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V7Goose

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Everything posted by V7Goose

  1. V7Goose
    Got any pictures of that tire? 3,000 miles is not really much left, considering how much effort goes into changing tires, especially since front tires commonly last well over 20,000. I'll be riding by next week on the way to Don's maintenance day; if the tire looks good enough I'd consider dragging it along. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    Well, I know zero about those old antiques, but I'm guessing the carbs are pretty much the same. If so, setting the float level is simple if you have a shop manual that specifies the proper level. The unknown part for me is how to pull the carbs on that bike. I actually don't like "messing" with carbs either, especially without the right test equipment to get all the settings correct instead of guessing! But I have learned a lot about it over time. The good thing about checking/setting the float levels is that it can be done without touching anything else. If you find the float levels way off, then you might want to consider having the carbs properly set later with an exhaust gas analyzer, but if you check them and they are good, you can just slap it all back together and know nothing else will have changed from when you started. If the carb settings seem all messed up (based on reading the plugs), then we can still get them set reasonably close with either a color tune or just a tach. We can demonstrate that, too (I have an audio tach on my laptop that can be used for bikes without a tach). Of course, that assumes there is nothing else wrong with the carbs! Goose
  3. V7Goose
    You got it right. I was talking about helping someone do one bike and having anyone else interested watch. We have lots of pictures of this in the tech library already, so that isn't a big goal, but wouldn't hurt if someone wanted to document it that way too. If more than one person wants to have their floats done, they could work on their own bike at the same time. As long as they don't need any more than a few pointers on pulling the carbs and putting them back in, it shouldn't be a problem. Once the carbs are out, setting the floats on the bench is pretty simple. The limiting factor is probably how much room we have for multiple people to work on their own bikes at the same time. Goose
  4. V7Goose
    Just throwing this out to see if we have any takers... I plan on getting into Don's on Thursday, so that leaves Friday mostly open (just have one tire change planned). If anyone will be there who is interested in having their carb floats set (2nd gen), I'd be happy to do a clinic on that. I've been thinking about this for a while, but decided that it was a bit too involved for normal maintenance day since it takes several hours to pull the carbs and put them back. But if we have folks interested on Friday, maybe that will work? Lemme know... Goose
  5. V7Goose
    There is LOTS of information on this board about this subject, including personal testimonials. Here is just one thread: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35674&highlight=clutch+upgrade Goose
  6. V7Goose
    OK, I now have 5,000 miles on the E3 I mounted on the rear, so I figured it is time for an update. I am still very pleased with the handling - it seems on par with the Avon Venom. I will know more about this soon, as I am just now getting ready to mount the matched E3 front tire today. Up 'till now I have been wearing out a used stock Brickstone front tire that I mounted a few months ago while waiting to order new tires. I have been able to feel the handling of the bike diminish a bit as that old Brickstone wore down, so I am looking forward to seeing what a matched set of Dunlop E3s feels like. It should be very different than what I have had for the last 5,000 miles since the front E3 in stock size is much thinner and more rounded than those nasty Brickstones. And a note on rear tire life - I have seen a number of very fantastic claims of phenomenal rear tire life with Dunlop E3s on the RSV - so fantastic I find them impossible to believe. Not that I think our members are not telling the truth, mind you, just that I cannot believe I could ever get over 20,000 miles on a rear tire on MY RSV. And at this point the indications are that I will probably get very similar rear mileage out of the E3 as I get from an Avon Venom (consistently about 14,000 miles on the rear). Here is why - I measure about 0.32" of max tread depth on a brand new rear E3. Now with exactly 5,000 miles on that tire, the tread depth measures 0.22" inches. Looks to me like 1/3 of the tread gone in 5,000 miles, so it will probably be ready to change right at 14,000 miles, just like my Avons. So, with 5,000 miles on my first E3, would I buy them again? Absolutely. Right now they are considerably cheaper than the Avon Venoms, and they seem to be performing every bit as good. I'll keep you updated as the miles go by... Ride safe, Goose
  7. V7Goose
    Yup, probably the clearcoat, but so what? My point was I used both the colorcoat and clearcoat prescribed and sold by the ColorRite company. Although the initial color match was great, the product changed over time (just one year). It really doesn't make a lot of difference WHY it changed, unless I did something wrong, since it will probably have the same problem for anyone. That's all I wanted to convey. Just wanted others to be forewarned before using ColorRite rattle can paints. Their two-part clearcoat may have the same problem, or not, but I have no experience with it (and now I am sure I never will). Goose
  8. V7Goose
