V7Goose

Interesting post - this is the first I have seen of complaints about leaking valve cover gaskets on these bikes, so it is not real common unless they are not put together propperly after checking the valves. But I can explain why one may continue leaking even if the engine has not been run. The heads have a large triangular pocket in the outer corner that will hold a lot of oil right up against the cover gasket while on the side stand, so if the gasket is leaking there, it will just continue to leak after it is wiped off. In fact, this corner pocket holds enough oil that it will run all over the engine when you remove the cover! You might be able to fix the problem by simply tightening the valve cover bolts - the gaskets are thick rubber, so they are easier to fix by re-torquing than a paper or cork gasket. But BE CAREFUL; the torque spec on those bolts is VERY low, so don't just grab a wrench and start twisting with your calibrated wrist. Best to look it up and use a torque wrench. The chrome covers come off with just two bolts, and then the cover bolts are very easy to access. But if your bike is still under warranty, I'd definitely suggest you have them fix it. If the gaskets actually need to be changed, it is a HUGE amount of work. Goose

Sorry she had trouble getting on the bike. I imagine y'all tried it a number of ways, but just in case, I thought I'd post this idea. The passenger running boards are very strong - will support 300 lb man with no problem. And the side stand is equally strong. There is nothing wrong with her using the left floor board as a step to swing up onto the bike while it is on the side stand. Just in case you hadn't already tried that . . . Goose

I hope no one decides to follow your example here, as 42 lbs exceeds the max pressure rating for that rear tire, and it is potentially dangerous (E3 front is 41 lbs max, E3 rear is 40 lbs max). Two pounds over may not be overly dangerous itself, as many tire gauges are off by more than that, but consider the potential if your gauge is already reading 5 lbs low, and then you put an extra 2 lbs in on top of that? The best advice is to always make sure you use a gauge you KNOW is accurate, and then never exceed the max pressure stamped on the tire sidewall. And be sure to check EACH tire you have; it is easy to be mistaken! For example, the usual Avon Venom is rated for 50 lbs on the sidewall, but if you make a mistake and buy the V rated Venom in the same size, it has a much lower max rating. Goose

Excellent advice. Without the instruments, you have no real idea what is going on (but even if you add the gauges, you need to know what the readings mean). Stud Muffin (gawd, now I need to disinfect my fingers after having to type that! ) understands that and clearly knows what to do about it. You shouldn't assume you don't have a problem just cause you don't have the charge the battery between every ride - in fact, if your battery is that far gone, it's already way too late for you to do anything about it! Seems like most bikers are fairly happy to just get three years out of a bike battery, but that simply means they are regularly destroying their batteries by overloading/under charging, and they have been conditioned to ignore the problem. Goose

Taking the wheel off every 5,000 Km (3,107 miles)???? And then pulling the drive shaft too??????? Wow, I'd NEVER get any riding in! Heck, I'd have to find a garage every week when I'm on the road. I think that's just a tad obsessive. As for choice of lube, I am personally not a fan of Moly 60. I don't really have anything against it, just don't think the high concentration of moly is of real value in 99.98% of applications. I tend to usually follow the type of lube recommended by the manufacturer, and moly is not called for in this particular application on this bike. My choice is a wheel bearing grease, but if I decided to use a moly grease, it would be just a normal moly grease with typically low concentration. There is a reason the vast majority of all moly greases don't have more than 10% moly. But I caution any reader that I am NOT an expert on lubes, so do your own research and make up your own mind. Goose

36 F, 40 R is dead on for those tires. Do not exceed the sidewall maximum. Goose

25 - and there were a couple I thought I remembered from high school, but second-guessed myself and got them wrong. Bummer Goose

Well, that certainly makes sense! If my bike was still under warranty I'd swap parts with you. Unfortunately, my warranty was up in November. Good luck finding what you need. Goose

Just curious - why on earth would you by buying a relay for a bike that should still be under warranty? Goose

