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Everything posted by V7Goose
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No, I almost never connect either my float charger or regular charger, even when I am going to let the bike sit for several weeks (a rarity for me anyway). Will it help or hurt? I'm not sure, but it is probably OK. I know all the manufacturers of a "tender" type charger will say that is an excellent idea, but I rarely believe such self-serving statements unless they are supported by independent research or testing. My concern would be if the "tender" could not fully RE-charge the battery before just holding the charge, and I suspect that many of them cannot do this properly with a maintenance free sealed battery (they take different charging voltages than a standard battery). So if the battery is not fully charged when you park it (a VERY common situation if you have been riding your bike around town, or anywhere for less than an hour), the question would be if it is better to just let it sit or put on a "tender" that will not properly recharge it. I do not know. Goose
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Dave, your drive train is just like an RSV. But Yamahaha used the Tour Deluxe moniker on some of the late 90s Royal Stars also, and those engines had smaller carbs, among other differences. I am ASSUMING that wes0778 was talking about those earlier Tour Deluxe bikes. Goose
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No, no glasses needed, but maybe a new brain. I clearly saw the statement about the '96 Royal Star, but his post sounded more like he was comparing a newer RSTD or RSV that he recently purchased to the old '96 that he was going to get rid of. At least that is the way it sounded to me. Just another example of why I hate making any assumptions at all about what someone is saying in these posts. I guess that fact that I own an RSV causes me to think about them first when reading these things. My apologies to all if I misinterpreted the post. If in fact the '96 is the bike he is complaining about, I'll readily agree that it is going to have less power than my RSV, but still sounds like big problems if he can only use 5th gear on level ground or down hill! Goose
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You might want to look into things just a bit more before arriving at such a rash conclusion. Based on only the simple statements you provided, without any knowledge of what year or model of bike you actually own, I am prepared to flatly say that you have something major wrong with your bike. In fact, your description sounds just like an RSV that has one plug wire removed. Just for comparison, I can tell you that I have no trouble at all pulling the majority of 10,000 foot passes in the Rockies around 60 or 65 MPH in 5th gear with the bike fully loaded for touring. I rarely have to kick it down to 4th in those conditions unless I am slowed by other traffic. I do, however, tend to use 3rd or 4th gear when going DOWN the other side, just to hold the speed down! My bike is a completely stock 2005 RSV (not counting the addition of lots of lights and gadgets!). Good luck finding your problem, Goose
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If it was 12.8 volts a day after charging, then it seems to be in very good shape. If it was mine, I'd be happy to ride it that way on a trip of any distance. I understand people who prefer to replace a battery every three years, but I ain't one of them. In fact, as the anecdote above amply illustrates, even replacing your battery every year with an over-priced fancy model is no guaranty that you won't have a failure! Instead, I mount the appropriate voltage and amp gauges on my machines so I can actually verify that I am getting the full recharge when I expect it and never overloading the battery. Proper attention to the battery maintenance and condition works for me - the original battery in my '94 F250 made it 12 years, and the battery in my RSV is just about six years old and still working well. Hope you enjoy your trip! Goose
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12.1 volts is EXTREMELY low for this type of battery! You do not say how long it has been sitting since the last full charge, but Yuasa's tech manual shows that a sealed VRLA battery is only at 25% charge at 12.2 volts. Full charge is a minimum 12.8 volts. And you cannot measure that voltage right after charging due to a phenomenon called "float charge"; you need to wait a couple of hours after charging before you take the first voltage reading. In your case, I would properly charge the battery according to the top label (NOT with a battery tender type maintenance device, but a proper battery charger intended for this type of battery, then let it sit for at least 24 hours and see how much the voltage has dropped. Better yet, I'd like it to sit for about three days unused, and compare the voltage every day to see if it is maintaining as it should. As a last note, I'll mention that Yuasa states that special charging procedures are needed to bring this battery back after the voltage drops below 11.5, but since you have already done the first charge, that is probably academic at this point: (copied from the Yuasa tech manual) Batteries with voltage below 11.5v may require special equipment and procedures to recharge. In charging an overdischarged battery having a terminal voltage of 11.5v or lower, its internal resistance may be too high to charge at a normal charge voltage. Therefore, it may be necessary to raise the voltage of the battery initially (25v as a maximum), and charge for approximately 5 minutes. If the ammeter shows no change in current after 5 minutes, you need a new battery. Current flowing into the battery at high voltage can become excessive. Monitor amperage and adjust voltage as necessary to keep current at the battery’s standard amp rating. Charge for approximately 20 hours. Good luck, Goose
