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V7Goose

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  1. V7Goose
    Well, made it here close to sunset yesterday - woulda been in a couple of hours earlier, but dippy GPS unit couldn't find the resort! About 1,300 miles to get here. Did 650 Friday to get into Albuquerque around 1700, then another 680 yesterday. I've included on picture of the sunrise behind the clouds over Sandia Peak as we were leaving Albuquerque in the morning. The ride over Red Mountain pass and down the Million Dollar Highway was almost perfect. The weather and road conditions were fantastic, but they were painting road stripes, and all the loose glass beads (reflector stuff they throw on the wet paint) had me a little spooked. A bike tire can slide off that stuff pretty quick, so I was kinda cautious with the loaded bike! Made it without incident. Temperatures on the passes were around 50 degrees, and 85-90 across the high dessert stretches, so we did a fair amount of stopping to add and remove layers. All in all, a couple of great riding days except for the "twister" that tried to eat is in eastern New Mexico. Anyone who has spent time in the desserts has seen plenty of dust devils. Most are pretty benign - heck, as a kid we would even try and run into them! But a few can get a bit nasty. There was a lot of construction on stretches of I40 in eastern New Mexico, creating lots of loose dirt and debris. We saw a big dust devil building a ways ahead of us, but it seemed to be off the side of the road. Unfortunately, as we topped a hill it was clear that the monster was churning up everything right in the median, and it jumped out in front of us just as we were about to pass. This was right when I heard a trucker in front of me on the CB throw out a caution about how bad it tossed his truck around! Had to go right through the center of this mess at 70 MPH - complete zero visibility and thought for a sec I was getting thrown clear off the road before it jerked me back the other way. And the rocks! Hurt worst than a hail storm! Mesh riding jacket had them embedded everywhere. The bike and both of us looked like we had been rolling in the dirt, and everything is badly pitted from the sand and rocks. One of the pictures below is of the chrome strip below the windshield. Other than the bug goo, all the spots you see are big rock pits! The windshield and paint is all the same. But it could have been much worse, so I guess I'm not complaining too bad! Just relaxing this morning with computers, bloody Mausers, and lots of maps to plan out our local rides. Goose
  2. V7Goose
    Your front tire is a 71H. Your rear is either an 80H or a 74V Goose
  3. V7Goose
    They don't all start slipping that soon; my 05 didn't start it until around 40,000 miles. But that is why I recommended 20K as a guide. Some folks just let their bikes sit and rot, but for the real riders, it really doesn't make any sense to wait for the slipping to start when it can be prevented by just doing now exactly the same thing you will have to do when it starts! Goose
  4. V7Goose
    The wire size for a fuse block depends on the total electrical load you will attach to that block, along with the length of the wires. But since a bike is kinda small and most wire runs will be 6' or less, we can ignore that most of the time. In general, 16 AWG wire is good for 15 amps and 18 AWG is good for 10 amps. So the wire you use to feed the fuse block needs to be big enough to handle the TOTAL of all the fuses you put in the fuse block. For example, if you are going to have only thee 5A fuses, you can feed it with 16 AWG wire, but if you are going to put in three 10 amp fuses, you will need to feed it with 14 AWG. Here is a link that has a couple of handy charts. You will notice that the recommended wire size drops a lot for very short runs, but you are always better off to be conservative! http://www.tessco.com/yts/industry/products/itm/automotive/get_wired.html And don't forget to add an inline fuse to the feed wire that is equal to or less than the size you calculate for the total load (the amps you used to choose the size of wire). Always remember that fuses are there to protect the WIRE and prevent fires, NOT to protect the load. Goose
  5. V7Goose
    Here is a link. The light bar is very bright, like a brake light, but only comes with two wires (just on or off). To use it as both running light and brake light you need to build a little "pig tail" with a 220 ohm resistor and two diodes. Different LED lights sometimes need different sized resistors to get the right level for the running light, anywhere from 150 - 330 ohms. There are instructions for that somewhere here, or I could mail you one for about $6. http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2003527/c-10101/Nty-1/p-2003527/Ntx-mode+matchallpartial/N-10101/tf-Browse/s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=light+bar Goose