    There are very few options for matching factory colors on the RSV. ColorRite is the primary supplier for factory matched colors or you can have a paint shop do a custom mix. That is about it; I did find one other company that supposedly had matched colors, but I don't remember who they were, and there was something about what I read that made me wonder if it was really color matched. Anyway, when I needed to repair my saddlebag lid last year I decided to go with ColorRite rattle cans, both colorcoat and urethane clearcoat. At this point let me note that metallic paints are difficult to match perfectly, and any silver or yellow color is the most difficult of all to get a perfect match. ColorRite even warns that the 2005 Liquid Silver paint is "factory variance" color where they cannot guarantee the match. Despite that concern, the initial paint repair on just the front 1/3 of my right saddlebag lid was excellent. The amount of silver flake was perhaps just a tad greater in the new paint, but you had to look extremely close to see the transition. In retrospect I would do the entire lid instead of just the front 1/3 if I was doing it again, since I could not detect a difference in the paint from the lid to the body of the bag. Basically, I was very very happy with the quality of the paint repair on my 2005 Liquid Silver RSV from the ColorRite spray cans. But one year later my opinion is changing. The repaired area has significantly yellowed and now has a very distinct gold shine to it instead of the original silver. Very pretty, but NOT a match for my stock paint! I do not know if this yellowing would show up on other colors, but it sure does on the 05 Liquid Silver. Sooooo, if you need to repair the silver paint, I'd strongly suggest you find a paint shop that will do the job and guarantee the color will not shift after a year or two - the extra cost will probably be well worth it. Goose
  9. V7Goose
    I have no doubt that you think so, but technically, the science makes this completely impossible. Premium fuel has NO more energy per gram than regular, so it is totally impossible for it to either give you more power or better fuel mileage (and despite what a few other folks say, it also cannot give you worse fuel mileage). The only thing the higher octane does is resist detonation better, which is the tendency of the fuel to ignite from the heat and compression before the spark. If it does not pre-ignite, once the spark plug fires and starts the burn, the fuel will burn with equal energy and completeness no matter what the octane. BUT! - if you buy gas with alcohol in it, you absolutely will get worse fuel mileage than any gas without alcohol! Again, the science dictates that this will always be true since alcohol has less energy per gram that gasoline. And proof of the mileage is mighty hard to come by outside the laboratory. In fact, it is virtually impossible to get accurate miles per gallon calculations from one tank of gas on a motorcycle, or even five tanks. Too many things will affect the fuel consumption, including road conditions, winds, levelness of the road, speed, braking, etc. etc. To further mess things up, the calculations will be thrown way off by even very minor differences in how much fuel you add each time. Think about it - if you are not going into reserve before fill up, you probably are only adding about 4 gallons, so even a cup or two difference will make a significant change in your calculation, even if all riding conditions were EXACTLY the same. The ONLY way to get somewhat realistic MPG figures from a bike is to do the calculations for every tank of gas over many many many tanks to get a long-term average. However, if you think it is better, no matter why, them maybe the price is worth the value. After all, it won't hurt a thing, so if it makes you happy, do it! Goose
  10. V7Goose
    Should you be concerned? Well, yes and no. It is nothing that is going to hurt the bike, but it IS obviously annoying, and it DOES show that something is not just right in the ignition of the fuel (or maybe with the exhaust system). My bet is 98% probability (that percent is jut a SWAG) that you need to replace the two rubber caps on the intake manifold nipples (and also inspect the two vacuum hoses on the other two nipples to make sure they have not been cut or torn while being removed). The caps were cracked and hard on my 05 two years ago, so I'd bet they are bad on your 06 by now. Another common problem for this is a leak in the exhaust pipe at the Y joint. I have gone over the causes of this problem in great detail in older posts, so I won't repeat it all here, but basically this is caused by incomplete combustion allowing unburned hydrocarbons to collect in the exhaust pipes, which then is ignited by the hot exhaust gasses. Lots of things can contribute to that, including a vacuum leak, old plugs, incorrect carb settings, etc. It is ESPECIALLY prevalent when riding in the mountains for two reasons - lots of opening/closing of the throttle along with a tendency to lug the engine a bit on inclines, and the altitude changes the fuel mixture from the supposedly optimal setting you had down lower. Octane had zero to do with it. They sell 86 and 85 octane fuel as regular at higher altitudes because that is all that is needed to produce the same anti-knock results under those conditions as you get with 87 octane lower down. Finally, any carbureted engine that is properly tuned at low altitude will have a bit of soot in the exhaust in the mountains - nothing to worry about. AND, in my experience, many, and maybe all current Yamaha Royal Stars are coming from the factory with the carb floats set way too high. This means they are running a bit rich at mid throttle and higher, no matter how well they are set up. Goose
  11. V7Goose
    Welcome Troy! I'm in Colleyville - love to help you out. Bring the bike on over and we can hook up the lights and talk all about the bike and some things you might want to keep an eye on. I'm retired, so available most days - just give me a shout. Ride safe, Goose
  12. V7Goose