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Batteries that are not designed for deep-cycle operation do get damaged some with a deep discharge. But if it took a good charge and is maintaining 12.9 volts or more after sitting for a day or two, then I would not worry about it. The ultimate life span of that battery may have been reduced, but it should preform and age in a pretty normal fashion going forward. That means that you will have the same indications and warnings when it needs to be replaced that you would with any other battery. As far as I know, a deep discharge does not increase the likelihood of any sudden failure as long as it takes a good charge. Goose
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This thread was about a rear tire, not a front. But related to your question, we had another recent thread on Dunlop E3 front tires where the initial reports looked like a whole bunch of the new front 150/50-16 E3s being received now, maybe all of them, seem to be several years old. Goose
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Aw Dave, You just had to take all the fun out of this didn't you? Now how are we gonna argue about such an obvious problem? I guess now I'll just have to weigh in on the tire pressure choices! But in all seriousness, I'm glad you have put that problem behind you, but now you do need to decide what tire pressure you want to run. Most of the comments made earlier in this thread about trailer tire pressures were generally accurate (even those by tx2sturgis other than his insistence about that being your problem), but you may not want to just blindly swallow those suggestions. It is true that you do not NEED to run more than about 10 or 15 lbs in the tires on a little light weight trailer tire, and it is also true that running the minimum pressure that will just barely show tire flex when the trailer is loaded will make it run smoother, since the tires will soak up bumps and act like a soft spring. HOWEVER, in most cases I personally choose to run much higher pressure, even near max on the sidewall, because the lower rolling resistance is much more important to me. My choice varies depending on what type of stuff I have loaded in the trailer, how much weight I have on the trailer, and the type of roads I am on, but the vast majority of time I find that hard trailer tires touching only in the center are the best choice. You may want to do some specific comparisons before you make up your own mind. As to the repeated assertions that some have made about that much pressure causing center wear on your tires, there is just a grain of truth to that. Certainly a tire that is only touching in the center can only wear in the center, so when the tires do actually wear out, they will look like your tires did. But the main point here is that those trailer tires, when actually tracking properly, will last a LONG LONG time. Without a lot of weight on them and no drive or breaking force, they will roll over the road so easily that the wear will be minuscule. That is why my personal choice is to minimize the rolling resistance of the tires by keeping them hard instead of worrying about tire wear that is practically non-existent in real life. Goose
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Exhaust Leak at Y
V7Goose replied to rdhc's topic in Royal Star and Royal Star Tour Deluxe Tech Talk
Yes, that was an excellent picture of where the crimp leaks, and your description is exactly what happens. You still may have other problems that contribute to the excess hydrocarbons in the exhaust, but the leak in the pipe is letting in the oxygen to cause the pop. Goose -
Rear Brake Pads question
V7Goose replied to SilvrT's topic in Royal Star Venture Tech Talk ('99 - '13)
In my opinion you were quite fortunate to get even 17,000 miles out of the rear OEM pads - it is VERY common for them to be completely worn out by 10,000 miles. I rarely use the rear brake on my RSV, but the stock pads were on metal before 12,000 miles. EBC HH pads last me 40,000 on the rear. In contrast, the front stock pads last MUCH longer - probably because there are twice as many of them! I got about 50,000 miles on the stock front pads. Goose -
Your old meter should work just fine, but if you expect it to read the correct RPM it will need a setting for a two-cylinder engine (we have four separate coils, but each one has a waste spark like a stock HD dual-fire ignition, so it fires one time on each revolution of the engine). I use an old RAC tach/dwell meter in my shop all the time, and it has worked perfectly on every RSV except one where it showed a strange bounce. The tach trigger wire needs to be connected to the side of any coil that does NOT have the red/black wire on it (each coil has +12V red/black wire on one terminal and a different color on the other terminal. If you do not want to remove the tank, you can access the terminals on the rear coils from under the bike near the swing arm, but that is a bit of a pain. If you are not going to mount a permanent coil on the bike, I recommend you remove the tank and attach a single wire to the top terminal of the coil mounted on the right side of the frame backbone and route it up along the tank vent hose to terminate under the plastic key cover on top of the tank. Use a small zip tie to hold the end of the wire against the end of the vent hose so it never gets lost. Then all you need to do to attach your shop tach any time you need it is to simply remove that plastic cover. Goose
