V7Goose

I've had the original compression washer on the temp sender and bare nylon tube to the oil pressure (routed inside the existing clamps to hold it securely against the frame) for over 60,000 miles on my 05 with zero problems. There are already wires clamped to the frame tube on that side of the engine - all you need to do is snake the nylon tubing through the gaps next to the wires in the existing clamps, don't even need to take the clamps loose. Can't melt if you secure it and don't let it flop against the header pipe! Goose

Most probably a vacuum leak. Replace the rubber caps on the intake port nipples. For more information do a search on backfire and afterfire. Here is one thread with lots of discussion: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22961&highlight=afterfire Goose

Yes, if you let it reach normal operating temp so the thermostat was open and then a short while to allow full mixing of the coolant, you would get a good flush. The problem with that is the hot coolant would be difficult and dangerous to try and drain without waiting for the engine to cool off again. If you are going to go through all that, why not just take the extra 10 minutes to pull the fin covers and drain the water jackets? Goose

You are all confused - it is not the dark side. You simply saw the light!

C'mon, don't be ridiculous - the only thing a Saab is good for is carrying a refrigerator! I know that 'cause their own commercials focused on it; therefore, it MUST be true! Goose

I'm not sure I can completely explain your experience, but I'll try. Removing one of the water jacket plugs from the cylinder heads that do not already have a coolant return connection is identical to removing the radiator cap under the tank. In fact, removing the radiator cap is a little better since the air it lets in allows the coolant return pipe on the right side of the frame to drain quickly too. For this next step, the key difference may be if you do it on the side stand or on a maintenance stand that hold the bike straight. I do my work with the bike straight up, and after a full drain of the coolant, each cylinder water jacket still retains several ounces. ALL of them drain equally when I remove the rubber plugs. This is why the shop manual tells you to drain each cylinder water jacket separately. MAYBE, when you did your test, you had the bike on the side stand and then pulled one of the plugs from the RIGHT side of the bike? This would have allowed the remaining coolant in that water jacket to pool to the left and not drain, the same way changing the clutch while the bike is on the side stand does not allow any oil to spill. That is my best guess. Goose

OK all, I just got done testing the alternate method of only draining the radiator and flushing with distilled water - it does NOT clear the old coolant from the water jackets. Here is exactly what we did: Drained the radiator. Fill with only distilled water. Run engine for approximately two minutes - not long enough to reach operating temp and open the thermostat. Re-drain radiator. First part of the fluid was mostly clear, but then saw some light green, so it was picking up some of the original coolant left in - I suspect it was mostly from the little bit of coolant that circulated through the vent holes in the thermostat to the top of the radiator. Pulled one fin cover and rubber plug - coolant from the water jacket was bright green; therefore, it did not look like it had been diluted to any significant extent from the "flush". At this point decided the flush was ineffective, so pulled the other fin covers; the coolant from all four water jackets was the same - very green. So here is what I conclude - to get a complete coolant change, you need to drain the radiator AND all four water jackets. I believe that doing one flush with distilled water before draining the water jackets does push enough clean water through the water pump to remove the need to drain that unit. This is good since getting to the water pump drain bolt requires loosening of the right front header pipe. I think the cylinder water jackets retain less coolant than I first stated - maybe a maximum of four ounces each (might even be as little as two), so some of you might think it is just fine to leave that in and let it mix with the fresh coolant. This would be especially OK if you change the coolant every year, but probably not if you stretch it to four or five years between changes! I also think that spinning out the three 5mm socket head screws in each fin cover is so easy that it doesn't make much sense to skip that, but that is just my preference. I will update my first post on this with the new info and move that to the the tech library for future reference. Goos