    I cannot tell you for sure what happened, but I can give you my comments and experiences from over 70,000 miles on an RSV. First, no riding conditions should have any effect on if your Reserve works or not, at least when you first turn it on. However, steady, straight, flat riding on a smooth highway WILL cause you to loose access to perhaps the last 1/2 gallon of fuel, as it will become trapped in the right side of the tank. The RSV has no leveling tube to connect the sides; under normal riding conditions (leaning, bumps and hills), the fuel sloshes back and forth, and you will normally get to use ALL of the reserve. On both of my bikes and everyone with an RSV that I have run with, this has consistently been 1.5 US gallons (my trip meter and fuel light always comes on with 1.5 gallons left for reserve). For the first year or two of ownership I used the petcock to switch from reg to reserve as needed. My experience has consistently been that the trip meter and fuel light comes on about 5 miles before the engine starves for fuel on normal setting. This has also been the most common experience reported by other RSV riders; however, a few have reported their trip meters switch later, as yours seems to be doing. I no longer ever move my petcock - it stays in reserve permanently. I figure the fuel gauge, the fuel trip meter, and the low fuel light give me MORE than enough warning about hitting reserve without having to mess with changing a lever too. I almost never fill up before hitting reserve. I know for a fact I have a minimum of 40 miles on reserve, even when running at 80 MPH, and if I stay below 65 I can usually get 60 miles on reserve. I have vented my filler neck to make it easier to completely fill the tank, and I have been able to add 5.8 and 5.9 gallons numerous times when I pushed it to the limit (without running out). BTW - I always have at least 20 miles left AFTER all of the bars are gone from my fuel meter - just one more check that I can monitor to guess how low the tank really is while running on reserve. Your fuel mileage seems pretty typical with my experience for the different condition. I do think you are totally wasting money to purchase premium fuel - it does absolutely NOTHING for the RSV. This engine is designed for 87 pump octane (and runs perfectly on 85 octane in the mountains). As for testing if your reserve setting is working, that is easy. Just turn it on now and start riding. If it is not, you will begin to feel the engine starve in a few miles. You should also be able to confirm if the fuel is getting to the carbs simply by turning the key on and listening to the fuel pump, but you will need to turn the fuel off and run it for a short while to lower the fuel level in the bowls first. Then just stop the bike, turn the petcock to reserve and turn the key on. If the pump clicks a short while and then stops, it was able to fill the carbs, meaning it is getting gas. If the reserve is working now, with lots of gas in the tank, then you know the petcock valve is good, and the only other potential problem is if the reserve position has access to the fuel when it is below the normal position. To test that, I would suggest you simply drain all the available fuel from the petcock in the normal position while the bike is in your garage, then simply test the reserve again just like before. There is no external tube feeding the reserve, so I do not know what the above posts are recommending. I also do not have any idea what the fuel feeds to the petcock look like inside the tank, as I have never had a need to check it out. Normally, these would simply be two different fixed input tubes, one sticking up higher than the other, possibly with screens on them. If your testing finds a problem with the reserve feed, why not just take it in to have it fixed under warranty? Goose
  13. V7Goose
    There is no doubt about it - the stock RSV can be very hot in the summer. The fairing provides such excellent coverage that there is a vacuum between the windshield and the rider. When you ride in cold weather you will feel the cold on your back first from the dead air in front being warmer. In addition, riding in light rain you will notice droplets being sucked forward by this vacuum. Venting the windshield is very effective in changing this, breaking the vacuum and allowing air to flow through. I use the round pop-vents because they are so cheap and easy to install (and they don't slice up big bugs and spray you with goo like a goldwing style vent can). The pop-vents do allow a lot of air to enter, but the design causes the air stream to be deflected down at an angle so you do not feel it blowing directly on your face or chest. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    Well, when traveling away from home, you may need more than just a spare key - if you get robbed or loose your wallet, you need an emergency way to pay for gas and stuff! I recommend you stash BOTH a spare key AND a spare credit card somewhere on the bike. Make sure it is a card you do NOT carry in your wallet, since it will do you no good if you have to cancel all your other cards. I won't reveal where I keep mine, but on a 2nd gen a safe place for this would simply be to put them in a ziplock and stuff it behind the battery - easy access with just removing the two seat nuts. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    I'm not sure the Yamaha dealer can do anything with the VIN - I know there is a code attached the ring with the spare key that they can use, but that won't help you much unless you wrote it down where you can get to it! The only thing I can suggest other than a locksmith is to try and twist the saddlebag to flex the lid. I had a tire gauge jam in one of the locks once so the button would not work, but with lots of grunting and prying (just fingertips under the lid edge) while twisting the bag I eventually got the latch to pop open. Goose Oh, any competent locksmith should be able to open the bag by picking the lock - it is not that hard to do.