That tech tip is exactly what you need - no need to disassemble anything except removing the rear wheel. The drive fingers are inserted into the wheel, and all you need to do to remove them is take off one cir-clip. You may want to take out the drive shaft to grease it, but that won't have any affect on the noise you hear. Nothing wrong with doing that, but not everyone thinks it is such a requirement - I have 80,000 miles on my 05 and neither the drive unit nor the drive shaft have ever been removed. I do, however, clean and grease the drive fingers with every tire change. Goose BTW - the tech tip is available in our Technical Library here: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1705]Rear End Noise - Yamaha TSB - VentureRider.Org[/ame] along with another writeup including excellent pictures here: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13263]Rear Hub Lubrication - VentureRider.Org[/ame]

You do not say on which box you are making any changes, so I can only give you general advice. It is an unfortunate fact that HD and digital TV pictures have dramatically complicated the simple act of trying to watch a program. The first thing you need to do is make sure your satellite box is connected to your TV with a method capable of showing an HD picture - that will require either an HDMI cable or a three-wire video cable plus the normal L/R audio cables. Both the TV and the sat box have settings for the display shape. Some of the names used are like standard, wide, full, zoom, tall, etc. - these are not standard and they do not all operate the same. To make matters worse, many TVs show different video display settings with an HD input signal than they do with a standard input signal. This is why your picture is changing when you select a different resolution. To get things right, you need to use the correct combination of setting on BOTH boxes. On the sat box, I'd look for video settings that use progressive scan and Wide (meaning your TV is a wide-screen TV instead of a standard screen). With the sat box set correctly, then use the TV video settings to select the display that you prefer. The easiest way to do this is to select a channel that you know never transmits an HD or wide screen, such as Turner Classic Movies. ALL pictures shown on TCM are in standard format and will have black bars on both sides of the wide screen TV. Older movies will fill the screen top to bottom within those black bars, but a newer movie that is being shown in "letterbox" will have black bars all the way around (the width of the bars on top and bottom will depend on just how wide the original movie was). Your TV will probably have video settings to allow you to expand the TCM letter-boxed picture to fill the screen, but that setting will not work if they are transmitting a standard picture, since the expanded setting will cut off the top and bottom. For people who just hate seeing those black bars, even if it means watching a distorted picture, most TVs will have some type of a "wide" setting that will stretch the standard picture all the way to the sides. While this gets rid of the black bars, everything is distorted and faces tend to look squat and fat. But each of us gets to watch the picture we think is best. That is why you need to either leave the TV in standard setting all the time, or know how to change the video setting as needed. My personal preference is to use the "standard" or "normal" settings on my HD TVs that always lets an HD picture fill the screen, but also always shows any older 4:3 picture (usually referred to as "std") with the black side bars. That way I know nothing is ever distorted. Goose

This is the best advice. Take it in and complain about it; specifically request a warranty repair. They might do it, but unlikely. Just make sure to get the paperwork from them that clearly states your complaint and denial of warranty repair. Then if the shock fails within a reasonable time after warranty expires, you have solid ground for demanding warranty fix. In the US the law requires a manufacturer to stand behind any fault that was identified prior to the expiration of the warranty - this includes both a failed repair as well as a problem that was not repaired. Goose

Maybe it is just the need to get used to the change, but I don't particularly like it. I'm used to seeing the newly updated threads to which I respond show up at the top of the list, and I often think about new comments I should have made or wonder if I read the first post correctly, so want to open it up and re-check. Now I have to go find that thread manually. ugh Goose

Technically, the warranty does require a transfer within 10 days. In reality, I have rarely heard of any issue. I bought a used RSV and never did a formal transfer. When I needed something worked on, I just took it into my local shop and told them to fix it under warranty, and they did. Goose

This post has a number of innacuracies, which I have highlighted in red above. Here is an accurate description of the crankcase vent and carb overflow tubes on a stock 2nd gen RSV and RSTD: Even when the engine has too much oil, it never "back-up" through the overflow. What actually occurs when the engine is overfilled is that the splashing creates a excess oil mist that is carried though the crankcase vent tube into the two air plenum boxes directly above the carbs. Most of this oil mist is sucked through the carbs and gets burned, but some will condense on the inside of those air boxes and eventually work down throught he drain tubes. There is one drain connected to the rear of each air box that is routed down in front of the battery and out the botom of the bike right where the tip of the side stand is when retracted (there are four tubes there - these two drains, the gas tank overflow and the coolant overflow). There ARE two vent/overflow tubes that are routed to the front of the air intakes in the lower fairings, but these are not connected to the crankcase vent - those tubes that run forward are for carburetor float bowl overflow. Goose

Your problems should be easily fixed - sorry your mechanic is such an incompetent shyster. You may think he is a great guy, but anyone who repeatedly charges for the same work is just an thief in my book. And it is unbelievably worse when he never gets it right and STILL steals your money! Good luck finding somebody better. Goose (If you want to ride it down here, I'll do my best to help you out.)