OK all, I just got done testing the alternate method of only draining the radiator and flushing with distilled water - it does NOT clear the old coolant from the water jackets. Here is exactly what we did: Drained the radiator. Fill with only distilled water. Run engine for approximately two minutes - not long enough to reach operating temp and open the thermostat. Re-drain radiator. First part of the fluid was mostly clear, but then saw some light green, so it was picking up some of the original coolant left in - I suspect it was mostly from the little bit of coolant that circulated through the vent holes in the thermostat to the top of the radiator. Pulled one fin cover and rubber plug - coolant from the water jacket was bright green; therefore, it did not look like it had been diluted to any significant extent from the "flush". At this point decided the flush was ineffective, so pulled the other fin covers; the coolant from all four water jackets was the same - very green. So here is what I conclude - to get a complete coolant change, you need to drain the radiator AND all four water jackets. I believe that doing one flush with distilled water before draining the water jackets does push enough clean water through the water pump to remove the need to drain that unit. This is good since getting to the water pump drain bolt requires loosening of the right front header pipe. I think the cylinder water jackets retain less coolant than I first stated - maybe a maximum of four ounces each (might even be as little as two), so some of you might think it is just fine to leave that in and let it mix with the fresh coolant. This would be especially OK if you change the coolant every year, but probably not if you stretch it to four or five years between changes! I also think that spinning out the three 5mm socket head screws in each fin cover is so easy that it doesn't make much sense to skip that, but that is just my preference. I will update my first post on this with the new info and move that to the the tech library for future reference. Goos

There is a rubber plug behind each of the fake fin covers on each cylinder - you need to drain all four. There is nothing special about the right rear one. Goose

I have over 50,000 miles on my SilverStar Ultra with zero problems. Might be dimming just a tad with age, though. Seems as bright as ever to me, but when Ponch and I pointed our bikes side-by-side at a wall, his SilverStar Ultra made a noticeably brighter and whiter spot than mine. Goose

Yes, it will simulate a little improvement, but it will not be near as much as changing the links. Goose

Yes, raising the rear from any method will change the trail and make the bike handle faster. But remember, even with the rear shock at max 57 lbs., it will squat some when you sit on it, hit bumps, and from cornering forces. And besides, you don't want to ride around on a rock all the time. Better to change the support struts and set the shock for the correct firmness to get the ride you want. Goose

See, that's why you need an RSV; I can carry twice that without even having to think about using the trunk rack! (and I could throw on a 50lb bag of dog food too!) Goose

That's a deal. Just bring some coolant and a couple of gallons of distilled water. You will need at least two, two and a half if we flush it twice. Goose

Well Sir, I'm here, and weekdays or weekends are all the same to me. Bring that thing on over and we'll pick up some beer so we can tell lies and stare at it for a while! Goose

Been thinking about this a bit more - it is possible it would work better than just my theory analysis says. There is constantly some coolant circulation through the vent holes in the thermostat, even when cold. And when filling the system, the new fluid must flow down through the radiator and up through the water pump and cylinder water jackets to get to the top, so that might push a higher concentration of the remaining coolant up there for early circulation? If it can be done without heating up the engine, I'm all for it; otherwise, I would stick to the total drain method. The only way we would know for sure is to have someone test it by pulling one of the rubber plugs after the first engine run and drain with just distilled water - the key would be how green that fluid still looked. Not gonna be on my bike, since I just changed it all, but maybe I can find someone local ready for this who will let me help them do the experiment? Any takers in North Texas? Goose

Been thinking about this a bit more - it is possible it would work better than just my theory analysis says. There is constantly some coolant circulation through the vent holes in the thermostat, even when cold. And when filling the system, the new fluid must flow down through the radiator and up through the water pump and cylinder water jackets to get to the top, so that might push a higher concentration of the remaining coolant up there for early circulation? If it can be done without heating up the engine, I'm all for it; otherwise, I would stick to the total drain method. The only way we would know for sure is to have someone test it by pulling one of the rubber plugs after the first engine run and drain with just distilled water - the key would be how green that fluid still looked. Not gonna be on my bike, since I just changed it all, but maybe I can find someone local ready for this who will let me help them do the experiment? Any takers in North Texas? Goose