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Weight on the suspension will affect the pressure, but the reality is that just the weight of the empty bike on the side stand is not going to cause a problem - ESPECIALLY with the rear single shock where the acceptable range is anywhere from 0-57 lbs. But if you check/adjust it when the bike is loaded up and with a passenger sitting on it, you will have a lot less air in it than you think (in other words, the pressure will be a lot higher when there is a lot of weight on the shock). So if you are on a trip and forgot to increase the rear shock pressure before you loaded the bike, your best bet is to grab the right side passenger grab rail and pull up good before you check the pressure. Checking the forks could be a bit more problematic just because the air volume is so low and the acceptable max pressure is only 7 lbs. In my experience, the actual air pressure in the front forks on this bike does not make a huge difference in handling (I keep mine at 5 lbs - I weight 250), but making certain both forks are EXACTLY EQUAL does make a huge difference if you are trying to use a bit of skill in the twisties. If they are off at all, the bike will want to wander, and setting a line will be a constant fight. Because the volume of air is so small, you cannot even check the forks without a gauge with a zero-loss chuck such as the Progressive shock pump/gauge combo. If you have any doubts at all about if the air in the forks is equal, then just making sure both of them are ZERO is an excellent choice. Unlike the rear shock, where zero air is very uncomfortable to me, zero in the front is just fine. Theoretically, the bike on the side stand could result in different pressures in the forks due to slight increase in weight on the left side, but to be honest, I have never thought about that before. Next time I am out at the bike (and think about it) I'll hook up the Progressive gauge to the left fork and then stand the bike up straight to see if the reading changes. Good question! Goose
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Yes, I am positive that somebody does. But based on the limited information provided with your initial question, no further assistance can be provided. Goose
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Actually there is nothing missing at all with your light. The spring clip is under the rubber boot - if it was not there, your bulb would just fall out. The first thing you need to do in pull the plug off, then you can remove the big rubber boot that covers everything and keeps the dirt and moisture out of the housing. If you have managed this much with teeny tiny hands reaching in around the steering head, you will see the double spring clip that you need to flip down (I think down is the right direction; cannot really remember) and remove the bulb. When you are trying to put the new bulb in place, remember that you cannot touch the glass! No special dispensation just 'cause there is not room to work - no touching allowed! Goose (who has no tact whatsoever but still tries to actually help people)
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I think this thread is a great heads-up about a dealer who does not care about customers. There is no doubt that the dealer had no obligation to help an out-of-town rider in any way, but how they choose to treat someone in need is often very indicative of how they treat everyone. Let me tell you a little story with a similar lesson - several months ago I had a friend in town - on the road from Canada. I offered to help him adjust his valves while here. Unfortunately we broke my valve adjustment tool in the middle of the job, so we had a bit of a crisis - he was scheduled to leave the next morning, and we had his engine torn down with no way to finish the valve job. I went to the dealer I have used for years - bought my RSV from him, given him lots of business and sent many customers to him . . . Pleaded our case with how we had a man stranded many thousands of miles from home - were willing to buy or rent the needed tool at any price . . . Yamaha Suzuki of Texas simply said "too bad, so sad, we are not willing to help in any way." So we went down the road a bit to a different dealer who I had spoken with in the past, but never frequented because they are further away. Stadium Yamaha in Irving not only GAVE us the tool at no cost, no deposit, but they also GAVE us shims free (did not even want to trade shims, just gave them to us) and offered us a premium discount of 20% on anything else we might need! Bottom line is that the dealer who said "screw you" to a customer in need and a stranded traveler will never get another penny of my business and does not deserve a penny of anyone's business, while Stadium Yamaha in Irving will get all of my business and my referrals from now on. Goose
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Well sir, I thought I was done with this discussion, but after thinking about it a bit more and reading your repeated statements about your trailer tires in a later post, I just had to make one more reply to you because it is specifically appropriate for the original subject of this thread. I doubt that you will agree with me, but you absolutely have big problems with your trailer, too. Any street legal tire that is worn out in any way with only 800 miles has been abused in a defective setup. And the tire inflation had absolutely NOTHING to do with it. The process to identify what is wrong is exactly the same as I outlined for Dave. And I would be very happy to help you find the problem, but it sounds like you will need to buy two sets of tires just to get that thing here if you even care about getting it fixed. And to your question about "...just how sure are you?" I am 100% sure. There is absolutely NO possibility that any street legal tire on a lightweight motorcycle trailer could EVER be worn out in under 2,000 miles UNLESS there is something major wrong with the trailer. The fact that you ruined a set of tires in only 800 miles simply proves what I am saying. Goose