  16. V7Goose
    I have no doubts it is the plugs - my 05 did this a fair amount the first winter (bought it in November and I ride every day all year). Seemed to happen most when it was extra cold. Dealer ordered a new radio for it, but before it came in I detected a few things that made me think it must be in the wires, just like you (turning the bars sometimes changed things). I solved the problem the way I described above and just told the shop to forget the new radio. 60,000 miles later that problem has never comeback. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    Well, the rain probably had very little to do with this, but there are two common problems that are very similar to what you describe. First, there is a design deficiency in the Radio/CB system that ONLY happens when using both together. The symptoms are quite similar to what you describe with one exception: When the audio system is set on any function except CB (but with the CB on) and you try to change the volume, you will see a "c" to the left of the volume level displayed; this indicates you are changing the CB volume instead of the radio/aux volume, and no other buttons work. Turning EITHER the radio or CB off then back on will solve that. I have never found a way to duplicate this problem on command - it just happens once in a while when the bike is started with both the radio and CB on - seems to be a timing problem in the circuits for when the power is supplied to both units at the same time. Occasionally I have it happen when quickly switching between raidio/CB/squelch numerous times to change levels. Play with the buttons too much and too fast and it will nut up! If you have the problem when the CB is off, then it is very probably just bad pin contacts in the plug going to the control head. Many of us have had this, especially when the bike is fairly new. You need to split the fairing and reseat all the plugs in the rubber boots several times (that will cause the surface oxidation to be scrapped off the pins, making better contact. Then spread a little dielectric grease on all the pins before you put the plugs back together the last time. That will prevent the problem from happening again. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    Well, I don't get it even more than you don't get it! There are numerous ways to downsize pictures without paying anything (and Office is EXPENSIVE!). First, danob11 in post #14 above has already posted a link that will automatically install the free M$ picture resizer that let's you do it with just a right-click of the mouse. And anyone who runs XP already has free capability to resize a picture. Simply select one or more pictures and chose to "Send to | mail recipient" (even if you don't want to email them). This will bring up a prompt to downsize the pictures if you want. Select this and continue - the draft email message that opens will have the smaller pictures attached and you can simply save them from there and then cancel sending the message. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    Ha! Excellent test of the new anti-scam feature we have installed here!