OK, I have resisted jumping in here 'cause anything I had to say was just negative. It's your bike and you get to spend your money however you want. But your recent posts seem to show a bad lack of understanding of your problem (whatever it might be). Please do not mistake the following comments - I am actually trying to be helpful. Honest! In no particular order: You said your current jetting is turning your pipes blue - I have absolutely NO idea to what you may be referring, but frankly, that is IMPOSSIBLE on an RSV! You cannot even SEE any of the pipes on this bike unless you get under the bike, and those pipes are not chromed, so they cannot blue. All the chrome you see on the exhaust are heat shields that are held so far away from the actual pipes I think much of the aluminum in the engine would melt before they could ever get hot enough to blue. You say you are comparing your bike to an 07 - fair enough; they are IDENTICAL. Let me repeat that - THEY ARE IDENTICAL. So if the 07 runs fine and yours does not, YOURS IS BROKE! Only someone with virtually no understanding of mechanics would attempt to rejet an engine that is not running correctly before he starts, so I would have serious doubts about the mechanic on whom you are wasting money. If your bike has the stock jets in it and stock intake/exhaust, it CANNOT be running too lean from the jets (if indeed it is running lean at all), since no other RSV on earth runs significantly too lean in stock trim. Therefore, once again you are faced with overwhelming evidence that either your bike is broke or your mechanic is a dolt. If your bike would loose anything to a 250, either it is BROKE, or you need to learn how to ride it. These bikes perform quite nicely, thank you. Your original post about too lean up to 4,000 RPM, then too rich above that, suggests to me again that your mechanic may not be worth anything. DISCLAIMER HERE FIRST: I am NOT a carb expert, nor have I ever put any machine on a dyno. The following comment is based only on what I think from things I have read. The idle circuit is the primary fuel feed to the engine up through a much higher RPM than most people think, so even up through 3,000 RPM you are not running completely off the main jets. Therefore, if you are already too rich when running totally off the main jets, just WHAT do you think you will accomplish by rejetting????????? I am not going to try to diagnose your bike, since I am not sure just what I can believe for real symptoms. But I sure wouldn't be doing what you are doing. Do keep us posted. If I'm wrong on any of that, I'd like to know so I can quit being wrong. I wish you the best in getting it all sorted out. Goose

Theoretically your method is pretty good, but unless you run the engine long enough to reach full temp and allow the thermostat to open, you are not getting any circulation through the engine. If you want to actually flush the system by mixing the new water with the old coolant, you need to run it a LOT longer. Unfortunately, that requires reconnecting the fuel and makes the bike and water too hot to touch for an hour or two each time. The thermostat doesn't even begin to open until 180 F, which is definitely burning temp, and you need to run it a little beyond that to get a good flush. You can tell when it is ready by feeling the bottom of the radiator. When it is too hot to hold, you have finally gotten the coolant out of the water jackets (and the water is gonna be very close to boiling)! Goose

Theoretically your method is pretty good, but unless you run the engine long enough to reach full temp and allow the thermostat to open, you are not getting any circulation through the engine. If you want to actually flush the system by mixing the new water with the old coolant, you need to run it a LOT longer. Unfortunately, that requires reconnecting the fuel and makes the bike and water too hot to touch for an hour or two each time. The thermostat doesn't even begin to open until 180 F, which is definitely burning temp, and you need to run it a little beyond that to get a good flush. You can tell when it is ready by feeling the bottom of the radiator. When it is too hot to hold, you have finally gotten the coolant out of the water jackets (and the water is gonna be very close to boiling)! Goose

See this thread - read all the way through for reports on the MT66 tires from start to end. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22152&highlight=mt66 Goose