  6. V7Goose
    Glad I asked! There is always room for one more tool somewhere! I'll do my best to remember to toss it in. Goose
  7. V7Goose
    Hey Don, do you have an inch pound torque wrench, or do I need to bring mine in case we have clutches to do? I assumed you had one, but thought I should verify that instead of the chance it. Goose
  8. V7Goose
    This note is for everyone who has not yet installed an upgraded clutch spring in their 2nd gen - Just do it! I've said this before, but seems like as good a time and place as any to repeat it: If you have an RSV or RSTD and expect to put more than 20,000 miles on it, you really should just go ahead and upgrade that poor stock clutch spring. Why wait for it to start slipping on ya? It will. The upgrade is cheap and takes way less than an hour to install. Do it now and you know the clutch plates are not worn, and you will never have a slipping problem. Goose
  9. V7Goose
    Six bucks at Harbor freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95468 Goose
  10. V7Goose
    Lightbar fits perfectly between the helmet locks under the trunk - $20 from JCW. Goose
  11. V7Goose
    That is the oil I use. Although they do not pay to have it JASO-MA certified (after all, it is marketed primarily for commercial trucks, not motorcycles!), Shell states it does meet all JASO-MA requirements. You won't have any more slippage problems after you install the spring upgrade. Goose
  12. V7Goose
    You are certainly free to spend your money on anything you like, and new clutch fiction plates are certainly not gonna hurt a thing, no matter how much they are not needed. But you might want to consider a few things to make sure you understand the issue before you spend. First, I have installed a number of PCW Racing clutch spring upgrade kits, generally with about 45,000 miles on the bikes. I have measured the friction plates in all but one, and in every case the stock plates still measured exactly as new. In fact, they are usually just a tad THICKER than the one new plate you get with the kit; I attribute that to the fact the new plate had not been soaked in oil yet. My point is, at 45,000 miles I have not yet detected ANY wear on stock clutch friction plates in an RSV. The wave washer with the half-sized friction plate on the bottom of the stack acts something like a second and very weak clutch spring, taking up a little of the slack in the plates sooner as the clutch is let out and preventing that half-plate from touching as quickly as the others. This causes the clutch to begin engaging weakly (and slipping) a little sooner as you let it off, reducing the likelihood of a jerky engagement if poor clutch control is exhibited by the rider. I like to imagine that Yamahaha designed that specifically for the typical pantie-waist American rider! By replacing these with a single full-size friction plate, the clutch engagement is a tad more positive. I imagined I could just maybe feel a difference when I first upgraded my 05, but frankly, the difference is so minor that when you figure that you also just installed a stronger clutch spring, there is no way to tell for sure if it changes the feel. The most positive impact of a full-size plate instead of the half-size one is more surface area for the clutch, which should make it last marginally longer. Of course, the stronger spring will have more impact on that than anything else. All you need to do is call PCW Racing at 518-346-7203 and tell them you want the spring upgrade kit for a Royal Star Venture; it will have everything you need, including instructions with the torque specs. They will suggest you consider replacing all the friction plates too (since it means a bigger sale for them and some people want it anyway), but they won't pressure you to buy them. That is still completely your choice. The only other thing you need to make sure of before you start the job is that you have an inch-lb torque wrench (or metric torque wrench in the equivalent range). You CANNOT do this job correctly with only a foot-pound torque wrench. A ball-end allen wrench will make getting to the cover bolts behind the pipe much easier. Goose
  13. V7Goose
    Looks to me like you have the Highlight Search Terms activated from the Google Tool Bar. I can't begin to see if you even have the Google tool bar installed, let alone activated, but the results would look just like that. Goose