  20. V7Goose
    This post intrigued me, as I a have often recommended that folks check how fast an exhaust header heats up by using their finger tips within the first 30 seconds of starting the bike, but I never thought of using my IR thermometer to compare them. So today I tired it - from what I found, you absolutely cannot rely on comparison of those temps for troubleshooting! As far as I know, my engine is running perfectly right now - I just got back last night from a 4,000 mile trip through New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, and my fuel mileage remained normal the whole time. Running two-up and heavily loaded at an indicated 83 MPH (just about 73 MPH actual) for hours on end coming home, I had no problem getting 170 miles before getting a bit nervous looking for gas. Of course I got much better mileage when I'd slow down a bit! Anyway, after riding about 70 miles this morning, I checked the temps on the header pipes with my IR thermometer. I found that the temps varied wildly with even very minor changes in the exact point the thermometer was being aimed (my IR gauge has a laser dot for precise aiming). The rear cylinders are much easier to access for getting a reading off the header pipe right at the exhaust valve, and the highest temperature was always from the chrome clamp holding the pipe in place - about 550 degrees. If the gauge was aimed just above the clamp on the head, the temps were around 480, and if aimed right inside the clamp on the actual bare header pipe, the temps were always under 300! When I tried to get readings from the front cylinders, I was never able to get anything over 300 degrees, no matter where I aimed the thermometer. In general, both rear cylinders read similar temperatures to each other, as did the two front cylinders. Goose
  21. V7Goose
    We are around - put about 1,200 miles on QuickSilver since we got here Saturday afternoon. Quite a few of the target roads are still closed for snow, such as the Mirror Lake route, Nebo Loop, etc., but there have been lots of excellent options left for us. We did a big loop up over Wolf Creek Pass and then down to Huntington on Monday - perfect conditions. Wolf Creek Pass is not a particularly tough or exciting bike road, but the country is spectacular and the amount of snow up there was the most we have seen on an open road. [ATTACH]30479[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]30480[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]30481[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]30482[/ATTACH] Tuesday was a mixed day - we road out to Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado border (about a 400 mile loop), only to find out they had the quary closed. But it was still a nice ride. On the way back we thought we were gonna be nailed with a nasty black storm moving over the Wasatch mountains, but some how we got lucky and managed to skirt the edge of it with only a few showers and some very wet roads. Biggest problem is that I trusted the weather report and didn't put in any jacket or windbreaker to put on under my mesh riding jacket (really dumb move on my part). The ride back along Strawberry Reservoir around 8,000 feet under that nasty black cloud and with the heavy wind - Brrrrrrr! 50 degrees is NOT comfortable in a t-shirt under a mesh jacket!! We'll probably take it easy for the next day or two before heading back on Saturday - looks like today will just be exploring around Sundance and that area. Ride safe all, Goose
  22. V7Goose
    Actually, the relay has little to do with it. As long as the contacts are rated for the full amp load that will be attached, it will be fine. The voltage drop will come from the wire size and length. You need the bigger wire feeding the relay since that one wire will have to pass the full current of both horns. The battery has to be able to supply the total current for both horns, no matter if it is through two wires or one, so the only limiting factor besides the battery capacity is the wire size used. Goose Note: if each horn is rated at 19A, you should NOT attach two of them to a single 30A relay! You won't start a fire like you could with wire that is too small, but you will destroy the contacts inside the relay that will cause the horns to get weak and eventually stop working. Find a heavy duty 40A relay at an auto parts store or use two of the normal plastic ones.
  23. V7Goose
    Too much of a good thing is maybe not so good. Not talking about the loud here, but the load. Be sure to compare them together, then with one disconnected. Air horns pull so much juice that you may find two of them are not actually as loud as just one. For the same reason you will want to feed that relay with 12 AWG wire. You can use slightly smaller wire to each horn and from horn to ground, 14 or maybe 16. You don't want to go with smaller wires, even if the amp draw would be safe for such short runs, because the issue with horn loudness is getting maximum voltage to the horn. Smaller wires have more resistance and will reduce the voltage (that is why a smaller wire gets hot when too much current is pushed through it). Goose
  24. V7Goose
    C'mon guys, cut them some slack. Every engine ignition system is potentially different. In fact, ours is particularly strange, and if they do not know specifically about your make and model, there is no way they can say if it will work. But I can. What makes our bike odd, ignition wise, is that it has an uneven firing pattern, uses four separate coils, but fires TWICE for each coil (a waste spark on the exhaust stroke). Sooooo, what that means for a tach is that it works fine with any tach designed for a TWIN cylinder engine that uses a coil that fires once per cylinder on each revolution. I think this is the same as a Harley dual-fire setup. The simple explanation is that a tach is designed to count the number of firing pulses sent to a coil. A four cycle engine fires each cylinder once every two revolutions, so if we had one coil and a distributor like a car, that would be two pulses for each revolution. When just about every car used one coil and a distributor, it was simple to manufacture a tach with a switch on it to use for any 4, 6, or 8 cylinder engine. But with electronic ignitions and multiple coils, there is no way to know in advance how many firing pulses a particular coil might receive unless you know the details of how that ignition system is designed. I do not know if the specific tach you have will work with the Yamaha V4, since it looks like they make TWO different tach models and TWO adaptors. Unfortunately, I have no idea what a "2004+digital" is or how that would work (or maybe not) on our bike. The bottom line is that a tach designed to work with a stock Harley dual-fire ignition, such as a Drag Specialties mini tach, works fine on our bike. Good luck, Goose
  25. V7Goose
    Yup, you got that one right. I70 goes through a whole lot more states than just Kansas, but New Mexico ain't one of them. I guess I had I70 on the brain 'cause I hit that one coming west out of Colorado. That bugger of a dust devil was twisting up on I40 for sure! Goose
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