I thought I'd post a few comments for those who have not been through this before. It is not hard as long as you have the proper tools. T-handle allen wrenches are almost mandatory for me - they make turning out the many socket head screws fast and easy. In addition, if you follow the manual (Method #1 below), you really want a set of long ball-end 3/8" drive allen wrenches for use with your ratchet. If you follow the shop manual, the job is pretty straight forward, but you will have one frustrating surprise. I have detailed the full drain procedure first as Method #1, then two slightly modified procedures that some might prefer at the expense of not getting out quite as much of the old coolant. The first steps apply to all three methods: You start by removing the seat, tank, both lower fairings and all three battery covers. Don't forget to remove that top center #3 Philips screw on the middle cover; it is kind of hidden! The cover slips out to the left fairly easily, but you do need to watch down in the middle for hoses and wire bundles that will hang up on the corners. Now you are ready to begin draining the fluid. METHOD #1 - The Complete Drain: The radiator drain bolt is obvious on the bottom left, and getting the overflow tank out is pretty easy too. It is only held on by one bolt and a couple of lugs in rubber grommets. Just use your fingers to push that plastic shield above it up so you can pull the filler neck forward and out to the right side. Some folks prefer to siphon out the overflow tank instead of removing it, but I don't know why; taking it out is MUCH easier than messing with a siphon hose! (But you don't have to remove the center or left side battery covers if you are not going to remove the tank.) Note: If you remove the radiator cap before you take out the radiator drain bolt, the coolant will drain VERY fast with quite a bit of splashing; you may want to let it drain mostly on it's own before you take that cap off! Next you will want to pull the fake cylinder fins off and take out the rubber plugs; use an old spark plug to screw into the plug and pull it out. Each cylinder water jacket holds quite a bit of coolant - seemed like about 1/2 cup each but could have been less - and those fin covers pop off very quickly with a 5mm T-handle. Make sure you leave the right front cover off until you finish with the next step! The frustrating surprise will come when you try to drain the water pump. The drain plug is a 17mm plug angled forward in the bottom of the chrome water pump cover, right next to the bend in the header pipe. The service manual says absolutely nothing about this other than to just take out the plug. Good LUCK! Absolutely no way to get on it with normal tools unless you loosen the header pipe. The good news is that you don't have to actually remove the pipe, just loosen the clamp at the front of the Y joint and remove the two socket head nuts on the header clamp (this is where you will really appreciate the long ball-end allen wrenches for your ratchet!). Once the header pipe is loose enough to pull a bit to the outside near the floor board, it is easy to remove the drain plug with a normal 17mm socket and a wobble extension or u-joint. Now you are ready to put all the drain plugs back in and replace the fin covers (make sure to get that header pipe back in place before you put the right front cover on!). DO NOT over tighten the radiator drain plug - that is all plastic, and the torque spec is ONLY 22 inch pounds. Even with the proper torque wrench, that is so light you can't hardly tell it has clicked, so you could still easily over-tighten and damage it. To me, the right tightness seems to be about what you can do just with your hand on a long 3/8" extension WITHOUT the ratchet. That's it. Only thing left is to mix up 3.5 liters of 50/50 coolant and fill the overflow reservoir to the FULL line, then carefully fill the radiator to the top of the neck. Put the radiator cap back on and run the engine for a minute or so (plenty of fuel in the carbs to do this without the tank) to let the coolant settle, then top off the coolant at the radiator cap. Now put it all back together and take your bike out for a short ride to get the motor fully up to temperature and check for leaks. Then after it completely cools off, check the overflow tank and top up to the Full mark if necessary (if there were any air-pockets left when you filled the coolant, some of the fluid from the overflow tank will be sucked in as the engine cools). METHOD #2 - Skipping the Water Pump Drain (almost as good as #1): Several folks have said they prefer to just drain the radiator and try to flush the rest of the coolant out with distilled water (see posts below), so I include these corner-cutting options as Methods 2 & 3. Drain the radiator and overflow tank as in #1. Now refill the radiator with distilled water (about three liters) and run the engine for at least two minutes. This will not be long enough to heat up the coolant and open the thermostat, but enough coolant will circulate through the vent hols in the thermostat to mostly clear out the water pump and leave only distilled water in it. RE-drain the radiator. Now pull each of the fake fin covers and pop out that little rubber plug. You will notice that coolant that drains from each water jacket still seems bright green, showing the "flush" was incomplete (that's why you are still doing these plugs). With the radiator plug back in and the fin covers back on, it is time to refill with coolant. But this time you have left some distilled water or highly diluted coolant in the engine, so it is best to not use pre-mixed coolant. Add about 1.75 liters of straight coolant, some to the overflow tank (1/2 full) and the rest to the radiator. Now top up both with distilled water and run the engine for a minute to work out any air pockets, then re-top the radiator with distilled water. METHOD #3 - Short and Sweet and Hope For The Best: In this method you skip draining both the water pump AND the cylinder water jackets. You will be leaving some of the old coolant in there to mix with the new, but some folks find this OK. Drain the radiator and overflow tank as in #1. Now refill the radiator with distilled water (about three liters) and run the engine for at least two minutes. This will not be long enough to heat up the coolant and open the thermostat, but enough coolant will circulate through the vent hols in the thermostat to mostly clear out the water pump and leave only distilled water in it. RE-drain the radiator and flush it again just like above. After two flushes you probably noticed a much lighter green color to the water on the last drain, so it is time to add new coolant and button it all back up. But remember, not only are you leaving some water/coolant in the water pump, you are also leaving it in the water jackets too, so you need to use a lower amount of new coolant in the fill. My guess of the right mix would be to add only 1.25 liters of coolant and then top it all off with distilled water. That's it folks, all done for another couple of years! My personal choice is Method #1. Even with the need to loosen the header pipe, it really isn't that difficult, and it doesn't take any more time than adding the engine flushes on the other methods. But whichever method you use, it is certainly better than not changing it at all. So now that the maintenance is done, let's rack up some miles! Enjoy the ride! Goose