Most of the comments in this thread are WAY off base for the original post. I'll respond in no particular order . . . First it is 2,000% impossible for the AIS to affect the engine in any way. Period. Its function is the same as a street sweeper following a horse - it makes NO difference if you pick up the road-apples or not, the horse (or your engine) functions the same either way. Being a California model is meaningless for this - the only difference is that the California model has a charcoal canister to absorb gas fumes from the gas tank and carb vents. The comments on the amount of oil are accurate, as far as it goes, but that has NOTHING to do with any oil that may be in the exhaust unless the engine is already total trash. If you overfill this engine (and you WILL over fill it if you follow the manual), it will blow lots of oil mist and particles through the crankcase vent into the air box above the carbs, but those air boxes each have a drain hose. Not only would it be virtually impossible to pump liquid oil up into that air box through the vent, but any amount of oil that doesn't get burned in normal combustion (causing blue smoke in the exhaust, but NOT liquid oil) will drain through those hoses and end up in a spot under the bike in front of and slightly left of the rear shock. The only way you could get actual oil in the exhaust is if the rings were completely gone (or compressed and bound by combustion products), or there was so much liquid oil flowing into the intake port that combustion on one or more cylinders was completely stopped and the liquid oil was simply being pumped through the cylinder and out the exhaust valve. And trust me here - if that was happening, you'd have some more obvious problems! Based on your initial post, you may actually have a problem, but I think it is also equally possible nothing is wrong at all. Most likely all you are seeing is normal condensation from a cold engine collecting in the cold pipe and mixing with the old gunk inside the pipes and blowing out a black oily-looking water. If you are actually getting any raw gas or oil blowing into the exhaust system, the header pipe for one or more cylinders will be dead cold long after the others are too hot to touch. But, since you said someone was messing with the carbs, there are several other possibilities that can be contributing to the perceived problem. One or more floats could be set too high, contributing to an overly rich mixture in those cylinders. Similarly, the enrichment plungers (AKA choke) on one or more cylinders could be hanging up and also contributing to an overly rich mixture. Goose

The carb heaters cannot be the problem since they only come on when the bike is in gear. I can't say for sure what the problem is on such minimal information, but I CAN say without a doubt that your carbs are a mess. Any 9 year old bike with less than 5,000 miles on it has been sitting WAY more than running. I can only imagine how many gallons of fuel have gone nasty and sludgy in that thing. It actually amazes me that it runs at all. Certainly many doses of good fuel system cleaner are in order, but that might actually make things worse before they get better (depending on how much varnish and sludge is actually in the fuel system). Personally, I'd start with 44K, then after a couple of tanks with high dose of that stuff, I'd pull the carbs, set the floats and blow all the passages and jets with compressed air. With the carbs still off, I'd turn the key on and pump several gallons of gas into large glass jars to see if any gunk or sediment is being blown through the fuel lines. Finally, make sure you change that fuel filter before you put it all back together! Goose

No reason for a special forum for this yet - I already solved that problem by putting links to the new FAQs in the main post above (#2), and temporarily moving those to the tech library. When we get further down the road on this we can talk about where they should really be. One other thought I had was to create a new locked sticky thread just for those FAQ links in the Watering Hole that would get the broadest notice from the newbies that most need to find the FAQs. The more I think about it, the better that sounds, and I could include a link to this thread for "FAQ Comments and Corrections." I want to keep this thread active to keep asking folks for ideas and corrections to what I have already done. Goose