  14. V7Goose
    Before you decide to dump the Avons, you might want to check a couple of things - most of us who have ridden on them think they handle as good as or better than any other tire on the RSV. That suggests you may still have something wrong . . . Make certain both forks are SAME pressure. No way to do this without a gauge with a zero-loss chuck, so if you don't have one, best to let all the air out of each fork. Check your tire pressures - many here continue to recommend running the Avon's at max sidewall pressure, but in my experience that is definitely WRONG. Both of my Ventures have felt a little unsure in sweepers when the rear tire was too hard. The Venom rear tire is an 80H (hopefully you got the H and not the V tire) with a max pressure of 50 lbs. Numerous tests have shown that for me anything over 48 lbs in the rear Venom and 42 in the front is an absolute mistake. My recommendation is 46 rear, 42 front, and maybe 44/40 if the majority of your riding is solo and lightly loaded. CAREFULLY examine the tire all the way around right next to the rim on both sides. There is a tiny rubber ridge the should be exactly the same distance from the rim edge all the way around (perfectly concentric). It is pretty common for a tire to not fully bead up in one spot or another, which will show up as the rubber ridge being a little close to the rim in that point. I honestly don't think many shops actually look closely at this indicator when they throw a tire on in their usual hurry, and if it is not beaded perfectly, you WILL feel it. If you do find a problem with the bead, the place that mounted the tire should absolutely fix it for no cost. If you need to do it yourself, it is kinda hard without dismounting the tire. Try letting all the air out and rolling the bike on the flat tire at least one full turn, then get some tire lube and heavily lube the bead area, ensuring you get plenty BETWEEN the tire and the rim. Hopefully it will slip all the way into position when you re-inflate it. Goose
  15. V7Goose
    OK, got the route locked in (until the next wise person points out I've missed another stupid point!). We'll probably spend Friday night near Albuquerque, or maybe a bit further north, then Saturday head on up through Durango and over Red Mountain Pass. My wife has never been through the Rockies north of New Mexico, so I was looking for the best way to introduce her to this great area on the way to Snowbird. The Million Dollar Highway is one of the most stunning rides in Colorado, so if we can't do the Trail Ridge, that looks like the next best option and still do the ride up there in a reasonable two days (about 650 miles each day). Haven't decided on the day-routes out of Snowbird yet for the rest of the week, but I sure do appreciate all the suggestions - keep 'em coming! According to the long-range forecasts, it looks like next week is gonna be just about perfect weather in the Wasatch Mountains, so we are really looking forward the rides. Goose
  16. V7Goose
    A four wire plug only gives you three wires for lights and signals, since one wire MUST be ground (never Never NEVER rely on the ball to give acceptable ground to a trailer). The trailer must have: Running lights Brake lights Left Turn light Right Turn light ground OR: Running lights Left brake/turn light Right brake/turn light ground Notice that the first option, which is used by our motorcycle, is one more wire than the three remaining wires in a 4-wire plug; therefore, either a 5-wire plug is needed or some way to convert the 5-wire system to a 4-wire system common on pickups and some cars. Of course, with a 5-wire plug, you ALSO need separate turn and brake lamps on each side of the trailer. Any place that sells tow hitches will also sell adapters to convert a 5-wire vehicle to a 4-wire trailer - you just need to mount this somewhere under the trunk. Goose
  17. V7Goose
    Well sir, that was very timely information! Yes, we were planning on going over the top there - with the temps as warm as they have been, I just assumed it would be open! Really dumb of me to make such an assumption on a 12,000 foot high road in May - sure do appreciate you cluing me in! Guess I'll check on the conditions over Red Mountain, Silverton and Ouray instead. Goose
  18. V7Goose
    Well, I haven't finalized it yet, but probably will be heading up through Okyhoma and Kansass toward the Denver area the first day so that we can cross through Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday on our way to the resort at Snowbird. Goose
  19. V7Goose
    Man, I hear "weaving tail" is a lost art! Glad to hear someone is keeping it alive . . .