I thought I'd post a few comments for those who have not been through this before. It is not hard as long as you have the proper tools. T-handle allen wrenches are almost mandatory for me - they make turning out the many socket head screws fast and easy. In addition, if you follow the manual (Method #1 below), you really want a set of long ball-end 3/8" drive allen wrenches for use with your ratchet. If you follow the shop manual, the job is pretty straight forward, but you will have one frustrating surprise. I have detailed the full drain procedure first as Method #1, then two slightly modified procedures that some might prefer at the expense of not getting out quite as much of the old coolant. The first steps apply to all three methods: You start by removing the seat, tank, both lower fairings and all three battery covers. Don't forget to remove that top center #3 Philips screw on the middle cover; it is kind of hidden! The cover slips out to the left fairly easily, but you do need to watch down in the middle for hoses and wire bundles that will hang up on the corners. Now you are ready to begin draining the fluid. METHOD #1 - The Complete Drain: The radiator drain bolt is obvious on the bottom left, and getting the overflow tank out is pretty easy too. It is only held on by one bolt and a couple of lugs in rubber grommets. Just use your fingers to push that plastic shield above it up so you can pull the filler neck forward and out to the right side. Some folks prefer to siphon out the overflow tank instead of removing it, but I don't know why; taking it out is MUCH easier than messing with a siphon hose! (But you don't have to remove the center or left side battery covers if you are not going to remove the tank.) Note: If you remove the radiator cap before you take out the radiator drain bolt, the coolant will drain VERY fast with quite a bit of splashing; you may want to let it drain mostly on it's own before you take that cap off! Next you will want to pull the fake cylinder fins off and take out the rubber plugs; use an old spark plug to screw into the plug and pull it out. Each cylinder water jacket holds quite a bit of coolant - seemed like about 1/2 cup each but could have been less - and those fin covers pop off very quickly with a 5mm T-handle. Make sure you leave the right front cover off until you finish with the next step! The frustrating surprise will come when you try to drain the water pump. The drain plug is a 17mm plug angled forward in the bottom of the chrome water pump cover, right next to the bend in the header pipe. The service manual says absolutely nothing about this other than to just take out the plug. Good LUCK! Absolutely no way to get on it with normal tools unless you loosen the header pipe. The good news is that you don't have to actually remove the pipe, just loosen the clamp at the front of the Y joint and remove the two socket head nuts on the header clamp (this is where you will really appreciate the long ball-end allen wrenches for your ratchet!). Once the header pipe is loose enough to pull a bit to the outside near the floor board, it is easy to remove the drain plug with a normal 17mm socket and a wobble extension or u-joint. Now you are ready to put all the drain plugs back in and replace the fin covers (make sure to get that header pipe back in place before you put the right front cover on!). DO NOT over tighten the radiator drain plug - that is all plastic, and the torque spec is ONLY 22 inch pounds. Even with the proper torque wrench, that is so light you can't hardly tell it has clicked, so you could still easily over-tighten and damage it. To me, the right tightness seems to be about what you can do just with your hand on a long 3/8" extension WITHOUT the ratchet. That's it. Only thing left is to mix up 3.5 liters of 50/50 coolant and fill the overflow reservoir to the FULL line, then carefully fill the radiator to the top of the neck. Put the radiator cap back on and run the engine for a minute or so (plenty of fuel in the carbs to do this without the tank) to let the coolant settle, then top off the coolant at the radiator