One time, long long ago and far far away . . . I went to Sturgis in '73 - this was when I was living off the bike, and I had a rifle in a scabbard on the bike (rifle was cable locked to the frame), and I kept my spare helmet just sitting on the but of the rifle. Came back to the bike one day and the helmet was gone. But I dont' often lock up my helmets, even now. One place I would worry about is somewhere near the border between a mandatory helmet state and a no helmet state. I've heard of them being stolen in places like that from low-life puke bikers that get caught by surprise by the cops without a helmet. Goose

IT seems just fine to me. Since I always have a license plate on the bike, what else is needed? Goose

Thanks for the correction - that is the way most of these bikes are, but since I haven't taken mine off reserve in four years or so, I forgot! Goose

Radio, CB, MP3 and other External Audio (still under construction) Q: How do I use an MP3 player or other audio device with my Venture? A: There is an Aux input jack right next to the stat-of-the-art cassette player in the fairing. In addition, many owners have used a splitter in the Aux input line to add an additional input jack right next to the Aux power jack on the left side of the fairing (be advised, however, that you should NOT connect two external audio devices at the same time, even if you have two jacks, unless you use some type of external isolation device to prevent probably damage to one or both of the audio devices). Please see the threads in this section of the Technical Library for all the answers: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=74]Radio, CB, GPS, Etc. - VentureRider.Org[/ame] Q: My CB antenna is on a different side of the bike than my buddy's antenna - how do I know which one is right, and does it make a difference? A: The CB antenna should be on the left side of the trunk. It makes a difference because the CB unit is mounted under the trunk, and the antenna wire from it is not long enough to reach the CB antenna if it was mounted on the wrong side during dealer prep of your bike.

