so there is no really easy way for a new RSV rider to really understand where to keep the engine speeds. Here are two things you can do to compare the difference: First, make sure you goose it good in 1st and 2nd gear when hitting an on-ramp or similar type road - jerk the throttle open and hold it until you feel the engine falter when it hits the rev limiter. You can try that in 3rd gear too, but know that you will not hit the limiter in 3rd until about 96 MPH. My point here is not that you should always try to hit the limiter, just that if you haven't hit it at all, you probably won't have any idea how high you can (and should) be reving this engine. Second, be running a steady 50-55 MPH in 5th gear, then roll the throttle on hard - this is way too low an RPM for 5th gear, so you will see exactly what I mean by "dog". Now do the same thing while running in 3rd gear - this is what the bike should feel like. Note that I am not saying you always have to kick it down to 3rd to accelerate from 50, just that you need to do it if you are going to snap the throttle wide open. And remember, 3rd will take you way past legal speeds and other traffic on any road in America. In more sedate riding, you can spend all day in 5th gear, running clear down to 40 and back up to over 100 without ever needing to shift as long as you are generally staying with the typical car acceleration. and enjoy the ride, Goose

I applied their product exactly in accordance with their printed instructions provided with the product. In my opinion, Color Rite paint is crap and not worth any price. Goose

Well, you are sure right up against the time limit on that warranty! Glad you found the problem was not fixed in time to report it. Unfortunately, you seem to have dealer of questionable mechanical ability, but you do not have much choice but to take it back to them (or another Yamaha dealer if one is available). The bad news is that we cannot pinpoint a most-likely problem for an easy fix, since there are just too many things that can cause this problem. But the good news is that it should be relatively easy to isolate it and fix for anyone who knows what they are doing. The first step is to verify the battery is fully charged (minimum 12.9 volts), and that it will hold that voltage for several days while disconnected from the bike. Then you need to know how many milliamps the bike is SUPPOSED to draw with the key off. Hopefully that is in the shop manual somewhere, or else you will have to measure the draw on a good bike. Using a milliammeter, disconnect the positive lead from the battery and place the meter in-line to verify that the bike is actually drawing too much current with the key off. CAUTION!!!!! Never turn on the key when using an in-line milliammeter in any circuit on the bike! That will smoke the meter. If the first test at the battery terminal verifies that the bike has an excessive drain, then you simply reconnect the battery and use the same meter in place of each fuse (starting with the main 30A fuse) to identify which specific circuit is causing the drain. When you find it, it should be a relatively simple matter to trace out the circuit and isolate individual components. Goose

Well, as you can see from the answers to this thread, there are lots of different opinions about the weight of this bike. Personally, I do not think it is top heavy at all. I have over 100,000 miles on my RSV, about half of them two-up. I weigh 250 lbs and my wife is about 150, and to me this bike feels very light and handles fantastically. I guess the bottom line is that you just need to find one and take a test ride. My only caution to you is that you should absolutely NOT make any opinions about an RSV that has the horrible stock Brickstone tires. ANY other tires will be fine, but if it has Brickstone crap on it, the bike WILL feel very heavy at slow speeds. Some people may feel that it is hard to believe that a particular brand of tire would make such a huge difference (especially when they are fitted as stock tires), but it absolutely does. Goose

Your pressure plate is not correctly seated in the teeth of the clutch hub. Before you even get the spring bolts finger tight, you need to wiggle the pressure plate some to see that it is fully seated in the hub. Goose