cap. Now put it all back together and take your bike out for a short ride to get the motor fully up to temperature and check for leaks. Then after it completely cools off, check the overflow tank and top up to the Full mark if necessary (if there were any air-pockets left when you filled the coolant, some of the fluid from the overflow tank will be sucked in as the engine cools). METHOD #2 - Skipping the Water Pump Drain (almost as good as #1): Several folks have said they prefer to just drain the radiator and try to flush the rest of the coolant out with distilled water (see posts below), so I include these corner-cutting options as Methods 2 & 3. Drain the radiator and overflow tank as in #1. Now refill the radiator with distilled water (about three liters) and run the engine for at least two minutes. This will not be long enough to heat up the coolant and open the thermostat, but enough coolant will circulate through the vent hols in the thermostat to mostly clear out the water pump and leave only distilled water in it. RE-drain the radiator. Now pull each of the fake fin covers and pop out that little rubber plug. You will notice that coolant that drains from each water jacket still seems bright green, showing the "flush" was incomplete (that's why you are still doing these plugs). With the radiator plug back in and the fin covers back on, it is time to refill with coolant. But this time you have left some distilled water or highly diluted coolant in the engine, so it is best to not use pre-mixed coolant. Add about 1.75 liters of straight coolant, some to the overflow tank (1/2 full) and the rest to the radiator. Now top up both with distilled water and run the engine for a minute to work out any air pockets, then re-top the radiator with distilled water. METHOD #3 - Short and Sweet and Hope For The Best: In this method you skip draining both the water pump AND the cylinder water jackets. You will be leaving some of the old coolant in there to mix with the new, but some folks find this OK. Drain the radiator and overflow tank as in #1. Now refill the radiator with distilled water (about three liters) and run the engine for at least two minutes. This will not be long enough to heat up the coolant and open the thermostat, but enough coolant will circulate through the vent hols in the thermostat to mostly clear out the water pump and leave only distilled water in it. RE-drain the radiator and flush it again just like above. After two flushes you probably noticed a much lighter green color to the water on the last drain, so it is time to add new coolant and button it all back up. But remember, not only are you leaving some water/coolant in the water pump, you are also leaving it in the water jackets too, so you need to use a lower amount of new coolant in the fill. My guess of the right mix would be to add only 1.25 liters of coolant and then top it all off with distilled water. That's it folks, all done for another couple of years! My personal choice is Method #1. Even with the need to loosen the header pipe, it really isn't that difficult, and it doesn't take any more time than adding the engine flushes on the other methods. But whichever method you use, it is certainly better than not changing it at all. So now that the maintenance is done, let's rack up some miles! Enjoy the ride! Goose

I find the coverage from the Venture fairing excellent (a bit too excellent in the summer - extra hot if you don't vent the windshield). As for rain, I stay virtually completely dry in anything but a frog-strangler as long as I am running at least 60 MPH. But as a few others have stated, when you slow down, the rain gets a chance to drop in behind the fairing! For reference, I am 6'5" and I have about 1 1/2" cut off the top of my stock windshield. My wife rides with me a lot, and she generally stays dry under those conditions also. Ride safe, Goose

Same thing happened to me one time when a tire gauge got stuck in the rear latch. Took me 20 or 30 minutes of twisting, hooking fingers under the front edge and flexing the whole thing one way or another until the rear latch popped open. Goose