Handling, Suspension, Tires, Controls, etc. (still under construction) Q: Man, this bike is HEAVY! And it feels like it is going to fall over every time I turn in the parking lot. Is there any way to improve this? A: This is a VERY common complaint for the stock RSV or RSTD, and it is generally considered the worst on a stock bike with OEM Bridgestone tires (much worse for this than with Dunlop D404s, the other OEM tire). There are two very easy and complete solutions: put on better tires (discussed below) and/or raise the rear of the bike slightly which changes the rake and trail of the front suspension and dramatically improves the low speed handling. The rear can be raised by 1" by replacing the stock lower struts on the rear shock with struts that are 1/4" shorter. See this article in the Technical Library for more info: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=492]Raising the Rear of the RSV - VentureRider.Org[/ame] [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=492]Raising the Rear of the RSV - VentureRider.Org[/ame] Look for discussions about "Leveling Links" for an available retail solution. In addition, lowering the front by about an inch should provide the same dramatic improvement as raising the rear. See this article in the Technical Library for more info: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=939]Lowering the Front End - VentureRider.Org[/ame] [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=939]Lowering the Front End - VentureRider.Org[/ame] Q: My legs don't seem to reach all the way to the ground - what options do I have? A: There is a commercial lowering kit available for the rear which involves both different shock struts AND a new bracket to move the rear brake calipers below the swingarm. Be aware, however, that lowering the rear of the bike without also lowering the front should make the low speed handling worse. I will note here that some owners who particularly like their bikes with the lowering kit disagree with this. Q: What tires are the best tires for my Royal Star, and what sizes should I buy? A: Let's take those questions in reverse order. The stock tire sizes are: Front: 150/80-16, Load rating: 71 (need to verify). Speed rating H Rear: 150/90-15 or MV85-15, Load rating 74, Speed rating: H Some people recommend switching to a slightly narrower front tire (130/90-16) to improve slow speed handling. While this is a fairly popular choice the opinions are mixed. It definitely makes slow speed handling faster, but many also feel that it reduces high speed stability. In addition, the effect of the narrower front tire is very similar to the improvement you get from raising the rear of the bike, and if you do both changes, some riders feel the result is not optimal. Do some research on the forums on the subject of tire sizes, front tire size, handling, etc. In particular, V7Goose has done a lot of tire testing and provided detailed write-ups, so an advanced search for posts from V7Goose and the key word "tire" should result in most of those discussions. As for the question of what tires are best, we will try to provide a few suggestions while recognizing that preference in tires is a very personal thing. In general, the vast majority of experienced Royal Star owners agree that the OEM Bridgestone tires are the absolute worst possible choice for this bike. The OEM Dunlop D404 is generally considered an acceptable but just average tire. The three most popular tires for the 2nd Gen Royal Stars are currently Avon Venom, Dunlop Elite3, and Michelin Commander. Any of these tires in stock sizes should provide you with an excellent handling bike and above average tire mileage. Q: Is it OK to mix brands of tires? A: Yes. While most tire manufactures state that they recommend you use only a matched front and rear tire from their specific brand for best handling, I do not believe any of them specifically prohibit mixing different brands or tread styles between front and rear. In addition, many many riders have chosen to change brands of tires when the rear wore out, but stay with the still good front tire without noting any ill effects. Q: Can I use radial motorcycle tires on my Royal Star? A: No. Both the tire manufacturers and the bike manufacturers say to only use radial tires on bikes that were specifically manufactured for use with radial tires. In addition, at this time there are no radial motorcycle tires available in the stock sizes for these bikes. Q: How long should my tires last? I see some posts where people claim to get over 20,000 miles on a rear tire - can this really be true? A: Now this is a REALLY controversial subject! In general it is VERY difficult to compare tire mileage between different riders, even when both are on the same bike and same tire. This is because even seemingly minor differences in riding style have a HUGE difference on tire life - the biggest factors being smoothness of throttle usage, amount of engine braking used, and differences between front and rear braking techniques. While it is certainly possible that some riders have achieved more than 20,000 miles on a rear tire with a Royal Star, this is VERY rare, and you should not count on it. But here is how you can predict with reasonable certainty what mileage you can expect from a particular tire by comparing it with others: If Joe says he gets only 8,000 miles on Tire "A", but 12,000 miles on Tire "B", you cannot necessarily expect the same mileage, but you CAN expect that you will get 1/3 more miles from tire "B" than you would get from tire "A", just like Joe did. For example, if you know you also only get 8,000 miles on tire "A", you can expect around 12,000 on tire "B", just like Joe. But if you have been getting 12,000 miles from tire "A", then you will probably get 16,000 from tire "B". Now with all that said, here are some average rear tire miles that we have seen reported over and over again from many riders on this site for some common tires (front tires generally last 1.5 - 2 times as long): OEM Bridgestone: 8,000 Dunlop D404: 10,000 - 12,000 Avon Venom: 14,000 Dunlop E3: 16,000 Michelin Commander: (need this info) Q: I am not happy with how long my tires last. Can I use a car tire? A: This is a question of intense debate and strong feelings on both sides. All tire manufacturers, motorcycle manufacturers, and many riders are emphatic in saying this should never be done. On the other hand, there are many riders on lots of different brands of bikes who chose to run a car tire and are just as emphatic that they believe their bikes handle acceptably with this modification. The arguments against using a car tire on a two-wheeled motorcycle range from "Your momma (or the manufacturers, other bikers, lawyers, etc.) said don't do it," physical incompatibility (15" car wheels are not the same dimension as 15" motorcycle wheels), it's dangerous and your bike will handle bad, and it gives your insurance company a legal ground to deny your claim in an accident. The arguments for using a car tire include they cost less, they last longer, a larger contact patch when traveling straight, better braking traction, and some people like (or are at least willing to accept) the way their bike handles with it. In an effort to reduce the arguments and animosity that can arise from a subject where the opinions are so strong, this forum has set up a special area specifically for this discussion, and we request that issues dealing with car tires installed on two-wheeled vehicles be kept here: [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=106]The Darksiders - VentureRider.Org[/ame] [ame=http://www.venturerider.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=106]The Darksiders - VentureRider.Org[/ame]

Thanx for the input guys! On the question of reserve - the amount may indeed be different between the Venture and the RSTD. I know the tank volume is different, but I personally have no experience with he RSTD to state how much gas is left when the fuel meter switches, so I will need input from owners who think they have pushed it enough to get an accurate idea. Keep the ideas coming, but don't be surprised if I don't incorporate everything in the final FAQ! After all, a FAQ list is specifically for FREQUENTLY Asked Questions, not All Possible Questions!! My initial list was simply a search of my own memory about the most often seen questions over the past five years, but I know I have missed a bunch. Just based on the current length, I think I will start breaking the different sections into separate posts. Goose