  20. V7Goose
    Friday the co-pilot and I are heading up to Northern Utah on Quicksilver - spending the week at Snowbird and riding out each day from there. Anybody else gonna be around in Utah during the week of May 17-23? It'd be great to meet up and say howdy if schedules happen to cross. We haven't made any specific plans yet beyond getting there Saturday night and departing the following Saturday morning. We'll probably be covering any interesting side roads we can find within about 400 miles of Salt Lake City all week long. Ride safe! Goose
  21. V7Goose
    OK, time is getting close, so I thought I'd resurrect this old thread and do a short recap on the planning... CARB SYNC As expected, the most common item mentioned has been carb sync. We will definitely try to figure out how to designate an area for that. I am sure we will have plenty of sync tools and volunteers to handle all comers, so no need to bring any supplies or anything for this simple task. TIRES There have been a couple of mentions about tire changes. This won't need a lot of planning, but we will be limited to jacks and room in garage. I guess we can just stack up any tires on a first-come basis and work through them like that. They are not tough to do, so we shouldn't have any problem getting them done. I will have rim protectors, tire lube, and bead-seating aids, and Don has the tire machine. The only supplies we will need are your own tires and Locktite for front rotor bolts if doing a front tire. LIGHTS/POWER OUTLETS/AUDIO JACKS/MISC ELECTRICAL This work is USUALLY pretty simple, but may or may not take some time, depending on details. Likewise, it is a little hard to plan without the details of each specific job. First, you will need to have all of your supplies, including wire, connectors, switches, etc. If you need any help determining exactly what you need, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to help you through it. Another good option would be to just post the question in a new thread and I'm sure you will get more than enough responses! Fluid Changes Very simple, but make sure you bring all your own fluids! Clutch Spring Upgrade No one has yet mentioned this, but since it is so simple I thought I'd throw it out as a suggestion. If you think you may have some clutch slip starting, this might be a great time to solve that. I suggest the PCW spring upgrade kit (no need to buy any replacement friction plates other than the one that comes with the kit). That will have everything you need. Any other miscellaneous tasks we can evaluate on a case-by-case basis. I'm sure we can handle all the simple ones, like mounting a hitch, and there will be plenty of people to help with advice and planing on the more complex tasks that are better left for another time and place. Don't be shy with any other questions or suggestions. Just remember, maintenance day tasks should be fairly simple maintenance items or enhancements, NOT major repair or modifications. Looking forward to seeing y'all soon, Goose
  22. V7Goose
    I agree with N3FOL - Neither my 05 nor my 07 have ever had this problem. I can ride both for extended time without hands on the bars. I don't know what the problem is with those who feel they have this problem, but I can say confidently this is not a problem with all RSVs, and I doubt it is even very common (since we rarely see posts about it). Goose
  23. V7Goose
    Don't use the regular Silverstar - make sure you get the ULTRA. It is both brighter and has a heavier filament to last longer in an installation with vibration and extra jolts like a motorcycle. Goose
  24. V7Goose
    The shop manual picks up a signal from one ignition coil (I don't know which one, you will have to check the wire color). The shop manual says this code is either a bad coil or a bad cruise unit. It could possibly be a bad wire to either unit too. See page 8-89. Goose
  25. V7Goose
    Avon Venom tires are the only ones I know of that do not come with a dot to indicate the lightest point in the tire (should always be mounted with dot at valve stem). When I queried Avon about the lack of a dot, they stated their tire is made with such a close tolerance that no dot is necessary. On the sidewall checking - we had a bunch of reports of this on Venoms a few years back, and IIRC, all of the tires were made in 2005. Even all the recent reports I recall seeing were STILL for tires made in 2005 but recently purchased. I think the ONLY report I remember seeing about sidewall checking on a Venom tire made at any other time is the one above where the treeman says it is a "new 2008" tire, but he doesn't give the details of the date code to clarify it is actually was MADE in 2008 or he just bought it in 2008. Avon has been good about replacing these tires, so if you have that problem, contact them. Goose
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