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Did you order from the catalog? I always deal with a local store, and they take care of everything right there. Your 90 days hopefully won't be an issue since your evidence is clear proof the problem existed before the 90 days was up. If they insist on an inspection, see if you can take it to a local HF store and have them do the inspection. Goose
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Harbor freight is pretty good about taking care of you. When I bought my trailer one of the fenders didn't look quite right and one of the zerk fittings in one wheel was twisted off. They replaced both the fender and the wheel without any argument at all. The reason I suggested you insist on a whole new trailer was so you didn't have to keep looking for what else might be wrong. But at any rate, you should insist they also replace the tires since they are only ruined because the trailer is faulty. You already had to dump your own money on one set just to get home, but you shouldn't have to pay to replace them again! Goose
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Your bike may be listed in your profile, but when you are asking others to help you, I would strongly urge you to take the little extra effort to provide the relevant information that they may need without expecting them to take the extra effort to research it. In addition, just because you would not ask a question here about another bike does not mean that nobody else would do it. In fact it is not that uncommon. Goose
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Dave, those pictures show that your trailer is clearly a very different animal than the HF utility trailer that I built. But then I guess I knew that from the beginning when you said the frame was welded. Your measurement and picture with the straightedge is enough to prove pretty conclusively that there is something major wrong with that trailer. If it was me, I'd just insist HF replace it. Goose
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Gary, I think you are just as far out of line as you think I was. If the OP was insulted, then I happily offer this public apology, for no insult was intended. I am sorry. But let's understand something else. I spend way too much time on this board trying to help people who actually need it to waste my time on assumptions and misdirection. There is no doubt that I have made those assumptions about someone's request for help many times in the past, and often wasted both my own time and that of everyone else reading the thread by responding to something that did not apply, such as a request for help that did not specifically state it was on a 1st generation bike. So I TRY to avoid the assumptions. Many members ask questions about bikes that are not even Ventures, let alone trying to guess between a 1st gen and 2nd gen. This question was not even asked in one of the technical forums, which would have helped in my being willing to make the same assumptions you did. In addition to not mentioning the specific bike to which it applied, the question clearly stated that something was changed that does not exist on this bike, but DOES exist on many other bikes. You and the OP may both prefer that I just ignore such a post rather than pointing out that there may not be enough accurate information to elicit a useful response. I do admit that my responses to people often lack tact - that is not intentional, but it is something that has been a problem for me my entire life. I am left with the decision of trying to help people despite my lack of tact, or just ignoring them. Goose
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Another bet lost. Man, you just can't let go of something, even when faced with the evidence that it has little or no bearing on the subject at hand. NO ONE in this thread has even once disagreed with the fact that an overinflated tire will cause the center of the tread to push out and touch the road first, but that still has ABSOLUTELY ZERO relevance to Dave's problem. We have said repeatedly that you are completely wrong in suggesting that it will cause a tire to be ruined in just 2,000 miles. Dave started this post with the problem that his trailer tires were ruined in only 2,000 miles. The fact is, absolutely no tires of any size or type on a light weight trailer (without problems) will show any significant wear in 2,000 miles, and the air pressure in those tires, of any size or type, has absolutely NOTHING to do with that fact. So continuing to harp on the idea that they are overinflated provides ZERO assistance to someone actually trying to figure out what the REAL problem might be. I am not suggesting that your ideas are wrong about how much air works well in this type of tire and application, just that it has nothing to do with Dave's actual problem. Let's help him get his problem fixed first, THEN worry about what tire pressure he wants to run. Goose
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Interesting - you think you changed the "clutch cables", but there ain't no such thing on this bike. Based on that, I do not believe any advice is possible. Perhaps you need to re-check for us what bike you are working on and what parts you have actually replaced? Goose
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The pickup coil is mounted with the stator. Tartan Terror can give you lots of info - he just went through a problem with his. See this thread: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49836&highlight=pickup+coil Yes, the pickup coils is very different than the spark plug coils. The pickup coil is what replaces the old ignition points - it triggers the spark by providing the input signal to the ignitor. Goose